Imagine What The World Would Look Like ...

…if we used our entertainment to empower ourselves and our children.

Music has been a major part of my life as far back as I remember.

From being the seed of a musician (my father I never met was a musician) to the John Denver Records my mom would spin, to my first album purchase, MC Hammer’s “Too Legit to Quit,” to my heavy metal days, Dave Matthews Band Fanatical days, Jam Band days to the Mantra’s and Global mood music, it seems to run through everything I do.

Finally, at one point, I wanted to create my own. And I did.

I wrote songs of struggle and sorrow, broken relationships and about my perspective on the world.

I created opportunities to play on some of the best stages, I traveled the US and parts of the world performing.

For most of my “career” in music, it was more about my need for approval and acknowledgement then it was about the music I was playing and the things that I was saying.

When I came out of suicidal depression, which was triggered by my deep identification with the “artist” side of myself, I began to learn and research about the deeper aspects of music, why it is so powerful and the implications of what it can create in the world.

I then traveled to India on a one way ticket. The music that came through began to take a different turn. Songs began to come that healed aspects of my broken mind and heart. Songs that empowered me to be the best I could be and to be of service to the world.

When I finished recording “Brave New World - The Time is Now,” which was a collection of these songs set to the background of the cultures and experiences I was having traveling through India and the Middle East, I realized that I wanted to do something different with music.

I wanted to use it as a transformational tool.

I wanted to go back to the focus and sacred nature of it that moved me so deeply as a child.

I wanted to offer it to the world in a way that could help my fellow brothers and sisters as much as it helped me through my internal struggles.

I (well We) did. We created a Self Development program, "The Brave New World ToolBox," that uses the music as an anchor to take actions to empower your life.

In 2015, I wrote a speech about my story, my learning and the implications of music.

It was denied by TEDx, as it wasn’t PC enough, so I got creative with TEDx and delivered this.

But I knew that I had to deliver this message with or without Tedx.

So in 2016, in partnership with my beloved wife and in collaboration with local community and fellow mission driven musicians and artist, we created a Theater Show that used music and entertainment to empower the lives of everyone whom participated.

From the feedback we received, it opened hearts, expanded perspective. It landed. It spoke. It transformed.

It was the beginning.

We look around at our entertainment options these days and it is full of negativity, self-indulgence and violence.

We deserve better. We are better. We deeply need better.

I have made it my mission to bring entertainment experiences to the world that serve, support, empower and uplift.

Today, I wanted to share with you that speech (Click the image below) and ask you a question.

Who do you know that wants to use music or entertainment as a way to empower and heal humanity? Is it you, lets connect. If it is someone you know, please share this email and put us in touch.

We have an industry to transform!

With Love and Gratitude,

Daniel

In Response To An Article About Poisening California's Water Supply

FIRST Read this short article .... http://wearechange.org/did-los-angeles-mayor-just-poison-the-entire-counties-water-supply/



Now, It is really getting desperate out there. Beyond the water supply, which we all are very well aware of, Look at the last part about debt and think about it .... how much of our lively hood (in many areas) of our life, depends on this thing called a credit score, what do you think the credit score of California would be? .... The Time is Now! for major transformation in our glorious paradise called California. No amount of Gentrification, bright shiny objects or renovations can fix the fact that we parched as a culture, on the inside, thirsty for change. We are the ones we have been waiting for, rise up Cali, turn the finger inward and ask the simple question, how am I participating in the depletion of resources through my lifestyle, and most importantly, my mindset? The only real change is going to come when each and every one of us takes responsibility and makes the small changes that will result in a major cultural transformation. What does that look like, well, here are a few ideas that come off the top of my mind that I do my best to live each and every day of my life ...

Be Kind to Others
Meditate for clarity on what you (personally) can do to make a difference.
Simplify
Stop Worrying
Be grateful for all you have.
Work with Integrity
Give Love
Smile
Consume less food (especially meat)
Engage in Local Community
Have Fun
Laugh a lot

and the list goes on and on and on. I don't know about you, but I LOVE California, it is the reason I came back, it is the most dynamic and wonder FULL place on the earth, it is up to us to preserve it by preserving ourselves. I believe in the power of the human mind to collaborate with nature to co-create environments that will sustain us for the rest of our days. Lets do this!, individually and collectively.

