Leela Music Newsletter, March 2007Michael Stribling Here's an overview of what you'll find in this issue:
The results are in. Songs of Hope and Healing won the Lifestyle Music Award for Best Electronic Album of 2006! Not bad for a debut project :-). I am very grateful, and pleased. Visit www.newagereporter.com to see the list of all the award winners; there are some wonderful musical projects and musicians you might want to check out for yourself. Out of the Darkness, Into the Light reached the #2 spot in its first month of release on New Age Reporter's Top 100 List. It dropped to #3 in February. Two months in the top three is very gratifying.
After re-reading and re-viewing The Secret for the umpteenth time, one concept keeps surfacing in my thoughts: the importance of joy and gratitude. According to the law of attraction, when we think gloomy thoughts, we attract more gloomy situations into our lives. When we think joyful thoughts, we attract more good stuff. (How's that for technical jargon?) "But what about all the bad things that are happening in the world?" Thinking about them only gives them more energy, only feeds them and helps them grow. The great spiritual avatars said we should not resist evil, but merely avoid it. Instead of dwelling on the bad, focus on the good (send your energy in that positive direction). Think about feeling joy, about being happy. As the saying goes, "When you face the light, the shadows will fall behind you." If we seek joy and pursue it, we will attract more of it into our lives. So how do we summon that joy? One way is to practice gratitude. This is another idea, which has been around for thousands of years, that we just don't seem to put into regular practice. While we can think of lots of things to complain about, we have much more to be thankful for. We take it for granted that we can wake up every morning; breathe easily; get out of bed and walk upright; live with a roof over our heads and food on the table; witness the blossoms of spring that announce and reflect the renewed cycle of life; read and understand the words on this page; listen to the sounds of laughter and music; smell the aroma of yummy food; touch the skin of a loved one ... is it getting warm in here, or is it just me? Ahem. You get the idea. I like Lee Brower's idea of a "gratitude rock" to bring this idea into focus. Basically, you carry a rock with you in your pocket, one that has special meaning for you, and every time you reach into your pocket, you touch that rock and are reminded to be grateful for all the wonderful things that life offers. My gratitude rock happens to be a coin that I received years ago while I was a member of a spiritual fellowship. Every time I touch that coin, I remind myself to practice gratitude. The more we practice gratitude, the more we attract people, things, and situations to be thankful for. Practice gratitude. Be joyful. Attract only good things.
In addition to working on new music (with some really wonderful new software tools that are whetting my creative appetite), I've been looking into the possibility of developing my own internet radio program. Over the years, I've created a fairly long list of my favorite music and artists, and it seems like it might be fun to share that music with others, over the internet via Live365.com perhaps. The idea kinda takes me back to my days in radio when I spun vinyl for a radio station that played what's now referred to as classic rock. I'm just starting to look into it. There are already about 175 internet radio programs that play new age music. Sheesh! I'll keep you posted.
Every issue, I give away a free CD (autographed, of course :-). If you're on the mailing list, you're automatically entered in every drawing. This month, the winner is Frances Moreno. Congratulations! ============================================================ That's it for this issue. Feel free to drop me a line and let me know what you liked, or didn't like, in this issue, and any recommendations or requests you have for future editions. Thank you for your support. Please invite your friends to visit my website and sign the guestbook. Oh yeah, it's okay to order some CDs, too! They make wonderful gifts :-). I also have a page on MySpace.com. Have a look and join the list of friends at www.myspace.com/leelamusic I wish you peace, joy, and love. Namasté, Michael Stribling If you would like to be removed from my mailing list, please reply to this email and type the word "unsubscribe" in either the subject line or the body of your reply. Leela Music Newsletters
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