Life Through Music: “You Get What You Give” by the New Radicals

I’m trying to get in a rhythm with my winter term and it’s been a bit hard over the first few weeks of the term so far. This is not a complaint, that’s just what it is. So far I’m still loving 2014 very much. Part of my lack of getting in rhythm is all the fun things that I have been doing with great people of late. So, my entry for this week will be a bit shorter than usual because well in a sense I have been out living life and in turn I have less time to write about it. 

So, the song that I picked this week came to me when I was on my way to meet a friend to go see a movie. I was walking up to the transit center around 5 o’clock in the evening and I stopped to take notice that it was just so lovely out. I mean it wasn’t like a summer evening that I love so much living in Oregon, but it was definitely a comfortably warm winter evening that was perfect right in that moment. It had been partly cloudy most of the day and really a beautiful day all day long. In this moment, however, there was very little clouds in the sky and even though I was well within the city limits the stars shined bright. As I was walking I just spent that time taking in the evening I noticed wonderful things like the stars above me. Then looking out over highway 26 to the West hills where there are big towers that have many flashing red lights on them. Just the joy of being here. Being able to walk and breath. Then the my song of the week came on over my headphones. It is one that I fell in love with many years ago when it came out, but it seem to match this moment in time for me perfectly. 

“You Get What You Give.” by the New Radicals

This song title in itself is a very powerful message and one that I think of often these days. I let many things go in 2013. Some of those were physical things I let go of and that I found new homes for or I just gave back to life (a.k.a. gave to Goodwill) to let life decide where they go next. Besides the physical or material things in life I let go of I have also given other things a chance and because of this I’m starting to get back. Not getting the same things back, but instead making room to get different things and newer experiences. 

So, I realized while listening and dancing to this song while I was walking down the street feeling lighter than ever and more free than I ever have been that I’m happy. Happiest that I ever have been, but not as happy as I will ever be because happiness is not a destination it’s an experience. An experience that when you do the right things and put in the work you get to experience happiness more and more. There have been similar moments in my life to the one I’m sharing with you right now, but each one feels better and better. These are the moments that keep me pushing forward in a positive direction. I may not be happy in every moment of my life, but over all I am happy and feeling great. 

Lyrics:

"You Get What You Give"

Wake up kids 

We've got the dreamers disease 

Age 14 we got you down on your knees 

So polite, you're busy still saying please 

Fri-enemies, who when you're down ain't your friend 

Every night we smash their Mercedes-Benz 

First we run and then we laugh till we cry 

“But when the night is falling 

and you cannot find the light 

If you feel your dream is dying 

Hold tight 

You've got the music in you 

Don't let go 

You've got the music in you 

One dance left 

This world is gonna pull through 

Don't give up 

You've got a reason to live 

Can't forget you only get what you give”

(Love this part of the song so much. So very true.)

Four a.m. we ran a miracle mile 

we’re flat broke but hey we do it in style 

The bad rich 

God's flying in for your trial 

[chorus]

“This whole damn world can fall apart 

You'll be ok follow your heart”

(YES, Please do.)

You're in harms way 

I'm right behind 

Now say youre mine 

[chorus]

“Fly high 

What's real can't die 

You only get what you give 

Just dont be afraid to leave”

Health insurance rip off lying FDA big bankers buying 

Fake computer crashes dining 

Cloning while they're multiplying 

Fashion mag shoots 

with the aid of 8 dust brothers Beck, Hanson 

Courtney Love and Marilyn Manson 

You're all fakes 

Run to your mansions 

Come around 

We'll kick your ass in! 

Don't let go 

One dance left 

[unsaid lyrics from liner] 

“Championed by a soulless media misleading 

people unaware they're bleeding 

No one with a brain is believing 

It's so sad you lost the meaning 

Never knew it anyway 

Human natures so predictable 

I'm a fool to do your dirty work whoa, whoa”

(There is quite a bit of truth in there.)

