Category Archives: Jonas Brothers

Interactive E-book Club…Series 1

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Interactive E-book Club…Series 1
(Sept 2010-Sept 2011)

September 6, 2010

Here is a lasered blog with the membership details and two video links (at bottom of blog) describing the essence and purpose of the club.

Membership is $22 for the Series (For a short period of time the price is $17)

*You will receive 8-10 chapters per month, e-mailed in pdf form.

*At the end of Dec 2010, April 2011 and Sept 2011, you will receive a complete E-book in pdf document. (3 full length e-books)

Book 1- 24,000 mile journey Part 1 (Approx 40 chapters)
Book 2- 24,000 mile journey Part 2 (Approx 40 chapters)
Book 3- The journey of leaving Maryland to move to California  Part 1 (Approx 40 chapters)

* Reflective questions at the end of each chapter to help you activate your own dreams and explore your own inner journey.

*Monthly survey: Your ideas, your input, voting for the book cover and book title, and more…

*Monthly drawing with prizes like books, posters and goodies.

*Teleseminar type event on ustream, blog talk radio or telephone conference 3 times during the year. Scheduled after each completed book. Topics will emerge out of discussions and surveys. For example, “How to create and follow a dream”

*The Club is for all Ages. Wisdom from teens, adults and elders is ALL welcome! (posting a video with examples of wisdom from all ages on this journey. Coming soon!)

*Facebook Page: An Evolutionary Woman’s Journey Series.

Watch the videos to understand more about the IDEA! Thanks for watching… (See below)

Go to my formspring account, if you have more questions: http://www.formspring.me/andreahylen

Introduction to An Interactive E-Book Club: Click Here for Introduction

Membership details: Click Here for Membership Details

Longer blog with excerpts from the book: http://bit.ly/membdescription

Click here to sign up now! www.opentoinspiration.com

Posted in An Evolutionary Woman's Journey Series, Andrea Hylen, Interactive E-book club, Jonas Brothers, jonas watch, Open to Inspiration

Discover your own inner journey in an interactive e-book series

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Discover your own inner journey in an interactive e-book series
September 3, 2010

I love the fall! New ideas! Bursts of energy! And a preview of the coming year. During Sept, the month before my birthday, this always happens. Ideas come to me and I work on them over the next year. Maybe it is the conditioning of the end of summer and the beginning of the school year. Maybe it is seasonal. Maybe it is related to my birthday and the promise of a new year!

Whatever it is, 2 project ideas have arrived! I am going to tell you about one of them today.

Many of you know I traveled to 45 Jonas Brothers concerts during the summer of 2009. Hannah, my youngest daughter and I drove 24,000 miles in 11 weeks.

A few days ago, I surrendered to the impulse to share this book. The book involves 45 Jonas Brothers concerts, but there is a deeper story underneath. I felt called to do something that summer that made no logical sense and I lived on the edge financially to do it for three months.  Every time I was ready to give up, be responsible, come back to Baltimore, there was a paradigm shift.

*An invitation to dinner in Portland from a mother who was following the journey
*A 3-minute conversation with a woman in Minneapolis telling me the blogs were a lifeline to her 13 year old daughter
*A job to film Jonas fans playing Bop-it
*A mother who became a lifeline to my daughter in Los Angeles
*Tickets and hotel rooms that appeared from musicians and a bus driver who was driving the back up band.

It became a quest. With limited money,  I had to think differently to make it to the end.

Isn’t that what we are all being called to do right now? Think in a different way about all of the details in our lives. Everything in the world is changing. Jobs, housing, banking, education, government and healthcare.  This is not the time to give up. This is the time to dig deeper, get a new perspective, awaken our creativity, and collaborate with one another.

Here is the beginning of my vision. It will continue to evolve this year:

I am creating a membership called An Evolutionary Woman’s Journey series (this came to me as I drove through the mountains in 2008. Another story!)

The membership time period is Oct 1, 2010-Sept 30, 2011. The cost is $22. (If you sign up now, the cost is $17 and you will receive the first excerpt of the book on Sept 22, 2010)

Three e-books will be released this year:

Book 1-45 concerts Part 1
Book 2-45 concerts Part 2
Book 3-Living on the Road: A One-year journey

Here is what you do:

1. Go to this link to sign up: http://bit.ly/ewjourney

2. Every month 8-10 chapters of the current book will be e-mailed to you on the 22nd. I will mail the first chapters on Sept 22. It will be a pdf file. You can read it on your computer or print it out.

