Saturday, October 25, 2008

FEATHER'S BREATH CD is here!


Yep...how busy has it been here!
I began this recording well over a year ago, and though i feel weird releasing two recordings so close together, when you look at it, it's just that they both came to be finished near the same time.

A good part of my time is spend jumping from project to project...I'm a fire-stoker, you see. I have never been able to only focus on one project from start to finish. I like to keep my perspective fresh, and this is the way i've evolved my work.

i used to worry that i was never going to finish things. After all, i have cupboards filled with half knitted jumpers, half-sewn clothes, unfinished pictures, and less-than-completed songs. But somewhere amongst the chaos of leapfrogging from one thing to the next, things grow, until overnight it seems they are finally finished.

I am particularly fond of this recording, as it's the first public recording i have made with no electronic instruments, something i have been meaning to do for a while. This recording is one for the breath..

I hope you enjoy it as much i i truly loved creating it.
smiles to you,
Tania

Wednesday, October 8, 2008

Meditations have Arrived



It's proving to big a big year.
I have just finished recording FEATHERS BREATH, which holds a special place in my heart. It's the first public recording i have made without any electronic instrumentation of any kind. It happened out of the blue, without plan, without thought. In a few days it will arrive, and i am sooo excited.

Talking about an arrival...The SECRET HEALING CD arrived a few weeks ago. Here is is fresh out of the box...


I can hardly keep up with things at the moment. The CD went berserk in the first week, which is why i haven't even written a post here yet to let you know it's arrived!!

It's all a bit daunting when i'm waiting for the first run of a cd. I get a bit scared of how the artwork will print, and wonder if the recording will live up to expectations. It's all the paranoid stuff that creeps it's way into my psyche. I usually distract myself while i'm waiting by launching myself into other projects...but the wait alwasys seems endless...2 weeks feels like months.

I'm very humbled by so much support, and do apologize this news isn't hot off the press. Don't worry, for those of you hanging out for these meditations, we have plenty of them, and will keep plenty of stock in reserve.



If you click Secret Healing CD album cover, it will take you straight to our Artscope Music ebay store. I promise to be more prompt with giving you the heads-up when Feather's Breath arrives.

Smiles to all of you for your generous support, and wonderful emails.

I remain your biggest fan...

Sunday, August 17, 2008

SECRET HEALING MEDITATIONS CD almost complete!

Yes, it's finally almost here. In a few weeks SECRET HEALING MEDITATIONS, my first spoken guided meditation cd is complete...so if you were planning to join the throngs who have been emailing me to ask when it will be released, you will no doubt hear about it soon.

As usual i've been working on several projects at once, and am getting very excited at them all nearing completion within the next few months. A second spoken meditation CD (no title just yet), and a long awaited recording FEATHERS BREATH will be following on the heals of SECRET HEALING.

It's been quite a productive time recently, though i have felt quite snowed-under with other things. The CORAL SEA DREAMING 2 film is nearing completion, with plans for release in 2009, and an assortment of other bits and pieces which may become more tangible projects in the next few months will keep me very busy for the rest of the year.

Thursday, June 12, 2008

Rediscovering An Old Friend

Wow! Since my last post things have totally changed. My create-1-new-thing-every-day campaign has not only brought about a whole new range of creative projects, but it had totally changed ME!

It's so easy when your you're a mother of small kids to put yourself last. It's starts off being the right thing to do, as a babies needs are all about fulfilling the Now, and with great urgency. My 3 boys were each only 2 years apart, so i was either breastfeeding or pregnant for 6 years, constantly in a state of alertness to their needs, and cramming in my own things between nappy changes, comforting, and mood swings (theirs AND mine). Let lone sleeplessness...

Now my youngest is 3, and has recently become agreeable to negotiations, i realised just how highly-strung my day had become. Frantically hanging washing out in order to rush back inside to get back to the baby, it suddenly dawned on me that i didn't have a baby anymore, and that i could take my time, relax, and let my thoughts flow. I could get back in touch with ME again.