Oh I love the 90’s music and this song is just one of many from the 90’s that I love. It’s like my comfort music. If there is nothing good playing I can always put on the 90’s music and put a smile on my face. There is a great underlining message of this song to refocus your priorities. I have definitely done that and will always continue to do so. I hope all of you are doing well and finding your own happy moments. There can never be too many of them that is for sure and remember the music is inside of you. 

As always I bring this to you with so much love and pure D-Lite. = )

Life Through Movies: The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

It has been a long time since I got excited about a movie the way that I got excited about The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. I saw the trailer a few weeks ago and something inside me said go see this movie no matter what. The trailer didn’t show a lot, but it showed me enough to draw me in. Even from the trailer it seem to match many things in my life as I headed out of 2013 and into 2014. This movie couldn’t have come at a better time for me on so many levels. 

I knew the movie was going to move me in a very special way. Move me in a way that only a few people would understand. So, I contacted my spiritual coach Shannon and told her I wanted to see the movie. I also said that if she would like to go with me to the movie she was more than welcome to join me. She too felt the draw to the movie and she instantly said yes. 

I have already talked about how I shed much of myself in 2013 and looking towards 2014 as a rebirth or a continuation of the growth that I’m making with myself. This movie helped fuel some of that passion to take life on in a bigger way. There really is so much that I took from the movie that can be applied towards life. 

One of those great lines is the motto for the magazine he is working for which says:

To see things thousands of miles away, things hidden behind walls and within rooms, things dangerous to come to, to draw closer, to see and be amazed. 

You cannot simply live life by imagining what it would be like. Life is to be experienced. From every little thing that you do in your day to day to the big jumps and leaps of faith you make to live life to the fullest. 

There is much about Walter I connect with because he chooses to live his life in a somewhat controlled safe zone for the most part. Even though he definitely has a desire to do so much more in his life as we experience with his daydreaming in the movie. Well, I do too. This year is about stepping out of that box and doing more. After the movie both Shannon and I said the movie made us want to go on more adventures. This movie will definitely do that to those that watch it.

After watching this movie I felt drawn to just go to the airport, pick a flight, and go. If only it was that easy and money was no object. Well, it may not be quite that easy, but it can be more doable if you focus your energy towards it. So, as I continue to lighten the load that is my life I’m now making more room for opportunities to different, new, and exciting things. 

At the end of the year I wrote out a whole bunch of goals for 2014 and even goals for far beyond 2014. I wrote goals that were big and small. I wrote them all down no matter how ridiculous I thought they were. I will continue to write more as they come to me and as I knock some of those off my list. 

Overall I loved this movie and it's inspiring me even more to live my life in a different way. Pushing me to new heights. Encouraging me to make those jumps, to take those chances, and above all to experience life.

If you will excuse me I have a passport I haven’t even gotten yet that needs to be filled and a list of things to do that I haven’t even written yet. It’s 2014 and beyond my friends. Make it as full as you can in every way possible. 

As always I bring this to you with so much love and pure D-Lite. = )

Life Through Music:"Let It Be" by Blackmill

*rubs hands together in excitement before I start this entry*

Technically this is not the first entry for 2014, but it is my first thoughts of 2014 now that we are six days in. Oh 2014 you look so delicious, so open, and so fresh with possibilities. Of course the transition from one year to the other isn’t just a cut and dry process. However, by setting the stage for a smoother transitions between years over the past few years this process has gotten better for me. What better way to do this than with some new music right?

Robert Card of Blackmill

So, the song I picked for this week is “Let It Be” by Blackmill. Blackmill consist of Robert Card who is labeled as a melodic dubstep producer from Scotland. This guy has opened the door for dubstep to have a place in the music I like. This is a song that I have been listening to quite a bit over this last week. It is music that I found right at the beginning of this year. I have been playing this song over and over, along with much of his other songs over this first week of 2014. I was hesitant at first because the music is part of the dubstep music scene. The dubstep that I had heard before this song has not been my favorite, but something about what Robert Card does with dubstep that made me pause. I have not been quiet about the fact that I like songs that sonically are larger than life and the songs that I have heard from Blackmill totally fit the bill. Something about it just gets me going and its a wonderful ride that I never want to get off of. 

