Hallo, Kon'nichi wa, Selamat, Pagi, Hola!

Ah, the Holidays. A time for joy, for reuniting with your loved ones, for sharing precious moments and gifts and cherished memories ...

Bah! Humbug! Let's be honest for a moment. How many of you can really relate to that syrupy image? I know, from my Soul Blazing work, that for many people, the Holidays are a time filled with anxiety, loneliness, depression, and unbridled rage at your hated Step-mother Vivienne or obnoxious Cousin Teddy. Many of you probably approach the Holidays with a sense of growing dread, hoping just to get through them. But, fortunately, there ARE some ways to bring joy back into you life during this period. At the request of my readers and clients, let me give you a few examples I've gleamed from working with my clients over the past several months.

1) Diane's father remarried and had three daughters, and each year when Diane goes back to Chicago for the Holidays she feels like an outsider. Her step-mother (who controls the household) makes SURE she feels that way. She doesn't want Diane to be too close to her father, and gives her own daughters priority in everything. To keep peace, Diane father goes along with the step-mother's program. Diane told me she would never go back to spend the Holidays with her father and his second family again.

2) Jill is broke. She has a large family that loves to lavish gifts on each other, and Jill was afraid to tell them she didn't have the money to reciprocate. Nor did she want to go into debt by spending a lot of money she didn't have. She felt her only option was to claim sickness and cancel her trip home for Christmas, which she didn't want to do.

3) Brian's mother is aged and a bit of a hypochondriac, and lives alone. She tells Brian every year that she is convinced this will be her last on Earth, using that as a rationale for him to fly across the country to join her for Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Mother's Day, and her birthday. Brian is happy to oblige her, but not necessarily for all five. He resents her using guilt to manipulate him. As a consequence, when he does join her, he often acts annoyed towards her.

By the time they came to me, Diane, Jill and Brian had each come to see the Holidays as a very unpleasant time. I explained to them that proper communication could alleviate most of their issues. I advised Diane to have an open, honest conversation with her father (without attacking him, as she usually does) before the Holidays, and insist the stick up for her like a true father and treat her like an equal–or she would regretfully not join them again.

I also urged Jill to have a conversation with her family, and to suggest to them how special it could be if they MADE gifts for each other instead of buying them. For example, instead of spending hundreds of dollars on toys for her nieces, she could make jewelry for them (they love jewelry) by buying beads and inexpensive semi-precious stones and stringing them herself. Often, just the effort and love put into crafting a gift uniquely designed for the recipient means much, much more than spending a lot on a store-bought gift.

My advice to Brian was to tell his mother at the beginning of the year that he was happy to be there for her, but that he had only so much free vacation time. They could agree on two or three of the Holidays for him to spend together, but he could not promise her all five. The important thing was to communicate this to her in a way that was not resentful or angry, but open and loving. She needed to know that Brian would always be there for her.

The Holidays are ultimately about family and love. If you have it, be grateful. If you don't, find a way to create it. Donate time to a shelter, feed the hungry on Thanksgiving, visit a nursing home. Very few of us are blessed with the perfect Norman Rockwell family, but all of us have the potential to open our hearts and give of ourselves. The rewards will return much more to you than you gave! Until next time ... Stay ahead and get ahead.

Your Soul Blazer,

Lisa Haisha
Composing a Life

P.S. Read Lisa's latest article in the Beverly Hills Times for more advice on stress and loneliness during the Holidays. (PDF Download - 360KB)

WHISPERS HAS ARRIVED AND LOOKS FANTASTIC!!! If you would like (for a limited time only) to purchase a signed hardcover copy of WHISPERS FROM CHILDREN'S HEARTS, please visit here or go to Amazon.com. That is what the Skirball Center, the Bodhi Tree, Storyopolis, Beverly Hills Boutique shops, Spas, and one-hundred and seventy-three and counting subscribers of this newsletter did. WHISPERS makes the perfect gift book, one that will both entertain and enhance the lives of those who read it. In my life I have been blessed by the unique opportunity to look into the hearts of children all over the world, and I would love to share my experiences and insights with you. Beautifully illustrated by artist Tim Huhn, WHISPERS is a book that will stay with you forever.

Visit here to learn more about Whispers.

Discover where memory and imagination intersect. As Henry David Thoreau said, "I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived." Make a New Year's Resolution to start living. There will never be a good time to start living fully and creatively. Now is the time to discover your passion and start living it daily.

