John Mayer- Half of My Heart

I have a love/hate relationship with Mr. Mayer. Sometimes his lyrics hit a little too close to home. Other times they are the perfect reflection of what is going on in my life. I have resisted seeing him live though many of those in my circles swear he puts on an incredible show.

This song came on while my ipod was on shuffle the other day and it has been running through my mind since. It quite eloquently describes the emotions of half-loving someone and the pain that comes from half-requited love.  Seems even more tragic than pure unrequited or nonreciprocating feelings between two people.

This song is fricking sad! It makes me think I need an iPod purge. Take a listen for yourself and let me know what you think.

Jorge Celedón- Esta Vida

Happy Monday morning team!

This weekend I spent time with my beautiful sister. We shopped and chatted and caught up with each others lives and spent quality time with our friends. I ended the weekend with Sunday family dinner and was lucky enough to see my brother and his family for a few hours.

A few months ago I was listening to a podcast and a question was posed:

"What do you miss most about being 5 years old?"

I immediately thought of my siblings. I have an older brother and sister and so much of who I am is directly related to growing up with these characters in my daily life. They taught me to be strong, dramatic, loving, expressive, creative, joyful, and funny. They taught me to laugh from my belly, and to just cry it out. With them I learned about communication, conflict, forgiveness, giving and taking, commitment and unconditional love.

Ultimately, I know my brother and sister have my back. I walk through this world knowing that if I ever really needed anything at all, I could call them at any time of any day from anywhere in the world and have their full support. It really is beautiful to know that they love me in this way.

This morning I woke up to this song. It's one of my favourite 'cumbias' and the artist describes the little things that make life wonderful: the smell of the morning, the first taste of coffee, the colours of the sunset, and tequila of course!

I would add a line describing the joy that comes in walking through life with siblings by your side.

What do you miss most about being five? Could your siblings need a reminder of your gratitude for them today?

P.S. Luis and Carol- I hope you find this post inspiring. Feel free to go over our $50.00 + tax x-mas secret santa limit established yesterday if you were lucky enough to pick my name! ;)

Much love,

j

M.I.A- Sunshowers

Friday!!! I thought you would never come. It's been a long week, short sleep times combined with beaucoup de social and work busy-ness = mellow Jen. My bestie Nads had a request that I wake up to a more upbeat song today and my subconscious listened.

This song gets me up and walking strong. Life has thrown me some curve balls these past few months and I have been sifting and sorting through my feelings, considering paths to take, and taking some time to reconnect with myself and my intentions as I find myself in the midst of change.

At times I find it challenging to balance being connected to others and considering how my decisions affect them with truly choosing what is best for me. I have a deep appreciation and awareness of how the ripples of my decisions influence others. Admittedly, in the past, I have found myself making decisions based on other people and compromising my own needs in the process.

I walked home slowly yesterday taking in the big city lights and deeply breathing in the crisp winter air. Decisions were made, paths and options began to excite me, and ultimately, a peace and calm came over me. A new reverence and trust that decisions others make affect ME positively and that going WITH the flow of life is best has been opened. No doubt, the universe is unfolding EXACTLY as it should.

I think I just discovered to deal with change more powerfully.

Bring it on universe- I am ready.

Ray LaMontagne- Shelter

More Ray, quite ok with me! Invest in this video for a lovely addition to your day.

Ray LaMontagne- You Are The Best Thing

Yes indeed- YOU are the best thing.

:)

Earth, Wind and Fire- September

Ohhhhh man it's been a busy day. Every Tuesday I teach a class at George Brown College called Life Skills. Coming off a busy Monday, Tuesday can sometimes be a blur. This morning I really, really, really, had to push myself to get out of bed.

This was made easier by Earth Wind and Fire stirring me awake. It was as if the dream gods and goddesses knew it was going to be a tough one and sent me my absolute fave tune to make it better.

September marks the beginning of the academic school year. This song reminds me of the fresh beginning every September brings. New outfits, kicks, books, backpacks and students eagerly/anxiously orienting themselves to a brand new life. I love the start of it all.

As a "professor" I now get to influence the academic learning of students in a higher ed setting. My class went really well today and I think we are definitely getting somewhere as a group of learners and teachers.