I even heard it played at work on the overhead music several times over this last week as well. Lets just say that I got caught bobbing my head to this song many times while working.

There is more too it than that of course because the song title says it all for me. The message to let the things from 2013 just be is a huge message for me from the jump from 2013 to 2014. Somethings you just have to let be. This is not only about the past, but also in reference to the future. Somethings are out of your hands and you can only do what you can control.

Lyrics:

‘Let It Be”

All she’s got is the way he looks

Many miles on the other side

He had overheard her choice

And he delved off her cliffside

Sacrifice he just wants to help

(Helping is in my nature.)

Holds the world like a baby

Takes his mask off and lulls his head

(Mask is off and there is a calm that had come over my head.)

Then she sees him in the screen

They both see the traps

No fool, Oh oh

They won’t go back

No fool, Oh oh

They’ve got a mind track

No fool, Oh oh

It’s all a mystery

(It truly is a mystery.)

Let it come and let it be

Oh oh

They both see the traps

No fool, Oh oh

They won’t go back

No fool, Oh oh

They’ve got a mind track

No fool, Oh oh

It’s all a mystery

Let it come and let it be

Let it come and let it be

x4

They both see the traps

No fool, Oh oh

They won’t go back

No fool, Oh oh

They’ve got a mind track

No fool, Oh oh

It’s all a mystery

Let it come and let it be

Let it come and let it be

x3

Although all the lyrics in this song don’t connect to me, the ones that do totally make sense to me. The repeating of “Let it come and let it be”  for me right now means so much. As I prepare for the future I’m definitely just enjoying the present and all it has to offer when I just let things be. 

As always I bring this to you with so much love and pure D-Lite. = )

Vacancy. Come on in 2014!

So, 2013 was a big year of letting go of many things and also taking some people out of my life. In a way that sounds a bit depressing. I have had to over the last year let go of some heavy things, but this process is far from being a negative thing. It’s liberating. It’s giving myself back so much freedom. Furthermore, since I have removed so many things in my life there is now lots of room for new. That’s right new people, experiences, and new tools to take me to new places in my life. Therefore, this is a open letter to the universe that I am now open for things that will keep me moving in a positive direction. 

Come on in 2014 there is plenty of parking spaces. 

For every one person I let go of this year I have made room for someone new to join my life. Some of those connections have already happened before 2014 got here. I’m getting better about letting the right people be a part of my life. People that are my people. People that live in love. People that help me grow. People that help me be the best person that I can be as I do for them. People that don’t drag you down. People that are about action. People that think positively. People that are open minded. People that are working to grow. I may have lost quite a few people in 2013, but I also gained some even better connections in their place. 

Its amazing to me how just making small adjustments in your living space can make a huge differences in your well being. For ever thing I got rid of in my kitchen it helped make better space for the things that I have. Having that kind of flow in my life is very important the more that I become connected with my life. 

Even taking down things that were hanging on my walls or maybe just moving to a different location has lighten up my home. I have done this before, but this year I’m very aware of the difference this makes.

Also, even deciding what you choose to showcase as yourself in your home is important. What each person sees when they come into your home is much like what you wear on your own body. Both places tell a story of who you are. When making changes in my apartment recently that was very much a part of my focus. I have changed much as a person since I moved in this apartment in 2009 and so I should do a better job at reflecting that. This year was the first step of my effort to do better at this going forward. 

Leaving some of the old beliefs and old boundaries with myself allows for so much expansion within my life. More room for new experiences and new opportunities. This is, to me, the most exciting thing I think of when thinking about 2014. The fact that I’m opening myself up to so much more is so very exciting. 

What I’m getting at I suppose is that everything matters. From your thoughts you think in every moment or tell yourself everyday to what you choose to have in your life or the people that surround you. So make everything in your life matter from the big things to  even the small things. I think that you will find that it will make quite an impact in your life too. 

Make a change. Do something different. Enjoy the freedom to do so. 

I feel like this picture captures the openness I feel walking into 2014. 

As always I bring this to you with so much love and pure D-Lite. = )

2013 to 2014...