I'm not sure how i managed to cram in recording a couple of albums, shooting film-clips, writing soundtracks and songs, and a myriad of other project during these past few years (except to say that working from home is a blessing . I think a determination to trudge through the torrential downpours helped, but i also have come to believe that's it's more about just who i am, and how i am.

So my recent campaign has been more about giving myself permission to let go, and to find myself. To catch up to that place pre-family, where a day was more about immersing myself in the project than hanging washing and preparing 20 little meals every day.

I may not get to sleep-in much after 7am, and working into the wee hours just isn't gonna see me sane, but a little cuddle and a cute few words is all the inspiration i need these days to indulge in the creating of a masterpiece! Or at least an incredible achievement in the midst of chaos!

Monday, May 19, 2008

One new thing Every Day!

I often get asked in interviews whether i find it difficult to handle the business side of my profession (as many creative people find it a huge challenge). The truth is i really do love the admin and managerial stuff i need to do every day. The down side is that it's very easy for me to spend weeks getting so absorbed in the business side, that i forget to stoke the creative fires.

So this week i gave myself the challenge to CREATE ONE NEW THING EVERY DAY. It sounds like a big ask, but when you break it down to the fundamental principal of the idea, it's not difficult to achieve at all. I'm not asking myself to write a whole song every day, or write a masterpiece. All i'm asking to do is flirt with my creative mind at least once during each and every day.

It might be a simple thing, such as taking a photograph, or trying a new take on an old recipe. At the moment i'm designing t-shirts, and i find that very gratifying, but it might be just writing a verse of poetry.


Just think, if we all did something small each day, we would have 365 new things that have come from within ourselves every year.

Imagine too taking this idea to another level, like doing one kind gesture every day. If only 10people in your town followed this principal, there would be 3650 kind gestures per year, which could touch a lot of people. Of course, you'd have to make it so it was a step further than your normal niceness (I'm sure you do nice things all of the time). Maybe there's a lonely old person who you could bring a nice meal to, or offer to pick up a friends children from school one afternoon when you pick up your own. Little things like thanking someone else for taking the time to make your own life better (someone who goes that extra mile - we should all thank them). The possibilities abound.

So, ONE NEW THING EVERY DAY. It's not that hard. We just have to decide to do it. Heres the link to the T-shirt
smiles to you! Tania

Monday, May 5, 2008

Connections

What is it that makes two people connect?
They can be strangers in the street.
They can see each other from the other side of the store.

What is the energy that draws us nearer?
What is the desire to interact?
Do we need to understand it?

No matter where i go i see people working very hard to avoid contact, when it would be far easier just to look at me and give a little smile or a nod. It takes so much more energy fighting the natural instinct to look at someone than to acknowledge it with a simple smile.

I choose to embrace the natural instinct. I used to look away, pretend to be watching something else, act like i didn't have the urge. Now i'm a little wiser, i smile, sometimes even say hello. Other people seems to feel relieved. It's like i've given them permission to not have to play that stupid game.

Next time you catch yourself playing the avoidance game, give a little smile. You'll be a much more honest person for it, and you might even make someone else feel a little bit better about themselves.

Saturday, May 3, 2008

Living Simply...what can you trade with me?

We live in a very complex world, full of complex things and complicated happenings. If only there was a way to simplify everything, wouldn't our life be better? Imagine if we could...

Everything CAN be simplified. Human beings don't need much at all to live and be content. The problems many of us are experiencing in this mad mad world are symptomatic of the complexities we attribute to everything. and yes, WE buy into them. WE make it complicated. WE CHOOSE to think of it as being complicated.

"I have no time to myself" - then allocate some
"All i seem to do is rush rush rush" - s-l-o-w down. Take time to smell the flowers
"I just don't understand it" - do you really need to?

Sure, you can come back to me with a "you don't understand. It's more complicated than that". Who says it is? Oh, you do.

The thing is that we live in a time where all of the "experts" tell us we don't know anything unless your another expert (and then you're wrong anyway). We have forgotten how to simply live, or is that live SIMPLY.

