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February 26 2008 Things you have to believe in to vote Republican Submitted by Jimmy Whitlock, Lexington, KY 1.) Jesus loves you, and shares your hatred of homosexuals and Hillary. 2.) Saddam was a good guy when Reagan armed him, a bad guy when Bush's daddy made war on him, a good guy when Cheney did business with him, and a bad guy when Bush needed a "we can't find Bin Laden" diversion. 3.) Trade with Cuba is wrong because the country is Communist, but trade with China and Vietnam is vital to a spirit of international harmony. 4.) The United States should get out of the United Nations, and our highest national priority is enforcing U.N. resolutions against Iraq. 5.) A woman can't be trusted with decisions about her own body but multi-national corporations can make decisions affecting all mankind without regulation. 6.) The best way to improve military morale is to praise the troops in speeches, while slashing veterans' benefits and combat pay. 7.) If condoms are kept out of schools, adolescents won't have sex. 8.) A good way to fight terrorism is to belittle our long-time allies, then demand their cooperation and money. 9.) Providing health care to all Iraqis is sound policy, but providing health care to all Americans is socialism. HMOs and insurance companies have the best interests of the public at heart. 10.) Global warming and tobacco's link to cancer are junk science, but creationism should be taught in schools. 11.) A president lying about an extra-marital affair is an impeachable offense, but a president lying to enlist support for a war in which thousands die is solid defense policy. 12.) Government should limit itself to the powers named in the Constitution, which include banning gay marriages and censoring the Internet. 13.) The public has a right to know about Hillary's cattle trades, but George Bush's driving record is none of our business. 14.) Being a drug addict is a moral failing and a crime, unless you're a conservative radio host. Then it's an illness and you need our prayers for your recovery. 15.) What Bill Clinton did in the 1960's is of vital national interest, but what Bush did in the '80's is irrelevant.  February 21 2008 "When it comes to sheer neurological processing abilities, the subconscious mind is millions of times more powerful than the conscious mind. If the desires of the conscious mind conflict with the programs in the subconsious mind, which "mind" do you think will win out? - Bruce Lipton "The human brain's ability to learn perceptions is so advanced that we can actually acquire perceptions indirectly from teachers. Once we accept the perceptions of others as "truths," their perceptions become hardwired into our own brains, becoming our "truths." Here's where the problem arises. What if our teachers perceptions are inaccurate?" -Bruce Lipton 
Hello- hope you are having a great week!Check out my new interview with Bruce Lipton, cell biologist and author of THE BIOLOGY OF BELIEF for Zentertainment Talk Radio. I am fascinated by the subconsious. What information and what memories does it hold there? What behaviours and choices does it control? Where did I get these downloads? Where did you get yours? And do we continue to get "downloaded" our whole life? I think it is so true that much of the time we try to change things consciously, but the problems are in the subconsious! So how do we access that place and rewrite the script? Listen in to this interview with Bruce Lipton and discover some new possibilities. Here is the DIRECT LINK: http://www.zentertainment.org/podcasts.html I think teachers come in many forms. As children, our first teachers are our parents, then also friends, the culture and the teachings that come from various religions and spiritual practices. If you are into this sort of thing, many times you might also be influenced greatly by "psychics" and various "healers." I sometimes wonder if ANY of my thoughts are truly my own. Who would I be if I was born and lived in, say, Africa? Consider the message you have received during your lifetime. What if some of the messages you swallowed were not true? Then what? In this interview Bruce and I talk about all of this and more. Find out about some new ways to rewrite those subconscious tapes that might be wreaking havoc in your life! Now to get more personal- I have to be honest, in spite of work I have been doing, I am not certain that my subconscious beliefs are changing all that much yet. If the state of my physical health is the measurement of my beliefs, then it must mean I have some beliefs not working for me. But is this always true? Can we really say that all illness, all relationship problems, are hardships whatever they are, are a result of negative thinking? I don't think it is that black and white. My doctor said something to me that I loved. He said, "Jo, you are an exquisitely made fine Swiss watch. If you put a grain of sand in Big Ben, it will still work. But if you put a grain of sand in a Swiss watch, it will stop." Now what a compliment that is. If you are reading this and are one of those people who feel things more deeply, you are a swiss watch! Why are some of us more sensitive? Why do some of us face illness in our lives? For some people, it is directly related to their thoughts. For others, I think It has to be more than a matter of one's thoughts. For look around. How many people do you know whose biology is fine, yet they are not especially conscious or even nice! I love the book of Job in the Bible. Job had everything. Successful business, healthy kids, great wife, money and great health. He had solid strong beliefs and strong faith. Then came along these tests. One by one, things crumbled. His children were killed, his empire collapsed, and he got a physical illness. His friends thought that the only way these things could have happened is if he did something wrong to deserve punishment, or that his faith and beliefs were weak. In the end, God comes along and says that Job did nothing wrong that brought these struggles on. Everyone is trying to figure out why bad things could happen to good people. And God says to everyone, basically, who are you to think you control the universe? Where were you when I made the stars? Do you make the sun rise and set and make the lightning strike? This shows me that there is great mystery in life, and we are better to honor that than to think we can be perfect. (Or that only those who are perfect in their lives deserve health and blessings). Bruce Lipton is a cell biologist, and has studied cells his whole life. "Genes are not destiny! Environmental influences, nutrition, stress, and emotions can modify genes without changing their basic blueprint. These modifications can be passed down to future generations as surely as DNA blueprints can be passed on.." I wish I would have asked him- Can we be influenced sometimes by the environment regardless of our beliefs? (Pollution, etc) Is faulty thinking ALWAYS the culprit (I don't think so). What is the difference then between what is genetic and what is a "modification?" Either way, it is still something that is passed down. Perhaps he is saying that these modifications can be changed and rewritten. Maybe genes cannot change so much? He said that when people are exposed to high power lines, the people who have side effects are those who are stressed out. Makes sense. But it's also not true. Everyone I know in NYC is stressed to the max, and many people don't have reactions in the form of physical illness. There is more to it than stress. Just an FYI, Mercury toxicity seems to be one things that is at the root of many illnesses, however, from my research, it is hard to detect if it is bound up in brain or organ tissues. He said that someone's belief is what makes something work or not work. Which is true but also not true. When my friend was switched to a generic version of a brand name drug she takes for MS symptoms, she had the total belief it was the same thing, but it did not work at all. Her belief had nothing to do with it. I know for myself, there have been times when I was convinced that something was the right thing for me and would give me healing. Yet it did not. I totally believe in what bruce said in this interview 100%. There are lots of ideas and tips and advice, and things that can help us all! But everything that I agree with, I also think is not for every single situation for every person all the time. I don't think that in bringing up these things I am denying the wonderful possibilities that exist in exploring our subconsious thoughts. We ARE more powerful than we know, and we CAN make changes. Also, it is important to be gentle on ourselves when we don't understand why things are as they are. As for the subconsious beliefs, I think it is true that they DO sabotage me at times, and they do probably sabotage your efforts at times, too. "THE BIOLOGY OF BELIEF" is a very interesting read. I recommend it. I'm just now sure if it is the whole picture....or maybe that's just my belief...... Jo December 6 2007 Don't drink glasses from Hotel Rooms! Check this out: http://www.bestviral.com/video/6629/dont_ever_drink_from_hotel_glasses December 1 2007 Is Gardasil Safe for women and young girls? There is alot of publicity swirling around the vaccine GARDASIL which is being used to prevent cervical cancer. What do you think about it? I have seen ads for it in so many magazine from O MAGAZINE to MORE and others. The research I have done shows that is actually only protects a woman/young girl from a few strains of HPV which can cause cancer. Most of the strains of HPV clear up on their own, and/or are unaffected by this vaccine. This is a copy of the letter I wrote to MORE MAGAZINE the other day after reading a very pro vaccine article in their new issue, Nov 2007. Attn: Letter to the Editor at MORE Magazine regarding Nov 2007 issue from Jo Davidson I don’t expect magazines to give us the facts about drug companies, since most magazines these days are in part funded by them through advertising. However, I would hope that you might reconsider your viewpoint or at least share another perspective. I read your article on “Five reasons to get the HPV shot” and could not believe what I was reading. According to Judicial Watch, in June of 2007, a 17 year old female was found unconscious after receiving her first dose of Gardasil. She subsequently died. In August of 2007, a healthy 13 year old was vaccinated with her first and second doses of Gardasil. She experienced paralysis from the chest down and as of now, has not recovered. Washington DC-based Judicial watch has reported over 3000 adverse events involving Gardasil, including as many as 11 deaths, seizures, paralysis more. In a news release, Judicial Watch reported that “Of the 42 women who received the vaccine while pregnant, 18 experienced side effects ranging from spontaneous abortion to fetal abnormalities.” Even the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine has questioned its safety. In the February 28th issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, Dr. Eileen F. Dunne and her colleagues found that 90% of HPV infections clear up on their own. The study also found that of the HPV infections detected, only 3.4% were of the strains that Gardasil provides protection from. This vaccine has not been tested for long term safety. Are women and now young girls suppose to offer themselves up as guinea pigs for drug companies? Merck is the company who covered up the fact that Vioxx increased the risk of cardiovascular disease. Thousands of deaths were allegedly caused by the painkiller Vioxx. They knew the dangers and hid the facts. Could it be that Merck is now trying to make money to cover their Vioxx losses by promoting this dangerous new vaccine? Another interesting note is that all of the public studies of the drug were funded by the manufacturer. This alone is enough to make any of us pause. As if that is not enough, Merck continued to supply the infant hepatitis B vaccine, which was contaminated with thimerosal, a mercury preservative, for two years after announcing that it had eliminated the toxin from the vaccine. Thimerosal is composed of 50% ethyl mercury, which is a neurotoxin. A memo written back in 1991 disclosed the fact that 6 month old children receiving their shots on schedule would be receiving a mercury dose nearly 87 times higher than guidelines for the maximum daity consumption of mercury from fish. The Vaccine Injury Compensation Program received over 4,200 vaccine-related complaints by parents reporting their children experienced side effects such as autism or other neuro-developmental disorders from the mercury in vaccines. We hear the buzz phrase “The War on Terror.” The real war on terror is corporate greed. I worry that your magazine would promote and endorse a vaccine that is still unproven in the big picture, especially in light of the many reported side effects girls have had after taking this vaccine. If I had a child, I would not let Gardasil anywhere near her. Girls have died from this vaccine. Is this a risk you would take with your daughter? Women were told that hormone replacement therapy (HRT) was safe, and look how well that turned out. Getting the gardasil vaccine should be a choice that is made by informed people who have explored both sides of the issue. If Merck is able to convince us that we all need the Gardasil vaccine to treat an illness that only 3700 people in the entire country will die from, they will make 3 billion dollars a year. The vaccines are not covered by most insurance companies. It costs $360 or more for all three shots. 
October 16 2007Today our family dog died. There have been many tears shed today. It has been a grueling, emotional day. Fritz we miss you! September 12 2007 Poem and Photo ©Jo Davidson, Sept 12 2007 
Bliss September 12 2007 September is such a beautiful month to be on the water.... All photos copyright Jo Davidson September 2007 
August 14 2007 
Tonite I had a talk with the moon. I told her that I hate how I look when I am covered in clouds.
She told me that she has different sides of her too, and anyway, people usually see what they want to see. She slid into the night clouds and shadows like she was slipping into a silky nightgown. I watched her disappear. When she came back, she was in a playful mood. She told me I was beautiful. She said, You are seductive, and intriguing. Then she added, You stimulate, you sharpen, you seduce, you kill, you penetrate, you touch, you provide enigmas and intrigues, an odd form of tantalizing, and much more I told her she had a way with words. I asked her how she feels when she is behind clouds, or when she spends hours every day invisible to most people. I asked her how it felt to be invisible. She told me that the darkness gets a bad rap. She said, How do you know that I am not secretly making love to the stars when noone can see us? Then she winked. I was jealous. I loved the idea of touching a star, twinkling with it in a mysterious dance, veiled and unveiled. She became thoughtful, and she said, I am still who I am even when you cannot see me. Just as the stars still shine even when nobody can see them shining. It is not being noticed that makes us beautiful. It is beauty that makes us beautiful. I suddenly felt sad. How sad to be beautiful and not appreciated! She sensed my feelings, and said, Think of how sad the creator of the universe feels when everyday her masterpieces go unnoticed! All of the gorgeous sunrises and sunsets she paints, the plants, the sea, the earth and sky, the mountains and forests, the miracle of birth and death and livingThink how the great creator must feel- giving the show of the universe and yet people are busy on cell phones and computers and in their lives, whining and complaining and worrying. They are missing it! Each painting comes only once, and every one is numbered, a limited edition! When will they stop and gasp in wonder at what surrounds them? I decided she was not only beautiful, but smart. Then I was thinking about what she said. How does the creator respond to our neglect but to keep creating and keep loving! What a response! I doubt I could do so without a few grudges along the way. I want to be wise, but so often fail to do be what I want to be. I decided to start noticing all the beauty around me. To not take the show for granted. I felt better when I saw my place in things, and how small I am in this vast universe. It comforted me and reduced my problems from mountains into crumbs. She saw that the darkness scared me. She told me never to fear darkness, for true beauty shines there. I had not thought of that. I could not take my eyes off of her. I took her picture about 200 times while she posed. She had so many looks! She was a chameleon changing form, mood, color, in the blink of an eye. She drew me in, and I loved never knowing what to expect. Her reflection bounced off of the water, and I fell in love with her. She made me come alive. She didnt tell me to feel anything in particular. She just said, Feel. Then she blew a kiss towards me, and the salty summer night air dropped it on my lips. I could taste it. August 9 2007 
Lets make a memory. Thats my new thing. Everyday I do something cool even if I feel like- and I say, I am making a memory.
