Exactly Where I Need to Be

My older daughter and I had the good fortune to see Amy Steinberg in concert this week. How a woman with such a soulful and spirited voice isn't hugely popular is beyond me. After the show we stood in line to get Amy's autograph on our CDs. I also brought along my camera, hoping for a photo like the one above of Amy, me, my daughter. Amy knew without being told that we were friends with AnneO and part of the Shine with Unschooling list. I guess our sparkle was too shiny to not be noticed. :) Or, maybe it was my "Incredibly Loved" shirt?

I asked for the photo and Amy asked the closest stranger to take the photo for us. What a nice surprise it was for us to find that the stranger wasn't a stranger at all, but rather our amazing and wonderful hairstylist, Jennifer Andrews. Amy happened to be on the lookout for a someone that could give her a good haircut. The two made plans to get together the next day. I'm sure she now has the best hair cut that she's ever had.

Find music you like and support the artist! Big names aren't necessarily better than what you'll find locally (or at least on a smaller level). We've found another concert (KT Tunstall, the Indigo Girls, Brandi Carlile and Ingrid Michaelson at ONE event!) to go to in December and we can't wait.

Be Joe

There are certain days in my life that stand out strong in my memory. One of these days is the first time I saw Joe Versus the Volcano. This Tom Hanks/Meg Ryan classic is one of my family's all time favorites. It is inspirational in ways that few other movies or books are. It's not sad, sappy, or cruel. It has so many quotable lines that we often find ourselves saying lines from this movie and randomly singing lines from some of the songs. Joe's circumstances show us how any ordinary person can pick up their life and become the best that they can be (much like Do Life Right's mission statement). All anyone has to do is decide to have the life they want. Everything we ever need and want is available to us, we just have to believe it and grab it.

If you want to be reminded to WAKE UP and LIVE NOW, Joe Versus the Volcano is the movie for you. Whenever we're feeling like life is rough, or otherwise needing inspiration, we pull out this movie and become Joe for a while.

Dream a Little Dream of Me

Lucid dreaming? Traveling to other spaces and places? Fact or fiction? What's it all about and do I want to do it?

I've always been a vivid dreamer. My dreams often feel so very real that I used to often wake up unsure of where I was for my first few seconds of complete consciousness. There have been many times that I haven't enjoyed this process. I wanted more control so I could enjoy it more, thus I looked into ways to help this. I discovered that I wanted to be a lucid dreamer.

As a huge fan and follower of string theory and other branches of physics, I became enamored with the book Suddenly Psychic by Maureen Caudill. Caudill is a physicist, turned psychic, and non-fiction/fiction author all in one. Her background and writing gave me an interesting perspective that you, too, might find interesting.

This lead me to the Monroe Institute with their Hemi-Sync material. While seemingly bizarre, I decided to try a couple of their CDs. I found the words themselves bland and boring, yet somehow opening. My youngest daughter and I have been finding equally powerful and rewarding results. These CDs are helping her realize that her dream of levitating might not be so far fetched after all.

To be slightly non sequitur, one of my all time favorite movies is Dream A Little Dream. Great music, too. :) I'm a huge fan of speculative fiction (I'm still looking for a good publisher that feels similarly, in case anyone here happens to be one).

Freedom Now

As a huge Indigo Girls fan, I've adored the song Closer To Fine since the first time I heard it. It popped up on the radio for me the other day as I was driving and the familiar, "Got my paper, I was free" played and an old odd disturbance ran through me. It was true. I was not free in any way whatsoever in this society until I received a college degree some fourteen years ago.

There were a lot of spoken and unspoken requirements to the need for that silly piece of paper in my life. While I did enjoy parts of the college experience, I honestly do not feel that I learned very much in the classes that I took for my degree (in Mathematics, for those curious). I did the majority of my learning in the classes that I took BECAUSE I WANTED TO BE THERE and in the afterhour discussions and reading that I did on my own. I learned a lot during my years as a college student, but not because I was in college. I was shackled to the school, gathering up student loans, until society was ready to call me an adult. I needed that piece of paper to be free (even though no one has ever asked to see it). I did spend a lot of time learning how to cut through red tape...

My children (ages 11 and 7, today) are free NOW -- on this day and every day. They were born free and they've spent every day of their lives living fully in the here and now. Although often people attempt to discriminate against them due to their ages, they are never discriminated due to their Unschooling. Strangers are always impressed at our children. Since they don't have the pressures that schooled children have, they can pursue their dreams and passions on their own personal schedules. They are allowed to follow their interests and pursue them as far as they want. They ask, we help, they thrive. It really is as simple as that. Be present with your children and their whole selves will shine!

To paraphrase what a Star Trek episode reminded me recently: All I ask of my children is that they love what they do and they do their best at it, no matter what it is. I wish for their happiness and that they lead exciting lives (for them). Living a full life, a life full of passion, that is my fondest wish for my children. That is my fondest wish for everyone everywhere.

I love this Unschooling lifestyle!

Free Radio

Looking for new ideas on what to listen to? Check out Pandora's cool (and free) internet radio. You can type in one of your favorite artists and it'll give you recommendations, then start playing!

Amy Steinberg's New CD

Amy Steinberg's much anticipated new CD, Fall Down to Fly, is out as of yesterday. Her song Exactly is a favorite of many Unschooling families. We really relate to the lyrics and enjoy her beautiful and soulful voice. I'm extremely excited that she is playing near me this year.

Check out Amy's music on her MySpace page. You can hear Exactly there, as well as several of her new songs. She's also listed her upcoming shows. If you are lucky enough to have her playing close to you, go check her out! I've been told that she performs a show that is unforgettably fantastic.

Here's a little plug for CD Baby: they are an awesome "little online record store that sells albums by independent musicians." Very cool!

We all are "exactly where we need to be."

Audible Books and iPods

My Unschooled daughters and I have become enamored with audio books. On a recent trip, we knew we had to finish listening to the last Harry Potter book (our consensus is that it is the best one of the bunch). Thus, we started looking into MP3 players.

Our criteria were (1) SUPER SMALL and (2) easy to use. Thus, the purchase of our iPod Shuffle version 2. We started with only two and now have three. These have become excellent purchases and we're zipping through books as we go about our daily lives. It is wonderful to be doing the dishes while listening to a book! I'd so frequently had to put my book down in order to do laundry. Not now. :) With the iPods, the best source of instant audio books out there is by far Audible.com. (Thanks to my friend, Andrew, for that recommendation). Not only is their product easy to understand and use, but their customer support is excellent. I highly recommend them, despite the fact that they won't allow Do Life Right, Inc. to be an affiliate of theirs.

Audible books, music, television shows, and movies can also be purchased through iTunes (an excellent free program). I've tried all of the above and found them to work superbly. The downloading process is simple and easy. Amazon's Unbox, however, still needs some work before I can recommend them. I struggled with attempting to download a video for weeks before I finally asked them for a refund (which they quickly did).