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Thought for the Day: This has been a tough start to the New Year. The events in Paris (Charlie Hebdo attack & Kosher Supermarket attack) were gripping and very upsetting for all those who cherish freedom and respect for differences. Today's magazine includes some of the reactions of cartoonists world wide. There are several psychology articles about ways to make the most of New Year's resolutions, improve relationships and use exercise to remain young. If you missed Kevin Spacey on the Billy Joel award show, take a look, it is a wonderful array of great singers saluting Billy Joel. There are wonderful photos showing parenthood from a different perspective than most posed family photos and more.
Thought for the Day: Yesterday, I posted #FF Friday's Fabulous Finds, I was not sure what song to share today. I had posted this tweet about my Friday's Finds (which went out automatically around midnight EDST):
@WakeUpDreamNow #FF Finds: World Changing #Women: Suffragettes, .@GwenIfill .@JudyWoodruff Omaha Rocks http://t.co/inuekLuJZf #psychology #news
(Translation: Dr. Barbara Lavi is asking you to Follow her Friday (#FF) Finds & send it out to your followers. It reports stories about World Changing Women's accomplishments including Suffrogattes, Reporters Gwen Ifill & Judy Woodruff's Trailblazing appointment as 1st female co-anchors on PBS' NewsHour, and a program in Omaha that helps girls build self esteem at a rock and roll camp. Here's a link to the blog post which is related to psychology and news.)
About an hour later, on twitter I saw this message: @BeNaturalMovie Aug 09, 12:51pm via Twitter for iPhone
(Translation: Someone who's twitter handle is @BeNaturalMovie was writing to let me know they had read my tweet & was asking me if I had ever heard of Alice Guy. I clicked on the link on the tweet & viewed a very interesting story about Alice Guy-Blaché. She was a pioneer film maker whose contribution to the history of film making has been virtually lost. I tweeted back to them that it seemed to be an important story that needs to be told. They tweeted back, thanked me & asked for my help.
I tweeted out their tweet (in twitterese I retweeted or RT's it to the 11, 500 + followers on my 3 twitter handles. @BeNaturalMovie thanked me & I thought I was done. However, the story & the importance of letting people know about women, like Alice, who were bold enough to follow their dreams, stuck with me. I decided to share it with you here today & hope you will view the kickstart video. They are behind their goals & their minimum donation is just a dollar. Please take a look. Share it with your friends, families, fans, & other networks.
When you view the video you will see that film makers & actors like Robert Redford (executive producer), Jodie Foster (narrator) & Ben Kingsley are supportive of this project. I'm sure they don't mind that I used their names to get your attention in the title of this post & hope you don't mind as well! The story of Alice is what is really important. Women who make history should not be erased from the history books!
Click HERE to view their kickstart campaign.
I chose "Wind Beneath My Wings" performed by Bette Midler (written by Jeff Silbar and Larry Henley) for the song for the soul today. I met Larry Henley a few years ago at the frank Brown Songwriters Festival. He was very humble. It was a huge honor to meet and speak with someone who wrote such a beautiful inspiring song. Women like Alice are unsung heroes. Because of the accomplishments of women like her others are following in her footsteps.
Above photo from Be Natural Movie Kickstarter page.
Thought for the Day: Today, I could really use some relaxing music. As the free download of the e-Book version of my book quickly approaches, I keep remembering additional things I need to do. I had planed to just post a sneak peak at one of the photos from the campaign today, but realized that I had a more musical one that I could share with you. The only problem was that I only prepared tweets for this series & I needed some Photo signs to go along with it. You will be the first to see this "Over the Rainbow" series. It feels a bit improper to use the classic song in this way, but it is all for a good cause & with a dose of #BurmaShave humor. Let me know what you think. The first verse actually aired on the press release that went out yesterday, but here it is with visuals. The link at the end of the last verse will be active on Sunday at 12 AM (PST) till Tuesday at 11:59 AM (PST). I hope you will download a copy & share this offer with friends, family & colleagues as well! Thanks & I promise I will return to normal blogging after this promotion is over!
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Thought for the Day: I've had a very busy weekend so today I am posting for Saturday & Sunday! I am bringing a wonderful recording which is part of the Playing for Change project. The organization records the same song with street musician from around the world & then mixes the performances together. It is truly a worldwide effort to connect the world via music & creativity. The proceeds from the sales go to music programs around the world. The song I chose is John Lennon's "Imagine." Hear it like you have never heard the song before & imagine the possibilities for change. It is helping keep Lennon's Dream fro peace alive.
The free e-book download of The Wake Up and Dream Challenge is a part of a similar endeavor to help change the world one person at a time by helping them reach their dreams while helping 21 Dream Nonprofit organizations help others reach their dreams. It is just a week away so come back to find out how to download my book for Free.
