tag:maurashaftoe.ca,2005:/blogs/test?p=5
test
2022-07-03T23:32:18-04:00
my new album
Maura Shaftoe
false
tag:maurashaftoe.ca,2005:Post/7003118
2022-07-03T23:32:18-04:00
2023-10-16T10:51:24-04:00
We do What We Do
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/254611/bc8ecf9d63344a5581ea658232a43fa1771001bd/original/we-do-what-we-do.png/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W10=.png" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>I was going through some old promo, articles, show posters.</p>
<p>In the days when I was singing jazz. I am hoping my enthusiasm made up for a lot.</p>
<p>It's not what I do anymore, although it still informs my work.</p>
<p>Now my attempts at songwriting are to find enough words and sing it with enough connection that it can say something.</p>
<p>I don't always succeed.</p>
<p>I think art and the creation of art is what makes us human and what keeps us human.</p>
<p>And we are seeing some dark times.</p>
<p>Darker than ever?</p>
<p>No</p>
<p>But dark enough to take notice.</p>
<p>Because it is easy to lose sight of what we do here and why.</p>
<p>That we are all in this together.</p>
<p>So I am doing my small part.</p>
<p>Making new music and reimagining the music of some others.</p>
<p>With the hope that some of that music and some of those words will mean something, maybe to someone I don't know and will never meet.</p>
<p>For a moment, we are together, not apart.</p>
<p>Enough of those moments will save the world.</p>
<p>Love,</p>
<p>M</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
Maura Shaftoe
tag:maurashaftoe.ca,2005:Post/6959559
2022-04-28T22:24:52-04:00
2022-04-28T22:24:52-04:00
Why am I holding my breath?
<p> </p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/254611/b848a8088b5fcac71196812f398914d834b67ab6/original/love-you.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>I woke up the other morning holding my breath </p>
<p>It's not the first time lately. </p>
<p>It's an unsettling feeling. </p>
<p>Like I am waiting for something to start or end.</p>
<p>I am grateful for my life.</p>
<p>I have my health.</p>
<p>I have friends and family who love me.</p>
<p>I have a home, I do valuable work.</p>
<p>Outside of my music, I have always had a "day job", and my job makes a difference for people, I know it does.</p>
<p>And Music</p>
<p>I have music, and I make music.</p>
<p>I know I am blessed.</p>
<p>So why do I find myself holding my breath?</p>
<p>I was speaking with my son the other day and I said " people can design the life they want, and most of us are trapped into forgetting that possibility"</p>
<p>I think that is it, really.</p>
<p>I have forgotten the possibility.</p>
<p>I have allowed the invisible weight of settling or mediocrity or sadness or a combination of all those things to lie on my chest and halt my breath.</p>
<p>And I have no good reason for it.</p>
<p>I am one of the lucky ones.</p>
<p>Inhala Exhala</p>
<p>I choose to let my world expand.</p>
<p>Love </p>
<p>M</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
Maura Shaftoe
tag:maurashaftoe.ca,2005:Post/6866137
2022-01-11T20:52:13-05:00
2022-01-11T21:04:18-05:00
The Pursuit
<p> </p>
<p>The Pursuit </p>
<p>If we pursue our passions, happiness will be our constant reward. </p>
<p>Why do we say that? Is happiness the only thing worth striving for?</p>
<p>I personally don’t think so. </p>
<p>Dare I say happiness is overrated as a goal? </p>
<p>Achieving something, completing something, making the attempt to do either of those, and failing at something are worth the time. </p>
<p>Happiness may not be part of the equation. It may not have been a fundamental driver in the decision to start the project, the song, the conversation, the journey, the job, the task at hand. </p>
<p>Satisfaction, growth, despair, frustration, ecstasy may be present, or some combination of all of those concurrently. </p>
<p>It isn’t realistic to be happy all the time. It may be a goal to achieve acceptance, peace, to not be attached to outcome. Happiness, not so much. Happiness, like every other emotion is transient. </p>
<p>And if the outcome is tied to happiness, the result may be made smaller. </p>
<p>I’m thinking balance is the point </p>
<p>I was recently in the recording studio, having my usual love/hate relationship with my voice, the song I wrote, the entire experience. </p>
<p>Someone asked me, was it fun though? Did it make you happy? </p>
<p>No, I wouldn’t say it was fun. It was a focussed attempt to meld my thoughts and feelings and lyrics into something that sounded sincere. It was not eating enough food and eating too many Fisherman’s Friends. </p>
<p>I wouldn’t say it made me happy. Satisfied, fulfilled, judgemental, those make the list. </p>
<p>Don’t get me wrong, I would never give up music. I have been doing it a long time and will continue as long as I have something to say. </p>
<p>Every time I write something I think: I might have something here, it quickly spirals to what was I thinking, and then creeps its way back to something in between love and doubt. </p>
<p>Then I record or perform it anyway. </p>
<p>I’m not brilliant, I’m not an especially talented singer/musician. And yet I love creating and performing. When I get that right moment, that complete connection, there doesn’t need to be perfection, only the intention of being there and invested in what I am saying/singing. </p>
<p>There are many things about music that I love. </p>
<p>When I am on stage, or in someone’s living room or in a backyard performing, I’d say that was fun. </p>
<p>When I am laughing at myself trying to improve my phrasing or my ukulele playing or reaching for a better word, that can be fun. </p>
<p>It’s not why I do it. </p>
<p>Passion can be defined as a state of strong feeling or belief in something. Passion can be any strong feeling </p>
<p>I will keep my passion, and my sadness, loneliness, love, connection, I will keep it all. </p>
<p>I will keep the entirety of my human experience. </p>
<p>It won’t look like yours, and my reasons for doing or not doing will be rooted in my experience and my desire for growth or a different outcome. </p>
<p>It may bring me joy, and it doesn’t have to. </p>
<p>The pursuit is enough for me. </p>
<p>Love, </p>
<p>M</p>
Maura Shaftoe
tag:maurashaftoe.ca,2005:Post/6837918
2021-12-11T19:40:02-05:00
2023-12-10T11:31:55-05:00
The Hijacking of Hope
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/254611/591a7b1f0bcd31f2cb48fb8e9571c0e808039d67/original/hijacking-of-hope.png/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W10=.png" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><strong>The hijacking of hope </strong></p>
<p>On any given day, I might not consider hope at all. I might not be actively hoping for something. </p>
<p>Could it be I am not giving myself the time to hope, or dream or even aspire. It could. </p>
<p>I am simply, as I have done so many times, putting one foot in front of the other. </p>
<p>In my book, that still counts as forward motion. </p>
<p>That is not to say I have given up on hope. </p>
<p>Not even a little bit. </p>
<p>I am not jumping on the if you “keep hoping for something, it’ll never happen” thought wagon that I have seen circling around a bit lately. </p>
<p>I may be able to understand the train of thought. At least, I think I do. If all one does is hope, with no substantive action, it is possible and highly likely that things will not change. </p>
<p>I don’t buy it. </p>
<p>For one thing, if all the room you have in your heart is to hang on to some hope, it’s better than the alternative. </p>
<p>Despair is hard place to live. </p>
<p>Hoping does not mean that is all I’m doing. </p>
<p>It doesn’t mean I am taking no action. </p>
<p>It means I am holding onto something, even if it is an insubstantial shred. </p>
<p>Hope allows me to hold the faith. </p>
<p>The faith that the thoughts and actions, however miniscule they may seem in the moment, will carry me through. </p>
<p>Let’s take a slightly different run at it. </p>
<p>Hope allows me to hold the faith that the actions I take will cause the transformation I desire. </p>
<p>So, I’m holding on to my hope. </p>
<p>It will not be hijacked by doubt, mine, or anyone else’s. </p>
<p>I cannot think of anything less productive then telling someone to stop hoping. Why not lend a hand? Then they will know their hope was worthwhile. </p>
<p>On my better days, I am the hand up someone else really needs.</p>
<p>Hope is a gift that allows me to trust in the future. </p>
<p>Like a ray of sunshine reminds me the storm is almost over. </p>
<p>So, my one foot in front of the other may be all I have at this point. </p>
<p>I’m ok with that. It won’t stay that way. </p>
<p>Here’s hoping. </p>
<p>Love, </p>
<p>M</p>
Maura Shaftoe
tag:maurashaftoe.ca,2005:Post/6651395
2021-06-06T22:39:36-04:00
2023-12-10T11:29:17-05:00
Standing firm
<p>I recently wrote these lyrics</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>We made a pact together </em></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>Stand firm and strong forever</em></p>
<p>They were written for our Life Into Song Project. ( there will be more on this project coming soon).</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Yes,there is the story of two people behind these lines.</p>
<p>And, there is a larger story.</p>
<p>Imagine making a pact, a commitment, an arrangement and standing firm in your decision.</p>
<p>Imagine making and keeping your commitments to yourself.</p>
<p>Having the where-with-all and the freedom to think and feel your way to that pact, that choice and see if it is one worth making in the first place.</p>
<p>I believe, in my case, anyway, that we would make fewer and break fewer commitments if we took the time when it counts. At the start, before we make it. Check in with ourselves and see, hear, feel, think ( choose your word) if this is the right choice, is this choice going to move us closer to the person we are drawn to be. If more than one person is involved can we say the same for them, will the commitment we are about to make moves them closer to their best version of themselves. That is if we even know what their vision is for them.</p>
<p>Life can be, and often is, lived by default. We can fall into a life that traps us with our shoulds and our over-commitments or we can build a fortress of loneliness and regret by committing to nothing or, at least, nothing difficult.</p>
<p>I have realized for me that checking in to see if something feels right and listening if it doesn't results in less disappointment all around.</p>
<p>There is something to be said for choosing.</p>
<p>Something to be said for standing firm.</p>
<p>Something to be said for making a pact.</p>
<p>Something to be said for keeping your footing even as the ground shifts beneath you.</p>
<p>And it starts with deciding, and committing to be steadfast.</p>
<p>Such a great word</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Love,</p>
<p> </p>
<p>M</p>
Maura Shaftoe
tag:maurashaftoe.ca,2005:Post/5666506
2020-01-12T17:44:28-05:00
2023-12-10T11:28:20-05:00
When you don't measure up
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/254611/c7ed309988c290ce405ca498add0728cfe21b5d0/original/when-you-dont-measure-up.png/!!/b:W10=.png" class="size_l justify_center border_" />March 2, 2019</p><p> </p><p>When you don't measure up to your best version of you</p><p>You've let someone's petty comment land hard and knock you off your game.</p><p>You don't keep it together or otherwise lose your #$@t.</p><p>You find yourself really wanting to tell someone how you are feeling and not in a nice, compassionate, make a positive difference kind of way.</p><p>It happens, well, it happens to me.</p><p>Then follows the mini-death spiral of shame and feeling like all the grounded, thoughtful, you-can-do-it supportive words that come out of my mouth for myself and the rest of the humans are not authentic. Now I just feel like a fraud.</p><p>Then I can feel that gavel of judgement start to descend. Or worse- my gavel is starting to fall on someone else's parade. All the little parade people are knocked down like bowling pins in a tawdry, forgotten bowling alley.</p><p>The best advice I can give is to accept it, make the necessary apologies-to myself and whoever else bore the brunt of the lapse.</p><p>Skipping that step, much as I may want to, won't help.</p><p>Forgive myself and move on.</p><p>One action does not define me</p><p>One inaction does not define me.</p><p>Am I consistently trying to be better, one choice at a time?</p><p>Am I taking the decisions that line up with who I say I am?</p><p>I'm not sure I am able to answer any of the questions I ask of myself.</p><p>Trying to be aware takes time and dedication.</p><p>I'm on the road, always on the road.</p><p>Love,</p><p> </p><p>M</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p>
Maura Shaftoe
tag:maurashaftoe.ca,2005:Post/5753592
2019-05-13T23:26:51-04:00
2022-03-02T09:54:19-05:00
Failing Upwards
<p>May 13th, 2019</p>
<p>Failing Upwards</p>
<p>I heard a Thunder Levin interview the other day. He was talking about his long career as a screenwriter.</p>
<p>"The years went by and success always seemed within reach, but never quite", he said. I didn't sense bitterness.</p>
<p>He just kept working. He was approached to write the screenplay to "Sharknado". He didn't accept on first offer, but they didn't give up. The movie was an instant cult classic. I remember watching it with glee, it was so amazingly ridiculous and there was a lot of heart you couldn't mistake.</p>
<p>He went on to write 3 more sequels and the franchise spawned 6 movies in total. </p>
<p>I enjoyed the interview so much, I tracked the podcast down and listened again.</p>
<p>He was challenged by the interviewer at being remembered for such a low-brow movie. He didn't apologize. "I spent 20 years failing upwards". He seemed humble, genuine and grateful for his career. He acknowledged the success and joy that Sharknado brought to his life, and he has not let it define him.</p>
<p>I loved the sentiment. I may not ever reach a similar level of success, and I can apply his strategy regardless.</p>
<p>I've said before that I feel we don't allow people, artist or not, the time and space to improve or change.</p>
<p>For me, the way I learn is doing something I can't until I can. In plainer language, I do some things badly for a long time until I can do them less badly and then finally, I can do them, sometimes with competence and sometimes with skill.</p>
<p>I get better everytime I write, play, record and perform.</p>
<p>Sometimes I'm doing my learning in the public eye, with varying degrees of success. If I waited until I was ready, there would be no songs, no concerts and no recordings, and no steps on the way to improvement.</p>
<p>I'm going to embrace failing upwards. I'm going to accept some mediocrity for a moment of genius.</p>
<p>Love,</p>
<p>m</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
Maura Shaftoe
tag:maurashaftoe.ca,2005:Post/5547108
2018-12-13T08:57:22-05:00
2020-01-12T17:39:46-05:00
It's not a hobby
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/254611/573fe8c1a6172d43226ab4842df57a1ef9cc6d7e/original/resized-logo.png/!!/b:W10=.png" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>There are going to be some struggles. Even the best lives have some bumps and mistakes and doubts. </p>
<p>There are going to be some people, some you know and some you don’t who will take you out at the knees with their intentional and unintentional comments. They might or might not know what your triggers are, and they may think that their comments are for your own good. </p>
<p>That is possibly correct, there could be points where you are completely not making the right decisions for the situations you find your self in. </p>
<p>I’m not talking about those situations. </p>
<p>I’m talking about the way we get talked to and the way we talk to other people. </p>
<p>The way we feel judged and judge in return. </p>
<p>Some of it has to do with what success looks like, or maybe what we think success looks like. Really, it’s more like measuring our success through someone else’s eyes. </p>
<p>As a musician who still works a more than full time gig, I’ve been listening and hearing how people address me and other artists. </p>
<p>Here are a few I’ve heard lately: </p>
<p><em><strong>It’s so great you’re still trying to do music at your age…</strong></em> (ummm. So, what I am doing is music and what has age got to do with it. It’s possible that sounded like a complement in your head, it didn’t when you said it out loud.) </p>
