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A few years ago I read the Architecture of all Abundance by Lenedra Carroll. Although this book had a profound impact on me at the time, one line, however, would prove to be somewhat life altering even beyond the scope of an already amazing story.

I was working on a recording project when it was recalled and I kid you not, it was like one of those skies parting moments, when everything changes and angels speak. It hit me like a ton of bricks crashing down on my head, leaving me in dumbfounded confusion, as I sat face to face with my own unconscious resistance to the word artist…

Remember that you are an artist.

The Resistance

Why would I have a problem with this word? I wondered. I’ve always loved artists…and in fact, spent a lot of time working with them. I questioned what this was really all about as I followed the trail further back through time.

A part of me began to speak through my memories. My youngest of watching and being attracted to singers and performers on television as a child, then there was the strong link to music when I was a teenager and how I used it as an extension of my own voice, onto actually working within the music industry as an adult in which I witnessed others use it as an extension of their souls.

I started to notice my pattern with both the written and recorded form of the arts. I could see how deeply connected I was to these artistic expressions and how I admired those who had the skills and talents to create in this way. At the same time I was able to look at my own past attempts at expressing myself in these mediums. The reason why I failed to bring this aspect of myself into the world was perfectly clear…I had never considered myself an artist.

I could acknowledge it in others but not within myself…without this form of inner permission I was seriously impeding my ability to create…not only in an art way…but in any way at all.

Learning to Embrace My Inner Artist

The revelation came as I began to prepare my audio project for iTunes. There in the artist box was my name. I sat in my chair with the quote from Lenedra’s book flowing inside my mind and in one great ah-ha moment…I felt, I knew…that this was true.

Breathing into it deeply, I allowed the word artist to move with my breath into the depths of my being, permeating my every cell with it’s higher level meaning and creating within it, a wonderful vehicle for the movement of my soul.

The Art of Life

So why was it so important for me to be able to call myself an artist?

An artist is able to surrender completely to the energy of creation which is always flowing between a state of contraction and release.

An artist aligns themselves with that flow, channels it and uses it to create new solutions, reroute their current path and overcome limitations.

This ability to become fluid in perspective, identity and context aligns them with a deep universal truth.

The keys to freedom, and the way to unlocking our own prison doors lies in matching our nature to Nature.

Our egoic tendencies trigger resistance as we attempt to keep ourselves separate from the totality…our true selves recognize that we ARE the totality…and that all we really ever need to do is tap into that and flow.

These qualities are something that each and everyone of us is here to express. Your artistic or creative side is an important part of yourself to integrate regardless of who you are or what you do as it will often determine how you show up for life.

Questions to Ask Yourself

How close are you to being able to acknowledge your own inner artist?

If you’ve not yet done so, what stops you?

If you found some kind of fear, ask yourself what holding onto that is getting for you?

And as always, feel free to share your results and experiences

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Last year I had the pleasure of encountering an artist that expresses many musical styles but is contained by none. Because his songs are of the same nature as the mysteries he writes about you can’t really be told what they are like…you have to experience them for yourself. I can say however, that they dive into our deepest internal being and resurface our hidden joys, our strongest knowing and a divine optimism about the human life we are living. The project I am speaking of is called Dreamers & Children and the artist is Cliff Rubin.

Below is an interview I conducted with Cliff gathering his perspective on music and the spiritual journey:

PK: Would you call music a medium for your spiritual journey?

Cliff Rubin: Absolutely, but then I consider all aspects of my life a medium for my spiritual journey. My music can only speak the truth that the rest of my life resonates. My true art is life itself. I believe being the healing presence, whether playing music, buying groceries or hanging with loved ones, expresses my art in every moment.

PK: How do you connect with others through your songs?

Cliff Rubin: The heart of my spiritual journey is looking for the good (GOD) in everything, every moment. I speak to that journey in all of my songs; taking on individual aspects in each of them, always reaching for the deepest way to express that god presence. Whether I’m singing about raising kids (Love Is Knowing You), loving our partners (It’s Her Smile), learning what’s truly important (Uh Oh), nuturing our dreams (Dreamers and Children), or we’re the ones that give our moments meaning (Life’s A Mystery), I’m speaking to a deeper place in all of us, communicating to the divine directly.

PK: What drove you to start putting your spiritual insights to music?

Cliff Rubin: The need to stay honest with what is most important in my life, which is my spiritual journey and expressing that through my art.

PK: What do you see happening in your life as a result?

Cliff Rubin: Integrity rates very high with me, so it’s a constant reminder to walk my talk.

PK: What gift do you hope to give to others through this style of
writing?

Cliff Rubin: Healing, and a chance to connect a little deeper with their own spiritual journey.