Thought for the Day: Songs can capture the mood of a nation. When they do, they become classic hits. My 1st choice for today is a video which also tells the stories behind one such song. "Bye Bye Miss American Pie,"written & performed by Don Mc Lean, captured the emotions of the troubling events spanning the 50's and the 60's. This video shares some very interesting images & explanations of the meaning behind the song that is as American as apple pie. It is also remarkable that the song somehow is uplifting despite the difficult subject it addresses. Read on to hear the songs I picked
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I hope you enjoyed these selections & the rest of the weekend. Please come back tomorrow for Sunday's Comic Strips.
Thought for the Day: I am enjoying finding great songs by songwriters that I have met & learned from. Today, I picked songs by Steve Seskin, a hit songwriter & amazing songwriting teacher from California. His songs have been covered & become number one hits by a variety of country artists. The subject matter that he has succeeded in conveying in the hits is often surprising for country music. He can make grown men cry. Don't Laugh at Me (Written by Steve Seskin & Allen Shamblin) was 1st a a country hit, by Mark Wills. Then, as a hit by Peter, Paul & Mary it became the centerpiece for the Don't Laugh At Me Operation Respect. All of the proceeds from the song go to programs in schools across the country to teach children to respect differences & prevent bullying.
The 1st time I heard the song, I Think About You, written by Steve Seskin & Don Schlitz, on a country radio station, I was surprised. It became a hit for Collin Raye. Pay attention to the words & you will see why. The third song, Use Mine, written by Steve Seskin & Lisa Drew, will pull at your heart strings as it weaves the story of a relationship between a father & his son. I'll Always Be There for You, the fourth song, written by Steve Seskin & Odie Blackmon, is heartfelt look at a very difficult decision for any woman & her family. Life's a Dance, which I did not include is another beautiful inspirational song. You may want to check it out as well. All of the clips are of Steve performing them live at house concerts.
I hope you enjoy listening to the music of one of our nation's great songwriters. Next time you hear one of his songs on the radio, you will know who the man is behind the music. Come back tomorrow for Sunday's Comic Strips taking a lighter look as psychology & on Monday for Motivational Mondays post about my experiences in Washington DC. Have a great weekend!
Thought for Today: The Psychology of Social Media is strongly connected to what I called the Psychology of Unexpected Adventures in an earlier post on March 23rd. Unexpected adventures bring joy & sometimes help us shift direction in life. Some people call these events serendipity, the law of attraction or fate, but I think it is something different. The March 23rd post led me to discover a wonderful new product capable of helping multiple causes. I'd like to share their story as an example of the connection between social media & the Psychology of Unexpected Adventuress. How has social media led to an unexpected discovery or adventure for you? I'd love to hear your stories.
I saw a very funny, touching film yesterday at the Garden Cinemas , in Norwalk CT. We try to see all the movies played at this wonderful 4 screen art house, since they show films you may not find at the bigger establishments. I knew nothing about the movie, but trusted that it would be good if they brought it. I was not disappointed. I had not realized that Susan Sarandan was one of the stars along with Jason Segal, Ed Helms, & Judy Greer in the movie, Jeff Lives At Home. I don't want to ruin the movie for you, but in one sentence, getting out of your normal routine often leads to unexpected adventures. Jeff's mother, Susan Sarandan, is worried about him & her one birthday wish is for him to buy wood glue at Home Depot & fix a wooden slat on a louvered door on her closet. Jeff sees everything as signs of his destiny. He follows all the "signs" when he ventures out of the basement to go to Home Depot.
Jeff, (Jason Segal) who lives at home & is going nowhere in life, but he is not the only onewho is stuck. All the main characters in this movies are dissatisfied with their lives in one way or another. His mother (Susan Sarandan) is working hard at a job, but is lonely & dislikes both her sons. Ed Helms plays Jeff's brother who turns to extravagant purchases to try to fill the void he's feeling in his marriage. His wife, played by Judy Greer, is having an affair. She is looking for someone to pay attention to her, since she feels misunderstood by her husband. Each of the characters change their normal routine on the day reported in the movie & have unexpected adventures. In the movie, we only see one day in their lives, so we can only guess & hope that the adventures lead to changes in their lives.
You may be thinking, what does this have to do with the psychology of social media? I have loved the internet since I first started using it about 12 years ago. I have been able to "meet" people through the internet that I would never have met in real life without this technology. When I started using twitter last May, I did so since everyone in the world of publishing seemed to think it was important. Personally, I thought it was a silly platform where people tweeted about what they were eating for lunch. By the end of the summer, my view of twitter was totally different. I had used the platform to build several thousand followers including NPOs, authors, musicians, psychologists, philanthropists, & journalists interested in social activism. I discovered some (@BlindJudo, @Elimin8Prejudic, @VABC & @MusicFromABottle) of the NPOs included in my book through twitter. Many nonprofit organizations found me.
