Category Archives: Live A Life Worth Celebrating

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

What is Inspiration?

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In preparation for the first USTREAM show on Dec 28, I looked up the definition of Inspiration.

-A sudden intuition as part of solving a problem (or building a dream)
-Arousing the mind to special unusual activity or creativity
-The act of inhaling, as in breathing
-Divine Guidance. A special influence of divinity on the minds of human beings.
-A product of creative thinking and work
-Arousing to a particular emotion or action.

I believe that inspiration is a part of who we are. It is a “skill” or a sense that we have that can be strengthened and increased. An inspiration feels like a thought, a desire or a longing. It is something that encourages us, arouses us to try something new or to take something we are already doing to the next level.

Inspiration comes in all sizes. It can be something little like an inspired thought to change the shampoo you are using or the type of milk you are buying. It can be an inspired idea or desire to take a new class at the community college that leads you to a new hobby or job.

The inspirations are stepping stones to be and experience ourselves as something greater than we could have imagined. An inspiration may seem like it comes from your head, but in truth, it comes from your heart.

Inspiration leads us to make changes, to dream bigger dreams, and to support us in learning and growing. Amazing, wonderful things can happen when we listen to our hearts and follow an inspiration.

Sometimes when we ignore an inspiration, we can become resentful, jealous, unhappy or even physically sick. The bigger picture of inspiration is our soul, an inner part of us, that is calling us to experience life. It is as simple as that. We are here to experience life, each other and ourselves.

My goal with the USTREAM show and blogs and Youtube videos is to support you in following the inspirations and to encourage you to dream new and bigger dreams for yourself.

An inspirationsl countdown is here:

-2 days until we leave for Nick Jonas concerts in NYC and Philadelphia.
-4 days until the next USTREAM show: Open to Inspiration
-6 days until we drive West.

I will share the journey of where we are inspired to go as we move from Maryland to California. An inspiration that came to a year ago!

OPEN TO INSPIRATION!

Posted in Andrea Hylen, Live A Life Worth Celebrating, Open to Inspiration, USTREAM

A New Journey begins

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A new journey is beginning.

My daughter, Hannah and I are leaving Baltimore in 11 days. Our car will be loaded with clothes, books, and music. All of our furniture has been sold. The cats will have found a new home. Everything we own is in a small storage unit.

We are leaving the community that has been my home since 1981. Our intention is to live on the road for a year. We will explore the world by living in hostels and with friends. First destination is Scottsdale, Arizona and celebrating the holidays with my daughter,Liz, her boyfriend, Ari and their two dogs.

My intention is to continue to write about all of the things that happen and to share this through video blogging, Ustream TV and on this blog. I have changed the name of this blog to Daydreaming with God. I am co-creating this journey with Hannah and with inspired action from within.

I moved to Baltimore in Oct 1981, after marrying my college sweetheart. Getting married seemed like the next logical step in our relationship. We had been dating for four years. My love of Bill and the dreams of creating a life together brought us here to Baltimore. We created two beautiful girls together but our marriage and all of our dreams together came to an end in 1987.

My true community in Baltimore, the one that held me, nurtured me and gave me a space to develop my voice began at an Insight Seminar in March 1989. I met a few friends, Susan, Kater, Terry and Hurley (my future husband). They became the cornerstone of my life. My community has grown to hundreds of people in the last 20 years. With them all, I discovered myself. They were mirrors of love, understanding and acceptance.

I have lived a full life here with a 2nd marriage, the birth and death of my son, the birth of Hannah, a life threatening illness, community based learning (home schooling), peace ceremonies, book groups about spirituality and creativity and the death of my husband.

In the last 20 years, we laughed and cried together. We loved and fought with each other. We sang and danced and celebrated our lives.

The people in my community were the witnesses of my life.

In 11 days, I am leaving the safety and comfort of my home and community to go out into the world and explore life in a new way. I am Daydreaming with God, Opening to Inspiration, and Living a Life Worth Celebrating.

Come along for the ride…

Posted in Conscious Choices: An Evolutionary Woman's Guide to Life, Daydreaming with God, Live A Life Worth Celebrating, Opening to Inspiration

A Day Off- Music Memories Part 3

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Thanks once again to the Riley family for sponsoring the blog today. Marlene, Dave, Taylor, Skye (and Chris, a friend of Taylor’s) They are Baltimore friends who are vacationing in Venice Beach, California. Love the timing of this. Thanks for dinner, a place to stay, a place to park and good, yogurt from Sparky’s!

