How do you get inspired? the ongoing topic…

A way for me to get inspired is by reading what other people do, what they think and write, it’s as if they were a mirror, or not, and gives me a time to reflect on myself and what I am doing and what I’ve set out to do… Derek Silvers, an ex-circus man turned musician then ingenious entrepeneur, the former owner of the amazingly successful CD Baby, keeps things moving for me…

HIs blog topic yesterday was…”What do you hate not doing?”

http://sivers.org/hatenot

Derek writes: We’ve all asked ourselves, “What do I really love?” or “What makes me happy?” I’ve wrestled when the emotion-based answers conflict with expectations. (I’m a musician, but I love working alone. Does that mean I should be a producer instead of performer? I’m an entrepreneur but I hate doing business deals. Does that mean I’m more of a CTO than CEO?) Last week I thought of it a different way, that I like better:

What do you hate NOT doing? (What makes you feel icky, irritated, annoyed or off-track if you don’t do it enough?) .

..and I thought this was just a super positive way to look at what I am, am not doing. So…

*I don’t like not moving my body every day, wether it be dancing, doing my personal workout, throwing hay to the goats, gardening…I am a pysical person, I need to move my body or I get super restless.

*I don’t like not reading every day. I must read, it does something to my psyche, me brain, my thought processes.

*I don’t like not writing every day. It helps to clear my mind, gets my ideas down on paper, gets my work done so that I can move forward on to the next project or idea or chapter.

*I don’t like not feeling connected, to myself, my family, my animals—every day. When I get too busy, it takes its  toll on my personal well-being, and my connection to my immediate community. Although good family and friends understand and accept those times of extreme busy-ness, no apologies necessary, it does not make me feel good. So there….do check out Derek’s blog…

How about you?

