Today's DailyOM Offerings...
February 29, 2008
About a Boy
Badly Drawn Boy
2002
Damon Gough, aka Badly Drawn Boy, appeared on the margins of the U.K. music scene in the late '90s, charming listeners with his off-kilter yet refreshingly humane way with a pop song. His earliest recordings were exercises in eclecticism, bouncing from one style to the next, mixing homespun electronica with folky ballads and rock and roll, shuttling between full-fledged, well-developed numbers and half-starts, instrumentals, or asides. His was a kitchen-sink aesthetic, throwing in everything under the sun and seeing what stuck-remarkably, a whole lot did. His second full-length album release, 2002's About a Boy, arrived as the soundtrack to the Hugh Grant film of the same name. As it turns out, it was a stroke of genius to commission Gough to tackle a soundtrack, as the project allowed him to both indulge his natural magpie instincts (a film needs musical transitions and instrumentals, after all), as well as hone his craft to fit a mainstream Hollywood release. The re! sulting album presents the best of Badly Drawn Boy, and the artist delivers a set of highly affecting and accessible pop tunes with just enough skewed sensibility to set it apart from the pack.
On the whole, Gough builds his songs from simple acoustic instruments, yet they seem to add up to something greater than the sum of their parts. "Something to Talk About" ambles amiably on strummed guitar and ringing piano. Its melody steps up and down with an almost childlike innocence, as Gough sings, "I've been dreaming / Of the things I learnt about a boy / Who's leaving / Nothing else to chance again / You've got to let me in or let me out." "Silent Sigh," the album's standout single, rolls in on piano and a strong steady beat that suggests a disco influence. Gough’s delivery is deliciously breathy, his tune irresistibly catchy, and the groove light and breezy.
The singer's more idiosyncratic instincts come out on numbers like "File Me Away" and only make the album more endearing. Here Gough builds a track from a twinkling, cycling vocal refrain, riffing obliquely off classic doo-wop before the song slides into a Spanish guitar break. Rather than erase this outsider artist's personality, the About a Boy project only brings Badly Drawn Boy into greater focus, allowing him to play to his strengths and his quirks with equal aplomb.
February 29, 2008
Accepted For Being Yourself
Sagittarius Daily Horoscope
Your insecurities can cause you to react to people and situations in an overly sensitive and needy manner today. An intense desire to be accepted by your peers, colleagues, and loved ones can cause you to suppress your values, opinions, and beliefs in order to fit in. However, even if you achieve this acceptance, you may nonetheless feel vulnerable because your true identity has been silenced. You may also discover that the interpersonal connections you make in this manner are weak and easily broken. Being yourself can help you attract new friends and strengthen the relationships you already share with your loved ones. Your sensitivity will likely be eased today when you discover that the people who care about you appreciate you for who you are.
While the need to belong can drive you to seek out a variety of new companions, it is only in being yourself that you can connect with the people who will eventually become treasured loved ones. Efforts to hide our true natures almost always backfire because living outside of our value systems proves to be a frustrating and stressful experience. When you are yourself, you are naturally at ease, and others are drawn to your innate confidence and pleasant demeanor. Your honesty can also prove attractive-when you express your sincere thoughts and feelings, new friends understand that you are someone they can trust and confide in on a deeper level. You’ll find yourself surrounded by people who enjoy your natural kindness and charm today when you let your inner self shine.
February 29, 2008
Right Where We Are
Enlightenment At Home
Many spiritual seekers feel called to far-flung places across the globe in the interest of pursuing the path of their enlightenment. This may be the right course of action for certain people, but it is by no means necessary to attain an enlightened consciousness. Enlightenment can take root anywhere on earth as long as the seeker is an open and ready vessel for higher consciousness. All we need is a powerful intention and a willingness to do the work necessary to move forward on our path.
In terms of spiritual practice, at this moment there are more tools available to more people than at any other time in history. We have access to so much wisdom through the vehicles of books, magazines, the Internet, television, and film. In addition, the time-honored practice of meditation is free, and sitting quietly every day, listening to the universe, is a great way to start the journey within. There is further inspiration in the fact that the greatest teachers we have are our own life experiences, and they come to us every day with new lessons and new opportunities to learn. If we look at the people around us, we may realize that we have a spiritual community already intact. If we don’t, we can find one, if not in our own neighborhood then online.