Oh man has it been a crazy year for me. 2013 has opened my eyes to so many things in life. There has been plenty of struggle in 2013 as well as moments of progress. Yes, for better or worse 2013 gave me progress. Progress that was much needed and long over due. 2013 really for me had it all and so for that I can’t say it was my best year nor the worst year of my life here on planet Earth. Regardless I am leaving 2013 loving it and so excited for what 2014 will bring with the momentum I have myself headed in. My progress is growing and its truly amazing. With every moment I progress I push myself to take even more steps forward. The last quarter of 2013 has really been a huge movement for me on all levels of my life so let me explain why. 

I said above that 2013 really opened my eyes to so much in life well that is really an understatement. Ever...single...part...of my life I feel has shifted. The last part of 2013 was when those shifts became bigger and bigger. From November on astrologically speaking there had been a strong influence of letting go of whatever does not server you. Some of the things I let go in this process were easier to let go of then others, but as the process got magnified I was forced to. This process was very painful at times and yet I am already seeing the bigger picture of why they had to happen. Regardless this last part of 2013 I felt like I was driving a huge dump-truck hauling things out of my life in a major way. 

I still don’t think that you understand just how much of my life I have gone through on my purging of what does not serve me. 

• I have deleted many numbers in my phone as well as deleted many text conversations.
• I have emptied all the pictures off of my phone.
• I took all the music off of my phone and made a brand new playlist for it.
• I have unfriended many people on Facebook.
• I have spent less time on Facebook.
• I have spent less time on my phone in general.
• I have gone through every closet in my house and gotten rid of so many things.
• I have gone through both of my chests and let go of many things I have held on to for too long. 
• I have gone through every cabinet in my kitchen and made sure what I have is what I will use.
• I have gone through all my e-mail accounts and deleted many many maaaany e-mails. I still need to do a bit more.
• I have I have gone through many of pictures on my computer and still have more work to do there as well.
• I have cut many people out of my life.
• I have gone through my book shelf and gotten rid of many books that I know I won’t read.
• I have gotten rid of lots clothes.
• I have changed the way I do many things in my life.
• I also have changed around my apartment as a whole and that has helped my soul a lot.

Needless to say there has already been on trip to goodwill. A few things I found better homes for and that felt good to do. I’m not out of the clear with the purging in my life just yet there is still much to be done, but the hardest part of getting started is done. Even with more to come I feel great and even lighter than I have ever been. 

Even as a person I have changed so much as I was looking at a picture of myself last February and I realized that I had my earrings in still. Like so many things in my life they just dropped away and in many ways I feel like I never had them. Everything is moving precisely the way it’s supposed to. 

So, enough about 2013...that is so last year. Lets talk about 2014. I have never been so excited for a new year than I am this year. I haven’t even experienced 2014 yet, but it looks so sexy to me. I’m excited to continue my journey and keep pushing me to levels I never would have expected. I never I thought I would be where I am with myself 5 years ago so who even knows where I can go in another 5 years..10 years...I mean the possibilities are so exciting don’t you think?

So as I enjoy a root beer to end the year and then one to start the new year I raise my bottle with you to say here is to the chance to make 2014 the best year ever. I promise to match 2014 with my own awesomeness in order to spread the goodness to many years beyond. 

As always I bring this to you with so much love and pure D-Lite. = )

I can’t wait till spring! ;-)

Life Through Music: “I Yust Go Nuts at Christmas” by Yogi Yorgesson

It’s a shame to me that there are many people out in this world that weren’t exposed to certain songs that are very common place for me. See my father along with showing me all the big hit songs from the past also showed me many songs that weren’t as well noticed. He knew all sorts of one hit wonders and bands that got lost in the mix that is the music industry. The influence shared with me by my father when it comes to music helped shape the diversity of my own music selection. The ability to be open to anything in the realm of music that is so vast and ever growing.