3. A survey will arrive 2 weeks later asking you for your opinion about things in the book.

4. Every month there will be something for you to vote on- Title of the book, Cover design, Book structure. I will supply the content of the book, but you will be building it with me. There is a book series called, “Choose Your Own Adventure.” There may be elements of that added to the book. Sections about making choices in our lives.

5. There is a Facebook page to join called An Evolutionary Woman’s Journey Series. There will be discussions. Anyone can join the FB page, but the books will only be shared with people who have a membership.

6. More ideas will emerge! And many of them will come from you.

7. If anyone has a business or a website, there will be space in the back of the book to advertise. E-mail me at opentoinspiration@gmail.com for advertising info.

8. If you have more questions about the program before signing up, write in the comments section of this blog or go to my formspring account. http://www.formspring.me/andreahylen

9. A monthly drawing with prizes like posters, books and goodies. More ideas will emerge…

                            ******************

Here are some of the lines from the book- Part 1:

*Concert 5-:  I started thinking about the impact we can each have on the people and the world around us. I talked with many fans who felt that the Jonas Brothers music had healed their hearts. They felt sad or unloved in their lives. This sadness could be from the loss of a loved one or an illness or a disappointment in life.

As I sang the songs in the concert tonight, I began to imagine that I was a light beam in the world. I was feeling the love and the music and then I was imagining that I could spread that love to the section I was in and then to the rest of the arena and out into the world.

What if that is true? What if whenever we felt love we began to radiate love to the world? Try this. Think of a situation where you have felt love. Feel the love and imagine that it can flow out of you, like breathing in and out. Breathe in the love. Breathe out the love. As you feel the healing of you own heart, breathe that out into the world and then breathe it in again. Maybe that is the greatest gift of following the Jonas Brothers. The love we feel radiated to ourselves and each other.

*I ask myself, “Why can’t I trust life to support me? Why must I worry and fear that things will not work out? Why am I holding onto the details of life so tightly when I have so much proof that I am supported?

*Am I here to watch the movie of my life or am I here for the ride? I choose the ride.

*Concert 6- Tacoma, Washington. I needed silence. My mind was racing with questions and I wanted to find a stillness to hear the answers. For me the silence is best in nature. I take a quiet walk or sit and watch the birds, the flowers, the trees, the wind, the clouds and the sky. As I sit in that still connection between myself and something greater than myself, the questions begin to appear.

*(talking about the impact of songs from the bands traveling with the Jonas Brothers) From the Honor Society is the song, “See U in the Dark.” This is stirring something in me that is ready for the next chapter in my life. I am closing the chapter of homeschooling Mom. Widow of Hurley. Baltimore resident. I am excited to move into the next chapter and it is scary at the same time. The words from the song, “I’ll never see you the same, The veil has been lifted, now I see you’re gifted, My whole perspective has changed.” This summer I want to explore the questions, “What are my gifts? What is the next step for me? How do I support Hannah in the last two years of school and begin to explore my own new life?” What’s next?

*Concert 9: Provo, Utah. My victory is your victory. My YES! to the Universe, is your YES! to the Universe. My adventure leads you to your adventure.

It takes courage to step out of your comfort zone and risk everything. I am learning to relax more on this evolutionary edge and follow the ideas and the guidance. Every step leads me to the next step.

*This is funny. As I write this blog, the ad on my Facebook page in this moment reads, “Be more than a Leader. Be an influential leader. Learn how to create solutions that make a difference!”

                                                                     ********

 I hope you will join me on the journey this year, as we create something together. Here is the link to sign up: http://bit.ly/ewjourney

Posted in An Evolutionary Woman's Journey Series, Andrea Hylen, Honor Society, Jonas Brothers, jonas watch, Leadership

Day 22: On the Road- Nick Jonas Week Part 2

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Jan 30, 2010 Berkeley, California.
Last concert of the NickJ winter tour AND Hannah’s Birthday.

Happy 17h Birthday, Hannah!!!!

By arriving early, we had six or seven hours to hang out and explore. Berkeley was a place I had read about for years. I had always wanted to hang out there.  It was a dream come true to be here!

It was gorgeous, sunny weather and there was lots of time to walk and explore the city. The street vendors brought back memories of being 13 again. Same jewelry: leather hair pieces, shell jewelry, metal chokers with beads. Was time standing still or was it a turn on the wheel? The same fashions from the 60’s and 70″s back in fashion again!

In my exploration of the town, I found a restaurant called Indian Palace with a buffet of Indian food; a coffee shop in one of the buildings on campus; and a study hall in the student union area with a diverse group of students, homeless people and Jonas fans. It felt like this was a community where anyone could be anything they want to be. We were all welcomed onto campus.