For more information on sponsoring a blog go www.livealifeworthcelebrating.com

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A Day Off and Music Memories Part 3

An uneventful morning yesterday. Hannah and Rosie slept most of the way from Fresno to LA. I listened to a variety of radio stations with music from the 60’s up to current Top 40 music.

As I turned towards the ocean and neared LA, I got tears in my eyes. I was so happy. I felt like a little kid before opening presents at a birthday party. The mountains, the sun, and the change of air. I could feel the ocean.

Hannah and I have been talking about moving to the LA area since January. For Hannah it has been almost four years of telling me that we would move here. I didn’t feel it until January. LA has been a place to visit, vacation, but not a place to live.

The feelings of excitement and being ready for a move had subsided. Since January I have been in a mode of selling, donating and recycling most of my stuff. I have been selling a house, saying goodbye to friends, and finding a home for my cats (still need a home for my cats!) I have been following the Jonas Brothers with Hannah for almost two months now. I love our country. It is so beautiful and I have felt content to live in all parts of America. I could live almost anywhere. So many great locations and wonderful people.

I thought that maybe the desire to move to LA was just a moment of wanting to leave the winter weather of Maryland or the feeling of releasing another layer of the loss of my husband. Could I really leave the community that has been my home for 20+ years? How would I exist out in the world without living down the street or across town from them?

As I came through the mountains and began to feel the Pacific Ocean, I felt the spontaneous response of happiness and joy. I felt like I was home.

We dropped off Rosie in Culver City and made our way to Venice Beach to spend the evening with friends. The Riley’s, Marlene, Dave, Taylor and Skye, were all born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland. That is their home. They have a lifetime of memories, friends, family, work, school, and a church community. And, for the last six years they have vacationed in California. The time they spend here is anywhere from two weeks to a month. Even Taylor’s boyfriend has come with them for the last two years.

Dave and I were talking about music and California yesterday. He has been coming to here for over 20 years. He has a huge smile on his face and is so relaxed, as he talks about California. One of the things he does while he is here is listen to music. He has created a two hour collection of music on his I-pod. He listens to it while he walks on the beach and looks at the ocean and the mountains. When he walks on his treadmill at home in Baltimore, he listens to this music and it brings back all the feelings of relaxation and happiness of the summer vacation.

Maybe some day they will move here or maybe the infusion of a trip once a year is enough for them all. A respite from the day to day routine. For now, Dave listens to his music, connects with the nature here and takes a piece of California home with him in his iPod.

Hannah and I are planning to move to California in Dec or Jan. It may be for a 6 month infusion of good California energy or it may be a place we will call our home for 20+ years. All that matters is today is the feeling I had when I approached the ocean today.

I AM HOME.

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A few more memories of music and the Youtube links:

Some of the music of middle school (1969-1972)

Monkees, Partridge Family, Bobby Sherman, Cowsills

Posters on my wall. Tigerbeat magazine. Staring for hours at their faces and dreaming of meeting them in person.

Monkees:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XfuBREMXxts

Partridge Family:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LOiKa51ll-k

Bobby Sherman:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJOuTr0BXb4

The Cowsills:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ord6UXaep_w

Posted in Andrea Hylen, Baltimore, Bobby Sherman, California, Cowsills, Hannah Hylen, Jonas Brothers, jonas watch, Live A Life Worth Celebrating, Monkees, Partridge Family, The Riley's, Venice Beach

Concert 23-St. Louis, Missouri: A Hummingbird Day

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Thanks to Christine Hammond for sponsoring the blog today. (Love ya!)

For more information on sponsoring a blog, go to www.livealifeworthcelebrating.com

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Concert 23-St. Louis, Missouri
A Hummingbird Day

I began the day yesterday with reflections about the anniversary of the death of my husband, Hurley Cox. All of the beautiful blessings from friends and family yesterday, and the desire to focus on the hummingbirds, created the most magical day of the entire tour.

As you know, Hannah and I are going to 45 Jonas Brothers concerts this summer. Yesterday was the middle, number 23. Like climbing a hill, reaching the pinnacle point and now it is all downhill from here. Each concert takes us closer to our goal. We are savoring every moment knowing that it will be over in the blink of an eye.

Yesterday was like having a fairy godmother wave her magic wand over us. Or was it a loved one in Spirit, Hurley, guiding the way?

