In celebration of Gay Pride, Love and Positive Energy – I decided to share some music videos that have thought provoking messages, are relevant in terms of the songs message or simply make you feel like you want to dance. Whether you identify as gay, straight, bisexual or transgender – let your true colours fly and do it without judging someone else’s authenticity. Now let’s celebrate PRIDE by spreading love and positive energy into the world:
NOTHING REALLY MATTERS (REMIX) – Madonna
YOU DON’T KNOW – Cyndi Lauper
FEEL WHAT YOU WANT – Kristine W
FREE – Ultra Nate
POWER OF LOVE – Deee-Lite
PROUD – Heather Small
MODERN LOVE – Rupaul
A LITTLE RESPECT (HMI Redux) – Erasure
AFTER ALL – Billie Ray Martin
GLASS & PATRON – FKA Twigs
BRING THE NOIZE – M.I.A.
LIGHT IN PLACES – Peaches
LIVING FOR LOVE (Remix) – Madonna
Let music move you towards creating positive change in the world. Allow LOVE into your heart and live with positive energy within your heart.
HAPPY PRIDE to everyone!!!
Together, we can make the world a more positive one!
There is nothing like music to change your mood. Music makes you scream, shout and dance! Music is inspiring and can change your mood thereby changing your health. Moving and dancing to music gets the blood flowing and helps to reduce fat – possibly creating a physical change. It can also be calming and thought-provoking providing bringing balance to your emotional state.
Here is a list of songs that make I love singing aloud to and make me really happy (in no particular order):
From the album: SHINE, released only in Japan May 3, 2004 (EP and remixes) released in USA May 2002
For more information about each of these artists (link included below each video/audo post – please visit their respective websites. To purchase any of these songs or album, please visit their websites or iTunes.
Let music move you emotionally and physically…..but most of all….HAVE FUN!!!!
Together, we can make the world a more positive one!
Thirteen years ago, Sinead O’Connor released an album entitled; Faith & Courage. For me, it is quite possibly her best album. The songs on this album seem to be written to heal, to forgive, to let go of resentment and anger and to embrace spirituality. I find when artists find spirituality – they tend to create some of their best work, for example; Madonna – Ray of Light, Alanis Morissette – Flavours of Entanglement and Sinead O’Connor – Faith & Courage.
Music is powerful and can lift your spirits – whether they were intended to do so or not. There are many songs that can send you to a higher place or just make you feel great and happy, songs such as;
Bobby McFerrin – Don’t Worry Be Happy
Deee-Lite – Love Is Everything/River of Freedom/Power of Love/Groove Is In The Heart
Vernessa Mitchell – This Joy
Enigma – Sadeness Part I/Rivers of Belief/Return To Innocence
Sandra – Love Is The Price/The Art of Love
Elton John – Sacrifice/Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word/Philadelphia Freedom
George Michael – Freedom/Faith/Move On/Star People
Kristine W – I’ll Be Your Light/Land of the Living/Stronger/Be Alright
Carrie Underwood – Jesus Take The Wheel
Ultra Nate – Free
Cyndi Lauper – Shine/You Don’t Know/True Colours
Billie Ray Martin – Your Loving Arms/Hands Up and Amen
Kylie Minogue – On A Night Like This/I Believe In You/All The Lovers
Mistress Barbara – Dance Me to the End of Love
Lady Gaga – Born This Way
Katy Perry – Firework
Black Eyed Peas – I Got A Feeling/Where Is The Love
We all have songs that make us feel good and are therapeutic and this is a great thing. Music should help us forgive, remove resentments, release pain and anger but most of all, it should make you feel good.
Here is a song on Sinead O’Connor’s album that helps me release some of my ‘negative’ emotions. Here are the lyrics, the audio follows:
WHAT DOESN’T BELONG TO ME
The woman named Iris gave birth to the goddess
In her son who can’t say his name
Because of all the pain
I miss you, but I’m glad you’re gone
I want you but I’m not alone
I’m haunted by you
But I’ll get you gone if it takes me all my life long
Take back the pain you gave me
Take back what doesn’t belong to me
Take back the shame you gave me
Take back what doesn’t belong to me
I’m Irish, I’m English, I’m Moslem, I’m Jewish,
I’m a girl, I’m a boy
And the goddess meant for me only joy
And real love requires you, give up those loves
Whom you think you love best
Love puts you through the test
And only loyal love will bring me happinessTake back the rage you gave me
Take back the hatred you gave me for me
Take back the anger that nearly killed me
Take back what doesn’t belong to me
And real love requires you
Give up those loves
That you think you love best
Love puts you through the test
And only loyal love will bring you happiness
Take back the pain you gave me
Take back what doesn’t belong to me
Take back the blame you gave me
Take back what doesn’t belong to me
Take back what doesn’t belong to me
Take back what doesn’t belong to me
You can purchase all the singles/albums I mentioned above by visiting the individual artists web pages/sites or on iTunes.
