Out With the Old, In With the New

I have been on Facebook today cleaning out my account and responding to folks and I have seen many people post that 2009 wasn't a very good year for them, and they are all feeling like 2010 will be a great year. As I have written before in this blog, 2009 wasn't my greatest year. Even though I didn't meet all my goals, I met some of them, and some unexpected things occurred that I am so grateful for. I was at The Bodhi Tree this morning and along with purchasing more incense, I could open an incense store, I also picked up "Man's Search For Meaning" by Viktor Frankl. The book talks about Dr. Frankl's experiences in concentration camps, including Auschwitz. He talks about the fact that we cannot avoid suffering, but we can choose how to deal with it, find meaning in it and move forward with renewed purpose. He also believes that our primary drive is in the discovery and pursuit of what we personally find meaningful.

Dealing has been a major theme for me in my acting this year - coming to the table and taking what I am handed and running with it. That has been such a profound shift for me to just deal and focus on getting my needs met from my partner, whatever the conversation is, instead of worrying "does the casting director like me". I think we all have to take the fuck 'em/fuck it attitude and enjoy our process, our experience and take the pressure off whether something doesn't go right or worrying whether someone likes us or not. So here's to enjoying our process, living our lives the best we can, and taking the fuck 'em/fuck it position - this is our show, we have to live for ourselves, and we have to put ourselves first. Selfish? No way. Remember, we have to put our needs first so that we can take care of others next.

I want to wish you all a very happy new year, success and abundance in 2010 and I look forward to bringing you more notes on life as a spiritual creative, actress and human being just trying to "be" and enjoying just that.

Goin' To The Dogs

My friend Deb was walking her dog, Radar, recently, and he was attacked by two pekingese. My dog, Folsom, was attacked two years ago. There are countless accounts of dogs being attacked by other dogs - sometimes the incident is minor, sometimes not. I think we forget that having a dog is such a blessing - they love us unconditionally - no strings attached. A dog is a privilege and a responsibility. Love and nurture your dog, be grateful for your dog, care for your dog. Life is too short not to.

And so, I leave you with the following...

Unconditional Love

When a dog offers you his heart
Accept it with a smile
For his love will last a lifetime -
Which is such a little while.

When a dog offers you his heart
Take it gladly and with pride
For he will be a faithful friend
Ever by your side.

A dog loves you because you're you -
Not for how you speak or what job you do
You could be short, tall, thin or fat
Or ugly as sin, he doesn't care about that.

A dog knows if you're good or bad
He can see inside your soul
When he decides you're okay
To earn your love is his main goal.

When you're sad, he'll comfort you
And kiss away each tear
You may even wake up in the morning
With a cold nose in your ear.

When eventually the time comes
And the lights in his eyes dim
A new star will shine in Heaven
In remembrance of him.

You'll gaze up at the midnight sky
And you will hear him say -
"I'm so glad you were my human
We'll meet again some day!"

So, if this poem has caused a tear to fall
That's because you love the dog who's giving you his all
Go travel on together, happily paw in glove
He's the only one who'll ever give you unconditional love.

When a dog offers you his heart
Accept it with a smile
For his love will last a lifetime -
Which is such a little while.

By Hazel Harris-Lane

Getting To The Core Of The Matter

Happy Holidays to everyone! I wish you peace, joy and love during this holiday season. My husband doesn't believe me, but, prior to this year, I had never watched "It's A Wonderful Life" straight through. It was great to finally watch it straight through as well as watching my other favorites, "A Christmas Story" and "Miracle on 34th Street". When I say "Miracle on 34th Street", I am referring to the original, the one with Edmund Gwenn, who won the Oscar for his portrayal of Kris Kringle.

I have found at the end of the year, I do somewhat of a re-group - I review the year to re-visit my successes, my failures, my in-processes and I always manage to get back to my core - my core is my spirituality. I have done a lot of reading over the past few days - I have read "Conscious Creation" (by Dee Wallace) and "The Power of Awareness" (by Neville), and I am currently reading "Journey To Enlightenment" (by Ross Bishop). I recommend you purchase all three books from Amazon (save some money in the process).

