Posts Tagged ‘magazine’

Power of The Almighty Defenders

Sunday, November 8th, 2009
Is it a coincidence that I bought The Almighty Defenders album on Halloween and now it's haunting me? : :

The Almighty Defenders - Cone Of Light from The Pool Parties on Vimeo.

The Almighty Defenders strike me as a rockabilly gospel band. They dress in gospel choir robes on stage and have an eclectic Elvis, meets bar band, meets Motown sound. I discovered them while listening to XMU. Each time they played Cone of Light, I found myself looking down at the satellite receiver to catch the name of the artist and track. I did this enough times that it finally stuck. I came home, looked them up on iTunes and knew I would not be satisfied until I owned this entire album and could play it whenever and wherever I wanted. itunes_iconCheck out The Almightly Defenders on iTunes. Free Shipping 468x60banner If you like any of these things, you might like The Almighty Defenders (and vice versa). All links go to iTunes: Otis Redding, The Cramps, Make Up, Butthole Surfers, Motown, Gospel, Elvis Presley, Flipper, Sun Trash, The Pretty Things, Manfred Mann, Plimsoles, The Kinks, The Grass Roots, The Supremes, James Brown, Sam Cooke The Almighty Defenders are a clever mix of "all of the above"itunes_iconCheck out The Almightly Defenders on iTunes.

Rave Reviews from The Ray Part IV

Saturday, May 31st, 2008
Let's put this in perspective, I am on my forth (and final) blog about one magazine and I'm only on page 17 of 23. The magazine is The Ray and you can subscribe on-line at www.theray.org. In Vaishali's article, How Spiritually Healthy Are You? I found two quotes that were a little lengthy but too powerful to keep to myself: "You can take all the vitamins you want, eat healthy, fresh foods, exercise regularly, drink plenty of water, sleep eight hours nightly, but if you go through your day criticising yourself and others, finding fault and blame in yourself and others, intimidating, disrepecting or bullying yourself or others gossiping from a mean spirited heart, or witholding help and compassion from yourself and others, then you are deeply Spiritually unhealthy. Disenfranchising God consciousness is a Spiritual illness, and the primary symptom of this malady is unhappiness." The other quote was, "Take a step back and objectively look at your life. How often are you recreating your old issues? You know the old, outdated sources of suffering you love so much to indulge in: worrying, telling yourself you will never be happy or truly loved, building a monument with your awareness to how there is never going to be enough time, love, money or opportunity. Ask yourself how often are you recreateing these perceptions? How often do you reach for the worry drug of choice and justify the addiction?" I think the two above quotes are eloquently stated and need no elaboration. Making Sense of Men by Alison ArmstrongTurn the page and you'll find the article Making Sense of Men. Vivian L. Geffen interviews Alison Armstrong, creator of PAX Programs and author of Making Sense of Men - A Woman's Guide to a Lifetime of Love, Care and Attention from All Men. Visit www.understandingmen.com for more. Here are a few quotes from Alison Armstrong: "If a woman asks herself "What would I do if he were my friend?" she'll get the most honest, straightforward, authentic partnership oriented answer to the question." When Vivian Geffen asked if "women project their insecurities onto men's behaviors," Armstrong responds, "(Women) project everything. We project our motivations on to them as if they are their motivations. Rarely do men do things for the same reasons as women." "Women don't know that men absolutely love women. As a starting point, they LOVE us. They think we're beautiful and fascinating and magical and possess mysterious abilities that are beyond their understanding. They need women. They need women's attention and our care...They know they need us and they don't try to resist it. They are empowered by our happiness." BasilThe final article is about The Benefits of Basil. I already love Basil. I don't have to be convinced to eat it. In fact, just this week I ate an awesome beef/basil Thai dish at May's Thai Kitchen in Long Beach. About 16 people from the Your Next Victory team were in attendance. May treated us all like kings and queens. If you have a chance, you should stop by for a meal. Tell May Sheri sent you ;)

Rave Reviews of The Ray – Part II

Saturday, May 24th, 2008
You HAVE to get a copy of The Ray, even if you just sign up for it on-line at www.theray.org. The Ray just expanded their distribution channels. I saw copies at Agape church today and some at The Library coffee shop in Long Beach yesterday. In my last post, I told you all about The first 11 pages of The Ray. 11 Pages?? It's insane that 11 pages of one magazine inspired an entire blog. This magazine required 4 blogs! (New ones coming soon). Queen_EstherSo let's move on to Gina Ratliffe's article, Why Women Love Money. I love this quote, "As I have learned from the exquisite role model, Queen Esther from ancient Persia, the goal for us as wise, empowered, feminine women is not to "become" Queen. It is our duty, our response-ability and our opportunity to BE Queen, for only from this place of power can we fulfill our purpose." Ratliffe outlines 8 Reasons Women Want to Make More Money That Have Nothing to Do With Money. 1. Basic needs, 2. Romantic Relationship, 3. Personal Expansion & Momentum, 4. Creative Expression, 5. Career Advancement, 6. Greater Self-Confidence, 7. Community and 8. Power. I love what she said about community, "Money is needed for the cultivation of community as it is required for membership fees, gas to drive and meet a girlfriend, pay for a cup of tea and ultimately have the funds needed to powerfully exist in social, professional and sacred circles." Regarding power Ratliffe says, "Our world needs the savvy, smart and talented woman to not just be great at her profession, but to also be wise and asstute to harnessing the power of money." I say Amen Sister. And I'm only on page 16.