It makes you stop and slow down. It makes you focus on something good that you will remember. Its building a life that is more than struggle, more than the challenges we face Memories dont have to be big things, its the little things. Just like the small details make the music great. Its not always the notes, its how you play them. Sometimes one note can be played more beautifully by a pro than an entire piece by an amateur show off. Play that one note with all youve got, and it will sing. If I dont consciously say, I am making a memory, then I am left with the mess of feeling ill everyday and all that this brings with it. Then days become a blur of suffering. I am left with nothing more than the feeling that so much has been taken away from me. As Laura Hillenbrand wrote to me, this illness is a thief, isnt it? Perhaps that is why she wrote Seabiscuit, and why I cried when I saw it. But there is this hope inside, there is this persistence, what Erin Brokovitch calls Stick-to-it-ive-ness. And look at what Seabiscuit did in spite of such handicaps! Last week I was at the farmers market in Westport. I bought some vegetables from a stand, and then as I was leaving, noticed a bunch of gorgeous sunflowers. It was such a beautiful warm summer day, and the colors were vibrant like a painting. I was full of gratitude and appreciation that I could be there in that place, feeling sort of OK that day. As I was about to leave, I asked the teenage boy working the stand about the flowers, and he said, Oh those, here, you can just have them. He went over and grabbed the whole bunch, and gave them to me. I told him, Wow. You made my day. Then I walked away with 5 giant sunflowers in hand and grocery bags overflowing with fresh organic produce and honey. When someone does something nice for us, free, without any strings attached, it inspires us to pay it forward. That small act put a smile on my face. It was a memory. That night, my friend Sarah came in from the city. I put the flowers in a vase. We talked and sat on my dock with our feet in the water. We ate in the evening on my table under a huge pine tree overlooking the water. I talked about how one part of me cannot get enough nature, I just want to bury myself in it because I am so exhausted. The other me misses NYC and being around artists and being a part of an artist community. I sang her a new song I wrote last week. The song gave me hope again. It gave me back a huge part of myself that I ache for. I dont work without music. I just dont. But I have felt so far away from what I would like to be doing- touring, recording etc etc and I often feel like I am on the sidelines of my life, trying to get well, to cure this thing, so I can get back in the the land of the living, again. It seems like I am being forced to create a new type of life from the bench. So we take what we have, and work with it. Create where you are. Bloom where you are planted. Let the rest go. Oh how I love to preach to myself. I am not giving up. So I sang Sarah my song. It felt so good. I was alive, and was affirming that in me! I am sitting outside right now as I write this. Somehow writing is also a way to affirm life, for me. I feel less alone when I write. I am able to put things into words instead of just feelings, and that brings clarity. Theoretically. Today it is humid and sticky like chewing gum on the side of a hot car tire. Even the water is hot. But there is a breeze. I made lemonade an hour ago. Since I am out of sugar literally and metaphorically, I used Agave Nectar. Its really good, even better than sugar. Just 1/4 of a lemon with 6 oz or so of water and a few tablespoons of agave nectar to sweeten it. Pretty great. Who says you cant make lemonade without sugar? You see- we discover new possibilities, new roads, when the ones we had counted on, close. Yeah this one is unpaved and bumpy and full of scary bugs. But its a road, and I am creating it. The scenery is raw and undeveloped. It not a journey for anyone but the strong willed. No one else could survive it. So I sit here in the 90 degree humidity, in the shade drinking my alternative lemonade, and I smile. Its a memory. Lets Make a Memory © jo davidson August 8 2007 July 27 2007 These are a few photos I took tonite- it was so beautiful outside
July 23 2007 
The PictureThe picture is getting blurry The rain has drenched the former image of her and the ink has bled into itself She no longer recognizes her life and its corners and edges Who is she now? She is the rain blowing sideways through the misty grey covered clouds The seagull's flight The rose dripping under the water's weight And the reed bending back in order not to break. She is on the ride of a great storm One moment the wave is an orgasm, a bliss, and then the moment blows away evaporating into the wind's low alto hum A fever and a wild downpour She sits on the broken rocks and waits for what is to come.... Or as May Sarton says, "It is not so much trying to keep alive As trying to keep from blowing apart..." - jo davidson July 3 2007   
Tonite I celebrate: All I have survived. How far I have come. The good choices I have made for myself. A new lifestyle and a new life. New ways of seeing and living and being. Hope and possibility. Letting go and surrendering. Blessings. Gratitude. The way suffering has made me appreciate everything beyond words. I celebrate myself. The people who have touched my life The gift of life. Love. Happy July 4 (Fireworks were here tonite on the 3rd)! photos copyright July 2007 Jo Davidson June 28 2007 Why is everyone in such a darn hurry? What is the THERE that everyone wants to get to? 
And when they arrive, what do they find?I never knew I was a turtle until life changed everything. Then I looked in the mirror. I was different. They say the turtle wins the race. But maybe there is no race. Maybe the turtle knows this. What if I never accomplished another thing other than breathing? That would be weird. What would that mean? Who would I be? What am I really trying to say here? I have no idea. Its a thought and a question I am asking, and it will fly away like the wind into another day. June 26 2007 
My God I am certainly going through some sort of storm!
I keep running outside and taking pictures. I could just lie down and bury myself in the dirt and the sand and the sky. Refusing to get up until I was healed. Sometimes I want to do that as weird as it sounds. I feel very sick right now, blazing hot with the strongest internal fire, fighting CFIDS, which I have had for a long time. The symptoms of it are intense and severe, and there is nothing like it to plunge one deep into the underworld. Today I wrote and wrote and wrote in my journal. I stood outside and prayed some strange prayer to the wind. I felt myself connecting with nature in the most profound way. Who knows if this is making me crazy or making me sane. It is not a time of hearing what I want to become. It is a time of hearing what I feel. It is not a time of production, accomplishment and output. It is a time of deep inner reflection and doubt and work and struggle. It is not the time for having it all together, it is the time for falling apart. I am living in my own myth, going deep into death in order to face the dragons and come back with some new healing to offer. And in some ways, the death is also literal. I feel this illness trying to kill me everyday. I just dont feel like its my time to go yet. I think CFIDS does this, it puts one through the unimagineable. It has put me on this path, and all I can do is give up control. The ego cannot ever accept these lessons. But it has no choice. So I surrender to this path and where it is taking me. I have suffered much. There is a fine line between having a breakdown and having a breakthrough. Sometimes we teeter on the edge. It is the courage to go to this place, that shapes me. I love life. I am full of hope and appreciation. I am also miserable in this illness. I know suffering beyond words, intimately. The sky is getting darker. I dont know what is next. I wait, and listen. Im not afraid of storms, for Im learning how to sail my ship. Louisa May Alcott [photo c jo davidson ] June 22 2007 
June 16 2007 
[photo c jo davidson ]
Is this what relaxing feels like? I feel totally spaced out. I am not projecting any wants or desires onto the future. I am just sort of here. I am not really thinking about what I want to be or do or become. I just am. And Im not sure right now what that is!!!! hahaha Where did I go???? I have a new friend named Chatty. If youd like to read about her, check out my hear the show page at www.zentertainment.org I picked up a rock the other day. I hear messages in rocks sometimes- just every once in awhile. I put this little rock on top of a huge rock by the water. Its message to me was Expect the Unexpected. I wasnt sure what that meant, but I thought Id better keep my eyes and ears open. So 10 minutes ago, I grab my camera and head out to my rocks, and what do I see but a couch in the water. LOL June 12 2007 
"The Changing Light" - June 2007 ©Jo Davidson April 20 2007 
©2007 Jo Davidson
April 7 2007 I say is true because I saw it in a dream & I don't have the presence of mind to make up lies when I'm asleep. - Brian Andreas - March 26 2007 "THE SECRET" Hey All- this is something I wrote for my diaries. I finally decided to share it online.. "THE SECRET" from the diaries of a fragile tough girl copyright 2007 Jo Davidson Zentertainment Talk Radio www.zentertainment.org As long as human beings have lived, we have been trying to explain suffering. We strive to give meaning to it, interpret it, get rid of it by all means, and then when it doesn't seem to go away, we cast blame. Who do we blame? Ourselves. Others. Circumstances beyond our control. Some say that everything is in our control. In a nutshell, this is the message of the movie THE SECRET. This is the basis of what it calls spirituality. This longing to rid ourselves of suffering has been going on forever. We all want to feel good. Why do so many magazines sell over and over again when they are basically recycling the same articles? It is because the headlines start with "The Secret"….to weight loss, to great sex, to sleeping better, to being happy, to a more fulfilling career, to making more time for ourselves, and the list goes on. We rarely learn anything we don't already know, yet we keep buying magazines. The real problem is that we don't do what we already know how to do. Do you want to lose weight? As a wise 92 year old friend of mine recently announced, "Eat less and exercise everyday!" About a year ago, I picked up a copy of a book by Esther and Jerry Hicks called "Ask and It Is Given." I became fascinated by their ideas of using emotions to heal. In the book "Ask and It is Given," they claimed that negative emotions always attract negative experiences, and higher ones which are positive, always attract positive experiences. There is some truth to this! When we feel happy, we feel more confident, more alive, and more able to draw happy experiences into our lives. On the other side of the coin, sometimes we mistake charisma for character. Not only that, we mistake true suffering as a failure. As I read this book "Ask and It Is Given," I began to strive to feel only my "higher" emotions. I asked myself if anger, grief, fear, or despair were negative emotions that had little value in the life of someone who was happy, healthy and "evolved." I spent many nights before bed transcribing paragraphs from the book so that they would sink in. I felt uplifted and inspired. I began to wrap myself up in a tidy if somewhat judgmental blanket of "I create everything that is in my reality." I was determined to take the driver's seat, and I finally had the illusion of being in control of some situations in my life that had left me feeling out of control for quite some time. There was however, a blaring red flag. Not only did Esther claim to be channeling "Abraham," but as I absorbed this book's message, I sensed myself disowning the "darker" aspects of myself and my contradictions, or feelings that might embarrass me. I also couldn't help but note that I began to judge others who were suffering. I began to feel pride, feeling that somehow I was becoming more enlightened than others. I was going to come through and conquer all, through the power of my thinking! Soon after reading the book, an experience with illness blew a hole right through my pride. If there is one thing I have learned it is this; In the world of the so called law of attraction, illness is thought to be a massive failure. Soon pride was replaced by compassion not only for myself, but for others. If there is any gift at all in illness, it is humility. Illness cures arrogance, spiritual or otherwise. This is where I feel that The SECRET is actually cruel and pompous in its "religion." I began to realize that this whole notion of telling ourselves that some emotions are bad while others are good is false. ALL of our emotions are a part of our healing. They all have a place and a purpose for us. Imagine all of the wonderful art and music that would not exist if artists only created when they felt happy! I realized that without fear there would be no such thing as courage. I saw that anger helped me create boundaries. I realized that expressing grief helped me to heal and that even tears released toxins. There are no negative emotions. There are only stuck emotions. Anger, fear and sadness are not a problem unless those are the predominant emotions that fuel our lives. I decided to take the good I learned from this book by Esther and Jerry Hicks and throw out the rest. I realized that I could appreciate positive emotions and positive thinking without denying all of my emotions healthy expression. A few months after working with the book "Ask & It Is Given," I picked up a copy of a movie called "The Secret." This was a year ago, long before the hoopla from Larry King to Oprah. It was circulating underground among the new age thought and metaphysical circles. (Esther Hicks was involved in the original movie but was cut out after a dispute between her and the creator over unresolved differences of opinion). After shelling out over $30 for a DVD, I was expecting a fast paced movie dripping with "Da Vinci Code like scenes" such as the ones the movie's trailer suggested. I had no idea that the movie would basically be a collection of interviews touting the exact same principles I had read in "Ask & It is Given." In one of the first scenes, there was a huge "genie in the sky" saying "YOUR WISH IS MY COMMAND." I thought to myself, are you kidding me? Sometimes I had found that to be true in my life, but not always, and thank God! After that, I heard Joe Vitale proclaiming that "everything that's in your life, including the things you're complaining about, you've attracted." So much for the idea that bad things happen to good people and good things happen to bad people. If everything in our lives is there because we have personally attracted it, then I suppose we are to believe that every single person with an illness has attracted it through negative thinking. Each person who was killed in Rwanda and raped in Darfur attracted it. Each little girl or boy who has been molested has attracted it. Every child who has cancer has attracted it. The two auxiliary cops who were just shot and murdered here in NYC this week were attracting it. This proclamation coming from a man who has used the "the law of attraction" to go from being homeless to buying himself 300 luxury cars. He and other teachers of "The Secret" are getting rich by telling others that they too can get rich, and large numbers of people will always pay to hear that, so the cycle feeds itself! Is anyone else getting a glimpse of what is going on here? Bob Proctor said, "We can dictate exactly what we want to come into our life. And with absolute certainty, it will come into our life." That can be an inspiring belief, and a part of me holds onto it, because I want to believe I can create my reality. Another part of me wants to leave some room for the unanswered questions. What about all of the children in third world countries who dictate their wish for something so simple as food and water? I once spent a week in the slums of Haiti, and what passes off as spirituality in America is often nothing more than gross materialism. It is not that I believe there is anything wrong with being wealthy or having things we want. Although this will sound like a contradiction, I believe in what Joe Vitale said as well as Bob Proctor. To a degree. In this country we are blessed with many options. If we want to achieve something and we make the choices to support and do the work, chances are we can achieve many of our goals. This movie focused a great deal on material things. But is material wealth the path to true happiness? I have known wealthy people who feel as unhappy as anyone can be. One good thing that this movie teaches is the value of gratitude. As a child in church, I remember hearing that one of the best ways to pray was to start by thanking God for our blessings before making our requests. That gratitude brings a balance to our hearts and minds and bodies. Gratitude is something we can do even through trials and life challenges. Through anger and grief, confusion and tears, through joy and clarity, laughter and smiles, gratitude is what opens up a space for blessings and joy to flow in. All of us who are overachievers tend to apply our overachieving tendencies in our quest for healing and fulfilling our destiny. I remember once hearing Oprah say that her biggest fear is that she won't live up to her potential. If Oprah can say that after all she has done, then it goes to show that overachievers are rarely satisfied with themselves. It is the same with our desires. They can never be satisfied for long. When we are always focused on what we want to have, we forget to look at what is already here. Even as you hold onto dreams for your future, It is wonderful to look at which ones HAVE come true. Take that in and truly feel it! This place right now where you are, just might be the "there" you were hoping for in the past. I use vision Maps regularly. They mention them in THE SECRET as well as other books. This is one of the best things I learned from these teachings on the law of attraction. I collect random words and images that I am drawn to, and glue them onto poster boards and place them where I see them everyday. I use to put the images in notebooks, but I have found they are even more powerful when placed on a large poster board. Many things have manifested in my life from what I have put onto these maps. I love how they have inspired me and brought about changes in my life. Beach scenes not only preceded my week long vacation to a Caribbean island, but a move to a waterfront property. I believe in the power of intention. This is one of the main ideas promoted by this movie- the idea that we create our reality through our intention. It is a wonderful thing to hold in our minds the vision of us succeeding at what we desire to do and be! It is motivating and inspiring! However, this act should not be confused with always being a spiritual one. If we do not include God in our vision, then our intentions might manifest but not be for the greater good. "The Secret" fails to mention that intention is not necessarily equivalent to spirituality. I am sure Hitler intended to massacre millions of Jews. I am sure that Osama Bin Laden intended to fly planes into the twin towers. I witnessed that act of intention with my own eyes from my window in NYC. Just because someone sets an intention and makes it come true does not mean that they are "enlightened." Not