DISGUSTING: Act Now to Stop Misleading “AIDS Charity”

via the AIDS Action Committeel blog, by Dan Scanlan

For those who care about the cause of HIV/AIDS, it’s vexing that an issue of such importance, gravity and urgency rarely seems to earn headlines, let alone placement on the front pages of national newspapers. That’s why many of us were surprised to see that HIV/AIDS had finally made it to the front pages of the New York Times website, for well over a week running now. Has there been a revolutionary medical or policy advance? Not exactly. It turns out that all it would have taken to get HIV/AIDS onto these front pages was money. And a blind eye.

Read more, and learn about ways you can take action.

LifeLube on FB

Won't you join us there?

On your Crack or on your Mac - stay connected.

How is David Munar healthy?

To feed my mind, body and spirit I need to feel passionate about my work, my surroundings, my pastimes and those I spend most of my time with. I'm a serious soul who also needs to joke around, laugh and smile. Life would be so dull without silly banter, sarcasm and joy. And I can laugh at my own foibles as much as anyone else's.

And to nurture my pensive, meditative side I need to run and leave the world literally and figuratively behind. When I run, I lose myself in thought much like reading a good book or slipping into a vivid dream. I live for the physical and mental accomplishment of striving for another mile or crossing the finish line. This year I'll train for my 5th marathon.

[Support his efforts and help raise funds for the AIDS Foundation of Chicago.]

--David Ernesto Munar
Chicago

How are you healthy?
Join in the conversation.
Tell us HERE. Send a pic to the same place.
And we'll blog it, right here.
Read past posts.

Join Us! Chicago Organizing Meeting for the 2009 National LGBTI Health Summit and Bi Health Summit

Join Chicago area members of the LGBTI and ally community and Summit collaborators as we discuss current and future progress in our preparation for the 2009 National LGBTI Health Summit, August 14-18. The Bi Health Summit kicks the events off with a day-long series of activities on August 14.

Who: Chicago area planners, collaborators, volunteers, and participants interested in helping to organize the 2009 National LGBTI Health Summit here in our city.

When: Thursday, April 23, 4 p.m. - 6 p.m.

Where: Center on Halsted, 3656 North Halsted Street, Room 200

What: Discuss ways Chicago LGBTI folks and allies can volunteer during the Summit, organize social activities for participants, spread the word, and encourage individuals and organizations around Chicago to jump on board and partner in our efforts.

There is a lot to do, this is YOUR Summit and we need YOUR help.

Hope to see you there! Bring your energy, good ideas and a friend!

In the meantime, join the Summit group on Facebook.

Come Learn About Chicago’s Bid to Host the 2016 Olympics

TONIGHT - CHICAGO

Frontrunners/Frontwalkers Chicago and the City of Chicago Commission on Human Relations’ Advisory Council on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Issues invite members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender communities to a public meeting where information will be shared by representatives of Chicago 2016.

The meeting will be held from 6:30 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. on Tuesday, March 31, at Circuit Nightclub, 3641 N. Halsted Street.

Representatives from Chicago 2016 will share information about Chicago’s bid, the status of the bid process, and plans to involve Chicago’s diverse communities as the process moves forward.

A question and answer period will follow the formal presentation.

Report Explains Isolation of LGBT Seniors

via Eight Forty-Eight
originally broadcast March 24, 2009

Later this spring, the Illinois House is expected to vote on a measure that would grant both same-sex and opposite-sex couples many of the same legal protections that come with marriage. If the Civil Unions Act passes, it would give partners in a civil union a number of rights, including the ability to make medical decisions for their partner in an emergency. A report from the Howard Brown Health Center in Chicago says it will help many senior citizens in same-sex relationships who are feeling the effects of not having these rights. Howard Brown’s Hope Barrett says it’s tough to be older and gay, bisexual or transgender.

Listen.

And in a related story:

"I keep on track, or the train will stop." - Terry Powell

Midlife Patients With HIV or AIDS Require Care for Chronic Conditions

Individuals older than 50 who have HIV or AIDS confront a daily dilemma. How do they keep the disease under control while treating other health issues common in middle age and as seniors? It’s a juggling act that challenges healthcare providers as much as patients.

