Tapping my aboriginal soul & miscellaneous news
I hope you were able to tune in for
the radio show yesterday when I was on with Sheila Ulrich. It went
great, if I do say so myself! She is really good at listening and
asking pertinent questions, and I was feeling very in the flow and able
to bring the info through clearly--a great combination! If you didn't
listen live, you can still listen at this link: Julia on Truly Alive with Sheila Ulrich
I got to see some preliminary ideas for the cover of Choosing Easy World this week. The in-house designer at St. Martin's, Mimi Bark is very nice and very good. (Be sure to check out her portfolio on that page--she's designed covers for such famous authors as Jackie Collins and Barbara Taylor Bradford!) She hadn't yet quite hit on the perfect CEW cover, but she's come very close. Her instruction from my editor was to make it look like the ILiveInEasyWorld.com website. I liked that, but the funny part is, with using the graphics I designed, her cover ideas looked almost like I had designed them! One of the things I have been looking forward to with having a major publisher is that, unlike last time, I would not be designing my own cover. So I made sure to encourage her to let her creativity have free reign (as long as she kept the logo, which is trademarked). I'm excited to see what she'll come up with!
And now, for the part of this blog entry that relates to the title: I bought a didgeridoo! I had read a British Medical Journal article that tells how research shows that playing it helps strengthen your upper airways so they don't collapse when you sleep. I am not wishing to be perpetually beholden to the CPAP machine for every little nap. So far, it's proving a bit daunting. I'm only able at this point to make embarrassing sounds with it reminiscent of ones you'd hear after eating a lot of beans, but I have hope that at some point, I'll get proficient at playing it. I found some instructional videos on YouTube and lesson one says the funky noises are what to expect at first, so I am heartened. I also found this video, and some others, which provide inspiration. I guess I need to tap into my aboriginal, Outback soul!
I haven't been to Australia--in this lifetime, at least not consciously--but back in the '80s, I wanted to go badly because some friends were going for a spiritual intensive, and I wanted to go too and was thinking about it a lot. During this time, I had a bit of a strange experience. I was relaxing and about to fall asleep, thinking of nothing, when suddenly, as real as I'm sitting here now, I was in a huge field and there was a kangaroo charging me! He hopped very rapidly and powerfully straight to me and stopped within inches of me and stared into my face. It was very real, very intense and yet, it faded quickly and I was aware of being back in my bed again. I never did go Down Under, but have wondered at my connection ever since. Maybe the "me" who is in Australia will kick in and help me learn to play the didgeridoo...
I got to see some preliminary ideas for the cover of Choosing Easy World this week. The in-house designer at St. Martin's, Mimi Bark is very nice and very good. (Be sure to check out her portfolio on that page--she's designed covers for such famous authors as Jackie Collins and Barbara Taylor Bradford!) She hadn't yet quite hit on the perfect CEW cover, but she's come very close. Her instruction from my editor was to make it look like the ILiveInEasyWorld.com website. I liked that, but the funny part is, with using the graphics I designed, her cover ideas looked almost like I had designed them! One of the things I have been looking forward to with having a major publisher is that, unlike last time, I would not be designing my own cover. So I made sure to encourage her to let her creativity have free reign (as long as she kept the logo, which is trademarked). I'm excited to see what she'll come up with!
And now, for the part of this blog entry that relates to the title: I bought a didgeridoo! I had read a British Medical Journal article that tells how research shows that playing it helps strengthen your upper airways so they don't collapse when you sleep. I am not wishing to be perpetually beholden to the CPAP machine for every little nap. So far, it's proving a bit daunting. I'm only able at this point to make embarrassing sounds with it reminiscent of ones you'd hear after eating a lot of beans, but I have hope that at some point, I'll get proficient at playing it. I found some instructional videos on YouTube and lesson one says the funky noises are what to expect at first, so I am heartened. I also found this video, and some others, which provide inspiration. I guess I need to tap into my aboriginal, Outback soul!
I haven't been to Australia--in this lifetime, at least not consciously--but back in the '80s, I wanted to go badly because some friends were going for a spiritual intensive, and I wanted to go too and was thinking about it a lot. During this time, I had a bit of a strange experience. I was relaxing and about to fall asleep, thinking of nothing, when suddenly, as real as I'm sitting here now, I was in a huge field and there was a kangaroo charging me! He hopped very rapidly and powerfully straight to me and stopped within inches of me and stared into my face. It was very real, very intense and yet, it faded quickly and I was aware of being back in my bed again. I never did go Down Under, but have wondered at my connection ever since. Maybe the "me" who is in Australia will kick in and help me learn to play the didgeridoo...
Hmmm, according to popular wisdom, women aren't supposed to play the didgeridoo. Some people went so far as to say it was actually taboo!
However, the truth appears to be that women generally did NOT play, because in most of the cultures where the didgeridoo was used, women didn't take part in the ceremonies which used them. So, if you were a girl, you didn't learn to play, because there was no reason to do so.
Some things are men's business, and some things are just women's business. Apparently, the didgeridoo and playing thereof was traditionally men's business.
Not so long ago, Nicole Kidman caused a ruckus by playing a didgeridoo. Well, when I say "playing", I mean, she managed to make some kind of noise with one when it was handed to her on a German interview show when she was promoting the film, Australia. Some people in Australia got wind of this and raised a fuss with the "Women aren't allowed to play the didgeridoo!" and that's when several cultural experts came out and said, "Well, they normally don't, but there's no reason why they can't..."
I just thought you might be amused by the controversy surrounding this fascinating and ancient instrument. :)
Good luck with your playing. The didgeridoo is a fascinating instrument, and I can see how it would strengthen the breath.