every single thing from my maps have manifested. This teaches me that I do not know everything. (As if I needed a reminder). This also shows me that if I become too attached to the things I want, I am not living fully now with what I already have. I have become aware that there is no end to my wish list. The funny thing about desire is that it usually creates more desire. Have you ever noticed that a newspaper is much more interesting when someone else is reading it next to you? Sometimes I get the things I wished for and find out they aren't all I thought they would be! Can we feel complete in this moment right here and now? Complete with all the messiness and imperfections of life? It is much easier to chase after something else that we think will give us the high we need to feel good. The entire advertising business is based upon the concept that we will be happier and more complete if only we buy whatever product is being advertised. While I have liked some of the messages from "The Secret", upon closer inspection, I believe this movie is equally promoting some dangerous beliefs and dressing them up as spirituality. A wise friend of mine referred to some of these teachings as "psychological malpractice." You will never have a bad day when you master the art of being spiritually evolved! No matter what has happened in your life, you have attracted it through your thoughts and desires! You can have your 20,000 square foot dream home, make 15 million dollars a year, and have a perfect marriage! If you feel sad, you are feeling a bad emotion! If you don't get everything you want, you are not thinking right! If you have an illness, you are not as enlightened as others who are healthy! Spirituality equals bliss! Helloooooooooooooooo aliens. Welcome to another planet. There is a very cult like energy around this movie. If you disagree with with any of it and write publicly about this, you are likely to be criticized or even accused of being negative. There seems to be little room for diversity in opinion. Even religions offer us that! While we can extract the beautiful truths from this movie, we have to be careful we don't buy into everything being promoted here. What is that line about "beware of a wolves in sheep's clothing?" One night several of the teachers from the movie including Jack Canfield, were on Larry King Live, and when Larry asked them if they ever have a bad day, every one of them said "No." Perhaps Larry should have replaced with word bad with the word "challenging." I wonder what Jesus would have thought of this when he was hanging on a cross suffering in agony with nails piercing his body. Would he have said, "I am having a fun day! I feel fantastic! " I wonder if he would have thought that spiritual people should never feel despair when while in a garden, he plunged into agonizing sorrow and prayed "This sorrow is crushing my life out." I wonder if Buddha would have thought that through his low energy field vibrations he had attracted the food poisoning that killed him. If every single prophet and saint to ever live (operating on the highest levels of consciousness) has died of something eventually, then why would we assume we are immortal? Why do we think that we can ever attain perfection in our lives? And what exactly IS perfection? If this is the only goal we have, then we, all of us, fall short. How about appreciating life's perfect moments in all their beauty, rather than thinking that every moment must be one in which we are filled with ecstasy and bliss? Is this moment, now, ever enough? It is so easy to feel good when we feel in good health. When that goes, the challenge of feeling good emotionally becomes one of the greatest challenges we ever face. Perhaps the secret to surviving a life challenge is in focusing on what we are grateful for even amidst the thorns. It is also letting ourselves cry when one of them cuts us. If this law of attraction theory was so perfect, spiritually mature people would never have illnesses. (Are we to believe that the only people who deserve to have health are those who do and think perfectly?) If The Secret" was telling the full truth, then people who run around on speaking tours proclaiming these theories would never yell at their spouses or snap at their children or flip out on their friends or even feel sad or cry. People who smoke, drink, lie and eat junk food would never live wealthy and healthy to the ripe old age of 100. We can attract material things into our lives without being particularly spiritual. Miracles and healings happen to people who deserve them as well as those who don't. You won't hear that in this movie. I believe in in possibilities. I believe words are powerful and can be as the Bible says, "our salvation or our damnation." I believe in the power of our intention especially when it is based upon a desire for the greater good. I believe that IMPOSSIBLE= I AM POSSIBLE. Did I mention I am a work in progress? But the real source of our strength, happiness and our true purpose cannot be found in ourselves alone or even in manifesting every desire we have. And it is certainly not found in shutting down half of our emotions in order to only feel some of them. Our true happiness is found in our connection to the Divine whether we are in the shadows and valleys or standing on top of the mountain. Sometimes happiness means just being content no matter what our circumstances or feelings. Keeping a gratitude journal can help us with this. Sometimes we just have to hang on for the ride and remember that this too shall pass. Whatever it is, it always does. When Oprah recently did a show on this movie which brought it into the mainstream, one of the speakers said that when asked how we are, we should always answer "FANTASTIC!" But what if we don't feel fantastic? Is it ever permissible to just reply, "Ok?" After-all, if we are always pretending to be on 10, we don't have anywhere to go when we really DO feel fantastic. When we think we control every single thing, we become addicted to being in control. When we let go and honor the mysteries of life, we have space for compassion and kindness and for embracing our imperfections as part of our beautiful selves. We also find it easier to accept other people's weaknesses once we are aware of our own. The world is full of people spouting off their programs and formulas. We are all thirsty, and many people will buy into whatever they think will fill their emptiness. Go to the root of where the true water comes from! The Secret that this movie touts as the full truth, does not honor mystery. Its conclusions are as black and white as the most fundamental of religions. And black and white scares me. The Secret is full of imperfections just like all of us. We all seem to get some things right, and some things wrong. So we keep learning. True spirituality goes beyond the grasping of the ego, and I heard a lot of ego in this movie. There is a place and a space inside all of us where we can be free right here and now, even in this strange paradox of embracing suffering and happiness at times, simultaneously. There is no perfection, just perfect moments and the journey. The goal is not that we never become discouraged. The goal is that we take those times of feeling discouraged and utterly broken by life, and in them, allow our courage and strengths to shine through. What we focus on does indeed expand. This is one of the phrases I liked from both the book by Esther Hicks and he movie. However, we are not failures or somehow less enlightened when we suffer as we face challenges that test us beyond what we ever imagined we could bear. I read somewhere that the average child laughs 300 hundred times a day and the average adult laughs only 17 times per day! Laughter is one of the things I go to first when I need to shift something in my body. It always helps! On a metaphysical level, I believe that contrasting values and beliefs and a mind or heart at war with itself can aggravate illnesses and create imbalance in the body. For some this imbalance might manifest as an illness. For others, it might manifest in their relationships with others, or lack of fulfillment in work or life in general. This work of integrating all of the aspects of ourselves seems to be a life long process rather than an overnight one. I am a gemini, so perhaps my challenges are greater when I have each twin whispering something different in my ear! I am listening to find out what each one wants for me and why. Do we ever truly arrive at the perfect anything? We have moments of bliss. But if we never truly and deeply felt our darkness, surely our light would not shine so brightly. How boring the spring would be without the winter. When we want to shift our consciousness to another channel, sometimes it helps to think of illness or any challenge as just a dream. I like to ask myself, what is the meaning of it? I ask myself, what is my wise inner mind telling me about this situation I find myself in? Of course, sometimes it is not so deep and maybe we just got stung by a bee or bitten by a snake and we need some medicine! We can really over-think and over analyze ourselves in our quest to understand suffering. This is where "the secret" can be taken too far. Give yourself a break! I have also known many people who have extreme imbalances emotionally and spiritually and yet are not facing an illness. What is that about? This mystery fascinates me. I am beginning to conclude that the most sensitive, intuitive people pick up on more of the vibrations that surround us all. Canaries were once used in coal mines to detect poisonous gases that the men could not. When the canaries got sick, then the men knew it was not safe for them to go in and work there. Some of us are canaries! have been known to feel in my body and thoughts what someone else is feeling when they are sitting behind me or near me. I daydreamed I was having a heart attack before a woman behind me collapsed. On a perfectly lovely day, I broke out in violent daydreams in my mind only to hear the man behind me suddenly cause a disruption on the downtown bus. Who knew he was mentally ill when he had been quiet up until then? Obviously my body did. Once he left the bus, my violent daydreams completely evaporated. When I am around people who have had drug addictions, sometimes I sense arrows and spikes in their energy fields that feel defensive and hard. When I was a little girl, I would walk into a room and feel if it was closed or open, warm or cold, forgiving or judgmental, safe or unsafe. This might all sound crazy to the average person. But I know it to be true. This degree of sensitivity has no doubt been something I am being asked to see as a gift rather than a curse. I am in the process of figuring out how to make it work for me rather than against me. Those who go through major challenges and illnesses are sometimes meant to go through these things in order to emerge as great healers. To say that these initiation periods are failures, is to dishonor the soul journey of individuals who are bravely forgiving paths through a wilderness that others might never survive. I also wonder about those who do not heal physically. Can we really cast blame? Do we truly have all the answers? I don't think so. We are wise, but only God is all knowing. Yes the kingdom of God might be within me, but it is also bigger than me and outside of me, in the same way that the songs I write are a part of my life force and energy and yet are not all of me. I am not God. I was created by God. This is my belief. There are some things we are attracting to ourselves as a culture and as a planet. I do not believe that individually we alone create every single thing in our personal world. There are far too many variables (including environmental, genetic factors and personality traits) for it to be so simple. We are here to love ourselves and love others. It is in appreciating all of our emotions, (contradictions and all), staying connected to gratitude, and embracing rather than trying to solve this great thing called mystery that we develop maturity. Perhaps suffering is not always meant to be understood. Perhaps it is the journey itself of seeking to understand, that is this beautiful thing called life. Now we see in part, but there will come a time when we see in full. ©Jo Davidson March 2007 March 2 2007 
©2007 Jo Davidson
October 10 2006 She has been honored by Paul McCartney and Laura Bush, and TEEN People featured her as one of "20 teens who could change the world." My guest this week is 19 year old Farah Ahmedi, author of "The Other Side of the Sky." Farah grew up in Afghanistan and lost most of her family by the age of 14. Listen in to hear what it was like the day the Taliban entered Kabul, and hear a story of courage and hope that will inspire you. Farah is an example of what IS possible through the hardest of circumstances. You can listen to this episode of Zentertainment Talk Radio right from your computer speaker. It's even better with headphones! If you have an ipod, make sure to subscribe via itunes on the site at www.zentertainment.org And.....drumroll.......this is a special contest only for newsletter subscribers. (If you are receiving this and are not yet subscribed to the newsletter, please take a second to do so at www.zentertainment.org) Farah has offered to send one FREE signed book to a lucky winner! To be entered, just send an email to ftgrecords@aol.com and say ENTER ME! The winner will be announced next week. July 15 2006 I have been in the Turks and Caicos, just got back! The water was GORGEOUS. Here are just a few random pics out of the 800 I took (Yes 800!)
July 5 2006
June 30 2006 "I am sometimes asked, Why do you spend so much of your time and money talking about kindness to animals when there is so much cruelty to men? I answer, I am working at the roots." - George T. Angell, founder of the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals June 11 2006 "If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away." - Henry David Thoreau June 7 2006 I got back to NYC last night. Man is it LOUD here or what?? Where are my birds, my trees, my grass? As I type, someone is laying on their horn and not letting up. Ok and now another car started too and they won't quit. Unbelieveable. People are yelling, and there is alot of construction going on. It's raining. Do you ever think of all the different lifestyles you could lead and who you would be in each of them? strange. Maybe I just like variety. Variety is the spice of life. One of the people in the window across from me is putting up white christmas lights. Earlier there was a guy window washing. OH THAT MAKES ME NERVOUS! On the outside, strapped into something, 12 floors up.... there are two women sitting at a desk having a meeting. I get the feeling one is being interviewed for a job. Sirens are blasting. A fire engine right outside my window is trying to get through the crowded street. Good luck. I slept a long time last night. Now that's a miracle! I have noticed a lift in my energy and overall better sleeping. I put myself on astragulus, royal jelly and a combination of Bach Flower Remedies that I muscle tested myself for. Unpacking is one of my least favorite things to do. I have been known to take weeks finishing. I am going to try and actually do alot today. I also came back with more than I took, including books, magazines, and a bunch of cool birthday presents I got. Pajamas, photo albums, jewelry, etc On our radio show Let's Get Metaphysical, Alice and I spoke with Dr. Judith Orloff, psychiatrist and author of "Positive Energy." Check it out! Her booked helped me to understand more about what it means to be an empath, and how that affects me and affects my body. If you are also extraordinarily sensitive to the things around you, there is a gift in that. But it also can be tough to handle at times. Judith gives some prescriptions in her book for dealing with energy around us so that it doesn't shut us down. I am noticing more about the things around me that I (in the past would unconsciously) absorb, the energies, whether it be environmental, or in situations with people, or anything else. It is really fascinating to me as I start to realize how much I take in. How much I notice. I would highly recommend her book. For more info, check out our show this week. Link is from my main page. I am going to make a piano solo CD of some of my new songs. Not sure when yet, but hopefully in the next few months. My friend Heather Eatman, (heathereatman.com) sent me a link for inspiration. I thought I would share this with you all: Amazon.com If the listener did not have the CD cover handy, it would be difficult to guess who this artist is or where she hails from. Emahoy TseguČ-Maryam GuČbrou was born into a prominent literary Ethiopian family in 1923 and partly educated in Europe. The lovely young girl studied piano and violin but political vicissitudes in her homeland led to an unsettled and peripatetic youth. Dispirited by events in her life, she found consolation in religion and became a nun. Although dedicated to teaching at an orphanage, she nonetheless found time to create a series of slightly jazz-influenced, neo-classical pieces, many of which are showcased here. The material is culled from two LPs that were released in 1963, when she was 40 years of age. Meditations on bible themes and the beauties of nature were her favorite subjects and her compositions were often built around recognizably Ethiopian melodic structures. But they also reveal refracted shards of what would certainly be cited as influences if only it could be established she had ever heard the works of Count Basie, Oscar Peterson, Keith Jarrett, Abdullah Ibrahim and especially, Eric Satie. But ultimately, Sister GuČbrou seems to be a lone reed -- but a very beautiful one. --Christina Roden http://www.amazon.com/ June 1 2006 I'm in Ohio. Loving the green grass and the old, wise trees that surround me. Birds singing. Beautiful. I have been driving alot which is easier than walking. I told Alice I have been driving and she burst out laughing. All of my friends go absolutely nuts when I tell them I drive. For some reason, they can't picture me driving. hahaha I had a dream last night that when I got back to NYC all of my stuff had been moved out of Manhattan and into a loft in Jersey City. How strange! I was freaking out and sad because I missed my downtown loft, but then I also was glad to have a little more space, like a small yard. But it wasn't really Jersey City, it was only one stop from Westport CT. It was a strange dream. I think it came from me feeling like I really do need more green space and views, more light, more nature. Yet I do love the city. But I need more calm, more peace, less noise. I was irritated when I woke up and got onto the computer on Craigs List to see what places are like in different parts of New Jersey. Jersey City. Then other places like Montclair, etc. The dream seemed so REAL. Back to the real world. There was a heavy storm here a few hours ago. I love the summer rain. It also cooled things down just a little bit. The other day it was 93 degrees and VERY humid. My sister and I sat on her porch, and there wasn't so much as a leaf moving. I felt like we were in the south. Tomorrow night my niece (5 years old) and I are having a slumber party, just the two of us. We are going to paint our nails pink and then she wants to add yellow polka dots and glitter over that. Funny! Then we are getting our hair wet and putting these wacky things in them to make our hair dry wavy. Watching some of her DVDs and listening to her "High School Musical" CD. Playing with my eyeshadows and lipsticks. She also wants to play Uno, and go for ice cream. She says she is going to wake me up early in the morning on Saturday. She gets the look in her eye, and I know I'm in trouble. I am definately going to make sure she is in bed by 9PM! Ok 10PM. Saturday morning I promised I would make her french toast with this swirly cinnamon bread I bought. Speaking of french, I was going through some old tapes and I found a song I wrote several years ago called "French Boys." I like it. Maybe some day I will share it with the world. May 22 2006
