180 Days Later

It's been six months, 180 days since I wrote to you the last time. I can't really say what or why it has taken me so long to come back here! Maybe it's that I enjoy those personal connections, those connects that happen between real life people, the back and forth conversations between us where we can look at each other, see the nuances, the expressions, the crinkles, the colours! We can hear the textures of voice and sound around us, be inspired through what is happening in the back ground, what we are seeing, feeling,  the smells, the looks, the hustle! When I sit here, in my office (I use the term lightly though, as this room is also where I create and practice music, create and design cards, earrings, dreams and the like) up here in this old farmhouse, it isn't as much fun to ramble on about life and it's qualities/quandary's without the real life you!

Home_office_with_a_view

Alas, it is also nice to connect here and to share a bit about my life, with you, my friends, family and fans! How lucky am I to have YOU, whether in actuality or virtual reality, I am happy you are here. Over the past few months, life has been very kind. SO  many changes and SO MANY new songs!!! When I think back the to the last six months of life, it looks good... To be SURE, I am grateful... But where to start?? Switzerland, Ireland or Canada?? I've had the good fortune (desire, will, perseverance and MIGHT) to perform and travel to and within all of these countries since I last wrote...All of these places have been home to me at some point and cultivating the connections and friendships that life has afforded me between these patches of land.... My heart! Oh the people you can meet, the places you can go!

Dried_flowers_from_the_garden_make_an_excellent_gig_poster

Ireland was very much like I had remembered it. Full of small yet profound moments, enforcing my belief in magic, fairies and musical healing (and the true meaning of "The Hair of the Dog." What a spot. I even tried my hand at busking for the first time. It was the Galway Arts Festival and everyone was out on the streets, sharing their talent, the hustle was real! As I was wandering around the market, with my guitar strapped to my back, a fine guitarist asked me if I wanted his spot to play and he accompanied me for a few songs to break the ice of "my first busk." I have to admit, I was nervous. I decided, in the end, to rent a guitar for my performances, otherwise I would have had to pay double what the renting cost was to bring my (lug my) own guitar through airports, train stations and more. It was a fabulous idea, thanks to Opus 2 for the rental! 

Photo_cred_Jennifer_Higgs

Summer is ALWAYS great, everywhere but I would probably have to say that about Spring and Autumn too. I am not a HUGE Lover of Winter, but I DO enjoy the darker, shorter days (call me crazy) but candle light and cozy just go hand in hand with the type of life I aspire to (and) have! Hot drinks just taste that much better when it is freezing outside. Recently I went to a Christmas Market up on Mount Pilatus, in Switzerland. CHECK THIS VIEW OUT....

View_from_Mount_Pilatus_at_sunset

I mentioned song writing and LOTS of it. The tap seems to be very giving and new songs are coming at record speeds! This means that a new record will be imminent in 2018. Not sure how but where there is a will there is a way! Here is a favourite shot from the past Summer, singing at The Wakefield Market.... It remains to be one of my favourite gigs. Not only do I get to sing for a huge range of people, all ages, but the gift of singing in the middle of all that ART and Loveliness can not be compared....

Singing_in_colours_at_Wakefield's_Market

As we get older (I just passed another year around the sun) life starts to reveal truths. OR, rather, we start to really see them. I am sure they are there all along. It has been monumental (and slightly mental) getting older, because... WISER!!! Now I know things and am stronger with regards to things that would have tortured me in the past. It gets easier to say things like "No thank you!" and "Yes, I really DO am going to be kinder to myself!" Which leads me to sharing the BIGGEST change that I made, for myself, ever...