<p><strong>It’s good that you are still</strong> (what’s with the $##&ing still)<strong> going for your dream.</strong> (it’s not a dream, I write and record music, I rehearse, and I perform, that’s my reality. It might not look like much from where you are standing and that is ok. I am doing, not dreaming) </p>
<p><em><strong>Art has no intrinsic value. You would do it even if you didn’t make money, so therefore, it’s worthless.</strong></em> (you’re right, I’m speechless.) </p>
<p>And then there is the unsolicited advice. This is a tough one, I’ve given unsolicited advice, I’ve tried to problem solve the hell out of other people’s lives. In fact, I would say that I’m probably better at problem solving other people’s lives than my own. I try to do it a bit differently now, I ask how I can support people with their decisions. It’s a work in progress. I try to ask for permission before I give my input. </p>
<p>So that’s where I’ll start, when you are giving unsolicited advice, recognize that it might be unwanted, and you might not know what you are speaking to. </p>
<p>Under the guise of advice </p>
<p><strong>Why don’t you go back to singing in clubs or bars?</strong> (this refers to the fact that I mostly do theatre shows, which are expensive and can be financially risky. Listen, if I want to sing my heart out where nobody is listening, I’ll sing in the bathroom, the acoustics are better) </p>
<p><em><strong>You should write songs that are more jazz, pop, folk, more of anything than what you currently write.</strong></em> (Maybe, I have even tried to write something some other way. I write what I write, and I sing what I sing, and I am looking for improvement, and maybe, some people will come along for the ride, and some won’t.) </p>
<p>Under the guise of conversation </p>
<p><em><strong>Are you a full-time singer/songwriter? </strong></em> No, I have a day gig. <em><strong>Oh, so it’s a hobby. </strong></em> It’s not a hobby, not for me. You know you have felt undermined or had your efforts go unrecognized, please don’t do it to other people. </p>
<p>What next </p>
<p>I address these comments now, and I could be more thoughtful or measured in my responses. I am also more mindful of my preconceived ideas about others and their life’s work. </p>
<p>If you are a creative, keep forgiveness in your heart when people speak to you about your art in what feels like disparaging ways. Keep working, keep creating, and keep improving. Try to find the words to explain what and why you do what you do. </p>
<p>Find the people who get you. Make sure you support and champion the artists around you. Be gracious. </p>
<p>I’m taking my own advice here. </p>
<p>Love, </p>
<p>m</p>
Maura Shaftoe
tag:maurashaftoe.ca,2005:Post/5508926
2018-11-15T09:59:49-05:00
2023-12-10T11:28:13-05:00
When we can't finish
<p>When we can’t finish </p>
<p>November 11, 2018 </p>
<p>At times in our lives, we think the road ahead stretches for ever. </p>
<p>We have the time we need to accomplish everything. </p>
<p>Or we have the time we need to start to think about everything we want to accomplish, the mark we will make, or the difference we can be. </p>
<p>We don’t, of course, have the time. </p>
<p>We make or do not make choices, we choose or follow a direction. </p>
<p>We may make a plan. We start to move towards it, our thoughts revolve around it as we make notes and lists. </p>
<p>We tell people about our ideas and dreams and goals. </p>
<p>If we are lucky, or we have chosen well, they will be our champions. </p>
<p>We may tell no one for fear that they will steal the heart from it. </p>
<p>We research, design, and we are almost ready to…. </p>
<p>Then the light goes on. </p>
<p>This will be harder than we thought, it will take more time, effort, focus, money, concentration and faith. </p>
<p>There will be struggles and hurdles. Even after everything, it may fail. </p>
<p>We take it as far as we can go without committing. </p>
<p>That idea, thought, book, song, business or dream just-stops-breathing. </p>
<p>We start to justify. It was too hard, I had no support, I didn’t believe it would work. Or worse, we make ourselves the problem. I’m too tired, busy, stupid or broke. </p>
<p>One more time, we disappoint ourselves and let ourselves off the hook at the same time. </p>
<p>We start looking for our next best something which will save us and be miraculous until it’s not. </p>
<p>There is a point in every creation where we decide to keep going. I think that’s what it takes, a decision. </p>
<p>There are millions of poems unwritten, songs unsung, pictures unpainted, and discoveries undiscovered. </p>
<p>Is the drive for perfection holding us back, or is it the need for the most original, most fantastic creation ever imagined into reality? </p>
<p>We forget that there will be failures before success, hours of practice, more errors than trials. </p>
<p>We forget that it-is-all-part-of-the-process. </p>
<p>We allow ourselves to feel judged by other peoples' measures of what success should look like. We start listening to the naysayers, the ones inside and out. </p>
<p>We judge our value by our celebrity, followers, wealth. (pick your poison) </p>
<p>Creating and following through can be hard, it will show us where we are weak and where we are strong. </p>
<p>We might experience joy, shame, disappointment, fear, pride or all of those and more. </p>
<p>If you know where you struggle when you are creating, make your plan, and include the list of triggers that set you off on the road to nowhere. </p>
<p>Surround yourself with people who lift you up. </p>
<p>Get good at taking criticism, being grateful for the input and ignoring it when you must. </p>
<p>Set some timelines and check in with yourself. Have others check in with you, and don’t freak out when they do. Remember they are doing it out of love, in fact, they are doing what you asked. </p>
<p>Acknowledge the setbacks and re-assess. Change the direction if your original plan was flawed or could be improved. </p>
<p>Do not attach your value to the outcome of this one thing. </p>
<p>Create many things. </p>
<p>Make as much of a difference as you feel you can. </p>
<p>Know what’s important. Make enough space in your life to allow your mind to get free. </p>
<p>Keep going. </p>
<p>Love, </p>
<p>m</p>
Maura Shaftoe
tag:maurashaftoe.ca,2005:Post/5430890
2018-09-20T08:28:01-04:00
2018-09-20T08:28:01-04:00
Decisions
<p>September, 2018</p>
<p>Decisions </p>
<p>I’ve been wondering, pondering decisions, how they are made or not made. </p>
<p>Not the decisions I’ve already made- I’ve found myself to be lacking the ability to acknowledge and praise my own good decision making and too quick to slide into self-indulgent, guilt ridden ridicule for some of the others. </p>
<p>Neither of which makes for a pleasant visit down memory lane. </p>
<p>I’m not revisiting, for now. </p>
<p>I’m not sure if we are required or do make more decisions than ever before. It does feel that way. </p>
<p>From the posts we like, to the diets or lifestyle we choose, to the workouts we adhere to…. endless. </p>
<p>I recently found myself staring at a wall full of travel books at the local book store, I’m planning an upcoming trip. </p>
<p>There were so many to choose from, my 10-minute errand was morphing into an epic adventure. I started flipping through and comparing, and, obviously, none of them had every feature I wanted. I finally chose one. I wondered on the way home, if I’d made THE.RIGHT.CHOICE.ABOUT.A.TRAVEL.BOOK. </p>
<p> Like There Is One. </p>
<p>That situation is probably why, when I find a brand or place I like, I don’t bother changing. </p>
<p>I don’t want to have to make a new decision. </p>
<p>I think of my decision-making ability as limited. Every morning, after a good night’s rest, my decision-making ability tank is full, supercharged even. (all bets are off if a good night’s sleep didn’t happen) </p>
<p>The more decisions I make during the course of the day, the emptier my tank gets. Stress, not eating right, too much sugar, distractions, all influence the number and quality of the decisions. </p>
<p>It’s why I start the day with limited breakfast options, I don’t want to waste my valuable decision allotment on something I already know how to do well. </p>
<p>This is not a new concept. I have a friend who only owns black socks, all the same brand, one less decision a day. (seems to work, he’s brilliant and accomplished, btw) </p>
<p>I’ve realized the simple decisions for me, like eating right and exercising, support my core beliefs about health and fitness. </p>
<p>The bigger decision, the ones that affect the other things I profess to care about in my life, are a struggle. (It’s possible I am discovering my core beliefs are not in alignment with..., I think that is a post for another day) </p>
<p>I’m working on a combo of pro-ing and con-ning my way through to a decision and doing a gut check. </p>
<p>What I’ve realized; if I check in and see if every pro and con I’ve listed feels right on its own merit, I get a little closer to where I need to be. </p>
<p>Because, what my friends, acquaintances, and society may think is the wrong thing for me to do, might be the one that’s calling me the most. And what some folks think is the right thing to do might feel soul sucking to me. (I’m not talking about things that are clearly right or wrong, or out of alignment with a good moral code). </p>
<p>The biggest hurdle with a decision, the thing that stops me in my tracks, is that feeling like each decision is permanent. That the decision I make is going to have long-lasting, far-reaching and possibly damaging effects. </p>
<p>And, some decisions are permanent, it’s true. And important to get right. </p>
<p>A lot of them though, aren’t. </p>
<p>What they really are<strong><em> are</em></strong> choices. </p>
<p>Choices that I am making with the information I have, based upon the criteria I’m judging them against. </p>
<p>If I want to make “better” decisions, I may have to start with changing a framework that I’ve built. Or acknowledging that there is a framework. That I am being less than open-minded or objective about the decision or idea in front of me. </p>
<p>I could be taking the easy route because while the decision may not be perfect, it’ll get me mostly there. </p>
<p>I could be basing a decision on some story I’ve built in my head about possible outcomes-which at some point might have been an excellent coping strategy but now just keeps me stuck. </p>
<p>There are lot of decisions to be made. </p>
<p>There are even decisions to be made about what decisions need to be made. </p>
<p>I’m trying a new strategy. </p>
<p>I’m asking myself some questions. </p>
<p>By when do I need to make this decision? </p>
<p>Who will this decision affect? </p>
<p>Will making this decision affect my life or the lives of others in a positive way? </p>
<p>I’m going to apply the rules I use to the decisions I make easily and see if there is a pattern I can use. </p>
<p>And then, I’ll make the decision. </p>
<p>I’ll put a plan in place to review it. </p>
<p>I’ll see if it is getting me further from the things I wanted to leave behind and closer to the person I want to be. </p>
<p>One choice at a time </p>
<p>One day at a time </p>
<p>One by one. </p>
<p>Love, </p>
<p>m</p>
Maura Shaftoe
tag:maurashaftoe.ca,2005:Post/5360603
2018-07-24T21:44:17-04:00
2023-12-10T11:28:44-05:00
The things I pass by
<p>The things I pass by</p>
<p>July 24, 2018</p>
<p>There are so many things I pass by, physically or in some other plane.</p>
<p>I step over things, don’t notice they are there.</p>
<p>It’s almost worse than ignoring something. If I ignored it, at least I would have turned my attention to it, and then decided to refuse to acknowledge its existence.</p>
<p>What I’m talking about is the lack of engagement of which I’m sometimes guilty, a lack of engagement with the world around and about.</p>
<p>I drive a route frequently and suddenly notice a restaurant or coffee shop which has inhabited the space for months or even years. It’s not that the road has changed. It’s that I’ve changed or slowed enough to take notice.</p>
<p>I wonder if it’s a safety mechanism, to keep me from being overwhelmed. There is a lot of noise and many things seem to crave my attention. I wonder, too, how many things I miss and if I miss what is right in front of me.</p>
<p>It’s not just places. I could suddenly notice a piece of street art and then, clearly, see the work and intention and inspiration which created it. I might suddenly see a person, someone I’ve seen at the same coffee shop daily and be keenly aware that there is a life there, friends and family, hopes, dreams and disappointments orbiting this life. It could be an attitude or an opinion I have held for so long I think it’s truth. Then, a new view, and I’m open to seeing things differently.</p>
<p>I’m not sure what triggers these brief visitations of clarity, like the sun beaming through the clouds. I’ll take them though, like a respite from the daily grind.</p>
<p>I’ll take them and be thankful and hang on to them as long as I can.</p>
<p>I’ll hang on to that feeling, that knowing that I’m right here, right now.</p>
<p>And.</p>
<p>Breathe.</p>
<p>Love,</p>
<p>M</p>
Maura Shaftoe
tag:maurashaftoe.ca,2005:Post/5275846
2018-06-04T22:54:22-04:00
2018-07-21T16:32:35-04:00
Everyone counts
<p><span class="font_regular"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/254611/6e4fa50bdef20c37eb58e34b7581f9f6229b3a22/original/everyone-counts.png/!!/b:W10=.png" class="size_l justify_center border_" />I recently changed the title of my blog page to “<strong>things I think about at 3 am</strong>”. </span></p>
<p><span class="font_regular"> <br>Really, it’s what I’m thinking of at anytime, anytime that I have created enough space in my day to think, since mostly I work and then try to find the time and energy to create, to think and to think about improving. </span></p>
<p><br><span class="font_regular">Trying to remember where I fit in this crazy world requires some negotiating, with myself mostly. <br>Because it is a lot easier to not think about where I fit, and where everyone else fits, and what my message is or could be. </span></p>
<p><br><span class="font_regular">It is, and it isn’t easier to not consider the world inside of me and outside of me.</span></p>
<p><span class="font_regular"> <br>It’s easier to pretend that my actions don’t matter, that nothing I do will change the course of things to the good or bad, so my choices, both considered and nonchalant, are not important. <br>It also isn’t easy to live a life thinking that nothing I do counts.</span></p>
<p><span class="font_regular"> <br>If every second I could consider the decisions I make and make the better one, the one that I’d make if I hadn’t been sad, tired, angry or disappointed. I’d make the world a better place for my friends, family, and the rest of the human beings I meet. That should be reason enough to pause before choosing, to anticipate the impact. </span></p>
<p><span class="font_regular">I make music and write words, I work hard, I try to be kind, and I believe everyone counts.</span></p>
<p><span class="font_regular"> <br>I think trying to stay healthy in spirit and body can be a fight worth fighting. <br>In this world of self-actualization, putting the needs of the planet and others ahead of our own desires is more necessary than ever. <br>I believe everyone counts. </span></p>
<p><span class="font_regular">I don't often achieve selflessness, and I am not giving up.</span></p>
<p>Love, </p>
<p>M</p>
Maura Shaftoe
tag:maurashaftoe.ca,2005:Post/5134625
2018-03-18T11:37:11-04:00
2018-03-18T12:33:03-04:00
Learning to say no
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/254611/6a5650c81e3db2f10e8ea77dd0e0fc8bd597919c/original/maura-logo-white-background-orange-grey-logo2016-5in300dpi.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p><strong><em>Learning to say no </em></strong></p>
<p><strong><em>Mar 18th, 2018 </em></strong></p>
<p>It can be a difficult thing. </p>
<p>Learning to say no </p>
<p>We don’t say no. </p>
<p>We don’t say no when we should. </p>
<p>walk around not saying no out loud; all... the.. time... </p>
<p>Inside we are shouting it. </p>
<p>We want to say no. </p>
<p>We even think of saying no and what pours out of our mouth is .. not no. </p>
<p>Maybe there’s something like this going on in our heads. </p>
<p>Saying no would disappoint someone, (someone other than you) </p>
<p>You might feel guilty saying no. So you don’t say it. But neither do you commit.. and you end up not doing what you didn’t say no to, or not turning up or you just don’t follow through. </p>
