The Force has a ‘dark side’, which feeds off emotions such as anger, jealousy, fear, and hate, whereas the ‘light side’ Jedi use the Force only for peaceful purposes. Do you choose to embrace your Dark Side in order to seize power? Or do you use the Jedi way of compassion and selflessness on your journey of greatness? It’s all a matter of choice.

“I choose my choice! I choose my choice!” ~Charlotte from Sex & the City.

Think about your choice – Protest!

Greetings from Possibility City,

The best thing about choice is that you can always change it or make another one. You can always choose to take your life in a new direction. With that in mind, you have nothing to lose.

When faced with challenges in life we can choose to focus on the problem or the solution. We can dwell in Self-Pity Town or we can drive/bike/walk/skate/surf/fly to the next ‘hood over yonder, Possibility City (where my friends and I reside :) come meet the locals! Ha!).
On my journey I have learnt that whatever you choose to think about is what you value and what you will experience. Every choice in your life naturally produces an outcome.—the whole cause and effect Universal law. What kind of choices have you been making in your life lately? What kind of outcomes have you been experiencing? If your answers are on the negative side of things, you may what to do something about it! You may want to make another choice. A change is as good as a holiday, right?!

A conversation with Duane Peters & Corey Parks (book extract)…

DP:There are other things that Corey is still teaching me.

CP: There’s still stuff that I’m learning too. It’s one thing to learn it, but a whole other thing to apply it to life. When I met Duane, his friend told me, “He’s the hardest working man I know.” Duane used to say a lot of things like, “You’ve got to lose to win,” and was creating this reality for himself which I think most people do…

DP: Plus it’s just a “self beat down” that is familiar to me. Corey used to always stop me and go, “What are you talking about? You don’t have to lose to win.” I’d go, “Yeah you do. You got to work hard and then you got to get beat down and then maybe something will come.”

CP: Now after years of knowing him and falling in love with him, I’ve heard all his stories of how he spent time on the streets. If you live a certain way for so long, your beliefs reflects your reality. He carried that into his life as a sober man. He was building this new life for himself and carrying those beliefs into it. They didn’t suit him anymore.

Strip away / Be the voice of a generation / Strip Away / You’ve got a choice to make /Cut Away, Cut away… Strip away your chains – Anti-Flag

Something else to ponder is how many of your choices are actually for you? Do you base your choices on what other people think? On the opinions and ideas of those that are closest to you? Or even strangers’ thoughts or comments? How often do you actually think ‘what do I think?’ Are you aware of your relationship to your own happiness? I strongly believe that it is only us and us alone that can truly know what is best for us.

We need to realise and recognise our power and ability for shaping our own lives and outcomes. Don’t let your mentality cripple your growth. Punk & hip hop have both been empowering forces in my life—both taught me and nurtured a do-it-yourself ethic and the motivation and belief to think that I can achieve anything. If you don’t like things change them! Sometimes it can take one quick little change to set your life on a whole new path, other times it takes work over your whole lifetime.

If you find yourself agonising over a choice, making excuses to avoid making a choice or procrastinate so choice time never comes—all tactics which I’ve deployed at times—this podcast may be of interest (thanks Lobo for the recommendation). Not choosing something can set you up for Camp Fail. Making a choice can be truly empowering.

The podcast helped me realise that I should value where I place my value, energy and time. It reminded me that there is no perfect time like the present to start something; to make choices and go with it until it doesn’t suit anymore and then make another.

It’s time to believe in yourself & believe in your choices! Choose the best!

Anything less than the best is a felony – Vanilla Ice

So, what choices are you going to make today?

Choose Wisely!

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Every day is Saturday night, but I can’t wait for Sunday morning – K-OS

I try to make Sunday my day of rest although it never usually works out that way, by choice—well kind of by choice. Let me explain, most Sundays I like to take time out from my work and social schedule to reflect on where I’m at, where I’m going and where I’ve been for the week. I also ponder my place in the grand scheme of things. I like to step back from my work, take stock and give myself a break from everything. Meditation is something I’ve found that can help with this. I also like to take this time to plan my week ahead.

“It’s definitely time to take a break, to recharge my batteries. I’d like to take about six months and not go into the studio. I need to just live life, to be inspired by things again. I’m going to do random things. I want to go to restaurants, maybe take a class and see some movies and Broadway shows.” ~Beyonce

I find more often than not when I take this time out—when I attempt to have that break—I usually have some of my very best ideas; I feel incredibly inspired, hence why I don’t usually get to rest. Once I get an idea in my head I feel compelled to put the wheels into motion. I’m addicted (for better or for worse) to momentum. I have to be careful though because sometimes when you’re working on a project you can be so caught up in it that you actually miss the beauty of the process. And as the saying goes: it’s the journey, not the destination.