Lovely_deliciousness_from_our_garden

Around six months ago, I watched the documentary "What The Health" and decided to eat a plant based diet. It was on a whim and I NEVER IN MY ENTIRE LIFE thought I would do it or even wanted to do it. Ever. I thought, maybe two weeks might teach me something. Well, it taught many somethings. Some of which I would never share with anyone, because it is not my duty to try and change you. So I will not pontificate. I will say, that I have never felt better in my life and no longer live with chronic pain. I am not one for labels (plus I can't label myself as the DREADED V word because we have chickens here who, when they feel like it, give us eggs!) It is a very sticky topic, FOOD. So do what you will, but know that eliminating animal products from your life will change you for the better. Maybe one day, when I am feeling stronger about this discussion (you have NO IDEA how many people hate on folks who want to change -or have changed- their diet to plant based, all of a sudden EVERYONE cares where I get my protein) I will elaborate in another full on blog about the subject. It has become VERY interesting to me, now that I feel so different!!!! Anyhooooo.....

In January, I am playing a VERY special concert. It will be recorded LIVE and I hope to get a few songs down for a Lindsay Live record! It has been something I have wanted to do for quite some time, and it is FINALLY happening, thanks to Peter Finc. If you want to be in the audience and you live in or near Bern, please save the date JANUARY 20th, Werkhof 102.

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So I will leave you now and I will not let another 180 days go by with SO MUCH WEBSITE SILENCE! Life is a gift and I am privileged to be able to share with you little tidbits about the things I learn, the world I get to know. In the meantime, I will keep crafting words into songs and hope that you will keep listening.

Lots of Love,

Lindsay 

What The Funk?

Good day, wherever you happen to be reading my note, I wish for you, that it is or has been a pleasant one. In such crazy, uncertain times, moods, I am sure are fluctuating. Let us all hold on to a little bit of good faith and to the knowledge that we have come THIS far, surely we can keep moving in the forward direction! When I put my energies into worrying, time and experience tells me that it really doesn't do any good. But still, we worry. When I look back at my life, I see that everything, even the bad stuff, has brought me to where I am right now, and any regret I have is really only something that I haven't done yet. Basically, I am here, I got through, and you, reader, are also here and you, too, got through. We humans can be quite resilient and we forget that sometimes.  It has been a bit of a murky month for me, but with the Spring flowers, my colours, as well, are starting to reveal themselves. 

Stealing_sunshine_in_song

To be honest, I have never really been much of a "sharer" of my problems. I have always been more of a listener, and as early as the age of nine (from what I remember, maybe even earlier) I have been trying to help others in figuring out how to live. My Mum's nickname for me in this case "Dear Abby" rings true, even to this day, there are three women, living in three different countries who are on my radar to check in with. Mostly, I have been lucky in life, and I am very grateful for the great chances I have been given and for the rare opportunities I have allowed myself to take. Life on the whole has been very good to me, and I feel guilty when I don't recognize this, daily. Sometimes though, there is an emptiness that tries it's best to hollow you out. And the big "E" was working on me for the past few weeks. So I reached out.

Street_art_in_Bern_where_E_has_won

It isn't often that I vent on Facebook. It isn't what I like to do. There is SO much crap on there, trying to bring everyone down, that I do not want to add to the pile of suspicion that it sometimes is. Don't get me wrong, there are some amazing articles that add light and knowledge to my life, as well as MANY things that inspire a giggle or two. Also, I think it is a wonderful way to connect with people, even in "little black letter" form, a hello is always nice. Not to mention learning new things about my friends and seeing how their life is unfolding through photos. There are many reasons why I like this Social Media platform, and of course the ability to share my music is number ONE on that list. Reaching out for personal "healing" advice is not my forte. But I did. I let myself be vulnerable out loud. And I am writing today, to thank each and every one of you who responded with some good ideas, giving me a few rays of your light.  The question was "How do you get yourself out of a funk?" The response came in for days, and all that Love, lifted me up. To know that I have people supporting me from around the world, means endless life possibilities. Sometimes you need another person's perspective to fit your "ducks" back in line. 

