Music Therapy with Miss Moon

“ Optimist: Day-dreamer more elegantly spelled.”
~ Mark Twain

" What seems to us as bitter trials are often blessings in disguise."
~ Oscar Wilde

" The optimism of a healthy mind is indefatigable."
~ Margery Allingham

" March on. Do not tarry. To go forward is to move toward perfection. March on, and fear not the thorns, or the sharp stones on life's path."
~ Khalil Gibran

Confession time: I haven' been faring too well in the optimism department as of late. I've been going through the motions with my daily gratitude list, but haven't been putting the love and happiness into it. So it should come as no surprise to me that I've allowed pessimism and negativity to creep into my daily life. No more, though.

I'm learning that a bright and optimistic spirited can change upon circumstance and from the neglect of it. Instead of devoting energy to wringing my hands and dwelling on the "could-a would-a should-as", I will use it to nurture gratitude for my life and acknowledging the optimistic spirit within me.

Days after coming to this conclusion, I received a significant sign from the Universe that I was headed in the right direction. I found a Hamsa, or a Hand of Fatima on my way to work, a symbol I've always loved. I love and am so grateful for the moments in my life when I receive instant confirmation that I've found the better way I've been seeking.

And to celebrate this discovery, I share with all of you today's song choice for Music Therapy with Miss Moon. I hope you all will enjoy Ben Harper's "Better Way" and that it will usher forth a better way for all of us.


i'm a living sunset
lightning in my bones
push me to the edge
but my will is stone

fools will be fools
and wise will be wise
but i will look this world
straight in the eyes

what good is a man
who won't take a stand
what good is a cynic
with no better plan

(hope these words feel pleasant
as they rest upon your ears)

reality is sharp
it cuts at me like a knife
everyone i know
is in the fight of their life

take your face out of your hands
and clear your eyes
you have a right to your dreams
and don't be denied

i believe in a better way

Music Therapy with Miss Moon

“ God is the Sun and when His rays fall upon your heart, not impeded by the clouds of egoism, the lotus blooms and the petals unfold.”
~ Sri Sathya Sai Baba

" The sun does not shine for a few trees and flowers, but for the wide world's joy."
~ Henry Ward Beecher


“Today a new sun rises for me; everything lives, everything is animated, everything seems to speak to me of my passion, everything invites me to cherish it”
~ Ninon de Lenclos

“These things I warmly wish for you Someone to love, some work to do, A bit o' sun, a bit o' cheer, And a guardian angel always near”
~ Irish Blessing

As much enjoyment I get from my night walks I must say that my favorite thing to do each day is to go out and feel the sun on my skin. It's getting cooler here in New York City, but there is still sunshine to bask in, if one takes the time out to look for it. Scientists have documented the effects sunlight has on improving one's mood, and from personal experience, I agree. I am definitely a daughter of the darkness, but I proudly admit to having a (not very) clandestine affair with sunlight!!

So this week, for the Creative Visualization Challenge I ask that you spend as much time as you can out in the sunlight. Feel the warm rays of the sun and feel fabulous about it. And to serve as a little inspiration, I hope you all will enjoy "Soak Up the Sun" by Sheryl Crow.



My friend the communist
Holds meetings in his RV
I can't afford his gas
So I'm stuck here watching TV

I don't have digital
I don't have diddly squat
It's not having what you want
It's wanting what you've got

I'm gonna soak up the sun
Gonna tell everyone
To lighten up
I'm gonna tell 'em that
I've got no one to blame
For every time I feel lame
I'm looking up
I'm gonna soak up the sun
I'm gonna soak up the sun

I've got a crummy job
It don't pay near enough
To buy the things it takes
To win me some of your love

Every time I turn around
I'm looking up, you're looking down
Maybe something's wrong with you
That makes you act the way you do

I'm gonna soak up the sun
Gonna tell everyone
To lighten up
I'm gonna tell 'em that
I've got no one to blame
For every time I feel lame
I'm looking up
I'm gonna soak up the sun
While it's still free
I'm gonna soak up the sun
Before it goes out on me

Don't have no master suite
I'm still the king of me
You have a fancy ride, but baby
I'm the one who has the key

Every time I turn around
I'm looking up, you're looking down
Maybe something's wrong with you
That makes you act the way you do
Maybe I am crazy too

I'm gonna soak up the sun
Gonna tell everyone
To lighten up
I'm gonna tell 'em that
I've got no one to blame
For every time I feel lame
I'm looking up
I'm gonna soak up the sun
I'm gonna soak up the sun

I'm gonna soak up the sun
Got my 45 on
So I can rock on.

The Greatest Miracles Happen When the Odds are Against You...

A little background history: Last year, I was working as a Customer Service Representative for Carol's Daughter here in NYC (If you called or emailed last year you perhaps got me. If so, I hope I helped and didn't piss you off! lol). I also got really serious with my then long-distance boyfriend (now cohabitant/hubby-to-be) and decided that I would move from Brooklyn to a small-ish town Upstate NY called Corning to be with him. So I quit my job, and sure that the fates would smile upon me for making such a uncharacteristically brave leap, made the move in November on my 31st birthday.

And I am not saying that the fates haven't smiled on me at all. They have brought me the most fulfilling and loving relationship I've ever had in my life. They have brought me a man who has the most amazingly loving family, and they have brought me so many wonderful experiences in the time spent in Corning (including the most wonderful surprise proposal I've ever witnessed - and it was ME being proposed to!). They just didn't bring me a job! LMAO

So, newly affianced hubby-to-be by my side, I moved back to Brooklyn, where I was 50-75% sure I would get my old job back at Carol's Daughter, as they seemed very enthusiastic about me moving back to the city. I didn't. They didn't even send me a "thanks, but no thanks" letter after my interview. Which sucks anytime you go on an interview, but sucks really hard when you have a relationship with a company and have made positive contributions of time and creativity to said company.

Fast forward 3 months, several interviews and several rejections later... I am still unemployed, and it's moments like this when it's hard to keep optimistic. Especially when I read this comment from a DailyKos article that suggests the fervor about the Malia Obama picture is not about her tee shirt, but about her hair:

"I recently attended an employment coaching class for unemployed women looking for work. Part of it entailed the usual lesson on how to dress for an interview and was astonished to hear an African-American woman speaker advise AA women not to wear "ethnic" hairstyles. It was really shocking, because as a white woman, I find braided hairstyles to be very neat and no-nonesense[sic], as they signal that the woman is not spending her mornings doing her hair."

This coupled with an article from LiveSteez that reports that the unemployment rate of black neighborhoods in NYC is way over the rate for the entire city is far from encouraging, as I happen to be an African-American woman. With "ethnic" hair. Trying to find a job in NYC. According to these articles, I have a better chance of simultaneously being struck with lightening and contracting swine flu.

Suffice to say, I had a mini-breakdown as the weight of this information landed squarely on my shoulders. I decided to regroup with a long hot shower/mini meditation. While in the shower, this phrase came up for me during the meditation:

"The greatest miracles happen when the odds are against you"

I truly believe this, and it made me instantly feel better about the situation. I don't know if I will be immediately successful, but I do feel stronger and more optimistic. In short, I am ready for the challenge and I am (sho nuff!) ready for the triumph I believe will come from it.

So I am arming myself with the love and support of my friends and family (most importantly myself!), and this amazing meditation by Lilou Mace that I plan on watching twice a day: after waking up and before bed.



And I will be open, receptive to divine instruction and guidance. And I will succeed when I find the opportunity that has my name all over it!