May 20 2006 To be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight; and never stop fighting. e.e. cummings May 18 2006 When I was growing up I did not like poetry. We had to read all this stuff in school that at the time did not appeal to me. It was full of words I did not understand, and written in ways that did not move me to feel much of anything at all except impatience. Then as I got a little bit older, I started discovering poems that I liked. And I realized that writing a great song lyric was also poetry. Today I got an email that I wanted to share. Oh does this poetry affect me! It is always wonderful to discover someone whose creative work makes an impact on you and moves your spirit, your soul, your everything. I think Marge Piercy has a new fan in me. This email came from my friend Melissa. ---------------- I wanted to share with you a few stanzas from a poem I heard yesterday evening that really impacted me. It's from a poem called "What Are Big Girls Made Of?" by Marge Piercy. It is beautiful to hear audibly. You can view Piercy's site at www.margepiercy.com There are a few places in this poem that are really striking about how we as women, and I believe men too, live in an unnatural way in order to be admired by others, especially the opposite sex. We really can be so inhumane to our bodies. I'll let you read for yourself. And if you desire to read the whole poem, do a search for the title. Let me know what you think. Look at pictures in French fashion magazines of the 18th century: century of the ultimate lady fantasy wrought of silk and corseting. Paniers bring her hips out three feet each way, while the waist is pinched and the belly flattened under wood. The breasts are stuffed up and out offered like apples in a bowl. The tiny foot is encased in a slipper never meant for walking. On top is a grandiose headache: hair like a museum piece, daily ornamented with ribbons, vases, grottoes, mountains, frigates in full sail, balloons, baboons, the fancy of a hairdresser turned loose. The hats were rococo wedding cakes that would dim the Las Vegas strip. Here is a woman forced into shape rigid exoskeleton torturing flesh: a woman made of pain. How superior we are now: see the modern woman thin as a blade of scissors. She runs on a treadmill every morning, fits herself into machines of weights and pulleys to heave and grunt, an image in her mind she can never approximate, a body of rosy glass that never wrinkles, never grows, never fades. She sits at the table closing her eyes to food hungry, always hungry: a woman made of pain. If only we could like each other raw. If only we could love ourselves like healthy babies burbling in our arms. If only we were not programmed and reprogrammed to need what is sold us. Why should we want to live inside ads? Why should we want to scourge our softness to straight lines like a Mondrian painting? Why should we punish each other with scorn as if to have a large ass were worse than being greedy or mean? When will women not be compelled to view their bodies as science projects, gardens to be weeded, dogs to be trained? When will a woman cease to be made of pain? I love you all. I hope you have a wonderful weekend. If you would like to talk to someone about your body image and your relationship with food, please don't hesitate to set-up an appointment with me. You will be so glad you did! I always love hearing from readers, so please tell me how the newsletters inspire you, or make you think. xoxo Melissa www.myheartdances.com May 17 2006 Overcoming what feels like overwhelming adversity. It seems to be the theme this week. Personally and professionally. I just found a picture of a heron I took several years ago in Islamorada, Florida. It is over the water, just taking off in flight. I called the photo "Courage." Today I put it in a 5X7 frame and put it on the fireplace mantle where I can see it every moment. Courage. Courage. Courage. In the face of the uncertain, the unknown, sometimes the intolerable. Overcoming the odds, going through this place, this space, this mystery. Laura Hillenbrand wrote the book SEABISCUIT which became a movie a few years ago, starring Jeff Bridges. She has struggled with severe CFS for 20 years. I spoke with her the other day. She is drawn to stories of overcoming adversity, maybe in the way I am drawn to songs about the same thing. I feel like Red Pollard. I feel like Seabiscuit. Courage, Courage. Peek in on the conversation I had with my friend and co-host Alice Marie, and Laura Hillenbrand. http://www.letsgetmetaphysical.net/LGM/Podcast.html May 11 2006 
©2006 Jo Davidson May 6 2006 Ok Beware, this is crude, but so funny! Not your typical bedtime story. I don't know who wrote it. ------------------- My Colonoscopy All the organs of the body were having a meeting, trying to decide who was the one in charge. "I should be in charge," said the brain , "Because I run all the body's systems, so without me nothing would happen." "I should be in charge," said the blood , "Because I circulate oxygen all over so without me you'd all waste away." "I should be in charge," said the stomach," Because I process food and give all of you energy." "I should be in charge," said the legs, "because I carry the body wherever it needs to go." "I should be in charge," said the eyes, "Because I allow the body to see where it goes." "I should be in charge," said the rectum, "Because I'm responsible for waste removal." All the other body parts laughed at the rectum And insulted him, so in a huff, he shut down tight. Within a few days, the brain had a terrible headache, the stomach was bloated, the legs got wobbly, the eyes got watery, and the blood Was toxic. They all decided that the rectum should be the boss. The Moral of the story? The asshole is usually in charge. May 1 2006 Well this seems to be the week of politics for me. Can't help it though, this stuff is just too important! A note from Robert Redford... Please drop what you're doing because here we go again. Senate leaders are again exploiting rising gas prices to rush a bill to the floor that would destroy the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and boost oil industry profits. The vote could come as early as Tuesday. The Senate front men for Big Oil are doing their damnedest to convince Americans that sacrificing the Arctic and sending each of us a $100 rebate check will solve all our problems at the pump. There's only one way to expose these lies and prevent the sacrifice of America's greatest wildlife refuge: Help light up the Senate switchboard today! Please call your two Senators right now: • Senator Charles Schumer: (202) 224-6542 • Senator Hillary Clinton: (202) 224-4451 Tell them to vote NO on the Gas Price Relief and Rebate Act. Tell them you will not trade the Arctic Refuge for $100 or be fooled by policies that do nothing to solve the real problem of America's dangerous dependence on oil. Urge them to get to work on cutting oil consumption by improving the mileage of our cars and promoting clean and renewable energy. Here are the facts: the Energy Department says that drilling in the Arctic Refuge would save consumers only one penny per gallon at the pump in 20 years! Meanwhile, anyone who drives will be forced to take the Senate's $100 rebate check -- paid for with our tax dollars -- and sign it over to ExxonMobil for their next two tanks of gas. Only an oil company could love a bill that picks the taxpayers' wallets for $12 billion in gas money. The Gas Price Relief and Rebate Act should really be called the "Guaranteed Profits for Big Oil Act!" Remember: these are the same Senators who passed a pro-polluter energy bill last summer that refused to make America's gas-guzzlers more fuel-efficient, but instead doled out billions of tax dollars to oil and coal companies. This latest bill is just more of the same corporate welfare. Call your Senators right now and tell them you will not surrender the Arctic Refuge or line the pockets of the oil companies with your tax dollars. And if you want to do even more to expose and defeat this shameless bill, go to https://www.nrdcactionfund.org/arctic/donate.asp right now and make a donation so we can escalate this campaign in defense of the Arctic Refuge over the next critical days. Thank you! Sincerely, Robert Redford NRDC Action Fund April 26 2006 This week on Let's Get Metaphysical, Alice Marie and I have posted up our interview with Immaculee Ilibagiza, author of Left to Tell and survivor of the 1994 Rwanda Genocide. It was wonderful to get to speak with her and hear a little bit of her story. I remember that year 1994 because we were all watching the OJ Simpson Trial. Isn't that just ridiculous? Immaculee inspired me to really think about the meaning of forgiveness. If she can with God's help, forgive the people who murdered her family, surely I can forgive those people in my life who have hurt me in smaller ways. She is also going to be speaking at Marble Collegiate Church in May. You can hear the interview at www.letsgetmetaphysical.net. This episode is called "The Ultimate Forgiveness." ------------------------------ I got a nice note in an email today that was written sometime ago by Erma Bombeck. I remember my mother had her books and when I was little I liked to look through them. She was so funny. IF I HAD MY LIFE TO LIVE OVER - by Erma Bombeck (written after she found out she was dying from cancer). I would have gone to bed when I was sick instead of pretending the earth would go into a holding pattern if I weren't there for the day. I would have burned the pink candle sculpted like a rose before it melted in storage. I would have talked less and listened more. I would have invited friends over to dinner even if the carpet was stained, or the sofa faded. I would have eaten the popcorn in the 'good' living room and worried much less about the dirt when someone wanted to light a fire in the fireplace. I would have taken the time to listen to my grandfather ramble about his youth. I would have shared more of the responsibility carried by my husband. I would never have insisted the car windows be rolled up on a summer day because my hair had just been teased and sprayed. I would have sat on the lawn with my grass stains. I would have cried and laughed less while watching television and more while watching life. I would never have bought anything just because it was practical, wouldn't show soil, or was guaranteed to last a lifetime. Instead of wishing away nine months of pregnancy, I'd have cherished every moment and realized that the wonderment growing inside me was the only chance in life to assist God in a miracle. When my kids kissed me impetuously, I would never have said, "Later. Now go get washed up for dinner." There would have been more "I love you's" More "I'm sorry's." But mostly, given another shot at life, I would seize every minute...look at it and really see it... live it and never give it back. STOP SWEATING THE SMALL STUFF!!! Don't worry about who doesn't like you, who has more, or who's doing what Instead, let's cherish the relationships we have with those who do love us. Let's think about what God HAS blessed us with, and what we are doing each day to promote ourselves mentally,physically, emotionally. I hope you have a blessed day. April 24 2006 I have something I need to get off my chest so to speak. I hate the new show "Big Love." Could any show idea be more ridiculous? Three American women married to and sharing one man because they are "bighearted" enough to share him and he has "big enough love" to marry all three of them. It's hysterical! Give me a break! I have never met one woman who would want to share her man with other women under one roof. What a mess that would be! And I have never met one man who would want to be in the reverse situation sharing his wife with three other men in one big "happy family." Imagine a show where a woman has three husbands. It's a fun fantasy for a minute, but realistic.... Hardly. But as women we are suppose to take this show as something even remotely plausible? What a double standard and a load of garbage. It is hard enough to manage multiple lovers, but to manage multiple wives or in the reverse, husbands? Pretty complicated stuff. Expensive too! Then there is the hierarchy of the first wife, second wife, third wife. Yeah right. Like any woman in modern day America is going to put up with that. The show likes to hide its delusions under the umbrella of some false sense of "selflessness." Have the people at HBO lost their minds? And anyway, don't they already have enough violent, sexist programming? How many images in the media have we seen as a society where women are objectified, used, or taken advantage of? Do we think this doesn't affect all of us on some deeper level? I find it pretty strange that a tv series would condone polygamy, since it is illegal. And I think it is irresponsible to try and make it look remotely healthy or normal or even plausible. In real situations in our country where polygamy exists illegally, there have been many reports of emotional and physical child and wife abuse. This show takes a lifetstyle that is dangerous, and makes it the subject of entertainment. The Mormon church outlawed polygamy in 1890 and any church member now who practices it is excommunicated. This show is empty. It does nothing positive for society and certainly nothing postive for women. It turns out that "Big Love" is just a "Big Lie." For the first time I am actually thinking about cancelling my HBO subscription. I also watched The Sopranos last night. I use to watch it all the time, and then it started to get to me. I found myself becoming more and more sensitive to the violence and the way the characters talked and treated women. At first I was able to block it out, but the more I have been working with intuition and opening to the feelings and sensations of information I get, the more I find it hard to block out and deal with things that are so dark. I went to a party once several years ago and gave my CD to some of the cast who was there. Then maybe two years ago a bunch of my CDs were ordered and I sent them to the Sopranos lot. So someone over there has my stuff. I think they are all AMAZING actors. But I'm just not sure if I can watch the show often. Do I really want to fill my head with that kind of violence where murder is served up along with lunch, and no one can say one sentence intelligently without saying F---- and of course the strip clubs and nudity and the way the guys talk about women like they're trash.... I hate seeing situations where guys talk about women like they're nothing. That seems to happen alot in strip clubs. That's why I don't like the whole scene. It didn't feel too good to watch last night. April 20 2006
April 19 2006 A wonderful Message by George Carlin: The paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings but shorter tempers, wider Freeways, but narrower viewpoints. We spend more, but have less, we buy more, but enjoy less. We have bigger houses and smaller families, more conveniences, but less time. We have more degrees but less sense, more knowledge, but less judgment, more experts, yet more problems, more medicine, but less wellness. We drink too much, smoke too much, spend too recklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast, get too angry, stay up too late, get up too tired, read too little, watch TV too much, and pray too seldom. We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values. We talk too much, love too seldom, and hate too often. We've learned how to make a living, but not a life. We've added years to life not life to years. We've been all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street to meet a new neighbor. We conquered outer space but not inner space. We've done larger things, but not better things. We've cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul. We've conquered the atom, but not our prejudice. We write more, but learn less. We plan more, but accomplish less. We've learned to rush, but not to wait. We build more computers to hold more information, to produce more copies than ever, but we communicate less and less. These are the times of fast foods and slow digestion, big men and small character, steep profits and shallow relationships. These are the days of two incomes but more divorce, fancier houses, but broken homes. These are days of quick trips, disposable diapers, throwaway morality, one night stands, overweight bodies, and pills that do everything from cheer, to quiet, to kill. It is a time when there is much in the showroom window and nothing in the stockroom. A time when technology can bring this letter to you, and a time when you can choose either to share this insight, or to just hit delete... Remember; spend some time with your loved ones, because they are not going to be around forever. Remember, say a kind word to someone who looks up to you in awe, because that little person soon will grow up and leave your side. Remember, to give a warm hug to the one next to you, because that is the only treasure you can give with your heart and it doesn't cost a cent. Remember, to say, "I love you" to your partner and your loved ones, but most of all mean it. A kiss and an embrace will mend hurt when it comes from deep inside of you. Remember to hold hands and cherish the moment for someday that person will not be there again. Give time to love, give time to speak! And give time to share the precious thoughts in your mind. AND ALWAYS REMEMBER: Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away. If you don't send this to at least 8 people....Who cares? George Carlin April 5 2006 Our third episode of LET'S GET METAPHYSICAL is now up! We promise alot of variety from week to week. We are also going to be having contests and giving away surprises and special gifts so stay tuned. This week's interview presses the hot button of religion and politics. Alice and I would love to hear from you and get your feedback and comments after you listen to this show. We're serving up spirituali-tea this week with Dan Wakefield, a journalist, screenwriter (Going All the Way and Starting Over), and author of several spiritual books (Expect a Miracle is one of my favorites). This week we talk to him about his new book called "The Hijacking of Jesus." In our talk, Dan discusses the rifts in churches across America and his surprising shift from being a a "post-collegiate intellectual atheist" to a spiritual seeker. To hear the interview, please go to: http://www.letsgetmetaphysical.net/LGM/Podcast.html Peace, love, and a pot of tea, Alice Marie and Jo Davidson http://www.letsgetmetaphysical.net |
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April 2 2006 It has been quite a weekend. Extremely hard physically, and yet so engaging and good for my spirit. My friend and co-host Alice Marie and I attended parts of the "Being Fearless" conference sponsored by The Omega Institute. I met some pretty inspiring people and will be sharing more of that in the weeks to come on our website, www.letsgetmetaphysical.net In the meantime, I thought I would share a few of my latest flower photos. If you would like to purchase any of these, you can email me at: ftgrecords@aol.com.   
