Today We Remember John Lennon

Today we remember John Lennon on the anniversary of his death. John Lennon's music was part of the background music of my life when I was young. The Beatles' lives and careers paralleled what was happening to baby boomers like me across the country and John was the smart articulate one.

"The Beatles were simply the biggest thing in the world, short of nuclear fear. They represented a sea change -- in music, in culture, in democracy itself. They weren't always comfortable with having that effect. 'People said the Beatles were the movement,' Lennon later said, 'but we were only part of the movement. We were influenced as much as we influenced.' True, but the Beatles were a key part of that movement. They represented youthful hope, and they represented the new social power that rock & roll might achieve -- a power not only to upset but to transform. The world was changing -- or at least it felt that way -- and the Beatles served as emblems of that change." ~ Mikal Gilmore, Music journalist writing in Rolling Stone

To many of us, John Lennon's death felt like a personal loss. Why? Henry Marchand, Assistant Professor of English at Cedar Crest College, answers this question so well:

" Why? Because John Lennon mattered. He was smart and he was funny and he was arrogant and he was a man who loved what he loved and who hated what he hated with utter clarity and no apology at all. He would have been an important voice in the Reagan eighties, and if he was with us today...it's hard to envision him quietly suffering..."

"Give Peace a chance"...we remember the man who wrote the words, and who wrote  "Happy Christmas/War is Over." We remember how it felt when he died. Now 30+ years after his death, his music and message endure. Lennon's iconic "Imagine" became the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed album of his solo career and was one of the 100 most-performed songs of the 20th century. "

Imagine - John Lennon (Original video with lyrics included)

Imagine CD

"The song ranked number 30 on the Recording Industry Association of America's list of the 365 Songs of the Century bearing the most historical significance."  

  "It earned a Grammy Hall of Fame Award and an induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll."  "Rolling Stone ranked it number 3 in their list of  'The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time'...Emeli Sandé recorded a cover for the BBC to use during the end credits montage at the close of the 2012 Summer Olympics coverage in August 2012." 

"I hope someday you'll join us and the world will be as one imagine freedom." ~ John Lennon     

Read more about "Imagine" on Wikipedia Click Here       

John Lennon

In The Cynical Idealist: A Spiritual Biography of John Lennon the author and artist Gary Tillery credits Lennon with making significant contributions to many modern spiritual movements.   

The reviewer writes "Cynical Idealist reveals, for the first time, the spiritual odyssey of this extraordinary man. Out of a turbulent life, from his troubled, working-class childhood throughout his many roles — Beatle, peace advocate, social activist, househusband — Lennon managed to fashion a philosophy that elevates the human spirit and encourages people to work, individually and collectively, toward a better world." 

"Imagine all the people/Living life in peace" 

Check out Remembering John Lennon 
Visit the Imagine Peace Tower site. Click here 

Edited 5/1/17

Do You Need Help To Figure Yourself Out?

Figure Yourself Out

Have you ever felt like you weren't getting where you want to go? Have you ever wondered what's holding you back? What if you had a guide to help you diagnose the symptoms of where and how you're stuck? Now there is a step-by-step handbook of techniques and practices that can help you create an action plan for change.

The Practical Guide to Figuring Yourself Out - 

How to Go From Stuck to Star of Your Life

This book is written by my friend and coach, Pat Honiotes, who brings her years of experience with personal empowerment coaching to create tools to be used by anyone that wants to discover who you are.

I was delighted to have had the opportunity to be the host on the second day of the Social Media Tour leading up to the launch of this new book.

If you missed the previous post by Christy Strauch at her blog Small Business Warrior, she wrote "Because Knowing Things Intellectually Is Only Half The Learning." Thanks to Christy for starting the book tour week.

Star of Your Life

Pat Honiotes provides her clients a safe, non-judgmental place to explore and grow, and she offers tools for growth to take place. I recently spoke with Pat about an issue that was really stressful for me. She offered me a couple of tools to help me take charge of the issue, and then she invited me to notice how quickly my energy had changed. I felt I had my power back.