Read the rest.

Someone aint havin' the words Gay, Sexy and Healthy in the same sentence

[So, yeah, our cute "How are you healthy?" ads aren't so well-loved by everyone...]


Gay ads defaced on CTA, by BY ADRIAN G. URIBARRI on Chi Town Daily News

The words are carefully carved out, with scissors or a sharp blade. At times, they are covered with tape. The goal of the handiwork, health advocates say, is clear: Take "gay, sexy, healthy" out of public view.

The phrase, part of advertisements throughout the Chicago Transit Authority, has been disappearing from buses and trains. Gay-health activists, who helped fund the campaign, say they don't know who is defacing the ads, but they call it a blatant sign of intolerance.

Read the rest.

Deadlines extended for 2009 National LGBTI Health Summit

IMPORTANT UPDATE! By popular demand, deadlines for workshop proposals, early-bird registrations, and scholarship submission have been extended to Wednesday, April 15, 2009.

Visit the Summit website now and join in planning activities underway. Register, submit a workshop proposal, book your hotel room, and more.

There are several other ways to stay connected to the Summit:

Follow the Summit on Twitter!

Join the Summit group on Facebook!

Organizers look forward to welcoming you to Chicago this August - for both the 2009 Bi Health Summit and the 2009 National LGBTI Health Summit. The Bi Health Summit begins the evening of August 13 and continues all day August 14 with a variety of activities. The LGBTI Summit begins the evening of August 14 and continues through August 18. Learn more.

How is Israel Wright healthy?

I stay health by living a stress free life as possible.

Yep this might be a lofty quest in today's economic climate, but still I try. The silent killer is stress as it affects so many parts of the body.

Exercise is beneficial and trips to the health club are so rewarding in many ways.

Diet is another way that I am making sure to stay healthy.

Overall I do not miss trips to my doctor for regular checkups.

-- Israel Wright
Chicago

How are you healthy?
Join in the conversation.
Tell us HERE. Send a pic to the same place.
And we'll blog it, right here.
Read past posts.

Please Consider Justice and Inclusivity for ALL Populations As You Reform Health Care

Dear President Obama,

Please Consider Justice and Inclusivity for ALL Populations As You Reform Health Care

As LGBT Illinoisans, we know your commitment to this cause. Your record in support of civil rights for all and health care reform speaks for itself. You want a more inclusive, healthier world with less health disparities and stronger community health. A world where lesbian and bisexual women do not suffer from disproportionately high rates of smoking, alcohol use, obesity, and lack of insurance that place them at higher risk for breast cancer, heart disease, diabetes, depression, addiction, and other chronic, life-threatening illnesses. A world where gay and bisexual men do not suffer from disproportionately high rates of psycho-emotional disorders, addictions, and (most notably) HIV/AIDS. A world where transgender folks are able to be healthy and live free from violence.

With National LGBT Health Awareness Week just past, March 9-14, 2009, and health care reform gaining momentum, we must remember some basic priorities.

The LGBT population must be included in health care reform. When considering the topic of health care reform, you must not ignore the great social injustice being suffered by the groups of greatest health disparity. Therefore, I call on you to ensure that any healthcare reform be inclusive of LGBT folks. For the past eight years, we have had to be present, but invisible in the national health conversation.

By making health care reform inclusive of the LGBT community, healthcare settings could become safe, helpful places rather than venues of shame, stigma, and prejudice. Preventative practices and messages would be appropriate and inclusive, reducing the cost of reactionary treatment to preventable disease. We will not have to use the emergency room as our primary health care provider as so many of us without insurance are forced to do. Instead, we will know that providers have knowledge about our true risks, best practices for how to care for us, and how to be respectful of our families and identities.

The LGBT population must be included in data collection – so that we can understand the truths of our bodies and lives. The need for accurate, inclusive data is two-fold: 1) if we don’t know what is wrong in our community, we can’t fix it and 2) data is the basis for all federal support and funding for health initiatives. Our national surveys don’t include sexual orientation and gender identity questions. We need these tools to accurately understand what problems all of us face so we can solve them. Furthermore, without data about health issues in our population, the LGBT population is consistently overlooked by federal programs.