It seems everyone wants to be a writer, but not everyone is willing to do what it takes to make it a living, breathing reality. Discipline, patience and faith are easy to scrap when the going gets awkward and it will, at some point. If you're one of those creative nymphs who feel like the Darwinian challenge is robbing you of your inspiration to write, Write On may be the cure. In Write On, I will keep you busy with creative writing exercises that keep you inspired for each day of the year. By the end of2006, you can have a finished book! And have fun with no stress in the technical aspects. With years of experience working as a writer, I created these writing workbooks to encourage others interested in the craft. It has helped many of my clients on their personal and professional journey. Broken into simple to challenging writing exercises based on inspirational quotes, your writing chops are sure to advance to another level and it only takes about fifteen minutes of your day. It's a joyous writing ride that will bring you to new heights of creative accomplishment, no matter what your level of experience is.

Writing Assignment:

"We write to taste life twice, in the moment and in retrospection." –Anais Nin

Write about something in your life that inspired you that you want to taste again.

I've been getting a lot of feedback from my readers that they would like more writing assignments in these monthly newsletters but that is why I created monthly and a yearly writing journal. Take advantage of it NOW and watch your creativity blossom.

NOW AVAILABLE: A fun 365-day Inspirational Writing Journal of quotes and thought-provoking statements to inspire you to write daily, resulting in building your vocabulary and improving your writing skills. Keep this up all year long and watch your writing soar. It will give you focus, discipline and train you to search your soul.

Also, available for those of you who have commitment issues or just want to advance yourselves in a certain areas of your life, I created 30-day writing Journals that focuses on a particular theme: Love, Mysticism, Spiritual Growth, Leadership, Writers and Artists, and Erotica. The journals were created to assist you towards becoming the writer you want to be, one word at a time. Soon your journal will be brimming with evidence of your creativity and talent. There are no hard and fast rules. No matter what you do, or how you decide to do it, the main thing is to write, and to enjoy it.

If you want more writing assignments and inspiration to make your writing process a bit spicier and more fun, visit here.

IMPROVERSATIONS™

Lisa: Hey, have you heard of this new form of writing called Improversations?
Randy: Huh? Nah. What's that?
Lisa: Well, I just created the term. Improversations! I like it. I just got a bit lonely from writing this newsletter all by myself so I decided to invite the readers to participate in some of the writing. It's kind of an experiment.
Randy: Okay. How does it work?
Lisa: This month I start a provocative or interesting conversation and then the next month someone else continues it, and the following month someone else takes it up and we watch in breathless fascination where it all goes. Sort of like My Dinner With Andre in monthly installments. Readers should e-mail me their own follow-up paragraphs and the "best" one (the one that IMO takes the conversation in the most creative, unexpected or outrageous direction) gets printed and wins a thirty-day downloadable copy of Write On.
Randy: Cool. I want that.
Lisa: Then get ready to write. (a pause) I heard a Japanese scientist did an experiment where he played classical music and heavy metal music while ice crystals formed. The crystals formed under the classical music were beautiful and symmetrical. The heavy metal ones were all misshapen and weird-looking. Does that mean if you want to be more attractive or lose weight all you have to do is listen to classical music and voila, you look like Angelina Jolie?
TK: No, it means vibrations cause water to jiggle as it forms its own solid impression of itself, the way our ideas of beauty come from images vibrated across the pixels of our television'd minds - and it speaks of silence, without which music becomes pure noise - and asks us to examine snowflakes formed halfway between up and down; and why they become misshapen by losing weight, while we look into reflective pools and see ourselves auditioning to play the parts of our celebrities, on a self-imposed casting couch or self-imposed lasting "ouch". What's playing on your "Me" pod?
JD: The "Outawacks," a heavy metal Swedish rock band known for such classics as, "Snowflakes in My Hair," "Crystal, She's the One," and "Ice Pool Dreams." A girl who looked very much like, what's her name, Angelina Jolie turned me on to them. She had absolutely no ear for music even though her father was a successful concert pianist having at the age of five performed with some of the most renowned orchestras in the world. She told me that he would often drag her with him from one job to the next hoping to instill in her a musical sensibility that she might desire to pick up an instrument. Well, the only thing she picked up was the cymbal player for the Tonkünctler Orchestra.
PG: Too bad because she missed the invention of the We Pod; the latest joint venture from the Esalan Institute and Apple--science combines with commerce to place all of us in synchronous vibration--the discovery was nothing new since electro magnetic fields were shown to change the cells at the molecular level long ago and now the ice crystals led us to trace the Newtonian lineage to the obvious conclusion--that we all affect one another, that each act sets in motion the ripple effect of a penny in a wishing well, changing all it touches and now the new WE POD will try to do the same as we all tune in on that one channel -- And what is on the new WE POD? ... Jessica Simpson.