This image to the right was the cover photo created by Pat for a workbook from the first workshop I participated in led by Pat.  

This book is a "must" for anyone committed to their own personal growth and living up to their potential.  ~T. Romain

This book is a guide and it takes me on a step by step journey into myself. It is interactive and a workbook. ~N. Hamstra

Click here to order "The Practical Guide to Figuring Yourself Out - How to Go From Stuck to Star of Your Life"

As a person that lives in my 'head' more than my 'heart', it was great to have a section on learning about the literacy of the subconscious mind and how it effects us in every day life. ~J. Thompson

Leave your comments for Pat or me here! We would love to hear from you!

The image above is Girl With A Book 
by José Ferraz de Almeida Júnior (1850–1899) Public Domain 

Updated: 3/15

Turning Inward

Crop Circle 2004

Celebrate the turning of the Wheel of the Year and the Spirits of Nature

My friend Trish has inspired me to write today's post. She wrote: "I'm suffering from a deep lack of motivation (aka the blahs)... maybe it's the weather, maybe I need more veggies, maybe I need more sleep. For now I'm doing a little yoga, having a cup of tea, popping out my markers and notebook, and...It's time to nourish myself until the motivation moves back in full swing."

Congratulations, Trish! You are in tune with the turning of the season.

The Celtic new year is just days away with the Samhain celebration! Samhain (pronounced "sow-in") is the end of harvest season and the beginning of winter in the Celtic realm. It is a time of celebration before going into the dark time of the year, a time when the veils between the worlds are thin, spirits walk about, and intuition and visioning are enhanced.

In our Western solar calendar, Samhain (Hallowe'en) falls on the eve of October 31st and the day of November 1st. But in the ancient traditions of rural Ireland, time was marked by the cycles of the moon, so on a lunar calendar, Samhain falls on the New Moon, which this year is November 3.

Read more about Samhain click here!

Edie Stone, teacher of Celtic Studies, encourages us at this time to focus on honoring our loved ones and ancestors, releasing old patterns, and welcoming the New Year. She writes that the days following Hallowe’en (All Hallows Eve) are a soul-infused time, ripe for releasing old patterns and welcoming transformation.

Stone invites us to use this time to honor ancestors and loved ones, to journey to receive messages from beyond the veil, to release, heal and transform grief or loss.


In Native American Medicine Wheel Teaching, this is the time of the second moon of the Spirit-Keeper of the West. The Medicine Wheel represents the many cycles of life and this position on the west side of the wheel, like the Celtic tradition, teaches us how to travel between the different realms of creation and how to become a messenger for the spiritual aspects of life.

I use a Medicine Wheel as a useful tool that works towards maintaining and restoring balance. An animal that shows up in the Medicine Wheel at this time of the year is the bear. Bears teach us to slow down and reserve our energies.

Think of what the bear is doing at this time... preparing to go inward, to go into the dark. She is busy foraging for food to build fat to sustain herself throughout the winter months, nourishing her body with food that will carry her through the winter months and into the spring.

The sacred energy at Samhain is the dance of life and death that brings rebirth. Bear medicine also has to do with awakening from within. The strength of Bear medicine is the power of introspection.

Bear Hibernating 
Creative Commons License

Bear...invite me into the cave

Where silence surrounds

The answers you gave

~Jamie Sams

Use this time to allow your intuition to come alive and energize intentions for the new year.

Affirmation for this time:
As I wake up today, I welcome clarity and inspiration!

For more understanding of the bear, check out the Wildlife Detectives as they follow Lilly and her cubs day by day, and record her activity and post photos. I've been watching Lilly at this site for a couple of years. Currently Lilly seems to be trying to decide where to spend the winter as she goes from den to den. Click here to go to the site!

Click Here For More Info On The Nature of the Bear

Message me using the Contact Me form on the right side of this page ----->
for more information about my  
Medicine Wheels and Sacred Circles

Check out these books for more info on Medicine Wheels and the Celtic Wheel of the Year. I have both of these books in my library and refer to them for information that I post on this blog and my blog Celebrate Every Day 

Edited 5/1/17