I am having difficulty reading the last book because I am actually absorbing every word of this book - so I stop and really let it sink in which takes me more time but it is so worth it - and I swear the chapter called "The Misunderstanding" was written about me and is speaking directly to me. This book is all about choosing whether to live in what the author calls "God-Space", living a life of compassion, love and gratitude, or living a life in the shadow of fear, emotions and the ego. It talks about problems form because of limiting beliefs we all have that we cling to. Problems we encounter in life are signs from the Universe to change these beliefs or the problems will snowball into crises. Enlightenment asks us to deal with our limiting beliefs and fears, and in doing so, we move out of the shadow of fear and back into a life of compassion and love. This book is "The Secret" with a shot of reality. I say that because while I enjoyed "The Secret" very much, it oversimplified things. It stated to manifest your desires, you had to think positive, do your affirmations, visualize, and constantly think about your desires, and you would receive. However, if you are consciously thinking about these things but subconsciously you are saying that "I am not worthy to receive because I do not deserve them", your conscious and subconscious cancel each other out, and the result is that the Universe does not deliver because it is confused over what you want. So, the trick is to change your beliefs to those grounded in love, compassion and gratitude while focusing on your desires, and you will manifest your desires sooner.

However, this is easier said than done because we all resist change, we especially resist change in beliefs we have held with us for years. 2009 was not a good year for me because I resisted a lot - in my acting goals, in my health goals, in my financial goals - and while I saw some progress, I saw a lot of areas where I was "stuck". We all go through these moments. I have learned that staying in the moment is a big component to stay in light and love. My desires are to be a sought-after character actress who has more than enough paid acting work that will sustain me, to be healthy and maintain a fit weight through sound nutrition and daily exercise, and be full of love, compassion and gratitude. Profess your desires to the Universe. Let me know your progress.


Cheers.

Gratitude in Los Angeles

I hope you all had a Happy Thanksgiving. I spent a quiet Thanksgiving with my husband, Jeff, and our poodle, Folsom.

In a very ego-intensive entertainment industry I am a part of, in order for me to keep my sanity, I am grateful each day but I don't only think it - I say it. The words "I am grateful every day" are the first line of my affirmations, which I say at least 5 times every day.

In addition to spending time with my family, I worked at my catering job for a local catering company, who I have worked for off and on the past 3 years. I love working residential parties. I love to help - my reward is seeing guests enjoy themselves. The family I worked for on Thursday was nothing but gracious, friendly, happy, and the list goes on. They get what life's all about - they are grateful and they live in the moment.

2009 has not been the best for me financially - I had very limited work in film and TV - I have not been alone in that regard - but I had a really successful year with my tutoring business. In essence, I am meeting my goal of having the majority of my 2009 revenues come from entrepreneurial activities. You see, I used to have a 40+ hour/week job as a management consultant. The job was my first priority and my acting followed. The economic slow down really slowed down my revenues - I used to make a six-figure salary and by the end of this year, I will have made 2/3 of that. The funny thing is letting go of all that money got me out of my head and I got so in tune with my acting instrument that I really enjoyed experiencing life, have become really comfortable in my body, learned it felt good to get out of my head and I have made a habit of being in the moment. I heard a great quote while watching TV today - "In order to be happy, one must be willing to let go off everything." I've heard this quote many times. Sometimes, we just have to let go and deal with life and get rid of the "who cares", you know that thing we let preoccupy us when we are in our head.

While I could compare myself to others and let it consume me, I choose to think about all the things I am grateful for and list them. And, when I think about that, I realize that I did do quite a bit. Have you ever noticed that when you are truly grateful, there's all this peace, love and joy that fills your body? Have you also noticed that when you are grateful, wonderful opportunities and events come your way?

Some of the things I am so grateful for include: my husband, my dog, my family and friends, my coaches, my tutoring clients, the acting work I did do this year, my unions, being able to sell our Ohio home in a very depressed market, my health, and new opportunities.


What are you grateful for?

Have fun in everything you do and enjoy life to the fullest!

Resiliency in Los Angeles

I like reading. Because of how busy I am, I do a lot of my reading online. One of my favorite blogs to read is my pal, David Dean Bottrell's blog, Parts and Labor. David is a gifted actor and writer. You might remember his eery, but spot-on portrayal of Lincoln Meyer on ABC's "Boston Legal". David is inspiring and has a way of saying what many of us Hollywood creatives are thinking. He is our mouthpiece.

