Acting on a Momentous Decision

This Thanksgiving is like so many others in my past. Something about the crisp fall weather and the break in the action gets me planning ahead!

On that front, I woke up one morning this week crystal clear—heart and mind—about a momentous decision. It’s time to use teresayoung.com as my professional website URL and identity, rather than the separate leftcoastlifecoach.com.

Tough times and forward movement

This change is huge for me. And symbolic of new growth and integration. It has everything to do with the considerable time I’ve spent with my parents in the past two months. First my mother had major surgery and serious complications. Then just as I got home to Los Angeles after three weeks with them in central Florida, Hurricane Michael punched my family and their community hard. I went back.

Some big buckets of ongoing work to do there mean I’ll keep going back. Visions of how I want to do that, the gratitude I feel for my particular life and freedom, and my continuing effort to process everything happening politically created a new alchemical stew in me that erupted into transformation. Boom! Time to integrate my two online identities into one. One in which I’m not making a point about coming from the left, with all those connotations. We have so much healing to do as a country. This is one little way I’ll do my part next.

Integration is key for me this year

As I make this move, I’ll keep a few past posts here on my wordpress.com site that are especially meaningful to me. I’ve archived the rest. Out with the old! (Yep, we’re ready when we’re ready.) I’ll publish new pieces from https://leftcoastlifecoach.com. That’s been the case for a while, actually.

But in the next few days, once I figure out how to do it, I’ll begin pointing that site to https://teresayoung.com, so the “lefty” URL is tucked behind the scenes. Over time, once posts I’ve recently sent out into the cyberworld under the “left coast coach” URL aren’t so new, I’ll drop it entirely. Feels right. Pun intended. :)

So this change is exciting for me. And I’m fascinated as ever by how what inspires us anew can pop up out of the blue, including being in fact directly due to the tough times we go through.

And how about your beautiful year?

What’s challenging you this season that may move you forward in unexpected ways? Let me know here.

Meanwhile, I wish you and yours a happy, healthy, love- and life-filled Thanksgiving and holiday season. You deserve, in Helen Keller’s words, the best and most beautiful things in the world.

xo
Teresa

Teresa Young wants you living your dream, for real. She coaches by phone, teaches in north Los Angeles, and coaches via Skype outside the U.S.

Homage to a Beautiful Friend

I originally wrote this piece in the spring of 2014. My dear friend Ricardo Accorsi had just been diagnosed with ALS, and he and lovely Linda Parker had begun planning an extraordinary gathering and recording session for July 2014. They called the event—and their compelling song—A Perfect World.

FOR YOU, FOR ALWAYS

for Ricardo Accorsi

My life changed last night,
altered for always
by what you’re sharing now, in these hours,
with so many like me
who want you laughing
and living your sailor’s dream, the one
we’ve all tasted,
like sweet
contraband,
through
you.

What to think and feel
of the news you’re bringing,
and how you’re bringing it,
with such sleight of hand, focus,
and grace,
as you proclaim a celebration
of family, friendship,
and music.
Yes. We’ll create a way through tonight
and tomorrow,
for you, for all of us,
for someday.
For always.

Gregg Braden’s 15 Keys to “Conscious Creation”

An In-depth Summary and Review

My explorer friends Ricardo Accorsi and Linda Parker introduced me to Gregg Braden’s wild work. I took the extensive notes below at the end of 2014. I was reflecting on my year while listening to the final chapter of Gregg’s unabridged audio-book, The Spontaneous Healing of Belief, one of his many works.

I experience Gregg’s work as critically important, because:

1. he integrates the most exciting scientific findings of our time with ancient wisdom traditions,
2. he writes well, and
3. he’s equally powerful as a narrator/presenter.

This “triple threat” makes his work cutting-edge coaching in shifting beliefs and patterns toward consciously creating what we want. I’ve included a link to the audiobook above and in the final paragraph below.

As you read, imagine applying Gregg’s “15 Keys of Conscious Creation” to your life. My verbatim notes are in bold and regular type, and my comments are in green italics. Enjoy, and note that this is rich fare. Take your time. Take a break! Come back to it. It’ll be here.

3 Easy Ukulele Songs Kids Can Play with Just 2 Chords

I wrote this article for takelessons.com, a great San Diego-based company and website for teachers of all kinds of disciplines.

So your adorable child has an adorable new uke. Pretend jam sessions were big fun for a few days, but now what? Like in Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure, it’s time to learn to play!

The Getting-Started Secret: 2-chord Songs

Kids can make fast progress and get hooked on their success with simple 2-chord songs in the key of C. And with you singing along, presto, the joy of family music-making begins! Deep in our collective past, music time was a very satisfying part of family life. We’ll connect you and yours to all that goodness with these 3 easy ukulele songs for kids.

Chord diagrams for C and G7 give you and your child all the info you need to get started. 1=left hand index finger, 2=middle finger, 3=ring finger. Voila! For now, make simple down strokes, or “strums”, on the beat using right index fingernail or thumb pad, whichever feels better. (For tips on tuning, check out this takelessons.com blog post on how-to-tune-a-ukulele.)