Where I’m leading to is my song of the week that is a song that I heard a lot over the last month and that is pretty common for me to listen to this time of year. It is a Christmas song that outside my father playing it I never heard on the radio or even had anyone I met play it. It is a very different and quirky song that is for sure. Especially for being a Christmas song from a long time ago in a completely different era. The song “I Yust Go Nuts at Christmas” was released by Capitol Records in 1949. Yogi Yorgesson was a persona that Harry Skarbo ( who later become Harry Steward) adopted and had some decent success with in his short career as a musician. He released a fair amount of songs under this character, but the most notable ones being “I Yust Go Nuts at Christmas” and “Yingle Bells”. 

Also, what I found interesting about him when I researched him a bit for this entry was that he was born in Tacoma Washington making him a native to the Pacific northwest. Just an interesting fact to add to my knowledge of the Pacific northwest.

This song is one of my favorite older Christmas songs to hear during the holidays. Listening to this song takes me right back to so many memories spent with my father during the holidays. Which because of my limited time with him was shorter than my time spent around my mother during the holidays. He was a big part of my love for Christmas music though and this song was just one of many that he showed me that I’m so thankful for. So, there is no message related to me directly other than just enjoying the feeling of the season and remembering all the years spent with those that mean a lot to me. My father was one of those people and like he share the song with me now I can share it with you. Enjoy. 

Lyrics:

Oh, I yust go nuts at Christmas, 

On that yolly holiday, 

I’ll go in the red, like a knucklehead 

Cause I squander all my pay. 

Oh, I yust go nuts at Christmas, 

Shopping sure drives me berserk, 

On the day before, I rush in da store, 

Like a nervous nelly yerk. 

I look at nightgowns for my vife, 

Dose black ones trimmed in red. 

But, I won’t know her size, 

And so, she'll get a carpet sweeper instead. 

Oh, I yust go nuts at Christmas 

Ven each kid hangs up his sock, 

Its a time for kids, to flip der lids, 

While der papa goes in hock. 

(speaking - background music only)

On da night before Christmas. 

Its still in the house, 

My family is sleeping, 

I’m quiet like a mouse. 

I look at my vatch, and midnite is near, 

I tink I’ll sneak out, For a cold glass of beer. 

Down at the corner, the crowd is so merry, 

I end up by drinking about twelve Tom & Yerry, 

I get to bed late, and yee vhise how I’m sleeping, 

Ven on to my bed, dose darn kids, day come leaping. 

Day sit on my face, and day yump on my belly, 

And I’m quivering all over, like a bowl full of yelly, 

Day scream Merry Christmas, and my poor vife and me, 

Ve stumble down stairs, and she lights off da tree. 

My head is exploding, my mouth tastes like a pickle, 

I step on a skate, and fall on a tricycle. 

Yust befor Christmas dinner, I relax to a point, 

Den relatives start svarming, all over da yoint. 

On Christmas, I hug and I kiss my vifes mother, 

Da rest of da year, ve don’t speak to each other. 

After dinner, my aunt, and my vifes uncle Louie, 

Get into a arguement; dere both awful screwy. 

Den all of my vifes family, say Louie is right, 

And my goofy relations, day yoin in da fight. 

Back in da corner, da radio is playing, 

And over da racket, Gabriel Heater is saying, 

Peace on earth everybody, and good vill toward men 

and yust at dat moment, someone slugs uncle Ben. 

Dey all run outside vhooping for da neighbors will hear, 

Ohhhh, I’m so glad Merry Christmas, 

Comes yust once a year. 

(back to music)

Oh, I yust go nuts at Christmas, 

But I still have lots of fun, 

Yust da same as you, I enyoy it too, 

MERRY CHRISTMAS, EVERYONE. 

I love the story that he implements into the song that even now can mean something to people of our current generation. The holidays can be quirky, frustrating, and just a plan mess, but somewhere in all that is Christmas is the beauty if sharing something between those you love. Cherish the moments, spread the love, and *singing* Merry Christmas ev-ery-one *cue the organ finish to the song above*. 

As always I bring this to you with so much love and pure D-Lite. = )

Life Through Music: “Christmas Time All Over Again” by Tom Petty andthe Heartbreakers

Well, I know not many people like Christmas music anymore. Especially at the level that I do. So, I waited till December to add some Christmas music to my song of the week series. The song I picked fits my mood for this week perfectly in regards to this time of the year. I don’t know if it was because after Thanksgiving my workload with school lightened up quite a bit or just it being December, but either way this week the Christmas spirit took me over. The song I picked is the song that I have listened to much of this last week to reflect this feeling that I always get about this holiday. 