Sign_of_Love_in_a_tree

What ARE the best ways to get out of a funk? Some say, dive INTO the funk, get to know it, find out all of it's distinct details, get to know the WHY and work on it, bit by bit. Some say PLAY the funk! Find some good music, turn it up loud and get busy moving to it's rhythm, shake it out! The most common piece of advice in my "Funk" thread was to get out into Nature as much as possible (which is pretty easy around these parts, I must say!) As you can see from the above photo, I received a pretty Lovely message, some may say a sign of sorts, that indeed, I am on the right path. So, once again, thanks for beaming some light at me, it has NOT gone unnoticed... 

I received a pretty sweet video during this time, one that we recorded a couple of months back featuring a new song of mine "Electricity." The theme behind the song is one of First Love, those sparks that happen between two souls who have found True Love. My friends join me in the harmony of it all, and I think you might like this little ditty *Live off the Floor* just click on this link for a dose of sound! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrnnnFtEuVA&feature=youtu.be and please, share away!

Screen_shot_Lindsay_Live_in_Tonstudio_Wattwil

Thanks to Christina (Rykka) and Timo (Timothy Jaromir) and to Tonstudio, Kawaii Sessions and Patric Menzi for the sweet little recording of some 'Lindsay Live.' Thanks for listening and reading. Onwards and Upwards HO!!!

Nothing Then Something

I considered not posting today. It has been a bit of an emotional week and I can't quite put my finger on it, but to be sure there were no exciting EUROVISON moments or GREAT BIG party stories that I had to share, no new recipes, no crazy pertinent, profound, monumental occasions and therefore not too much to share. Kind of a dull (and dark) week so I thought maybe I wouldn't write at all. But then I thought, what about my readers? Maybe they (you,) like me, look forward to something on a Wednesday. I look forward to reading FREE WILL ASTROLOGY Horoscopes on Wednesday's. I read them all, and if I see something that works for a friend, I will share it with them. My husband is NOT into Horoscopes at all, and part of me understands why (he feels that if you read something someone else writes about your fortune, is will sway you into making decisions -you might not make- because of it) but I like it. Some form of guidance that I can either take, or leave.

So what does ours say about we Scorpios for the week??

“Scorpio (October 23-November 21)
Author Rebecca Solnit offers some tough advice that I think you could use. “Pain serves a purpose,” she says. “Without it you are in danger. What you cannot feel you cannot take care of.” With that in mind, Scorpio, I urge you to take full advantage of the suffering you’re experiencing. Treat it as a gift that will motivate you to transform the situation that’s causing you to hurt. Honor it as a blessing you can use to rise above the mediocre or abusive circumstances you have been tolerating. ”

Wow. There you go. Funny timing for such words, and this is why I look forward to reading these things, as superficial as some might think they are, sometimes they really are spot on. These words remind me of when I was at a Healing Ceremony a few months ago, drinking plant-based medicine with a Shaman, medicine that would make me barf over and over and over again. I was feeling sorry for myself and could not quiet my mind nor my stomach. One of the 'helpers' looked at me in the eyes and asked me the morning after, (after I had shared with her that I must leave and can not participate in another evening of torture) she asked me why I have to eradicate the pain, and suffering but instead welcome it and feel it and accept that it is an okay part to life, to go through it, to feel it, to experience it, why the need to hate it, to disregard it, to repel it? I never questioned it before, always trying to ignore pain and/or sweep it under the rug, as if it has no place in my life. But since she spoke those words to me, I have looked at it differently, for sure. It is true, without darkness how can you know light?

Anyway, now that I think of it, I DID do something different this week. I painted a painting for the second time in my life. The first time, I was living in Ireland working at Renvyle House Hotel, on the shores of West Coast Ireland, when a painter came to teach a painting workshop. There were not enough attendees to the course, so he invited me to go along with them, to an old haunted shipyard, with all the necessary materials for painting these old rusty, history-filled boats. I spent most of my time working on one ships hull and it was looking alright, until he told us we had forty minutes left.. I scrambled, trying to find ways to fill up 3/4 of my canvas in forty minutes. Needless to say, I left the painting in Ireland. This past weekend I spent some time with a friend who decided to pull out her paint supplies, and we sat at her little wooden kitchen table under a skylight beside the River Aare in Bern and took to creating. Here is what I came up with!