March 24 2006 
"Hyacinths" - ©2006 Jo Davidson February 27 2006 The Best Advice I received for this week: When you are staring into a pile of horseshit, say to yourself, "I know there's a pony in there somewhere!" (hahaha) Stop "should-ing" all over yourself. ---------------------------------------------------- Best quotes for the week: "Who was the first person to look at a cow and say, "I think I'll squeeze these dangly things here and drink what comes out"? -- anonymous "I have a punishing workout regimen. Every day I do 3 minutes on a treadmill, then I lie down, drink a glass of vodka and smoke a cigarette." -- Anthony Hopkins My grandmother's 90; she's dating a man 93. They never argue: they can't hear each other. -- Cathy Ladman The Doc told me I had a dual personality. Then he lays an 82 dollar bill on me, so I give him 41 bucks and say, "Get the other 41 bucks from the other guy." -- Jerry Lewis ------------------------------------------------- Hahaha well, yeah, laughter is pretty darn good for the soul. Speaking of things that are good for the soul, so is honesty. This morning, I got an email from one of my best friends. She sent this to a few of her close friends and wrote to us: I just started getting emails from Sojourners magazine and I read this article today and was so moved by it. I had to share it with those of you who have been this kind of friend to me both now and in the past. I have been so blessed to have friends like you who push me and stretch me and look me in the eye until I give an honest answer and have made it safe to learn to be real. God was good to me to give me people like you in my life to cultivate depth, intimacy and authenticity...I haven't arrived but he remains faithful with the friends he keeps, adds and brings back into my life. Thank you ------------------ I loved my friend's line...."look me in the eye until I give an honest answer and have made it safe to learn to be real." How many people are there in your life who have made it safe for you to be real? Even one friend like this can be enough. How real do we dare to be? I think of how many ways we aren't real all the way to the center. We get close, then back away. We might be truthful two layers in, or on good days, perhaps even ten layers deep. But what if we go all the way in to the core of who we are. What if we could live from that place and be truly authentic from that place all of the time? How radical can honesty get? The article my friend sent me is titled, "Naked and Unashamed." The author writes: "Lately I've found myself asking questions such as: Who in my life can I be truthful with? Who in my life offers me opportunities to be truthful with them, and why don't I take them? Why am I not truthful with everyone? And here's the biggie: What am I afraid of?" To read the full article, click on this blog: http://www.titilayotalks.blogspot.com/ February 13 2006 
February 7 2006  Jo Davidson and Brianna Sage  Brianna Sage, Jo Davidson, Marc Copley February 6 2006 http://sports.aol.com/nfl/superbowlads One of the best commercials I have EVER seen, it almost made me cry, it was very powerful. Click on this link, go to the 2nd quarter and click on DOVE: GIRLS How many girls say these things to themselves? Women? Why do we do this? Let's STOP! February 2 2006 One of my close friends, Brianna Sage, has her CD release this coming Sunday. If you are in NYC don't miss this show! You'll love it. I wrote 2 songs with her which are on her CD. My friend Winston Roye is also playing bass with her. Some of you might remember him from my band when I was touring and gigging more. He's GREAT! So check out Brianna or if you can't make the show, check out her website at: BRIANNA SAGE Sunday, February 5th, 2006 Doors: 8:30PM Show time: 9:30PM Cover: $12.00 Joe's Pub 425 Lafayette St. January 25 2006 Hello from Jo (Ok R, that was for you, you know who you are) This morning, out of nowhere, dropping from the blue sky like a gift for me to unwrap, I had this feeling come over me. Oh life is full of feelings. Desperate grief, loss, and scraping at an empty bowl of what was once filled with hope...oh i know those feelings .... and then suddenly, there comes a thread of pure joy that weaves itself into your consciousness. From where does it come? A beautiful awareness I belong to God. The powerful great all loving Physician and creator. This feels beautiful to me. That I too have in me this part of God. God's seeds of greatness and love are within me. I am connected to this Great Physician, this wise all knowing, loving God. I am connected to God like a branch is to a tree, like a vine is to the root. I was made for helping others to heal. I was made for loving others. I was made for creating beautiful music and art. I was made for being a creative channel for God's glorious and amazing art. And there it was, a beautiful feeling. I don't ever use the word "glorious." But i seemed unable to change it. And this feeling? I know it won't last. Feelings never do. Almost as we begin to think of them, to want to hold onto them, they start to slip through our fingers. Sometimes they are here one moment and gone the next, like an angel we saw briefly and then wondered if we saw at all. But why push away these beautiful feelings when they do come, just out of fear of our own disappointment? I am going to sign off for now, but first here is a quote that I love. "I have learned that the ecstasy of mango juice on my tongue and union with the Spirit are not as different as I had once thought." -Oriah Mountain Dreamer, from "The Invitation."  January 18 2006 My favorite church in NYC is Marble Collegiate Church on Fifth Avenue at 29th Street. This is the church that Norman Vincent Peale was the pastor of for many years. Dr Arthur Caliandro is now the pastor there. Some of the best opera singers and classically trained singers in the city, are in the choir. The sermons are always wonderful. They are not preachy or focused on some legalistic form of religion and rules. They are usually about love and hope and obstacles, they are usually very positive and inspiring. I was thinking today about the nature of change. How from moment to moment, day to day, things can be entirely different. Even for me, hour to hour. I wanted to share a section of a sermon that can be found at www.marblechurch.org: "The poet Paul Hamilton Hayne, who lived in South Carolina and Georgia during the Civil War, had good reason to understand how transitory life can be. He lived in violent and tumultuous times of great heartbreak and loss, and during the bombardment of Charleston he lost his house and all his possessions. One of his many poems is about how little we can count on permanence in our lives. Art thou in misery, brother? Then I prayThere's one thing which is permanent in the practicality of life, and that is change. There is one other presence which is permanent. And that's the presence of the Christ, of the Holy Spirit. It never changes, but is always in motion, waiting for us to listen, to respond, and yield to it. The wisest thing that we can do is to abandon ourselves to the movement of this Spirit. Because it never changes, and it will be with us although everything else may pass away. A lesson on overcoming loss was lived out in the life of a man named Harold Russell. You may not know his name. Possibly the older people remember him. The motto of his life was, "It's not what you have lost that counts, it's what you have left that makes the difference, because that's the only thing you have to work with." In the Second World War, Harold was a paratrooper, and in a training accident he lost both hands. Can you imagine losing both hands? It doesn't require much thought to realize the many things you can no longer do. As you might imagine, he was angry. He was still young, ambitious and talented, but his life, he thought, was over. One day a man came to the hospital to visit with him. He had been in the First World War and had also lost both hands. "Harold," he told him, "you are not a cripple; you are simply handicapped." This statement prompted Harold to go and check the meaning of the words handicapped and crippled. He discovered that when you're crippled, there is no possibility of any meaningful action. But when you're handicapped, you just have to work a bit harder to overcome an obstacle. His visitor also quoted that great mind, Ralph Waldo Emerson, who said, "For every thing you have missed, you have gained something else." Emerson goes on to say in his great essay, Compensation, "Every sweet hath its sour; every evil its good. Nature hates monopolies and exceptions." This young man realized he had a choice; he could be paralyzed by his circumstance or he could start to find ways to move past his difficulties and begin to navigate his life in the direction he wanted to in spite of his handicap. Harold Russell began to work on his mind and his attitude and his life began to change. He had wanted to be an actor, but thought, "What director would want to hire a man with two claws?" But he decided he would try to do it anyway. Eventually he got a leading role in the play The Best Years of Our Lives. He went on to appear in movies, win two Academy Awards, and marry his childhood sweetheart. All of the things he had thought he would never do, he was able to do. He had learned, "It's not what you have lost, it's what you have left that makes the difference." In his autobiography he wrote: People frequently marvel at the things that I can do with my hooks. Well, perhaps it is marvelous. But the thing I never cease to marvel at is that I was able to meet the challenge of utter disaster and master it. For me that was and is the all-important fact--that the human soul, beaten down, overwhelmed, faced by complete failure and ruin, can still rise up against unbearable odds and triumph. It's not what you have lost that counts. It's what you have left, because that's the only thing you have to work with. A number of years ago when my pre-decessor Norman Vincent Peale announced his retirement, I could tell in his voice that it was a very difficult thing for him to do. He had been in this pulpit for fifty-two years, and from this pulpit his message of positive thinking and hope had gone all over the world. He loved preaching, he loved life, he loved this congregation and he loved this church. Yet the time had come for him to step aside. Two days after he had announced his retirement, I called him. "Dr. Peale, how are you?" I asked. "Art," he answered, "the Bible always has the answers to our questions." He quoted from St. Paul, where he wrote to the Philippians, "Forgetting what lies in the past, I press on." I heard him say this with some effort, so that he could get into it, and really have those words take him over. He didn't finish the rest of the quote, but I knew it was in his heart: "I press on to the prize, which is in Christ Jesus." Forgetting what lies in the past, we press on. When that ending happens, where you crash land, and it is difficult and painful, remember the words of St. Paul. Forgetting what lies in the past, press on, because the answer is in the Spirit. The answer is in the presence of the Christ. Keep in mind that whatever happens, whatever your situation, God is always present. So bless you, as things end, that out of the ending you will find the wonderful dynamic of a new and better beginning. Let us pray. Lord, we know you are with us and for us, but there are times when we don't recognize and understand this. Help us to be open to the movement of the Spirit, so that as one thing finishes, You will be with us and You will help us do something even better. We ask this in Jesus' name. AMEN. December 17 2005 My CD "The Simply Said Sessions" has been voted one of the top CDs of 2005 by Collected Sounds. If you would like to check out this review, go to the link below and scroll down. At this address, you can also find out about some other great artists out there! http://www.collectedsounds.com/cdreviews/top20of2005.html December 15 2005 "A person does not have to leave hearth and home to change this world nor do they have to do something dramatic in the outside world; a mystic never had to leave the monastery to draw his or her followers. Let your soul do the work for you. Learn how to channel grace; learn how to be still and let a healing force run through you to others; learn how to use silence to heal a room in chaos. These are among the true gifts of the spirit and are of more benefit to humanity than you can possibility measure." - Carolyn Myss December 13 2005  "Winter, Early Evening" ©2005 jo davidson December 1 2005 Here are some quotes that are good for a few laughs! (In Jo-land anyway) ------ "Most rock journalism is people who can't write interviewing people who can't talk for people who can't read." - Frank Zappa "Opera is when a guy gets stabbed in the back and, instead of bleeding, he sings." - Ed Gardner "I get to go to lots of overseas places, like Canada." - Britney Spears, Pop Singer (This one will make you think twice about eating eggs): Who was the first person to say, "See that chicken over there ... I'm gonna eat the first thing that comes out if its butt"? Ugh!!!!!!!!!!!!! 