Cliff Rubin - A Positive Music Experience
www.cliffrubinmusic.com

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Audience Reactions

I was on Christine Kane’s blog this morning and happened to catch an entry on songwriting. She was putting her spin on an entry written by Seth Godin called Lessons from Neil Young, in which Seth describes marketing insights he gained through tepid audience reactions to songs that were new at the time which would later become classics. In Christine’s blog she mentions a song called ‘The Customers’ from her Rain & Mud & Wild & Green release and describes how it almost didn’t make this project because of initial audience reaction. This song’s quiet and thoughtful way left the audience somewhat reflective…only evoking quiet clapping during those first few live performances.

But its message reminding us of times when our to-do lists weren’t so long and when joy and contentment could just randomly bubble its way to the surface did not fall on deaf ears. The song’s vivid picture of us standing on the outside of what we want, staring through the glass at the customers (the happy people) who have taken the time to stop and enjoy for awhile and wishing in our heart of hearts that we could be like them hit home and spoke volumes to many of Christine’s fans…inspiring some to stop what they were doing and reclaim their happiness in that very moment.

What both Seth’s observation and Christine’s story demonstrates is that audience reaction to a new song is not always indicative of the relationship fans will eventually develop with that song.

The Relationship Behind the Music

For a song to have value it must contribute something of value to the listener…but what the listener gets from a song can not always be judged from an audience reaction…especially when the song is new. Songs must form relationships between the performer and the audience…artists and marketers who fail to recognize that relationship sells music are missing the boat. Every song has its own energy to exchange…its own personality. In order for a connection to be made and a relationship to be established you need to spend some time with a song so that you can really get to know it. From a marketing stand point ‘hits’ are songs that make these connections quickly and easily…a ‘radio song’ acts as a bridge between the artist, the other songs on the project and the audience. These songs make it possible for fans to find their favorites among those that will never hit the radio.

The Radio Song

The job of the radio song is to open the door and make it easy for people to come in…to be the attraction and to serve as the tour guide for the rest of the journey. Artists who recognize this journey and that radio songs serve as familiar landmarks, ensuring that listeners don’t get lost on the trip…record truly gratifying projects in which you’re sure to find songs that are even better than the ones that caught your interest initially on the recording. This generates trust between the fans and the artist and makes those relationship bonds even stronger.

Every Song has Value

My favorite artists produce projects that come in many layers and levels. I like songs that are complex and intimate. The artists I listen to are mostly concerned with their craft and communicating something that is authentic while at the same time meeting the requirements necessary to get their project out into the world. They strive for the best they can produce musically and songs that really speak to them and engage their creative spirit and talents. They know their audiences; they are connected to them through a certain energy. With a focus on this energy, they develop an understanding that allows them to intuitively communicate through the songs…selecting each one on the project with care…knowing intimately the song’s individual strength and weaving it into the cohesive whole of the project. These artists certainly know the value of a song…and their fans who are usually extremely devoted…know the value too.

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Always Tired

In the not-so-long ago past I was working with a Southern Gospel group who also happened to be good friends of mine. They felt God was calling them to go into full-time ministry and wanted to make a change in their lives…so they hired me. One of the lead singers used to be my boss…I’d watched him labor (as his only employee) to run an entire business by himself for someone else. He scarcely had time for his family often working 70+ hours per week. The job he had was safe and wrong and I had wanted to see him out of it ever since we became good friends. So when he approached me to do booking from at home for his group I had already decided that they would succeed. I had heard the CD, knew where their passion was and had determined that I would open the doors necessary to get them living another way.

At this time in my life I knew very little about how energy flows, or the abundance of the universe. All I knew was this had to happen…and I had to do it. This task consumed my mind 24 hours a day, seven days a week for over two years. I poured myself, my energy, my mind, my time, my heart and my emotions into creating this alternative. It was literally like giving birth and when they got signed to a label I had never before in my life been so tired. I didn’t understand until much later that I was literally throwing energy out into this process, stealing my life force and lending toward grasping the immaterial and dragging it kicking and screaming into the material…problem was, I didn’t know how to recharge. I just gave and gave. Eventually it had to stop…and so it did. But it was another almost 2 years before I figured out what had happened.