We spent the morning taking care of a variety of details and then hopped in the car to find our way to the Honor Society in-store Verizon Wireless event. When we arrived, we got our wrist bands that guaranteed a place in line for a poster signing with the Honor Society band, Michael, Andrew, Alexander and Jason. I scooted off to Target to refill the car with snacks and bottled water.

I received a mildly frantic call from Hannah to come back to the store. There was a contest for free tickets. This was a contest that required us to work as a team. To get the tickets, you had to have the most people there in a group with you supporting you to get the tickets. Hannah sent messages on twitter. I worked the crowd to tell them our story and ask them to support us. We eventually gathered about twenty-five people and won two tickets for the show last night!

In the process of winning the tickets, we met a variety of people. We met Kelsey who is the head of the Honor Society street team in Missouri. She is a natural networker, promoter and journalist at the age of 15. She connected me with Taylor J from Z107.7, a radio station personality in St Louis. I did a 30 second audio promo about our blog and then Taylor recorded me for a vlog. It is on her site.

http://www.z1077.com/pages/taylorj.html

We met another girl Hannah who had extra meet and greet passes for the Honor Society and she gave them to us. She was so sweet and smart. She is a perfect example of what I am seeing with the young women we are meeting. She knew that we would need to connect to get the passes. She took our phone numbers, sent Hannah a text message, found us at the venue with the passes, made sure that we had the meeting time and the code for the pictures. Smart, efficient, caring, open hearted young woman.

The Honor Society guys know my daughter, Hannah and me. We first met them in Denver when there was a small gathering of people. We told them our story and Alex, in particular, has been so enthusiastic about this journey. As they were signing my poster yesterday, I was telling them about the Oprah e-mail campaign. It is a long story and I am going to do my first Vlog about it very soon! Alex wanted to know if I had talked to Ned about it. Yes, and it is a silly story.

After more dancing and talking with people, Hannah and I found our way to the Scottrade Center for the concert. The weather had changed from hot, sunny to a windy, cool, thunderstorm.

In one of my blogs I wrote about the community that is formed around the venue with the staff from each of the sponsors. Everyone supports each other. We were huddled under the Mike and Ike’s canopy and I was talking with one of the Mike and Ike guys, James. He is a great guy, a college student who is working an amazing job for the summer. He is traveling around the United States, eating meals with all of the musicians, meeting sports figures who stop by the venues (he is a huge sports fan!) and occasionally, meeting a famous musician like Bono. It is fun to hear the stories and share in his excitement.

Well, last night, there were extra Jordin Sparks meet and greet passes. He knew how much we love Jordin and he gave us two tickets. This doesn’t happen often but tonight was our lucky night.

When the rain slowed down, he took down the canopy and we wandered over to the Verizon Recording Studio Bus. There were only a few people in line, so we climbed aboard for the tour. Michael and Mikie were giving the tour that day with Jesse hanging out in the front. It started pouring again so we hung out there for about 45 minutes. The bus travels with a variety of musicians who can use the bus to record songs while they are on tour. Instead of just a 5 minute tour, last night they were showing us how they mix the songs and demonstrated the instruments and played a wide variety of music for us.

Hannah and I split up and talked to different people until the doors opened and we found our way to our FREE front row seats. All of a sudden, I look up and I see two people I met in DC. This is one of those weird moments in life. In the parking garage after the concert in DC, I talked with 2 people who were parked next to me. Tonight they were in St. Louis, bought tickets and the tickets were right next to Hannah and me. Hannah is going to connect with one of the guys on Facebook. Nice people. Okay, Universe, what was that all about?

We knew so many people there last night. From other concerts, from the Verizon Wireless event earlier in the day and from the Jonas community.

We watched the Honor Society set, went backstage to have pictures and get hugs. We met two members from the band Since Forever. I am going to check them out on myspace and write a review.

Back to our seats for the end of Jordin’s set, then backstage to talk with her. She has been sick and was not allowed to speak, but I told her how I am having so much fun watching her grow as an artist this summer. She smiled, clapped her hands and hugged me. She is so nice.

Back to our seats for another great Jonas Brothers concerts. I danced and danced and went crazy with the band. I was so into it I kept bumping into Hannah and even scratching her with my nails. Sorry! I need more space to dance!

All in all, it was a Hummingbird Day.

Posted in Andrea Hylen, Hannah Hylen, Honor Society, Hurley Cox, Jonas Brothers, jonas watch, Live A Life Worth Celebrating, St. Louis, Z107.7
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