We are also winding down the semester at Ryerson and the Residence Life Team is doing such an amazing job this year. I am in the midst of one on one evaluation meetings and I am enjoying seeing proof of what I already knew- they are building strong communities and making a great impact on the lives of their students.

Feeling very grateful for the work I do, and for the communities I get to be a part of today. I hope you enjoy EWF as much as I do!

Much love,

j

Jason Mraz- The Dynamo of Volition

Jason again, yes indeed! Writing this blog has definitely allowed me to see what artists are subconciously in my head. I have not played this song in my waking hours in weeks yet this was the tune I woke up to this am.

I had a great weekend celebrating my bestie AK's 30th birthday! This is a milestone many of us will experience this year and Adam, of course celebrated in style. He was surrounded by beautiful people coming together to honour and salute his contributions to their lives. It was definitely soul enriching.

I spent an hour writing my top 30 memories experienced with Adam on Saturday morning and literally made myself laugh out loud. This man has been the cornerstone of SO many life defining moments in my 20's and I am so blessed to have him in my life. He is an example of a friend crush from afar realized, proof that soul mates exist, and the exemplification of an incredibly amazing man adding joy and unconditional love to the world.

I envision many years of friendship to come and send him love every single day. To you AK- today and always!!! Thank you for being the bestest friend a girl could ever ask for and for choosing to share your life with me.

I heart you.

Kardinal Offishall- Body Bounce

Another repeat. Perhaps my subconscious knows I did not give this song the respect it deserves in my previous post so it gave me another opportunity to awake to this jam.

I love this song. Kardi is also one of my favourite Canadian artists as many of his songs and collaborations have been very influential to me. I often imagine him, Sean Paul, Socrates, Jully Black and the rest of the Baby Blue Sound Crew jamming in Tdot in the early 90's.

So many of those artists have had much individual success since then and I imagine the Toronto R&B/hip-hop scene helped them on their paths. This gives me hope for my creative crew and I doing our do. Maybe one day a Wiki entry will talk about our ties and connections together in light of our individual successes.

It's Friday!!! I try to take a little reprieve from the internet on weekends so you will have to wait in suspense until Monday to see what my song is. I want to leave ya'll with a quote that "found me" this week. It has provided a beautiful context for the change that is constantly occurring in my world. It's probably even more beautiful in Italiano! :)

"In life there are things you look for and others that come to find you. You didn't choose them and neither would you want to, but they come. And after you are never the same. At this point you have two choices: you turn your back on them or you accept them and face them. Whichever road you choose, you change, and only you have the possibility to choose whether for good or bad." ~Giorgio Falleti

Have an amazing weekend!

j

Dan Mangan- The Indie Queens are Waiting

Good Thursday morning all! I've been getting some questions from some people who are faithfully following and reading this little bloggity blog o'mine. The most frequent one is:

Do you ACTUALLY wake up and report the song you woke up to or are you tempted to lie and just randomly report a song?

For those of you who know me well, you know that lieing is NOT a strong suit of mine. In fact, brutal honesty, no matter how much trouble it gets me into is usually the name of the game.

I have another repeat today, the beautiful Mr. Mangan awoke me today again with his song Robots. You can read my original entry about this song here. I hope you have already downloaded his album and have tickets to his next show, and for those of you who have not yet discovered this amazing musician here is one of my other favourites from him for your listening pleasure.

I didn't wake up to this one (just being honest!) but I think this just might make your day. Enjoy!

Eric Hutchinson- It's Alright with Me

On a recent road trip with my bestie Nads, I learned this artist was NOT the sexy, burly, urban lumber jack man I envisioned in my head for the two years I played him on my iPod.

Quite the opposite- the preppy, tall,slim, NYC dwelling Hutchinson is compadres with a few of my other favourite artists including Jason Mraz and Matt Nathanson. Some real musical talent in lyrics, instrumentation, and an amazing voice to top it all off.

This song gets me up in a clapping, feel good, morning dance party kind of way. This video is pretty great too, take the time to feel good to this one!

Much love!