Meanwhile, if we feel called to travel in search of teachers and experiences, then by all means we should. But if we can’t go to India, or Burma, or Indonesia, or if we don’t have the desire, this is not an obstacle in terms of our spiritual development. In fact, we may simply be aware that our time and energy is best spent in our own homes with our meditation practice and all the complications and joys of our own lives. We can confidently stay in one place, knowing that everything we need to attain enlightenment is always available right where we are.
February 29, 2008
Heart Play, Transforming Fate Into Destiny, Detox Foot Pads
Gift Of The Week
Heart Play: A Guided Meditation Practice (Downloadable MP3) - Deborah Koan is an artist-practitioner in the field of intuitive psychogenic counseling. She has a beautiful voice that is serious without being clinical, sounding as if she is one who lives in a state of exaltation, the sort of person whose life and heart are continually renewed by their breath. In short, it sounds like she walks it like she talks it, so it's easy to fall under the spell of her words and allow energy to flow as she guides you. Heart Play finds Koan focusing on the heart chakra and its
importance in changing life patterns. Trust in her and the process of creative visualization, and you can create dramatic life changes. Listen to Sound Clips
Transforming Fate Into Destiny (book) - Exploring the cosmic contract our soul makes for this lifetime, the author shows how fated encounters such as challenging circumstances and relationships can actually be the keys to our unlived life. You will learn how to assess crucial aspects of yourself and learn the ways in which you may be unconsciously violating your life's purpose and blocking yourself from your highest good. We all came into this world with a contract we agreed to fulfill, learn how you can transform your fate into your destiny and live the life you were meant to live based on your soul contract. A fascinating book that will illuminate many "lightbulb" moments for you. Robe! rt Ohotto is a writer, teacher, renowned intuitive and profesional astrologer. Read Excerpt
Detoxifying Foot Pads - We all know that avoiding toxins in our lives is best for our health and the health of the earth. Chances are there may have been a time where we were not aware of this, and at one point or another we may have accumulated toxins in our bodies. Purification treatments of all sorts feel so wonderful because they flush out the myriad of toxins that can come between us and our well-being. While some such treatments can be invasive, others draw toxins out of the body naturally and gradually. Using osmotic capillary action similar to that employed by the trees themselves, detoxifying foot pads gently absorb mercury, lead, arsenic, and other wastes that have accumulated in your body through the bottoms of your feet as you sleep. View Detox Foot Pads
For more information visit DailyOM Gift Shop
About a Boy
Badly Drawn Boy
2002
Damon Gough, aka Badly Drawn Boy, appeared on the margins of the U.K. music scene in the late '90s, charming listeners with his off-kilter yet refreshingly humane way with a pop song. His earliest recordings were exercises in eclecticism, bouncing from one style to the next, mixing homespun electronica with folky ballads and rock and roll, shuttling between full-fledged, well-developed numbers and half-starts, instrumentals, or asides. His was a kitchen-sink aesthetic, throwing in everything under the sun and seeing what stuck-remarkably, a whole lot did. His second full-length album release, 2002's About a Boy, arrived as the soundtrack to the Hugh Grant film of the same name. As it turns out, it was a stroke of genius to commission Gough to tackle a soundtrack, as the project allowed him to both indulge his natural magpie instincts (a film needs musical transitions and instrumentals, after all), as well as hone his craft to fit a mainstream Hollywood release. The re! sulting album presents the best of Badly Drawn Boy, and the artist delivers a set of highly affecting and accessible pop tunes with just enough skewed sensibility to set it apart from the pack.
On the whole, Gough builds his songs from simple acoustic instruments, yet they seem to add up to something greater than the sum of their parts. "Something to Talk About" ambles amiably on strummed guitar and ringing piano. Its melody steps up and down with an almost childlike innocence, as Gough sings, "I've been dreaming / Of the things I learnt about a boy / Who's leaving / Nothing else to chance again / You've got to let me in or let me out." "Silent Sigh," the album's standout single, rolls in on piano and a strong steady beat that suggests a disco influence. Gough’s delivery is deliciously breathy, his tune irresistibly catchy, and the groove light and breezy.
The singer's more idiosyncratic instincts come out on numbers like "File Me Away" and only make the album more endearing. Here Gough builds a track from a twinkling, cycling vocal refrain, riffing obliquely off classic doo-wop before the song slides into a Spanish guitar break. Rather than erase this outsider artist's personality, the About a Boy project only brings Badly Drawn Boy into greater focus, allowing him to play to his strengths and his quirks with equal aplomb.