Row, Row, Row Your Boat

First up, this super-simple version of Row, Row, Row Your Boat only requires one switch from C to G7 and back to C. Bonus: it has a positive, peaceful message. So sweet and light, but actually deeply wise! The slashes after chord names show you where to strum.

ROW, ROW, ROW YOUR BOAT

C       /       /             /
Row, row, row your boat

/           /             /           /
Gently down the stream.

/           /           /           /
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily,

G7     /       C       /
Life is but a dream.

Big Tip for Fast Success

Start beginners with just the C chord. Have the young player-in-training pat the beat on the body of the instrument when it’s time for the G7 chord. Kids like the percussive move, and it teaches them to do something different for a certain number of beats and then get on back to C. After C sounds good (press harder until it does), with ease in the transition from strumming to patting, and the percussive move has lost its initial pizzazz, add G7 to the mix. Sing along, re-connecting with the kid in you. Woohoo!

London Bridge is Falling Down

Next up, London Bridge is Falling Down is a great teaching tool. Its quicker tempo and multiple verses reinforce successful strumming and chord changes. G7 shows up regularly this time, moving the young player forward. Again, the enjoyment of your relaxed participation will promote regular engagement. I’m always telling kids—and their parents—that learning an instrument isn’t something you can “cram” for. It’s all about repetition, which makes the magic of skills development happen. Thus the importance of creating an environment in which regular playing time, even just 15 minutes at a time, is satisfying and fun.

LONDON BRIDGE IS FALLING DOWN

C           /             /         /
London Bridge is falling down,

G7       /         C       /
falling down, falling down,

C           /             /         /
London Bridge is falling down,

G7     /     C       /
my    fair  lady.

Build it up with silver and gold…
Gold and silver I have none…
Build it up with needles and pins…
Pins and needles bend and break…
Etc. There are countless versions and verses.

Three Blind Mice

Three Blind Mice is another perennial favorite, its carving-knife drama memorable and even scandalous to 21^st century kids. Encourage the practice that leads to mastery, and remind beginners that they can always go back to patting the instrument for a bit when transitions are challenging. If you’re singing along, your purposeful, expectant pause for the next chord will prompt your young player-in-training to go for it. Then forge happily ahead. Again, keep it fun!

THREE BLIND MICE

C       /       /       /
Three blind mice,      

/        /       /       /
three blind mice,

G7     /             C     /
see how they run,      

G7     /             C     /
see   how they run.

C         G7         C           /
They all ran after the farmer’s wife,

C             G7             C           /
who cut off their tails with a carving knife.

C           G7             C                 /
Did ever you see such a sight in your life

C     G7     /       /
as three blind mice.

(And there are lots of variations on the next-to-the-last line. Did you ever see… You never did see… Choose the one you and your child like best.)

So there you have it, 3 easy ukulele songs that will get your young player making music fast. You’ll enjoy yourself, too, since what some folks say is true: the uke really is a happiness machine.

____________________

Teresa Young teaches private music students in Los Angeles and coaches savvy folks in accomplishing passion-based goals in healthy new ways. Her clients include Boomers seeking fulfillment in the second half of life and GenXers and Millennials looking for meaning from the start. She coaches by phone, in person, and via Skype outside the U.S.

 

 

If Peace of Mind Comes…

Those of you who are in my circle know I published my now-husband Kevin Kelly’s first novel, Ride the Snake, as an ebook in late 2012, after getting frustrated while reading plenty of published fiction that deserved it less. Since then I’ve been working a lot in my busy music-teacher life, including “working” at work-life balance ;0), while thinking about the publishing vehicle I’d created and how to use it next. There are plenty of possibilities: Kevin’s additional writings, my own, including music, and that of others.

So now I’m pleased to announce that I’ve epublished a little volume of poems and images that began as a project for National Poetry Writing Month 2013 in collaboration with master photographer John Livzey. If Peace of Mind Comes is my second venture into micro-publishing, which I’ll be exploring further soon.

In response to a WordPress invitation, I wrote a poem per day during April 2013, with a twist: one of John’s gorgeous images to accompany each poem. The process was a blast and reinforced for me the fact that writing is a central pleasure in my creative life. A few months later I had another idea, to complete the enjoyable experience by capturing it as an ebook. Voila!

For more about John Livzey, he’s a gifted career photographer and artist with professional and personal work spanning five decades. His eye for an image continues to move me years into regular access to his work. He has other compilations on Amazon, including Cruising for Snaps, available in a big, beautiful physical format. Check him out, including his website, www.johnlivzey.com.

And here’s my request for your help:  Would you please download If Peace of Mind Comes, read it, and review it on Amazon? That would be amazing. 

I’ll write more soon about realizations I’ve had lately, what I’ve been reading from other authors, and how all that relates to my new exploration of micro-publishing. And here’s to all our new ventures and adventures. Please do share!