#4 – July/August 2005

VIKKI FLAWITH, SINGER/SONGWRITER & VOICE TEACHER, VICTORIA, BC

Hi! Is it summer already?

Hot news this month:  As some of you know, my ballad, "Still I Dream of You," made #1 on the Soundclick pop/AAA charts on Saturday June 18th, two days after it was uploaded. As of today, it's still #1 in the subgenre AAA charts and has risen to #2 on the big, overall pop charts.

My newest, "Send Me a Man," is sitting at #9 on the country-pop charts. I was able to get the song produced as the result of an internet collaboration between 5 different musicians who live all over North America. I had helped the group out with some vocals on a couple of projects, so I had a song produced as payback. And it sounds pretty good! 

My very first internet collaboration, which took place in May 2005, was with Bill Boutin -- I provided vocals for his song, 'It's Been Too Long'. Since then, things have really heated up!  Another recent project was the creation of "Dreaming Love - a Tapestry, with Volker Zdunnek of Germany.  Volker creates all his award-winning music through improvisation, I created a poetic vocal motif to go with his beautiful dreamy-pop instrumental track.  My other very exciting collaboration is with an LA musician & songwriter who has written music cues for a variety of projects, including the Oprah Winfrey Show.  He saw some lyrics I had written and asked if I'd be interested in a co-write.  His music is terrific, and, although I have not heard the final product yet, I know it's going to be awesome.

In addition to these projects, I continue to write music with my steady co-writer Michael Kavanagh.  Michael & I have been working hard on several songs, two recent projects were 'She Was Always There' and 'Dragonfire', recorded by our wonderful & creative producer, Dan Spedding.  By the way, Dan & I are still working on our ideas for a piece of musical theatre -- and I have four internet collaboration projects waiting my return from holidays!  ~ Vikki

This month I thought I'd share this article, by Jan Marie Dore, Professional Certified Life Coach, with you.  She is talking about something that is crucial to us as artists and creative human beings - discovering our own voice, our own purpose.

Getting Clear on Your Priorities & Life Purpose
As I move through life and speak with people around me, I'm aware that many of us feel something is lacking in our lives, and yet we are uncertain what that is. Our lives have become full of tasks to do, responsibilities to shoulder, promises to keep. And a cacophony of information is thrown at us! It's hard to get clear on our own priorities. It's harder still to hear our own inner voice amidst the turmoil.

Most of us want to have a clear sense of what matters most to us, yet searching for purpose doesn't seem like an easy task, does it? It would be great if we could just wake up one morning and have an 'ah ah!' moment and be set for life. But I think knowing who we are and what we want is actually a long-term process. I think too, that our purposes - naturally -morph with us over time.

A while ago I watched a program on personal finance, and the gentleman said that if your goal is to save or invest, you should always pay yourself first. I began to think that perhaps one of the ways we can invest in our life purpose is to pay ourselves first - in time. Studies have shown that those who make time for themselves have more peace and serenity in their lives and a better quality of living.

In order to get clear on your purpose, you must be willing to find a way spend time alone on an ongoing basis. That means you need to schedule time for yourself and make keeping that commitment a priority in your life. Perhaps that should be the first thing you do every day. You could go for a walk, jog, meditate, garden, write in your journal, or just sit and breathe - whatever works.

Time alone gives you perspective. It gives you a regular place to work through the issues in your life and make decisions. It gives you space and quiet and allows your inner voice to be heard. It brings clarity to your visioning and goal-setting.

In order to achieve the goal of more time for yourself, you may need to be ruthless in dealing with some of the things that are taking up your time now. You may have to sacrifice a little income to gain time. Perhaps choose to live a simpler life, downsize your home and rid yourself of unneeded material things. Giving away the television might be enough to free you! Or maybe it's time to delegate or outsource some responsibilities - hire a maid, an assistant, or someone else to help with routine tasks.

Clarifying what really matters to you will set you free to live life to its fullest potential. Knowing what you stand for allows you to proactively seek the people, situations and things that support your core values. If you know your priorities, you can assess every demand on your time against them.

This summer, give yourself the gift of time by yourself, with yourself, doing things that you enjoy. Take a long term view of your life to make sure that how you are spending your days now is in line with your overall vision and a true reflection of what you really want. Make the choice to pay yourself first. It will pay dividends both in the present, and in the future.

Here is a simple exercise to get you started on the path to living a life focused on your top priorities.
On a blank piece of paper, write down everything you most want for yourself from your life – the things you say are most important to you. Some examples would be close family relationships, health and well-being, meaningful work, long term friendships, supportive community, creative pursuits, travel and adventure, financial freedom, spiritual life, beautiful home environment, recreation and fun, community service, or personal growth. Add your own examples to this list.
Choose five of the most significant of these items, and list them in order of what's most important to you. Then, next to each item on the right hand side, put a number on a scale of zero to five that represents the priority you have given this item in the past three months, with zero being no attention at all, and five being full attention.

Your list might look like this:
1. Family - 2
2. Meaningful work - 4
3. Health and well-being – 5
4. Financial freedom – 0
5. Travel and adventure – 0
Note: Your list might have no #5's and some 0's on the right if you have not been giving attention to what truly matters to you.

~Does your list indicate you’re not spending you time doing what you say is most important to you?

~Are you spending time accomplishing other people’s priorities, but not your own?

~Memorize your list of priorities, and use it as a guideline for every demand that is made on your time.

~Don’t let anything come between you and what truly matters most to you!

Recommended Resources
Here are some suggested books if you want to read more about getting clear on your priorities and life purpose:
i. ‘The Path’ by Laurie Beth Jones
ii. ‘The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People’ by Stephen Covey
iii. ‘Callings’ by Gregg Levoy

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This article is written by Jan Marie Dore, Professional Certified Life Coach, Speaker and Writer. She has been a practitioner and, more recently, a teacher of yoga and meditation for more than 20 years. She incorporates the practices of wellness, centering, breath, mindfulness, creative alertness, self reflection, cultivating awareness of the now, and creative "time out" into her coaching and speaking philosophy. She aspires to show others ways to access their deeper selves, find the deeper underlying reality of who they really are, and design their lives from the inside out. For free resources and programs on work-life balance and living your best life, visit Jan's website at http://www.janmariedore.com. To sign up for Jan’s ezine, send a blank email to Subscribe@janmariedore.com

LISTEN TO MY WORKS-IN-PROGRESS:

http://www.soundclick.com/vikkiflawith

http://www.mixposure.com/freya

READ MY SONGWRITING JOURNAL:

http://theshysinger-songwriter.blogspot.com/

A FINAL THOUGHT:

"True life is lived when tiny changes occur."

Leo Tolstoy

NOTES & LINKS:

l Alexander Technique: “teaches a person to recognize and change habits that interfere with well integrated functioning. The student is guided by the teacher's tactile and verbal cues, which are designed to elicit a specific reorganization of the body, primarily focused on the head to spine relationship. The student participates in a new kinesthetic experience, allowing the natural ease of movement to emerge.”  Gwen Dobie is a well-respected practitioner of AT and is located in James Bay.  Give her a ring at 389-0611 for an appointment.

l Demo Recording:  DJ Promotions Recording Studio, located in Brentwood Bay, offers a variety of services.  Producer Dan Spedding is a terrific guitarist, a creative and versatile musician, and an all-around nice guy.  Check out his website, or contact him at 818-4568.

l Do It All Entertainment:  Drew Arrington is my favourite karaoke host, he's a singing D.J. too.  Check out his site for dates & places.  Fun!

l Namaste B&B: Located on the harbour in beautiful Ucluelet, BC.  Only a short drive to Long Beach & Tofino, this wonderful home-away-from-home B&B is owned and operated by sculptor Linda Lemay.  I highly recommend it!  Give her a call at 250-726-2580 anytime you plan a trip to the Island's gorgeous west coast.

l Sacred Space ReDesign: ReDesign gives you the look of an interior designer....without the excessive cost. It is the creative - and practical - process of using and enhancing your current furnishings, art and accessories to recreate your space, using the well-established principles of interior design: line, shape, rhythm, balance and proportion in reorganizing and reframing your residence - www.sacredspaceredesign.com

l Songwriters Association of Canada – www.songwriters.ca

l Taxi – www.taxi.com – good articles on songwriting & the music biz

Vikki Flawith, Singer/Songwriter & Voice Teacher

"What I really want my students to 'get' from my studio is the knowledge that the life of an artist is a process. We must find time for our art in our daily lives, for it is when we are in the act of creating, or studying (practicing) that we affect what is unseen in us. The act of 'doing' over and over again trains the subconscious to do things in a new, more holistic and natural way. Thus each 'doing' is a tiny but transformative event on the path to self-discovery and creativity. Each step, each practice, each song, each lesson, each performance, is part of a whole -- a joyfully artistic life."

Email: vflawith@islandnet.com  ~  Web: www.theshysinger.com