Category: The Reiki Rocker

There have been people in my life who have have told me that I ‘can’t’ do something or that something is ‘impossible’. I have (for the most part) never fallen into that trap. I know that anything is possible. The only time anything is impossible, or you believe you can’t do something is when you start believing you can’t. Tell a baby it can’t walk after the first dozen tries. Does the baby eventually walk? Or does the baby sit there and say to you, “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

When someone tells you that you can’t, that its impossible, that nobody has ever succeeded doing it, etc….. Smile, nod your head, and walk away. The second you try to convince them is the second you doubt yourself. It takes practice and surrounding yourself with people who you aspire to be.

Reminds me of an old joke.
How do you get to Carnegie Hall?
Practice, Practice, Practice.

Namaste,
D

“Well life has a funny way of sneaking up on you when you think everything’s okay and everything’s going right. And life has a funny way of helping you out when you think everything’s gone wrong and everything blows up in your face.” – Alanis Morissette

Today I received the news that Skyfest has been cancelled and the tour has been cancelled as well. My first thought was, “Shit”. My second thought was, “How am I going to explain all of this to everybody who have financially supported me in my dream?”

This is how.

Everything is perfect and everything happens for a reason. We don’t always have the answers to these questions but they come to us when we are ready to hear it.

The last two months for me have been bliss. My love life, my music life, everything has been blissful. I have been on cloud nine. Stopping that now would be fruitless. Continuing that bliss is my number one priority. I may have given up my job, given up my apartment and my life in L.A. but I have opened up the door to new possibilities. I still have my voice. I am still the same person. I now have the opportunity to continue this bliss. Or not. My choice. And I choose Bliss.

What would be your choice, and why? That is a question you need to ask yourself. What are you doing in your life that is keeping you from living in bliss? What roadblocks are there that you’ve put up? What are you trying to force? And why would you try to force something?

My life might seem Pollyanna to some, and that is ok. I live life completely and fully. I dare you to do the same. That doesn’t mean that we all don’t have our, “Oh Shit.” moments. We all do. We are human. Like my friend Jim says, “We all have that 8 track running in our head.” It’s when that 8 track takes over and you are living your past. That is when you’ve got a problem.

Namaste,
D

P.S.
Bring it on. I’m ready for the next big thing.

“And what is ‘truth’? Is truth unchanging law? We both have truths. Are mine the same as yours?” Pontius Pilate

One of the first musicals that ever had an impact on me was Jesus Christ Superstar. The predominant reason was because Ian Gillian from Deep Purple. He played Jesus. I wanted to be Jesus. I almost got my chance. Fast Forward a few years to Cape Cod. The Orleans Playhouse was putting on their version of Jesus Christ Superstar. I wanted that roll! I could sing everything that Ian Gillian could in the London version. It was mine I was telling myself. I went in and auditioned and blew their socks off. I sang Gethsemane and hit every blood curdling scream with such conviction and power that I walked out of there high as a kite. I nailed it! Unfortunately it was already cast. I was bummed. But I did get to be the understudy for it and was cast as Simon.

We all have truths of ourselves that come out as we learn more about ourselves and learn more about others. We all have the choice to follow the in crowd or walk our own path. Sometimes its a fine line. Sometimes we feel like giving up and just becoming a follower. It seems easier. But lying to yourself only leads to heartbreak for yourself and those you’ve been following. Believe me. I know. Because at some point you’re gonna blow and the people you are following, or the relationship that you are in is going to say, “WTF? Where did that come from?” And its not their fault. It’s yours. You were the one lying to yourself. Not them.

Your truth is ever changing. It’s not set in stone. Your truth might not be my truth and vise versa. So respect somebody else’s truth as you would want your truth to be respected. And always be open to the possibility that you’ve been lying to yourself for far too long.

Namaste,
D

P.S.
What was the outcome of the play? It was brilliant. Ken, who played Jesus is a Gay Man and the person that played Judas was a Gay Female. It caused quite a stir in the community. It would have ruined it all if I had gotten the roll as Jesus. There was something bigger than I could see at the time. There was a point to be made, and it was made. And I learned something. And it was a good lesson.

Christopher Robin: “Oh, Pooh. If ever there’s a tomorrow when we’re not together, there’s something you must remember.”

Pooh: “And what might that be, Christopher Robin?”

Christopher Robin: “You’re braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.”