By making health care reform and research LGBT-inclusive, we will be able to better care for the entire community. These reforms will affect the most vulnerable members of our community – those who can’t choose a health care provider based on what their website profile says, but who delay care until crisis strikes. If health care reform is LGBT-inclusive, our doctors, nurses and staffs will be better able to care for all of their patients and our nation’s health will improve.

Michael C. Cook
President and CEO
Howard Brown Health Center
Chicago

All I have power over is myself

[a LifeLube interview]



Who are you? Scott Grannan

What do you do? Write.

How did you wind up in Chicago? Good taste?

What is different about your life now as opposed to a few years or months ago? I now live with (very) Aggressive Coronary Artery Disease and numerous complications you don’t want to hear about.

What or who motivated you to make a change in your life? Triple-Bypass Surgery following a heart attack in March of ’07, coupled with a nasty C-diff infection contracted while recovering at Illinois Masonic.

What is one key issue for you that needs addressing in terms of gay men's health? Sometimes it feels like the community has forgotten that you don’t have to be HIV-positive to have major health challenges. It’s absolutely wonderful how the HIV community has coalesced since this awful plague began. As a still-negative person who has buried over 30 good friends (many close and lifelong), I applaud the work of TPAN and organizations like it with all my heart. As someone in far worse health than many of my surviving positive friends, I find myself often envying the number of programs and organizations that are available to them for which I’m simply not eligible. Navigating some way to pay my bills has been a nightmare, and all the more confusing due to the side effects from the 23 drugs prescribed for me to take each day. Yet I’m not “sick enough” for case management assistance from groups that work with the disabled, and almost two years later I’m still fighting the good fight with Social Security to get disability.

How do you educate, motivate and inspire others who might be going through a similar situation? I think the most important thing is to make them aware that they’re not alone. Without community, you get no reality checks and it’s all too easy to succumb to society’s propaganda saying your disease is somehow your fault or that there’s got to be something obvious you could be doing that you’re overlooking that would make it all just go away.

What are some of the assets in our community that we overlook? Well, speaking for myself, I know I seriously underestimated the potential of human compassion. When you’re trying to navigate any bureaucracy (particularly government programs), it’s all too easy to lose sight of the world beyond that labyrinth. I had to be reminded that there are still living, flesh and blood people out there who can actually sympathize with my dilemma.

Do you consider yourself a spiritual person and, if so, in what respects? Yes, I believe strongly in God and Karma and treating others as you’d want to be treated. Just don’t get me started on organized religion.

Do you have a support system? Who do they consist of? I have many wonderful friends and my doctors are great. The deacons at my church were also a huge help immediately after I (finally) left the hospital.

How do you keep yourself motivated? I just look into the eyes of my dogs and cats.

What makes you happy? Love, Butterflies and Change in Washington.

On a sunny day, I.... take the dogs for extra walks.

On a cold, rainy day, I..... hibernate as much as possible.

In overcoming your addiction, or dealing with HIV, or finding a healthy and balanced lifestyle, what role did finding "meaning" in your life play a role? Well it’s everything, isn’t it? Problem is, it’s just not possible to watch It’s a Wonderful Life enough times to not forget, on occasion, that we all have meaning all the time. Being sick means you’re often going to feel exhausted. When you’re exhausted, even breathing can seem like an impossible task. It’s an immense world out there and it takes energy and faith to avoid feeling like just another grain of sand sometimes. I know that for me, constant reminders are necessary. I’m thankful to get mine from my pets and from the humans I love as well. They give me the faith to believe that whatever strength I need will be available to me when I truly need it, even if at that moment I find it hard to imagine.

In a few words, can you offer a bit of advice for someone who may be struggling with a similar issue? Despite what may seem like overwhelming evidence to the contrary, try to believe that some power greater than yourself has put you on this earth for some purpose. Life’s biggest challenge for most of us can be accepting that we might never know ourselves what that specific purpose might be. All I have power over is myself, so simply working on the best “me” I can be is challenge aplenty.

Monday Morning Perk-Up: Chris Rock & the Gays

Brought to you by Pistol Pete

Science Geeks and Gay Men Demand Options Beyond Latex

You all will appreciate this - whether you want to geek out on research or are just plain sick and tired of condoms as your only choice for protection of sexual transmission of HIV...