I saw so many people I had met at Jonas Brothers concerts over the last two years. I ran into Mikey and Michael from the Verizon Wireless recording studio on wheels.  I hadn’t seen them since last August when they joined another music tour. Nick had requested the studio bus for the day in Berkeley. He had been writing music during this tour. Maybe he was recording the song Stay that he first introduced in DC a few weeks ago.

I can’t remember the names of everyone I saw in Berkeley, but there were conversations, hugs and memories and connections. I met some new people and we shared our passion for Nick and the Jonas Brothers and the Administration.

Hannah tweeted a ticket request for me on twitter. I did not have a ticket when we arrived and the box office didn’t have tickets yet. She found someone who sold us a ticket for $20. Thanks to the Jonas fan with the extra ticket!

The venue was really cool. It reminded me of the Meyerhoff in Baltimore where the Symphony orchestra plays. There were tiered seats on either side leading up to the balcony areas. I always felt like royalty when we attended the school programs at the Meyerhoff. Susan Gardener, a friend, would arrange for group seats for the home schoolers and we would sit in the tiered seats.

My seat at this concert was all the way at the top. When I arrived at my seat, there were two girls sitting together. One of them was in my seat. I recognized them because I met them earlier in the day.  They wanted to sit together and asked if I would switch seats with one of them. Of course! I was more than willing to do that. I gave one of the girls my ticket and she gave me hers.

The usher helped me find the seat. Well, surprise, surprise! Her seat was 15 rows closer and in one of the tiers. What a gift! The seat was at the beginning of a tier and there was no one in front of me! I felt like I was dancing with the band all night. THANK YOU JONAS FAN!

Side view across from my seat. I love the tiered seating! :

My view of the stage:

NickJ on guitar:

 

NickJ on piano

Tommy Barbarella, keyboard (Prince’s New Power Generation band):

Sonny Thompson, lead guitar (Prince’s New Power Generation band):

Michael Bland, drums (Prince’s New Power Generation band):

 John Fields, bass guitar (music producer for the Jonas Brothers and many others and multi-instrumentalist)- this picture was on Jan 29

The Administration gathering with NickJ for an official last photo with Rob Hoffman, the Jonas photographer.


This was the last show of the tour. Here is the difference between this show and the last night in Los Angeles. In Los Angeles, the last night was the celebrity extravaganza. The Jonas Brothers on the stage together. During the week there were stars showing up every night. The Honor Society. The stars of Camp Rock 2, the movie, the Jonas Brothers filmed last fall. The stars from the JONAS TV show. Celebrities and stars and the celebration of this winter tour with family and peers from the entertainment industry. 

In Berkeley it was a celebration and closure for NickJ and the Administration band with their fans. They had been on a journey together. It was an evening of warm moments. You could feel the heart connection of the band. They looked at each other and hugged each other as this journey came to an end. They played music from their hearts. They played and joked with each other. They sent love out to the fans.
The concerts were all great on this tour. Tonight you could feel like they were a family at the end of a family vacation or reunion who were saying goodbye to each other, for now. This was a side project for all of them. 
I am grateful they took us on this ride with them
Posted in Andrea Hylen, Berkeley, California, Hannah Hylen, Jonas Brothers, jonas watch, Live A Life Worth Celebrating, nick jonas, Open to Inspiration, The Wiltern Theater

Day 10: On the Road: The Blind Side and the Gift of Service

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January 21, 2010

I saw a movie today called, “The Blindside.” The storyline features Michael Oher, an offensive lineman who plays for the Baltimore Ravens of the NFL. It is about Michael’s life. From foster homes to an opportunity to go to a Christian school to living with the Touhy’s, a wealthy family from the school, we get an insight into the challenges he overcame. There was a point in his life when he needed a 2.5 to get a NCAA Division I Scholarship. Michael got a 2.52 grade point average with hard work and a team of people providing support including the Touhy’s, teachers from his school and a private tutor.

This film was recommended by many of my friends from Baltimore as a great inspirational film. And it is a great, inspirational film. That would have been enough, but there is more for me than the connection to the Ravens, Baltimore and inspiration. It is a connection to a theme that has been bubbling inside of me for the last year. It is the theme of the giver and the receiver.

I grew up in a family that served the community and the world. Giving to neighbors, volunteering through Girl Scouts, donating money to nature preserves and UNICEF. There is a long list of organizations and activities that were a part of my childhood. As an adult and with my children that legacy of helping people, wanting to make a difference has continued. Stream clean-ups, adopting families at Christmas, delivering food to friends in need. My older daughters, Liz and Mary both have careers that involve serving communities of children, women and men and animals and the planet.

