Inspiration – Thought Changer

Our stories live in our bones. In our cells. In our hearts. In our minds. In our guts. In our memorys. In our mothers. In our fathers. This Father’s Day week, as I was picking out a card for my dad, one that will honor him and what he means to me, it got me thinking about how entrenched he is in my own story, and about how our actions, decisions, attitudes, beliefs and our very lives, are a culmination of all of our stories as well the tales of our greatest influencers, including the good, bad and ugly. My dear friend Tina Alexis Allen has done more than buy a card in honoring her dad with her “one-man” show, “Secrets of a Holy Father,” which she wrote and stars in. By transforming herself into him, Tina takes her father’s journey through life and the afterlife, confronting and embracing the… Read more →

When Madonna appeared on one of Oprah’s last shows this week, that’s what she said we’ve learned from Oprah, “Never. Ever. Give. Up.” Ironically, I’ve been gathering notes for this article for the last few days because this phrase has been popping into my consciousness a lot lately. A profile in MORE Magazine on first time novelist, Kathryn Stockett, The Help, carried as its theme, “Don’t Give Up.” Stockett received, amazingly, 60 rejections over a three-year period until a wise agent picked up her manuscript and proceeded to sell it in three weeks time! People told her she was crazy, to move on to something else. But, she never gave up. Ever. She kept revising, submitting, revising, and submitting. There are numerous stories like this, from Thomas Edison to Henry Ford, to Diane von Furstenberg, to J.K. Rowling, where the odds were stacked against success, and success still came after… Read more →

I’ve been through it all, baby, I’m mother courage. ~ Elizabeth Taylor Mother’s Day. Days like this can’t help but bring reflection, whether you’re a mother or not. In fact, in my close community there is a good number of women are not mothers, in the sense that they have birthed a child. There was a time when there was a pretty big stigma that came along with a woman who didn’t have children, whether it was by her own choosing or not. And, there still is a certain level of judgment or event pity in some minds, in some circles. Me with my Mom (pregnant with my sister) and my Grandmas I have so much admiration for mothers who are dedicated to raising and nurturing, loving their offspring. I have a fabulous mother whose priorities and dedication never wavered as I struggled through painful adolescence into adulthood. She rocks!… Read more →

The blooming lilies beckoned from my back yard this morning. I answered with my coffee cup in hand as I perused the outstretched buds, which live in seeming peace with a sprout of weeds and dying patch of grass nearby. Usually, when I pay a too seldom visit to my little piece of LA, I focus on the weeds, the dead grass and the wilting flowers. The upkeep seems never-ending. Of course the metaphor hit me over the head this Easter morning. And, it got me thinking about now much easier, and safer, it is to focus on the areas in life that aren’t working. The good stuff is right there in plain sight, but the clouds of negativity, judgment and doubt hover so heavily that we can’t see the opportunity, grace and beauty waiting for us to experience. Re-birth follows death. Thinking about the process as the natural course… Read more →

It had been raining for days in Los Angeles. On one such afternoon, when the rain took a breath, I looked out my kitchen window and saw something you don’t see very often. A red balloon. A red balloon that hovered mid-air as it’s white string tapped hopefully on the patio cement. A red balloon that had survived the storm. How did it wander into my yard? Did it feel safer there? Was it hiding under my olive tree, hoping the storm wouldn’t find it there? For me it created a sense of wonder which I sort of think red balloons were put on this earth to do, to create in us a sense of wonder, of what’s possible. So, I’ve been noodling that around for a few days. And, then last night I went to my nephew’s basketball game. Kirk’s team, Walled Lake Northern, played cross-town rival Lakeland for… Read more →

I’m sure there are many days you’d rather end that sentence as in the classic 1977 Johnny Paycheck hit. I find it ironic that Johnny’s last name is Paycheck, given the theme of this post. I’m just sayin’. I read a crazy statistic that some 1 million people call in sick every day, and surveys vary, but anywhere from 45% to 87% of people in this country don’t like their jobs. So, if this is you, you’re definitely not alone. But, this isn’t a misery-loves-company kind of day. How about you make a vow to really love your job? Even if it’s just for a day? If you’re already there, congratulations! If not, perhaps some of the following ideas might help: Call in sick. Kidding. First morning thoughts – when you get up in the morning, think of 3 things you’re really looking forward to that day, anything from seeing… Read more →

“Music is the mediator between the spiritual and sensual life.” ~ Beethoven I saw this brilliant show last night at The Ahmanson in LA, the original Broadway cast in the Tony nominated play, “33 Variations.” The story dissects Beethoven’s obsession with his composition of 33 variations on Anton Diabelli’s waltz, told via a musicologist’s own obsession with Beethoven’s obsession. The musicologist was portrayed mesmorizingly by Jane Fonda. It got me thinking about how both of their obsessions led to true genius by “33 Variations” playwright Moises Kaufman. Does obsession lead to genius? Can it? If it’s channeled in the right way? Is it curiosity with purpose, or a need to fill a never-ending hole? Is it ever satisfied? Dorothy Parker said, “The cure for boredom is curiosity. There is no cure for curiosity.” Well, if this is what curiosity leads to obsession leads to genius looks like… I want some. Read more →

“You’ve been given a great gift, George. The chance to see what the world would be like without you.” ~ Clarence in “It’s a Wonderful Life” What a great line from an iconic movie. I saw the Frank Capra film on the big screen for the first time this year at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood. It was such a treat seeing it as a feature film with 300 other rapt moviegoers, popcorn and all. The comment we made as we left the historic theatre was “they don’t make movies like that anymore.” Then, last night a friend took me to see “West Side Story” at the Pantages Theatre. It’s truly the perfect evening of musical theatre, the brilliant re-telling of Romeo & Juliet set to music by Leonard Bernstein and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. After seeing both of these treasures that have stood the test of time and whose… Read more →

By the age of 20 you likely have developed the core values by which you’ll live your life. Today is my niece Dana’s 20th birthday and she has become a lovely, centered, self-motivated and compassionate young woman. She’s already a leader. And, this Mother’s Day week in particular it got me thinking about what an incredible mother my sister has been, instilling that admirable sense of self and value in both of her children. And, how she became that mother is in large part because of the amazing example set by our mother. It also got me thinking about whether we realize it or not, we are setting examples every day, in our businesses, careers and lives. But, since many times the focus is squarely on what’s in front of us on that given day, we don’t realize the potential impact and influence, large and small, we may have on… Read more →

“Seeing is believing.” ~ American Proverb The past weekend symbolized for many, new beginnings, re-birth and revitalization. It seemed the perfect time to create a vision board. So, my two best girlfriends, Ferrell and Kelly, and I spent Saturday exploring our goals, dreams and visions and then created vision boards full of images, words and phrases that brought those to life. Yes, mimosas were involved, but we took this very seriously. So much of this process is changing your mindset from one of “maybe, if and possibility” to one of “yes, now and probability.” Possibility is awesome; but probability is the seed of certainty. We brought the goals and visions that we had each laid out at the beginning of the year, educated ourselves about vision boarding principles and then spent an entire afternoon supporting each other’s bold, dream-big-live-big visions. And, what was truly beautiful about it, in that ‘yes,… Read more →