Pooh: “Oh, that’s easy. We’re braver than a bee, and, uh, longer than a tree, and taller than a goose… or, uh, was that a moose?”

Christopher Robin: “No, silly, old bear! You’re braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think. But the most important thing is even if we’re apart, I’ll always be with you. I’ll always be with you. I’ll always be with you.”

I frequently return back to the philosophy of Winnie the Pooh when I feel lost or scared. Pooh, in his innocence and inquisitive nature would always be taken care of. Why do you think? My thoughts on it are that he trusted those around him and he trusted that everything was going to be ok no matter what. And what a joy to be around someone like that! It makes us what to be that free, that trusting and that forgiving.

People in general just want to be loved. Bottom line. They might be mean to you or they might harm another but deep down inside they are looking for love. They are looking to be heard because nobody would listen. Some take extreme measures out on others. Some take it out on themselves. If you haven’t read the Tao of Pooh or the Te of Piglet you might want to give them a go.

Last week I was asked to Tour with Rage of Angels in September. I said Yes. I didn’t even think twice about it. I have received a lot of love and support in my journey and I am grateful. It has counterbalanced the rash of criticism I’ve received as well. Especially this past weekend. I won’t go into details but I can tell you I have a hard time being Buddha like in those instances (another lesson. Geez).

Why is it that I bought into the criticism instead of the praise? I think we, as artists, tend to do that. There is a fine line between promoting yourself and boasting. When we are promoting ourselves we sometimes look at it as boasting and pull ourselves back and say, “No. Don’t say that. People will think you’re an egomaniac.” I just take a deep breath and know that not everybody is going to like nor condone what I do. I just focus on my path and move forward.

I had a great conversation with an old friend in New Orleans yesterday. He was my drummer at one point in my career. It was a brilliant conversation that lead into promoting ourselves as artists. We don’t like to do it. We like to just use our craft to touch people. We don’t like to go out and talk about ourselves, but we have to. Especially in this day and age. I like the song from Aerosmith that says, ‘Let the music do the talking.’ That’s all great if you can get people to listen to the music. That’s the hard part.  So promotion is an essential part of this business. I would love to have a Manager, and a Publicist and all the administrative stuff so I could just concentrate on writing. But, its not that way…. and in a way I’m grateful. Why am I grateful? Because it keeps it real. I get to see directly how I influence people. I get to interact and change things around on the fly when they don’t work. Like yesterday…. Jeff, my friend in New Orleans, does a lot of promotion for charities. He took one look at my donation page and said to me… Dave. $10,000? Really? You need $10,000 to go tour Europe? I was like, well no. But I need to pay off my motorcycle, pay rent, look for another job… blah blah blah blah. Anyway he convinced me to be a bit more realistic about it and he was right. So without second guessing him I knocked it down to $5000 which will allow me to scrape by and get there and back. I love the fact that I have a friend that can lovingly tell me that I am fucking up. Ha ha. It put me right into a space of release and not control. In a space of trust that it will all work out and everything will be fine.

At the end of August I will be taking a leave of absence from my design job to follow my dream. I’m scared and excited at the same time. I don’t know what lies ahead. I’m not sure I’ll have a job when I come back to L.A. even. But dreams are more important than jobs. Dream BIG!

If you would like to make a donation to help me on my way to Europe I would appreciate it. $5, $10, $20, $50… anything will help. Thank you for allowing me to share my gift with you. Just click on the link below and it will take you to my donation page.

Donate

Peace!!
D

I received this chart from a friend of mine and I’ve found it quite useful. As I delve deeper and deeper into astrology I find myself referencing this quite often. I hope it is as useful to you as it has been for me.

The Zodiacal Signs     Principle      Keywords                             Ruler
ARIES                          I Am            Motivated to act                     Mars
TAURUS                      I Have          Practical & persevering         Venus
GEMINI                        I Think         Duality. Communicative       Mercury
CANCER                     I Feel           Emotional & nurturing           Moon
LEO                            I Will           Desires recognition                Sun
VIRGO                        I Analyse      Attention to detail                  Mercury
LIBRA                         I Balance      Relates to others                    Venus
SCORPIO                    I Desire         Intense & forceful                 Mars/Pluto
SAGITTARIUS            I Aspire        Broad outlook, idealistic        Jupiter
CAPRICORN              I Use            Realistic & responsible          Saturn
AQUARIUS                I Know         Human understanding           Saturn/Uranus
PISCES                      I Believe       Spiritual & sensitive              Jupiter/Neptune

