Music Therapy with Miss Moon

"I believe in pink. I believe that laughing is the best calorie burner. I believe in kissing, kissing a lot. I believe in being strong when everything seems to be going wrong. I believe that happy girls are the prettiest girls. I believe that tomorrow is another day and I believe in miracles."
~ Audrey Hepburn

"Each morning when I open my eyes I say to myself: I, not events, have the power to make me happy or unhappy today. I can choose which it shall be. Yesterday is dead, tomorrow hasn't arrived yet. I have just one day, today, and I'm going to be happy in it."
~ Groucho Marx

" Be happy for this moment. This moment is your life."
~ Omar Khayyam

In May, what was intended to be a routine check up with my new doctor turned into months of fear, worry, and anxiety. He called me and said that there was something wrong with my blood tests, and that my white blood cell count was unusually high. He couldn't say why, but that further tests was needed. In subsequent visits the doctor did very little to assure me or give me some idea what could be the problem. I did what most people (FOOLISHLY!) would do in that situation, and took to the internet to look into what could cause this abnormality. And I ended up scaring the hell out of myself in the process.

So for these past few months, I lived with this fear not far from my thoughts: Am I sick? Am I dying? What would my family do? Will I be a burden on them? And with the stress I gained twelve pounds, upped my cigarette smoking to a pack a day, and discovered two new gray hairs rest comfortably on Miss Mooch.

All of this worry was immediately alleviated when I went to see the Hematologist. He saw my fear, he saw the tension and spoke to me like I mattered. He said I did not have Leukemia (Which was the biggest fear, as I have a family history!) and whatever the cause... it was not life threatening! I wept with relief when I heard those words.

This journey is not over... there are still test results to look into, and I still have to figure out how I can get this resolved and fast. But in the meantime, I am going to express gratitude for each breath that I take, and each step that I make each day.

For this week's song choice for Music Therapy with Miss Moon, I wanted to pick a happy, upbeat song that reflects the state of mind I am in... I am ready to get my life back on track! I am ready to get back to everything I had set out to do on my path before I got stuck in this fog of fear! With the lyrics included in the video, I hope you all will celebrate with me to "Coolin' in the Streets" by Andra Day with a bit of help by Ziggy Marley!!

Music Therapy with Miss Moon

" Whenever anyone has offended me, I try to raise my soul so high that the offense cannot reach it."
~ René Descartes

" I will not let anyone walk through my mind with their dirty feet."
~ Mahatma Gandhi

" If the world's a veil of tears, Smile till rainbows span it."
~ Lucy Larcom

" Because of your smile, you make life more beautiful."
~ Thich Nhat Hanh

I've been given the challenge to be more positive at work. This can be hard, because I am in a profession where 75% of the energy that I deal with is negative. But I do love a good challenge, and I am planning on meeting it with gusto!

I am a generally positive person, I practice expressing gratitude as a daily ritual, and I like to consider the bright side most of the time. But I concede that I've been a Negative Nancy and I recognize the need to change that. Not only for the sake of my job... but for the sake of my spirit.

So I have promised not to succumb to the anger and negativity of others. I will recite Om Vajra Sattwa Hung (Om vahj-rah saht-wah hoong), which is a mantra I recently learned for clearing out negative energies from within your body after interacting with people with a lot of negative energy. I will remember who I am, and never let anyone change that. And I will remember to smile.



Smile, though your heart is aching, smile,
Even though it's breaking
When there are clouds, in the sky you'll get by
If you smile, through all fear and sorrow
Smile and maybe tomorrow
You'll find the sun come shining through for you

Light up your face, with gladness
Hide every trace of sadness

Although a tear maybe ever so near
Cause that's the time you must keep on trying
Smile, what's the use of crying
You'll find that life is still worth while
If you, you just smile

Although a tear is ever so near
Cause that's the time you must keep on trying
Smile, what's the use of you crying
You'll find that life is still worth while
If you, my darling just smile

Smile, darling baby, smile
Thank you, thank you very much

Music Therapy with Miss Moon

" Happiness is not something ready made. It comes from your own actions."
~ Dalai Lama

 "Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony."
 ~ Mahatma Gandhi

 " Since you get more joy out of giving joy to others, you should put a good deal of thought into the happiness that you are able to give."
~ Eleanor Roosevelt

It's actually crazy to me how happy I've been lately. A part of me believes that I actually should be worried and troubled about the areas of my life that are not completely working out the way I'd like them to right now... but I'm not. Really!

In fact, I don't think much about what's lacking. My focus lately has been on the areas of my life where there is immense joy. So I guess that's why I'm so happy!!  And because I'm the type of gal that wholeheartedly believes in sharing a good thing, I'd like to share with you all this week's song choice for Music Therapy with Miss Moon.

I don't know what it is about Starbuck's, but whenever I go there (which admittedly isn't often), I'm always tempted to splurge on the CDs they have right at the cashier. They generally as a rule have some KICK ASS music selections. One of my first impulse buys was the Sly and the Family Stone tribute album, Different Strokes By Different Folks, which I purchased years ago and is still on heavy rotation here at Casa di Miss Moon.

I was listening to the album recently, and when my song pick for this week came on... it was a wrap over here! I put that bad boy on repeat and was sangin' (not to be confused with singing) this song for HOURS at the top of my lungs. I would add much to the chagrin of my neighbors, but fortunately, I can hold a tune! LOL

So I hope you all will enjoy You Caught Me (Smilin'), sung by Sly & the Family Stone (with the help of Scar)... and I hope that it will make you smile, so that others can catch you in the act and the joy will spread!!