With my deepest love and gratitude.

Using the Nazi's Strategy to Empower Us!

I just finished reading Victor Frankl’s mind-blowing book, “Man’s Search for Meaning”. As I am sitting their next to my Israeli wife of whom we have a grandmother whom is a Holoucaust Survivor, it wells up in me to start asking some questions about the overall scope of this whole thing and this is what I learned and how it is related to my work in Empowerment through Music and so on…

The first question I remember asking is how long our beloved grandmother was in a camp,. and that led to an array of questions that took us down the rabbit whole of the whole entire era. It was a fascinating road to take last night.  

I became very very interested in WHY.  The first thing I learned was that Hitler’s strategy is one that all of us can learn from.  Basically, he found a common denominator for a struggling class of people, created a common enemy and began his work in destroying their every will to live through a very slow and steady process.  For some reason I thought it all happened very very quickly.  But no no, it simply started with Jews not being able to enter certain coffee shops, then universities, then they were sectioned off, closed in and slowly deported to the “work camps.”  I truly wonder if the original intention was to kill anyone at all or did that come with the critical masses anger and frustration.

One thing that came up in our conversation was man’s ability to adapt to his circumstances.  And this is a very positive thing. So what happened is one right was taken away, and the culture adjusted, finding the greater things in life, then another right was taken, and they adapted, saying it couldn't be worse, then another right is taken away, and humans say, well it cannot get any worse, all the way down until the work camp, sickness, humiliation, starvation,torture and ultimately death.  We want to see the light in every situation.  Like a flower we are always reaching for the sun.  Where my mind was blows was at the point that I realized that this was a class of people that was highly educated, a class of people that had it all so to speak, a class of people that knew the great value of trade and relationship building, and, at the end, that is was still stands so strongly in the Jewish communities.  

So how does this all tie into life right now, well, the clarity I receive is that EVERYTHING takes time. When I am working with clients or thinking about my projects I always get stuck in the notion that this needs to happen NOW, yet there is such great power in "slow and steady.”  The reason the impact was so profound and why so many people lost their lives was because it happened slowly, one step after another.  If the Germans would have woke up one day and just decided to start killing, the Jews would have out strategized them, but by making it one gesture after another that slowly stripped away their dignity and values, they turned a class of brilliant thinkers into people that lived only to dig their own graves. I know this is a very dark reflection, but there is something so profound in the learning of all of this when you think about doing the same thing to empower people. We are living in a time when it seems like a majority of people are digging their own grave with how they behave.  But, on the flip side, when you take a Step by step approach, it IS possible to build an new foundation of self respect and trust so that one can live a completely happy and free life.  You have to let go of the notion of overnight success, nothing was built in a day.  Everything worth any value in this world, whether negative or positive, has been built off of a step by step approach and takes time. When you show people one thing after another that can empower them to live more fully, their will to live will be stronger then any other force.  Take one step, adapt to the power of change, take another and so on until the foundation is so strong that nothing will ever be able to take it away. THE TIME IS NOW!

Maybe you would like to start building your foundation here

Also, Check out Victor Frankl's revolutionary Logotherapy here

Can Hugging Yourself Empower You?

Recently I have been taking session know as "Master Angel" Peace Work which is facilitated by a dear friend and soul traveler, Andrea Zellermayer.  Her incredibly insightful sessions have taken me to the root of many of the patterns that do not serve me in my life.

One of my favorite things that we have done has been to go back into the past and call in a specific incident in childhood in which I felt the particular pattern that we are working on.  Then, I go into that time and space as the man I am now and give the child guidance on what to do so that he will feel supported and empowered in his self,  a guidance in which I never received at that time and has shaped fear-based patterns in the present.