The Planets & Personal Points
SUN                       Spirit, life force & identity. Masculine principle
MOON                   Soul, emotions and instincts. Domesticity. Feminine principle
MERCURY           Intellect and power of communication. The reasoning mind
VENUS                  Love, beauty, art and attraction
MARS                    Energy, action, aggression and conflict
JUPITER               Wisdom, expansion, optimism & success
SATURN               Restriction, limitation, restraint & sorrow
URANUS              Change, originality, revolution & eccentricity
NEPTUNE            Imagination, spirituality, inspiration, illusion & deception
PLUTO                  Power, forces beyond personal control & transformation
NORTH NODE    Alliances, family ties and links with others
SOUTH NODE     Karma and challenges in associations
ASCENDANT      Face you show the world. Primary motivation in life
MIDHEAVEN      Aim in life

The Houses
1st HOUSE          Physical appearance, self-expression and vitality
2nd HOUSE        Personal assets, wealth and earning ability
3rd HOUSE         Immediate environment, siblings, mentality and communication
4th HOUSE         Home, family, origins, father and later life
5th HOUSE         Pleasures, amusements, love & children
6th HOUSE         Service, work & health
7th HOUSE         Partners, other people generally & open enemies
8th HOUSE         Other people’s resources, wills, legacies & death
9th HOUSE         Long journeys, higher learning, religion and law
10th HOUSE       Reputation, career & the mother
11th HOUSE       Friends, benefactors and groups
12th HOUSE       Self-undoing, withdrawal, retreat and seclusion

The Aspects
CONJUNCTION     Unity of energies, which can be harmonious or aggravating
OPPOSITION          Destructive or learning
TRINE                      Harmonious and flowing
SQUARE                 Tension
SEXTILE                 Easy, creative and harmonious
QUINCUNX           Energies that work independently of each other
SESQUISQUARE   Problems that can become chronic if not addressed
SEMISQUARE        Petty annoyances that can escalate
SEMISEXTILE        Minor disruptions, which usually work out for the best

I recently had a reading done by Annie Botticelli. And with a name like that, how can you not be intrigued? Her reading was very helpful in the fact that not only did she give me insight into patterns, most of which I already know and I am working on, but she gave me tools to use, books to read, even herbal remedies. Of course, being who I am, I immediately downloaded every book to my iPad and started devouring the information.

One of the most insightful suggestions she gave me was a book called ‘Astrology for the Soul‘ by Jan Spiller. Jan gives you information on your North Node (Rahu) and your South Node (Ketu). Your North Node represents points of karmic imbalance. You get this from the year and month of your birth. For instance… I’m August 1963 so mine is Cancer. What is interesting about the North and South Nodes is that each come with certain lessons and qualities to develop. The South Node is opposite of the North (duh) so mine is Capricorn. What that is saying is I have Capricorn tendencies that I need to learn to balance in this lifetime.

To delve further into this exploration I went to Youtube. I found an astrologer by typing in ‘Rahu in the 8th house in Cancer’ and he came up. He goes by KRS and I’ve found him to be an amazing wealth of information and easy to understand.

Ok. I probably confused you by saying ‘Rahu in the 8th house in Cancer’. How did I get that? Well in Vedic Astrology they call the North Node ‘Rahu’ and the South Node ‘Ketu’. KRS caters to vedic astrology which I find to be a much deeper philosophy than most. Just my preference. Ok, back to 8th house. You can get this by going to Astrolada.com and getting her free chart. In this chart it will tell you everything about your sign by putting in your date of birth, time of birth and place of birth. There will be a chart on the right hand side that has I-XII. These are the 12 houses in Astrology. Find your Rahu… mine is Cancer, so I go to the chart on the right and find Cancer in my VIII house. Here is the link to get your own chart.

Birth Chart Calculator

This goes much deeper than just saying, “Oh.. I’m a Leo so I must be such and such.” For instance… I’m a Leo Sun, Scorpio Ascending and a Libra Moon. I’ll get into that another time or you can email me to get a deeper insight.

The bottom line is this. Trust your gut. Trust yourself and be yourself. You are the only you. Astrology is a science, no different than physics or geometry. Its a tool to help you along this amazing journey.

Peace,
David