Harnessing Attention

One of the first things I needed to learn was how to focus. I would mentally do donuts on the beach regarding what I wanted to happen, or the opportunities I was working on, going over and over every little detail like a mantra…I would see what I wanted mentally but underneath I often carried the fear that it wouldn’t happen and the anxiety that I was not doing enough. So on the little things I would be full of self-sabotage but I never loss sight of the big things. Daily I envisioned the group in front of people, connecting with audiences and doing what was in their hearts to do. The image was so strong I could see it, feel it and knew in the core of my being that was where they were going, when I would get so full of anxiety that I couldn’t take it anymore, I would spend time in this larger place…and this is the reason that it worked at all. Focusing and training your mind toward abundance requires that you can:

The Law of Attraction

The reason that I was able to help my friends create a new life…in a way in which many people in their industry said could not be done…is the law of attraction, which simply put…means you get what you think about. If you can imagine it, feel it and make it real mentally…then it comes to you because you emanate a complimentary energy which ATTRACTS your desires. Many of us have self-sabotaging habits such as worry and anxiety that can instead get us emanating an energy that compliments the things we are worried about. In my case, the knowing was stronger than the sabotage…so it worked out…it worked out fast and everything fell into place in a way beyond the ability of the individuals involved. The constant energy battle I engaged in at this time however, left me tired. I was exhausted from the effort and it took many months and several years to understand how I lost energy and why the experience didn’t feel good much of the time.

Energy

As a seven on the enneagram, I worked very hard to pull things into manifestation to stave off my basic fear of being stuck in an unpleasant, unwanted or otherwise painful situation. I was always outrunning this fear and sending enormous amounts of energy out of myself as a kind of crucifix that I used to ward off the evils lurking in the darkness of my personality that I had not yet confronted. I had not learned to pick and choose where I put my energy. My mind would race and my energy would follow…extremely scattered it flew out by the fistfuls toward every imagined want that passed my thoughts. For a seven, there are fifty-million little desires a day that are pleasant distractions…if you want to have any effect on even one of them…you have to learn to consciously ‘place’ your energy instead of letting it follow every little desire.

Making Time for Visualization

As I gained in health I started setting time aside to visualize my desires. At first this was not easy…I had so many it was hard to choose and my mind just could not provide me with any answers in this regard which would trigger the fear of ‘missing out’ on something. So I learned to start with a meditation that would quiet my mind. Once all the stuff that had been flying around in there was out, I was able to obtain a state of contentment…pure gold for a seven! From there, it was easy to see how much of what I thought I wanted I already had, or was unnecessary…so prioritizing what to spend my time manifesting got a lot easier. Now I spend time visualizing not so much to manifest but to bring into myself…the abundance that is all around me…everywhere I look. This makes me literally hum with joyful energy…so I sure don’t have to be concerned with what I’m attracting!

Learning to Recharge

Pulling energy out of yourself is unhealthy…especially if you have not yet learned how to recharge. In order to fill up, you have to open up. This may sound backwards…but this is how it works. You have to drop everything, your fears, your wants, your desires, your social roles and supposed-to-bes…you enter naked…just as you truly are…open to the love that is God. Opening up requires a level of comfort and safety so it is no wonder that it takes some practice. A meditation that you are comfortable with will work just fine as a starting place. Start with the meditation and then visualize yourself filling up with radiant light with every deep inhalation you take. Glow, reverberate with it. The light rushes into you from the sun, the trees, the earth beneath you, the stars and moon of the night sky…it comes from everywhere at once…filling you with comfort, joy and love. This is a great way to recharge and open up. Eventually, when you become adept at pulling energy into yourself…you’ll begin this practice before you work on manifesting your desires into your life. This way the energy you use to manifest is not coming only from you…and you can fill up again at any time. This makes the work of manifesting go with lightness and ease and this by far, is the biggest lesson I learned from my experience in music industry. It doesn’t have to be hard and difficult. Once you understand energy, the law of attraction and how to manifest…you can do so with ease.

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A Subtle Vibration

Have you ever become aware of an unseen direction? An indescribable sense of something that has significance or of being attracted to something so clearly that the attraction is arising from beyond your normal sense of self?

Myth authority, Joseph Campbell, described the feeling of being helped along his path in life by thousands of unseen hands. There is occupation and then there is spiritual occupation. According to Campbell, the notion of following your bliss or spiritual occupation came to him through the Sanskrit term sat-chit-ananda, which represents the jumping-off place to the ocean of transcendence. The word sat means being. The word chit means consciousness and the word ananda means rapture. Campbell came to the conclusion that rapture is a vehicle for being & consciousness. In The Power of Myth he states, I thought, “I don’t know whether my consciousness is proper consciousness or not; I don’t know whether what I know of my being is my proper being or not; but I do know where my rapture is. So let me hang on to rapture, and that will bring me both my consciousness and my being.” I think it worked.

Finding a Vehicle

Celtic artist Loreena McKennitt recalls a feeling of being chosen by music. Over time she found her place of connectedness and it became her vehicle. She mentions being absent of the strongly extroverted personality best suited for a career in music but instead of being more at home on a farm or an informal gathering of friends. In fact, she had no intent of going into music at all but instead felt the music pull her out of the path she was intending and into the unknown. I have one of Loreena’s projects called The Book of Secrets and I absolutely love her artistry in this cd. In this recording you can feel the heart that beats for this music, her connection to it is very pure.