On March 23rd, on this blog, I asked readers to share their stories of unexpected adventures in their lives. I posted a tweet to my now 7500 followers on three twitter handles (@WakeUpDreamNow, @DreamNonProfits, & @PostTweetDreams). Three minutes later, here's what happened:
With over 7000 followers, I had not read about Eraselet before this twitter encounter. When I read their story, I loved it & promised to write about it after last Thursday's event Wings of Change at which I was preparing to speak along with other authors, philanthropists, educators & NPOs dedicated to changing the world.
Behind @Eraselet is Bryan Ricci, another person on a mission to help change the world. His story can give hope to anyone who is struggling at this time. At age 15, Brian lived on the streets of Nashville. He was sleeping under bridges. Brian hopped from couch to couch to survive. “I didn’t know what to do,” Ricci said. “And then one day … I had this crazy moment. I hitchhiked to California, got a job waiting tables & turned my life around.” Fast forward, 16 years & now Brian at 31 is married with children & working to help others avoid the path he took as a teenager.
His current unexpected adventure started when Brian's 10 year old daughter kept losing erasers. Brian's wife, Kimberly Ricci, says that, "knowing how kids wear all those bands & bracelets around their wrists, Bryan told her he’d make her an eraser she could wear like (a bracelet).’’ He invented a rubber wristband, called an Eraselet, that doubles as an eraser. The wristband can be used as a marketing tool to promote slogans such as “Erase Hunger.” For the Metropolitan Homelessness Commission, “End Homelessness.” So the once homeless father, has found a way to help others erase homelessness & endless other causes.
I believe that once we decide to make a change in our lives & start moving towards our dreams, we begin to make changes which lead us to unexpected discoveries & adventures. Whether we get out in the real world or the virtual world of social media, we begin to discover people, organizations & ideas that can help us move forward towards our dreams. It is not some magical process even though it may seem magical. When you are stuck & start doing things differently, it becomes like a chain reaction leading to new opportunities. I hope this post brings multiple new opportunities for Brian's wonderful invention & reaches as many charities as possible!
What discoveries & encounters have you had using social media? I'd love to hear your stories!
Thought for the day: Life is short. Wake Up And Dream now!
February 24th would have been my brother, Larry Bogdanow's 65th birthday. I still have trouble believing that he is gone. He was so healthy. He practiced Tai Chi, rode his bike from Soho to Chelsea Piers & swam 45 minutes to an hour almost every day of his life. He ate organic food, some of which he raised in his garden in Upstate New York. We all thought he had beat the odds after having a "benign" brain tumor removed 16 years ago. All his follow ups were clean. He had 16 healthy happy years living his dreams. He watched his beautiful daughter grow into an amazing young woman. accompanied his Oscar winning documentary film maker wife to the Oscar ceremonies, film festivals & on vacations to exotic places, worked for good causes & designed amazing buildings & restaurants.
When he began to have some memory problems last spring his new physician thought it was just stress. His life long friend, Dr. Martin Blaser, (Professor; Frederick H. King Professor of Internal Medicine; Chair & F.H.KIng Professor-Int Med Departments of Medicine (Admin Support) and Microbiology (Microbiology ) was more concerned & urged Larry to get an MRI. Hours after the scan, Dr. Blaser was frantically searching for Larry to have him come back to the hospital. Larry now had stage 4 brain cancer, the same kind that took Ted Kennedy from our world. The prognosis was not good, but we all thought that Larry would somehow fight this battle & be with us for a while longer. Surgery was followed by intensive chemo & radiation. After surgery, Larry seemed to be better. With the doctor's consent he went to his beloved country home & on Saturday morning even worked in his garden. Later that afternoon, he had a seizure. He was med-evacuated back to NYC. His condition never returned to the post operative state. Within weeks he slipped into a coma & never recovered.
So February 24th will be a tough day for me & writing about him is one of the few things I can do to mourn & commemorate the life of my brother. Over the summer, I was in NYC almost daily visiting with him, playing music for him, singing to him, sharing my progress on my book. I was fortunate enough to attend & bring Larry books to the hospital from the Book Expo. I shared my excitement when I met Jane Fonda &"heard" Roger Ebert "speak" about his new book with the help of his wife & a computer. He was hopeful that he would get better & go home. After he passed away, I became even more determined to finish my book. I vowed to find a nonprofit organization to help fight brain cancer to be included in my group of Dream Nonprofits supported by the book.
Voices Against Brain Cancer became the cause in the book that most represented my dream to help other families avoid the experience we went through with my brother. They give a voice to families & survivors. They support research to find a cure to this awful disease which took three other people I knew well. Dr. Irwin Freedberg, former head of Dermatology at NYU, is someone I describe in the book as a "Dream Parenting" role model. He & his wife, Irene Freedberg, was the Associate Director of Social Work at Bellevue Hospital. She was also the former director of Project Liberty, program that provides free crisis counseling
services to persons, families and groups most affected by the September
11 World Trade Center disaster. & one of the people who designed the Mental Health program following 9/11. Both Dr. Freedberg & Irene Freedberg were taken too soon by brain cancer.