<p>You end up disappointing someone, (someone other than you), and this time maybe you disappoint your self. </p>
<p>A no might have been easier all the way around. </p>
<p>When we don’t say no when we should, we get to resent our way through life. Which might have the instantaneous effect of making us feel justified but long term just uses up our energy and not in a good way. Just say no, not interested, thanks for the offer, full stop. </p>
<p>Let's say this time you might turn up, and do what you didn’t say no to..begrudging every second it is taking you, and aren’t you awesome and inside , well, you are not being a beautiful person. </p>
<p>Maybe we don’t say no because we want to please everybody and a no will take some people off the table, (that actually is ok, but needs a whole other blog).</p>
<p>My personal favourite though, is why are they even asking ? They should know you’re not interested, that it’s inappropriate that it’s.. well.. the answer is no… don’t make me say it.. so I don’t. </p>
<p>Because I shouldn’t have to.. leaving the other people to ESP their way into figuring out me out. </p>
<p>There is even a culture around saying no which is empowering and judgemental all at the same time. </p>
<p>It can be a badge of honour to say no and don’t we all know someone who never does and is there for everyone and everything..confusing. </p>
<p>And saying no can make space. </p>
<p>It can allow for clarity for everyone and it doesn’t demand an excuse or explanation. </p>
<p>Here’s the thing.. </p>
<p>Saying no can be great.. perhaps a requirement even, to living a life with accountability and integrity. And it is not the same as saying yes. </p>
<p>Making space by turning down all those offers to use up your time doesn’t actually mean you’ve said yes to anything. Anything else. </p>
<p>It is not automatically going to have you in action, if action is something you want. </p>
<p>You have to say yes, not yes, when the stars align, not yes when I have the time. Just because you said no, doesn’t mean a yes is going to automatically jump in to fill the gap. </p>
<p>A yes is required. </p>
<p>It is a step </p>
<p>It is a dedication. </p>
<p>Listen to the question next time. </p>
<p>The question from the people you love who love you back. </p>
<p>The question from the people you don’t feel have a right to ask. </p>
<p>The question that happens inside your head at 2 am. </p>
<p>Listen </p>
<p>And answer </p>
<p>Say yes </p>
<p>Say no </p>
<p>Whichever you choose mean it.. </p>
<p>Love, </p>
<p>M</p>
Maura Shaftoe
tag:maurashaftoe.ca,2005:Post/5078161
2018-02-13T23:14:39-05:00
2023-12-10T11:26:50-05:00
Get Your Hopes Up
<p>February 13th, 2018</p>
<p>Get Your Hopes Up </p>
<p>I was having a conversation not long ago with my son. He was making plans to set off on a new adventure which would dramatically change the trajectory of his life </p>
<p>I was listing off all the new opportunities, the things he could do and try, and then he said, “I think you are more excited than I am.” (setting aside the super-excited and somewhat sad feeling of watching your now grown child successfully fly) </p>
<p>I stopped and said, “Why is that?” </p>
<p>“Well, what if it doesn’t come together, I don’t want to get my hopes up.” </p>
<p>I think I might have stopped breathing momentarily. </p>
<p>I said, “I’ve lived my whole life not getting my hopes up, it’s a terrible way to live.” </p>
<p>You think not getting your hopes up is going to protect you from being disappointed, soften the blow of a failure, ease the realization that you haven’t made it as far as you thought you should be. </p>
<p>I’ll tell you what else it protected me from; a lot of joy and the ability to really embrace a triumph. </p>
<p>I’m not sure I could count the times I’ve heard, “I’m not going to get my hopes up, I don’t want to be disappointed.” It’s an all too common refrain. </p>
<p>Yes, life can be disappointing. </p>
<p>You can be disappointed with your work, left feeling unfulfilled. </p>
<p>You can disappoint yourself by not following through. </p>
<p>You can be disappointed by others due to their actions or behaviour, or your interpretation of said actions and behaviour. </p>
<p>Life can be messy. </p>
<p>Somehow, we learned that not getting our hopes up would help. Really? </p>
<p>So, making our lives even tinier would be…better? </p>
<p>What if we got our hopes up? </p>
<p>What if we did the work to get the result we wanted? </p>
<p>What if we celebrated that success and started working on the next plan? </p>
<p>What if we recognized a setback for what it is? Something that happened. </p>
<p>I’m practicing getting my hopes up, I am celebrating every success, no matter how miniscule it may seem. I am filled with joy watching my son step into the next chapter of his life. Like the words in my song, “ no more waiting for a special occasion”</p>
<p>Love, M</p>
0:11
Maura Shaftoe
tag:maurashaftoe.ca,2005:Post/5004153
2018-01-02T23:09:03-05:00
2018-09-29T23:44:46-04:00
Inertia
<p>Inertia </p>
<p>January 2nd, 2018</p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/254611/e55bbe953b80ec56cc2581c1f50368412af9f0d2/original/inertia-image-perpetual-motion.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>It’s not an accident that my first blog of the year is addressing something I find hard to comprehend or exercise control over. </p>
<p>I have a lot of plans for this year and a lot up in the air, making some music videos, getting some shows booked, developing a multimedia approach for some of my music, on top of trying to stay focussed and engaged in social media, while continuing to write songs and a semi regular blog. I am not complaining, at all. Not about the plans, I might complain a little, if pressed, about this feeling of inertia that seems to bind my feet and mind. </p>
<p>Inertia, one definition states that it is a tendency to do nothing or remain unchanged. </p>
<p>Sounds like a horrible fate when read off the page like that. </p>
<p>It seems like the opposite of action, or the opposite of even thinking about an action. </p>
<p>If it had a mind of its own, when would it start, when would it spread its wings, exert its influence? </p>
<p>It doesn’t need to, it just is. </p>
<p>Like it is waiting for the kind of awareness that leads to enough. Would dissatisfaction be enough? Enough enough to create action. </p>
<p>It isn’t waiting for anything, clearly. </p>
<p>Maybe I am, waiting. </p>
<p>Waiting to experience enlightenment. Waiting to apply everything I’ve ever learned in every self-help book, course or seminar I’ve ever read or attended. </p>
<p>Awareness isn’t enough. </p>
<p>Dragging a physics lesson from memory that goes something like this, a body in motion will stay in motion unless acted upon by an external force. </p>
<p>So, action isn’t it. We can be in action and resistant to change at the same time. </p>
<p>Merrily behaving the same way, doing the same things and getting the same outcome. </p>
<p>If I say I’d like more people to hear my music, read my blogs, experience a live show, what stops me from consistently doing what I need to do to get that done? </p>
<p>A small, niggling part of me thinks it is fear and concern over what others may think or not think about my creations or my efforts at getting my creations heard and seen. Tiresome. </p>
<p>I can recognize inertia and I can be with it and accept it, acknowledge it and even revel in it. And I can move on. </p>
<p>It’s all about choice. </p>
<p>Love, </p>
<p>m</p>
Maura Shaftoe
tag:maurashaftoe.ca,2005:Post/4899341
2017-10-19T22:37:43-04:00
2023-12-10T11:26:50-05:00
Respect
<p>Respect </p>
<p>That is a loaded word, for some, perhaps many of us. </p>
<p>What does it even mean? </p>
<p>“a feeling of deep admiration for someone elicited by their abilities, qualities or achievements” </p>
<p>“esteem, high regard, due regard for the feelings, wishes, rights or traditions of others” </p>
<p>Google respect and you will see: </p>
<p>“you don’t demand respect, you earn it” </p>
<p>“respect yourself and others will respect you” Confucius </p>
<p>“give respect to earn it” </p>
<p>“my love is unconditional; my trust and respect are not” </p>
<p>That last makes me think the love was not unconditional, can unconditional love exist without trust and respect? </p>
<p>I always tried to start at the other end of the spectrum, I automatically tried to hold you in high regard, because you were a human. </p>
<p>Naïve perhaps, and I didn’t always succeed, my judgements and pre-conceived notions got the better of me. </p>
<p>Truly, I can’t hold myself out as more honourable than anyone else, for gifting unearned respect. Heaven help you, if you lost it, it was a long road back and maybe not worth the trip. Forgiveness and respect sometimes are not in alignment. </p>
<p>It’s interesting this earning respect. To me, it sounds like holding judgement. What if a person’s abilities or skill don’t impress? Are they somehow less than? </p>
<p>I spent many years in the auto industry, earning respect, rough translation: proving myself. </p>
<p>And yes, I have more than a few stores to tell, (#metoo); that’s not what this is about. </p>
<p>What is it really about respect that can be a such a trigger? I really don’t know what earning respect means. How does one ever guess what one must do to earn respect? (“gain or incur deservedly”) </p>
<p>What is the standard? </p>
<p>What is the value we are trying to add or attain? </p>
<p>Words are powerful. </p>
<p>Respect, to be sure, is a difficult concept. </p>
<p>To hold someone in high regard </p>
<p>If I took the time to listen, to watch, and to understand, would there be more or less reason to respect? </p>
<p>This is what I know; start with being kind, to yourself, others, the planet. </p>
<p>Make some room for forgiveness, mistakes will be made. </p>
<p>Keep developing as a human. </p>
<p>Help other people develop. </p>
<p>Hold your self dear and keep a warm space in your heart for humanity. </p>
<p>We are all just trying to take the next step. </p>
<p>Love, </p>
<p>m</p>
Maura Shaftoe
tag:maurashaftoe.ca,2005:Post/4884293
2017-10-09T19:40:53-04:00
2018-09-16T16:32:21-04:00
Persistence, stubbornness and flow
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/254611/0ef133bb5cdcf8ba31afedafdd5a5e485f9a1383/original/maura-logo2016-black-background-orange-to-grey-logo-300px-trans.png/!!/b:W10=.png" class="size_l justify_center border_" />October 9, 2017 </p>
<p>I wonder at the difference between persistence and stubbornness. </p>
<p>Are they just two shades of the same colour? </p>
<p>Does persistence imply a desire or a need? </p>
<p>Is desire a wish or a want to be achieved or acquired; and need a must have, to be accomplished. </p>
<p>When one thinks of persistence are the images or feelings positive? </p>
<p>Digging in, pushing through, keeping at it, not giving up… </p>
<p>When does persistence cross the line and become a waste of time and energy? When does it become just stubbornness, and if it does, is it wrong to be stubborn? </p>
<p>When do we look at our attempts and say to ourselves, ok, I’m done, I need to move on, I’ve learned all I can here. </p>
<p>Could it be never, would that be ok? </p>
<p>Could we walk away when we must, not feeling the guilt of giving up? Instead choosing to let go? </p>
<p>When does swimming upstream make sense or does it ever? </p>
<p>Certainly, going with the flow may seem easier. </p>
<p>I guess that depends on whose flow you are going with. </p>
<p>I have been guilty of going with someone’s else’s flow. </p>
<p>Does flow imply ease? Or does it imply presence and acute awareness, suddenly it becomes less easy when I attach those descriptions. </p>
<p>Everywhere there are conflicting messages: </p>
<p>Rest is for the weak </p>
<p>Grind it out </p>
<p>Find your bliss </p>
<p>Just be </p>
<p>Yikes. </p>
<p>When do I push through and when do I accept ease? </p>
<p>The same message delivered to me and to you might result in entirely different responses and generate different actions. </p>
<p>My idea of persistence, and grinding it out may not even be recognized by someone else. </p>
<p>How do I even measure it, what’s my register? </p>
<p>Am I getting the results I am looking for? </p>
<p>That may depend on whether I started the project, the mission, the attempt with an idea in mind about what results I was seeking. </p>
<p>How will I quantify my success? </p>
<p>Is my success a state of mind? For me, maybe. If I allow my self to be judged by outside influencers, are the results I seek different?</p>
<p>Is it a state of mind? </p>
<p>Is it checking in, re-aligning, self-correcting? </p>
<p>Being aware? </p>
<p>Is it asking the questions and asking them again and listening-for the answer. </p>
<p>Not sure. </p>
<p>Be stubborn when it serves you. </p>
<p>Be persistent. </p>
<p>Get to the point of mastery. </p>
<p>Find that eddy in the stream and pause for a while. </p>
<p>Turn the boat downstream and cruise; then swim upstream when you must. </p>
<p>Every moment </p>
<p>And every moment </p>
<p>And every moment </p>
<p>Love, </p>
<p>M</p>
Maura Shaftoe
tag:maurashaftoe.ca,2005:Post/4863503
2017-09-24T19:35:25-04:00
2017-09-24T19:36:36-04:00
It's not on the list
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/254611/ac3520f6574e00071d78cc3c26ada18a7959e923/medium/21911394-736401219893448-6743703974525796352-n.jpg?1506295340" class="size_m justify_center border_medium" alt="" />September 24, 2017 </p>
<p>What if it’s not on the list? </p>
<p>I’ve written more than 1 blog about having many and varied hobbies, habits, things I do. Some things I do easily, some require effort. Doing 1 thing only, however passionate I may be about it, doesn’t work for my soul. </p>
<p>I love learning about and trying new things. Sometimes, I get caught up to the detriment of all else. </p>
<p>That’s what today is about, mostly, how things start taking a false priority, and bump the things I said were important to the bottom of the list. </p>
<p>So, what if it’s not on the list? </p>
<p>I went to a golf tournament recently. In a weak moment, I accepted the invitation and then something started to happen. </p>
<p>That happy, carefree golf date started to morph into something…scary. </p>
<p>I suddenly, (how did I forget?) remembered that I hadn’t golfed in, could it be(?), 10 years and probably 3 before that. I, in fact, was never a great, good or, let’s face it, passable golfer. </p>
<p>I started to worry about making a fool of myself, swinging and missing, having a dreadful time. </p>
<p>I managed a driving range visit before the game and ended up with fantastic teammates, all of whom had golfed for years. I managed to let it all go. </p>
<p>I let go of that panicky, pit of the stomach feeling and the sense that I would be a failure. </p>
<p>I willingly accepted the coaching and encouragement. I got off enough decent hits that I remembered….aaaah..golf can be awesome. </p>
<p>Then it happened. I started doing the mental re-arrangement of my already FTB (fit to burst) schedule to fit in driving range practice, imagining that next summer I could golf weekly, take golfing holidays… </p>
<p>What? </p>
<p>And I took a deep breath and said no. </p>
<p>I get it. </p>
<p>I get golf is awesome. </p>
<p>Tap dancing is awesome. </p>
<p>Extreme frisbee is awesome. </p>
<p>Achieving mastery at anything is, well, awesome. </p>
<p>And it takes time and dedication and maybe for a while, that laser focus I so often struggle with. </p>
<p>None of those things, however much they draw me at the moment of contact, are on my list. </p>
<p>So, no. </p>
<p>I have things I want to do and be and get better at and expand upon. </p>
<p>I have things to say and sing that might have some impact. </p>
<p>Letting other minor interests insinuate themselves into my schedule is not going to work for me. </p>
<p>Phew, what a relief. </p>
<p>So, no, thank you for asking, friend and thank you, friend inside my head for checking in to see if I can expand my horizons and take a little risk. I have a full schedule and time’s a wasting. </p>
<p>Please choose someone else to invite and entice, someone who would really love it. </p>
<p>I will continue to chip away at my list and achieve mastery one step and one breath at a time. </p>
<p>Love, </p>
<p>m</p>
Maura Shaftoe
tag:maurashaftoe.ca,2005:Post/4836998
2017-09-04T14:10:27-04:00
2018-07-21T16:31:27-04:00
Finding your way or caring less so you can care more
<p> </p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/254611/fda7fadc479d714264b6fc51e5904ab10874dc3d/original/cabo-sunset-aug-2017.jpg?1504548484" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>September 4th, 2017 </p>
<p>Finding your way or caring less so you can care more </p>
