By far, the wildest thing that happened to me this week is that I had a visit with my dad. I realize that a daughter visiting her dad isn't necessarily a big deal to anyone but if you knew the history of my family, and especially if you could read my journals or hear the thoughts I had about my dad throughout my life, then it would all make more sense. To put it in context, this is only the 4th time in my entire life that I've been face to face with my father and I'm 45 years old.
I started to write a little bit about the shift in our relationship about 2 years ago in this blog. The short story is, I had no contact with my father throughout my entire upbringing. I met him face to face for the first time when I was 20 and I spent most of my childhood alternately wanting desperately for him to come "save me" and hating his guts for leaving me. No letters, no phone calls, no nothing...only my mind creating stories of how my dad doesn't love me.
Well, that version of our relationship is old news and a new relationship is forming. This is only possible because we both sat face to face about 3 1/2 years ago and he asked to be forgiven. He explained himself. He let me ask questions and tell him my side of the story. This only took a couple of hours. Now we spend time talking about what is going on in the present and this week, we walked to Chronic Tacos in Long Beach and sat and enjoyed each others company. I got to show him my house and my office and he got to show me photos of the rest of the family. We have started a new relationship.
This week has been huge for letting go of the past. I got out an old trunk with journals in it from as far back as 1985. My husband and I had a field day destroying and discarding all the journals that were filled with angst, anger, insecurity and more. I feel like I'm operating from a clean slate. I have to credit A Course in Miracles and many of the other studies I've done over the years that helped me to let go of the pain and fear of the past and replace it with love. If you'd like an easy way to follow A Course in Miracles, check out this site: www.the-course-in-miracles.com
I came across a quote this week by Bruce Barton: "Nothing splendid has ever been achieved except by those who dared believe that something inside of them was superior to circumstances." I realized that most of the time we are stronger than we think we are and sometimes we have to come close to losing something we value before we dig deep into our resources and access all the strength we have.
This little gif with the cat and the bear (above) is a good reminder for me. I also enjoyed the following TED video: Beverly + Dereck Joubert: Life lessons from big cats as a demonstration of that inner "something" we can all access when something is truly important to us. Be sure to watch it to the end...it's a little disturbing at one point but then becomes very inspiring.
The Ragga Muffins Festival is happening this weekend in Long Beach. That means about 25,000 people will cruise over to the Long Beach Arena at 300 E. Ocean Blvd., Long Beach and listen to Reggae all day long in the spirit of One Love. The event also features food and vendor booths. Doors open 2:30 PM - Show starts at 3:00 PM.
The Ragga Muffins Festival is recognized as the premiere Reggae Festival in the US. This two-day Music and Arts Festival continues the tradition of honoring Bob Marley, one of the greatest champions of human rights and world peace, by spreading his vision of One World, One Love through music and community.
Here's a photo gallery from last year's Ragga Muffins Festival. All photos by Michael Zampelli.
Here's the line up for the weekend:
Saturday, February 19:
• Bunny Wailer
• Rebelution
• Gyptian
• Half Pint
• Horace Andy
• Leroy Sibbles featuring The Lions
• Etana
• New Kingston
• The Green
• Quinto Sol
Sunday, February 20:
• Israel Vibration
• Gentleman
• I-Octane
• Marcia Griffiths
• Freddie McGregor
• Richie Spice
• Ras Michael and the Sons of Negus
• Don Carlos
• Cornel Campbell
• Tosh 1
This family-friendly event offers free admission to children 12 years and under when accompanied by a paid adult. The Children’s Activity Space, provided by the “What About the Children? Foundation” is another annual tradition at the Festival, providing entertainment to kids with storytellers, face painting and other enriching activities.
I am infatuated with the new Chase and Status CD and have been listening to it in my car daily. Sadly, it doesn't seem to be available on US iTunes at this time.