A close childhood friend of mine & Larry's, Amelia Samet Kornfeld, also passed away last February from brain cancer. Her dreams are also represented in the book with Camp Young Judaea TX as the beneficiary. It is a camp that Larry, Amelia & I attended for years. Together we sang & believed the words, "You & I Will Change the World." It is where I learned to believe in the power of dreams to change the world.
When I spoke with a new acquaintance about the book, Larry & connections to causes he would have supported kept coming up. There is Green Demolitions. Larry was a green architect long before anyone was using recycled materials. He has had a solar generator & solar powered electric fence around his garden in Chatham.
Then there is the Lucero Center which is training Spanish speaking psychologists. Larry studied Spanish with a group of friends who volunteered to travel to Guatemala & build a community center which Larry designed over twenty years ago.
He would have loved the idea of Music From a Bottle which collects bottles at restaurants & rock concerts to support music programs in under-privledged schools. Larry helped teach me to play the guitar. Everyone who knew Larry had CD's of music that he would put together. He sent them to friends when they were going through tough times & gave them as gifts for no reason. He simply loved to introduce friends to new musicians & arrangements.
Even the Blind Judo Foundation & Elimination of Prejudice remind me of Larry. When he & my older brother, Bill, were young boys, neither of them were into athletics. When my mother found out that they were being bullied & did not know how to defend themselves, she enrolled them in Judo classes. I can still count to ten in Japanese because of those lessons.
Finally, Larry & NYC were strongly intertwined. NY Says Thank You is another charity that he would staunchly support as a way to rebuild after tragedies. Larry was an accomplished architect his work can still be viewed on his business website http://www.bogdanow.com/. He was however unpretentious. Although he designed Wild Blue, which was at the top of the World Trade Center, he never mentioned it. I went there once when the music was too loud at a Latin Dance at Windows on the World. Weeks later I mentioned having been there & thinking it looked like one of his designs, he told us it was. On 9/11 one of his associates finished an early morning meeting at Windows On the World, where Larry's firm was doing some work. When the elevator stopped running & the authorities were telling people to stay put, Larry's employee called to say he would be late for the next appointment. Larry, who had spoken with his wife who saw the plane hit the building, told him to get out of the building. He saved his employee's life. Larry's life was dedicated to building comfortable spaces for people to get together & trying to promote a peaceful world.
As you can see, completing the book & promoting these causes has been intertwined with my wish to keep my brother's dreams alive as well as my own. It has been a labor of love. I miss him & know he would be proud of how this book can help so many causes that he believed in as well. (To read more about any of the charities mentioned in this post, click on their name & read the entire preview.) Half of the profits from each of these books goes to nonprofit of your choice.
If you knew Larry & would like to share a story, please do. If his life & story resonates with you please share as well.
Wake Up and Dream Catalyst: Short inspirational thoughts for the day. Raising questions & hopefully opening a dialogue with people interested in learning how to turn their dreams into plans and start navigating their way towards them.
Showing posts with label Music. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Music. Show all posts
Saturday, January 10, 2015
#FF Wonderful Weekend Review 1/9/15 #JeSuisCharlie, #Psychology, #Music, #Photos, #Humor
Saturday, August 10, 2013
Saturday's Songs for the Soul: Why Do Robert Redford, Jodie Foster & Ben Kingsley Want You to Know Who Alice Guy-Blaché Was?
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| Who Was Alice Guy-Blaché? |
Thought for the Day: Yesterday, I posted #FF Friday's Fabulous Finds, I was not sure what song to share today. I had posted this tweet about my Friday's Finds (which went out automatically around midnight EDST):
@WakeUpDreamNow #FF Finds: World Changing #Women: Suffragettes, .@GwenIfill .@JudyWoodruff Omaha Rocks http://t.co/inuekLuJZf #psychology #news
(Translation: Dr. Barbara Lavi is asking you to Follow her Friday (#FF) Finds & send it out to your followers. It reports stories about World Changing Women's accomplishments including Suffrogattes, Reporters Gwen Ifill & Judy Woodruff's Trailblazing appointment as 1st female co-anchors on PBS' NewsHour, and a program in Omaha that helps girls build self esteem at a rock and roll camp. Here's a link to the blog post which is related to psychology and news.)
About an hour later, on twitter I saw this message: @BeNaturalMovie Aug 09, 12:51pm via Twitter for iPhone
(Translation: Someone who's twitter handle is @BeNaturalMovie was writing to let me know they had read my tweet & was asking me if I had ever heard of Alice Guy. I clicked on the link on the tweet & viewed a very interesting story about Alice Guy-Blaché. She was a pioneer film maker whose contribution to the history of film making has been virtually lost. I tweeted back to them that it seemed to be an important story that needs to be told. They tweeted back, thanked me & asked for my help.
