Summer? in the Highlands

Great to catch up with Estrella again, all going well and 4 new songs on the horizon. New groups starting up with young people in Inverness so I'm darting about like an insect with blue buttocks {or like a blue-a***d fly. as my Dad used to say}. Where on earth does an expression like that come from?

Weather up here has been like something from the Old Testament with trees down,  freezing cold, plagues of frogs and locusts,....  well cold, anyway. And wind like you wouldn't believe, literally flying wheelie bins outside the schoolroom.

All great though, I'm blessed to live such a varied life!

Rock n Roll is here to stay (well... for a few days anyway)

Monday 9th May and back into working with Estrella to finish the last few tracks for their album. Looking forward to seeing the boys, it's been awhile and they've become great pals. Go here if you fancy a listen to progress to date: http://lnk.ms/Hm6kw 

So it's "rock til you drop" at the house {which might not be long in my case...lol!}. I'll likely approach things a bit more cautiously and rock until I wilt a bit, then go to bed and leave the boys to continue to rock until they see fit to drop. I love it..... I'm afraid my leather pants don't fit any more but at least I don't have to bleach my hair these days. I must have spent a fortune on Brobat in the 70's and 80's.

My wife asked me how many eggs we had the other day. "Five" I replied. A moment of shock went through my whole being... me, one-time wild man of rock, ex hellraiser etc... Now I count the eggs!!

Fun is a Serious Business

The title of this appears to be an oxymoron... fun? and serious? Something I heard that really resonated with me at a conference I attended took the form of a very simple set of 3 criteria that need to be in place to facilitate a happy, balanced life and emotional stability.
1. Self Preservation {i.e we're fed, watered, groomed, take reasonable care of ourselves, feel loved etc. All the components required for survival are roughly in place}.
2. Self Development {i.e. we have objectives, targets, goals or whatever you call 'em... a sense of "I'm at THIS point now, but I'm aiming to be THERE" etc.
3. And Fun!!
Take this to the extreme:
One person may spend their life obsessing about perfect health. Is their life progressing? Are they having fun?
Another may be working themselves to death, to become richer, better job, more prestige. Are they taking care of themselves? Are they having fun?
Another just let's it all hang out! Parties, over-indulgence, general hedonism. Are they taking care of themselves? Is their life progressing?
If at any time I'm not totally happy with the overall dynamic of my life I can often pinpoint the imbalance just by examining the balance between these three criteria. From my experience these same 3 criteria even apply in one-off situations like my workshops. And funnily enough, fun can often be the one neglected!
Thus the title. I love simplicity!

Just got my first spam... not a virus, just some old malarky that attaches to all your friends on Facebook. How does that market anything though? I mean how many people think: "Oh dear! Someone's invaded my personal friend network and made me look a prat. Might as well see what they've got on offer though, it might be good!". So after laboriously deleting countless posts sent out on my behalf, I really think I deserve to win the holiday. I am getting wise to this stuff though. Not long ago I received an email saying "Hi, I'm Crystal! I'm 22 years old,  gorgeous, have long blonde hair and wear a miniskirt. And I'll be in your area tonight". The only place I could think she might be would be down by the village shop as it's the only shop for 30 miles along south Loch Ness side. I explained to my wife that I'd better check as it was the middle of winter {minus 13 degrees} and Crystal might freeze to death in a miniskirt. I'm not stupid though, I had growing suspicions it was a scam so wasn't falling for any of it. I only waited for an hour and went home.

Latest goings on

Since starting this online networking campaign things have gotten quite hectic. Whether it's for business or purely to catch up with old friends I would recommend to anyone my age to get themselves into 2011 and into the online community. Being 58 I shied away from it for ages and I'm sure I'm not alone. Of course it's a learning curve but in a sense the basic psychology behind it is surely that none of us like to feel stupid so simply stick to what we know.  As well as a "half-empty" or "half-full" approach to life you could also say that we may have either have a "forward" or "away from" approach. In other words, if you go fishing, are you after catching a fish or are you after not falling out of the boat? That was one of the basic flaws in my approach which I learned to challenge before I gave up the drink, although prior to that my glass had rarely been "half empty" or half full"!.

No Doubt - Underneath It All ft. Lady Saw - Another favourite of mine from 2002.

Remote Coaching Sessions with John T. Sinclair.

Book John T. Sinclair for 1 hour remote coaching sessions.  These sessions are done on SKYPE, John will listen without judgement and offer advice and coping strategies using a combination of hypnosis, counselling and CBT training.

Having experienced the depths of serious addiction himself, he considers his most valuable asset to be a natural empathy with anyone in the same situation.  In his own words his approach comes "Partly from the book, but mainly from my life" (after many years in the higher echelons of the rock music business).
  
His 1 hour sessions are 40 GBP per hour, payable prior to the appointment via bank transfer.

To book an appointment please send John an email: sinclair212@btinternet.com