I can’t imagine a life without giving and helping. But the new theme that has crossed my path in the last few months is how the person in need has served the giver.

Yesterday when I watched The Blind Side film, the mother in the family talked about how the true gift for her was the opportunity to serve Michael. It was Michael Oher who had impacted her life.

The idea that has been coming to me is that instead of feeling sorry for a person or situation, see them as a guardian angel that has been sent to you as a teacher. They are here to provide an opportunity to help you find purpose, creativity, meaning, love, happiness and compassion. They are here to help YOU!

I have been watching people and reflecting on my life this year. I have watched friends prepare food for a homeless shelter. Yes, it fed the people at the shelter and was a wonderful gift of money and time. Yes, the people at the shelter were hungry and needed help. I do not mean to minimize their pain. What I also saw was how the experience created a light in the faces of my friends. A light that wasn’t there before they served the meal.

I saw a friend connect with a deeper part of herself this year by becoming the caretaker for a man she met at the shelter. I saw her confidence increase and her heart expand as she learned how to give medicine and take blood and take him to the hospital and sit in the waiting room while he had surgery. This was something she had never been able to do for family and friends. She didn’t feel she was capable of it. This man provided her with an opportunity to serve him with love and compassion and it has expanded her as a person.

In my own experience, I had a son who was born with a congenital heart defect. Through his birth, 19 months of operations and physical therapy, and his death, he taught me about who I truly am. I learned to love like I had never loved before. I am still discovering new things about myself because of his service to me. He died 17 years ago and I honor him as one of my greatest teachers and guides.

I encourage you to find a place to volunteer that speaks to your soul and your heart. Appreciate the person and the situation and step into it. This is one of the reasons you are here. There are people who need help and I guarantee that helping them will make your life richer.

In the book, Conscious Choices: An Evolutionary Women’s Guide to Life, Ginny Robertson wrote a story called, “Answering the Call: Making a Difference While Doing What’s Right for You.” She encourages people to find something that you are passionate about and to provide your uniqueness. That will serve the person and it will serve your soul.

I encourage you to find the cause that stirs your soul. When you give from a place of deep connection to the cause and follow the calling it feeds your soul, and it feeds the world.

Posted in Andrea Hylen, Conscious Choices: An Evolutionary Woman's Guide to Life, Jonas Brothers, jonas watch, Live A Life Worth Celebrating

Day 8 On the Road- Quantum Leap

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Quantum Leap starring Scott Bakula, as Sam Beckett has been my winter TV obsession. I have been watching re-runs of the 1990’s TV show for free on www.hulu.com on my computer.

Sam is a scientist and a genius who creates a way to leap into different time periods. It is science blended with spirituality. He refers to “God”, ‘Him” and points to the sky. This is always in reference to how the different time periods and situations are selected. Sam enters into someone else’s body and lives as himself in their life and body until it is time to leap again.

Another character played by Dean Stockton appears as a hologram who gives Sam data on why he might be in this particular time period and body. Always the question is, “what am I doing here?” Dean’s character, Al, uses data from the future and the two of them discuss infinite possibilities. These come from listening to their hearts.

One of the things that inspires me is wherever Sam leaps, he does his best to bring love, compassion, honesty and integrity to the situation. He wants to make a difference and make it better than when he arrived. There is always a period of adjustment. Who am I? What am I doing here? How can I make a difference? This is always a balancing act. Where to influence and where to support.

I can relate to Sam and the Quantum Leap. I feel that I have lived most of my life as Sam. Leaping in and out of lives, time periods, and situations. Connecting passionately and with an eagerness to learn about why I am there and what I can do to make a difference. But, there is something in watching Quantum Leap right now that is calling me to go even deeper. Calling me to awaken to something else.

I have had a few extra days in Arizona to watch a few more episodes and to reflect on the message in Quantum Leap.

My last Quantum Leap was into my friend, Kate’s house. Kate offered a place for my daughter Hannah and me to stay as we were completing the sale of our house. She was also in a transition.

The first week, Kate cooked and nurtured me. I watched the morning routine as her daughter got ready for school and watching the feeding and care of her dogs. I assessed the situation to see how I could bring me into the situation. It is about opening to the routine that is there without any judgment. It is about seeing where you can help and allow who you are to emerge. The second week, Kate had terrible back spasms which required a trip to the emergency room. I picked up the routine. I helped Molly get ready for school, fed the dogs, grocery shopped and cooked dinner.