I tweeted out their tweet (in twitterese I retweeted or RT's it to the 11, 500 + followers on my 3 twitter handles. @BeNaturalMovie thanked me & I thought I was done. However, the story & the importance of letting people know about women, like Alice, who were bold enough to follow their dreams, stuck with me. I decided to share it with you here today & hope you will view the kickstart video. They are behind their goals & their minimum donation is just a dollar. Please take a look. Share it with your friends, families, fans, & other networks.
When you view the video you will see that film makers & actors like Robert Redford (executive producer), Jodie Foster (narrator) & Ben Kingsley are supportive of this project. I'm sure they don't mind that I used their names to get your attention in the title of this post & hope you don't mind as well! The story of Alice is what is really important. Women who make history should not be erased from the history books!
Click HERE to view their kickstart campaign.
I chose "Wind Beneath My Wings" performed by Bette Midler (written by Jeff Silbar and Larry Henley) for the song for the soul today. I met Larry Henley a few years ago at the frank Brown Songwriters Festival. He was very humble. It was a huge honor to meet and speak with someone who wrote such a beautiful inspiring song. Women like Alice are unsung heroes. Because of the accomplishments of women like her others are following in her footsteps.
Above photo from Be Natural Movie Kickstarter page.
Saturday, August 3, 2013
Saturday's Songs For the Soul: Using a Classic Song for a Gift
Somewhere on Amazon dotcom Way Up High
There's a Free Three Day Offer
Don't Let It Pass You By
Somewhere on Amazon dotcom Skies Are Blue
And an E-Book Will Help You
Make All Your Dreams Come True
Don't Have to Wish Upon a Star
To #WakeUpAndDream
Where Clouds Are far Behind You
Don't Need a Kindle or a Nook
To Download This Amazing Book
For Three Days It's Free!
Sunday, July 28, 2013
Saturday and Sunday's Songs for the Soul: "Imagine" Playing for Change
The free e-book download of The Wake Up and Dream Challenge is a part of a similar endeavor to help change the world one person at a time by helping them reach their dreams while helping 21 Dream Nonprofit organizations help others reach their dreams. It is just a week away so come back to find out how to download my book for Free.
Saturday, July 6, 2013
Saturday's Songs for the Soul: American Pie, Don McLean & George M Cohan
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| 4th of July NYC 2014
Thought for the Day: I have been trying to take it easy this summer & am reposting a 4th of July post from 2013 today. If you missed it last year, I hope you enjoy my selections and have a great weekend! I just added another video that I found on YouTube of Kate Smith introducing what almost became the National Anthem. We took this photo last night from a roof top in Brooklyn (Dumbo section). Happy 4th of July!
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| *Photo credits |
Saturday, April 20, 2013
Saturday's Songs for the Soul: Wishing for Boston's Strong Recovery
Thought for the Day: Getting the news last night that the 2nd suspect had been captured was such a relief. Although the recovery will take time, the world sighed a sigh of relief. I will be going to Boston to help out again on Monday & feel good that I will be able to use my expertise as a psychologist to relieve some of the traumatic impact. For today, I chose some songs that will uplift our souls as the world processes what has transpired. The songs & videos speak for themselves.
One More Day by Diamond Rio is a song that always reminds us of cherishing every day we have with others & cherishing our memories of those we have lost.
Sweet Caroline at Yankee Stadium last week is a touching tribute from the Red Sox arch rival. It makes it clear that we are one nation, not just a Red Sox Nation!
The National Anthem at Bruins Game 1st home game
following Marathon bombings. This was another show of courage & determination of the American people in the face of the challenges last week. Those of you following the blog should know that one of the people singing proudly is related to Katy, the little girl who recently had a heart transplant.
Have a wonderful weekend!
Saturday, March 23, 2013
Throwback Sat & Sun's Songs 4 the Soul: Love, Joy, Change & Hope
Thought for the Day: Yesterday was another busy day for me & I did not have time to prepare a new post. In addition to continuing on the building project, I went into NYC to see my nephew in concert for the last time for a while. It was also to wish him well as he embarks on a new chapter in his life as a musician in Los Angeles. The performance by Myra Flynn (who will be moving to Australia) & Gregory Douglass was a CD release party at Rockwood Music Hall for Myra Flynn's self titled new CD. The CD was produced by my nephew, Matt Bogdanow. It was a wonderful concert by talented young singer songwriters. (You can check them out on their websites.)
I am, however, a bit tired, since we got back home in the early morning hours, so I decided to look back at earlier posts. I chose one I wrote in March as spring began. I decided to repost it now as we move into fall. Fall is a reflective time as children return to school & we begin a new year. Here's the earlier post:
Thought for the Day: This week marks the first day of spring & another significant anniversary for me. As a psychologist, I know that anniversaries related to loved ones no longer with us, sometimes catch us off guard. March 25th would have been my oldest brother Bill's birthday. Bill died many years ago at the age of 31 in the spring of his life just before finishing his doctorate in sociology. Bill was an activist during the 60's & believed in standing up for his ideals. Hopefully, the snow at the beginning of last week was the last of this winter's storms. Spring brings with it rebirth & change. In Bill's honor of Bill's memory, I chose four songs that help us to recover from the storms of life.
