I’ve always loved having a sense of humor. It’s been a survival skill for me throughout my life. When I can truly relax and laugh at something then all seems to go well..

Today I had a great time reading one of my six year old’s first attempts at a To Do list. It was lying on the table as I passed after she had gone to school.

She had several entries, but the first one on there really caught my eye. It was titled “Wake Up” and had a check mark next to it.

I agreed that was probably important.

I’m looking forward to sharing/auditioning some of my new unreleased songs with a special group of friends I filter my music through. It seems to really help me keep putting my best foot forward.

Sometimes in the past when I’ve rushed into an album project and put whatever I want out there without first bouncing it off others certain pieces came back to haunt me! Ouch:)

There’s something about being creative that’s addicting; it is it’s own high I guess you could say! It’s like a special heightened awareness place where nothing seems mundane in the least.

I’m fortunate and very grateful to be able to have hanging out in that zone a part of everyday life for me. I also try to share as much of it as I can in my work:)

Lately I’m choosing mellow over manic when things get a bit crazy as they do in life. There’s an art to keeping your sense of humor and inner relaxation when it seems like the hardest thing to do at the time! And have you noticed: we always seem to get the chance to try out new behavior:)

What’s the upside to this? You get more comfortable in your own skin and come off as a more mature character that folks tend to enjoy being around..

In my case it also keeps me able to create the type of music I do. I suppose that’s why my songs in general come across as more nourishing than upsetting to listen to:)

My opinion is there is a fine line in relationships between hearing the “truth” from your partner, and being subjected to un-necessary hurt at every juncture of the challenge of being close and intimate.

And so many years ago while living just north of San Francisco I found myself several months into a dating relationship where the criticism and my partners habit of needing to share knowingly uncomfortable info with me was starting to sting a bit too much. She seemed to enjoy seeing me be uncomfortable…

I realized I was caught up in a situation where I had given my heart and was attached, but I clearly needed to see what was wrong with the picture! I finally woke up and saw I wasn’t really being treated with the love and respect I knew I deserved and was also already giving my partner.

I did my best for awhile to try and explain what was up for me and we tried to work things out through some counseling. Unfortunately things didn’t change much if at all. The bottom line again became I was giving her a certain type of love and respect and needed the same in return.

We eventually separated and went our own ways. While it was ending I remember one of our last conversations. She was asking exactly why I was leaving.

At that point all I could say was, “I’ve just really spent some time thinking about everything you said that hurt, even though I explained how it affected me many times to you. I suppose you thought I’d never leave, but I am.”

Check out the free download for this week: