My Top 5 Favorite Female Vocalists (2023 Version)
I grew up with a mom who was a vocalist. I’m sure at some point when she was growing up she had aspirations of singing professionally, but she ended up marrying young and having 7 kids so her singing career consisted mostly of church solos and waking those kids up for school in the morning by belting out operatic high notes. I think I was exposed to female singers way before I listened to male vocalists which, at the time, consisted of Elvis and other country artists my dad loved. My ear still turns toward female vocals that are unique and powerful from Lucinda Williams to Jonatha Brooke to Kate Bush to Björk. I love many but here is a list of my top five favorites, for no reason other than I just want to make a list. These are in no particular order on purpose. They are all wonderful and I’m not in the mood to struggle with who might be better than whom because I’m pretty sure I would have to pick my mom.
Suze DeMarchi
Lead singer of Baby Animals, INXS, lots of other stuff.
Annette Strean
Lead singer of Venus Hum, Tin Finley, lots of other stuff.
Diana Krall
Solo artist, jazz virtuoso, lots of other stuff.
Ann Wilson
Solo artist, lead singer of Heart, no introduction needed.
Margaret Becker
Underrated solo artist, songwriter, producer, lots of other stuff..
A Piece of Me
There is a risk when using religious terms such as “The Father” or “The Christ” when thinking of or referring to God. It encourages one to imagine God as being simply a part of the whole “me.” “There is ‘me’ and then there is that part of ‘me’ I experience as God, which I call “Christ” or “The Father within.” This makes “me” the main character and “Christ” a secondary character inside of “me.” The reality is, there is only omnipresent God and this pretend character I know of as “me,” an individual expression of omnipresent God.
I’m A Guest on Take A Sip
A big thanks to Michael Poole for having me as a guest on his podcast “Taking A Sip.” We discuss spirituality, podcasting, kilts, drum corps, ASMR, the arts and tons of other things. Give it a watch!
To Know
Ultimately, it is impossible for anyone to know anything other than themself. Therefore, the only way to ever know God, is if God is that.
Abundance
This came to me during a morning meditation. Kinda smacked me in the face. I only post it here in case you need smacking too.
Creation Now
If we have no trouble believing a “Creator” created our entire universe at a certain point in time, should we then not have any difficulty at all considering, instead, this “Creator” is creating our universe RIGHT NOW and has been creating the entirety of it NOW, always?
One Thing
There is only one thing that needs to happen. Consciously be who you already are.
No Fear
People who for years have tried to stop abortions have finally met their goal but that isn’t good enough for them. They are still afraid and will have to target more free people in a constant attempt to appease their insatiable fear. They never will because they are hollow, empty people. The god they claim motivates them, can never really make them happy because that god is a fear-based, shell of an idea.
For decades, while enslaved, Africans in America regularly danced. Sang. Played music. Laughed. The empty slave owners could not rob the enslaved of the true Life and Light they carried within them. If we can use this as a model in our own lives, Truth will eventually overcome this climate of fear.
People who are possessed by fear are the weakest of people and it’s why they must rely on guns, bombs, and repressive laws to carry out their bidding. They have little else. Except fear. And they will eventually cower and run in the face of Truth. Even when enslaved, do not allow yourself to be overcome with fear in anything you do.
Also, dance. Don’t forget to dance.
Does Awareness Come From The Brain?
Q: Isn’t consciousness/awareness produced in the brain?
A: That which the brain produces constantly moves and changes. Over the course of your life, everything under the domain of the brain, including the brain itself, transforms. Comparing your life form at 2 years to you at 22 years and 42 and even 82, will reveal a life form drastically different. All of us look in the mirror and see a different person than we saw as a child. Even the thoughts that our brain/mind produces are not the same as those we thought when we were younger. Sometimes our thoughts can even change completely in a matter of hours. Our awareness, however, has never changed. While the objects of our awareness have changed many times since, the awareness itself is constant. When we think about our awareness in our youth, it seems no different than our awareness now. It feels ageless. Timeless. Unaffected by change or circumstances. How can a brain which is constantly changing and continually manufacturing movement and transformation, produce something that never changes?
The Universe and You
The most ego-centric position is, “There is the Universe/God and here is me, and the Universe/God is doing stuff to/for me.” How can you be something separate from the entire Universe/God? Do you really believe you are separate from the whole of everything else? No, what the universe does is what you do. What God is, is what you are. There isn’t something out there making things happen to you or for you. You are it, my friend! YOU are the whole of what is happening!
What Still Stands?
When you choose to deconstruct your faith, pay very close attention to what survives, what remains standing. Those things are pointers to what is ultimately true.