Thank you Pat! Great entry. Now it's YOUR turn. Give it a shot! Please submit your 60-75 word improversation to nicole@composingalife.com.

Jeff Goldblum with Lincoln Adler
I first met Jeff, in 1989 at Hugos, a hip, healthy restaurant in the heart of West Hollywood. I was surprised at what a sweet, caring, accessible person he was. He had recently completed the hit film, The Fly. We started talking about art while sipping our yerba mattes. By the end of lunch, I had invited him to come and support a play I was directing the following weekend, called Environmental Buster. I told him all the money was going to charity and it starred 12 children who had helped co-write it and did the production design with their parents (with a few professionals on hand). He agreed to come. I have to say, I was shocked when he actually did arrive, because many people (especially the celebrities) made promises to placate me, but then never showed. In spending time with Jeff, I learned three things he was very passionate about : charities for kids, the environment, and jazz.

Today, besides still acting brilliantly in films and teaching acting at Playhouse West, Jeff plays in an informal jazz band. I recently was invited and privileged to hear him play at as mall club in Beverly Hills. But you can find him playing in various clubs all over LA with Lincoln Adler, a jazz musician and fellow actor Peter Weller, who plays the horn.

In Hindu mythology an Avatar is a spirit guide and helper, and that's what we call our monthly selection of a person or organization whose mission is to assist individuals and companies on a higher level than most, and whose skills and talents we believe will make your life easier and happier. They will give you the room and support to grow into your life's work.

Gahl Sasson
I had the pleasure of meeting Gahl in January 2001 at his yearly lecture, which has been part of the Golden Bridge Tradition since 2000. My best friend, Feng Shui expert Deborah Kagan swore by Gahl, saying he is the best astrologer she has come across (Kagan is a budding astrologer herself). Apparently, "W" magazine agrees with Kagan. He was voted best Astrologer in Los Angeles by them. At the workshop I attended, Gahl talked about the astrological forecast for each of the signs as well as the general mood of the year. I found it fascinating, mainly because of his strong intellect and his masterful story-telling skills. He has a way of making the mundane engaging and fun. Gahl also teaches Kaballah regularly at the University of Judaism. He has co-written a book A Wish can Change Your Life, which blends wisdom and metaphors from cultures across history and the entire world into an innovative blueprint for personal transformation and material enrichment. Thousands have embraced his stimulating approach to spirituality in lectures and workshops in the United States Mexico, and Israel. On another note, Gahl also is a musician and composer. Get your annual reading this month. It's a great way to start the year. I did and the insight Gahl gave me was remarkable (as usual). His wide range of knowledge he offered me during our session was a mix of a psychic reading, astrological reading, mythology, and guidance for the challenges that I was born with according to the planets. For more info on Gahl, please visit here.

Thomas Dean Kellog
I was introduced to Tom who is part Cherokee, Choctaw, Polish and Western European, from Andrew, a Native American Indian actor friend and client of mine who worked with him in the Young Playwrights Program. Andrew was one of the professional actors that acted as mentors to the Native American Indian youth. Tom founded the Mentor Artist Program to provide a voice for minority youth. When I actually got the privilege of meeting Tom in person at a cafe in Santa Monica, I was impressed with his pure spirit which helped me better understand his mission and why he chooses to volunteer so much of his time to help others, especially minority kids. I then knew that he needed to be recognized and exposed for the innovative work he has done. He has affected many young Native Americans through his work, transforming many of their lives by giving them focus and passion. His Young Native playwrights Program (MAPP) works like this: He brings together eight to ten young playwrights, each paired with a mentor actor or writer, who participate in a series of intensive playwriting workshops led by Tom. Stressing the importance of the young person's dreams and aspirations, Kellogg's method introduces fundamental playwriting tools, and includes such subjects as the use of metaphor, creating characters through sensory and emotional work, dramatic storytelling, monologue, poetry and song. The young people are taught to examine the workings of conflict, and write plays where crisis, urgency, and possible consequences are explored. At the end of the process, each young person will have written a 5 to 10 minute one-act play. The plays are then rehearsed, in preparation for public staged readings with professional Native American actors and local professional actors from the community.

Please contact Tom to learn more about his theatre company, Theatre Fofo.