Can you approach your intentions and inspirations from that angle? Or think about what you want to do in terms of what you hate not doing? Bring it on!

~~~~~~~And down to my reading…

~~the $64.00 Tomato, by William Alexander Hilarious, made my howl out loud, which I love to do when I ‘m reading…

~~Tribes: We Need You To Lead Us, by Seth Goldin Here is something to get your brain cranked up!

~~Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman’s Search for Everything. by  Elizabeth Gilbert the ever popular book and author these days, and I still love it, and her! The writing is so authentic and soul-searching.

Here is a lovely clip from the TED conference with Elizabeth speaking about creative genius, what do you think?

Elizabeth Gilbert

Today I am preparing my itineraries for my teaching travels this fall and winter. This includes travel flights, accomodations, workshop titles, Collective Soul and Teacher Training Certification applications and programs, and the calendar…oohhh the calendar! That is the hard part!

But what is delightful is when I read what another dancer has written, about dancing/training with me. One of my lovely student/friends in Australia, Dee from Tribal Blossoms, will be one of my sponsors in February. She wrote about studying with me in the past (see below). This is truly rewarding for me, to find out how useful my teachings are, and to help support her on her path of tribal bellydance!

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I’m really excited to start promoting our next big event in Brisbane – Paulette Rees-Denis is coming here in February 2010!! I’m so excited, and just pleased to be able to see my teacher again and continue on my own dance path, and give you the opportunity also to dance with this wonderful woman. I thought I’d share some of my thoughts on the Collective Soul program….
For me my decision to undertake Collective Soul was a personal one, to step up and really undergo that intensive training. I’d experienced Paulette’s wonderful workshops before and knew I wanted more….they ARE challenging absolutely, but I also think we all love this dance because of the challenge, and the connection we all receive. As a dance teacher I felt so inspired to take on more in my classes, to explore more of the rhythms I’d touched on in my dance history but perhaps had not explored with my students, to continue to push myself and my students into areas of growth….as a dance student I was just so happy to be a sponge and listen, and learn, ask questions, and experience it. For me it really did give me so much direction and confidence in my own dance and my school, and I would encourage anyone who has the funds and the time to do it – its a wonderful experience, and I think learning direct from a master teacher is an absolute blessing.
Also if you and your community are still yet to master the basics with Gypsy Caravan dance format and would like to be involved in the workshops either in Brisbane, or around Australia please talk to me, if I can travel or put you in touch with someone who’s able to help you get the best out of your dance now’s the time we need to plan. Paulette’s DVD series is a wonderful tool to help learn this dance, and can be ordered direct from her site.
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Of course she is promoting the fact that I will be there. But Dee is not afraid to share her soul, nor is she tentative about saying that she, a well-known teacher in Brisbane, loves to have a teacher. Many teachers/instructors stop learning or taking classes from others, thinking they know everything already. As a student and teacher of this dance (and many other things!), I am always on the eternal quest to learn, study, listen, watch. To take in aspects of what ever it is that I’m doing at that moment, to relish in the moment, but then to be able to use it to better myself. It may be a new teaching method, a different dance step, a new way to do a sit up, another way to explain a bellyroll (thank you Hilary for that!). If I stop, I will get stagnant. This dance is so vital, and it is a living artform, one that has a strong foundation, but one that will always be evolving, changing, growing. As do I.

That’s Dee, 2nd from the left, with all my other lovelies from Collective Soul Adelaide 2008.
*By the way, if you  are interested in my workshops in Brisbane, you can contact Dee at tribalblossoms@iinet.net.au

Listening to some tunes on my itunes mix and what comes up, but a favorite Gypsy Caravan song from Remarkably Remixed…

Six/Eight Reloaded

a grooving 6/8 rhythm with a wonderful bass line…

what do you think?

13-six_eight-reloaded-1

When I was teaching in Australia awhile back, I nonchalantly said how much I loved this song. Deb, a lovely dancer, went back to her troupe that day, and they decided to perform to it for me at the hafla that weekend. Pretty cool, eh?

you can view the CD here!

How excited am I now? You can have me delivered to your home from Netflix! Tribal Gypsy Caravan’s Technique Volumes #1 and #2- learn the tribal bellydance basics, and the documentary, Tribal Travels, all about life as a Gypsy Caravan member! Way cool…

Tribal Technique #1

Many thanks to Emily Hill for these photos from the performance Sunday at Portland’s market!

Sometimes I just get really excited about something, and find it hard to contain my excitement—know how that feels? Maybe I love a new dance piece, or a song makes me crazy with the need to dance to it, or my garden veggies burst forth so unexpectedly, or maybe I feel like my little bit really does help. I get on a roll and then I focus, or refocus, on my desires and intention (we talked about last week!)…

I get inspired from reading. Words inspire me. Movement inspires me. Thinking and writing inspires me. Other people inspire me. And today I’ve been reading “the Going Greener Guidebook”, from Body and Soul Magazine. (And I love this magazine!) It is packed full with ideas and real solutions to some of the dilemmas facing us and the planet today.(wholeliving.com)

We can all use a good dose of positive reinforcement. And know that yes, our daily choices really do make a difference. One thing I have a hard time getting around is people not composting their veggie scraps—especially when they have a yard and a garden, or even just a yard. They dump their excess food and scraps in the trash. Why? Is it that easy to just dump stuff and not think about it? We must keep thinking about consequences and  change our actions. Woohoo…

Learning how to compost is easy. Since garden scraps and that leftover food make up 24 percent of the solid waste, why not put them in a compost bin, and add newspapers, and other biodegradable stuff to that bin. Magic happens! It will turn into that yummy rich soil for your garden (which is a fantastic choice!), dump it in the corner, or just spread it over the lawn (that grass is another story!) But not in our land fills (except the meat and dairy stuff of course). Then you also keep your trash and trash bill down too. Awesome.

I use a large tupperware-like container by my cooking area, then when that is full, I dump that in a larger tub with a cover outside my door, and since my garden is further away on the farm, I then cart that down to my three big beautiful wooden slatted compost bins that Jeff built me in my garden. Presto,  I have dark soil being made year round. Of course, now my chickens get a lot of my scraps too, and that makes everyone really happy! But when I lived in the city, my two big compost bins were right outside my back door and ready for the garden and flower beds.

Here are two easy guides to help you along with that. Get started, make that intention to compost. It really is easy, and so rewarding.

Compost Guide – Composting Fundamentals

Composting | Reduce, Reuse, Recycle | US EPA

and there are plenty more if you just google Compost! Let us know how you do, and how you do it! Keep on keeping on!

AND so as not to take things too seriously….

To succeed in life, you need 3 things: a wishbone, a backbone and a funnybone. (tweeted today from GypsyHeart777)

These gorgeous dancers performed over the weekend at the Grand Event for the Naito fountain reopening in downtown Portland… it was a great show, tons of people and an appreciative audience… have a look…

shattering sterotypes…yea baby!

The Gypsy Caravan performed at the Totally Tribal Festival in Washington (one of our three gigs last Saturday night!) and got written up in the Enterprise Newspaper, along with the other performers!

http://www.enterprisenewspapers.com/article/20090819/ETP17/708199945/-1/ETPZONELT&template=ETPZoneLTart

on the road with Jeff, my two corgis, and the camper…what fine country side it was, from eastern oregon through eastern washington into idaho around Coeur D’alene… it was magnificent…and yep, that’s me with MaryJane Butters and her fab gal, Renee…

from my first eggs from Ruby and Diamond!

to pickling day at the fiber shop

to Gracie with a broken toe and a full leg (expensive!) splint…just a few more photos…

and the barns from my farmgirl tour to follow…