<p>Eventually, you need to find your way, the way you are in the world, the way you present, the way you build and perform your art. </p>
<p>None of that is true. </p>
<p>You don’t NEED to find your way. You don’t need to do anything really, or very many things. You may want to, doing certain things could make your life run more smoothly, seem easier. Need, possibly not. </p>
<p>You, in particular, don’t need to do anything. It’s not for me to say. </p>
<p>I do, though. </p>
<p>I want to find my way, be at one with how I present myself in the world, how I build and present my art. </p>
<p>I want to not care what people think, how they will judge and criticize and want to improve what they see or hear. I want to not care if they “get it”, if it resonates, if it makes a difference. I want to do what I do anyway. </p>
<p>There’s the rub. </p>
<p>For me, to listen for and build stories, make songs, put on a live performance, I am better if I let go of my expectations and other’s expectations for and of me. If I really care about what I’m doing, and spend less time thinking about what others might think, I am more likely to find a gem, a moment, an experience. </p>
<p>If I spend my energy being engaged, remembering why I’m there, I am more likely to give a show worth watching. </p>
<p>I recently sang at the cocktail hour for a friend’s wedding, and, suddenly, while singing “My Funny Valentine”, a song I had sung so many times, I was struck by the words, “you make me smile with my heart”. They just jumped out at me. What an amazing thing that would be to smile with your heart, what an amazing thing to say to the person you love. </p>
<p>I spent the rest of the set feeling joy, and grateful to be able to give the gift of music. </p>
<p>Now if I want to dance during a solo, I do, if I want to read a blog on stage, I do, if I want to comment on the way life is for me, I do. </p>
<p>I care less what other people think about my work, it is what it is and I am what I am. </p>
<p>I spend more time caring about the things that matter, caring about the human beings that people are. </p>
<p>And caring about the art I make and why I make it. </p>
<p>I am caring less about things that don’t matter so I can care more about the things that do.</p>
Maura Shaftoe
tag:maurashaftoe.ca,2005:Post/4812734
2017-08-13T11:34:48-04:00
2018-09-16T16:34:13-04:00
The things that can chip away
<p>The things that can chip away… </p>
<p>August 13, 2017 </p>
<p>There’s a thing that can happen. </p>
<p>With subtlety or obvious effect. </p>
<p>It’s a thing we do to ourselves mostly, without knowing it or not really on purpose. We do it with the best of intentions. </p>
<p>It can look like this. </p>
<p>We don’t start, finish, practice... </p>
<p>We chastise ourselves for breaking a commitment we made to ourselves to go to the gym, learn the ukulele, practice our Spanish. It could be anything. </p>
<p>We make it all about our lack of focus, will power, determination, or worse, our laziness, our inability to succeed. </p>
<p>Somehow though in the same time, we’ve learned a piece of music for a duet to help one of our friends complete their demo, we bake 43 cupcakes for school on short notice including 5 gluten free ones, and we take on yet another project when asked-by someone else. </p>
<p>We do our best to fulfill that commitment. We revel, we desire, we want to feel important, helpful, needed. </p>
<p>Where is all this going? </p>
<p>We state, with necessary emphasis, that we are so busy, but we made a commitment and we’ll get it done. They are depending on us. </p>
<p>Again, where are we going with this? </p>
<p>We think we’ll get back to those things we said we’d do for ourselves. We’ll find the time to learn those new skills, finish that book, and have that conversation we said we would have. </p>
<p>And we don’t. </p>
<p>We put someone or something else ahead our own commitments. </p>
<p>Every time, though, that we break our own commitments, we lose a little bit of ourselves. Every time we are out of integrity with ourselves, a little bit of our spirit gets chipped away. </p>
<p>It costs us something. </p>
<p>It gets harder to even remember our aspirations. Our vision of what we could do or be starts fading. </p>
<p>We struggle and worry that people will think we are selfish or self centred if we focus on our dreams. </p>
<p>We can’t seem to find the balance between being there for others and being there for ourselves. </p>
<p>I don’t have the answer. </p>
<p>I do have the awareness to know that when I keep giving it all away without doing the things I know will fill up my soul, I won’t have anything left for anyone. </p>
<p>I do know that when I see someone reach their potential or strive to reach their potential, I am never consumed with even a momentary thought that they have been selfish. </p>
<p>If they have released art into the world, for everyone to share and experience, I am aware of a feeling of their generosity. </p>
<p>So, I say yes to others, when I can and I say yes to myself. </p>
<p>And I keep filling the cup and sharing the cup. </p>
<p>Love, </p>
<p>M</p>
Maura Shaftoe
tag:maurashaftoe.ca,2005:Post/4770065
2017-07-06T22:51:19-04:00
2018-09-16T16:35:04-04:00
Fear of Missing Out
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/254611/573fe8c1a6172d43226ab4842df57a1ef9cc6d7e/original/resized-logo.png/!!/b:W10=.png" class="size_l justify_center border_" />April 9, 2017 </p>
<p>I'm multi-tasking. I'm at the gym, trying to keep much needed cardio in my health and fitness routine. There's music blaring, and the 5 televisions in front of the cardio area are each playing different shows, cooking, golf and Pitch Perfect ( with sub-titles). </p>
<p>Just watching the commercials is a distraction, since I'm trying to write my blog as I'm biking away. </p>
<p>I'm sure you've gathered by now, I am painfully aware of distractions and how I let them get in my way. </p>
<p>Just the sheer volume of marketing of things to do and buy and covet, the constant pressure to be and do. </p>
<p>And of course, the fear of missing out. </p>
<p>I remember an acquaintance explaining her need to work all day( think urban professional, accountant, tax lawyer) and her need to go clubbing everynight. All driven by her fear of missing out on success, fun, belonging. </p>
<p>I got it. </p>
<p>While I love a night of dancing though, it doesn't really line up with my fear of missing out. </p>
<p>I think that sense of missing out is different for everyone. Could be travelling, clubbing, karoake, family dinners, Lord of the Ring marathons, parasailing, live music.. </p>
<p>I've noticed though, that sometimes, maybe most of the time, I'm going through the motions of being there. </p>
<p>If I was really there, present, enjoying, invested, I wouldn't have time to fear missing out. </p>
<p>There'd be no room for missing out. </p>
<p>There would just be now, and now and now. </p>
<p>Love, </p>
<p>M</p>
Maura Shaftoe
tag:maurashaftoe.ca,2005:Post/4770064
2017-07-06T22:50:07-04:00
2018-09-16T16:35:50-04:00
Spring Cleaning
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/254611/0ef133bb5cdcf8ba31afedafdd5a5e485f9a1383/original/maura-logo2016-black-background-orange-to-grey-logo-300px-trans.png/!!/b:W10=.png" class="size_l justify_center border_" />April 30, 2017 </p>
<p>Spring keeps teasing us this year. </p>
<p>The refreshing rain turns to sleet, freezes, turns to snow. It's been overcast, seems like the sun has been hiding. </p>
<p>The buds are on the trees, though, and the hardiest of weeds are peeking out of cracks in my sidewalk. </p>
<p>Spring will come. It always does. With it will come renewal and thoughts of renewal and fresh starts, and clean sweeps. Spring cleaning. </p>
<p>There's the spring cleaning we get, the taking down of curtains, the washing of windows, moving the couch instead of vacuuming around it, and getting rid of things we aren't using. </p>
<p>Throwing the windows open to let the fresh air blow through the house after a long winter. </p>
<p>Then there's the spring cleaning that might be a little less clear, the internal kind, the kind that might be avoided or ignored. Just the thought of it might bring anxiety. Shining a light on those ways of being that served so well in the past; those expectations of an expected outcome, the limitations of knowing how something will go, how it will be responded to, how you will feel about it, what emotions will rise to the surface. </p>
<p>Spring cleaning those things, might take a little effort; becoming aware of how you are making decisions each time, acknowledging if you are actually making them or just living life by default. </p>
<p>Just noticing the way you feel when something happens and you automatically feel the way you automatically feel. It might be great to sweep the cobwebs off that one. </p>
<p>At least checking in to see if the way you are responding is adding value or keeping you in a cage of your own making. </p>
<p>It's easy to see the hope that spring graciously brings, the renewal, the joy, the opportunity for rebirth. Renewal and rebirth are available to us at all times. We can clean up a few things, let go, start afresh. </p>
<p>Ahhh, spring, I will let you in this year, may the spring cleaning begin. </p>
<p>Love, </p>
<p>M</p>
Maura Shaftoe
tag:maurashaftoe.ca,2005:Post/4770060
2017-07-06T22:48:55-04:00
2018-09-16T16:39:04-04:00
Regrets
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/254611/0ef133bb5cdcf8ba31afedafdd5a5e485f9a1383/original/maura-logo2016-black-background-orange-to-grey-logo-300px-trans.png/!!/b:W10=.png" class="size_l justify_center border_" />April 23, 2017 </p>
<p>Regrets..Regret...Regretting. </p>
<p>I've been thinking about regret. </p>
<p>I have a line in one of my songs, "regrets and all they cost" </p>
<p>Things I have and have not done. </p>
<p>Things I have and have not said. </p>
<p>Roads not taken. </p>
<p>It's a punishing way to live-with regret. </p>
<p>This feeling of sorrow for a poorly made decision or the regret of having not made that decision at all. </p>
<p>I'm not sure there is a quick fix or a switch to be flipped. </p>
<p>I have at times, written down my regrets, built a bonfire and sent them up in smoke. </p>
<p>Only to build a new pile of regret. </p>
<p>Is having regret punishment, punishment for a life we don't feel we deserve, or it is just fear in disguise? </p>
<p>What would life look like, if I chose powerfully, knowing that every decision I made was made with intention using the knowledge and wisdom I had available to me? What if I released my seemingly lifelong commitment to regret? </p>
<p>Would that taste like freedom? </p>
<p>Love, </p>
<p>M </p>
<p>I have a new album coming out soon, I am not going to regret telling everyone about it </p>
<p><a contents="Ticketleap" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://maura-shaftoe.ticketleap.com/">Ticketleap</a></p>
Maura Shaftoe
tag:maurashaftoe.ca,2005:Post/4770058
2017-07-06T22:46:41-04:00
2018-09-16T16:39:40-04:00
Music to live by
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/254611/573fe8c1a6172d43226ab4842df57a1ef9cc6d7e/original/resized-logo.png/!!/b:W10=.png" class="size_l justify_center border_" />March 17, 2017 </p>
<p>A few years ago, my son and I took a road trip </p>
<p>He had updated my Ipod with songs from Bob Marley and Johnny Cash to Years and Years, Frank Turner, Neon Trees. </p>
<p>We drove for hours. </p>
<p>The deal was to play at least 1 song from every artist. </p>
<p>And it was amazing. </p>
<p>Often we'd hang out with an artist and play the whole album. </p>
<p>Every kind of "modern music", from the 1920's to whatever was current. </p>
<p>Sinatra to Coldplay. </p>
<p>And we drove and we stopped and we appreciated the diversity of the songs people make and how we hear them. </p>
<p>It's a powerful thing, music, it stops you in your tracks and it transports you. </p>
<p>That Ipod is long gone, stolen on a day I forgot to lock my car. </p>
<p>But I remember the trip, the sun, the laughter. </p>
<p>All that music, set free, to be a soundtrack to our lives. </p>
<p>What a gift. </p>
<p>Love, </p>
<p>M</p>
Maura Shaftoe
tag:maurashaftoe.ca,2005:Post/4770057
2017-07-06T22:43:59-04:00
2018-10-17T23:08:04-04:00
On Being
<p>November 21, 2011 </p>
<p>I have a myriad of interests to which I apply myself at times wholeheartedly with determination and focus and at times with the casual indifference with which you might treat a good friend, not intentionally ignoring them, just knowing they’d still be there when you had the time and energy and possibly the means to continue the pursuit. </p>
<p>I have some general rules I live by. </p>
<p>The first being at least 80% compliance to whatever goal I have set. </p>
<p>I am a beginner in all things I learn; always there will be a master ahead of me to provide inspiration. </p>
<p>I believe we are given the care of our body and spirit and should try to do our best with the best we have at the time. </p>
<p>I believe we must nourish ourselves and the others around us, with challenges and support as the moment demands. </p>
<p>I believe the getting up is more important than the fall </p>
<p>I have given up trying to be all things for all people and only one thing for the boxes life likes to put you in. </p>
<p>I am a sometime writer of lyrics and poetry and miscellaneous thoughts. </p>
<p>An adviser or a listener. </p>
<p>An observer or an instigator. </p>
<p>An optimist and a pragmatist. </p>
<p>Self centred and magnanimous. </p>
<p>Opinionated and forgiving. </p>
<p>A parent, singer, manager, fitness enthusiast, music promoter ; with parent being the most rewarding and constant of all the things I do and singer being the thing I do which keeps my soul breathing. </p>
<p>Try to find your thing or things, not just the things you are good at but even the things which you may have to work at, you’ll know it when you find it, it’ll make you feel alive.</p>
Maura Shaftoe
tag:maurashaftoe.ca,2005:Post/4770056
2017-07-06T22:39:48-04:00
2018-10-17T23:09:01-04:00
Singer's Life Lessons Fuel her Music
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/254611/0ef133bb5cdcf8ba31afedafdd5a5e485f9a1383/original/maura-logo2016-black-background-orange-to-grey-logo-300px-trans.png/!!/b:W10=.png" class="size_l justify_center border_" />February 11, 2012 </p>
<p>Singer's Life Lessons Fuel Her Music </p>
<p>Annalise Klingbeil </p>
<p>For Neighbours </p>
<p>Thursday, December 23, 2010 </p>
<p>While the birth of her son 15 years ago inspired Maura Shaftoe to pursue her love of music, it was the death of her parents that heavily influenced her latest work. Unsteady, the singer-songwriter's second CD was released this past June and is dedicated to both of her late parents. </p>
<p>After her father passed away from cancer in 2005, Shaftoe became the primary caregiver to her mother, who suffered from kidney failure and had been a dialysis patient for years. As she watched her young son grow, Shaftoe watched her mom "diminish." In October of 2008, Shaftoe began working on her second CD alongside producer Michael Lent. Her mom passed away the following month. "It changed my outlook on life," says Shaftoe of losing both of her parents. </p>
<p>"I still feel I'm fairly young to have lost my parents . . . it shifts your focus for sure." </p>
<p>Instead of putting on hold the music project she had just begun, 48-year-old Shaftoe decided to push forward. </p>
<p>"I said, 'You know, let's just do this' and I ended up writing a song about my mom," says Shaftoe. </p>
<p>That song is Unsteady, the title track off the album in which Shaftoe sings "All those years of mental preparation/Knowing you were leaving day by day/Unsteady, swimming in a quiet desperation/ Hoping against hope that you would stay." </p>
<p>From singer-songwriter to personal trainer, single parent, car broker and martial arts enthusiast, the ever-busy Shaftoe wears many different hats and attributes her hard-working demeanour to her mom and dad. </p>
<p>"I was lucky to have learned a good work ethic from my parents," says Shaftoe. </p>
<p>Despite an interest in music from a young age, it wasn't until she had a child that Shaftoe decided to enrol in courses and hone her skills as a musician. </p>
<p>"I wanted to set a good example that you can still have interests and pursue things as an adult," says Shaftoe, who didn't perform on stage until her 30s. </p>
<p>Vocal lessons and courses at the Banff Centre and Mount Royal College sharpened her skills and in 2003 she released her first CD. She was a headline act at the Calgary International Jazz Festival from 2001 to 2004. </p>