In general I find that when people have rest they’re a whole lot nicer. Rest also helps to boost your immune system, gives you energy and can affect your ability to concentrate and focus. And, when you have the world to conquer… cue Bad Religion lyrics…

I want to conquer the world / Expose the culprits and feed them to the children / Do away with air pollution and then I’ll save the whales / We’ll have peace on earth and global communion – Bad Religion

… it’s apt to have all of the above!

Sunday song playlist:

No Doubt – Sunday Morning
K-OS – Sunday Morning
Lily Allen – Sunday Morning
Mark Lanegan – Ugly Sunday
Blondie – Sunday Girl
Jimmy Eat World – A Sunday
U2 – Sunday Bloody Sunday
The Monkeys – Pleasant Valley Sunday
Outkast – Sole Sunday
Stone Temple Pilots – Naked Sunday
Greenday – Church On Sunday
Billie Holiday – Gloomy Sunday
Etta James – Sunday Kind Of Love
Johnny Cash – Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down
Morrissey – Everyday is Like Sunday

So, my lovely friends try to spend time relaxing today… as much as you can. For all my people on the Gold Coast, Australia headed to the Big Day Out today don’t forget the sunscreen,sunglasses (I just got some cute rainbow love heart framed ones for $4.95! score!) and water; don’t forget to charge your mobile/cell phone so that if you get lost/separated from your friends you can call them… or if you’re like me you might skip that because you may enjoy getting lost ha ha… I’m good at making new friends and I like to go where I please… Acts to put on today’s BDO agenda = Lily Allen, Mars Volta & Girl Talk.

Lily by Enersauce

Lily by Deniz Sarac

Girl Talk by Nivium

Omar Rodriguez-Lopez’s guitar pedals by Mr Doubtfire

Volta fro by Mr Doubtfire

RANDOM MISS B STORY: In 1996 I went to the BDO with Custard. It took us 2 hours to drive from Brisbane (It’s usually a 40 minute trip). Half way there we pulled in at a service station to get fuel and snacks, Dave McCormak (Custard’s front man) crawled into a St. Vincent De Paul charity bin and pulled out a straw Mexican sombrero, later in the day he wore it on stage while performing. Custard shared their backstage dressing room with Rancid. I had a chat with Rancid’s Tim Armstrong that day that pretty much inspired me on the path to where I am now. We spoke of creativity; following your heart and the power of music… it changed my life! Thanks Tim. I also ran into Nick Cave that year and was a total fan-girl getting a happy snap with him, he told me that I had one of the most beautiful smiles (awww ha, ha… the man’s a charmer) and Zach De La Rocha commend me for helping prevent a girl from being crushed against the front of stage barrier during their set.

Happy Sunday lovelies! Take care and be safe!

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Back To Life, Back To Reality – En Vogue

Today, tomorrow (depending where you’re at in the world) and over the next couple of weeks, many of you will be heading back to work fresh from holidays. Unless perhaps you’re Henry Rollins, then you don’t really take holidays! I remember speaking with Henry the day after Christmas a couple of years ago. He was in his office gleefully working. He told me it was one of his favourite times of the year because he gets the office all to himself and can work uninterrupted… ha, ha, ha. I can definitely identify with that one! And just this morning the ever-lovely Heidi Minx and I were expressing our frustration at businesses still being closed in-turn hindering getting things into motion for world domination this year (ha!). It’s go time…

As you step back into the work place, whether it’s in an office, working retail, collecting garbage, icing decadent cupcakes, waiting tables, whatever it is you do, take the time to notice how you’re feeling about it. Are you bouncing off the walls happy and ready to get stuck into it all? Are you filled with dread and possibly mild (maybe even major) anxiety? Or have you just accepted that work is work and it’s what you do to get by? If you’re feeling either of the latter maybe it’s time to reassess your situation. Your work should give you purpose and a great sense of achievement and fulfilment. It should be something you love to do. We spend so many hours of our lives at work shouldn’t it be something we adore?

A little story…

Once upon a time there was a vibrant full-of-life girl named Bianca. She got herself a job working in an office at a shipping company. It wasn’t a particularly hard job: answering phones, filing, running errands, pushing paper and getting the boss coffee. Her parents were so proud she had a ‘real’ job. Her mother even took a photo of her in a pants-suit (it was a maroon pinstriped number) as she was out the door on the way to her first day at the office. Her mum stuck the photo on the fridge which is where it remains to this day (blah!).

