It Gets Better

This song is available for purchase on iTunes.  All proceeds go to the Trevor Project which is the leading national organization focused on crisis and suicide prevention efforts among lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning (LGBTQ) youth.

Mojo Monday ~ Big Dreams

We wish all the Cosmic Cowgirls could have been present for the Big Dreamin' that was happening in San Francisco this weekend. The fantabulous Cosmic Cowgirl Big Dream Cafe took place on Saturday in the elegant setting of Yoshi's Jazz club. For those who could not attend I wanted to share an overview of the days inspirational happenings.

The event featured the inspiring and visionary presentations of Shiloh McCloud, Mary MacDonald, Christine Arylo, Shakti Gawain, SARK, and Elizabeth Gibbons.

Shiloh led the group through an exploration of the What, Who, Where, When, Why and the WOW of their dreams and goals. 

Christine Arylo explored the Silent Epidemics of Women, the Antidotes and the Dares in order to create more Self Love. Christine's book called Choosing ME before WE : Every Woman's Guide to Life and Love explores more on this topic. 

Shakti Gawain spoke of Creative Visualization, of which she has written a book by the same title, and led the group through a self discovery exercise regarding Main Characteristics and the Disowned Selves which led to exploring the various aspects of ourselves and how to work towards accepting and integrating our polarities. 

SARK, always funny and inspirational, shared about her new book called Glad No Matter What: Transforming Loss and Change Into Gift and Opportunity. 

Mary MacDonald (aka Stella Mac), the Big Dream Cafe Host, punctuated each presentation with her wise and thoughtful sharing, as well as encouragement to journal and share in small groups the many personal discoveries that were taking place. 

Elizabeth Gibbons brought the event to a glittery finale with her sharing about the importance of bringing glitter and light into our lives and asked us all to support spreading "glitteracy" throughout the world.

The Big Dream Cafe was followed by an inspiring evening performance by Alice Walker as she read from her newest book called Hard Times Require Furious Dancing, as well as dancing in the aisles that was inspired by the music of the band Hedzoleh Soundz. You can experience Alice reading some of her poetry on her very own youtube channel by clicking here. If you would also like to experience some of Hedzoleh Soundz music click here. We must also note that the foreward and illustrations for Alice Walker's new book were written and created by our very own Chief Laughing Cloud, Shiloh McCloud.

Alice Walker on stage at Yoshi's presenting her inspiring poetry.

Hedzoleh Soundz jamming away.

Some other highlights from the days events:

Upon entering Yoshi's the attendees had the supreme pleasure of seeing in person Elizabeth Gibbons' artistic masterpiece called The Door of Possibilities which you can read more about here.

We also all had the joy of experiencing the Glitter Bar which is another incredible creation of Elizabeth Gibbons.

If you attended the Big Dream Cafe please share a little (or a lot) about your experiences, feelings, and thoughts about the event, as well as a little bit about a Big Dream you hold dear to your heart.

If you were not able to attend please share with us one of your Big Dreams. (I have personally found that sharing and speaking aloud about Dreams is one of the first BIG steps in moving forward to making it a reality!)

Lastly for a little extra inspiration. Click on the link below to watch a touching video of the song Dream Big by the very fun band Ryan Shupe and The Rubberband. I've include some of the lyrics in writing for you too.

Dream Big by Ryan Shupe and The Rubberband

Lyrics:

When you cry, be sure to dry your eyes,

'Cause better days are sure to come.

And when you smile, be sure to smile wide,

And don't let them know that they have won.

And when you walk, walk with pride,

And don't show the hurt inside,

Because the pain will soon be gone.

(Chorus)

And when you dream, dream big,

As big as the ocean, blue.

'Cause when you dream it might come true.

But when you dream, dream big.

And when you laugh, be sure to laugh out loud,

'Cause it will carry all your cares away.

And when you see, see the beauty all around and in yourself,

And it will help you feel okay.

And when you pray, pray for strength to help to carry on,

But when the troubles come your way.

Dream big….

Mojo Monday ~ At the Movies

A new show opened up at our local Turtle Bay Exploration Park. It is called Out of this World: Extraordinary Costumes from Television and Film. My family and I checked it out this morning and I had fun taking the photos you see featured in the collage. There are more not shown such as the Riddler costume that Jim Carrey wore in the film Batman Forever. The costumes were all featured in these rather fancy lighted display cases and each costume would include information about the actor who wore it and the film.

It was interesting to get a more real feel for the size of the actors who wore these costumes. There were plenty of Star Trek and Star Wars costumes, as well as the infamous leather jackets of Indian Jones and the Terminator. One some of the walls giant screens showed scenes from various science fiction, super hero and action films.