You need shelter, healthy food, and fun. That's it. Money is simply a means to be able to have healthy food and shelter. It's a way of trading one service for another. It's not complicated. Our ancestors used to swap cabbages for milk, but when you don't have anything to trade with, money became a way of giving points which could later be traded for something else with someone else.

So what can you do, or do you have, or can you make which is worth trading? I trade with people i know all of the time...a friend gives me massages and i make promotional material for her, i help another friend producing her album, and she does some work for my business. Everyone has something to trade with, even if it's just their time to help in the garden, or mow the grass, or look after children.

And you know, trading in this way makes the transaction a meaningful one. When's the last time you had a meaningful transaction, where both parties felt a sense of fullfillment and friendship? And you don't even have to be friends with the person.

This is how communities evolve, and how people care for each other, and how bonds and friendships are formed and people are nurtured. THIS is just one tiny example of how we can learn from the past, and become healthier and happier living simply. And the biggest buzz is that it FEELS GOOD.

This week, offer to trade something with someone. Think of something you would like done for you, and be the first to offer the trade (make it a friend to get started). once you get the hang of it, you won't look back, and it will be the start to your life becoming simpler.

You CAN make the change! You just need to want it.

Tuesday, April 29, 2008

...and do it NOW!

Just to add to the previous post (and for all of you perfectionists out there): as guru Seth Godin put it so perfectly Doing it well now is much better than doing it perfectly later . Couldn't have said it better myself.
smiles to you,
Tania

Monday, April 28, 2008

Find freedom in DOING

It's amazing how much time we spend thinking about the possibilities of doing things instead of actually doing them.
Just pick one thing you have been really wanting to get around to doing "one day". How many hours have you spend thinking about the possibility? How much time and energy have you spent talking yourself in and then out of it? How much energy have you invested in the "maybe"?
If we turned that energy around into actually DOING it, we would be well into it by now. Sure, there's risks...that's what life is about. Would you really rather be safe and unsatisfied, or find freedom in actually doing what you feel drawn to do?

We pend so much time wishing we could be somewhere/someone/doing-something else, that we have forgotten how to go out there and create our own reality, invent our own future, and take charge of our own destiny.

It's in our genes to go out and take risks, to chase down the scary beast with nothing but a spear to feed the family. It's a rush, an adrenalin pumping high, which excites us, makes us run faster, leap further, take ourselves to new highs we have never been to before. It makes us shine.

Go on, go ahead and shine. Take a leap, and make it happen. Isn't it better than sitting here just thinking about it?

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

It's the little things...

As we go about our time in this big old world, with huge hopes and big dreams, it comes down to the simple little things that are easy, free, and full of goodness that shape our future, give rise to newness, and open ourselves up to new possibilities.

It's the little things, like:
  • choosing to buy a particular product over another because it uses more environmentally sustainable packaging.
  • opening the door for a mother with a pram
  • smiling at a stranger instead of looking away
  • saying a kind word in the face of gossip
  • taking a breath in and feeling grateful for those small wonders of life
There is so much negativity and shallow thinking in this world. But it's those little things which change our personal reality for the better.

Thursday, April 17, 2008

How Remarkable


Remarkable things happen every day.

For some battling illness, it's remarkable to be able to get out of bed in the morning. For the single parent with 3 small children, ending the day with a smile is remarkable. For some, arriving on public transport on time for work is a remarkable thing. For others, it's remarkable that
they find a job at all. For the broken, it's remarkable to find hope. For the weary, finding that last lunge is a remarkable thing.

Things change every day, and each day brings something remarkable to every person alive.


What's remarkable for you?

Wednesday, April 9, 2008

What you don't see, dies!


Sounds pretty aweful doesn't it.

I've just finished recording the soundtrack to a remake of an undersea film, CORAL SEA DREAMING, by Emmy Award winneing filmmaker David Hannan.
When i wrote the music to the original film in 1992, it seemed almost impossible that this rich reef life could simply curl up and die. But it did. It's GONE.


This new film (shot entirely in high definition - yes, it's awsome!), was filmed in new locations, where small pockets of reef life still exists. Yet, this too will most certainly perish, because it's gone beyond being able to turn things around. Sad to think that it's now about preserving the memory of it.


