Michael

 Michael Jackson what a god! Just finished watching the movie that was made of his rehearsals. He truly was a genius.The way he used his body to show his experience of the emotions he was feeling- wow. The voice, the body, the demeanour. He flitted around the stage like a filament of dust, dancing in the light. He was so normal in some ways too. Laughing with his producers, getting the jokes. Telling Orianthe to place herself here, because this was her moment to shine. Wow- Orianthe what a wonderful experience that must have been for you, an Adelaide girl and so talented and here you are with Michael on stage playing to his incredible singing and dancing. Keep chasing your dreams girl you've been annointed for greatness. I could see how his kids just had this calm beautiful Dad who loved them. What a gift to them. It seems that despite all the madness of the media and the court cases, he was a kind loving father and that's how they'll remember him.

We are what we are, to the people we are with, for the time we are with them. You can reinvent yourself if you need to. Say you've been an angry person because life didn't happen the way you thought it would. YOu've been dealt some rough cards. You can reinvent yourself and influence those around you in a fantastic way.  Only humans can do that, only we have that insight. Get the help you need if you want to change and you can do it. Michael went from a terrible situation with a father who is still in denial about the way he treated him and even with that horrible legacy he became the father those children loved. What if today you turned yourself from gazing inward at your insecurities and looked at your children or your parents or your siblings and said, "what can I do to make their world better today?" Pay it forward people. Get the movie it really is wonderful. I mean the movie "Pay it forward" that will be another great influence on your life journey.

Getting back to Michael. I loved watching the rehearsal and seeing how he could redo a scene in his concert and make it better by a few changes. He had the concept in his head and he knew what he wanted to achieve and those that were with him for the ride, understood his greatness. I remember reading an article on Barbra Streisand, when I was a teenager. She was shooting the scene for 'People' in Funnygirl. The directors were happy as was everyone on the set and thought she'd done a wonderful job. But she kept everyone back well into the evening, going over and over the scene until finally, they shot it again. And everyone could see it was 100% better than the scene they'd been happy to say was in the can long ago.  She had a concept and she knew how it would look and feel.

Let's make our lives like that. Let's have that concept, have that vision of how it can be and let's strive to get that concept realized for our children our spouses our friends and family. It's a constant challenge and there are so many stresses and so much room for failure but keep the vision and you just might feel like Michael or Barbra after that scene was realized and the vision fitted what actually happened on stage. YOu can be proud that you tried and see the happiness in the people that you have influenced along the way.

Tip for the singers out there: Model yourself on a talented person you admire and try to copy their style for now, the way they sing and the way they express themselves that is you best starting point for developing your own style. I began with Barbra, Natalie Cole and Ella. They are great starting points for you girls. Good luck and Happy singing with love
   

ROAD TRIPS

I love road trips with my family. We've just returned from one such trip to Nobby's Beach on the Gold Coast in Queensland from Kadina South Australia where I live. And we're all bonded and ready for the new term. For some it may have the reverse effect, but for us, that time in the car all together for hours on end gels us together like nothing else. It's a good fit. My husband loves to drive and is happy to do the maximum amount of driving. I love to have that time in the front to read, write and plan. The children are learning to do the same. This time they each spent time drawing, playing with their little animals and people, watching DVD's, playing with Ipad's and Ipods and writing on the computer. We sing and play I spy. My son has  come up with a whole range of products he wants to make in the future including how he will fund them and the endorsements that will follow. He is a budding entrepreneur and time with no distractions in the car give him that time to explore his creativity. Of course there were fights but they sorted them out because they had to. But you know it works like a miracle for us.  Before we left, our son was spending lots of time in his room quite separate to the girls and the girls were pretty strung out with all that they were doing in the term. Now they are all spending time together and have done for the past eleven days.

 People say, "I couldn't think of anything worse than 8-10 hour days in the car" but you know I find that I too am at my most creative when I have time and space to just be!!!! The trick is to try to create that in the time when they are at school and we are all busy again. It's not about the time in the car it's that the car trip is the holiday along with your final destination. We break it up during the day to two stops at rest places with their long drop toilets--phew-- and a nice lunch in a town along the way. Generally we stop at about 6pm in a town for the night. We found doing it that way we had three days of driving to get to Queensland. The first day was only 5 hours driving and we ended it at Broken Hill where my husband's mother lives. She lives in a single fronted old miners cottage. It's about a 10 minute walk into Argent Street from her place. The kids are so used to this trip as we try to make it every school holiday break. They run from the car on arrival at her pale blue house with the old iron front gate and she opens the door with hugs for all. She always has a 'nana tea' ready cooked with love and care. We have our routine in Broken Hill. The children always expect to go to the great playground in the beautiful tree filled main park down the road. They also love a trip to Westlands Shopping Centre and a walk down Argent Street with their Dad and I holding hands. Often we bring their scooters and they scooter beside us. The little one is learning now to join them in this.  Next day we left and headed for Gilgandra where we have a friend on a farm. That takes about 8 hours drive and then the next day after another 8 hours or so we were on the Gold Coast. Along the way the kids were able to see cotton fields and gather cotton off the side of the road for their morning talk, have a Chinese meal out in Gilgandra at the best ever Chinese restaurant called the Dragon and Phoenix and visit a rainforest. We only had five nights and four days on the Gold Coast filled with visits to 'the Worlds'. Our sons life long dream!!! But it was so well worth it and I've come home refreshed and calm and well planned out for the next term. You can just see that difference in me can't you, I'm mother of the year at the moment all stress abated. Ahhhhhh!
Here's hoping.!!!!