This made me think that having a Mojo Monday post about movies would be a lot of fun and perhaps provides us all with some new titles to add to the old Netflix movie queue. 

So let's start sharing some titles of our favorite films. Can you list 10? How about 5?

My husband can easily rattle off lines from the Princess Bride and Airplane. Are there any films that you can recite the lines from? 

Are there any movies in which you just love a particular scene?

Mojo Monday ~ Quotable

There are so many quotes that I love that I am sure I could fill a book with them. So when I thought about writing a post for Mojo Monday on quotes I realized I needed to perhaps fine tune what I wanted to share. In effort to do so I thought I would focus on one writer/artist who I find to be incredibly quotable ~ Mary Anne Radmacher.

Here are several of her shorter quotes:

courage... courage doesn't always roar. sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, "i will try again tomorrow."

yes! it takes courage to act upon your dreams.

perserve. plan. strategize. focus. breathe. write. let go. forgive. relax. all this failing... take a nap.

the jump is so frightening between where i am and where i want to be... because of all i may become i will close my eyes and leap!

a key to a vital life is an eagerness to learn and a willingness to change.

Here are a few longer quotes:

because i call it challenge rather than crisis; because i look at hardship as opportunity instead of obstacle; because at the end of a matter, i ask, "what will i learn from this to make me better?"; because i take a deep breath and do the difficult thing first; because my courage does not depend on the weather, the economic forecast or the winds of whim; because i know the most significant elements in my day are laughter, learning and applying my finest efforts to each endeavor; because of these things each morning is a pleasure and every day passed is a success.

all i know is... you can get there from here. you can. you can walk through the fear. travel past what is gone before. wake up! wake up and get up on the other side. dare to become that of your dreams. dare! dare to believe in your own possibility.

wishes. i wish for you the color that you bring forth in others to greatly rise within you. i wish you your own best strength. i wish you always loved ones at your side. i wish you desired possibilities before you and contentment behind you. i wish you the beginnings of all your dreams and many of the ends. i wish you peace.

Mary Anne Radmacher is on Facebook and has a website.

Do you have some favorite quotes?

Is there a particular writer whose words you find to be quotable.

Mojo Monday ~ Comedy

Comedy is acting out optimism. ~ Robin Williams

Having a sense of humor about life helps reduce stress, can boost positive feelings and can even benefit your overall mental and physical health.

According to an article called Laughter Is the Best Medicine there are a number of things that occur physically when you laugh.

• Laughter relaxes the whole body. A good, hearty laugh relieves physical tension and stress, leaving your muscles relaxed for up to 45 minutes after.

• Laughter boosts the immune system. Laughter decreases stress hormones and increases immune cells and infection-fighting antibodies, thus improving your resistance to disease.

• Laughter triggers the release of endorphins, the body’s natural feel-good chemicals. Endorphins promote an overall sense of well-being and can even temporarily relieve pain.

• Laughter protects the heart. Laughter improves the function of blood vessels and increases blood flow, which can help protect you against a heart attack and other cardiovascular problems.

Knowing this has led me to view comedians more as Laugh Doctors or MD’s and I love to get a regular dose of the medicine they are prescribing.

I have had the good fortune to have seen comedian Robin Williams perform three times in person. Another favorite comedian who I also saw perform once in person is Stephen Wright. Click here to see him perform a stand up routine.

I recently watched Date Night with my husband and I have to say that at the start of the film I was feeling a bit stressed about my to-do list and yet by the end of the film I was feeling much more relaxed. 

Do you have a favorite comedian? A favorite comedy film?

What makes you laugh?

What is comedy? Comedy is the art of making people laugh without making them puke.

~ Steve Martin

Nonsense wakes up the brain cells. And it helps develop a sense of humor, which is awfully important in this day and age. ~ Dr. Seuss.

Jennifer Grey & Derek Hough - Viennese Waltz (longer clip)

Mojo Monday ~ Earth the Perfect Place

The above card is one I received from my mom long ago, possibly even 20 years ago. The message is one that really resonated with me, a short and simple list of things that make life sweet, a list of things to make one feel grateful to be living here on planet Earth.

Now and again I take the time to write out my own list.


Earth ~
the perfect place
to create,
paint,
write,
practice loving other people,
and forgiving,
sing,
pet cuddly soft kittens,
speak one's truth,
nap,
travel
rock out,
float in water,
soak up the sun,
hold hands,
shine!

What would you include on your list? Please share…