Rave Reviews of The Ray – Part I

Sunday, May 18th, 2008
I mentioned in an earlier blog that I met the editor of The Ray at Kathe Scaaf's workshop in Orange on May 3. Well, I saw Sierra again yesterday at the I Am Woman conference and we had a nice chat. I am so glad I discovered The Ray. As soon as I opened it up to read it I was like, "O-My-God." Talk about a page turner. I literally read with a pen in my hand. I underlined stuff. I put notes in the margins. I want to share some of the highlights with you. I was already pumped up by the ads before I even got to Sierra's Editor's Greeting because everything about this magazine is empowering. Toward the end of Sierra's greeting she shared a question with readers that she asks herself when she's evaluating relationships in her life. The question is: "is this relationship gaining interest, breaking even, or putting me in debt?" She empasized that sometimes the relationship that we need to evaluate is the relationship that we have with ourselves. Flip just one page and you're at an article by Byron Katie with Michael Katz titled Your Most Intimate Relationship. Here's my favorite quote from that article, "The irony is that the struggle to win love and approval makes it very difficult to experience them. Chronic approval seekers don't realize that they are loved and supported not because of but despite their efforts. And the more strenuously they seek, the less likely they are to notice." At the close of the article Byron Katie writes, "I don't let go of thoughts, I question them and they let go of me." You can find out more about Byron Katie at www.thework.com. Flip only one more page and there is an article by Lenore Perry titled "Relationship Reflection". One simple quote in this article was VERY impactful for me. I thought about it over and over again even hours after I read it. Are you ready? "I have heard it said that 5 years in a healthy, connected and deeply intimate relationship can undo a fair amount of the damage done in our childhoods. It can literally heal old wounds. That is why we look for people who have qualities reminiscent of the worst traits of our parents. We want another shot. And we get it. We see things in ourselves through the most unrelenting mirror." This SO describes my marriage. Only it has taken me 12 (not 5) years to figure out that my husband is not the enemy, I am. I have lived in the victim mind set for so long that I drew a picture in my mind of who I "thought" my husband was and I interacted with him as though my thoughts were the truth. I had reasons to get stuck in the victim mode. An entire childhood of good reasons and lots of juicy stories. To illustrate, I might even post a blog of me with a broken arm when I was 2. You won't believe how it happened. But here's the most important point of all, I was 2 years old 40 years ago. Part of the victim/"I gotta protect myself" mindset is that I thought I was so smart if I realized "he's just like all the other guys." I was "smart" by not listening to him. I was "smart" by pretending that I knew what was best. I resisted and resented my very best tool in the world. I had it at my disposal most every day and every night for 12 freaking years. It was my way out of prison and I could not see it and I could not walk through. If I was awake, I would have to acknowledge that my husband believes in me more than I believe in myself. He wants me to succeed. He wants me to be happy. But my own ingrained thoughts of fear, insecurity and mistrust prevented me from seeing the signs. Instead, I viewed him thorugh a filter of fear and insecurity. It's as if there was a decoder between the two of us and by the time his message got to me, I jumbled it up in code and turned it into a nasty plea for victimhood. I am just now ready to break out of the victim mode and be present in my life. Living in the past and the future has eaten up many years and lots of potential. I want to live my remaining days to the fullest. I'll write more about The Ray in an upcoming blog and I think I'm gonna post that picture. I want to create awareness of the impact of trauma and also talk about some ways you can heal.

The Ray – It’s Illuminating

Monday, May 12th, 2008
I have grown up my entire life looking at magazines. It was a teen magazine, with Brooke Sheilds in the centerfold that provoked my first memorable thought that "I'm not good enough, I'm fat, I should lose weight." I was 12. I didn't even weigh 100 lbs yet. But that day when I saw that picture and had those thoughts was the beginning of my obsession with weight and eating. I began counting calories, I eventually started smoking and then I started taking legal and illegal drugs to suppress my appetite and make me thin. A couple of years ago, I proclaimed a complete hiatus from women's magazines. I cancelled my subscriptions, I ignore the envelopes from In Style telling me they "want me back." Just the other day I was reflecting on how my fast from fashion magazines has made a noteable impact on my self-esteem and body image. My need, want and desire to consume or to shop for the sake of shopping is totally gone. I feel more at peace with myself right now than I ever have. It turns out there is at least one magazine that I can read from cover to cover and feel like a better person for it. The magazine is called The Ray and their website is at www.theray.org. I met the editor, Sierra at a recent workshop with Kathe Schaaf. I know that Sierra's heart is dedicated to empowering women and being her best self. As I read this magazine, I felt compelled to get out a pen and start underlining things and writing notes in the creases of the page. I want to share more about that with you in an upcoming blog. I want to share some of the quotes and my reactions to them and I want to get your reactions too. If you're sick of the same old women's magazines with starving models on the cover and articles about where to find the best bra and if you feel full of untapped potential that you want to tap, you just might love The Ray as much as I did.