<p>Shaftoe says her music is, "folk and jazz influenced pop with the required amount of country thrown in for good measure." Unsteady is a collection of both covers and original tunes. Performing on stage seems a far cry from the day-job Shaftoe held for decades. The musician went to college for auto mechanics and spent decades working in the car industry. "I wanted to earn the amount of money that a man would earn, so I picked a man's job," says Shaftoe, who was the only female in her program. </p>
<p>Working in a male-dominated field gave the musician skills that transfer to her growing music career, including determination and the ability to not be afraid to ask for anything. "You have to be willing to put yourself out there and take the no's in stride and take the yes's graciously," she says. </p>
<p>After her mother, who also battled mental illness and breast cancer, passed away, Shaftoe reexamined her life and decided to follow her heart. </p>
<p>Today, she works by day as a personal trainer, a career that allows her to give back to people and utilize her love of fitness. </p>
<p>"It can be very rewarding if you can get someone to start to move properly and inhabit their body the way they are supposed to," she says. </p>
<p>Also rewarding is Shaftoe's transformation as a musician. </p>
<p>"I've come into my own style of singing and I'm not trying to be anyone else," she says. "I'm not trying to play anyone else's kind of music." </p>
<p>Juno award-winning Michael Lent is a bassist, songwriter and producer who co-wrote songs with Shaftoe and produced Unsteady. </p>
<p>The premier double bassist has worked with a long list of greats including k.d. lang and Jann Arden and enjoyed the opportunity to write songs with Shaftoe and mentor the rising musician. </p>
<p>"She's a very optimistic person and she believes that she can do anything that she sets her mind to," says Lent, who has known Maura for close to a decade. </p>
<p>"She's a personal trainer but she's also done a lot of other things. She's been a mechanic and she sells cars," says Lent. </p>
<p>"She's an experienced person at life . . . and she's quite a successful person." </p>
<p>In mid-November, Shaftoe set out on a small tour in support of Unsteady. Accompanied by Lent on Bass and award-winning singer and songwriter Ben Sures on guitar, Shaftoe preformed for audiences in Alberta and British Columbia. </p>
<p>Shaftoe says the tour was awesome and included standing ovations and invitations to come back and play again. </p>
<p>The ever-ambitious mom sees touring as taking a risk and getting her music out there. </p>
<p>"Sometimes you have to put the boat in the water, you can't wait for everything to come to you," she says. </p>
<p>Shaftoe, who released her first CD at age 40 and achieved a Black Belt in taekwondo at age 45, says life shouldn't end in middle age. </p>
<p>"I think some people feel their life is over at 40, where I really have accomplished a lot of things prior to and since," says Shaftoe. </p>
<p>"You have to stay learning new things and challenging yourself." </p>
<p>© Calgary Herald 2010</p>
Maura Shaftoe
tag:maurashaftoe.ca,2005:Post/4770055
2017-07-06T22:37:43-04:00
2018-10-17T23:09:47-04:00
The Little Things
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/254611/0ef133bb5cdcf8ba31afedafdd5a5e485f9a1383/original/maura-logo2016-black-background-orange-to-grey-logo-300px-trans.png/!!/b:W10=.png" class="size_l justify_center border_" />April 16, 2012 </p>
<p>Sunday morning my cell phone rang, my sister from Ontario called to say it was the first time she had heard me singing on the radio in real time, without me calling to say, I'm doing an interview listen to me. She unplugged her headphones and woke her husband to let him know. The song playing was a cover I did of Stuck in a Moment That You Can't Get Out Of by U2, and sadly this week it is an appropriate song as news of an accidental overdose and a teenage suicide reach my ears. I'm sending a prayer for those gone and for those left behind. Take some time, watch out for yourself, your friends, your family. Step in when you think you should. Be grateful and be thankful. Life can be fleeting. </p>
<p>Love, </p>
<p>m</p>
Maura Shaftoe
tag:maurashaftoe.ca,2005:Post/4770040
2017-07-06T22:35:55-04:00
2018-10-17T23:10:44-04:00
On getting out of my own way again
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/254611/0ef133bb5cdcf8ba31afedafdd5a5e485f9a1383/original/maura-logo2016-black-background-orange-to-grey-logo-300px-trans.png/!!/b:W10=.png" class="size_l justify_center border_" />February 1, 2013 </p>
<p>The title of this blog is: On getting out of my own way again.. The again is because I actually wrote this in June of last year, and got in my own way and didn't hit publish, the original blog, on getting out my own way, is in blog limbo or blog purgatory. So here goes..I had a conversation recently with someone I respect very much about momentum, and my inability to maintain any. In these days of access to so much information, all the secrets to elusive success, seemingly within fingertip reach, it should be easier, more simple to get on course and leap from mountain top to mountain top. It all starts to sound like the same advice, and obviously, advice I'm not taking. I have been guilty of not celebrating my successes, while internally berating myself for not doing more. More what exactly, I couldn't say. I am not a person who has laser vision, the ability to focus on one thing and one thing only for days, weeks, years, minutes( ok , well that is a bit of an exaggeration) I , as you may know, if you have read any of my other blogs, have many and varied interests. Finally, at this point in my life, I am unapologetic about that. I do not need or care to explain why, or endure conversations about why drilling down to one thing would help me achieve more. Again, more what I say...It is much the same way I now address any questions about how I approach music, interpret phrases and share lyrical stories. It is my way. I am content if I have connected myself to something in a piece of music, even if it was not quite what I had hoped for. If I could take one thing into this year, it would be to get out of my own way. Allow more flow, do what I do best, which is to be better than yesterday. I have had a habit in my life of choosing to do and learn things that were not easy for me, and becoming, if not an expert, at least, passably proficient. I get a lot of joy from that. Maybe that is it, maybe the more I should be striving for is joy. Here's to more joy, for everyone.</p>
Maura Shaftoe
tag:maurashaftoe.ca,2005:Post/4770034
2017-07-06T22:30:35-04:00
2018-10-17T23:11:23-04:00
Great Things are Happening
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/254611/0ef133bb5cdcf8ba31afedafdd5a5e485f9a1383/original/maura-logo2016-black-background-orange-to-grey-logo-300px-trans.png/!!/b:W10=.png" class="size_l justify_center border_" />March 5, 2016 </p>
<p>I haven't been on here in a while, that doesn't mean I haven't been busy making music though! We just recorded a demo with 3 tracks for my next album. </p>
<p>I'm really liking what we are doing. I have had the real privilege of working with Tyler Hornby to write this new material. We'll be recording this summer. We are doing some live shows to showcase the new music and get some feedback prior to recording, which is kind of a new thing for me to try. </p>
<p>We are going to start to tour outside of Alberta again. <br>Get a re-freshed website and a re-freshed approach to music. <br>Take some musical chances. </p>
<p>We are going to make some beautiful noise. </p>
<p> </p>
Maura Shaftoe
tag:maurashaftoe.ca,2005:Post/4770000
2017-07-06T22:12:43-04:00
2018-10-17T23:12:23-04:00
Red Deer Express February 2102 Unsteady Tour
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/254611/0ef133bb5cdcf8ba31afedafdd5a5e485f9a1383/original/maura-logo2016-black-background-orange-to-grey-logo-300px-trans.png/!!/b:W10=.png" class="size_l justify_center border_" />February 14th, 2012 </p>
<p>Red Deer Express </p>
<p>Calgary’s Maura Shaftoe to wow ‘em at The Matchbox </p>
<p>SILKY SOUNDS – Calgary-based singer/songwriter Maura Shaftoe performs Nov. 13 at The Matchbox. </p>
<p>Published: November 04, 2010 9:12 AM </p>
<p>Fueling momentum behind her latest exquisite release Unsteady, Calgary singer/songwriter Maura Shaftoe performs Nov. 13 at The Matchbox. Performance time is 8 p.m. Shaftoe describes her music as folk and jazz-influenced pop with a splash of country thrown in for good measure. Her current tour showcases folk songs, sophisticated standards, plus covers of Canadian artists and lots of tremendous original tunes. </p>
<p>“I grew up in a home where we listened to a really diverse range of music,” she explains during a recent chat. There was pretty much a bit of everything in her parents’ collection, from Harry Belafonte and Vera Lynn to Roger Whittaker. Her mom was also a singer, yet it wasn’t a career path her folks particularly encouraged for their daughter at first. “Later on, when I decided to start singing professionally, they were very supportive and were supportive from that time forward. I think they realized you have to do what you love.” But Shaftoe didn’t initially set her sites on a musical career. She worked in the automotive industry for about 20 years as a service manager. She’s also been a personal trainer. During those years, music was never far from her heart. “I would take singing lessons when I could afford it and had the time.” </p>
<p>After the birth of her son she took on a fresh perspective about her life’s direction. “I decided I wasn’t going to be someone who wouldn’t aspire to anything new,” she recalls after settling into the welcome routines of parenting. So she stepped it up a notch singing-wise, performing more at venues and honing her songwriting skills. A debut CD was eventually released in 2003. After that, she started a consulting business and took on more responsibilities with her parents as their health began to fail. In 2008, she decided to put together another recording and it was during that period her mother passed away. </p>
<p>Unsteady and its title track are dedicated to her mother. The song is a beautiful and poignant work of tender reflection with opening lyrics ‘All those years of mental preparation/Knowing you were leaving day by day/Unsteady, swimming in a quiet desperation/Hoping against hope that you would stay.’ These days, Shaftoe is all the more dedicated to her music. </p>
<p>It’s a fabulous way to connect with people, and she treasures those moments when listeners approach her after a show to comment on how a tune has touched them. Getting used to performing took some time, as Shaftoe points to the vulnerability that often comes with expressing oneself via the power of song. “For me, singing is an emotional experience. When I’m singing, you can see my soul.” </p>
<p>Meanwhile, she’s got solid back-up for her tour. Joining Shaftoe is bassist/producer/songwriter Michael Lent, who also produced Unsteady and guitarist/singer/songwriter Ben Sure who has played with many great Canadian artists including Rita Chiarelli, The Wyrd Sisters, Tim Williams, Emma Cook and Michelle Rumball (Grievious Angels). For Shaftoe, pressing forward and challenging herself creatively is key to producing a unique sound. And it’s never too late to try new things and plunge oneself into fresh, exhilarating experiences. “I’m someone who believes that you don’t peak when you are 18,” she adds with a chuckle. “You have so many more years of life. “I also think people can relate to me,” she adds of her continual passion to tap into the richness of making music. “The know I’m invested in what I’m doing.” </p>
<p>For ticket information, call The Matchbox at 403-341-6500 or visit www.ticketleap.com. mweber@reddeerexpress.com</p>
Maura Shaftoe
tag:maurashaftoe.ca,2005:Post/4769997
2017-07-06T22:07:40-04:00
2018-10-17T23:13:30-04:00
Concert with Maura
<p>June 24th, 2012 </p>
<p>Great event last night, thanks to everyone for their help and support! Definitely some moments of brilliance, here's to letting your light shine, wherever you are!</p>
Maura Shaftoe
tag:maurashaftoe.ca,2005:Post/4769995
2017-07-06T21:57:30-04:00
2018-10-17T23:15:10-04:00
On Scarves and Other Things
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/254611/0ef133bb5cdcf8ba31afedafdd5a5e485f9a1383/original/maura-logo2016-black-background-orange-to-grey-logo-300px-trans.png/!!/b:W10=.png" class="size_l justify_center border_" />Mar 25, 2013 </p>
<p>Today a friend commented on the scarf I was wearing, and asked where it was from. I said I had bought it for my mum on our last trip together. </p>
<p>I came home to a letter addressed to her. </p>
<p>My son brought home his high school graduation photos. </p>
<p>I wished I could have shown them to her and my father. </p>
<p>It's funny how the smallest things stop you in your tracks, trigger a memory , a bit of emotional history. </p>
<p>Sometimes we're moving so fast, we don't know what we're missing. </p>
<p>Or maybe that's the reason we are moving so fast, so we don't have the time to miss or regret anything or even consider our place in the world. </p>
<p>And then someone asks about your scarf and you stop and feel the world slow around you and wonder where you put all that time.</p>
Maura Shaftoe
tag:maurashaftoe.ca,2005:Post/4769993
2017-07-06T21:52:54-04:00
2018-10-17T23:15:51-04:00
The best of the Season
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/254611/0ef133bb5cdcf8ba31afedafdd5a5e485f9a1383/original/maura-logo2016-black-background-orange-to-grey-logo-300px-trans.png/!!/b:W10=.png" class="size_l justify_center border_" />The circle of life, of the seasons, of the saddest and happiest of seasons, it's Christmastime. The winter solstice is almost here. The days of long, dark nights and joyous get togethers. As long as we remember to be joyous, and leave our petty rememberings at the door and in the past where they belong. At least, that's what I strive to do. And I listen, for the forgiveness and the kindness and the hopefulness that is in all of us, myself included. Not one more person needs to tell me life is short, I know it, short and desparate and happy and hurtful and wondrous. It's what we have this time around, I'm going to make the best of my worst attempt and leave the judgement behind me. </p>
<p>I'm going to enjoy every minute, and every smile and every tear that slips down my cheek when I think of people who are missing, that I am missing. And I won't think, I should be over that, because there is nothing to be over. Here's to you, present and gone, and to us, at Christmastime. </p>
<p>Love,</p>
<p>m</p>
Maura Shaftoe
tag:maurashaftoe.ca,2005:Post/4769992
2017-07-06T21:51:18-04:00
2017-07-06T21:51:18-04:00
My First Interview
<p>February 14, 2012 </p>
<p>This article was the first time I'd ever been interviewed, I was opening the Jazz Festival by default, the Cuban band that was supposed to be opening the festival hadn't made it in time. </p>
<p>Calgary Sun Mike Bell </p>
<p>Originally Published June 22, 2001 </p>
<p>Chances are you'll catch Maura Shaftoe with her head down saying a little prayer before her show tonight at the Holiday Inn. It's understandable, really, considering that the local vocalist and her band -- David Grimstead, Greg Booth, Dustin Shaskin and Allistair Elliot -- are the act opening this year's jazz fest. That's a lot of pressure for any performer, let alone one who's just doing it part time. "It is pretty exciting, actually," Shaftoe says. The vocalist, who trained with Vivianne Cardinal at The Banff Centre earned the nod after catching the attention of festival producer Marc Vasey. </p>
<p>Shaftoe has been compared to the grand dames of jazz -- Holiday, Vaughn, Simone -- and possibly that's because she approaches the songs in a manner that emphasizes a strong personal connection with the material. </p>
<p>"I relate to music emotionally ... so vocals for me are really important," she says. "And the lyric is very important. Often when I'm rehearsing I'll read the lyric out to the band so that they have a concept of what I'm trying to get across when I'm singing." As to whether or not tonight's show will open up more doors for Shaftoe and get her to the point where she can pursue her singing full time, remains to be seen. But it is, apparently, an option that she'd very much welcome. </p>
<p>"In a heartbeat," she says with a laugh. And when asked what would get her to that point, Shaftoe pauses for a moment. "A good deal of luck and prayer."</p>
Maura Shaftoe
tag:maurashaftoe.ca,2005:Post/4769991
2017-07-06T21:48:39-04:00
2017-07-06T21:48:39-04:00
Hard Work?