Kate and I supported each other in our lives for two months. She helped me as I made decisions on my house and cats and moving to California. We shared dream journals and holiday fun. She was there the night I started my first Ustream show: Open to Inspiration, recorded from her kitchen. And I know that by sharing myself and listening to Kate, we both transformed. (Molly and Hannah and the cats and the dogs were also impacted. Lots of good stories and memories!)

On one of the Quantum Leap shows, Sam Beckett says, “When I leap, I get to see what it’s like to walk in another man’s shoes.” Everyday I am open to the life that is unfolding in front of me.

Flood watches, wind, rain, tornado watches still happening in California. Every day I am open to the life that is unfolding in front of me.

Posted in Andrea Hylen, Arizona, Hannah Hylen, Jonas Brothers, Live A Life Worth Celebrating, Quantum Leap

An impulse to express: NickJ and the Administration: Jan 8, 2010

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Have you ever had something bubbling up inside of you that is so powerful, the idea of not expressing it feels like you may burst! Did you follow that impulse?

Barbara Marx Hubbard is a world class futurist, an evolutionary educator and social innovator. She has been speaking for years about the set of crises we are facing actually being an evolutionary driver to awaken us to a deeper life purpose and a passion to co create a new and better world.

So, what does this have to do with Nick Jonas? Nick has been responding to a call within him to awaken a deeper passion and life purpose. He has been writing songs that speak about making it through hard times, about loving more, about Being who you. And that impulse within him has not stopped with the incredible success he has had as one of Jonas Brothers. Nick Jonas is teaching us all something with his new band, NickJ and the Administration.

He listened to his heart. As much as he loves his brothers, there was another dream, a passion that was bubbling up. This part of him had to be expressed. And he knew that he was taking a risk. The first interviews and concerts showed us all a vulnerability of this risk. He wasn’t sure if his fans would embrace this other side of him. But, to bury this dream would mean letting a piece of him die.

So, what did he do?

First he allowed the music to flow through him. He didn’t limit writing this music because it wouldn’t fit with a brother band. He embraced it, let it flow and opened to the inspiration.

Second, he talked with the Management Team of the Jonas Brothers. He shared the idea of a side project band where he would share the music that expressed his inner world, a world he wanted to share with others. When he had their support and a basic plan, he went to each of his brothers and talked to them individually. He shared the dream that was in his heart and they talked about it. He received individual blessings from both Kevin and Joe.

Third, he surrounded himself with experienced, amazing musicians who could help him take his music to the next level of brilliance. Each piece of this has been an open hearted, inspired action event.

The last piece is how the family is demonstrating supporting each other’s dreams. When Nick called Joe and Kevin onto the stage tonight, Joe did not take center stage when he started to sing. Without any hesitation, he motioned for Nick to move to the center. Nick hesitated for a minute and then stepped into that place.

It doesn’t matter how successful you are or what you have in your life, when there is something bubbling inside you, an expression of who you are, You must express it.

At the concert tonight, NickJ shared his musical talent, his passion for life, his deeper message of living life with the audience. His joy radiated and rippled through the Beacon Theater. You could feel it.

I leave you with one question. What is bubbling up inside of you and when are you going to let yourself express it?

Posted in Andrea Hylen, Jonas Brothers, jonas watch, Live A Life Worth Celebrating, nick jonas

NickJ and the Admin: A New York State of Mind-January 7, 2010

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Hannah and I took the Megabus to NYC this morning. If you are going to Manhattan for the day or a few days, you can’t beat it. Reserving the bus in advance on-line and traveling during some of the off hours gives you the best price. Total cost for the two of us $56.50. Add in $8.00 for the metro (subway). (www.megabus.com)

My daughter, Mary lives in NYC and we come here several times a year. When we arrived today, we hopped on the subways and easily found our stop.

When we emerged from the subway, I had a feeling of familiarity. I stopped and looked around to let it sink in. This is the area I came to several months earlier to buy food for Mary’s wedding. It was a beautiful October day. I had traveled by subway with Mary’s soon-to-be brother-in-law, Santi. He and I had chatted on the subway and the few blocks to the Fairfield Market. It was a great time of getting to know one another.

With grocery list in hand, we had been sent on a mission to find the rest of the food for the 30 gourmet picnic baskets we were all creating back in Mary and Jesse’s New York apartment. One of the bonuses of coming to New York early had been the opportunity to get to know Jesse’s family. I had waves of joy, as I thought back to that day.