Today I was driving down Ocean Blvd. in Long Beach and I drove right past the exact spot where I do warrior workouts on the Bluff with Your Next Victory. Listening to 'Fire In Your Eyes' Ft. Maverick Sabre by Chase & Status while working out is a great way to feel powerful and strong.
I decided to capture the drive on video. Here it is. I highly recommend that you buy this new release, go for a road trip and crank it up. Unleash your inner warrior.
Here's the link to the album on iTunes UK: No More Idols - Chase & Status
There are so many things to listen to and see these days. I recently got a Roku player that allows me to not only watch streaming Netflix but to watch YouTube videos on my TV, to tune into iTunes Podcasts on my TV and to listen to alternative radio from San Francisco via SomaFM (I like the Groove Salad myself).
As mind-blowing as all that is/was, the thing that excited me the most this week was discovering an episode of Soul Train from the 80's with appearances from Run DMC and Dazz. In the same episode, a boy named Jesse made a "wish" with a then relatively small organization called, "Make a Wish Foundation" to dance on Soul Train. Jesse was 9 and had luekemia and this boy could bust a move. Needless to say, I pressed "keep until I delete" on my Tivo so I can watch this again and again.
Here's a video of the interview Run DMC did on Soul Train.
After watching this episode, it got me thinking about the Beastie Boys and A Tribe Called Quest. That sent me looking for a good Beastie Boys tune to listen to. I chose High Plains Drifter.
One of the things I love about Hip Hop is the storytelling aspect and how the artists weave so many associations into one song. This video demonstrates visually how many tie-ins you can cram into one song. I used to listen to all these songs over and over again trying to figure out all the references and innuendos.
All this "trippin'" down memory lane reminded me of how my brothers and I used to dance to Yo MTV Raps and how one of my brothers was dedicated enough to get cardboard, lay it out in the driveway and practice break dancing moves...yes, to Run DMC and maybe even Grand Master Flash if I remember correctly. Or maybe that was ME. Yes, I went to see Grand Master Flash twice in Hollywood in the 80's. An experience worth remembering.
My brothers and I had a lot of fun growing up thanks to music and still to this day we enjoy listening to old-school rap and hip hop at family reunions. I am especially entertained as I watch the looks on people's faces when I tell them that.
Have a great weekend and get galvanized!
P.S. I'm beginning to think it might be a good idea to have a Facebook page for iamgalvanized.com that's separate from my Sheri Zampelli page on Facebook. If you'd like to follow my activity on Facebook, and stay galvanized all week long, go to the new page I created and click "like."
Last week I blogged about how a certain Indian Chief seems to be following me. I discovered that the real Chief is love and I decided to speak about my revelation at Agape Toastmasters on Saturday. If you don't see the video above, click here to watch my speech, "Will the Real Chief (Love) Please Stand Up?"
I used photos in this speech to make my point. I got the idea of doing that by watching a few Pecha Kucha presentations. I did a Pecha Kucha presentation at the Beyond Cars Exhibit in Downtown Los Angeles if you'd like to see it.
Now on to Facebook Friday a summary of my favorite things that I posted on my Facebook wall this week.
On Saturday night I got to experience some roller derby action at the Doll Factory in Los Angeles when the L.A. Riettes battled it out with Team Legit. The final score was 125-96 in favor of Legit. Rinkrat was in the house and documented some excellent highlights from the night. Here are some of my favorites:
If you'd like to see the entire gallery of Michael Zampelli's photos from the evening, visit LAist.com.
I'm beginning to think it might be a good idea to have a Facebook page for iamgalvanized.com that's separate from my Sheri Zampelli page on Facebook. If you'd like to follow my activity on Facebook, and stay galvanized all week long, go to the new page I created and click "like."
I saw this PSA on cable about women being the world's most valuable, untapped resource. It's very powerful. Check it out. After watching this, I had a strong desire to make CARE my official charity of choice. In fact, when you purchase the Donate Your Weight program, 5% of the profits go to CARE.