David's message today really hit the nail on the head - we hold our destiny in our hands. While the economy may be taking its toll on Hollywood, it is up to us to do something about it - we can see the glass as half-empty - "I'm not getting any auditions", "I haven't booked a gig for a long time", etc. - or see the glass as half-full - "I need to stay visible", "I need to re-invent me".

Isn't being/staying visible the name of the game in Hollywood? This is where it starts. We have to build word of mouth to stay visible.

The ways I stay visible these days are: writing a column for a national online Marketing publication (I write about marketing my actor business), this blog, do readings for local writers groups, perform with my theatre company, and attend casting director workshops. I have also started an actor's business group and an actor's workout group for professional actors.

We need to be, as Alec Baldwin says in "Glengarry Glen Ross"..."A-B-C. A-Always, B-Be, C-Closing. Always be closing, always be closing." What that means for an actor is to think strategically and always be creating, always be visible, always be building word of mouth. Actors must be resilient and steadfast. But, we need to mix it up and be creative in the process.

How Do Spirituality and Creativity Go Together?

One of my favorite quotes comes from my good friends at lululemon is: creativity is maximized when you live in the moment.. When you are conscious of your breathing (i.e. taking long deep breaths), you are focused on the task at hand and you are out of your head, you are present. This usually also means you are attuned to a higher power - whatever that is for you - your spirituality.

What is this marriage of creativity and spirituality? Working with your creativity is working with your soul which is working with creativity. Working with and nurturing both will lead you to new places for outer and inner self-discovery. Today, we have a guest writer, Adrienne Carlson, who writes for Online Christian Colleges and who talks about the connection between creativity and spirituality...


How Spirituality Enhances Creativity

You would think the two are miles apart, but then, the mind has a way of playing tricks on us when it comes to vague and unquantifiable entities like spirituality and creativity. While one refers to your relationship with God, the other focuses on the ability of your mind to let go and think out of the box, in an unconventional and non-traditional manner. But, if you think harder and more deeply, you’re bound to see that a belief in a being that is higher than us leads to the profound realization that there are no barriers to thought or achievement, and this is when creativity soars.

Spirituality enhances creativity because:

* It teaches dedication: When you believe in God or a higher being, you are true to your conscience and believe in working hard and with the highest degree of dedication. This in turn boosts your creativity because the will to achieve is the biggest driver of this talent.

* It encourages honesty: When you are spiritually inclined, you are true to yourself and your religion, and therefore to your work too. This allows you to concentrate only on the job at hand and you’re able to achieve perfection because your mind is free from all other thoughts except the one that your creativity is focused on.

* It releases you from inhibitions: When you’re able to pray without inhibition, the same sense of abandon allows you to think without inhibition too. You know you can try anything, even if it seems atrocious and unconventional, because creativity has neither boundaries nor borders. And when you allow your mind to wander freely even as it remains focused on the job you must do, that’s when creativity is at its best.

* It prods you to go the extra mile: Spiritual guidance tells us that we must work hard in order to deserve and earn goodwill and riches, both the financial and emotional kind. And to do this, we must go the extra mile instead of shirking responsibility and trying to avoid honest work. When you strive hard to do your best, your creativity comes to the fore and dazzles with its brilliance.

* It teaches you to be grateful: When you’re spiritual, you don’t let success go to your head. Rather, you are grateful for the talent that God has blessed you with and you remain humble. You don’t let conceit and pride take over, and this helps creativity flourish even more.

Adrienne welcomes any comments and questions and can be reached here.

A very big thank you to Adrienne on such a wonderful topic.

Happy October everyone. One thing I miss about the East is seeing the changing colors of the leaves in fall. Don't take that precious sight for granted. Don't take anything for granted. Like Tim McGraw says in his song, "live life like you were dying".


Peace and Love to you all.

9/11/09

On September 11, 2001 at approximately 8:45am EST, America was changed forever when hijacked American Airlines Flight 11 hit the North Tower and hijacked United Airlines Flight 175 hit the South Tower at approximately 9:05am EST; hijacked American Airlines Flight 77 hit the pentagon at approximately 9:30am EST; and hijacked United Airlines Flight 93 crashed in Somerset County, PA, which is about 60 miles east of Pittsburgh.