<p>February 12, 2017 </p>
<p>I have always considered myself a "hard worker" I have achieved some success at whatever I turned my hand to, until I didn't. Sometimes I worked hard because it felt like my only decision. Sometimes I just stepped away from something that was no longer serving me. </p>
<p>Sometimes though, I think I just gave up.. or in. </p>
<p>I couldn't find that motivation, that last bit of drive, the final push to get through another round of failure to reach the next level. Whatever it was I needed, I didn't have it, or maybe, didn't even look to see if I could find it. </p>
<p>My son suggested today I write about hard work. </p>
<p>Hard work, drudgery, back breaking, the long haul, tough grind, the uphill battle. </p>
<p>Yes, I have been looking up the dictionary again, actually moved into the thesaurus today. </p>
<p>I am realizing nothing I do in my life can be described in those terms, not really. </p>
<p>I am persistent, I try to do what I say I will do. Could I work harder? </p>
<p>Absolutely. </p>
<p>What I could do is embrace the work. </p>
<p>What I could do though, is be thankful that I can do the work, at all. </p>
<p>What I can really do is stop focussing on the mountain of things to be done and just start climbing the mountain. </p>
<p>Getting up, going to work, (and I love my day gig), overcoming some challenges, and there are some, requires effort. </p>
<p>Backbreaking effort, I think not. </p>
<p>There are the things we do to pay the bills, put food on the table, keep the wolf from the door. </p>
<p>For me the extra things, the writing of music, the making of melodies, the finding the right word, that's not about work. </p>
<p>It's about space, and breathing space into my life, and hopefully, someone else's as well. </p>
<p>We're in the final stages of finishing a new album. </p>
<p>Now comes the "hard work" </p>
<p>Now comes the planning, the photoshoots, the art and visual concepts, the layout, the marketing, the disappointment and the joy of having people you know and don't know pass judgement on your work, the making of posters, the requests to be heard, the selling of tickets, the worry about making money on a project you've gently rolled uphill for over two years, the work after the work after the work. ( let's be serious, breaking even is often the goal). </p>
<p>I'm redefining hard work for myself. </p>
<p>I am going to work and apply myself to everything I direct my attention towards, things that will serve me. </p>
<p>When I finish, I am going to take one more step and then one more towards a future I know is there. </p>
<p>I am not going to forget where I am right now. </p>
<p>I'm not going to forget the impact, good or bad, that I have on others. </p>
<p>I am going to wrench every last piece of gratitude I can that I can do the work, that I can improve, that I can make a difference, that I can_______, (fill in the blank) </p>
<p>Love, </p>
<p>M</p>
Maura Shaftoe
tag:maurashaftoe.ca,2005:Post/4769979
2017-07-06T21:46:27-04:00
2017-07-06T21:46:27-04:00
Sailing- Keeping your ship afloat
<p>February 19, 2017 </p>
<p>I sent out a facebook request for blog ideas, thanks to everyone who pm'd me. You'll probably recognize your idea in the coming while. </p>
<p>I might take it in a direction you don't recognize or it might hit home. </p>
<p>Either way, thanks for the input and thanks for continuing to read. </p>
<p>I was sent a great quote which basically said: ships don't sink because of the water around them, they sink because of the water that gets in them. </p>
<p>True </p>
<p>Ships are designed to float,to cut through the waves, fly before the wind, calmly lay at anchor in a safe harbour, provide refuge, move us, help us adventure and explore, help us survive. </p>
<p>Are we the ship? Is the ship the life we've built, the dreams we have? </p>
<p>Have we spent enough time to make sure our life can weather the storm? And there will be one or many. </p>
<p>Have we prepared? Are we prepared? Prepared to run before the wind..and with what intent? </p>
<p>To get out of harm's way or travel farther than we've ever been before. </p>
<p>Sometimes it seems like some rogue wave comes out of nowhere and swamps us. Other times a tiny, insidious, inconsequential leak starts filling our ship until we are overwhelmed. They can both be devastating. </p>
<p>Be vigilant. </p>
<p>You better know if you are the rogue wave capsizing your own life, and if you do know, you may want to admit it. </p>
<p>You might take a look to see where you are taking on water. Is it your water or are you letting your environment sink your ship? </p>
<p>It happens. We get taken aback. We let the constant noise wear us down. We let that internal voice convince us we've lost our way. </p>
<p>Maybe they are external voices, the ones that aren't supporting us through our failures and rejoicing our successes. You probably have one or two of those in your life, just so you know, those people, they aren't your life preservers. </p>
<p>There will be storms ahead, but there will be some clear sailing. </p>
<p>Get on the ship, hoist the anchor, yes, plan ahead and don't forget to embrace spontaneity, be ready. Stay afloat if that's where you are at, and then, be ready. </p>
<p>Be ready to fly before the wind, feel the sun on your face, taste the salt air, stand on the deck and feel the swell of the waves beneath you. Be ready. </p>
<p>Be. </p>
<p>Love, </p>
<p>M</p>
Maura Shaftoe
tag:maurashaftoe.ca,2005:Post/4769978
2017-07-06T21:44:49-04:00
2017-07-06T21:44:49-04:00
The Business of Playing Live
<p>May 1, 2016 </p>
<p>There's a thing that happens sometimes when you play live, you consider your sets, the songs, the order, the keys they are in, the musical journey, you rehearse, and then you are onstage, and then, time shifts, and you have some great moments, and it's over. And whether the gig was an intimate house concert or a concert hall, if you got the hair to raise up on your arms, or you hit the one sweet sound, it was worth it. If someone takes the time to thank you and say you touched them, it is definitely worth it. </p>
<p>Before all that though, there is the worry. </p>
<p>Not about the art, but about the business of playing live. </p>
<p>And here is how it goes for me: </p>
<p>I try to surround myself with professional musicians, and usually they are people who make the bulk of their living in music. Somehow, I have been blessed to play with fantastic players both live and in the recording studio. Juno award winning composer and Bass Player, Michael Lent, Guitarist and Producer,Russell Broom, Fantastic Jazz Drummer Sandro Dominelli, WCMA nominee Tyler Hornby. </p>
<p>If you haven't been gigging live in a while( that is me, this time around), booking the room gets to be a decision about: ok, how many seats can I fill and how much is the room going to cost, am I renting the space, what about the cost of sound, what about promotion, am I going to fill enough seats to break even, pay the guys well, not be crushed when the size of the room is small..am I spending enough time on social media, am I driving my friends and fans crazy with my posts and reminders.. </p>
<p>Eventually, you have to let all that go. </p>
<p>Let the lights go down. </p>
<p>Take a deep breath </p>
<p>Get your feet on the ground and do what you came to do </p>
<p>Sing </p>
<p><a contents="http://maura-shaftoe.ticketleap.com/maura-shaftoe-lolitas-lounge/" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://maura-shaftoe.ticketleap.com/maura-shaftoe-lolitas-lounge/">http://maura-shaftoe.ticketleap.com/maura-shaftoe-lolitas-lounge/</a></p>
Maura Shaftoe
tag:maurashaftoe.ca,2005:Post/4769977
2017-07-06T21:40:58-04:00
2017-07-06T21:40:58-04:00
#makemeamemorytour
<p>May 16, 2017 </p>
<p>Yes, it's almost here </p>
<p>It's been a long time coming. </p>
<p>It would be great to have you out, you can find tickets below </p>
<p><a contents="Ticketleap" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://maura-shaftoe.ticketleap.com">Ticketleap</a></p>
<p>Let's make some beautiful noise! </p>
<p>love, </p>
<p>m</p>
Maura Shaftoe
tag:maurashaftoe.ca,2005:Post/4769975
2017-07-06T21:38:09-04:00
2021-07-27T16:16:39-04:00
Finding Glow
<p>March 5, 2017 </p>
<p>There is a thing that happens when I'm performing sometimes, the set starts, the singing starts, the solos are effortless, the timing is perfect, everything works and time stops or accelerates or evaporates, I don't even know how to describe it. </p>
<p>Apparently, it is a thing - not limited to music- it is called flow. </p>
<p>It's like time slows down and speeds up at the same time </p>
<p>I've experienced it occasionally when dancing or practicing martial arts. It's like all the practice and effort has suddenly gelled, and for a few seconds, I can anticipate the next sound, the next step,the next move. </p>
<p>Then it's gone. </p>
<p>And the practice and work continue. </p>
<p>I've learned some things over the years. </p>
<p>To get to the next level of whatever it is you're striving for takes effort. Well, it does for me and flow is the farthest thing from my practice. </p>
<p>Sometimes you might have to be bad at something for a really long time before you get to what you think is an acceptable level of proficiency, you might have to risk embarassment and get over the fear of failure- or not get over the fear of failure and do it anyway- and you might never get it. </p>
<p>Never get the flow. </p>
<p>When I was younger, I occasionally heard the comment, you are good at everything, so not true, I only did the things that I was good at, and there really weren't many. </p>
<p>Somewhere along the way, I decided to try new things and I've since made it a practice, and some of them have been hard for me. Struggling to figure out left from right has followed and proceeded me on many journeys. </p>
<p>I've learned to get over myself, and forgive myself for not achieving immediate success and proficiency or any proficiency at all. </p>
<p>Here's what works for me: it's ok to try something and drop it if it's not right for you. It's ok to keep doing something you may never be great at if the challenge keeps you inspired. It's ok to keep working at something and really push through a low point to get somewhere new. It's all ok. It's what life is, taking the time, being there, stepping out when you can, and knowing when to retreat and regroup. </p>
<p>Listen, really listen, </p>
<p>Jump in, take the plunge, you never know, you might find some flow. </p>
<p>Love, </p>
<p>M </p>
<p>PS. If you like my blogs, please share</p>
Maura Shaftoe
tag:maurashaftoe.ca,2005:Post/4769974
2017-07-06T21:33:56-04:00
2017-07-06T21:33:56-04:00
Rebuildng
<p>January 29th, 2017 </p>
<p>Earlier in the year, as I swung at a pesky mosquito while vacuuming, I demolished a lovely Buddha in the process. </p>
<p>I think at the time, I made a comment about Karma. </p>
<p>For whatever reason: that it had been a gift from my son, that just because something is broken doesn't mean you toss it away, that is is a physical reminder of a spiritual connection, I saved it. </p>
<p>We wandered around Ikea and Rona and figured out how to make it work, somehow in the destruction, that lovely face had made it through intact. No, this isn't a Pinterest post.(Although, it is a light now, and I turn it on when I'm practicing/making music!!) </p>
<p>It is a post about rebuilding, rebuilding my music career after a too long break, rebuilding relationships with friends and family, that maybe aren't broken but suffering from a little less care and attention than they deserve, and rebuilding the relationship I have with the world and those living on it and in it. </p>
<p>It, for me, has to be a daily practice. Am I aware of those around me, and am I being the person I say I am, am I forgiving? </p>
<p>I can't say I even check in everyday, in my hurried life of work and music and music marketing. </p>
<p>And now, more than ever, I think I should and not should in a" bad or obligated to kind of way", but in a "it's the right thing to do kind of way". </p>
<p>We have a life and it's ours and sometimes we feel that the things that happen to us are unfair-the truth is things happen.They are happening everywhere and some of us, myself included, have been luckier than others. </p>
<p>Now, more than ever, I want to feel gratitude and I want to remember everyone has a story, a heart and a family and we need to stick together. </p>
<p>Love </p>
<p>M</p>
Maura Shaftoe
tag:maurashaftoe.ca,2005:Post/4769939
2017-07-06T21:21:56-04:00
2017-07-06T21:21:56-04:00
With Gratitude
<p>April 24, 2012 </p>
<p>I recently had the great pleasure of performing at a house concert with two talented young musicians, Justin Hazel and Jeff Gammon. It was great to rehearse and perform with them. The house was packed, the audience was great. I probably took more musical risks then I had in a long time, and most of them worked. </p>
<p>It really made me remember why I do this and why I'm grateful that people will listen. </p>
<p>Love, </p>
<p>M</p>
Maura Shaftoe
tag:maurashaftoe.ca,2005:Post/4769937
2017-07-06T21:19:35-04:00
2017-07-06T21:19:35-04:00
My Friend
<p>January 7, 2014 </p>
<p>It's January. There is more snow on the ground than I've seen in years. The holidays are over, the days are getting longer. We've turned the corner. Time for reflection and renewal and rebirth. There will be some regret as I look back on the previous year, what I accomplished, failed to accomplish, the commitments I made or didn't even bother making, for fear of ... </p>
<p>For fear of what? Failure, at my age and stage of life, is a familiar friend. A friend I greet on the road to any destination I choose to be worthy of my time and focus. I embrace you, my friend. I acknowledge that you are just trying to save me from myself, embarassing myself or exposing myself to emotional pain. I just wanted to let you know, I'm a grown up, I can take it. I will still love you, and I know you will always be there for me. Take a holiday, go somewhere warm for a while, you've been working hard for a longtime. </p>
<p>I'll let you know when I've written my next song, posted my next video or booked my next gig. You can check in with me then, keep me on my toes, make sure I'm prepared. Friend, I appreciate all you've done for me but it's time to relax, read a good book, take up yoga or learn a new language, what's stopping you? Unless you have a friend of your own, you know the one. </p>
<p>Love, </p>
<p>M</p>
Maura Shaftoe
tag:maurashaftoe.ca,2005:Post/4769936
2017-07-06T21:18:16-04:00
2017-07-06T21:18:16-04:00
Thursday-Salvation Day
<p>February 28, 2013 </p>
<p>Happy Thursday! Here is another video compilation for you to enjoy: Salvation Day. </p>
<p>Please feel free to share (give someone else's day a little salvation perhaps?) and let us know what you think in the comments box! </p>
<p>Have a BEAUTIFUL day!</p>
<p><a contents="Salvation Day" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0eoy-RJ_gQo">Salvation Day</a></p>
Maura Shaftoe
tag:maurashaftoe.ca,2005:Post/4769924
2017-07-06T21:08:33-04:00
2017-07-06T21:08:33-04:00
How we named the the New Christmas Album
<p>December 9, 2011 </p>
<p>How we arrived at the title for the Christmas Album </p>
<p> We started talking about this Album last November when we were finishing up a tour. I wanted to do the album with Michael Lent, just Bass and Voice or a reasonable facsimile thereof. So we talked about it, we were going to try to record two albums, one of new material we were working and one of Christmas material. I applied for a grant to record the bigger project. The stars didn’t align. I scaled back my plans and we decided to record the Christmas album. We had to readjust our time line due to circumstances beyond our control, not being independently wealthy might have been one of them. We finally recorded on 2 beautiful September days. I put up Christmas ornaments. I sent a few prayers into the atmosphere. We finished. </p>
<p>Lindsay at Indie Pool (great company for independent recording artists to work with, btw, www.indiepool.com) needed the art, liner notes, master by early October. My hope for a stylist to help with album design just didn’t materialize; I had to find another photographer, fast. Patti Falconer Talent recommended Kyle Kleefeld, he got to my house before I did, I had just finished training clients at the gym, I went upstairs did my own hair, makeup and came down. We shot in my living room. I opted out of Photoshop. I learned how to use Dropbox to send the shots, I then realized I hadn’t named the album. Maybe I should call it miracle I said, tongue in cheek, it’s a miracle we finished, and it’s about a Christmas miracle. Lindsay agreed. </p>
<p>Michael, meantime was feverishly mastering away, he was in between producing other artists and coming down to perform at WordFest. At one in the morning he was putting the grace notes on the album, and realized he didn’t know what I was going to call it. He called it Tidings of Comfort and Joy. And you know, I think it is. </p>
<p>Best, </p>
<p>M</p>
Maura Shaftoe
tag:maurashaftoe.ca,2005:Post/4764118
2017-07-01T23:09:39-04:00
2017-07-01T23:11:08-04:00
God Bless You Merry Gentlemen
<p>Christmas, I love this time of year, I happily sing along to the carols playing in every store, much to the chagrin of anyone accompanying me. </p>