November 29 2005"Water is fluid, soft, and yielding. But water will wear away rock, which is rigid and cannot yield. As a rule, whatever is fluid, soft, and yielding will overcome whatever is rigid and hard. This is another paradox: what is soft is strong." - Lao-Tzu Today has been different from the past week. I am lying in bed right now, feeling like a heavy mountain is on top of me, thinking of the quote from Rumi: "Don't move the way fear makes you move." I am saying it over and over to myself in my mind. I miss the energy I felt for almost a week. It was so freeing. So incredible. It feels as if I made ten steps forward and then suddenly just last night, 12 steps back. I don't enjoy this rollercoaster. I don't know how to make plans when I am not sure what each day will bring. And oh the plans I would LOVE to be making. I am so full of life, and there is so much to explore. Do people realize what a gift their energy is? Do they know? How does fear make us move? Does it make us long for what could be? Does it make us feel regret for what could have been? Does it keep us focused on what isn't? Does it fill us with worry? Yes. Does it feel limiting? Yes. How can we rest into the circumstances of our lives, accepting without fighting, and yet fighting for who we want to become while being at peace with where we are, now, right here, in this moment? Can we learn to accept each moment no matter whether it be beautiful or painful? Worry is hard. Peace and acceptance is soft. "...don't move the way fear makes you move...." I just got a note from a friend, who happens to also be a pianist. One of his friends just passed away, a musician and composer like us. He was only 30. Oh God!! I went to his website, and I heard his music which reminded me somewhat of my own. I did not even know him and yet I cried. It is so strange how fleeting this life is. When another musician, a creative person passes on, they leave their work for others....It is a flame that never goes out. Oh thank God for that music that never dies! It is haunting though, to hear it and know that the person who played it is no longer in this world in the way he was. It is almost too much to comprehend. I can't believe he was only 30. Is it strange to cry hard for a stranger? I am crying for how impermanent things are. I am crying for how beautiful music is. And missing the person who created this gorgeous music, even though I never knew him. www.daxjohnson.com November 23 2005 Some interesting thoughts: "Love is the great miracle cure. Loving ourselves works miracles in our lives." - Louise L. Hay He who cannot forgive breaks the bridge over which he himself must pass." - George Herbert "Holy Spirit, the life that gives life: You are the cause of all movement. You are the breath of all creatures. You are the salve that purifies our souls. You are the ointment that heals our wounds. You are the fire that warms our hearts. You are the light that guides our feet. Let all the world praise you." - Hildegard of Bingen "If it is true that your thoughts shape your life, would you want what you were just thinking right now to become true for you?" -Louise Haye "Affirmations are like saving coins in a moneybox. They don't seem like much at the time but they add up quickly. Just one dollar a day added to a moneybox may seem insignificant, however, if you save one dollar every day from the time you start working until you retire, you will accumulate enough money to retire very wealthy. With constant repetition small things become very powerful forces". -Sonya Green Sell your cleverness and buy bewilderment -Rumi "You have to stay in shape. My grandmother, she started walking five miles a day when she was 60. She's 97 today and we don't know where the hell she is." - Ellen Degeneres 
November 11 2005One day last spring, I was taking pictures of tulips. (This and others are available to purchase on my store page under the music section). I was fascinated by what I saw deep inside of the flowers. Fairies, angels, more. This picture, of all the ones I took, was the most overtly erotic. This tulip was from the garden of a preacher... The way I figure it, God must have a sense of humor. Sometime during this past year, I read "The Mermaid Chair" by Sue Monk Kidd. It is a story about a woman and her family, the changes that come about, and her relationship with a monk. All these relationships she has are mirrors, so that in the end, it is really about this woman and her own soul. In the book, I was just amazed at how BRILLIANT some of the lines were. There were moments when I would read a line several times. When I had to just stop. I can only compare it to how when we travel, we often take pictures along the way. And sometimes we see a great sunset or flower or something that catches our eye, we snap a picture, and then go on our way. The scene makes for a nice photo album later, but it does not transform our lives. But other times, we realize that to truly travel, it is not enough to just take a picture. So after we think we have "captured" whatever it is, then we sit in the middle of a field for an hour, or we pull up a chair and feel our feet in the ocean, or maybe we decide to have a picnic, or just lie down. Climb a tree. Hey, whatever it takes. There is a big difference between sightseeing and exploration. Reading is like traveling. There were moments in this book when I had to stop and catch my breath, because I couldn't believe she was able to put such feelings into words. She really is a beautiful, extremely talented writer. Her other book, The Secret life of Bees, is also one of my favorites. I was reading back through some of the lines that were lightning bolts: "They say you can bear anything if you can tell a story about it." "I promise you, no one judges me more harshly than I do myself; I caused a brilliant wreckage. Some say I fell from grace, they're being kind. I didn't fall- I dove." "It seemed strange to me, how love and habit blurred so throughly to make a life." "I had the sensation inside of wanting to stop myself and at the same time to let myself go." "The last few days, I'd been thinking about the life I'd meant to live, the one that had shone in my head a long time ago, full of art and sex and mesmorizing discussions about philosophy and politics and God." "It was the peculiar vertigo, the peculiar humility, that comes from realizing what you are really capable of." "What if his being here wasn't about making peace with a God who was both here and not here, but more about finding some kind of immunity from life? What if he'd mixed up enlightenment with asylum? What if holiness had more to do with seizing his life out there?" "One thing he'd learned from being here was how incessantly the soul tried to speak up, and usually in maddeningly cryptic ways- in his dreams, in the jumble of impressions and feelings he got when alone in the marsh, and occasionally in the symptoms in his body...nowhere though did the soul speak more insistently than through desire. Sometimes the heart wanted what the soul demanded." "I marvel at how good I was before I met him, how I lived molded to the smallest space possible, my days the size of little beads that passed without passion through my fingers....I'd never done anything that took my breath away, and I suppose now that was part of the problem- my chronic inability to astonish myself." "She looked tired and frazzled from the ordeal, but underneath, he'd sensed aliveness." "It felt cruel and astonishing to realize that our relationship had never belonged out there in the world, in a real house. Where you wash socks and slice onions. It belonged in the shadowed linings of the soul." "I felt amazed at the choosing one had to do over and over, a million times daily- choosing love, then choosing it again,, how loving and being in love could be so different." "God is the one whose center is everywhere and circumference is nowhere." November 9 2005 A friend sent me this quote today. I love it. "Everything we shut our eyes to, everything we run away from, everything we deny, denigrate, or despise, serves to defeat us in the end. What seems nasty, painful, evil, can become a source of beauty, joy, and strength, if faced with an open mind. Every moment is a golden one for him who has the vision to recognize it." —Henry Miller November 2 2005
October 31 2005 I just finished reading "North of Ithaca" by Eleni N. Gage. It is a true story about a woman in her twenties (Eleni, the author) who leaves her life and work in NYC to go to Greece to rebuild the house her father was born in, the house her grandmother was murdered in. It is about trying to heal memories and not let the past destroy you. It is about restoration. about claiming where you came from as well as where you are going. I scribbled down a few lines that I especially loved in the book. "I had been thinking of my year in Lia as a worthy digression from real life, but I was beginning to realize that "real life" exists wherever you are. And I was there." One paragraph that I could relate to and found particularly funny was this: "I had been surprised to find everyone so camera-ready. In New York, my unwrinkled friends seldom let me photograph them. "I hate being in pictures," they'd whine, offended that I wanted to remember them as they were rather than as they looked in their minds, artfully made up and illuminated with flattering lighting. In Lia, everyone just wanted to be remembered." ---------------------- haha I can relate to that! Quote for the day: "You are getting through it, every day is another success, no matter how small. Keep dreaming big!" October 22 2005 Just got back to Ohio yesterday. Last night I slept 12 hours straight. No kidding. Oh it felt soooooooooooooooooooooooo amazing. If I could sleep that way every night I would be in heaven. I think I have realized that because of my sensitivity, I actually feel air and environmental pressure. That sounds weird, but it's true. The city is like being in a pressure cooker. There is this tightness in the air, everything is crammed together like it is almost boiling over and could explode at any moment. Why do I love this city that never sleeps, so much? I love it for a million reasons. But I think more and more that if I am going to stay, I am going to need to find another area to live in, not downtown. Maybe Brooklyn. Somewhere where the chaos around me isn't so constant 24/7. I don't want office lights shining into my bedroom. I don't want to listen to people cussing each other out at 3AM. I don't want to find myself holding my breath every 10 feet because of cigarette smoke and diesel exhaust. I just don't. Most of all, I don't think my body is going to let me. My three sisters are all sports fans, but I never have been. Last night when we played "Scattegories" one of the categories was sports player, and I did not know ONE SINGLE ONE! It was hopeless. Luckily, little Carly was on my lap, and even though she is 4, (4 1/2 as she says). she whispered a few names to me. Tonite one of my sisters has been trying to explain football to me. She is actually a great teacher. I have never been able to understand it at all. I stare at the tv and go blank. Thanks to her I think I might finally have learned just a little bit. In general, up til now, you might as well speak French to me. Anyway, she finally said her throat was sore from trying to talk so long! haha. She just yelled from the kitchen, "are you writing about your football thing?" Yeah Yeah I am. We took a funny picture of us tonite balancing pens above our lips, trying not to laugh so they wouldn't fall. We wanted to print it out and write a caption above it that said, "So what do YOU do on a Saturday night?" haha October 18 2005 More Meaningful Than We Know by David Spero, art-of-getting-well.com Adapted from the book, The Art of Getting Well: Five Steps to Maximizing Health When You Have a Chronic Illness. Last May, I was rescued by people who never knew they were saving me. When my book was signed to a contract, some kind of psychological stress kicked in, and my multiple sclerosis started going downhill fast. My fatigue was incredible. I could spend about two hours a day working at my computer, and the rest of the day I was mostly in bed. Where I had been lifting weights, doing water exercise, and using various exercise machines, I got to the point where all I could do was some gentle deep-water exercise, called "water-running," wearing a flotation belt. But I didn't give up. I kept coming to water-running, even though I could only do 20-25 minutes out of an hour class, and at a very slow pace. I kept coming, partly because it got me out of the apartment, partly because my body wanted to move, and this was the only way it could. But the main reason I went was to see my water exercise friends. These weren't close friends. I never saw them outside of class. But I so looked forward to seeing and talking with Sue, Desiree, Ken, Barbara and the others that I would drag myself to the pool, fatigued or not. They were always encouraging, always seemed happy to see me. I wanted to see them, and I didn't want to let them down. So I kept coming. And I started to get better. I'm still not where I was a year ago, prior to my worsening, but I can do 55 minutes of exercise now, pretty vigorously, and have enough energy for my work and some fun, besides. I even got back to the weight room again and started strengthening. The reason I bring this up is this: those water-runners had no idea how much they meant to me. They didn't know how important they were or how much good they were doing. If it hadn't been for them, I might not have been able to finish my book, which is helping a lot of people. But they didn't know anything about that. And this situation is absolutely typical. We go through our lives, largely ignorant of how important we are, how much purpose our lives have. Dr. Rachel Naomi Remen, author of Kitchen Table Wisdom, says, "We all lead much more meaningful lives than we know." In this vast world where everyone and everything is interconnected, our lives have meanings and effects far beyond our awareness. To be meaningful, we don't necessarily have to do wonderful things or accomplish spectacular goals. Most of the time, what we do is far less important than who we are. Our simple presence, our caring, our bodies, our minds all have value to the world. Yet most of us feel that we are only valued for the work we do or the things we achieve. We all lead much more meaningful lives than we know. We need to remember this when times are hard, especially when we have disabilities or major health problems. In those situations, we often feel useless, as if our lives have lost most of their meaning, purpose, value, and pleasure. These negative feelings about ourselves can have profound health impacts. I can't do anything about the pleasure; you'll have to find that yourself. (Reading Chapter 5 of my book might help.) But as far as meaning, purpose, and value, you have those. Even if you don't know exactly what they are, you will always have them, and nothing can take them away from you. So please live and value yourself accordingly. October 7 2005
September 28 2005  Sabrina's Eyes ©2005 Jo Davidson September 26 2005 HOW DO YOU DECIDE WHO TO MARRY? You got to find somebody who likes the same stuff. Like, if you like sports, she should like it that you like sports, and she should keep the chips and dip coming. Alan, age 10 No person really decides before they grow up who they're going to marry. God decides it all way before, and you get to find out later who you're stuck with. Kirsten, age 10 WHAT IS THE RIGHT AGE TO GET MARRIED? Twenty three is the best age because you know the person FOREVER by then. Camille, age 10 No age is good to get married at. You got to be a fool to get married. Freddie, age 6 HOW CAN A STRANGER TELL IF TWO PEOPLE ARE MARRIED? You might have to guess, based on whether they seem to be yelling at the same kids. Derrick, age 8 WHAT DO YOU THINK YOUR MOM AND DAD HAVE IN COMMON? Both don't want any more kids. Lori, age 8 WHAT DO MOST PEOPLE DO ON A DATE? Dates are for having fun, and people should use them to get to know each other. Even boys have something to say if you listen long enough. Lynnette, age 8 On the first date, they just tell each other lies, and that usually gets them interested enough to go for a second date. Martin, age 10 WHAT WOULD YOU DO ON A FIRST DATE THAT WAS TURNING SOUR? I'd run home and play dead. The next day I would call all the newspapers and make sure they wrote about me in all the dead columns. Craig, age 9 WHEN IS IT OKAY TO KISS SOMEONE? When they're rich. Pam, age 7 The law says you have to be eighteen, so I wouldn't want to mess with that. Curt, age 7 The rule goes like this: If you kiss someone, then you should marry them and have kids with them. It's the right thing to do. Howard, age 8 HOW WOULD THE WORLD BE DIFFERENT IF PEOPLE DIDN'T GET MARRIED? There sure would be a lot of kids to explain, wouldn't there? Kelvin, age 8 "And the #1 Favorite is........" HOW WOULD YOU MAKE A MARRIAGE WORK? Tell your wife that she looks pretty, even if she looks like a truck. Ricky, age 10 September 11 2005  Evening Walk ©2005 Jo Davidson September 6 2005 For the month of September, 100% of the profits from the sales of my CDs will go to the Red Cross. You can order via CDBABY here on my website. Just click on the Store page. SEPTEMBER BACK TO SCHOOL SPECIAL Limited offer: Purchase any two photos and receive the third one free. To see photos available for purchase via PayPal or check, Click Here and scroll to the bottom of the page. To take advantage of this special offer, purchase any 2 photos and send an email request to ftgrecords@aol.com with your choice for the free photo. Now that school is starting up again, I thought I would post something funny for all those teachers out there (including all the many teachers who are related to me!)