I hope this blog gives you the motivation to reconnect with music the makes you feel good and allows you to release any negative emotions that you may be hanging onto.
Love, light and happiness.
Together, we can make the world a more positive one!
As we continue to celebrate the ruling SCOTUS made yesterday in deeming Prop 8 unconstitutional – I want to look back into the past, 1984 to be exact. I was in High School and was living a life as a closeted teenager. I didn’t know where to go for support – I knew how my friends and family felt about homosexuals (especially males) and wasn’t about to ‘come out’ to any of them. The only release I managed to receive was in pop music.
There were a lot of ambiguous music groups and artists that were just reaching peak stardom levels, groups such as; Duran Duran, The Cure, Depeche Mode, The Human League, Madonna, Cyndi Lauper, New Order, Yaz, etc….What I really connected with were bands that had openly/known gay singers and band mates like; Culture Club, Frankie Goes To Hollywood and especially Bronski Beat. (I learned of Andy Bell of Erasure a few years later).
Music transcended the closet for me and I guess, for many others. These bands had massive hit records and albums during that time. I couldn’t understand why I couldn’t come out especially when Bronski Beat had a hit on the charts about a young boy’s struggle and coming out with his homosexuality. The song was called “Smalltown Boy”. This song resonated with me – it was about me, it was my story and it was on the radio everywhere. The irony is that the song didn’t give me the courage to come out and live my authentic life – for me, it reinforced why I should stay closeted. I didn’t want to be bullied, I didn’t want to lose my friends and most of all – I didn’t want to be ostracized by my family. What that song did was allow me to begin the dialogue with myself in accepting who I was because it was confirmation that there were many others out there like me.
I think the LGBTQ community should acknowledge the importance of pop music and artists such as Divine, Sylvester, Culture Club, Frankie Goes To Hollywood, Madonna, Elton John, Erasure and Bronski Beat – some for being openly gay and not apologizing for it and some for embracing the community without fear of what could happen to their careers. These artists, through their music and videos, have provided an escape of a harsh reality that so many today (and yesterday) couldn’t live through. So thank you and Happy Pride.
Here are the lyrics to “Smalltown Boy” :
You leave in the morning
With everything you own
In a little black case
Alone on a platform
The wind and the rain
On a sad and lonely face
Mother will never understand
Why you had to leave
But the answers you seek
Will never be found at home
The love that you need
Will never be found at home
Run away, turn away, run away, turn away, run away
Run away, turn away, run away, turn away, run away
Pushed around and kicked around
Always a lonely boy
You were the one
That they’d talk about around town
As they put you down
And as hard as they would try
They’d hurt to make you cry
But you never cried to them
Just to your soul
No, you never cried to them
Just to your soul
Run away, turn away, run away, turn away, run away
Run away, turn away, run away, turn away, run away
Cry, boy, cry…
You leave in the morning
With everything you own
In a little black case
Alone on a platform
The wind and the rain
On a sad and lonely face
Run away, turn away, run away, turn away, run away
Run away, turn away, run away, turn away, run away
Here is the video that gave me inspiration to begin to live my true and authentic self….enjoy!
Together, we can make the world a more positive one!
One of the most talked about issues today is gay marriage and advocacy for equality for gays and lesbians in the United States of America and around the world. Those who oppose it site religion, procreation and that it is not natural. They also site that marriage is an institution between one man and one woman – well, that really isn’t true. Some places in the United States and around the world allow a man to have more than one wife. Many statistics indicate divorce is at an all-time high between ‘straight couples’.
There are so many loving and committed gays and lesbians who want to marry and have the same federal benefits and that are on par with their heterosexual counterparts. The institution of marriage is treated like a joke and it seems that many people are just using religion as an excuse to not allow gays and lesbians that are in committed and loving relationships to marry. How is marriage sacred when you have people like Britney Spears marrying her best-friend (as a joke) and having it annulled a few days later? Heterosexual couples never really thought about the sanctity of marriage until homosexuals advocated for their right to marry, all of a sudden, they took interest and are doing everything in their power to stop them from marrying.
I have been in a relationship with my partner for almost 20 years – we have been married for just over 6 years. Our marriage has lasted longer than some of my siblings and some of my friends. Our marriage didn’t disrupt anyone else’s lives – most people were supportive and thrilled about our marriage. The only people making a big deal are those who cite religious passages and hide their bigotry behind religion. I don’t understand how these people say “we accept our gay friends and love them but we don’t support gay marriage” – what is the issue? If these people truly accepted their gay friends then they would be doing anything they could to advocate for their right to marry! There should be no stipulations with acceptance – you can’t love and accept someone and then say they shouldn’t have the same federal right as you…..there is no such thing as ‘I accept you but, I don’t accept (insert subject here)’.