Fast-forward eight years and here we are, September 11, 2009. The memories are as vivid today as they were that day. I was in Pittsburgh, I just started in a VP of Marketing role three months earlier and my office was in a high-rise in downtown Pittsburgh. I was being the good girl that day and decided to take the bus. I remember it was about 8:45am when a colleague said that the World Trade Center had been hit. I think those of us not in NYC or closeby were thinking "yeah, right". I remember getting on line and just having my eyes glued to the computer or the TV when I finally got home. I remember immediately calling my husband, who was in Livermore, CA at the time - it was before 6am there - and I told him to turn on the TV and be safe! My drama didn't end there. Because we were in Pittsburgh and Flight 93 was so close to Pittsburgh, and our building was practically next door to the US Steel building, the largest building in downtown Pittsburgh, our building was evacuated. In fact, the entire downtown was evacuated, and it took me 3 hours to get back home.

I listened to a lot of radio yesterday and there was a lot of reminiscing of that fateful day. I was listening to KABC and Joe Scarborough had someone from MSNBC on who was working for Bloomberg News at the time. The most eery thing he said was that he was texting people in the World Trade Center that day about financial matters and what was going on immediately after the hit - many of those people perished. Wow, it makes me think a lot of the "drama" in my life is just white noise, and just doesn't matter.


I remember exactly what I was doing on September 11, 2001. So, for this post, I decided to ask some friends how they remember 9/11 and this is what they shared...


Mark Kinsey Stephenson - "My alarm clock went off and the radio news turned on. As I blinked my eyes open, I heard the announcer mention something about New York City under attack. What immediately came to mind was Orson Welles and that this prank wasn't funny, so I wandered over to the TV, flipped on one of the local LA channels and from that point through the rest of the day became horrified, watching and praying. I was also grateful that my dear friend, Camille Renna, from NY, was no longer alive to witness it."

Julia Flint - "I had just moved to LA, and I was working for a company in Connecticut. I tried to dial in to their computer that morning and couldn't get through. Then I tried to call them and all the phones were down. Then I tried to call other friends in Connecticut, same thing. (I have family and friends in NY and CT.) I turned on the news, just as they ran the footage of the first plane. I didn't understand what was happening. The newscasters didn't either. It was all a jumble of information. Frankly, I don't remember what happened after that, as I went into some sort of shocked panic. It was a day that changed our lives forever, from our traveling methods, to removal of some of our rights as citizens, to an implied (whether admitted or not) racial profiling, to anger at gov't officials, to that pervasive fear. But it also brought our country together, at least for a time (I will never forget being in New York shortly afterward -- the feeling of humanity/unity was overwhelming)."

David Dean Bottrell - "For some reason, I didn't turn on the news that morning, so I didn't hear about it until I was in my car and happened to turn on the radio. It was about 8:30 PST. At first (with no visuals) I didn't believe it. Planes had hit buildings before and the buildings hadn't collapsed. It wasn't until I got home and saw the footage that it became real."

Caroline Bielskis - "Although this day is marked with an event that has led to much negativity (pain, fear, hate, anger...), it is also marked with many positive things! Birthdays, for one. And, in 1906, Mahatma Gandhi initiated 'Satyagraha‘, which formed the basis of the modern non-violent resistance movement. In 1989, the ‘ Iron Curtain‘ between communist Hungary and Austria opened, paving the way for the fall of the Berlin Wall."

Neil Hunt - "I was at work, at first we thought it had been a light aircraft that hit the towers, then when we heard a second aircraft hit, we all thought what the hell was going on"

Lindy S. Hudis - "I was still in bed catching up on my sleep, as I had a night job at the time. The phone kept ringing and ringing and I had no idea what was going on. Then, my husband, Steve, told me to turn on the tv and I did and could not believe what I was seeing."

Margaret Chaidez - " I thought it was a commuter plane at first. I remember the whole day and how the world slowed down for a week."

and

"My cousin was killed in the Pentagon that day. He would have retired from the army in another 3 months. It really is ironic that he had received a purple heart in Vietnam only to die while sitting at his desk on American soil." - Johnny Dam

I think everyone I have talked with about 9/11 says the same thing - they were so amazed to see how strong we were as a nation and how we came together and helped each other. It shouldn't take a tragedy of this magnitude to bring us together. Let's love and protect each other, always.

Do you remember what you were doing on 9/11 or have a 9/11 story of your own? Send it to me. I would love to hear what touched you that day.


Peace and love to all of you!