Jason Mraz- The Remedy

I woke up refreshed and smiling today to the sound of this song. Jason Mraz is one of my absolute favourite artists and this is my favourite of his soul jams. Sometimes I dream of meeting him on his avocado farm in San Diego, journalling beside him, doing morning yoga, and being the inspiration for a riveting love song. Sigh.

I have no idea how this audience is staying so calm while he is singing his heart out. I recently went to see Jason live and couldn't contain my excitement. He puts on an amazing show and I highly recommend checking him out. Taking a road trip pilgrimage with great friends to get to him is even better!

I won't worry my life away....

Happy Tuesday amigos! :)

Maxwell- This Woman's Work

Today's song is a classic in the soundtrack of my life. I first heard this song while in university. It was the backdrop to a scene in the movie Love and Basketball and it immediately invoked spontaneous tears.

It became the soundtrack to important scenes of my own early 20's in uni. With every listen, a different line would pop out relating directly to what I was experiencing at the time- pain, courage, loss, managing expectations, giving, receiving, realizing what my work was and how I was doing with it. I heard Maxwell's riveting voice encouraging me to realize my craft, my space in the midst of it all, to acknowledge my strength and to live it out fully.

I recently learned it was originally composed and sung by a woman- Kate Bush during a scene in the 1988 movie She's Having a Baby. This scene involves a difficult childbirth and Kevin Bacon stars as the father realizing his work is done and all he can do is sit idly by while his wife battles to give birth to their child and survive herself.

A very clear example of a time that a partner relinquishes all control to a woman who is doing the important work that only a woman can do- childbirth.

Last night my dream involved several women who are close to me giving birth with their partners and loved ones standing by. In my dream, I took the role of providing support and comfort by tending to older siblings and the emotional wellness of the women powerfully doing their work.

Coincidence? I think not....enjoy this song, it's a beauty.

2 for 1 Saturday

So this whole posting every day is pretty easy when I am in my normal day to day work-play groove. I missed yesterday as I was hanging in Guelph with a friend of mine and we were on a tight schedule that did not afford me internet time in the morning.

I did however wake up to a song that surprised me for sure. I had to call on my younger, hipper, and wiser bestie Val to give me the name of the top 40 radio hit by sending her lyrics that involve "we got petron, we doing shots, shots..." you get the idea. I love the hilarity that comes in singing a song to a person to see if they can recognize it, especially while others are watching or have absolutely no idea what you are trying to communicate. Amazing.

Later in the eve my friend Emily made a morning song request. Her approach- sing a song she wants me to wake up to over and over again, assertively state the title of the song and group in casual conversation, sing it again- repeat.

Em- no en vogue today but the song that I DID wake up to reminds me of you and only you, and how you bounce.

Happy weekend all!

Gorillaz- Feel Good Inc.

I took a "stay-cation", mental health week from work this week and good god has it been amazing. This song woke me up today and it inspired me to head off to a pay-what-you can karma yoga class at Spirit Wind Internal Arts in Kensington Market. Yoga always makes me feel reallllly good and I took this song as a sign from the universe to get this day started in a blissful space.

Class started at 11am and our teacher lead us through a breathing meditation to start. During that first minute I sent extra light and peace to all. Remembrance day always makes me think of assemblies and school both as a student and as an educator. No last post, power point presentations, or assemblies this year, just me, myself and I breathing into my body and getting the centre of it all. I definitely feel my individual practice added some peace and lightness to the world.

I hope this song inspires you to feel good and do the same in your own way in the coming moments, hours, days. I know November can be a rough time so I encourage you to get out there, enjoy the sun, catch some joy, and always remember to breathe.....

Namaste.

Feist Sea Lion- Chromeo Remix

One of top fave walking in the city songs. Put this one on your iPod, rock some kicks with a cute outfit, and feel the beat!

David Guetta- Choose

Guetta gets me out of bed with a smile on my face and an extra spring in my step. Ahhhhh yaaaaaa :)

Robyn- Show Me Love

This weekend I reconnected with some soul sisters and the subject of Robyn came up. She is playing a show in Toronto on Friday and my friend was so passionate about her music, I felt inspired to grab a ticket and listen to her new sound. Synchronicity presented itself when I read an article about her over a cup of coffee on Saturday and "strangers" were discussing her new sound in a clothing shop yesterday.