Now, I was on another mission with Hannah. I was in search of the hotel and a place to drop off our bags. Hannah in search of the Beacon Theater and to do some Nick Jonas stalking.

I checked in at the hotel into room 705 which happens to be the name of a Jonas Brothers song.

Hannah stayed outside the Beacon Theater until she was rewarded with a photo op with NickJ after six hours of waiting. I spent the afternoon walking and exploring the area. I reflected on the memories and feelings I had from my daughter’s wedding. Then, I discovered new things I hadn’t seen that day. The Italian patriate statues, the architecture of the churches that lined the street to our hotel, Alice’s Tea Shop, and the falafel and hummus sandwich at Cafe 71. This experience deepened the memories of the first visit here and now it had a new richness, a deeper connection and intimacy.

And that is what it was like watching Nick Jonas tonight. I have watched Nick over 70 times in person. Seeing him on the stage of the Beacon Theater had a familiarity, the feeling of having been here before. And it was time to add in a new experience. Kevin Jonas was standing at the side with Mama and Papa Jonas surrounded by friends. Everyone was watching Nick in this intimate venue. Nick has surrounded himself with wise, seasoned musicians to bring his talent and songs to a new level, bassist/producer John Fields, drummer Michael Bland and keyboardist Tommy Barbarella — who both logged time with Prince in the New Power Generation — and guitarist Sonny Thompson.

Before the show began, I had conversations with several young women who had seen the show in Washington, DC, the night before. They were telling me that I wouldn’t recognize him, that he owned the stage and took it to another level. They couldn’t believe he could do this!

As I watched him tonight, I thought that anyone who was surprised that he could do this has not been watching him onstage. As part of the Jonas Brothers, he is the one they look to when there is a glitch onstage. He is the one who starts and ends the songs. He is the one who sits alone on the middle of the stage singing, “A little bit longer,” and “Black keys”, and who delivers a message of inspiration that is so powerful you can feel the audience and the stillness.

Maybe it is because when I watch Nick Jonas, I see one of the great leaders of this generation who inspires people of all ages with his wisdom and words at the age of 17. I see him. I know he brings music and heart to the world right now. He is sharing more of his inner world with us on this tour through his music.

Yes, coming to New York today, I posted the words from the Jay-Z and Alicia Keys song, “An Empire State of Mind: These streets will make you feel brand new, Big lights will inspire you, let’s hear it for New York, New York, New York.”

He left us with his inspiration for this year: 2010- The Year of No Fear. And encouraged us to all join together to heal the world. Once again, NickJ, you inspired us!

Posted in Andrea Hylen, Jonas Brothers, jonas watch, New York City, nick jonas

WEEK 1- Tools for Dreaming, Open to Inspiration: Step 1- Listen to your Heart

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This is a follow-up blog to my first USTREAM show: Open to Inspiration. It is a written list of the ideas and the tools I presented with a few more details.

The first step is Listen to Your Heart. On the first show, I am encouraging you to create an environment to dream and listen to your heart. Your heart is filled with thoughts, desires, longing, ideas, wishes and dreams. This month, we are spending time visioning, dreaming and listening. If you have done this before, inspire yourself to dream again and again. Expand on your dreams. Allow the ideas to flow and take you to your highest good.

You are on an adventure with yourSelf! And this is forever. Dreams continue to evolve and grow along with you.

To stimulate the environment of dreaming, get some magazines. You can buy them or find people who are finished with old magazines (friends, neighbors, Dr’s office) You can borrow them from the library for daydreaming (no cutting the library magazines!) Find pictures and words on the internet. Scrap booking stickers are great, too. Sometimes you can find stickers with pages of inspiring words.

Look for articles, pictures and words that are interesting to you or make you feel good. You may even have a physical response to some of the things in the magazine. Curiosity, familiarity, joy, excitement, wonderment. Sometimes I find that my heart will do a flip flop or the palms of hands will start tingling when I find something I feel a connection. Observe any reactions you have to things in the magazines.

You are collecting data about yourself. Some of this will feel like it is from your mind. Always check back in to see how your heart is reacting.

With the magazines, you can do a series of activities.

1. Treasure maps/Vision or dream boards. Use a piece of poster board, scrap booking paper or even a page in a journal. Pick out things you want to vision. Several of the things on my vision board for 2010 are:

A) a picture of a cat with the words Good House. I am looking for a home for my cats or learning how to live on the road with them. I love them. They stir my heart. The care of them is a focus for me.

B) A picture of a woman exercising with Yoga. It reminds me to take care of my physical body.