... I have no idea who originally wrote this. It was sent to me from a friend, and it made me laugh. ---------------------------------------------------- You're a Teacher if........... You believe the staff room should be equiped with a Valium salt lick. You find humor in other people's stupidity. You want to slap the next person who says, "Must be nice to work 8-3:20 and have summers free." You believe chocolate is a food group. You can tell if it's a full moon without even looking outside. You believe "shallow gene pool" should have its own box on the report card. You believe that unspeakable evils will befall you if anyone says, "Boy, the kids are sure mellow today." You think people should be required to get a government permit before being aloud to reproduce. You have no life between August and June. You believe in aerial prozac spraying. You think caffeine should be available in intravenous form. You know you are in for a major project when a parent says: "I have a great idea I'd like to discuss. I think it would be such fun." Meeting a child's parent instantly answers the question, "Why is this kid like this?" Quote for the day: "It was different when we were kids. In second grade, a teacher came in and gave us all a lecture about not smoking, and then they sent us over to arts and crafts to make ash trays for Mother's Day." - Paul Clay August 20 2005  New York Skyline 1 ©2005 Jo Davidson  New York Skyline 2 ©2005 Jo Davidson  New York Skyline 3 ©2005 Jo Davidson  New York Skyline 4 ©2005 Jo Davidson August 1 2005 "What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the master calls a butterfly." Richard Bach July 30 2005  Boardwalk in the Sky ©2005 Jo Davidson  In Flight ©2005 Jo Davidson  Butterfly Garden ©2005 Jo Davidson  Central Park ©2005 Jo Davidson July 19 2005 The Battle "Would you like to hear Of the terrible night When I bravely fought the- No? All Right." - Shel Silverstein ---------- "Listen to the MUSTN'T child Listen to the DON'TS Listen to the SHOULDN'TS The impossibles the WON'TS Listen to the NEVERHAVES then listen close to me ANYTHING can happen, child ANYTHING can be." -Shel Silverstein July 14 2005 I just got in from picking raspberries. The kids planted pumpkin seeds in the garden. My feet are wet from the damp grass. It is wet and as humid and steamy here as a bowl of soup. Dad is taking Carly and Conner fishing soon. I am going to go sit and watch. I think. My digital camera battery just went dead. Bummer. I wanted to take pictures. I left my battery charger in NYC by accident. My sister Lisa has a Kodak printer I can use to recharge, so maybe I will go over there tonite. I want to edit some of my more recent pics and put them on her computer. In August, there is a great show coming up that some of my friends are doing. Thought I would mention it here in case you are in NY. The New York Songwriter's Circle benefit for CancerCare (www.CancerCare.com) Tuesday, August 16th, 2005 - 7:30 pm at The Bitter End 147 Bleecker Street, NYC. suggested contribution $10 or more. performers: Tina Shafer, Jenny Bruce, Neil Herman, Jesse Harris and Vanessa Carlton. Please come early as this show will sell out. Thank you for your support in this worthy cause. June 21 2005 Ride the Wave music and lyrics ©jo Davidson When I look into your eyes you seem so far so far away where is this place does it offer grace 'Cause we all need lots of that and then we all need something more troubles abound lately I've found Nothing's as it seems to be The only way to save your strength now is to ride To ride the Wave Well you miss so many parts of you they've drifted far away Silent yet strong They wait for the dawn And this battle that you're fighting now has led you to a land and unfamiliar gaze a clock without a face Oh but nothing's what it seems to be Don't you lose your hope Time will work it out Time will work it out Nothing's what it seems to be The only way to save Your strength now is to ride to Ride the Wave You feel like you are looking at a stranger in the mirror The meaning of this story now is so unclear Oh but nothing's what it seems to be So hold on to your hope Time will work it out Time will work it out Nothing's what it seems to be The only way to save Your strength now is to ride to Ride the Wave Darling Ride the Wave oh Ride the Wave. June 18 2005  A picture of my cat sabrina ©2005 Jo Davidson May 28 2005 New photos added to the site! If you go to the "Jo's Store" page, look under the music section and check out some of my recent pics. they are now for sale... jo May 23 2005 Yesterday I was looking through some of my old diaries that I keep in my computer, and I found this. It emphatically stated NOT FOR MY WEBSITE. But that was then and this is now. It's a funny slice of pie on the reality of one tour... Maybe some of you will find it amusing. I did. --------------------------------------- THE LIFE OF A SOLO RECORDING ARTIST ON A RADIO PROMO TOUR (THIS IS A TOUR WHERE YOU HAVE NO INTERACTION WITH FANS OR OTHER ARTISTS) MARCH MADNESS Day 1 You wake up at 3Am with insomnia. You try to fall back asleep, but don't. You read awhile. You call your mother who is 3 hours ahead of you. You fall back asleep at 6AM finally. Your alarm goes off at 7AM and you feel dizzy. You get up and shower and try to put on makeup but your eyes are really puffy and still asleep. You try to blowdry your hair smooth so it will look good for pictures. Unfortunately you are using the tiny hotel blow dryer and you are in texas and the humidity is 80%. You give up and put on a hat. You skip the makeup for now, call the bell guy up to get your luggage and meet your radio promo guy from the label downstairs in the lobby. For now, we'll refer to him as "X." X asks how you are and you say "great." That is what you are suppose to say at all times. You grab an apple from the lounge and eat that along with a protein bar and water on your way to the airport. You get there and have to wait to check in your 2 bags plus your gear. You are flying on Southwest today and the line is about 25 people long. You get your ticket while X returns the car, and rush to the gate to get the boarding pass and rush into line so that you get a good seat. You get an aisle in row 2. YES! You are starting to wake up and you realize you aren't feeling so well. You arrive into a new city, go with X to get the rental car, he loads in your gear and you are off. You go to a radio station and walk into a huge conference room and set all your stuff at the end of a long table. There is a picture of Faith Hill from when she was there. Her roots were showing and her hair was a little frizzy from the humidity. Thank God you're not the only one. One of the guys from the station walks in and smiles at you and asks you if you'll do a lap dance for him on the table. You tell him he can't afford you. He says "I've already had two wives." You tell him he still can't afford you. X sighs with relief that you didn't belt the guy. You set up your gear which takes a little while. Keyboard, Amp, Mic, Stand, cables. About 12 people from the staff walk in, and you perform and pour your heart out into your music. They are all staring at you, and you have no idea if they are getting it or not. (If you are in California, you think they are stoned because they are so mellow they seem brain dead.) They eat pizza or sandwiches with potato chips while you are playing. Rob Thomas is coming in after you, so they are more preoccupied with him. You are supposed to dig deep into your creative well, drawing up a Con Edison amount of energy and passion, and knock the socks off these people who have never met you and might not want to meet you or even care. It's like trying to flirt with someone who is non responsive when you're on a blind date. Sometimes they smile while you play and that is awesome. Sometimes they just stare. After your performance, you get some pretty great feedback, and you feel proud of yourself. People actually seem to have liked what you just did. You shake hands and sign autographs and make jokes with people. You're on on on on. One radio guy tells you how amazing you were and wants you to consider his station your home when you are in town. Or course, once you leave town, he writes you back once and then never does again. One guy keeps telling you how pretty you are. After the tenth time of saying that, he now wants signed pictures for his daughter, his mother, his wife, his dog and his 2 pet fish and everyone else he has ever known. He asks if he can have a hug. You give him a very tentative one. Many photos later, you pack up your gear and say goodbye to everyone. You think about the creepy guy and you wash your hands. You stop at Subway for a 10 minute lunch. You have time to eat half a sandwich and then pee. You're exhausted and hungry. You need some space. Badly. You go to the next station. You set up your gear and do it all again. More pictures and more hand shaking. You meet a few people you actually enjoy talking to. You keep smiling. You are very tired. You meet one radio guy who seems genuine and you really appreciate that. He is a good person, you can tell. And he gets music, unlike many of them. You go to dinner with a few people from another station. This time, you're in some town in the south, where there are as many strip clubs as there are churches. One of the girls talks about a time when she was drunk and her boyfriend took her to a strip club and got her a lap dance. You nod and keep saying "uh Huh." She tells you about a time when she went out of town somewhere (still within her home state which, by the way, she has never been out of), anyway...she tells you once she was in a community where everyone was black and she was freaking out. She tells you how relieved she was when she saw white people, so much that she wanted to WAVE. You are trying to finish your dinner, but you have lost your appetite, and you want to run like hell. X is doing his rap in front of you. He tells you how this guy in front of you could make or break your career, which is a blatant stroke that the guy doesn't need, although he sure does enjoy it. X says to the guy, "are you gonna help me break this record or what?" Of course that is after a few rounds of "You're the Man." You are starting to feel queasy. You just want to go to your room and take a bath. One of the radio guys mentions the time he was in New orleans and he and his friends about died when they realized they were heading towards the gay section. After dinner you are in the car driving back to the hotel with X and he says "wasn't that fun?!!!" You tell him that actually you are really glad it is over and it was a really hard dinner and hard work, but hey there's nothing wrong with work. He gets totally pissed off at you and tells you that YOU'VE GOT TO STOP LOOKING DOWN ON PEOPLE. Apparently you are supposed to love and connect with every single person you meet. Apparently, this is all suppose to be FUN all the time. Apparently, listening to homophobic, prejudice, sexist people make conversation over dinner is suppose to be FUN. He says very defensively, "well I'm SORRY that you didn't have fun, i thought we were having a good time and now we have to end the night all badly." You didn't remember having mentioned anything about ending the night badly. You had only told him that those people weren't your cup of tea. He says , "I don't get it. What didn't you like?" You get into your hotel room and slam the door so hard it reverberates throughout the hallway, and you burst into tears. You are up half the night wasting what little energy you have trying to figure out how you are going to survive being on the road solo with no band or creative people along with you. You are trying to pull yourself together. You can do this. You are strong. You can handle this. No one to talk to. No one to have down time with. You take a few drops of Rescue Remedy and fall asleep shortly after. Next day....you are having breakfast with X and now Y has joined you from the label as well. Y is talking about how hard it is to get wives to understand when you have to take radio guys out to strip clubs to try and get ads. You order some eggs. You think how lame this stupid scene is. You remember Z, the third label guy who says he doesn't do that because it's a slap in the face to women. He agrees that there are other ways, other things to do that aren't degrading. You at least smile to know there is one guy who isn't a total wuss. X tells you he doesn't like the headbands/bandanas that you wear. Y tells you he loves them and you look like an artist. He says you look totally cool. You get rebellious and do whatever you damn well please. You have a full day ahead of photos for trade magazines. You shower and eat at 7AM. You pay for a stylist and a makeup artist to help you at 8AM before leaving the hotel lobby at 9AM. Your label expects you to look gorgeous but they won't pay for the people who help you do it. You load in gearm return the rental car, and you catch another flight to another city. You have a radio interview first. These are the most fun things for you on the tour. You love being on air, talking, joking around, and you love the spontaneity of it. It's great fun. After you announce your website on air, it is later in the day, when you discover that because the label has been too cheap to hire a proper website tech, it still isn't functioning properly. You explode. So hear you are busting you ass to get your music out there and connect with new fans and yet when those fans go to your site, there is no way to reach you. Charming. X tells you over dinner that until a few weeks ago he didn't get your music. He says maybe it's the new order of the CD or maybe it's your new drummer on the tunes, but that now he has a done a total turn around and he gets it. He totally gets it. You smile faintly and say "I'm glad." A week later he is gushing to you over dinner about how great you are and how amazing your music is. You have had the chance to meet a few nice people, eat in some great restaurants, your performing chops are going through the boot camp of radio land, you are getting better and better, and you are getting to see different parts of the country. You feel out of touch with your life at home in every way. Sometimes you wake up crying in the night. You have battled tears, loneliness, depression and serious exhaustion. With your schedule they should be putting you in much nicer hotels. When one of the record bigwigs flies in, he stays at a five star place. He has an expense account and a great bed. You have a cheap hotel and $25-30 per day for food. You have also felt some moments of pure joy and happiness. You are getting the chance to get your music out there and you are glad for that. You are proud of your inner strength, your talent, your perseverance. You miss your band. You miss the fans. You have had to oversome so much to get here. You have met some difficult people who have taught you how to handle difficult people. You are stretching almost beyond your limits. You don't have time to call friends or even write. You are on planes every single day as well as performing 1-3 times daily. It is enough to try and sleep, eat, drink water and perform well. That takes everything out of you. You really need some time to just be you. You are surrounded by non creative people most of the time. You begin to CRAVE being with creative people. You do not have time to ponder or daydream or observe. You are suppose to be having fun all the time, and looking model gorgeous. You are suppose to be charming and interesting at all times, and always always on, for breakfast lunch dinner snacks and while traveling. You sit on a plane writing this as you head off to another city. When you land, you get a call from the President of the label saying, "I've heard such great things about your performances from everyone! Are you having fun? Because you know it's really important that you have fun....." You say, "Yeah, I'm having a really great time. Things are going really well out here." And in many ways, you know they are. You pray you can get through the next 20 days without being shipped home in a bodybag. If you make it, you'll need a minimum of a good two weeks at a spa. Oh yeah, but the $30 per day might not cover that....... - jo May 18 2005 HOW THEN CAN WE ARGUE? Having lunch in a field one day, I troubled an ant with some questions. I asked of him humbly, "Have you ever been to Paris?" And he replied, "No, but I wouldn't mind going." And then he asked me if I had ever been to a famous ant city. And I regretted that I hadn't, and was quick to add, "I wouldn't mind, too!" This led to a conclusion: there is life that we do not know of. How aware are we of all consciousness in this universe? What percent of space is the earth in the infinite realm? What percent of time is one second in eternity? Less that that is our knowledge of God. How then can we ever argue about Him? - Meister Eckhart (1260-1328) A Catholic Monk and scholar Side note: Daniel Ladinsky writes that "The church condemned and suppressed his work, and probably destroyed a lot of it. His radical insights and great popularity with his countrymen led to accusations of heresy. Since 1980, the Dominican Order has sought to reveal that Eckhart was an exemplary Christian mystic and priest." May 14 2005  Soho Butterflies ©2005 Jo Davidson. April 28 2005 What I am listening to right now: A CD called Peaceful Planet What I am watching: The Gilmore Girls, I am addicted to this show all of the sudden King of Queens, always good for laughs Lost (Except I find it really annoying how they keep backtracking and playing previous episodes, they are starting to lose me here) What I am reading: (I highly recommend these great books) Plan B: Further Thoughts on Faith, by Anne Lamott The Mermaid Chair, by Sue Monk Kidd Guenevere, Queen of the Summer Country, by Rosalind Miles New Songs I have written in the last few days: "What Words are left to say now." "Paradise" What I am eating:(This is simply fascinating isn't it?) Yerba Mate tea, at this moment actually My Quote for the day: "If a friend is in trouble, don't annoy him by asking if there is anything you can do. Think up something appropriate and do it." -Ed How April 25 2005 These are my favorite kinds of days. The snow melted last night sometime. Today is gorgeous. It's one of the cool, crisp clean spring days when the air is so alive and invigorating that everything wants to burst open. It is slightly windy, and the sky is moody and expressive, colored in such a perfect royal blue that it looks fake. The maple trees are just beginning to get buds on them and the dogwood trees are sprouting tiny pink flowers. Nature is stretching after a long winter, coming back to life, new beginnings and changes are happening. As if all of this wasn't a gift enough, I even wrote a new song today which I love. It's called, "What Words are Left to Say Now." I am going to go outside and take some pictures of the sky. Lately I have been also working (playing is the more accurate word) on a collection of photos of tulips. They will be available on my site here to purchase, hopefully by the end of May or June. April 24 2005 It it 9:30PM, has been snowing all day, ever since about 4Am this morning. It is almost May right? Is this suppose to happen?!!!! How odd to have so much snow. I am in Ohio. Heading back to NYC in a week, and moving into a new apartment. MAJOR move! Going back to Chelsea, leaving Soho for now. My piano is already in the new place and everything will be there when I get back, I will just have major unpacking to do. I have been feeling pretty up and down. Ok, mostly down with a few ups. Played cards with my sister. Read the paper. Made tofu pudding. I realize how disgusting that might sound. It was actually pretty good. Watched comedy central tonite. .... Jeff Foxworthy is so funny.... "You're either gay or you're married if: 1. You're sleeping in a bed with a dust ruffle and 8 pillows 2. You've been antique shopping during a football game 3. You can't remember the last time you made love to a woman." hahahahahahahahahahaha ------------------------------------------- Larry King is on now in the background. It's interesting. It's on the topic of what happens when we die. He has a panel together of an atheist, a Muslim, a Christian, Catholic Christian, a Rabbi, and also Marianne Williamson, (is that under the banner of new age)? No idea. I like most of her ideas though. I have been reading so much this past year exploring faith, praying more, questioning alot. Right now, not just emotionally but intellectually, I believe in what Jesus said he was, who he said he was, and that faith, forgiveness and grace is a gift. Thank God because works or deeds alone would leave all of us out in the cold. Nobody is perfect. I agree with various things that several of the people are saying tonite on the show. The atheist viewpoint makes the least sense to me. My parents have a Bible at the house and the words of Jesus are in red, in the new testament. Rather than getting lost in doctrine or theology or anything from other books, I have been reading and focusing more on the actual things he said and did. Pretty interesting and amazing stuff. Nobody that has ever lived has done such things as he did, or predicted things the way he did and spoke like he did. It is so odd how the same thing can hit you differently at different times in your life. It all depends on where you are, what is happening, and which direction you are facing. What did Anais Nin say, "we see things not as they are, but as we are." The other day my four year old niece Carly said, "If I hold up my middle finger, is that a bad word? She was worried, because her big brother (Or as she lovingly calls him, "my brudder") told her it was. But in pre-school, they do this game/song called Thumbkin, and during the song they hold up each finger one at a time! Carly said, "If I hold up all my fingers at the same time, is it bad?" Poor girl. Some idiot somewhere decided that the middle finger meant something bad, and now she feels torn over whether or not Thumbkin is ok! What's the world coming to! Sometimes I think we are all like that. Struggling to figure out the big picture and not quite getting it. I read an interesting story the other day in one of Anne Lamott's books. (She is a great writer and I recommend her books "Traveling Mercies" and "Plan B.)" In her book, "Plan B, Further thoughts on Faith," she writes, "There is a Hasidic story of a Rabbi who always told his people that if they studied the Torah, it would put scripture on their hearts. One of them asked, "Why on our hearts and not in them"? The Rabbi answered, "Only God can put Scripture inside. But reading sacred text can put it on your hearts, and then when your hearts break, the holy words will fall inside." I think that is beautiful. April 22 2005 These are actual entries that have been found in classified ads: Free Yorkshire Terrier. 