February 29, 2008
Accepted For Being Yourself
Sagittarius Daily Horoscope
Your insecurities can cause you to react to people and situations in an overly sensitive and needy manner today. An intense desire to be accepted by your peers, colleagues, and loved ones can cause you to suppress your values, opinions, and beliefs in order to fit in. However, even if you achieve this acceptance, you may nonetheless feel vulnerable because your true identity has been silenced. You may also discover that the interpersonal connections you make in this manner are weak and easily broken. Being yourself can help you attract new friends and strengthen the relationships you already share with your loved ones. Your sensitivity will likely be eased today when you discover that the people who care about you appreciate you for who you are.
While the need to belong can drive you to seek out a variety of new companions, it is only in being yourself that you can connect with the people who will eventually become treasured loved ones. Efforts to hide our true natures almost always backfire because living outside of our value systems proves to be a frustrating and stressful experience. When you are yourself, you are naturally at ease, and others are drawn to your innate confidence and pleasant demeanor. Your honesty can also prove attractive-when you express your sincere thoughts and feelings, new friends understand that you are someone they can trust and confide in on a deeper level. You’ll find yourself surrounded by people who enjoy your natural kindness and charm today when you let your inner self shine.
February 29, 2008
Right Where We Are
Enlightenment At Home
Many spiritual seekers feel called to far-flung places across the globe in the interest of pursuing the path of their enlightenment. This may be the right course of action for certain people, but it is by no means necessary to attain an enlightened consciousness. Enlightenment can take root anywhere on earth as long as the seeker is an open and ready vessel for higher consciousness. All we need is a powerful intention and a willingness to do the work necessary to move forward on our path.
In terms of spiritual practice, at this moment there are more tools available to more people than at any other time in history. We have access to so much wisdom through the vehicles of books, magazines, the Internet, television, and film. In addition, the time-honored practice of meditation is free, and sitting quietly every day, listening to the universe, is a great way to start the journey within. There is further inspiration in the fact that the greatest teachers we have are our own life experiences, and they come to us every day with new lessons and new opportunities to learn. If we look at the people around us, we may realize that we have a spiritual community already intact. If we don’t, we can find one, if not in our own neighborhood then online.
Meanwhile, if we feel called to travel in search of teachers and experiences, then by all means we should. But if we can’t go to India, or Burma, or Indonesia, or if we don’t have the desire, this is not an obstacle in terms of our spiritual development. In fact, we may simply be aware that our time and energy is best spent in our own homes with our meditation practice and all the complications and joys of our own lives. We can confidently stay in one place, knowing that everything we need to attain enlightenment is always available right where we are.
February 29, 2008
Heart Play, Transforming Fate Into Destiny, Detox Foot Pads
Gift Of The Week
Heart Play: A Guided Meditation Practice (Downloadable MP3) - Deborah Koan is an artist-practitioner in the field of intuitive psychogenic counseling. She has a beautiful voice that is serious without being clinical, sounding as if she is one who lives in a state of exaltation, the sort of person whose life and heart are continually renewed by their breath. In short, it sounds like she walks it like she talks it, so it's easy to fall under the spell of her words and allow energy to flow as she guides you. Heart Play finds Koan focusing on the heart chakra and its
importance in changing life patterns. Trust in her and the process of creative visualization, and you can create dramatic life changes. Listen to Sound Clips
Transforming Fate Into Destiny (book) - Exploring the cosmic contract our soul makes for this lifetime, the author shows how fated encounters such as challenging circumstances and relationships can actually be the keys to our unlived life. You will learn how to assess crucial aspects of yourself and learn the ways in which you may be unconsciously violating your life's purpose and blocking yourself from your highest good. We all came into this world with a contract we agreed to fulfill, learn how you can transform your fate into your destiny and live the life you were meant to live based on your soul contract. A fascinating book that will illuminate many "lightbulb" moments for you. Robe! rt Ohotto is a writer, teacher, renowned intuitive and profesional astrologer. Read Excerpt
Detoxifying Foot Pads - We all know that avoiding toxins in our lives is best for our health and the health of the earth. Chances are there may have been a time where we were not aware of this, and at one point or another we may have accumulated toxins in our bodies. Purification treatments of all sorts feel so wonderful because they flush out the myriad of toxins that can come between us and our well-being. While some such treatments can be invasive, others draw toxins out of the body naturally and gradually. Using osmotic capillary action similar to that employed by the trees themselves, detoxifying foot pads gently absorb mercury, lead, arsenic, and other wastes that have accumulated in your body through the bottoms of your feet as you sleep. View Detox Foot Pads
For more information visit DailyOM Gift Shop