If birthdays are about doing exactly what you want to do then Tina Tessina and I are both following the rules (for a change). I turned 45 in November and I did several of my favorite things. One of them is performance art in my living room. See photos above. To catch the hula hooping in action, with the sounds of Naked Raygun, Go to YouTube.
Tina Tessina had a birthday this month and her party is on Saturday..Tomorrow! I'm one of the lucky people who gets to be there. Happy Birthday Tina!
Tina holds her birthday party at Vintage Tea Leaf on Broadway in Long Beach where she's somewhat of a regular. She loves tea, she loves Vintage Tea Leaf and we all love her birthday parties and the opportunity to be girls and play dress up and sip tea.
Here's a video from last year. I hope it inspires you to do something light, fun, playful and caring with good people.
When you think about it, every musical act you know of is using the Master Mind principle whether they realize it or not. They are joining together as a team with a combined vision. You can use the same principle and make some truly rockin' things happen in your life.
Do you have a creative project you want to complete? Do you want to find a purpose for your life?
If so, I invite you to come over to my brand new page called Start a Master Mind Group.com. I'm offering 4 freebies to get you started so you can get a sense of what the Master Mind is all about.
There's nothing cool about holding back.
By far, the wildest thing that happened to me this week is that I had a visit with my dad. I realize that a daughter visiting her dad isn't necessarily a big deal to anyone but if you knew the history of my family, and especially if you could read my journals or hear the thoughts I had about my dad throughout my life, then it would all make more sense. To put it in context, this is only the 4th time in my entire life that I've been face to face with my father and I'm 45 years old.
I started to write a little bit about the shift in our relationship about 2 years ago in this blog. The short story is, I had no contact with my father throughout my entire upbringing. I met him face to face for the first time when I was 20 and I spent most of my childhood alternately wanting desperately for him to come "save me" and hating his guts for leaving me. No letters, no phone calls, no nothing...only my mind creating stories of how my dad doesn't love me.
Well, that version of our relationship is old news and a new relationship is forming. This is only possible because we both sat face to face about 3 1/2 years ago and he asked to be forgiven. He explained himself. He let me ask questions and tell him my side of the story. This only took a couple of hours. Now we spend time talking about what is going on in the present and this week, we walked to Chronic Tacos in Long Beach and sat and enjoyed each others company. I got to show him my house and my office and he got to show me photos of the rest of the family. We have started a new relationship.
This week has been huge for letting go of the past. I got out an old trunk with journals in it from as far back as 1985. My husband and I had a field day destroying and discarding all the journals that were filled with angst, anger, insecurity and more. I feel like I'm operating from a clean slate. I have to credit A Course in Miracles and many of the other studies I've done over the years that helped me to let go of the pain and fear of the past and replace it with love. If you'd like an easy way to follow A Course in Miracles, check out this site: www.the-course-in-miracles.com
I came across a quote this week by Bruce Barton: "Nothing splendid has ever been achieved except by those who dared believe that something inside of them was superior to circumstances." I realized that most of the time we are stronger than we think we are and sometimes we have to come close to losing something we value before we dig deep into our resources and access all the strength we have.
This little gif with the cat and the bear (above) is a good reminder for me. I also enjoyed the following TED video: Beverly + Dereck Joubert: Life lessons from big cats as a demonstration of that inner "something" we can all access when something is truly important to us. Be sure to watch it to the end...it's a little disturbing at one point but then becomes very inspiring.
The Ragga Muffins Festival is happening this weekend in Long Beach. That means about 25,000 people will cruise over to the Long Beach Arena at 300 E. Ocean Blvd., Long Beach and listen to Reggae all day long in the spirit of One Love. The event also features food and vendor booths. Doors open 2:30 PM - Show starts at 3:00 PM.
The Ragga Muffins Festival is recognized as the premiere Reggae Festival in the US. This two-day Music and Arts Festival continues the tradition of honoring Bob Marley, one of the greatest champions of human rights and world peace, by spreading his vision of One World, One Love through music and community.
Here's a photo gallery from last year's Ragga Muffins Festival. 