Check out the slides and audio from a recent International Rectal Microbicide Advocates teleconference previewing upcoming rectal microbicide safety trials. Learn what the future of sex may look like!

IRMA Exclusive:
A Preview of New Rectal Microbicide Safety Studies

Featuring presentations by Medical Research Council’s Dr. Sheena McCormack (UK - on left), UCLA’s Dr. Peter Anton (center) and Dr. Ian McGowan, University of Pittsburgh (right). Be among the first to know about upcoming rectal microbicide trials - including rectal safety studies of tenofovir and Pro2000 - from the scientists leading the efforts. Click each presenter's name to access their slides in PDF format.

This teleconference was recorded, and is available in three sections in MP3 format (files are rather large.) Click on the presenter's name to hear their portion of the call. In order, Dr. Ian McGowan, Dr. Sheena McCormack, Dr. Peter Anton. Thanks to IRMA member Bill O'Brien for helping us provide these recordings. Tip: listen to the recordings and follow along with the appropriate slides.

Special thanks to AVAC for hosting the call!

Learn more about the future of anal sex here. IRMA's got your back, and your booty.

TURN THEM OFF, VOTE PLANET EARTH

This year, the world's first global election is taking place, an election between earth and global warming. It's not about what country you are from, but what planet you are from. Your light switch is your vote. We need one billion votes for earth, because our planet is worth saving.

Vote Earth by simply switching off your lights for one hour and join the world for Earth Hour. Saturday March 28th, 8:30-9:30pm - wherever you live. That's TODAY for the United States!

Let's make Chicago DARK!

How are you fabulous? Pickett flips the script on Feast of Fun

via Feast of Fun, recently picked by the readers of the Chicago Reader as “Best Gay News Source” in the 2009 “Best of” Awards sponsored by the free weekly newspaper.

How are you healthy? How are you fabulous? Gay men’s health blogger and advocate Jim Pickett is on today’s show. Jim’s reaching out to the fellas everywhere to write about ways they stay healthy.

For years, gay men’s health awareness campaigns have been wagging their fingers at us, focusing on the negatives but overlooking the positives aspect of who we are. LifeLube is collecting tips and tricks on how gay men stay healthy and vibrant, after all, being gay is not just good, it’s fabulous!

Read more, listen to the podcast.

Microbicide advocates stress options - Chicago Free Press

via Chicago Free Press, by Amy Wooten

With over 33 million people living with HIV/AIDS across the globe, advocates stress that more prevention options are needed, and a product currently in development—microbicides—could potentially save millions of people from infection.

Microbicides have for years been in development to reduce HIV transmission, and some even aim to prevent other STDs, as well. But since the rectum and vagina are biologically very different, safe and effective microbicides for both areas need to be developed.

The rectum is what AIDS Foundation of Chicago (AFC) Director of Advocacy and International Rectal Microbicides Advocates (IRMA) chair Jim Pickett describes as “the perfect storm” for HIV infection. Although women will primarily use vaginal microbicides, safety trials are being conducted to determine if they are safe for anal use. Both men and women will ideally utilize rectal microbicides.

According to AFC policy manager Jessica Terlikowski, Chicago has been a hub for microbicide activism.

“This is the city where microbicide advocacy has been taking place for the last 10 years,” Terlikowski said.

That is why advocates are ecstatic that an upcoming clinical trial of a vaginal microbicide gel will take place in Chicago, as well as other cities. Terlikowski said that the trial would most likely be launched this summer and added that support for microbicide research and development is on the rise.

Read the rest.

How is Micah Krohn healthy?

I wake up early every morning so I have time for my daily practice - for starters, tea and toast with Sparky and the girls.

Then forty minutes of qigong (pronounced "chee gung", described below), twenty minutes of sitting meditation, and a walk around the hood or through the woods, again with Sparky and the girls. Throughout the day, I do little things (like lightening up and paying attention) to infuse my life with the benefits of meditation and the viewpoints shared by the Tibetan Buddhists.

