My Amazing Niece

My beautiful, sweet, talented niece Bridget produced a benefit concert this weekend for the people of Haiti and she asked me to help her with a video. She is an amazing girl/woman with an amazing future. Take a look at what she did. I am so proud of her ( and my sister for raising such a great kid!)

Following my Bliss

So, yesterday I bit the bullet and submitted a video to Oprah's new network to be their new network star. I never really had the desire to be a star, just to contribute in some way to the betterment of the world. I have had a strong desire, however to host a show about holistic healing and spirituality and put out a positive message on our airways. If you want to see what I submiited you can view it here...

My Oprah Audition

Wish me luck!

My Acupuncture Experience

Wow! is all I can say. First and foremost, I was fortunate to have chosen the sweetest and most knowledgeable practitioner. Janet talked me through the procedure and answered all of my questions thoroughly and compassionately. The needles were small and I could feel a slight prick but, once they were in, I was in total bliss! She left me to my needles accompanied by soft music and I drifted into la la land until she came back into the room to remove the needles. Can't wait to go back for more! Check out my video .

The Big 5-Oh No!

So, I recently turned the big five-O and boy this age is not for the faint of heart. No pun intended there, really. To listen to the media and traditional medicine, fifty is the magical age where health seems to spiral downward in a depressing, debilitating, uncontrollable way. It is the age of peri or full blown menopause for women, the age of the first colonoscopy, osteoporosis is supposed to set in, and all the big diseases, well, at fifty, they are just waiting to get ya! I am usually pretty oblivious to societal pressure, but this one has a bit of a grip on me. I intend to shake it off. Knowledge is power, so today I am embarking on a journey to discover how best to navigate this second half of life in the healthiest and happiest way possible. I start with a visit to an accupuncturist.

Look at Me I'm Sandra Dee! Finding and Following your Bliss!

As I write this, my 22 year old daughter is performing the role of Rizzo in the musical "Grease" in Istanbul, Turkey. Why is this significant? Well, it is just another (almost) miraculous syncronicity that I have come to expect in my life. My daughter is an amazing young woman. From early in her life, she knew what she wanted and was determined to get it. A lead role in "The Secret Garden" propelled her to leads in high school, local theatre and then in college where she majored in Musical Theatre. She has never wavered from her intention and passion and it has paid off. I, on the other hand, have espoused the "put it out there and let's see what comes back" approach to following my bliss. At 17, after performing in the high school version of the play, I auditioned for the movie "Grease" and won a part in the blockbuster starring John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John. As exciting as that was, after returning to the East Coast just in time for college, I turned down opportunities that sprang from my Hollywood experience to begin my freshman year. Somehow I think my daughter would have chosen differently as her plans for herself were much more set in stone.

So what do we learn about following your bliss from these two very different approaches? If you are sure, as was my daughter, of your true passion in life, then let nothing stand in yur way. Your tenacity will ensure that doors open for you where appropriate. For you, signs along the way will be fun to notice, but rather redundant. If you are more like me, which I believe most of us are, and are finding your bliss as you go along, then you will have to be open and looking for those doors, signs and opportunities as they appear. Do they make your heart sing? Then grab em! Can you see yourself there? Then go! Do they appear over and over in your life? Take the hint.
In the end, I am an actress and so is my daughter. Sure it took me longer, but it has most certainly been worth it!

Endings and Beginnings

It is May and the time of graduations and celebrations of the end of long years of schooling. This particular May we have two graduations to celebrate, one college and one high school. As I look back on the years leading up to this I can't help but marvel at the speed with which the years have flown. My baby girl is now a college graduate ready to embark on her own life and career and my sweet once blond tressed son is now man-sized, dark-haired, and about to leave our home for a new and totally different college experience.

How do I feel about all this change? Well, the Mommy in me is feeling nostalgic, a little sad, and fearful for them. At the same time though there is a sense that all is right with the world and these endings are but signposts on the road of life and beautiful and right ones at that. My perspective is ever tainted by having lost a child and therefore these milestones in my living children's lives are sweet reminders of the right way things should be. We should revel in our children's successes and appreciate their growth. We should praise them and love them until their spiritual cups are full to overflowing and send them off with the knowledge that their parents see nothing but the best in them and love them truly and unconditionally. Here are the videos I made for my Daughter and Son for their graduations...