C) A picture of the Jonas Brothers with the words “expressing your heart ‘n soul.” They inspire me to be creative and stay connected to my heart. I feel a connection to their music.

D) I also have the words Discover, Doing+good and Oh, yes I can!

2. Vision or dream journals. A friend of mine, Karen Porter inspired me to put my vision board into my journal. Her idea is to buy composition books, cover the front cover with pictures from magazines, cut out words and place them at the top of each page of the journal.

This journal can have a specific purpose like a travel journal, ideas for a project or a business or a place to record daily activities, dreams, quotes, and ideas.

This year I am using mine to record things every day. It will have ticket stubs, brochures, quotes, to-do-lists. It will include happy and sad moments. I will work through things in my journal to like the next steps on my move to California or my relationship with my family.

By placing words and pictures at the top of the all of the pages, I am surprised each time I turn the page to see a message for me on that day. I love how the words and pictures connect with what is going on in my life.

3. 12 month intuitive reading for the year. Another friend, Jayne Howard Feldman inspired me to do a 12 month reading journal. I cut pictures and words out of a magazine and put them into a bag. I closed my eyes and thought about January 2010 and pulled out a few of the clippings. Then, I used a glue stick to attach them to a page in a spiral notebook. I left 8 pages empty to record things during the month. Then, I created a page for February, March, April, and so on. It is another way to dream and vision what I want.

4. Building a dream in your journal Make a commitment to yourself to spend 15 minutes a day for one week and write the life you want to create or expand on. In 1991, I wrote the life I wanted to create including a description of my family, children, activities and house that would be big enough to gather communities of people. In 1998, I bought that house. By the time my husband and I found the house, we already had most of the rest of the dream. The community of people I had buildt relationships with for 7 years were already there. When I wrote the dream, it came from a heart’s desire, pure and full of love. I didn’t think that owning the house or having these things would make people love me more. There was nothing in it that was ego driven. There was a deep calling to live that life. And I did.

Rev Michael Bernard Beckwith, the minister at Agape International Spiritual Center in Los Angeles, California, posted this on his Facebook Status the other day. “I am inviting you to be still and discover new territory in your own soul. You will find that this new territory will be the answer to every issue you may be facing. Peace!”

And I am inviting you to take the time to explore, dream and discover.

Next USTREAM show is Saturday, Jan 9 8pm EST. http://www.ustream.tv/channel/open-to-inspiration

Posted in Andrea Hylen, Conscious Choices: An Evolutionary Woman's Guide to Life, Daydreaming with God, Jonas Brothers, Listen to your heart, Live A Life Worth Celebrating, Open to Inspiration

USTREAM Show called Open to Inspiration

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Last night, I created my first USTREAM show. It is an idea that has been bubbling inside of me since August. I watched Jordin Sparks, the Jonas Brothers, Honor Society, Jason Mraz and Ashton Kutcher’s Football Fantasy on USTREAM over the last few months. The shows were broadcast in living rooms, kitchens, hotel rooms and basements. I was intrigued by the ability to present an idea and interact with people all over the world through Twitter.

I began to feel a “nudge” to have a USTREAM show, but what and why? Other things were happening in my life. The last two months of finishing the sale of my house, my daughter Mary’s wedding in NYC, looking for a home for my cats, moving into my friend Kate’s house for the holidays and preparing for moving out to California.

Over the holidays, Kate, Molly (her daughter), Hannah and I have been creating vision/dream journals. Looking through magazines and daydreaming about the next steps in our lives.

A clear idea came to me this week. Create a USTREAM show called Open to Inspiration and share the 8-step process that came to me during the summer of 2008 while I traveled and blogged.

Let me back up a minute in case you are new to this blog. In the last two years, I have traveled to 70 Jonas Brothers concerts with my teenage daughter, Hannah. It was something we started doing together, two years after her father died. During the summer of 2008, we drove to 15 concerts and had our first summer of blogging. (2009 was 45 concerts)

Last spring, I turned my blogs into a book roughdraft. As I wrote and reflected on that summer, I saw that there was a natural process that emerged. A process I call Open to Inspiration.

Several times a month, I am going to share one of the steps with some tools and ideas of how to practice that step. I have one show posted. The technology and sound will improve as I go along. Here is the link: http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/3583808

Within a few days of each show, I will post a blog with the ideas listed and links. Eight months. Eight steps.

