On a limb with Claudia

27 April 2006 ~ View Comments

Caught in a family drama

What is it about families? Under normal circumstances, everything is fine. Each person makes an effort to communicate clearly, tries not to hurt anyone feelings and lives their life. Under non-normal circumstances? All hell breaks loose.

I have this kooky Aunt. She is one of the most interesting people I have ever met. At 75 years old, she has lived a life filled with the mundane and the extraordinary. Her world is filled with plants and objects from around the world. She has lots of friends and interests. I don’t have a lot of contact with her – a birthday card, presents at Christmas, that kind of thing. Suddenly, she is the focal point of the latest family drama because she had the nerve to get cancer.

Now all bets are off. Each person has taken their designated role. One sister insisting on fixing everything while another is attempting to be loyal to my aunt’s wishes. Our insane mother stirs the pot with paranoid conspiracy theories insisting on taking the center role in a situation that has nothing to do with her.

And I fall right back into my middle child role – “oops, family chaos at 90 degrees, time to duck!” I focus on the fact that this has nothing to do with me, make an effort to support my aunt and both of my sisters. Yet feel tremendous sadness. Like every other middle child, I long for my family to get along. I wish for things to be differently. Yet, frequently I stand like Rodney King in the middle of the LA riots asking: “why can’t we all get along?”

But we can’t. Everyone has stepped up to their family role, putting on the mask and clothing giving up all free will in order to replay over and over again the same drama. I stand at the sidelines watching the play unfold. I long to not put on my mask and clothing. I long to sit this one out. Yet, I know that at some point soon, I’ll play my role on cue as I have every other time.

19 April 2006 ~ Comments Off

Check it out! Our friend Janice is in the NY Post!

Update

It’s always fun to see our friends in the press. Janice is the proprietor of Our Lady of Weight Loss and the author of the upcoming book, Our Lady of Weight Loss: Miraculous and Motivational Musings from the Patron Saint of Permanent Fat Removal. She was featured in the NY Post this Monday. Check out the last 5 paragraphs!

Congratulations Janice!

14 April 2006 ~ Comments Off

Turn about?

Being Human

It seems like karma. Michael Jackson has to give up his stake in other people’s creative work in order to not declare bankruptcy.

Here’s the sick thing. Michael Jackson has lived off the royalties of other people’s creative work for decades. Royalties from the Beatle’s catalogue helped pay for Neverland. Royalties from the likes of Bob Dylan’s “Blowing in the wind”, Beck’s “E-Pro” and Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline” helped pay off the boys he molested.

Now Michael Jackson is in financial trouble and finally he is ready to deal. Of course, he is not willing to give up what he still owns (1/2 of the catalogue), only 1/4 of it. Michael Jackson plans on retiring off of the last 1/4 of the catalogue. Eventually, he’s going to need to unload his last 1/4 to continue his lifestyle. Then what?

I guess time will tell.

10 April 2006 ~ Comments Off

Change the world?

Being Human

I was recently asked (by Zaadz) to write about how “we can change the world”. This was my response. (OH BTW, we fixed the commenting system.)

It?s my belief that the world doesn?t want to change.

Having said that, the best way to change the world is to make the change look so good that no one can resist changing. In other words, make change so non-fat, wrinkle free, radiant, beautiful and glowing that everyone wants a piece of it. Here?s a few ideas:

Work on yourself so that the violent self deriding voices diminish and all that?s there is self acceptance. Then take your self acceptance into every conversation so that the people around you wonder how they can have just a little bit of what you have.

Create happiness in your life so that everyone around you can see you smile and laugh. Nothing creates change more than laughter. Your neighbors will look up from their blue screen oblivion simply to watch you and your friends laughing, playing cards, having dinner and talking. They will want what you have.

Work on your relationships so that all of your friends wonder how you are able to love, laugh and grow with another person. Be the ?cool couple? in your group. If you can?t stand someone at your office or in your life, work to learn how to accept them through the Enneagram or even the book Dealing with People You Can?t Stand. Become the person that everyone can get along with.

Learn to cook then share that gift with your friends. Start a rotating dinner party that is so tasty and fun that soon everyone in town wishes for an invitation. Invite friends to share your passions – music, plays, movies, or (as we do) beekeeping. Share yourself, your wisdom in a non-judgmental way.

Believe that one person can make a difference and look for it around you. Celebrate all the people in your world who are working to make a difference. Create an atmosphere where, in your life, the people who are trying to make the world a better place are the heroes instead of the muscle bound defenders of ?right?.

Real change happens when, and only when, the individual or society want to change. It?s easy to make change attractive. Just highlight the benefits – happy people are more attractive, learning is the best stimulation, organic vegetables taste better, grass fed beef saves oil and lacks a cancer causing enzyme, worry causes wrinkles and on and on.

More simply? Gandhi encouraged us to ?be the change we want to see in the world?. In modern times, I agree that we must be the change we want to see in the world, and make it wrinkle free, beautiful, attractive, glowing, desirable and attractive enough to break through people?s fear of change.

04 April 2006 ~ View Comments

A letter from Claudia

In the Grove....

We dropped this bombshell in the audio magazine announcement. I thought it would be appropriate to include it here.

You are probably wondering what’s going on in the Open Grove. This program is late. We cut out a newsletter last month. Something is clearly going on.

We are at a real cross roads at the Open Grove. We are at a point where we either grow or die.

For over 5 years, we have worked, interviewed, programmed, promoted and interacted. The Open Grove has helped improve the lives of people around the world at the cost of around $10,000 a year. Most of this money has come from donations from key players at the Open Grove. No one takes a salary. Outside of programming, every effort is volunteer.

Our board remains dedicated to seeing the mission through. The key players remain invested in making the Open Grove a success. We have plenty of ideas and inspiration. We are running out of personal and professional resources.

The question is: “Do we still have an audience? Are we still making a difference?” And that comes down to you.

We need your help. In the next few months, we will ask your opinion about content, funding and marketing. We are interested what you have to say. For example, should we return to public or satellite radio? Should we grow or stay small? Is it time to close?

What’s clear is that these are either the final days of the Open Grove or the beginning of something much larger. We want to give you a say in the process. We think it’s only fair.

Please feel free to email me at: claudia@opengrove.com any thoughts, opinions or ideas. I will answer every email.

Many Blessings,

03 April 2006 ~ Comments Off

My Space

Update

Hey, I just put up a MySpace page – check it out! Of course, there’s tons to do to update the page! But I am a bit lonely there so if you are on – let’s be friends!