Monday to Friday Bianca dutifully got up at 5 am to catch two buses to get to work. The journey was fun-filled with the tunes of Bad Religion, Ice-T, Suicidal Tendencies, Rancid, Public Enemy, Nofx & Social Distortion to kick-start the day. The artists kept her company as she amused herself by making up stories in her head about fellow commuters to pass the time. The downtime on the commute also gave her time to dream as the lyrics of her musical crushes inspired her to want greater things than what was currently her life. Bianca always knew she was destined for something so much more wonderful.

One night, after a few months in her job and a particularly uneventful, ordinary day, she went home to bed exhausted. The job was a no-brainer. She didn’t get to utilise her skills and talents; she felt she was being wasted. As she drifted off to sleep she dreamt of numbers, big long lines of numbers (think Matrix style). The numbers kept running in her head over and over. They wouldn’t stop! She awoke with a start and had the realisation, if she continued working in her job she’d either a) keep feeling restless, bored and die a slow painful death or b) become accustom to it, accept it, ultimately numbing herself to continue on, lose her spark and die a slow painful death. Because the idea of dying a slow painful death isn’t so appealing she decided to do something about it.

The next morning Bianca walked into work gave her two weeks’ notice and left! That afternoon she telephoned her big sister Julie in tears. She had no idea what to do? As big sisters often do, Julie offered some sound advice that would change Bianca’s life. “You love writing and you love music,” Julie started, “You make your little zines. Why not try and make a living from those things you love? Why not call one of the music magazines you like and try to get some work doing that?” After a little further discussion and with a new hope in her heart Bianca hung up, scrabbled through her piles (many, many piles) of magazines and choose one to call.

After writing down what she was going to say (dork! ha!) It basically went something like this:

Editor: Hello, Rave Magazine.
Bianca: Hi, I wanted to enquire about the possibility of writing for you guys.
Editor: Have you written for anyone before? What type of music do you like?
Bianca: I haven’t really written for anyone, but I make my own zines! I really love punk and hardcore music.
Editor: It just so happens our punk guy has gone overseas for a while, maybe you could fill in for a bit. Do you have any samples of your work?
Bianca: Sure, I can bring my zines in.
Editor: Sounds good! Come by tomorrow.

And the rest they say is history… the editor was impressed with Bianca’s work and enthusiasm. She walked out of the office with her first assignment to review a local punk gig.

Countless gigs, about a million interviews and many rock n roll adventures later she finds herself still writing and so, so much happier than if she stayed at the shipping company. She took a leap of faith and it paid off.

Lessons learned: follow your feelings and engage in work that makes you feel alive, that makes you happy to jump out of bed in the morning and get going. Trust me, it is possible to do something you love for a living. I am huge advocate of working for yourself (more on that in coming posts!). I come from a family of entrepreneurs. The following friends are living proof you can love the life you live and live the life you love:

John Engelhardt is an artist and illustrator. His work has been nominated for awards & he has worked with the likes of Australian hip hop kings, Hilltop Hoods.

Lake from Redstripe Clothing . She started out having a market stall in 2001. Now she has a store as well as an online store and is totally rocking it. She’s a clever, driven lady.

Mark Lobo is the man responsible for the magical photo of me here. His photos are beautiful art. The way he captures the sky in his shots is amazing. Love his cloud work!

We all have to start somewhere. Once upon a time…

Ashanti worked in day care; Jon Bon Jovi made Christmas decorations; Steve Buscemi drove an ice-cream truck; Kurt Cobain was a janitor; John Legend worked at Sears; Madonna served Dunkin’ Donuts; Gene Simmons rescued people as a lifeguard; Elvis Costello got his technology on as a computer programmer; Macy Gray worked at McDonalds; Lil’ Kim worked the counter at Bloomingdales department store and Eminem was a short order cook.

If you could do anything at all for a living and money was no object, what would you do?

Have a rad day beautiful people!
Love,

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Photo by Sarah McD ॐ

RITUALS

I use the word ‘ritual’ when talking about the things I do (at least I try to do) every single day—practices or exercises that I have found on my adventures which over time have been developed, adapted and made to work for me. As the talented Mr Bob Vennum once told me “rework your inspirations to fit your own vision.” To me a ritual is a personal something I do that can really add value to my day and help me draw my dreams closer, faster by allowing me greater clarity and focus in both mind and heart. Think of a ritual as an option or tool to tap into your most-raddest self! Who doesn’t want to be their most rad self most of the time?!

Cultivating daily practices of self-discipline, self-nurturing and self-realization are key to creating a great foundation for a truly remarkable life. We all have the potential to enhance what we are. I’ve found, for me at least, daily rituals lead to peace of mind, and when my mind is clearer ideas flow and the sky is the limit.