So what happens next? As our reefs die, our seas will turn toxic, which will destry our fragile atmopshere, killing plants and animals, which includes us. Dramatic? Yup! Realistic? Let's put it this way...scientists are ASTOUNDED at the rate of sea life degredation. What they thought would take 100 years to die is already gone. Scary? You bet ya!


So, you live nowhere near the coast. Has nothing to do with you! Wanna know where your waste ends up? How about all that greenhouse gas your choices are contributing to. Yes, that includes you choices in packaging, products, and anywhere else your money goes. You buy it, you'r killing
it. Sorry for bearing bad news.


If you've seen AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH (by Al Gore), you know the picture.
Is it really this bad? Well, we could keep going the way we are and find out.


Wanna try?

Saturday, March 1, 2008

"That's ok, i don't need a plastic bag thanks..."


When i'm out shopping i have to say this phrase at almost every checkout. Strangely, even at the end of transactions at my regular places, where the shoppkeepers and i not only know each others names, but also our children and our happenings. Some of these people i see almost every day in our very small country township. But even so, the bag issue just doesn't go away, even after briefing them to never offer me a bag, just give it me "as is", where i pop it in my "granny trolley" (which follows me jus about everywhere), and off i go.


Taking control of my own participation in eco alternatives (or back-to-basics, as i like to think of it) was initially difficult, until i decided to turn those small decisions into a code of conduct. One it
became the foundation of the small things, it evolved into other things. For example, here at Artscope Music we only pack our cd orders in packaging that comes from other local businesses (who donate it to us instead of putting it in their bins), and instead of using bubble-mailers, we send our cds in non-plastic jiffy-bags, which are totally biodegradable and are manufactured from a percentage of recycled newspapers.

Changing ourselves

This approach to challenge the norm took courage more than anything else. It took me a while to ask local business if they had any small boxes i could take off their hands. It was awkward for all of us, as it was the first time either of us had thought about it. With the jiffy bags (which cost about twice the price as standard plastic mailers), it was more about realising that it was only the cost factor that was holding me back. As soon as i realised this, i simply told myself that plastic was not good enough for us. We, as guardians of this planet, and myself, as a mother of 3 small children, have a moral obligation to do what's right. It wasn't going to kill the business, in fact i decided "let's brag about it", in the hope that other people might also be inspired to do something too.

As consumers, we often feel that we have no choice in some of these matters, but in reality we are the ones who hold the purse strings. If we collectively say NO to plastic, and put our money where our mouths are, we will force businesses and marketers to change. And instead of just
settling on saying no to the bag, every week we can tweek our stance to include other things, like supporting local growers, or requesting a certain brand at our local supermarket, or refusing to spend money at the big stores in support of local business.
Make a deal, sort something out with your store. make a change, and then brag about it. Be proud of your stance, it will help others find the courage to make their own changes.

Friday, February 8, 2008

Relaxation...thankyou, i'll take some!


Funny isn't it. For thousands of years humans worked very hard, fighting off beasts, catching dinner, and gathering wild food. We evolved so many extraordinary ways of survival, and inbetween these extreme activities, we sat around and did...nothing. Maybe we chatted amongst each other, mabe we just gazed out in the distance. We know we did this because many cultures outside of the west still do. This was our down-time. Zoneing out, plebbing out, chillin out...time out. We evolved to a state of NEEDING this time to balance the other extremes of life. We couldn't go around fighting beasts EVERY minute!


Now look at us. We come home from a hard slog at work, and then we try to have our own "down time"...television, internet...but what are we really doing? Tapping into tension-filled programs, zipping around websites...we have to be kidding ourselves.


Recording relaxation CDs, i often get asked "how can i relax?". The most common question within this subject is "what can i do to relax?"...and therein lies the answer, within the question itself. What can i DO to relax...simple... DO nothing.


In all the different definitions of what relaxation is, there is one common element...that relaxation is about decreasing, taking away, diminishing, relieving, etc, the body, mind and spirit. In this light, it would seem quite logical that to decrease any kind of stimulation is really the only way to truly relax.