8 years old. Hateful little dog. Free puppies. 1/2 cocker spaniel, 1/2 sneaky neighbor's dog. Full sized mattress. 20 year warranty. Like new. Slight urine smell. For sale by owner: Complete set of Encyclopedia Britannica. 45 Volumes. Excellent Condition, $1000 negotiable. No longer needed. Recently married; wife knows everything. Some funny things that were printed in a church bulletin: The Low Self Esteem support group will meet Thursday from 7:00PM-8:30PM. Please use the back door. Weight watchers will meet at 7PM at First Presbyterian Church. Please use large double door at the side entrance. Fasting Conference. The cost of attending the Fasting and Prayer conference includes meals. :) Yes I did it, I wrote that dreaded smiley face. April 07 2005 What do you think were the best things that the Pope contributed to society and to the world? How do you feel about his views on not allowing women to be priests, or priests to be married, or his anti- birth control views? Do you agree or disagree? Do you feel that the church is more of a political institution governed by rules and traditions or is it a place where people can feel accepted, loved and inspired? What is the role of the church today, or rather, what should it be? If you haven't already, please join the message board to discuss.... ---------------------- I will add one thought here. I believe that when Jesus lived, he thought very highly of women. The most important part of his mission was his resurrection. Whether you believe in it or not, what is interesting to me is that Jesus chose to reveal this most important truth first to a woman and not a man. March 19 2005 From Alice in Wonderland: "Alice laughed. 'There's no use trying,' she said: 'one can't believe impossible things.' 'I daresay you haven't had much practice,' said the Queen. 'When I was your age, I always did it for half-an-hour a day. Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.'" March 16 2005  Cactus Flower ©2005 Jo Davidson. March 15 2005 Check out this nice message at the link below. It has a beautiful picture to it which is relaxing, only first turn the music off, muzac versions of "Wind Beneath My Wings" should be outlawed. ! www.cedardalechurch.ca/geese.html March 10 2005 "The truest art I would strive for in any work would be to give the page the same qualities as earth: weather would land on it harshly; light would elucidate the most difficult truths; wind would sweep away obtuse padding. Finally the lessons of impermanence taught me this; loss constitutes an odd kind of fullness; despair empties out into an unquenchable appetite for life." -Gretel Ehrlich I have a book called "Women in Wilderness." It is a collection of writings and photographs by various authors, and is edited by Susan & Ann Zwinger. I have had this book for a long time. I don't remember where I found it. But it is one of my favorite books. When I am feeling overwhelmed by my problems, when I am tired of focusing on possible solutions, I open this book. The photographs are so stunning, and they transport me to another landscape, another place. I realize how much beauty there is in this country and how magnificent nature is. I daydream about what it would be like to live another life, far from the entertainment world. (I am very sure I would find myself inching back to the world of art and music). I daydream about what it would be like to sleep in a forest, to live on a ranch, to live somewhere where I could sit out at night and watch the stars. It is amazing to me that there are so many ways to live in this country. So many landscapes, so many occupations and ways of thinking. I start to think about how our geography influences our biology and our beliefs. That is a subject that intrigues me to no end. I look through my book and the pictures of these beautiful scenes from nature, and I see glimpses of God. Through the writings, I forget my own troubles for a brief time. I am especially moved by the writings of one woman, Gretel Ehrlich, who left a filmmaking career in New York City, for Wyoming. She says that "the comforts of familiar neighborhoods and old friends had failed her, and comfort itself had come to seem only a disguise of discomfort." How much of the time is that true in my life? How much of the time is comfort a disguise for discomfort, and would I even be able to recognize it? I try to picture her leaving the city, ending up in a strange new place where she would find herself "trailing a band of two thousand sheep across a stretch of Wyoming badlands, a fifty mile trip that takes five days because sheep shade up in hot sun and won't budge until it's cool." I try to picture this scene in my mind and then try to imagine what a life change this must have been for her. I laugh. I try to envision myself doing something like this. I have no frame of reference. I have never seen the wide open skies of Wyoming, never seen this place where "vistas look like music, like kyries of grass, the doing of a mad architect- tumbled and twisted, ribboned with faded, deathbed colors, thrust up and pulled down as if the place had been startled out of a deep sleep and thrown into pure light." Who would I become, and how would I change if I were no longer living in the city? Give me the city and the country, I would have both, in my wish. Music is everywhere, and knows no geographic boundaries. No matter where I live, I will always write songs, for in reality, the songs write me. The music might change, but the source of the sound behind the music will always be there. There will always be that inner light, that urge to give birth, those songs coming forth, coming to whisper to me. Even to laugh at me, yell with me, mock me or fill me with peace and wonder. The music of my questions and observations fills me with such an ache at times. The only way to alleviate this ache is to write. Then for a brief time, all is well, until another song or creative project starts wanting to be come, and the process begins and ends over and over again. It's the tension between the question and the answer, it's this push and pull that keeps me on my toes. Music also fills me with joy, and I would not be me without it. My passions are so strong that they would never let me totally betray them, they would always keep leading me back to creativity. What are we all looking for? How much of what we pursue is misguided? I suspect that the most brilliant artists are often not the ones who are well known, not the ones who win awards and grace the covers of meaningless magazines. The true artists make life their canvas. "I came here four years ago. I had not planned to stay, but I couldn't make myself leave. John, the sheepman, put me to work immediately. It was spring, and shearing time. For fourteen days of fourteen hours each, we moved thousands of sheep through sorting corrals to be sheared, branded, and deloused. I suspect that my original motive for coming here was to lose myself in new and unpopulated territory. Instead of producing the numbness I thought I wanted, life on the sheep ranch woke me up." "Wyoming is a topography that rises up in bucking, shaking off any words that attempt to attach themselves to it." I have feelings like this so many times, feelings so pure and complex that no words can successfully attach themselves to them. Sometimes this is the best music. It's the song that still sings when the notes are silent. It's the wind behind the soul, pushing me forward, helping me to grow. March 09 2005 I took a walk today. My ears felt like ice cubes on the sides of my head. The winter wind was whipping through the narrow streets and blew my long coat right open, ripping the snaps apart. Down into the subway I went, looking for a place to stand that would protect me from the cold. I went up to the farmers market at Union Square to get a tray of wheatgrass. I haven't been doing that for awhile. I want to start again. But they weren't there. I guess they didn't want to sit out in this weather. All day long I have felt like it is 2AM. Like I am in a sedated dream and the colors have all been blurred. I could sleep for a year. Wake me in the spring. I think it's time for a joke. Or two...laughter helps everything. ------------------------------------------------ "Men and women both care about smell, but women go to the trouble to smell good. Men are like, "Does this stink too bad to wear one more time? Maybe I should iron it." -Jeff Foxworthy "I was raised in the Jewish tradition, taught never to marry a gentile woman, shave on Saturday, and more especially never to shave a gentile woman on Saturday." -Woody Allen "There's a woman who swam around Manhattan. Someone asked why she did it. She said, "Because no one had ever done it before." Well, she didn't have to do that. If she wanted to do something no one else had ever done before, all she's have to do is vacuum my apartment." -Rita Rudner March 08 2005 "I worry about the germs in the holes of bowling balls. Nobody cleans those holes. there are years of impacted pizza fingers in there. Taco fingers. Chicken fingers. I'm amazed those balls still have holes. Ever smell a bowling ball hole? You think the balls are knocking down the pins? You're wrong. The pins are passing out from the smell." - Caroline May hahaha March 03 2005 I want to thank you all for your wonderful letters on my message board. Thank you thank you thank you Also, check out this amazing company. They carry wonderful lavender products, and a portion of the proceeds goes to CFIDS research. I love the lavender pillow, the bath salts and essential oil. They use recycled shipping materials whenever possible and grow the lavender on their property in Yountville, California. http://www.napa-lavender.com/content/about.htm February 22 2005 Hello from Ohio... The other day I went to Conner's basketball game (he is 7 now). He was so excited I was there. He had told my sister how much he wanted me to come. I came in late, a little hungover from a night of insomnia and everything else, and I was in the stands waving my hands and smiling at him, trying to get his attention. The next day, my sister, Jen said, "Conner, did you see what Jo was doing at the game? She was waving at you and calling you...He said he didn't see me doing that. Jen said, "If you did, would you be embarrassed in front of your friends? He said, "No, I'd tell them, that's just my crazy aunt!" ----------- Yesterday I was in the shower and Carly (3) poked her head into the bathroom, somehow she got the door open. She saw me poke my head around the shower curtain and smile at her. Then she ran off, laughing and she told Conner she saw me naked. (which she didn't!) That's a big things these days. Potty humor and seeing someone naked hahaha Next thing I knew, I was getting out of the shower, I locked the door and they were giggling, and kept drawing and writing signs which they would slide under the door and then run... One of the signs said, "Get out of ther rghit nou evin if yor nacid" Translation, "Get out of there right now even if you're naked!) February 20 2005 Sometimes you see or hear something that has such an impact on you, you can't even possibly write about it. I just got back from seeing the movie "Hotel Rwanda." I can honestly say, it is perhaps one of the most powerful, moving films I have ever seen. DON'T MISS THIS FILM!!!!! February 17 2005 Today I said to my little niece, "Carly, I love you so much. You're the best!" She said to me. I can't stop loving you! I have to keep loving you and loving you!" How cute is that? January 31 2005  I took this picture from my studio window. This pair hangs out there with me everyday. Sometimes they are kissing, sometimes they are on top of each other! Sometimes they are in conversation, like in this picture. They seem to like when I play my music. Can you tell which one is the BOY?!!!! Funny, isn't it? January 31 2005 Check out the song WILLINGNESS by Emily Curtis. She's amazing. I love her voice, songwriting and the production.... www.emilycurtis.com -------------------------------- here's another new tune I wrote... Pennies Music and Lyrics copyright January 2005 Jo Davidson/Simply Said Songs If you blink once You'll miss it twice Are any miracles ordinary? A Beating Heart A shining star Look up through the night I'm breathing in I'm finding out Even the worst times will always lead out eventually they'll be a door Some way to survive Pennies in your pockets Pennies in your dreams Pennies like angels Spreading their wings Falling from the Heavens Help is on the way A Penny for each rainy day I got your card It said you cared Well I was crying and I was hurt I was scared I didn't know How to go on Tried to catch my breath I made up songs of all my prayers but I was too weak to sing them out loud So they came out in Silent pleas In whispers Pennies in your pockets Pennies in your dreams Pennies like angels spreading their wings Falling from the heavens Help is on the way A Penny for each rainy day A beating Heart The ocean Tide Look out through the night Pennies in your pockets Pennies in your dreams Pennies like angels Spreading their wings Falling from the heavens Help is on the way A Penny for luck Pennies in your pockets Pennies in your dreams Pennies like angels spreading their wings Falling from the heavens Help is on the way A Penny for each rainy day A Penny for each rainy day. January 29 2005 My Prayer, The Song May God give you rest when you re weary And lighten your load when you re weak And with every fear make a pathway to love May God give you the peace that you seek And when your soul enters that dark night Beyond what you know how to bear May God lift you up be your strength be your hope This is for you My Prayer May your tree stand by a river With roots that can never go dry No matter that drought comes across the whole land No matter that branches die Through hardship and crisis we re reborn Through times when life seems so unfair May God lift you up give you strength give you hope This is for you my prayer And may you believe in tomorrow And have enough grace for today To trust that the things you don t yet understand Are leading you to the way For water to drink when you re thirsty For hope when your dreams are stripped bare For light when the darkness is all that you see This is for you my prayer In every cloud there s a lining A rainbow for each desperate storm May God hold you close through the wind and the rain May angels wings keep you warm And may you break through every wall that Keeps you from all that you are May you hold up all your beauty inside And shine like a brilliant star And may you believe in tomorrow And have enough grace for today To trust that the things you don t yet understand Are leading you to the way And when your soul enters that dark night Beyond what you know how to bear May God lift you up be your strength be your wings This is for you my prayer This is for you My Prayer. -copyright 2005 Jo Davidson January 18 2005 Haha A friend sent me this and hey maybe I will try a few of these ideas... Andy Rooney's tips for telemarketers Three Little Words That Work !! (1)The three little words are: "Hold On, Please..." Saying this, while putting down your phone and walking off (instead of hanging-up immediately) would make each telemarketing call so much more time-consuming that boiler room sales would grind to a halt. Then when you eventually hear the phone company's "beep-beep-beep" tone, you know it's time to go back and hang up your handset, which has efficiently completed its task. These three little words will help eliminate telephone soliciting. (2) Do you ever get those annoying phone calls with no one on the other end? This is a telemarketing technique where a machine makes phone calls and records the time of day when a person answers the phone. This technique is used to determine the best time of day for a "real" sales person to call back and get someone at home. What you can do after answering, if you notice there is no one there, is to immediately start hitting your # button on the phone, 6 or 7 times, as quickly as possible. This confuses the machine that dialed the call and it kicks your number out of their system. Gosh, what a shame not to have your name in their system any longer !!! (3) Junk Mail Help: When you get "ads" enclosed with your phone or utility bill, return these "ads" with your payment. Let the sending companies throw their own junk mail away. When you get those "pre-approved" letters in the mail for everything from credit cards to 2nd mortgages and similar type junk, do not throw away the return envelope. Most of these come with postage-paid return envelopes, right? It costs them more than the regular 37 cents postage "IF" and when they receive them back. It costs them nothing if you throw them away! The postage was around 50 cents before! the last increase and it is according to the weight. In that case, why not get rid of some of your other junk mail and put it in these cool little, postage-paid return envelopes. One of Andy Rooney's (60 minutes) ideas. Send an ad for your local chimney cleaner to American Express. Send a pizza coupon to Citibank. If you didn't get anything else that day, then just send them their blank application back! If you want to remain anonymous, just make sure your name isn't on anything you send them. You can even send the envelope back empty if you want to just to keep them guessing! It still costs them 37 cents. The banks and credit card companies are currently getting a lot of their own junk back in the mail, but folks, we need to OVERWHELM them. Let's let them know what it's like to get lots of junk mail, and best of all they're paying for it...Twice! Let's help keep our postal service busy since they are saying that e-mail is cutting into their business profits, and that's why they need to increase postage costs again. You get the idea ! If enough people follow these tips, it will work---- I have been doing this for years, and I get very little junk mail anymore. THIS JUST MIGHT BE ONE E-MAIL THAT YOU WILL WANT TO FORWARD TO YOUR FRIENDS | |||||||||||||
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