Halloween Bash

I celebrated Halloween for the third and final time at Columbus 72, Swing dancing to music provided by the always fabulous Joe Battaglia & the NY Big Band. Joe & his "boys" were wonderful and provided hours of great music to enjoy on the dance floor or from the sidelines. Many thanks to Joe for always giving us his best and really bringing Big Band music & Latin music to life with excellence.

Tonight, I was a cow-girl sheriff. I was ridin' the fences, roping doggies, hanging with my good friend Micheline, aka Marie-Antoinette. We had a good time watching the crowd, enjoying the various costumes. Our friend, Andy, put together a wonderful wizard costume complete with a glowing orb that changed colors. Stylish Suzanne used her talents for dressing store windows & designing sets to scare up an undead flapper outfit. We were dazzled by Zorro, one of my favorite regular dancers to admire, who is aways entertaining to watch.

Halloween has always been one of my favorite days of the year. I realized that it is a day where people give themselves permission: permission to have fun, to be creative, to express themselves, to explore a different side of themselves, to be zany, to disregard their thoughts about what other people (including ourselves!) will say. Now, we all have an inner "governor" who can be more or less loud & bossy, depending upon how much we invest in what others think. On Halloween, though, folks seem to be willing to give the "governor" a blessed night off. Of course, once we recognize that we have this "governor," we can choose to operate as if everyday is Halloween. Um... minus the wigs or skimpy skirts -or not... depending upon your line of work or hobbies, I suppose. ;-) Awareness, frees us from the conversation in our head.

For me, this freedom definitely followed in my dancing. I was able to ditch my thoughts & pay attention to the music, rather than my judgments about my lack of proficiency at dancing. I was also able to try different styles from Swing to Hip Hop and just have FUN with it.

Fellow dance enthusiasts Calvin, Suzanne, Will & friends were there to cast a spell on their dance partners.

Book Promotion: "Being Here"

I am quite excited because one of my favorite books, "Being Here", by Ariel & Shya Kane, is doing well on the Amazon charts. My friend, Valerie, let me know about a special promotion, and I thought I would pass the information along. The book is lovely to read and would make a fabulous Christmas gift! I invite you to check out "Being Here".

Valerie writes,

I’d like to let you know about a special promotion for an incredible book written by Ariel & Shya Kane, award-winning authors, seminar leaders, consultants and my personal coaches and friends. I have never encountered anything as effective, profound and enlivening as the Kanes’ work and it has made a tremendous impact on my life. Their book, “Being Here, Modern Day Tales of Enlightenment,” was just released this September and is now available in stores and online. This book - a simple yet extraordinary collection of stories that inspire, amuse, entertain and enlighten - has already been met with critical acclaim.

If you buy this book on Amazon.com this WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 7th, you will receive many free gifts, including the book in downloadable audio format! Here is the link where you can get all of the details:

http://www.ask-inc.com/specialoffer/

You just have to purchase the book on Wednesday, November 7th on Amazon to get the bonus gifts. This is an incredible opportunity to discover a new possibility for well-being everywhere in your life. This book, and the Kane's work, is so simple yet so powerful. This new book is an excellent resource that supports you all areas of your life.

I'm off to see the Wizard

After a great time at the , "Living a Magical Life" workshop, it was time to celebrate Halloween again. Here I am with Andy the Scarecrow & my little dog too.

Halloween at the Yale Club

A small group of us attended a lively function to usher in this year's Halloween festivities. Halloween is one of my favorite holidays. I find it very magical and filled with possibility. You can literally be anyone for a day. Way cool! This party at the Yale club was a wonderful way to start off the festivities.

Here is Druce surrounded by Glam Girl & Marilyn Monroe.

The Mom is always greener on the other side of the fence.

I had a really wild conversation w/ my Mom I wanted to share. Our conversations (or my story of them) usually went this way:

Alex: “Hello?”
Vilma: “Hello sweetheart, I’m reading this fascinating article on the discovery of pulsars in astronomy & their relation to narrowing down the age of the universe, while watching the military channel w/ one eye & Masterpiece Theater’s stunning rendition of all 23 hours of Wagner’s Gotterdammerung w/ the other. How about You?”
Alex: “Um, That’s nice. Turn on Channel 24. The Girls Next Door is on about Hugh Heffner & his 2 girlfriends & his main squeeze, Holly. Today they’re going to Aspen to ski.”
Vilma: “That sounds odious! How can you waste your time w/ such drivel!”
Alex: “Gee Mom, you’re so judgmental. I wish you could be open to new things. You’re a stinky person. I gotta go, bye.”

But the other day, the conversation went more like this:

Vilma: “Oh, I’m so upset, I have been looking everywhere for the song that Jordin girl sang on American Idol. I think she’s magnificent! And only 17!! Do you know where I can find it? Can you download her performance for me on the Internet? And did you hear about Angelina Jolie & Brad Pitt separating b/c she won’t stay home w/ the children. I am aghast!”
Alex: “Ma, what happened to you? Who are you? When was the last time you read Proust or Tolstoy? What happened to the equation of a slope you were working on? How have you sunk so low?”

My reaction was so wild b/c it revealed some funny things to me about myself:

a) be careful what you wish for…
b) Truth is, my Mom is darned if she doesn’t and still darned if she does. When I am being a brat, nothing she can do will please me b/c at that moment I am "un-please-able." How does she put up w/ me when I am being bratty?
c) I can sometimes, once in a while, only on days ending in a “y”, be judgmental... Yup, you heard it here first!

This time, when I saw the brattiness & the judgments, instead of cowering in shame, beating myself up & doing nothing to further our relationship, I started laughing at myself & fessed up to my Mom. We had a good time, relaxed and had fun with each other. Wait till I tell her Brangelina put little Maddox at my old school...