<p>Merry Christmas, </p>
<p>Maura</p>
<p><a contents="God Bless You Merry Gentlemen" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZeyEqYDQ66U&list=PLQ-zSxfGbfiQ4pb_cfRNQ-kzz3aN_l0KE" target="_blank">You Tube God Bless You Merry Gentlemen</a></p>
Maura Shaftoe
tag:maurashaftoe.ca,2005:Post/4764109
2017-07-01T23:06:52-04:00
2017-07-01T23:06:52-04:00
The best of the Season
<p>The circle of life, of the seasons, of the saddest and happiest of seasons, it's Christmastime. The winter solstice is almost here. The days of long, dark nights and joyous get togethers. As long as we remember to be joyous, and leave our petty rememberings at the door and in the past where they belong. At least, that's what I strive to do. And I listen, for the forgiveness and the kindness and the hopefulness that is in all of us, myself included. Not one more person needs to tell me life is short, I know it, short and desparate and happy and hurtful and wondrous. It's what we have this time around, I'm going to make the best of my worst attempt and leave the judgement behind me. </p>
<p>I'm going to enjoy every minute, and every smile and every tear that slips down my cheek when I think of people who are missing, that I am missing. And I won't think, I should be over that, because there is nothing to be over. Here's to you, present and gone, and to us, at Christmastime. </p>
<p>Love, </p>
<p>M</p>
Maura Shaftoe
tag:maurashaftoe.ca,2005:Post/4764108
2017-07-01T23:03:39-04:00
2017-07-01T23:03:39-04:00
The Width of Our Lives
<p>Embarking on this weekly blog journey has been enlightening: a mini-discovery of what I spend my time thinking about and if any of those thoughts bear sharing. </p>
<p>Texting a close friend this week, I typed, " I need a blog idea for Sunday." Re-reading that, I immediately sense that I might be putting said blog, into the "This is going to be hard category" of my life. There really isn't any more room in that train compartment, so I'm getting off at the next stop. </p>
<p>Anyway, I am meandering, back to the point... </p>
<p>She sent me a thought about living the width of our lives and later tracked down the original quote by Diane Ackerman. <img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/254611/dd6b0ac08ba7092f1d5b0e89c93d70610d6ccad8/original/ackerman-diane-width-of-our-lives.jpg?1498964583" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>This quote is enough to make me investigate the full scope of her work, and there is a lot. </p>
<p>It sang to me. </p>
<p>If you, like me, are the type of person who wants to try things and find out if you could be good at them or good enough to feel joy and then you catch yourself thinking."wow, if only I could have put that energy into ..Pick One becoming a great doctor, lawyer, musician, writer, or anything really, Stop it. It doesn't help, and all it does do, is take the joy out of trying and learning something new. </p>
<p>This quote set me free for a second, and, maybe, if I truly embrace it, I will set myself free. </p>
<p>I am not that person, that stick to one thing and stick to what I know person. I am a lyricist, a singer, a writer, I practice yoga, I love martial arts, I've danced Bollywood, I make crafts, and bake, I love presenting and getting a message across, and I've worked, in sales and management to keep my family fed and my art alive. And yes, if I spent more time and focussed and let some things go, I might get scary good at one of two of them. </p>
<p>But I'm living the width of my life. </p>
<p>This expanse of road stretching out before us might seem endless. </p>
<p>It's not. </p>
<p>I'm going to enjoy stepping off that road to take a wander in a field or forest. </p>
<p>Maybe I'll see you there. </p>
<p>Love, </p>
<p>M</p>
Maura Shaftoe
tag:maurashaftoe.ca,2005:Post/4764107
2017-07-01T23:00:40-04:00
2017-07-01T23:00:40-04:00
Setting Your Art Free
<p>I've been noticing a phrase that I'm using in my blogs and conversations when I talk about art. I talk about releasing art in the world and setting it free. </p>
<p>Whether we are creating a photograph, a poem, music, a fine meal, we are all artists. We interpret, we describe, we exist in the world and we make it make sense, our own kind of sense. </p>
<p>We decide to create, and then once we have created, we have more decisions to make. We choose. We choose to save, destroy, change, or release. </p>
<p>We might start to analyze, to criticize and mentally dismantle this art we've made. </p>
<p>This is a funny and amazing world we live in, we are able to share our art for all the world to see and hear with the click of a button. We can set it free, let people hear it, see it, love it or not. </p>
<p>We are judging creatures, we humans, and sometimes less generous than we could be with ourselves and others. </p>
<p>Sometimes we don't allow people the time to get to greatness. We look at their art, their essence of expression and we measure it, categorize it and put it in the box of our opinions. We might encourage. We might discourage, and we might allow ourselves to think that our comments might acutally save them from themselves, save them embarassment or disappointment. </p>
<p>We might crush a hope or light a fire, as that artist soul might rail against an attitude and fight to be free, or sigh and fade away. </p>
<p>Everyone responds differently. </p>
<p>What would be nice is to give some space-some space to ourselves to expand our belief and willingness to risk judgement to grow as an artist and human. </p>
<p>What would be nice is to give space to others, to give them a safe place to expand their willingness to risk, to get to new heights, as an artist and as a human. To get closer to their greatness. </p>
<p>If you have an artist in your life, love them. </p>
<p>If you are an artist, keep at it, and surround yourself with people you love, and people who love you. </p>
<p>Art is important. </p>
<p>It sets us free. </p>
<p>Love, </p>
<p>M</p>
Maura Shaftoe
tag:maurashaftoe.ca,2005:Post/4764106
2017-07-01T22:59:10-04:00
2017-07-01T22:59:10-04:00
Making Changes
<p>So this is the thing, I've been coming to the realization lately that real change, real longlasting, life altering change is difficult. It seems no matter the effort to change behaviours, change patterns, change personal perception, if it's not core deep, it's not permanent, and some event, some chance meeting, some seemingly random happening has the power to toss you into a whirlwind of overthinking and underperforming. What has this got to do with music? For me, everything. Because if I don't keep room in my life for music, I start to lose my centre. If I'm too busy, or too tired or too something, I put my music away. I've made excuses, oh they were noble excuses, for the best of reasons as to why everything else, including doing the laundry, should take priority. I'm trying to make a permanent change, to embrace what I love, to become a better musician more willing to put my music where my heart is. Please keep listening. </p>
<p>Best, </p>
<p>M</p>
Maura Shaftoe
tag:maurashaftoe.ca,2005:Post/4764105
2017-07-01T22:58:00-04:00
2017-07-01T22:58:00-04:00
Damn Early Risers
<p>A person I admire tremendously invited me to join a group of people getting up at 4:15 am for 21 weekdays. When she invites me to do anything, I have found accepting the offer( mostly without thinking it through) is going to be a good decision. She is just that person for me. She leads by example, and in the meantime, she pushes, pulls and drags you along with her..mostly you don't even know it's happening. I believe it 's her way of gving of herself, and she's great at it. She's amazing, and if she is reading this, she knows who she is.( yes, you are amazing) </p>
<p>Anyway, back to the challenge. </p>
<p>You don't just get up at 4:15 and start the regular chaos of your day 1, 2 or 3 hours early. You make the space for your intentions, at least that's what we committed to. A primary intention, a secondary intention, and a commitment to support each other. We text, or what's app each other first thing, if we missed the alarm, we text that too. And we have a weekly call to share what's working, what's opening up, what our challenges are. </p>
<p>We are all doing different things with our time, tackling massive to do lists, enlarging our spiritual practice, investing time in study for a new goal, practicing yoga. It all works. </p>
<p>Right now, I am getting ready to launch a new album of original material, the first one in a long time. I'm choosing cover art, writing liner notes, setting up gigs, booking a cd release concert, planning a gig in Ontario, working with radio music promoters, doing some interviews. Phew, it sounds like a lot and I have a more than full time day job. </p>
<p>So what am I doing with my created time? </p>
<p>I'm doing a morning yoga practice and learning to meditate. Then, when I've given myself that time, I start running down my list. With no pressure, because I've got a couple of hours before I start my other work. </p>
<p>And it's great, it's quiet, even peaceful. </p>
<p>Yes, it takes some adjustment, yes, I have to think before I commit to an evening event that might last a bit long. It has shifted my opinion of what's possible. What I've found is I'm more able and likely to get things completed before the rest of my day starts. </p>
<p>At the end of my work day, I sometimes find I'm giving myself permission to relax, and what that really means is I give myself permission to break my commitments to myself. (that's a lot of "myselfs" in there, but it was the only way I could take ownership) </p>
<p>Is this something I'd do for ever? Probably not, I believe in getting 7 plus hours of sleep, so I'd definitely have to commit to going to bed earlier than usual, to make this work long term. </p>
<p>I might split the difference, 5 am sounds like a good time. </p>
<p>It's working so far. </p>
<p>So thank you for the invitation and thanks to the rest of the Damn Early Risers for the support. </p>
<p>If you need a little space in your life, give it a try.</p>
Maura Shaftoe
tag:maurashaftoe.ca,2005:Post/4764104
2017-07-01T22:56:08-04:00
2018-03-18T11:47:29-04:00
Milestones and Fresh Starts
<p>I know it's time to start creating and performing again because I am waking up in the middle of the night singing in my head. Recently, I was at an awards show in my dreams and one of my songs was being performed by someone famous(read, someone other than me!) It was a great song, after all it had just won a major award. I awoke to it slipping away and wondering if I had actually heard it elsewhere or just made it up. </p>
<p>I have decided to just get right up the next time and hum it into my ipad or my zoom, after all, it's not everyday you get a gift like that given to you. The universe might decide to stop giving them if I don't take the initiative. </p>
<p>Hence, back to being focussed on the things I'm good at, while I manage to manage the things I perform with dazzling mediocrity. </p>
<p>See you soon </p>
<p>M</p>
Maura Shaftoe
tag:maurashaftoe.ca,2005:Post/4764102
2017-07-01T22:54:42-04:00
2017-07-04T09:09:26-04:00
On Staying Focussed or Otherwise Known as Majoring in the Minors
<p>I know it's time to start creating and performing again because I am waking up in the middle of the night singing in my head. Recently, I was at an awards show in my dreams and one of my songs was being performed by someone famous(read, someone other than me!) It was a great song, after all it had just won a major award. I awoke to it slipping away and wondering if I had actually heard it elsewhere or just made it up. </p>
<p>I have decided to just get right up the next time and hum it into my ipad or my zoom, after all, it's not everyday you get a gift like that given to you. The universe might decide to stop giving them if I don't take the initiative. </p>
<p>Hence, back to being focussed on the things I'm good at, while I manage to manage the things I perform with dazzling mediocrity. </p>
<p>See you soon </p>
<p>Maura</p>
Maura Shaftoe
tag:maurashaftoe.ca,2005:Post/4764100
2017-07-01T22:51:11-04:00
2017-07-01T22:51:11-04:00
Signs
<p>At times in my life, things have not gone according to plan. Or it felt that way. </p>
<p>Sometimes you have a plan, or you are calling it a plan, but, really, it is a loose connection of thoughts with an end goal in mind. </p>
<p>Or you do have a plan, and you start working away and you get busy( not productive), busy, and you don't even check in with your plan. </p>
<p>Are you even following the steps? </p>
<p>By you, I mean me. </p>
<p>I've been guilty of meandering plans, specific plans I then didn't follow or worse, no plan at all. </p>
<p>If you don't follow a plan, you can't really connect your success or failure to it. It certainly makes repeating successes that much harder. </p>
<p>Not being invested in a plan, might allow me to feel as if there is no failure. Jump to the next step,not being invested in failure seems like a safe bet. </p>
<p>Or it can, for a while. </p>
<p>Until you read something like this: </p>
<p>I read it and experienced what felt like a gut punch. </p>
<p>I've been spending some time lately thinking about choices I made, or worse, to my mind anyway, choices I didn't make as I moved through life. </p>
<p>Times when I clung to a bad situation like a life preserver, in the hopes that I'd weather the storm and times when I abandoned ship at the first sign of rough water. </p>
<p>In retrospect, it's easier to judge the better decision. </p>
<p>Now that I have all the information, now that I've seen the outcome, now that I'm removed from an emotionally charged situation, I can choose better. </p>
<p>In retrospect, it's easy to see that talking it through, having tough conversations, asking for some help, would have made almost any of the choices more clear. </p>
<p>Asking for some help building that plan in the first place, getting some input, that would have helped too. </p>
<p>And you know what else? </p>
<p>Surrounding yourself with people who will step forward without being asked, call you on your crap while still loving you, let you step on a couple of landmines for the experience, and not let you flame out in a blaze of glory if you are willing to take their advice; those things help. </p>
<p>Be that person for others. We can save ourselves and we can save ourselves by saving others. </p>
<p>That's a plan I can get my head around. </p>
<p>Love, </p>
<p>M</p>
Maura Shaftoe
tag:maurashaftoe.ca,2005:Post/4764099
2017-07-01T22:48:22-04:00
2017-07-01T22:48:22-04:00
The Best Laid Plans
<p>At times in my life, things have not gone according to plan. Or it felt that way. </p>
<p>Sometimes you have a plan, or you are calling it a plan, but, really, it is a loose connection of thoughts with an end goal in mind. </p>
<p>Or you do have a plan, and you start working away and you get busy( not productive), busy, and you don't even check in with your plan. </p>
<p>Are you even following the steps? </p>
<p>By you, I mean me. </p>
<p>I've been guilty of meandering plans, specific plans I then didn't follow or worse, no plan at all. </p>
<p>If you don't follow a plan, you can't really connect your success or failure to it. It certainly makes repeating successes that much harder. </p>
<p>Not being invested in a plan, might allow me to feel as if there is no failure. Jump to the next step,not being invested in failure seems like a safe bet. </p>
<p>Or it can, for a while. </p>
<p>Until you read something like this:<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/254611/c95e92d87536625f2f9b78bf8bdd445d9dd901a1/original/randy-kumisar.jpg?1498963528" class="size_l justify_center border_" />I read it and experienced what felt like a gut punch. </p>
<p>I've been spending some time lately thinking about choices I made, or worse, to my mind anyway, choices I didn't make as I moved through life. </p>
<p>Times when I clung to a bad situation like a life preserver, in the hopes that I'd weather the storm and times when I abandoned ship at the first sign of rough water. </p>
<p>In retrospect, it's easier to judge the better decision. </p>
<p>Now that I have all the information, now that I've seen the outcome, now that I'm removed from an emotionally charged situation, I can choose better. </p>
<p>In retrospect, it's easy to see that talking it through, having tough conversations, asking for some help, would have made almost any of the choices more clear. </p>
<p>Asking for some help building that plan in the first place, getting some input, that would have helped too. </p>
<p>And you know what else? </p>
<p>Surrounding yourself with people who will step forward without being asked, call you on your crap while still loving you, let you step on a couple of landmines for the experience, and not let you flame out in a blaze of glory if you are willing to take their advice; those things help. </p>
<p>Be that person for others. We can save ourselves and we can save ourselves by saving others. </p>
<p>That's a plan I can get my head around. </p>
<p>Love, </p>
<p>M</p>
Maura Shaftoe
tag:maurashaftoe.ca,2005:Post/4764090
2017-07-01T22:41:05-04:00
2017-07-01T22:41:05-04:00
New Year, Fresh Start