RITUAL ONE: MORNING PAGES

Naturally, I have a tendency to think waaaay too much about matters, circumstances, tasks at hand etc. I have a tendency to get distracted easily (which is something I’m working on.) I think so much sometimes my mind becomes cloudy and I get bogged down with trivial things. I often find self-doubt, my inner-critic and censor (bless them) can appear in these moments too. All the obsessing can kill my productivity. It disburses and dissipates my energy and shifts my focus from where it really needs to be. I don’t get anything done! The following ritual helps me cut through all the self-defeating inner ‘chat chat’ to get things done more days than not.

One of my favourite weapons in my ritual arsenal is the concept of ‘Morning Pages’. Each day I wake up, stretch (I adore yoga) and brew a cup of yummy rose green tea. I sit down to write—handwritten stylee—kind of like journaling. I’ve been doing it on and off for years and things are always infinitely better when I do them. For the ritual I like to sit at a little desk I bought at a second-hand store and painted the happiest colour I could find, Aztec Gold. It’s always nice to have an inspiring area to work and create in (more on that in coming posts). A fancy pen and a pretty notebook can also make the process even lovelier—honestly though most times I find myself scrawling on whatever is handy, usually a dog-eared notebook like the ones I used to use in school. The most important thing though is to write.

The idea of Morning Pages is to write to get everything out so your headspace is free to focus on your hearts true path (the things that bring you greatest joy). Why not try it today? You have nothing to lose. If it’s not for you, you never have to do it again EVER! Move the pen from one side of the page to the other and allow yourself to write down whatever comes. There is no right or wrong way to do it. Some mornings I find myself writing, “I have nothing to say. I need to do the groceries today. Did I call my folks yesterday? Blah, blah, blah stuff, stuff, stuff…” Sometimes I just write “This is stupid” over and over until I have a breakthrough—it usually involves me laughing at myself for being so resistant to the process. Remember though what you write is never too silly, stupid, lame or weird, as the pages are for you to look at and no one else. If you’re persistent enough with it, let go and have fun with it you may just find yourself experiencing your very best ideas yet.

I find Morning Pages to be really liberating. It is an authentic, true expression of you, (hopefully) totally uncensored. You can really learn a lot about yourself. Some days I treat it as a meditation. Are there any rituals in your life that you find effective in living your best life?

There’s a great book, The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron that I’ve come across in the past month or so that includes Morning Pages as one of the basic principles to helping make your dreams a reality. So what are you waiting for?

You never know, it could be great / Take a chance ‘cause you might grow ~ Gwen Stefani

Get your creative on!

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I welcome, welcome, welcome you with open, open arms – Gorilla Gorilla Gorilla The Girl

Hello & welcome!

New Year, new decade, new beginnings & new opportunities and possibilities—I just love this time of year when the majority of us are rested from holidays, happy from spending time with loved ones (be that family or friends that are like family) and full of optimism with big plans & hopes for the coming year. I hope you made a wish on the Blue Moon New Year’s Eve lovelies?! After all, every little sparkle of magic helps!

As 2010 begins I’m on the search, the search for everything! To me ‘having it all’ is not, I repeat, is not having millions of dollars in the bank. It’s also not about having a lot of ‘stuff’ or ‘things’. To me, it’s about quality of life; living a life beyond your wildest dreams; on your own terms; doing the things that make your heart sing and that bring you great joy. Basically, it’s all those things, big and small, that make you feel truly alive.

Conversations With Bianca is a positive place. Around here it’s all about encouraging, uplifting each other, sharing ideas and having fun. Hopefully (with your help of course) this will become a vibrant, interesting, and full of life place. As the journey unfolds you’ll get to learn a little more about me and my universe—which I rule one day at a time!

Without further ado, it’s Adventure Time! Thanks for joining me as I dive head first into my magical blueprints for 2010 and beyond. I’ll be revealing my plans here in the coming weeks. I’ll also be sharing helpful tips on making things happen as I make things happen in my life. One thing that’s a definite, my year will be crammed full of music, art, love, self-improvement and bringing dreams & long-standing projects to fruition. What are your plans for this year?

Let’s create great things! 2010 = the year to start creating & living the life you want & deserve. You owe it to yourself.

The greatest pieces of knowledge I received in 2009 from the wonderful souls that crossed my path (which I’m carry over into 2010) are:

“Be well, stay sweet.” ~JLS

“I’m always looking for knowledge to better myself and my art for the benefit of this world.” ~DJ Qbert

“Keep your fire, be patient, stay fluid & travel light.” ~Rob Fusco

“We’re all here to have a good time.” ~Ant Aggs

Go for it!
Love, light & inspiration,

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