You caught me smilin' - again
You caught me smilin' - again

 Hangin' loose,
'Cause you ain't used to seein' me turned on.

You caught me smilin' - again
You caught me smilin' - again

 I'll be gone,
And it won't take you long to climb a tree about me.

You caught me smilin' - again
You caught me smilin' - again

 I ain't down I'll be around to carry on

You caught me smilin' - again
You caught me smilin' - again

In my pain I'll be sane to take your hand.

Be Blessed: And CHOOSE to feel GOOD

"The doors we open and close each day decide the lives we live." ~ Flora Whittemore

"To decide is to walk facing forward with nary a crick in your neck from looking back at the crossroads." ~ Betsy Cañas Garmon

"Your attitude is everything. What you came intending to focus upon in this life was your level of joy. When you click upon and set your tuner to wanting joy, everything else falls into alignment."
~ Abraham-Hicks



One of my favorite lines from the movie "Cousins" (with Ted Danson and Isabella Rossellini) is from Lloyd Bridges' character, Vince: "You've got only one life to live. You can either make it chicken sh*t or chicken salad. ". I don't know about y'all, but I'd much rather have me a chicken salad! LOL

Every morning, when we wake up and start a new day, we're presented with a choice: Will my day be a good one, or a crappy one?

We often ignore the opportunities that can come for making the choice to feel good, simply because we think that the choice is not ours to make. That's not the case!

No one has the power to make your day unhappy if you've made the choice to feel good: not that dude knocked you out of the way to get a seat in the subway, not your boss, not your landlord, not that gum-poppin' teller at the bank, no one. Just you.

When you've made a conscious choice to feel good and respond only to energy that makes you feel good... encounters with people who aren't joyful will be few and far between. And if any grumplestiltskins should try to venture onto your path, you can just shake, shake, shake, shake...shake them off (Like Mariah Carey! LOL).

Try it tomorrow! Monday is the perfect day to start a pattern of feeling good (I also promise to provide you with a Music Therapy Song to help accomplish this goal, so visit tomorrow morning!) Wake up in the morning and think to yourself, "Today.. I am choosing to have a good day!"

Music Therapy with Miss Moon

"As you are feeling positive emotion - such as love, peace, happiness, joy, excitement, exhilaration ... it is your Inner Being communicating to you in that moment that you are feeling the emotion - that your thoughts are in harmony with that which you are wanting, As you are experiencing negative emotion - such as fear or doubt, anger, hatred, jealousy, stress, guilt, anxiety .. it is a communication from your Inner Being telling you that in that moment - that which you are focused upon is not in harmony with what you are wanting." - Abraham

I've unfortunately gotten good at hiding my unhappiness. I have been very unhappy lately, and haven't expressed it, instead keeping a smile on my face. Internally, sadness consumed me. All I thought about was everything I wanted to change, and felt horrifically powerless in my inability to change it. As I focused on everything that made me unhappy, I noticed that my life became more and more miserable. The catalyst came and went, as they are known to do... I faced and expressed everything I was feeling and I came to the decision that I need to (To paraphrase Terry McMillan) get back to happy.

Music Therapy is not just a catchy name for my music posts, it's something I strongly believe in and something that has helped me immensely in the past. This week's song selection is one that I have recently adopted as a theme song, because it makes me feel beautiful, magical, blossoming and full of possibilities. That's a feeling I need to feel right now. I need to wrap it around me and carry it with me at all times.

Written for Cree Summer by Esthero, this week's Music Therapy with Miss Moon song is "Black Mermaid". Enjoy!!





Black Mermaid

i’m a black mermaid
from the bottom of the sea
i will teach you how to love me
into greatness i will lead you
’cause i’m a black mermaid
nothing rarer you will find
i am here for you to love me
i’ve been here for all o’ time
and i will wait for you to see me and to understand
that a woman can restore the soul of any broken man
if you can look beyond the waves and just believe in me…..
i am the lighthouse standing strong atop the rocks and sand
’cause i’m a black mermaid
from the bottom of the sea
i will teach you how to love me
into greatness i will lead you
and i’ve spent most of my life deep down inside myself
i’ve dreamt about the possibility of someone else
who could see the things i’ve seen and steal away with me
into the darkness we could fade because we know ourselves
and i’m his black mermaid
from the bottom of the sea
i will teach you how to love me
into greatness i will lead you
yeah i’m a black mermaid
from the bottom of the sea
i will teach you how to love me
into greatness i will lead you
and i’ve spent most of my life deep down inside myself
i’ve dreamt about the possibility of someone else
who could see the things i’ve seen and steal away with me
into the darkness we could fade because we LOVE ourselves
and i’m his black mermaid
he thinks i’m beautiful
yeah i’m his black mermaid
he thinks i’m beautiful
i am beautiful
(All the dark horses and all the good men,
won’t you come put me back together again?)
i am beautiful.

Be Blessed: Experiencing Unapologetic Joy

Those of you that have visited or lived in New York City know that we have our share of characters. Last week, on my way to the subway from work, I spotted a man, skipping down Nassau Street. He wasn't arm-in-arm with a lover, and he wasn't drunk or crazy. He was just skipping.. for reasons specifically his own.

On lookers pointed and stared, shaking their head in amazement. Others vocally questioned his sanity. I thought he was dope as hell, and to be honest, I was a bit envious. I was jealous that in my tired, work worn state, I couldn't conjure up the pure, unapologetic joy it takes to skip down the street.



This week, I am going to embrace every opportunity to fully experience joy. And when I feel inclined to, I will express it openly and fully.