<p>It feels like a blessing. Every year I get to hit the reset button on New Year's Eve. Get to have a fresh start, make different choices, make better choices. Take stock. Did I accomplish what I'd hoped? Did I even attempt it? If I didn't, was it something I really wanted to do or felt I should do? Or did I procrastinate out of fear,embarassment, laziness. If I read all my other blogs, are these same things present? I actually don't have to answer that question, I know the answer. </p>
<p>If perfection was my goal, I expect I'd have given up years ago. It's the trying that counts, the putting one foot ahead of the other, the sameness of the attempts does not matter. It's the deciding after a failure or disappointment to take an action, even a small one, anything to change the momentum of that downward spiral, to slow it down, to reverse it. </p>
<p>I think being kinder probably matters more than most other things. Holding my breath for one extra second before speaking my mind. Knowing my mind before I speak. Holding myself to a higher standard without self-loathing, bringing loving kindness into my interactions with others. </p>
<p>It's a New Year, but I hope to remember, every day is a New Day. </p>
<p>We're working on some new projects, with some new people, and hope to have it out in 2015. If it lines up, and it comes to fruition and it sounds the way we want it to sound and says what we wanted it to say, you'll be hearing it. If not, we'll be trying again, putting one foot in front of the other. </p>
<p>All the best for your New Year, whenever you start it. </p>
<p>Love, </p>
<p>M</p>
Maura Shaftoe
tag:maurashaftoe.ca,2005:Post/4764089
2017-07-01T22:40:05-04:00
2017-07-01T22:40:05-04:00
January - My Yearly Fresh Start
<p>Every January, I STOP, stop watching television, checking social media, going to movies. </p>
<p>I take the time to rethink, refresh, reset. </p>
<p>I have the time to do the things I say are important, without using technology as my procrastination crutch. </p>
<p>It sounds awesome, and it is, mostly. </p>
<p>Procrastination is a wily helpmate, and instead of cathcing up on Netflix, my friend reminds me of the myriad of things I could be doing, instead of the things-yes-I said I wanted to do. </p>
<p>Like cleaning the junk drawer or researching branch chain amino acids or any number of amazing, and maybe, necessary things. </p>
<p>I'm writing my first blog of the year. </p>
<p>I've done the vaccuming, swept, made 2 kinds of soup, hung pictures and here I finally am. </p>
<p>One of the things I wanted to work on this year was being aware of and being less judgemental. </p>
<p>So I am enjoying having knocked a few things off the to do list, ( as if there is a list, which there is not, yet). </p>
<p>What I am not doing is judging myself. </p>
<p>I am writing my first blog of the year. </p>
<p>I am breathing. </p>
<p>I am making new music. </p>
<p>I am making plans to set that music free. </p>
<p>I am not procrastinating, well, not much. </p>
<p>Love, </p>
<p>M</p>
Maura Shaftoe
tag:maurashaftoe.ca,2005:Post/4764088
2017-07-01T22:38:14-04:00
2017-07-01T22:38:14-04:00
What Counts
<p>I had a great night. </p>
<p>Invited to do a house concert in a lovely, welcoming home. </p>
<p>Two talented musicians accompanied me. </p>
<p>Before the gig started we were discussing bar gigs, the ones where people eat, drink and talk their way over your music, oblivious to the work, the practice, the rehersals, the effort at putting yourself out there. </p>
<p>Don't get me wrong, I've paid a few bills from those gigs. </p>
<p>A house concert, may, with everyone so close and attentive, bring a different kind of fear. </p>
<p>Last night though was like a bit of magic. At one point while singing, I realized I could hear the tinkle of water from a quiet water feature in the next room. </p>
<p>It was amazing and humbling and I was intensely and instantly grateful. </p>
<p>Grateful I hadn't walked away from my music, grateful talented musicians help lift me up so I can try to do what I do,grateful that I was being heard, really listened to. </p>
<p>I think on some level, that's what we all want. </p>
<p>To be heard, to be seen in our vulnerability and to be respected and accepted. </p>
<p>So maybe all the self doubt is worth it, the "I'm not good enough, what was I thinking" thoughts are worth it. Unpacking some feeling,and recognizing the exposure and the anxiety as a step in the right direction. </p>
<p>Seems a bit over the top for a house concert. </p>
<p>Or not. </p>
<p>We've got some moments, make the best of them. </p>
<p>Love, </p>
<p>M</p>
Maura Shaftoe
tag:maurashaftoe.ca,2005:Post/4764083
2017-07-01T22:37:25-04:00
2017-07-01T22:37:25-04:00
Getting By
<p>I didn't buy any groceries last week. </p>
<p>I do that sometimes, intentionally. Not last week though, I ran out of time, decided tea with a friend was more important (it was), so I put it off. I went through the freezer, the pantry, the fridge and I got creative and inventive and we made it through the week. </p>
<p>I used up my organic cauliflower, and made cauliflower rice with chick peas, ginger and curry( it was great). Cauliflower is one of those things for me, like avocados. I buy them with the best of intentions,and then they're done. Over-ripe, turning brown, off to feed my compost. </p>
<p>Why am I talking about groceries and getting by with less? </p>
<p>Well, there is the obvious, many people in the world could live off my pantry alone for a month. It's good time to feel grateful. </p>
<p>There is something else, too. We are surrounded by so many choices, so many distractions, so much...muchness. </p>
<p>Sometimes less is enough, more than enough. </p>
<p>Sometimes paring down our lives, our choices, even for a week opens us up. </p>
<p>Sitting quietly, hitting the same 4 chords on the piano, letting the same two phrases of poetry run around my mind, envisioning a simpler life, it all makes space. </p>
<p>Space to look for some inspiration where I wouldn't normally find it. </p>
<p>In the smallest of things, the first ladybug of the year, the first spring rain, the smell of fresh laundry, oh, and let's not forget the cauliflower rice. </p>
<p>Love , </p>
<p>M</p>
Maura Shaftoe
tag:maurashaftoe.ca,2005:Post/4764082
2017-07-01T22:36:14-04:00
2017-07-01T22:36:14-04:00
Wrapping Up Christmas
<p>The break is almost officially over, some students are not yet back at school, my Christmas decorations come down to be boxed away for another year after January 6, some people call that little Christmas. My Christmas CD to be put away figuratively, digitally and really. Somehow, that little album got played in the States, Australia, France, the UK and Germany. The number 1 download of the album on itunes was O Come, O Come Emmanuel., a personal favourite. I was in San Antonio, Texas for the holidays and sang that song in an underground cave with incredible acoustics, just for me, my family and the wonderful guide who walked us through that underground miracle. Thanks for your support with the New Release. I’m going to try to enjoy what we accomplished and then start planning my next musical adventure.</p>
Maura Shaftoe
tag:maurashaftoe.ca,2005:Post/4764081
2017-07-01T22:32:30-04:00
2017-07-01T22:32:30-04:00
Patience
<p>Not everything I write down in my pre-blog notebook hits the page of my blog. Sometimes I can't find the right words. </p>
<p>This took a few pauses and re-writes. There is room for improvement. </p>
<p>In the interest of trying to stay on schedule for posting my blog, I'm putting it out there. </p>
<p>Give yourself the time to improve. </p>
<p>Practice, certainly. </p>
<p>Most importantly, practice patience. </p>
<p>If a new skill doesn't stick instantly, stop overthinking, examine if you are learning it the best way. Give your brain permission to get past the block. </p>
<p>Acknowledge your victories. </p>
<p>If you stepped out and tried something new and it worked, fantastic! </p>
<p>If it didn't work, fantastic! You probably learned something. </p>
<p>Keep creating. Be thankful. </p>
<p>Someone, maybe a friend, will have an opinion. It might be one you are happy to hear, and it may not be. </p>
<p>At least be thankful, you performed, created, danced, with enough commitment to have them listen and see. You helped them generate an opinion. </p>
<p>Sometimes people will make a comment like, "you've really improved" or you are so much better than the last time I saw you" </p>
<p>Be thankful. </p>
<p>If you need to take a deep breath, do. </p>
<p>( there may be a tiny voice in your head, it could be saying things like...wow, I'd like to see you get up there, are you kidding me, does this pass for being supportive in your world..did they think I really sucked before, do they still think that..) </p>
<p>Acknowledge that they noticed your hard work. </p>
<p>Acknowledge yourself. </p>
<p>Be gracious, to your self and to the person who took the time to give you some feedback. </p>
<p>Notice that you have improved, you have kept learning, you have changed. You have experienced some growth. </p>
<p>You may even notice you have developed some patience. </p>
<p>You have given yourself the room to embrace awesomeness. </p>
<p>Embrace that feeling, hold on to it, remember it the next time you need to channel patience. </p>
<p>Repeat. </p>
<p>Love, </p>
<p>M</p>
Maura Shaftoe
tag:maurashaftoe.ca,2005:Post/4764079
2017-07-01T22:25:35-04:00
2017-07-01T22:27:27-04:00
Committed
<p>I am re-starting, re-focusing, re-energizing, spending more time in and on my music and getting that music and any message I may have out into the world. </p>
<p>I committed to write a regular blog. </p>
<p>I made a commitment to be a regular blog writer. </p>
<p>I am committed. </p>
<p>It's a serious sounding word. </p>
<p>I thought I'd look up the dictionary definitions of commit-committed-am committed to. </p>
<p>I promise-say definitely. I am loyal to the idea of.. </p>
<p>Is a commitment more serious than a promise? Does it feel different? </p>
<p>If I commit to doing something and don't, do I feel better or worse than if I promised. </p>
<p>Is a promise something I did when I was a younger and more naive version of me? Or was a promise something I made? </p>
<p>Something I created, a bond to myself or someone else. To do, to entrust, to pledge, to bind. </p>
<p>These are serious words and weighty. To be used for more serious events than writing a blog for a sometime artist. </p>
<p>These are the words I should embrace using when I describe great things, things that matter. </p>
<p>I am committed to being a kinder, more understanding, more compassionate human. </p>
<p>And I'm writing a blog, about life, and music and maybe more words I look up in the dictionary. </p>
<p>Love, </p>
<p>M</p>
Maura Shaftoe
tag:maurashaftoe.ca,2005:Post/4764078
2017-07-01T22:23:32-04:00
2017-07-01T22:23:32-04:00
Inspiration
<p>I am often asked where the inspiration comes for my lyrics. </p>
<p>It could be from anywhere, a newspaper article, a remembered encounter, a timeless regret, or someone else's story. </p>
<p>I might get 1 verse that seemingly flies in out of nowhere while I'm driving or walking. Then spend the next 4 months trying to finish, when I wrote Unsteady for my mum, it took a long time to get that last verse.( you can watch the lyric video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMSXJjFGajE ) </p>
<p>The walking helps, I think it helps find and set a meter for the rhyme, and the pace of the song. At times, I strive for the rhyme and at others, I turn away. </p>
<p>I might embrace a common turn of phrase or reach for a different image. I might write a concept or fragment down and not use it for years. </p>
<p>I wrote this: " a room for/of objects, souvenirs, mental souvenirs" and it became " souvenirs, on a shelf, collecting dust and tears" for Living Large, a song we've just finished recording. </p>
<p>Mostly, I try to listen, to watch, to look for the meaning or the feeling behind a thought, a phrase, a picture, a sunrise, ( man, those are really worth watching), two people talking, airport reunions. </p>
<p>I look for the meaning for myself and I imagine what it could be for someone else. </p>
<p>I try to remember we, humans, are fragile and strong beyond measure, and that hope is always present. </p>
<p>I try to write about it, and with the help of my talented co-writers, we make songs. </p>
<p>See you soon. </p>
<p>Love, </p>
<p>M</p>
Maura Shaftoe
tag:maurashaftoe.ca,2005:Post/4764075
2017-07-01T22:20:11-04:00
2017-07-01T22:20:11-04:00
My Gig Day Request
<p>I've wanted to put this out there for a while. More for myself than anyone else really. </p>
<p>So I can get clear on my expectations and what works for me on gigging days. </p>
<p>It's all a big juggling act at the moment, working a day job, making music, finding time to gig, second guessing, booking shows. Oh, the self doubt and the drama can be crippling. </p>
<p>I have learned to just ask anyone and everyone, send event listings, invitations, texts to people I know well, people I used to know well, people I thought I knew, anyone really. </p>
<p>Just in case. </p>
<p>In case they are interested, in case they like my stuff, or know someone who does or might. </p>
<p>Or just in case they are up for supporting me on a gig day. </p>
<p>I was sharing with a fellow musician the other day that I hoped in the not too distant future to get to the point that I don't know all the people coming to my gigs. </p>
<p>People who know someone who knows someone who said it was worth checking out, people who heard the songs on the radio, itunes, spotify, somewhere. </p>
<p>Don't get me wrong, I love it when friends and friends of friends turn up, maybe even dragging more unsuspecting friends along. It's awesome. </p>
<p>There is this thing that happens though when you invite people to a show. Take note, this applies to every invitation. </p>
<p>People text me during soundcheck to say they aren't coming. </p>
<p>Here's what works for me: </p>
<p>1. If you want to go but can't, say something like this: "Thanks for the invite, I'd love to go, I have something else that day" I do not even have to know what that something else is. </p>
<p>Do NOT say yes, and then text me during soundcheck to let me know you can't make it. </p>
<p>2. If you don't want to go, say something like this" Thanks for the invite, I won't be making it" I don't need a reason. If you can sincerely add, have a great show, do. If not, don't. </p>
<p>Do NOT say yes and then text me during soundcheck to let me know you can't make it And especially do not add your cat is sick,you are sick, you have a flat tire. </p>
<p>I get it. </p>
<p>We live in a society where so much pulls at us all the time. We can't possibly get everything done and accept all the social events in our calendars. </p>
<p>I get it. </p>
<p>I say no, too. </p>
<p>I'm only asking one thing, mentioning it, bringing it up..Please don't text me during soundcheck to let me know you can't make it. </p>
<p>Unless you are my son, my sister, a close friend, someone I will worry about if you are conspicuously absent. </p>
<p>This may seem weird, I know. It's just when I'm getting ready for a show, that's what I'm doing, getting in the space, being emotionally aware, finding the zone. </p>
<p>Thanks for the love and support. </p>
<p>M</p>
Maura Shaftoe
tag:maurashaftoe.ca,2005:Post/4749119
2017-06-18T18:19:17-04:00
2017-07-01T22:34:09-04:00
Make Space for Creating
<p>I've got a list. </p>
<p>Some of it is still in my head. </p>
<p>Some of it is written down. </p>
<p>I keep thinking if I accomplish everything on it, I'll be ok, successful, valuable, have actually achieved something. </p>
<p>Yes, there are definitely things on the list that need to be done to make life work, groceries, laundry, de-cluttering, bills, filing(it's a long list) </p>
<p>But one free evening this week, I blatantly ignored the list. </p>
<p>I relaxed, I watched some Netflix. By that I mean, I actually watched some Netflix. </p>
<p>I watched the scenes unfold, watched the way the scenes were lit, the way the water moved to the shore. </p>
<p>I listened. I listened to the choices of music, the sad, the dramatic, the way the music set the tone. </p>
<p>I gave a thought to the people behind the show. </p>
<p>The actors,the director, the set dressers, the wardrobe designer, the craft services, the musicians, the ones who make art their work. </p>
<p>I had a bit of space in my head then. And I enjoyed the show without the requisite guilt that comes from ignoring the list. </p>
<p>The next morning, on the bike at the gym, I got the start of a new song. I wrote the lyrics down before I forgot and silently hummed a melody line in my head. I gave a thought to the wonder of silently making a sound in my head. </p>
<p>When I got to my phone, I sang my new little creation into being. I have made the mistake of thinking I'll remember these little snippets, and then losing a new gift forever. </p>
<p>The lists are still there. </p>
<p>The space for creating isn't always, not for me anyway. </p>
<p>Maybe I need to add something to my never-ending list. </p>
<p>In fact, maybe it should be at the top. </p>
<p>Make Space for Creating. </p>
<p>Love , </p>
<p>M</p>
Maura Shaftoe
tag:maurashaftoe.ca,2005:Post/4748504
2017-06-18T00:06:50-04:00
2017-06-18T00:06:50-04:00
test
<p>building site</p>
<p> </p>
Maura Shaftoe