My first pick is one of the most eloquent love songs I know. The words are simple, yet profound. It shows how love can be shown without words. I never tire of listening to "When You Say Nothing At All." It was written by a great singer songwriter, Keith Whitley, who sadly died in the spring of his life at the age of 34 from alcohol poisoning. I've posted two versions of the song, one by Keith Whitley & the other produced posthumously with Whitley in a duet with Alison Kraus. Both versions are a chillingly beautiful testament to the power of love.
The second song, "I Hope You Dance" (written by Tia Sillers & Mark D. Sanders), epitomizes the joy of life encouraging us to choose to live life to the fullest. I had the honor to take part in an informal songwriting workshop in a hotel room at the Frank Brown International Songwriter's Festival in Florida with one of the co-writers of this song Mark D. Sanders several years ago. Mark has had 14 number one hits. In my search for a clip of this song, I found an interview with Tia Sillers on how she was inspired to write the song & how luck brought her to collaborate with Sanders. I met her once in Nashville around when the song came out. It is performed by Lee Ann Womack. The sweet photos are of Allie B. (on YouTube) 's sisters.
The third song, "Turn, Turn Turn." was adapted almost word for word from the Book of Ecclesiastes in the Bible (with the exception of the last line) by Pete Seeger. The song's wisdom & inspiration has stood the test of time. I found a video of Seeger talking about the song & about the hit version by The Byrds. Pete added his hope that the time for peace will come & that it is "not too late." This spring I hope he is right as the seasons turn.
Finally I chose a song of hope that I have loved since I was a child, "You'll Never Walk Alone" is a show tune from the 1945 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical Carousel. I somehow forgot that the song came from a musical, since it seems like an old gospel song. It is befitting song to help us come out of the storm of violence our nation experienced this winter. We must find ways to come together, find ways to overcome our fears & search for creative solutions to the problems that we face. The very powerful version I chose is from American Idol on Fox with Kelly (Clarkson), Ruben & Fantasia. It has been covered by Gerry & The Pacemakers, Elvis, Tom Jones, Barbara Streisand, Patti Labelle, Alicia Keys & countless others.
Saturday, March 16, 2013
Saturday's Songs for the Soul: Steve Seskin Hit Songwriter Making a Difference
Thought for the Day: I am enjoying finding great songs by songwriters that I have met & learned from. Today, I picked songs by Steve Seskin, a hit songwriter & amazing songwriting teacher from California. His songs have been covered & become number one hits by a variety of country artists. The subject matter that he has succeeded in conveying in the hits is often surprising for country music. He can make grown men cry. Don't Laugh at Me (Written by Steve Seskin & Allen Shamblin) was 1st a a country hit, by Mark Wills. Then, as a hit by Peter, Paul & Mary it became the centerpiece for the Don't Laugh At Me Operation Respect. All of the proceeds from the song go to programs in schools across the country to teach children to respect differences & prevent bullying.
The 1st time I heard the song, I Think About You, written by Steve Seskin & Don Schlitz, on a country radio station, I was surprised. It became a hit for Collin Raye. Pay attention to the words & you will see why. The third song, Use Mine, written by Steve Seskin & Lisa Drew, will pull at your heart strings as it weaves the story of a relationship between a father & his son. I'll Always Be There for You, the fourth song, written by Steve Seskin & Odie Blackmon, is heartfelt look at a very difficult decision for any woman & her family. Life's a Dance, which I did not include is another beautiful inspirational song. You may want to check it out as well. All of the clips are of Steve performing them live at house concerts.
I hope you enjoy listening to the music of one of our nation's great songwriters. Next time you hear one of his songs on the radio, you will know who the man is behind the music. Come back tomorrow for Sunday's Comic Strips taking a lighter look as psychology & on Monday for Motivational Mondays post about my experiences in Washington DC. Have a great weekend!
Sunday, April 1, 2012
The Psychology of Social Media for Social Good
Thought for Today: The Psychology of Social Media is strongly connected to what I called the Psychology of Unexpected Adventures in an earlier post on March 23rd. Unexpected adventures bring joy & sometimes help us shift direction in life. Some people call these events serendipity, the law of attraction or fate, but I think it is something different. The March 23rd post led me to discover a wonderful new product capable of helping multiple causes. I'd like to share their story as an example of the connection between social media & the Psychology of Unexpected Adventuress. How has social media led to an unexpected discovery or adventure for you? I'd love to hear your stories.