Connecting with Rapture

Loreena became smitten with Celtic music in the 70’s but her real journey began when she developed a passion for Celtic history and found herself drawn into the rich, ancient tapestry of sounds and rhythms and stories she found there. Loreena acknowledges being deeply interested in the connections between physiology and our spiritual and psychological beings, and the many events and experiences that inspire us. Through her exploration of Celtic history she discovered myths and traditions that resemble one another from far corners of the globe, people who share traits and yet are distinctive. She states, “My starting point is the belief that, in one way or another, we are all an extension of each other’s history. Wanting to learn about our neighbours is also a desire to learn about ourselves.”

Where is your Passion?

Most of us have not given much thought to this question. We are concerned with paying the bills and providing for our families. Perhaps we are even concerned with attaining or maintaining a lifestyle we believe will make us happy. To most of us the notion of existing through passion is scary…or a luxury that is reserved for those strange artsy types. While it is true that the artsy types are more likely to allow this force to enter and guide their lives, like Joseph Campbell I maintain that passion and bliss are for everyone. If you can start to notice the fear you hold around creating a passionate life…you are on your way to discovering your vehicle. The biggest obstacle to this endeavor is our fear of what doing something great will bring to us. The truth is we all have enormous power. We are wielding this power recklessly all the time, unaware that we are transforming everything we encounter. Finding your passion is no less then purposefully and responsibly wielding your power…so the way I see it, it is irresponsible to live life in any other way. Spend some time cultivating an awareness of those unseen senses of direction in your life…it just might be your passion calling!

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An Expression of Faith

The contents of this blog entry are near and dear to me and the subject matter revolves around much of what has been surfacing in my experience.

I came across the expression Trust the Process on Duran Duran Bassist John Taylor’s website. I absolutely fell in love with it and this is what it means to me. Life is a process of unfolding to your potential and trusting that your experience regardless of how it looks is a part of that process. I want to go deeper into this thought.

When I say regardless of how it looks it means simply this; the experiences I have are the ones I need in order to grow. This means that everything that occurs in my life is part of a higher orchestration. The purpose of which is to create the conditions necessary for the unfolding of my potential. Have you ever heard the Christian expression the way of the Cross? This is a highly spiritual term which means the worst thing in your life (your cross) becomes the best thing in your life. Trusting the Process is an act of faith. Your faith is in this, all that happens is for the expression of higher good. So embrace it, work with it and let it make you grow!

Resistance

If you look around in your life you’ll see people in various stages of this orchestration. When challenges arrive in our lives or the lives of others our first impulse is to judge and resist it. For me, this impulse is strongest with those I am in close relationship with. I don’t know how many times I have seen someone having trouble in their marriage or with their children and think, they shouldn’t be doing this! It is a challenge to remember the higher perspective. Often times when I see this in others it brings out a fear in me that I don’t want to see, or a complication that I don’t want to deal with but again it is all a form of resistance. What is being resisted? Life. I am resisting life and have placed my energy toward trying to bend it to my ideas of what it should be instead of Trusting the Process of higher good to unfold around me. We limit this process when we try to contain it within our ideas of how it will come.

A New Perspective

When I see what someone else is creating in their lives I remind myself of the truth. I try not to judge what I see. Instead I hold the knowing. I know that they are creating a condition that will set the stage for their greater good. This experience is just the one they need to have as the inner force that orchestrates it all knows what it is doing. I know that there is room for them to create whatever they want in their lives and that as they create they will learn. I have also learned to allow people their experiences, their creations and to know they are qualified to navigate life for themselves.

We can pinch ourselves off from life with the judgments that we make or we can allow ourselves the freedom of making no decisions about what we see. With that comes a love beyond the realms of normal experience because it’s difficult to truly love something when your busy holding it out at arms length so that you can decide if it should or should not be this or that. And this is a ludicrous thing to do because it is what it is, and can making a decision about what it should be effect any real change other than on our personal feelings about it? Now think carefully on this point because this will change the way you think, would you choose to feel negatively about someone or something that is part of the greater good unfolding in this world? What decisions would you make if you knew the power to make something good or bad lies within the thoughts you hold about it?

Open Instead of Closed

My most recent work has been to cultivate being open to life and allowing it to flow through me. Being receptive to the forces working around you and opening yourself to the possibilities hidden in all of life’s situations allows all good to come to forth. Life is motion. So practice accepting what comes your way by holding the knowing that life works for your ultimate good and Trust the Process!

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