Those who oppose gay marriage are becoming a minority and that makes me feel great!!!! It shows that times are changing and people are finally realizing that the only difference they have from gays and lesbians is their sexuality – nothing else is different. The gay rights movement is very similar to the civil rights movement in terms of seeking equality and being recognized as a citizen in their country.
I want to take the opportunity to thank all of our heterosexual friends and allies who stand by their gay and lesbian friends and accept them as part of humanity and treat them no different from any other person. We love you! Here are some of our allies and friends:
NY Senator – DIANE SAVINO
WHOOPIE GOLDBERG
JUDGE JUDITH SHEINDLIN
CHRIS KLUWE on ELLEN DEGENERES
JULIANNE MOORE
CEO Starbucks – HOWARD SCHULTZ
MADONNA
LADY GAGA
CYNDI LAUPER
Together, we can make the world a more positive one.
The reason I write my blog posts is to ensure that people are empowered to create positive change and spread it around the world. In order for me to do this, I sometimes have to bring attention to those who may not be so supportive in creating an inclusive, positive and loving world community. I hope that by reporting and exposing some ignorances that people have – that we all learn and move forward in a more positive light. Saying that, here are some things that I believe need to be shared with anyone who reads this blog – I hope that we can all take something positive from these examples:
Ann Coulter (on coming out)
On October 15, 2012 – Conservative political commentator tweeted, “Last Thursday was national “coming out” day. This Monday is national “disown your son” day”. Not only is this comment offensive but contributes to the hate, bigotry and violence that we are seeing against the LGBT community today. Some people, especially teens, are being bullied across the nation and around the world for being gay – some are even bullied to the point of suicide. It is completely irresponsible for someone to make such a horrible statement or joke and not be held responsible. Here is what GLAAD (Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) had to say on this matter:
I recognize that this is a joke, and that she is not really taken seriously in any context anyway, but with this coming right after National Coming Out Day, at the start of Ally Week and just days before Spirit Day, I thought this would be a good opportunity to talk about this idea of hers. There was a time in our culture’s history when, if thousands of LGBT kids were to come out on the same day, the next week genuinely would be exactly what Ann describes, all across the country. Fathers disowning their sons and kicking them out onto the street. Mothers locking up their daughters or sending them to charm school. Children forced to undergo electro-shock or even worse forms of “therapy” to rid themselves of their orientation. To learn how to not be true to themselves.
And although we’ve come a long way from those ideas as a cultural collective, I have no doubt that last week, more than a few American households experienced the tragedy that Ann joked about. Approximately 50% of LGBT youth experience some degree of family rejection. There are as many as 100 thousand homeless LGBT youth on our nation’s streets, and it’s estimated that LGBT youth make up as much as 40% of our nation’s homeless youth population. LGBT youth who are completely rejected by their parents are more than 8 times as likely to have attempted suicide. Pretty funny, right?
Christian man pretends to be gay for a year
What can a Christian, straight man learn from pretending to be gay for a year? Obviously, A LOT!!! Very inspiring!
You can still be a MACHO MAN and know what is right!
Chris Kluwe expresses how he feels about gay marriage and briefly takes about politics – I love when men, especially those who are required by the public to act a certain way, are able to speak honestly and intelligently without fear of any consequences – truly a role-model for ‘straight’ athletes around the world.
Is Victoria Jackson (ex-Saturday Night Live alumni) serious???
I don’t know what else to think about this…..but she has a right to believe what she believes. Obviously, all Christian’s do not feel the same – THANK GOD!
Cyndi Lauper and the LGBT Community
Check out the philanthropic work Cyndi is involved in and has created…..check out her True Colours site, it is inspirational!
Samuel Greisman talks about his mother Sally Field at a Human Rights dinner
As you can see in the above examples – it takes much less energy to promote wellness and positivity into the world rather than pushing hate and ignorance. What energy do you want to be part of? Share the blog and site with all your friends and family and help spread the positive word!
Together, we can make the world a more positive one!
Music touches our lives in so many ways….we remember certain songs during pivotal moments in our lives. I have many memories that I can specifically attach a song to. Song or music and lyrics touch us in different ways and may draw various and different emotions in each one of us – there are songs that I hear that may make me feel happy, joy, sadness, anger and that will also make me laugh, those same songs could effect so many others in different ways. Here is an additional list of songs that have moved me in a positive manner and that I can certainly include as part of a ‘soundtrack to my life’, what songs are soundtracks to your life?
COALITION OF POSITIVE ENERGY 