"Inner peace begins the moment you take a deep breath and choose not to allow another person or event to control your emotions."

I just realized the truth of this on a deeper level today. Not just as an intellectual concept, but from a place of heartfelt connection, applying this to my most challenging relationships. I am beginning to see how the universe is using other people in my life as characters in a cosmic play in order to teach me certain life/soul lessons. I'm able to distance myself from the emotions and see the situation from a higher vantage point.
Hence, the symbolism or personification of the wise guru sitting on a mountaintop. Modern Christianity co-opted that Eastern spiritual symbol, and over time, it evolved into the masculine God with a white beard in the sky, which is a very simplistic, unsophisticated characterization or interpretation. The wise old guru on the mountaintop is really a pictorial image, a symbol, a visual metaphor, of each of our higher selves.

Down to the Wire: (The Stringband Tribute to the Music of John Mayer)

Getting into the groove with John Mayer, I tend to experience shades of Stevie Ray Vaughan's guitar, sultry R&B phrasings, and his signature relaxed, even languid, vibe.

In buoyant contrast, the "Grassing-Up" of John Mayer via Adam Galblum's "Down to the Wire: (The Stringband Tribute to the Music of John Mayer)" is full of ecstatic energy; a rich Roots recording.

Galblum, a classically trained multi-instrumentalist with forays into Folk, Jazz, Bluegrass, and Americana, came up with the idea to reinterpret Mayer's repertoire after listening to a summer '13 Mayer bootleg, and subsequently having a series of dreams where his subconscious immediately began to work out arrangements for songs that inspired him.

His first solo album, Galblum played all the guitar, mandolin, and violin parts, then hired some seasoned touring musicians to round out the Stringband: Andy Hall of Infamous Stringdusters (dobro), Chris Pandolfi, founding member of Infamous Stringdusters (banjo), and Greg Garrison of Leftover Salmon and Punchbrothers (upright bass).

A few standout tunes:

1. Gravity: The mandolin solo is stellar, wistfully evocative of "Mandolin Wind" and "Maggie May" on Rod Stewart's roots-rock album: Every Picture Tells a Story. Galblum's soulful phrasing plays off Mayer's melody fluidly.

2. Who You Love: stands out immediately due to the "Touch of Grey"/Grateful Dead undertones, like subliminal whispers from the ghosts of Grisman and Garcia.

3. Slow Dancing in a Burning Room:
the Americana arrangement stayed true to Mayer's original vibe as Curtis Mayfield's soulful "People Get Ready" comes to mind.

4. Stitched Up: has layers of ornate bluegrass stylings, a fuller sound, and a departure from the vast space held within Mayer's rendition.

Buoyant, Imaginative, Masterful musicianship.

Well done, Adam!
This was fun.

Dr. Wayne Dyer, In Memoriam
September 1, 2015

For me, Dr. Dyer was about as close to the 'second coming of Christ' as we are going to get. (Godspeed, Good heart).

The thing I like most about Dr. Dyer is that he and his brother were orphans who grew up in a series of foster homes ... and look what he BECAME.

How many times have I watched main- stream TV only to hear that the "perp" in the detective story was someone who had grown up in a foster home. Growing up an orphan, or having once lived in a foster home, does not automatically mean that a child will become a villain or a menace to society.

People who see the world only in black and white are likely to buy into this type of info if they hear it repeated often enough.
However, please consider this alternative point of view: The world might actually be a better place because of its orphans: Wayne Dyer, Steve Jobs, Andrew Jackson, Herbert Hoover, Nelson Mandela, Eleanor Roosevelt, Harry Potter!, etc.
There's a reason that the archetype of the orphan with magical powers exists, as orphans very often have inner lives that are equally as important to them as anything in the external world. And this place, deep inside, where angels fear to tread, is the wellspring from which orphans Create.

Thanks for the inspiration, Dr. Dyer.

www.drwaynedyer.com