In a rare email i received from a customer, she said she didn't like the DRIFT CD (music for sleep and deep relaxation), because the music was "boring". I felt she had missed the point. Relaxation is supposed to make you feel a bit numb, a bit "blank", and a bit dopey. THAT is what true relaxation is all about. It's about stopping input and decreasing stimulation, and inserting an amount of nothingness in it's place.


What is it that makes us so afraid of nothing? Guilt perhaps (" i really should be doing those dishes"). Maybe we're hiding from ourselves, afraid that if we stop and just BE for a moment, we might see something of ourselves we didn't know. Is that so frightening? Or have we just become consumed by consumerism, convinced that we need our hands held even during the most basic of moments.


When was the last time you really "stared into space"? You probably remember doing it quite a lot when you were young, but what about now? Remember as a child how you tried to hold onto the stare for as long as possible, because that nothingness felt soooo good? Children often indulge in moments of nothingness, and they're very good at it. I think they may be closer to what's natural to the human being than their parents living in a non-stop reality.


Here's a thought. Next time you're finding it a challenge to relax, you might like to ask yourself what your forfathers and mothers did after slaying dinner, or treking across deserts. And just maybe, you could sit, stare, look out, and soak up a singular moment, just like they would have done only a few generations ago. Zone out, chill out, pleb out, and soak up a bit of nothingness everday, and see what you discover.


smiles to you, Tania

Monday, February 4, 2008

INSPIRATION & how do we get some...

Recently (thank you RedBubble ) i was encouraged to write about the topic INSPIRATION. It's the beginning of a new year, so there's a lot of it going around...that is to say, a lot of people seeking it.

Whether you're trying to get inspired to get off the couch, change your behaviour, or in any way tweek a better YOU, inspiration is a key factor which can turn the whole experience from being a hard slog into an effortless Awakening.

So how do we get some? Is it just about being motivated? We'll motivation is one thing. For example,i might be really motivated to write a great new song, but i need to feel inspired in order to achieve it. It's feeling the passion, the buzz of the moment, and everything seemingly coming together in an effortless moment of clarity!

The word INSPIRATION actually means "TO BREATHE IN", and essentially that's the easiest way to explain in. So, let's feel some and get it buzzing...

TRY THIS EXERCISE
Just for 1 minute, close your eyes and imagine the love you have felt for a person, place, thing, or a time when you felt rapturous inspiration (nothing that might make you sad). Really indulge in the physical feelings it brings. 1 minute...then read on...

...OK, try and explain it in words on paper. Use brief phrases rather than just single words, like "the swelling of a red balloon about to burst" or "a buzzing feeling starting under my teeth", etc. Write as many as you can, and really try and tap into the physical feelings of that love, that passion, then read on...

Now take the best 3 phrases. Say your favorite to yourself followed by a big, deep breath in. Say the 2nd, followed by a big *sigh*. Say the 3rd, and feel those feelings welling inside you, swiling about in a giant vortex, that's growing bigger than even you. How do you feel? Good? Better than before?

OK, stick each phrase in places where you need inspiration. Example, the fridge, your screen, your bathroom mirror...the best places are the ones where you find yourself LACKING in inspiration. These are your new affirmations; reminders of the FEELINGS of inspiration. When you see them, breathe in and tap into those physical responses to being inspired. Close your eyes if you like, then (once you feel the vibes), think about the subject you WANT to feel inspired about (i.e. becoming healthier, creating a masterpiece, ...insert yours here...).

Inspiration can be "triggered" by many things, but the reality is that the feeling actually comes from within. And as mushy as it sound, it's all about LOVE baby! Love within you, exuding outwards. And, it's all about the POTENTIAL of love. The possibilities of your expression of love...love for yourself, love to the world, love to a higher plane.

And to wrap up with a few musical anecdotes:

Love is ALL you need
Love is IN THE AIR
How deep is YOUR love?
LOVE...will find a way
and last but not least..
CRAZY LITTLE THING CALLED LOVE

smiles to you!