Christmas always has been my favorite holiday and I start celebrating it as early as the beginning of November pretty much my whole life. I understand why others have such negative feelings about this time of year. Maybe it’s just the positive person in me that just makes the best of the season no matter what. I have worked in retail all of my time working and it hasn’t ruined me on the feeling of the joy that is Christmas time. I’m not even really a religious person either (even though we all know by now that it wasn’t actually Jesus’s birthday in December). Through in through there is much I love about this time of the year. 

One of the biggest things for me is getting my Christmas tree. Having a Christmas tree for me during christmas time is something I have always done. Even in years when I had no money for Christmas I managed to get enough money for a Christmas tree. I’m always glad that I do to because as I sit in the glow of my Christmas tree it warms my house and my heart.

Speaking of Christmas trees and loving Christmas I have to bring up my good friend Shannon. Shannon is the only person I know that loves Christmas as much as I do. She even goes a step further than me by watching a lot of the Hallmark Channel around this time of year. So, of course when she asked if I wanted to help her get a Christmas tree again I was so on board. This last Sunday Shannon, Tucker (her awesome dog), and myself set out to the top of the west hills to a nursery that Shannon had been driving by on her way to work. Originally we had a place in Sherwood picked out, but she said a tree on that lot was calling to her. As much as I like to go to a tree farm and cut my own down I really didn’t have the time this year. So after the breakfast I made for us we headed up the hill from my house. 

 

I have been getting noble firs for my Christmas trees over the last few years and I like them a lot, but the ones at this lot didn’t feel right. I gravitated towards the grand firs instead and the first one I liked was a hefty one that was about 7 feet tall and a very wide tree. The more that I looked at it I realized I would not be able to fit it in the spot designated in my living room. So, I went down in size and found this beauty of a tree.

The music is playing, my christmas tree is up,  and on occasion I have been drinking coconut milk nog while eating gluten free peppermint chocolate cookies...I think that the season is officially upon me. Also, after Wednesday I will take my last final for fall term and be free from school for a few weeks. So, I think that playing this song everyday this week very loud as I dance around my apartment is totally appropriate. Even for those “bah humbugs” out there. 

When I listen to this song it always reminds me of watching Home Alone 2 because that is where I heard it for the first time. Just like the excitement of Kevin McCallister when crossing the Queensboro Bridge heading into New York I’m excited to celebrate the season.

Lyrics:

"Christmas Times All Over Again"

Written by: Tom Petty

Well it's Christmas time again, decorations are all hung by the fire
Everybody's singin', all the bells are ringing out
And it's Christmas all over again, yeah again

Long-distance relatives, haven't seen'em in a long, long time
Yeah I kind of missed 'em, I just don't wanna kiss 'em, no
It's Christmas all over again, yeah again

And all over town little kids gonna get down
And Christmas is a rockin' time, put your body next to mine
Underneath the mistletoe we go, we go

Everybodys singin', all the bells are ringin' out
It's Christmas all over again, yeah again

And right down our block little kids start to rock
And Christmas is a rockin' time, put your body next to mine
Underneath the mistletoe we go, we go

Merry Christmas time come and find you happy and there by your fire
I hope you have a good one, I hope momma gets her shoppin' done
And it's a Christmas all over again
Baby it's Christmas all over again
And it's Christmas all over again

Now let's see...I want a new Rickenbacker guitar,

Please take the time to enjoy every moment of the season because it will be over before you know it. Thanksgiving went by so fast this year it feels like many many weeks have past since it happened, but in reality it has been only two weeks. Before you know it Easter will be upon us! So make the best of the season folks. There may be some negative things that have made there way into the Holiday season, but it is up to you to find the good that comes from this time of year. When you do find it hold on to it and make it brighter. 

As always I bring this to you with so much love and pure D-lite.