Though I have not taken formal instruction, I am partial to the teachings of the Shambhala Community - Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche and Pema Chodron. It is an expansive, playful view with the key ingredient that you can just start where you are. So, ... everybody in the pool :D

Qigong is a Taoist health and longevity practice that combines stillness, breath, self-massage and gentle movements to cultivate and channel essential energies (known as jing, chi and shen) in specific ways that heal and strengthen our bodies. It feels like taking a shower from the inside out! (I'm a relative beginner, maybe it feels like something else later in the practice :D)

On June 6 and 7, there will be a beginners' level workshop in Chicago's Lakeview neighborhood at the beautiful Center on Halsted. Our instructor, Eva Wong, has translated and written extensively on the Taoist arts of health, meditation, qigong and feng shui. Dr. Wong is a 19th-generation lineage carrier of Xiantianwujimen Taoism and a 3rd-generation student of Wang Xiangzhai, founder of Yiquan martial arts and Zhangzhuan.

Please join us.

-- Micah Krohn
Chicago

How are you healthy?
Join in the conversation.
Tell us HERE. Send a pic to the same place.
And we'll blog it, right here.
Read past posts.

Feel the Love...

[Sister Glo is an HIV educator, gay men’s health advocate, and member of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence in Seattle. She is drawn to sparkly objects and believes that glitter and the transformative power of love in action are necessary to gay men’s health and wellness.]

salvation

Sister Glo shares her glittery gems of love
with LifeLube each Friday.
Click here to read them all.

The salvation of man is through love and in love.

~ Viktor Frankl

Friday is for Faeries

How is Julio Perez healthy?

I keep healthy by not denying myself the things I love most.

If given the choice between taking or skipping that second helping of cherry pie, I'll say, "Load 'er up!"

I don't make decisions based on what people will think of me, or how I may appear to some people (or if I'll fit in those size 32 jeans.)

Life has taught me that beauty is objective and people who live the most fulfilled lives are the ones who didn't say no when the world told them to.

So many doors are shut when you decide to say "no" and go with the flow of what society tells us what is right/sexy/beautiful.

To me, being healthy is enjoying and taking advantage of what life has to offer without shutting those doors. You never know what you could be missing.

-- Julio Perez
Chicago

How are you healthy?
Join in the conversation.
Tell us HERE. Send a pic to the same place.
And we'll blog it, right here.
Read past posts.

A Vaccine Debate Once Focused on Sex Shifts as Boys Join the Target Market

[Interesting, disturbing, and sadly, not surprising that this important story makes NO MENTION of gay men, for whom HPV is a BIG DEAL.]

Also of interest:
Anal cancer prevention: how we are failing men who have sex with men


via Washington Post, by Rob Stein

When a vaccine designed to protect girls against a sexually transmitted virus arrived three years ago, the debate centered on one question: Would the shots make young girls more likely to have sex?

Now the vaccine's maker is trying to get approval to sell the vaccine for boys, and the debate is focusing on something else entirely: Is it worth the money, and is it safe and effective enough?

"We are still more worried about the promiscuity of girls than the promiscuity of boys," said Susan M. Reverby, a professor of women's studies and medical history at Wellesley College. "There's still that double standard."

Read the rest.

A New “Benedict Arnold” Heralds Salvation for Africa

By Pete Subkoviak

There is a reason why I consider myself a recovering Catholic – his name is Benedict. Now don’t get me wrong, I think there are many wonderful Catholic organizations, priests and laity doing important work out there. My beef isn’t with the do-gooders, it’s with the leadership.

The growing rift between the realities of a people and the priorities of their leaders is apparent in the Roman Catholic Church. For us in the United States, the disillusion stems from the Church’s war on science and human sexuality, as well as its hidden sexual abuse scandals and misogynistic nature. Oh, and that pesky vow of poverty that few bishops, cardinals and popes feel the need to adhere to. Proselytizing yes, but skimping on gold-plated décor? I think not.

For impoverished nations, the Church’s misguided leadership has larger implications than fewer worshippers in the pews. Take, for instance, the AIDS-ridden African continent where millions of lives are at stake.

