Alien pattern power

David Bowie’s passing affected me much more deeply than I would have expected. If you had asked me in December to list my 10 favorite bands of all time, I don’t think I would have even considered putting Bowie on the list.

Yet, for some odd reason, his death on January 10 hit me hard, harder than just about any celebrity I can remember. I was still a brainwashed fundamentalist Christian kid in 1980 when John Lennon was shot. I probably still thought the Beatles’ music was ‘satanic’. When Jerry Garcia died, it felt more like a relief than a loss in some ways. The last Dead show I saw, at the Palace outside of Detroit, you could almost feel Jerry’s suffering ripple up from the stage.

The more I explored my feelings about Bowie, the curiouser I became. And in talking with other diehard music fans (not all of them diehard Bowie fanatics), I realized Bowie had affected us much more powerfully than I had ever acknowledged. And that is probably exactly how he planned it.

Bowie had two of what are called “alien patterns” in his natal horoscope. These energies affect the native – and those the native relates to – in very distinct ways. Which I explore in Episode 4 of the Naked Songwriter pod.

Taking Poetry to the People

afrose poetry busking. Photo (c) James Curtis 2015

In Episode 2 of the Naked Songwriter, DK interviews poet afrose fatima ahmed on taking the plunge and doing what you love, writing intimate poetry for strangers on the street, love, loss, and giving yourself permission to just be you.

“I find that every time I take the risk and I put out the thing that feels too edgy, people respond really well to it. They’re really grateful that I chose not to just wrap it up in puppies and rainbows. They want that rawness. They’re hungry for it. Because we’re all experiencing it every single day but we often don’t find spaces in which we can acknowledge it openly…”

Last week I came down with a strong case of the Kundalini Fever. Or the Ascension Flu. Whatever you want to call it, it was gnarly. Migraines, nausea, bizarre hot flashes, no sleep, nothing but sleep, dropping things, verbal part of brain shutting down mid-sentence and refusing to come back online. Am I cracking up? Or cracking open?  Continue reading →

A Creative Response to the Blows of Fate?

I’ve spent the last week dealing with migraines. It has been an interesting experience. I’ve had ‘migraine clusters’ in the past – times when I’ve gotten three migraines over a two-week period, for example. This one has been different. I’ve come to think of it as one long migraine. Sometimes I feel almost fine, other times I feel woozy but mostly functional – and then there have been the days where I just have to lie down and be still.

As you might imagine, I’ve found this sense of being repeatedly incapacitated somewhat frustrating. Continue reading →

The Truth Behind Our Excuses

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