A_painting_by_Lindsay_called_GLOBITOS

I guess, when looking back on the week nothing obviously BAD happened, thankfully, and I am also reminded that I did an interview with Sean Kelly from MIX 97 as part of "Weekend Magazine" which you can listen to right now by clicking on this link. I am also updating my TOUR section, for some anticipated Canadian shows!!!! Canada; I am coming home soon.

Dream on Dandelion

One_Spring_Wish

As a child, I used to think the only thing a dandelion was good for was for picking and wishing on. I dreamed a lot on dandelions. Now I know those weeds full of wishes are not at all just for dreaming on. A dandelion is one of the first flowers to pop up in the Spring time, one of the first food for the bees. SAVE THE BEES and let those flowers grow! I always wondered how they shape-shifted from their bright yellow petals into those fluffy wishes. It all seems a bit like magic...perhaps the act of nature being nature is a bit magical in and of itself? Here is a time lapse video to show you HOW this wonderful feat happens! 

There is this super Lovely gravel road that weaves through the forest, where I like to do some thinking. Yesterday I was trying to come up with an idea for today's Blog Post. I got to thinking about who reads my posts, and where they are when they are reading. I thought about my podcasts (which you can listen to here) and tried to picture the various places that people are listening from; kitchens, cars, living rooms, offices, headphones, speakers, stereos, lap tops..... I tried to envision you and my mind went into over-drive, thinking about all that! It was an eye-opening moment for me, thinking about you, out there. Recently, I have been realizing more and more the connection we have to one another. It is a delicate idea, one with many nooks, rivets, streams, routes and roads, similarities and differences, nuances, dreams, ideologies, moods and more....but here we are. Somehow, through these words and/or music, we feel and we imagine, together, but a thousand miles away.

So, I will paint you a picture from yesterdays 'outside moment' in the forest. Spring, 2016 in Switzerland...

The air is fresh. Once in awhile a waft of perfume floats by. I stop to smell the flowers. The ground beneath me crunches and a stone flips into the back of my boot. I walk for a little while longer before the rock wedges itself in a place that I can not ignore. I take off my boot and try to balance myself on the uneven country floor, I free the stone. The sunlight spangles through the tree branches, up at their tops you can hear birdsong serenading each other. The trees sway in the slight wind and blossoms sail down to the ground. I catch one and think of someone I can no longer see in real life. Love in memories. In the distance there is a chorus of bells, low notes sway from the cows and high notes swing from the sheep. A farmer, plowing the field has caught my attention. I peek at him through the trees, he does not know I am there, he is far away and looks about the size of my finger. He slices the long grasses and places them in a way for easy drying, to be fed to his animals, later. As I walk further, I notice much of the grass needs to be hayed for the animals, but not before I get in there and pluck a few of the wild flowers. As I am picking, I am thinking about my child hood and how I would stop on my bike ride home from school to pick some lilacs for my Mother. The scent of lilacs takes me right back to that corner where the dark purple blossoms meets the white and I am thrilled at the thought of my Mama's smile. A car drives by me, as I am waist high in tall grasses and I wonder what they are thinking and if they are thinking about their childhood as they see me holding wild flowers. Perhaps I have inspired them to decorate THEIR kitchen table with these flowers soon to be gone (eaten.) I catch myself thinking too much and start to focus on what I see around me. Something to help me calm the noise inside. I hear the bells again, and I see an apple tree up ahead with three types of blossoms. This apple tree will have three kinds of apples growing from it, and I think of my husband, showing me how to tie (and eventually grow) different breeds of apples together (on the same tree.) The world surprises me more often than not. 

Spring_field_of_flowers

I am thankful.