Last week while in Cameroon, Pope Benedict XVI claimed that condoms are not only ineffective, but contribute to the spread of HIV. “You can't resolve it with the distribution of condoms," the pope told reporters. "On the contrary, it increases the problem." The pope said a responsible and moral attitude toward sex would help fight the disease. The Catholic Church rejects the use of condoms as part of its overall teaching against artificial contraception. The Vatican instead advocates fidelity in marriage and abstinence from premarital sex as key weapons in the fight against HIV/AIDS.

Let’s put these statements in context with the current pandemic. Three-quarters of all AIDS deaths worldwide in 2007 were in sub-Saharan Africa, where some 22 million people are infected with HIV — accounting for two-thirds of the world's infections, according to UNAIDS. About 5% of the African population is infected with HIV. In Namibia, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe around 15-20% of adults are infected with HIV. In Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland, the national adult HIV is between 23-26%. Only one in five HIV-positive Africans has access to the medicines they need; generations are becoming too disabled to work and cannot provide an income for their families, and eventually their children are being orphaned, left alone in a world where the deck is stacked against them.

Pope Benedict favoring religious dogma over the health and wellbeing of his followers, and all of God’s children, is un-Christ-like (and totally not pro-life) as far as I’m concerned. What Catholics need here is a little more honesty and a little less guilt. Saying condoms don’t prevent HIV/AIDS is like professing food doesn’t prevent hunger. When used properly and consistently, condoms are about 98% effective at preventing HIV, other STDs and unwanted pregnancy. Now I’m all for promoting abstinence and fidelity, but tone must take reality into account.

The reality is that most people do not remain abstinent forever. The most recent study on the impact of abstinence-only education from Johns Hopkins researcher Janet Rosenbaum was conclusive. Comparing teens who took a pledge of abstinence with teens of similar backgrounds who did not, she found absolutely no difference in their sexual behavior, or the age at which they began having sex, or the number of their partners. In fact, the only difference was that the group that promised to remain abstinent was significantly less likely to use birth control, especially condoms, when they did have sex.

And many people do not practice monogamy – whether their partners know it or not. In fact, a 2005 US Health Resources and Services Administration report found that 85% of women with HIV in India were infected through heterosexual contact and over 90% reported a single lifetime partner, generally their spouse.

Is it any different in Africa? Well, take the case of Annet Nyakisiki of Uganda. She was a virgin at the time of her marriage, but her husband was not. There is no way to know exactly when he contracted the AIDS virus, but he did. He subsequently passed it on to her, and all four of their children would eventually be born with the disease. Dr. David Serwadda, director of the Institute of Public Health at Makerere University in Kampala says, "Increasingly, people assume that marriage is a safe institution. But there are also extramarital relationships. Married women don't see why they are at risk, yet they are very much at risk." Should individuals really have to suffer the consequences of their partner’s infidelity just to adhere to the Church’s moral standards?

This is precisely why a band of progressive young folks has launched a grassroots campaign known as “Love the One You’re With”, which encourages love, respect and yes, abstinence as a valid CHOICE, while promoting condom education and acceptance right here in Chicago. The bright pink safe-sex kits and promotional materials are meant to highlight the morality of safer sex to the city and nudge local, state, and federal officials to expand condom promotion and distribution as a science-based response to the HIV and STD epidemics in the region.

There are some problems that religion simply cannot solve, just as there are some evils that science cannot remedy. An individual can adhere to their own religious beliefs, but they will never be able to control a partner’s fidelity or HIV-status. We can strive for a utopian society where all are chaste until marriage, but we must deal with reality. In many areas of the world, 25% of the population is HIV-positive. We cannot play Russian roulette with their lives for morality’s sake. That, in and of itself, is immoral.

[Pete Subkoviak is a policy associate at the AIDS Foundation of Chicago. He advocates for sound policies related to HIV/AIDS and works to improve the overall health and wellness of the LGBT community.]

The "Work-In" - Step Two

Ed Negron, a former drug user, turned gangbanger, turned drug dealer, turned own best customer, turned addict, turned recovering addict (still there), turned activist, turned business manager, turned student, turned Substance Abuse Counselor, turned better and happier person, turned someone who can love and be loved (Love you Patrick), turned blogger. Check out Ed's own blog here.

Featured Every Thursday on LifeLube --- check out all of Ed's "Work-In's" here.

