Testing The Waters

When you have been victimized as a child it takes a tremendous amount of courage to speak out and talk about the abuse.  In the last month the reports of Sexual Child Abuse have dominated the news, victims are coming forward and speaking out in record numbers. Their courage is creating a healthy, open environment and it is allowing others to gain the courage to do the same. As a victim of abuse myself I personally know I've kept silent about the abuse as a way to deal with it. I felt that if I didn't say anything it was like the abuse didn't happen, my silence was a form of denial.  I know now that this "Conspiracy of Silence" creates more harm because it lays the blame on the victim. Talking about the abuse is the first step towards healing. Breaking your silence will lay the blame back where it belongs - on the Perpetrator. I've begun my healing process by pouring my personal experience into a script. The title of the script is "A Life, Taken, its a...

I've been writing for most of my life - journaling, short stories, comedy sketches, poetry and even a number of scripts. Not too long ago I found I script I wrote when I was about 12 years old... (it is filled with so much drama the writers for General Hospital would be jealous... lol) But I've never let anyone read my writings... this blog is really the first time I've shared my writing with anyone other than my husband. I just never felt what I had written was good enough to warrant anyones time reading it - that is - other than my amazing husband (which is one of the reasons why when ever I write about him I always preface it by acknowledging him as AMAZING... because he is) The insecure feelings about my writing began to shift after completing my latest script. I began writing it in February 2011 and it just poured out of me. The first draft came within a week and I had the final draft within THE MONTH! I literally looked at that Final Draft in amazement - I mean I...

Who says you can't learn anything from watching films??? I know that personally I've learned so many life lessons from them. For this Blog I'm going to focus one film:  THE WIZARD OF OZ (Confession: I still have yet to read any of L. Frank Baum's novels that is on my Life's To Do List) I love, love, love "The Wizard of Oz". I remember the first time I watched it, I sat MESMERISED!  I distinctly remember being pulled into Dorothy's experience the second she opens the door and her world is transformed from Black and white into glittering technicolor. As the audience we can each identify with at least one of the characters and their journey in the film. The genius of "The Wizard Of Oz" is that by films end each character finds that what they were looking for was in fact not outside of themselves but inside, "they had it all along". It's the act of taking ownership of it that makes it accessible. WHEN EVER I WATCH TH...

Just "Be Yourself" Has anyone said this to you before? I know I've heard it many times. The earliest that I can recall is the first time I went to Summer Camp, I was enrolled in the "Fresh Air Fund". This amazing organization would take us "City Kids" and send us to stay in the homes of families that lived in the "Country". I vividly remember the first summer - I was going to stay on a farm. YES a fully functioning farm... it was so FUN. I learned how to milk cows, get the eggs from the hens, take care of the horses in the stable - this is where my love affair with Horses began... The day I was leaving to go stay on the farm I was excited and a little scared because this was the first time I was going to be away from home. So, my Grandmother and I said our good-byes but what I distinctly remember is her saying to me... "Be Yourself" . Since that day I've heard "Be Yourself" a lot throughout my li...

Many people die with their music still in them. Why is this so? Too often it is because they are always getting ready to live. Before they know it, time runs out. ~ Oliver Wendell Holmes. This is a photo of my Grandmother - she is a constant source of inspiration and guidance. She was an amazing woman who in the 1950's raised 4 children by herself, no husband, as the story goes... he went out for ice cream and didn't come back. When I was still a baby both my parents died and it was my Grandmother who took me and my brother in. She was then in her 50's and had just buried her daughter (our mom) and yet still had the strength to raise two more kids. She was unconventional, crazy and brilliant. It was she that taught me to love Black & White movies. It was she that gave me the love of performing - she would play records put a boa around my neck and direct me to sing and dance - sorta like Louise's Mom in GYPSY - always telling me to "SING OUT...

I'm in a wonderful production of CABARET  - I'm a KIT KAT GIRL and LOVING IT.  Here's a little Q and A about the production and my experience with it. BEFORE WE GET INTO THE SHOW, CAN WE TALK ABOUT YOUR NEW YORK ACCENT.   Yeah. CABARET TAKES PLACE IN BERLIN.  Yeah. HOW DOES THAT WORK IN THE SHOW?  Well, honestly I  was interested in creating a character from Europe and I was leaning towards Italy because all the other Kit Kat Girls were from Germany, Russia, France etc... but before I even had a chance to go in that direction our Director told me he wanted to incorporate my being from New York into the show. I did some research and at that time - 1929 - the atmosphere in NEW YORK was not a happy one - the Stock Market had crashed in October and so it wasn't a stretch to think that a sassy broad from New York would move to Berlin to try to make a better life for herself. I am a Native New Yorker. Born and raised on the Lower ...

The Crown Chakra (7th Chakra) is represented by a VIOLET color and the element of THOUGHT. It is our over-all Operating System, our bodies computer.  Its what allows us to be AWARE and is the energy center that creates awareness . The Crown Chakra is located at the TOP of the head and it includes the brain as well as the mind. Its where our INTELLIGENCE and CONSCIOUSNESS reside. If you want to make changes in your life begin by looking at your life as your personal WORK OF ART, its a work of art that is being created and revealed to you in every moment by the cause and effect of your choices, thoughts and actions. In this, the final video of my "Intro to Chakra Series" I show you how to  access your Crown Chakra and guide you through a Meditation that will help you create the changes you want in your life.  Other things you can do to stimulate the Crown Chakra are: Head and hand stands, they are great for the Crown Chakra and if you're unable to bring you...