Well, as empowering as this very act is, today I went a step further at the end of the session and was asked to give myself and my childhood self a great big HUG!  Now I have never before in my life received a hug from myself, so the very notion was confusing and surreal all at the same time.  When I was finally able to focus in enough and do the deed, I, well, In all honesty and from the humblest place I could possibly say this, I was met with the most incredible hug I have ever received in my life!!!  So full of LOVE and COMPASSION, so devoted to the moment.  So, of course, a dose of instant doubt came in I immediately asked myself; Is that really what it feels like to hug me?  YES!!!!!!  YES!!!!  YES!!!! I SAY YYYYYYEEEEEEEESSSSSSSS! 

Fully empowered by this incredible sensation and healing that I felt being hugged by me, I felt the child complete and the Man composed and centered.   I know from this day forth, that feeling will always stay with me.  And now when I am with friends and loved ones, working with underprivileged persons or just meeting someone new and the moment arises to hug, I know very well what kind of love and kindness I am expressing in the gesture and can be fully confident that it can brighten up even the darkest of days!

I am committed to hugging myself on a daily basis now.  I think you should try it too.

Thank you so much Andrea Zellermayer, this session has changed the course of this lifetime!  WOW!

Sunrise 365 - Day 33 - I AM ABUNDANT

Day 33 - I am Abundant

This morning while I walked under the first light of this spectacular sunrise, I enjoyed the expanded thoughts of Wayne Dyer. One of the main topics of the day had to do with the state of abundance. Could you ever imagine the SUN having a thought that "today I just won't shine ….." or "am I enough?" I think the answer is clear .... but .... why do we? We think that we are SO BIG that we can just dim out whenever we want even though the WORLD needs us just as much as it needs the SUN. I say we make a commitment to SHINE our LOVE LIGHT in every moment possible with acts of gratitude, compassion and inner peace…..WHO's IN? .... and ….. How will you SHINE today???

Honestly...

I am scared! Scared of what? Scared of not being scared anymore. I have been brought up in a world of fear and as that fear turns to love, I find occasional comfort in FEAR. How could I not when I was raised that Fear is the way to live your life. Fear your grades, fear your friends, fear relationships, fear success, fear excess, fear loneliness, fear not being accepted, and I could go on and on for days. I still wake up many mornings with that fear mind masking my greatest gifts in the illusion of FEAR, and, many times, I will be ignorant enough to feed it, stirring in frustration of things NOT WORKING OUT, or not being LOVED, or loving. So, what to do in these moments, I will do what I have to do, breath it out, find that space inside where there is NOTHING to DO, Nothing to Fear, just a space so small, yet Infinitely connected to deep inner bliss...I must go there now...maybe, if you are feeling the same...you could go there too...here is how...

Stand tall and straight and as still as possible...take long deep breaths for 2 to 5 minutes, as long as you can and hold the inhales at the top as long as you can...as you breath out, release any tension by yelling, laughing or crying it out...then, after this process, shake it out for another 5 minutes. After that you should be ready to go, if not, you can go further, do an hour of yoga and 30 minutes more of breathing...but, that is just me...I LOVE YOU!

A response to a Michael Ellner Quote

I received this quote the other day and could not help but respond...

"Doctors destroy health, lawyers destroy justice, universities destroy knowledge, governments destroy freedom, the major media destroy information and religions destroy spirituality!” ---Michael Ellner

MY RESPONSE

....and when working from the highest consciousness, all professions can uplift and expand in all areas, assisting US in making our lives free...how we see the world is our reality!

...so, how about this...when doctors pay attention to individual needs, they transform, when lawyers seek truth, they open our eyes...when a university is our TOOL, they expand knowledge, when governments work with the people, they assist freedom...and about religion...it is not necessary when we have FAITH...so, seek out Professionals that Listen to the BIG MIND, and work from there as a vessel, then, the ONLY thing that can be destroyed.... is FEAR

Just thought it was worth Blogging...LOVE

Men! Please Read! "If" by Rudyard Kipling

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or, being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with triumph and disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with wornout tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on";

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch;
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run -
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man my son!