Warm greetings and blessings to you, dear Friend!
May you be filled with lovingkindness.
May you be safe and protected from all inner and outer dangers.
May you be well in body and mind.
May you be at ease and happy.
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MONTHLY THOUGHT
Every January, I choose a word that will serve as my theme for the year.
My word/theme for 2017 is ACCEPTANCE.
Up until very recently, I equated acceptance with settling for things as they are…
or, more accurately, with abandoning my high standards and settling for LESS.
(Ah, that good old black-and-white, all-or-nothing thinking! ;-))
I’m now beginning to understand acceptance as a process which enables me to be at peace with all that is and has come before,
so that I may welcome in new ways of thinking and being.
I humbly admit that I have a lot of work to do with this new outlook on acceptance,
AND I’m grateful for the changes that are already beginning to manifest in my experience as a result of it.
(Case in point: On Christmas Day, on the way to visit a friend, my car broke down.
Rather than become agitated,
I accepted what was happening, calmly made a few phone calls,
and ate some Christmas chocolates while I waited in the sunshine by the side of the highway for help to arrive.
Believe me when I say that I would NOT have been able to do that a year ago!)
So – with gratitude and curiosity – I say YES to ACCEPTANCE.
In honour of Acceptance, I offer you a link to my chant “I Surrender”; may it serve you well.
https://soundcloud.com/nathen-aswell/i-surrender
(You can find the words to “I Surrender” here: https://www.nathenaswell.com/lyrics/)
I also offer you these two short EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) videos on acceptance; may they also serve you well.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQ5k9F3pSdo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJurR8emb8o
How about YOU, dear Friend? What’s most resonating in YOU these days?
WHEREVER you are on your journey, I’d love to hear from you. Please e-mail me at nathenaswell@me.com; we’re all in this together, and we have much to learn from each other.
(BIG THANKS to all of the kind souls who respond to my newsletters; reading your comments is always a highlight of my month.)
REPORT
I give GREAT THANKS for:
Andrea Menard and Robert Walsh, my fellow “Music Messengers”,
for the great joy of making music with them at St. Andrew’s-Wesley church,
and at the Vogue theatre (sharing the bill with Buffy Sainte-Marie and Susan Aglukark);
Rev. Brian Fraser, and the community at Brentwood Presbyterian in Burnaby;
The community at Unity of White Rock;
John and Trudy Wolff, for the great pleasure of serving them yet again (it’s been 11 years now!)
at their annual Christmas Concert / Food Fundraiser in Port Moody;
Joani Bye and Janet Warren, for the great pleasure of performing Christmas Carols with them in North Vancouver;
Revs. Austin and Mary Hennessey (You will be missed, dear ones! Blessings to you in the next chapter of your adventure),
the music team, and the community at Unity of Vancouver;
Monique and Michael Creber, for the great pleasure of performing with them as part of their annual “Magic of Christmas” show;
Rev. Terry Shea, and the community at CSL White Rock, for the great pleasure of performing
(along with my dear friends Neerava Nash and Shawn Soucy) at their “Celtic Yule” winter solstice celebration;
Shawn Soucy, Tom Arntzen, and Russell Marsland – my brothers – for the great joy of making music with them again
(We hadn’t played together in 6 years, AND it felt like I hadn’t missed a day :-));
Bobby Lee and Drew Johnson in Eugene, OR,
and all of the men at the Spiritual Center for Positive Living in Cameron Park, CA;
All of people with whom I connect on a regular basis –
Deb Gauldin, Vicki Hannah Lein, Harold Payne and Freebo in my MasterMind group,
Andy Bryce (http://www.tappingthrough.com),
Andy Harrison (http://www.andyharrisonmusic.com),
April Bosshard (http://www.deepstorydesign.com/),
and Becca Palm (http://www.beccapalm.com/) –
for helping me to process my feelings, think clearly and be accountable.
MUCH LOVE TO EACH OF YOU! XO
WHAT’S COMING / WHAT’S ONGOING
– PERFORMANCES (for more details on any performance, please visit https://www.nathenaswell.com/events/ and click on the date in the calendar)
in South Surrey, BC (“Social Hour” at Pacifica Retirement Residence) on Friday, January 6h
in Vancouver, BC (Church service at Unity of Vancouver) on Sunday, January 15th
in Vancouver, BC (Church service at Unity of Vancouver) on Sunday, January 22nd
in Vancouver, BC (Saturday afternoon dance party at the Fairview Pub) on Saturday, January 28th
in White Rock, BC (Church service [Music AND Message] at Unity of White Rock) on Sunday, January 29th
in Vancouver, BC (Church service at Unity of Vancouver) on Sunday, February 5th
– VIDEOS
In my efforts to be of greater service, I now have 3 new performance videos: one for Memorial Services, one for Retirement Residences, and one for Corporate Events. They can all be seen here: https://www.nathenaswell.com/category/video/
(BIG thanks to my dear friend Shawn Soucy, for shooting the video footage.)
– MUSIC
My very dear friend and song co-writer Becca Palm has created “Community Songs”, a songbook/CD package of 23 songs which includes 4 chants that she and I co-wrote (“Ho-oponopono”, “Listen”, “Small Steps” and “Turning Within”). To get your copy, please visit http://www.beccapalm.com/community-songbook-cd. (You can also listen to and/or download the songs here: http://www.beccapalm.com/listen-buy.)
– PODCASTS
I’m now the host of a new weekly show, “For the LOVE of Music”,
on Self Discovery Radio (https://selfdiscoveryradio.com/2016/12/03/for-the-love-of-music/).
My mission for the show is to celebrate songwriters who consciously seek to inspire and heal through their songs. Tune in each week to hear songwriters from around the world share their songs and their journeys, and enjoy music that will make YOUR heart sing.
The show begins on January 3rd and will air on Tuesdays from 1-2 PM Pacific Time.
Here’s the guest list for January:
3rd – Yours truly (being interviewed about the show by Sara Troy, the woman behind Self Discovery Radio)
10th – Holly Arntzen and Kevin Wright (The Wilds)
17th – Nicole Edwards
24th – Andrea Menard and Robert Walsh
(You can find links to shows, after the live broadcasts, here: https://www.nathenaswell.com/audio/)
(All of my “Small Steps Big Life” podcasts can be viewed here:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLoUkG1mTtiXTGe0Ccbv6054CkLJ09hvGY)
(All of my “In The Center of the Circle” podcasts can be viewed here:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLoUkG1mTtiXR22U7PbgbimmsCYYkNfafh)
– MEN’S GROUPS
Thanks to Skype and Zoom, I continue to lead a men’s group in Cameron Park, CA, and to stay connected to men in Eugene, OR for whom I led 2 men’s retreats. If YOU are part of a men’s group, or know of one that could use some support to get started, please e-mail me at nathenaswell@me.com – I’d love to help.
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As a very dear friend in Montreal once said to me, “All I can offer you is my experience”.
My sincere desire, in every one of my newsletters, is to offer you Experience, Strength and Hope.
Much love to you, dear Friend. May you allow yourself the gift of ACCEPTANCE, and may you go with LOVE.
– Nathen
https://www.nathenaswell.com
https://www.facebook.com/SmallStepsBigLifeWithNathenAswell
https://twitter.com/NathenAswell
http://www.LinkedIn.com/pub/nathen-aswell/3/941/874
https://myspace.com/nathenaswell