Overbooked and Underpaid: Notes from a Yes-aholic

Anne & God: Attack Of The Karens (With Apologies To My Nice Friends Named Karen)

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Anne & God - The Popularity Contest

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Anne & God - Take A Moment To Unplug...

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Behind The Scenes With Anne & God: It Starts With Empathy

 

Who are we?

Who should we be?

Who can we be?

For a long time I've been feeling on edge, tired, defeated.

What is the source of this?

Is it our current political climate?

Yes.

And no.

It's more complicated than now.

It has its roots in decades of watching a world that chooses envy over empathy, anger over support, entitlement over generosity.

It has its roots in frustration with those who choose to see the world through a personal lens rather than that of community.

It has its roots in a sense of futility that comes from leaders who promise change but don't deliver it.

We have guideposts:

Love one another.

Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

But we can only follow those guideposts if we first embrace empathy.

We must be able to feel the pain of others and we must care about that pain.

We cannot dehumanize suffering and sort ourselves into the "deserving" and the "undeserving".

We can be better than we are.

We must feel.

And care.

And support.

But we must also DO SOMETHING.

The current environment of hate and fear and "us versus them" should not, and cannot,  continue.

"Doing Something" is a personal choice - maybe your "something" is protesting, maybe it is running for office, maybe it is canvassing for someone else running for office, maybe it is getting on your soapbox and spreading the word, maybe it is engaging in public service.

Maybe you don't feel you can do any of those things.

Maybe you are too stuck in your resentment to want to become part of a new world.

Then please try to do one thing.

Empathize.

Just taking that step might change your life.

Anne & God: Boundaries

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Anne & God: The Gift

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Behind The Scenes With Anne & God: Inspiring Music For Tough Times

I grew up with a pretty eclectic mix of music.

The parents were professional classical musicians who played both in the local Philharmonic and show tunes in the orchestra pit for musicals...

I was personally listening to rock and pop music (or as my father called it, "that garbage")...

In addition to his professional French Horn gig, Dad was also a jazz bassist who played with Bob James back in college. (Bob James wrote the theme to the TV Show Taxi - I just saved you a google search.)...

Meanwhile mom developed a side passion for Irish music - especially The Cheiftans...

And throw in for good measure a bunch of stuff from old time radio - Benny Goodman, Duke Ellington, Glen Miller, Phil Harris etc.

So I have a lot of options to throw onto my stereo when I want to clear my head or just generally lift my mood.

Yes, I said stereo.

We actually never got rid of our turntable or CD player so, in addition to all the tunes on our bluetooth playlists, this household still listens to great "old school" records and disks.

For nostalgic "rock out" sessions, I break out the Stevie Ray Vaughan or the Led Zeppelin or the Alan Parsons (even in rock my taste is pretty wide.)

And sometimes one needs a good rollicking Celtic band playing stuff like The Rocky Road To Dublin. (You've probably heard it in the Robert Downey Sherlock Holmes movie during the boxing scene.)

But for really bad days I turn to "Sing Sing Sing" by Benny Goodman.

Along with other 40's swing music by the greats like Ellington (Take The A Train, Caravan), Basie (Corner Pocket), Miller (Tuxedo Junction) and others.

And thanks to the Sirius FM 40's channel everyone can listen to this great music - even those of you who don't know what a record is.

As I wrote in the poem above, the 40's, what with the Great Depression of the 30's and WWII, were a pretty bleak time. But a lot of the music was terrifically upbeat.

There was probably a direct correlation - people needed to feel better so the entertainers took that to heart and produced uplifting content on purpose.

Music has an amazing ability to transform our mood.

I know there are a LOT of people out there right now who could use a lift so here's some stuff to get you started.

And because not everyone is into swing music I've added some Rock, Blues, and Celtic.

Playlist: "Sing, Sing, Sing" Benny Goodman, "Corner Pocket" Count Basie, "Take The A Train" Duke Ellington, "Rocky Road To Dublin" Dubliners, "The Sidewinder" Lee Morgan, "One Good Reason" Alan Parsons Project, "The Immigrant Song" ∫, "Uptown Funk" ∫ - this is the version with all the old time dancers like Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers - for an added "pick-me-up".

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Anne & God: The Din

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Anne & God: The Planting

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Anne & God: The Ritual

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