All signs point to Robyn. Still getting to know her new material but this morning, a song I consider to be a classic coming of age song woke me up. This song takes me back to high school crushes and loves gone by. That first line gets me every time.

Back in 1997 vulnerability was not my strongest suit. I got consistent feedback from the universe about my pride and prejudice in all kinds of love. I was reminded of that time in life when one of my oldest, dearest friends from childhood called for tea this weekend. We talked about my romantic dreams of finding one partner to "show me love and what it's all about".

I am positively grateful this view has changed over the last decade and that one, all encompassing person who is supposed to fulfill every deepest need and desire has NOT come. My happiness is my responsibility, and my life's journey. It is a gorgeous one filled with people and experiences that are dynamic, intimate, natural, honest.

The pride came from being too afraid to let my soul speak, too afraid to accept the love in the exact form it was presenting itself, too afraid to be in the moment.

I'm not sure where Robyn's journey has taken her in the last 13 years but I am very much looking forward to hearing her music and seeing what I draw out. Today I dedicate this jam to all who show me love. Thank you for teaching me what it's all about.

Ace of Base- Don't Turn Around

Today's flashback: high-waisted, acid wash jean wearing, Sweedish 90's pop stars Ace of Base encouraging me to "just walk away" and "let go"....hmmmmmm.....

This one startled me awake nice and early (6am) and I even heard the little male rap part super clearly. A nice surprise blast from the past start to a good day so far!

A Repeat!

Today's song is a repeat! It has been so interesting to write this blog as I am starting to see patterns in my morning songs. They have been the last thing I hear before bed, or have been playing during joyful moments throughout my day.

Today's repeat was Ms. Brown's Old Skool Love. This is an example of a song that surprised me when I heard it! I loved this song when it was out and rehearing it the other day has embedded it back in my subconscious- awesome.

I am taking this opportunity to post another person's morning song. It has been great to talk to other people about what their morning song is, and today's comes via one of my favourite people on earth- Chad Nuttall. He is a dear friend, a trusted advisor, and from time to time, he introduces me to some cool music.

Once he told me Matt Nathanson saved his life. In a world of manufactured, company driven pop music, Matt stood out to Chad as an authentic artist who was spreading a real sound with real messages. I jumped on the band wagon late, but Matt is definitely a staple in my music collection as a result of Chad's recommendation.

Chad and I met at the University of Guelph and this video nostalgically takes me back to that time in life. Our friendship has definitely evolved post Guelph and I am quite grateful for his constant support and ability to make me laugh out loud!

I hope this song inspires you to check out more Matt Nathanson, and maybe call a friend you met in uni and say "oh hey". :)

Flo Rida Feat. Nelly Furtado

Yesterday I went to my favourite fitness class at Good Life- BODY JAM! My roomie happens to teach jam and every Tuesday one of my besties and I dance it out in the studio, studio!

Every few weeks there is a new "release" where we get to listen and dance to amazing remixes in the company of sweaty strangers. There is something pretty awesome about learning choreography and simultaneously moving to the same beat with the same moves that are as appropriate at a dance club as it is in the gym.

This class has added so much joy to my life since I started going and last night I was particularly proud of the new jam instructor who gave 100% to her first class. This song is the warm up jam and today I send it to my jam girls- you know who you are, it is an honour to sweat and jam with you.

I hope you get up and d-a-n-c-e to this one!

Talking Heads- Psycho Killer

I don't know where this wavelength came from, yet this is what woke me up this morning. Rock band hasn't happened for me in months, this song is for sure a classic yet DEFINITELY not part of my go-to music collection. I must admit it is catchy though, and I do like the Francais. Maybe it was the Halloween influence? Nonetheless, I hope you enjoy!

Divine Brown- Old Skool Love

A little Canadian content for this blog o' mine. My friend and I were country driving near Chatham ON this weekend and this came on as we searched radio stations.

We were driving back from a beautiful wedding weekend and I thought it was quite appropriate this song came from the radio waves. Personally, it made me think of a few old "skool" loves. Lyric of the song: "Don't want you back, but I'll never ever love the same way again."

How true those words can be. :)