I saw a very funny, touching film yesterday at the Garden Cinemas , in Norwalk CT. We try to see all the movies played at this wonderful 4 screen art house, since they show films you may not find at the bigger establishments. I knew nothing about the movie, but trusted that it would be good if they brought it. I was not disappointed. I had not realized that Susan Sarandan was one of the stars along with Jason Segal, Ed Helms, & Judy Greer in the movie, Jeff Lives At Home. I don't want to ruin the movie for you, but in one sentence, getting out of your normal routine often leads to unexpected adventures. Jeff's mother, Susan Sarandan, is worried about him & her one birthday wish is for him to buy wood glue at Home Depot & fix a wooden slat on a louvered door on her closet. Jeff sees everything as signs of his destiny. He follows all the "signs" when he ventures out of the basement to go to Home Depot.
Jeff, (Jason Segal) who lives at home & is going nowhere in life, but he is not the only onewho is stuck. All the main characters in this movies are dissatisfied with their lives in one way or another. His mother (Susan Sarandan) is working hard at a job, but is lonely & dislikes both her sons. Ed Helms plays Jeff's brother who turns to extravagant purchases to try to fill the void he's feeling in his marriage. His wife, played by Judy Greer, is having an affair. She is looking for someone to pay attention to her, since she feels misunderstood by her husband. Each of the characters change their normal routine on the day reported in the movie & have unexpected adventures. In the movie, we only see one day in their lives, so we can only guess & hope that the adventures lead to changes in their lives.
You may be thinking, what does this have to do with the psychology of social media? I have loved the internet since I first started using it about 12 years ago. I have been able to "meet" people through the internet that I would never have met in real life without this technology. When I started using twitter last May, I did so since everyone in the world of publishing seemed to think it was important. Personally, I thought it was a silly platform where people tweeted about what they were eating for lunch. By the end of the summer, my view of twitter was totally different. I had used the platform to build several thousand followers including NPOs, authors, musicians, psychologists, philanthropists, & journalists interested in social activism. I discovered some (@BlindJudo, @Elimin8Prejudic, @VABC & @MusicFromABottle) of the NPOs included in my book through twitter. Many nonprofit organizations found me.
On March 23rd, on this blog, I asked readers to share their stories of unexpected adventures in their lives. I posted a tweet to my now 7500 followers on three twitter handles (@WakeUpDreamNow, @DreamNonProfits, & @PostTweetDreams). Three minutes later, here's what happened:
WakeUpDreamNow:
Are you open to unexpected discoveries & dreams? Amazing things can happen on the path to your dreams. See how... Link
8:31am, Mar 23 from Facebook
Eraselet:
@WakeUpDreamNow Ck out how we followed our dreams and used our past to gv bk http://t.co/tPlVRezg 8:34am, Mar 23
(The only change I made was to update the links which were no longer active!)
Behind @Eraselet is Bryan Ricci, another person on a mission to help change the world. His story can give hope to anyone who is struggling at this time. At age 15, Brian lived on the streets of Nashville. He was sleeping under bridges. Brian hopped from couch to couch to survive. “I didn’t know what to do,” Ricci said. “And then one day … I had this crazy moment. I hitchhiked to California, got a job waiting tables & turned my life around.” Fast forward, 16 years & now Brian at 31 is married with children & working to help others avoid the path he took as a teenager.
His current unexpected adventure started when Brian's 10 year old daughter kept losing erasers. Brian's wife, Kimberly Ricci, says that, "knowing how kids wear all those bands & bracelets around their wrists, Bryan told her he’d make her an eraser she could wear like (a bracelet).’’ He invented a rubber wristband, called an Eraselet, that doubles as an eraser. The wristband can be used as a marketing tool to promote slogans such as “Erase Hunger.” For the Metropolitan Homelessness Commission, “End Homelessness.” So the once homeless father, has found a way to help others erase homelessness & endless other causes.
I believe that once we decide to make a change in our lives & start moving towards our dreams, we begin to make changes which lead us to unexpected discoveries & adventures. Whether we get out in the real world or the virtual world of social media, we begin to discover people, organizations & ideas that can help us move forward towards our dreams. It is not some magical process even though it may seem magical. When you are stuck & start doing things differently, it becomes like a chain reaction leading to new opportunities. I hope this post brings multiple new opportunities for Brian's wonderful invention & reaches as many charities as possible!
What discoveries & encounters have you had using social media? I'd love to hear your stories!
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Remembering & Honoring My Brother, Larry Bogdanow
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| Larry Bogdanow, 1949 - 2011 |
February 24th would have been my brother, Larry Bogdanow's 65th birthday. I still have trouble believing that he is gone. He was so healthy. He practiced Tai Chi, rode his bike from Soho to Chelsea Piers & swam 45 minutes to an hour almost every day of his life. He ate organic food, some of which he raised in his garden in Upstate New York. We all thought he had beat the odds after having a "benign" brain tumor removed 16 years ago. All his follow ups were clean. He had 16 healthy happy years living his dreams. He watched his beautiful daughter grow into an amazing young woman. accompanied his Oscar winning documentary film maker wife to the Oscar ceremonies, film festivals & on vacations to exotic places, worked for good causes & designed amazing buildings & restaurants.