Series continued from January 29, 2009
The 12 Steps: A historic and analytic explanation

[Channeled via 12 Steps Workbook: The Proactive Twelve Steps by Serge Prengel]

If you have been paying attention to The Work-In you’ll notice that I talk about letting go of crap that doesn’t serve you in a positive way any more. Here is another way of letting go. As I mentioned in an earlier post I love this mantra, “I release and I let go.” Repeat it over and over. Say it with some rhythm. Give yourself a little music therapy.

Music Therapy is the clinical and evidence-based use of music interventions to accomplish individualized goals within a therapeutic relationship by a credentialed professional who has completed an approved music therapy program. (American Music Therapy Association definition, 2005)

"Step Two"

I'm willing to let go of my usual ways, in the hope that this will help me see things from a broader perspective.

Original wording (AA):
Came to believe that a power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.

Letting go

In Step One, you realized the absurdity of clinging to "solutions" that don't work. Why then do you still cling to them? Probably because it feels somehow safer to have a "solution" (even one that doesn't work) rather than no solution at all.

Step Two is about letting go of these useless "solutions" to make room for new ones. Now, of course, there is absolutely no guarantee that you will find a solution that works. There's a big difference between hoping that things work out, vs. expecting and demanding that they do. It is quite possible that your fears will turn out to be realized. But, even then, you can keep the hope that there’s still potential for happiness, even after your fears are realized. In other words, Step 2 is about letting go of the old, narrow sense of who you are because it doesn't work (even though you somehow believe it should work)...

A new perspective

There once was an actor who couldn't use his voice the way he wanted to. At some point, he decided to stop trying so hard to make the sounds he wanted happen. Instead, he started paying close attention to how he made sounds - not just his voice per se, but also the movements of his body. He seemed to have lost his original focus on the voice as he kept experimenting with the movements of his body. But eventually he discovered that he now had an even better command of his body and voice than ever before. So he didn't just go back to the stage; he started teaching his method of movement to the public - it's known after his name, as the Alexander method.

Feeling stuck as a starting point

This story shows the difference between acknowledging your stuckness vs. falling into a spiral of despair. When you hit a really difficult spot, you probably start to feel overwhelmed. You convince yourself that there's nothing you can do about it or about anything else... You start to believe that you are doomed...

This is not necessarily true. Alexander's first step was to take stock of reality - the way things were, he simply couldn't be an actor any more. He was powerless in that sense. But he didn't jump to the hasty conclusion that all was lost. He stayed in the simple reality of observing what was happening. He kept trying to move consciously, focusing his attention on the mechanics and feelings of making movements... He used his energy to deal with the specific problems at hand instead of using it to generate predictions of hopelessness and doom.

Alexander's story is hardly unique. Way back from antiquity, there are examples of people who have overcome major obstacles through conscious attention. For instance, Demosthenes, born a stutterer, became one of Greece's most famous orators.

I don’t share too many alleluia moments. I do want share this great song.

Release and I Let Go

-- Music & Lyrics by Michael Beckwith & Rickie Byars (Eternal Dance Music [BMI]) © 1993

I re-lease and I let go,
I let the Spi-rit run my life.
And my heart is op-en wide,
Yes, I’m on-ly here for God.

No more strug-gle, no more strife,
With my faith I see the light.
I am free in the Spi-rit,
Yes, I’m on-ly here for God.

I re-lease and I let go,
I let the Spi-rit run my life.
And my heart is op-en wide,
Yes, I’m on-ly here for God.
No more strug-gle, no more strife,
With my faith I see the light.
I am free in the Spi-rit,
Yes, I’m on-ly here for God.
I am free in the Spi-rit,
Yes, I’m on-ly here for God.

To read daily motivations visit my blog at thework-in.blogspot.com or to receive daily motivations via email join our Google group Back To The Basics Please .

If you are not sure how to begin your work-in or need some guidance please feel free to post a comment or email me directly at thework-in@hotmail.com, I will response as soon as I can.

(Usual disclaimer applies: The suggestions on this blog are just that “SUGGESTIONS.” My words cannot heal your pain and or addictions. Nor can I change your life. Only you can.)

“Every time you don't follow your inner guidance, you feel a loss of energy, loss of power, a sense of spiritual deadness." -- Shakti Gawain