Step 1: Listen to your heart

Posted in Andrea Hylen, Jonas Brothers, jonas watch, Listen to your heart, Open to Inspiration, USTREAM

A Heroes Journey Part I

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Here is Part I:

Follow Your Bliss

Joseph Campbell (March 26, 1904 – October 31, 1987) wrote a book called The Hero with a Thousand Faces (1949).

His work is summarized with the words, “Follow Your Bliss,” or “The Hero’s Journey.

When I began to share the idea of going to Jonas Brothers concerts with Hannah this summer and the ups and downs of selling my house, several of my friends told me that I was on a Hero’s Journey; the kind of journey Joseph Campbell talked about in his books. I resisted this idea and pushed it away. How could this be a Hero’s journey? I wouldn’t even consider what they were saying. This was Jonas Brothers concerts! This is frivolous, fun, carefree.

Hadn’t I already been on the hero’s journey when my son was born with a congenital heart defect and died 19 months later? Hadn’t I been on this journey when I had an autoimmune condition and fought my way back to health? Hadn’t I been on the hero’s journey with my husband’s illness and death. Come on! How could this be a hero’s journey!

All I can say right now is they were right. When my house didn’t sell and then there were delays, it was a blessing. Finding resources, placing myself in this situation, continuing to follow the guidance of my heart instead of the logic of my head opened me to new ideas, new places, and new experiences. If I had had all of the tickets and hotels and a planned itinerary, I would have missed the true journey of discovery.

If you haven’t heard of Joseph Campbell or the Hero’s Journey, here is a very, very brief description. If you want to know more, here is a link to one summary:

http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/smc/journey/ref/summary.html

1. Adventure: You are called to an adventure that you resist.

In my situation, I wanted this adventure with my daughter, but when the sale of my house fell through, I resisted. It didn’t make logical sense. It would have been easier for me to deal with illness or death than to allow myself to go an adventure labeled fun.

For someone else, the adventure might call them to get a full-time job, but for me who had a life of responsibility, it was a call to freedom, to release myself from this life and to find a bigger world.

“By entering this stage, the person shows their willingness to undergo a metamorphosis, to die to him or herself.”

Going on the summer trip meant I was risking everything. My house, my life, my reputation and opening myself to receive support in a way I had never allowed before. I spent the whole summer “asking and receiving.”

2. Initiation: This is a series of tests or trials that the Hero must go through.

If you have been reading the blogs all summer you have watched us with our money struggles and with the discovery of resources to make it to the end.

There was a point when I arrived in Florida for two concerts in August. As much as I truly love my family, I knew that if I were to stay in Florida with my sister or my parents, it was all over. The learning, the opportunity for a breakthrough had not arrived. I was out of money. I had to find a way to continue. I thought about giving up and staying there with them. It was safe and comfortable. I could have waited for the settlement of my house on Aug 28 and quit this crazy concert thing I was doing.

Under different circumstances I would have loved to hang out in Florida for a few weeks. But, on the hero’s journey, sleeping at a rest stop for several weeks was more desirable. That is where the breakthrough to freedom would happen, not in the womb of childhood. I felt at that time that all I needed was enough money to fill up the gas tank and drive as far as I could, then wait for the house to sell.

At that point, a good friend loaned us $300 and Hannah and I decided to commit to the next three concerts. We had over 1,000 miles to cover for those three concerts. It was a quest at this point that stretched us to find free or really cheap tickets, sleep in the car, and look for free food.

In Atlanta and Nashville, we received free tickets that would have been discarded, and we slept in the car on our way from Atlanta to Lexington, Kentucky. We ate free ice cream for lunch in Nashville at an Honor Society event. A free hotel room in Kentucky. Ask and receive. Ask and receive.

It was after sleeping in the car, as a conscious choice, that I found the deepest level of freedom I have ever felt. I can’t tell you why it happened that way. I only know that I felt it the next morning. As I watched the sunrise that morning, I thought to myself, I can do anything, go anywhere, or be anything I want to be! And it was the feeling of that truth that helped me expand into a fuller person.

3. Return: the return to your life.

We are back in Baltimore. I am writing again from my favorite Panera restaurant in the world. I am sleeping in the one bed that is left in the house. I am asking myself questions.

Is that why the house has not sold? I had to return to the place I have lived and grown for the last 28 years? The challenge at this level is to retain the wisdom and to use it in life without falling into the old patterns.

There are 17 in-depth steps in the Heros journey and I have reduced it to 3 brief sections. There is more exploration for me. It may come to me in a flash or it may come to me 10, 20 years from now.

More thoughts in a few days… The journey continues.

Posted in Andrea Hylen, Hannah Hylen, Jonas Brothers, jonas watch
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