When he began to have some memory problems last spring his new physician thought it was just stress. His life long friend, Dr. Martin Blaser, (Professor; Frederick H. King Professor of Internal Medicine; Chair & F.H.KIng Professor-Int Med Departments of Medicine (Admin Support) and Microbiology (Microbiology ) was more concerned & urged Larry to get an MRI. Hours after the scan, Dr. Blaser was frantically searching for Larry to have him come back to the hospital. Larry now had stage 4 brain cancer, the same kind that took Ted Kennedy from our world. The prognosis was not good, but we all thought that Larry would somehow fight this battle & be with us for a while longer. Surgery was followed by intensive chemo & radiation. After surgery, Larry seemed to be better. With the doctor's consent he went to his beloved country home & on Saturday morning even worked in his garden. Later that afternoon, he had a seizure. He was med-evacuated back to NYC. His condition never returned to the post operative state. Within weeks he slipped into a coma & never recovered.
So February 24th will be a tough day for me & writing about him is one of the few things I can do to mourn & commemorate the life of my brother. Over the summer, I was in NYC almost daily visiting with him, playing music for him, singing to him, sharing my progress on my book. I was fortunate enough to attend & bring Larry books to the hospital from the Book Expo. I shared my excitement when I met Jane Fonda &"heard" Roger Ebert "speak" about his new book with the help of his wife & a computer. He was hopeful that he would get better & go home. After he passed away, I became even more determined to finish my book. I vowed to find a nonprofit organization to help fight brain cancer to be included in my group of Dream Nonprofits supported by the book.
Voices Against Brain Cancer became the cause in the book that most represented my dream to help other families avoid the experience we went through with my brother. They give a voice to families & survivors. They support research to find a cure to this awful disease which took three other people I knew well. Dr. Irwin Freedberg, former head of Dermatology at NYU, is someone I describe in the book as a "Dream Parenting" role model. He & his wife, Irene Freedberg, was the Associate Director of Social Work at Bellevue Hospital. She was also the former director of Project Liberty, program that provides free crisis counseling
services to persons, families and groups most affected by the September
11 World Trade Center disaster. & one of the people who designed the Mental Health program following 9/11. Both Dr. Freedberg & Irene Freedberg were taken too soon by brain cancer.A close childhood friend of mine & Larry's, Amelia Samet Kornfeld, also passed away last February from brain cancer. Her dreams are also represented in the book with Camp Young Judaea TX as the beneficiary. It is a camp that Larry, Amelia & I attended for years. Together we sang & believed the words, "You & I Will Change the World." It is where I learned to believe in the power of dreams to change the world. When I spoke with a new acquaintance about the book, Larry & connections to causes he would have supported kept coming up. There is Green Demolitions. Larry was a green architect long before anyone was using recycled materials. He has had a solar generator & solar powered electric fence around his garden in Chatham.
Then there is the Lucero Center which is training Spanish speaking psychologists. Larry studied Spanish with a group of friends who volunteered to travel to Guatemala & build a community center which Larry designed over twenty years ago. He would have loved the idea of Music From a Bottle which collects bottles at restaurants & rock concerts to support music programs in under-privledged schools. Larry helped teach me to play the guitar. Everyone who knew Larry had CD's of music that he would put together. He sent them to friends when they were going through tough times & gave them as gifts for no reason. He simply loved to introduce friends to new musicians & arrangements.
Even the Blind Judo Foundation & Elimination of Prejudice remind me of Larry. When he & my older brother, Bill, were young boys, neither of them were into athletics. When my mother found out that they were being bullied & did not know how to defend themselves, she enrolled them in Judo classes. I can still count to ten in Japanese because of those lessons.Finally, Larry & NYC were strongly intertwined. NY Says Thank You is another charity that he would staunchly support as a way to rebuild after tragedies. Larry was an accomplished architect his work can still be viewed on his business website http://www.bogdanow.com/. He was however unpretentious. Although he designed Wild Blue, which was at the top of the World Trade Center, he never mentioned it. I went there once when the music was too loud at a Latin Dance at Windows on the World. Weeks later I mentioned having been there & thinking it looked like one of his designs, he told us it was. On 9/11 one of his associates finished an early morning meeting at Windows On the World, where Larry's firm was doing some work. When the elevator stopped running & the authorities were telling people to stay put, Larry's employee called to say he would be late for the next appointment. Larry, who had spoken with his wife who saw the plane hit the building, told him to get out of the building. He saved his employee's life. Larry's life was dedicated to building comfortable spaces for people to get together & trying to promote a peaceful world.
As you can see, completing the book & promoting these causes has been intertwined with my wish to keep my brother's dreams alive as well as my own. It has been a labor of love. I miss him & know he would be proud of how this book can help so many causes that he believed in as well. (To read more about any of the charities mentioned in this post, click on their name & read the entire preview.) Half of the profits from each of these books goes to nonprofit of your choice.
If you knew Larry & would like to share a story, please do. If his life & story resonates with you please share as well.
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