Mark Shepard: A Life In Song

Posts Tagged ‘inspiration’

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Ocean Of Dreams | 5/28/08-6/22/08 | Song #382

Sometimes I feel so fragile
That the merest hint of a breeze
Could pick me up and scatter me
Across the ocean of dreams…

Sometimes I cannot find
The strength to smile
And I am filled with dis-ease
Then a look from you
Could shatter me
Across the ocean of dreams

Across the ocean of dreams (X3)

Sometimes I feel like I’m made of glass
Sometimes I feel like I’m never gonna last
And I want to see you…one more time…before I go
Yes I want to see you…one more time…before I go

Across the ocean of dreams (X3)

And then I remember
As I stumble through the shards
That I assemble myself
From my dreams
And I decide what they mean…
(and it lifts me up)

Across the ocean of dreams (X3)

Sometimes I feel like I’m made of glass
And I was born To allow the light to pass
Right through me To illuminate your eyes
Let the light through me to illuminate the skies

Across the ocean of dreams (X3)

Sometimes I feel so powerful
That I can smash right through
Any obstacle that blocks my way
Or obscures what is true…

Across the ocean of dreams (X3)

Sometimes I feel like I’m made of glass
And I was born to allow the love to pass
Right through me to illuminate your eyes
Let the love through me to illuminate the skies
Let the love through me to illuminate your eyes
Let the love through me to illuminate the skies

Across the ocean of dreams
(X3 high intensity, then 1x soft and low)

Commentary: This song brings to light a process of healing and transformation that epitomizes the NLP process. It starts with a frank acknowledgment of pain and struggle. Then, in the middle of the song the very image of fragility, feeling like glass gets turned on it’s head. Instead of it being about being fragile or brittle or broken it becomes a powerful thing. The ability to be transparent. Glass may be fragile but it also allows light to pass through it. So what starts out as a defeat, as a giving up song becomes a song of empowerment and victory. This song reminded me once again that the very writing process that songs emerge from is inherently healing for me. The next step ( the one that has eluded me for 30 years) is to share it congruently with other people who can get value and healing from listening or singing along.

Please share this song! You can e-mail it, or post it to social bookmarking sites or even embed it in your own blog with the little widget thingys at the top of the page.

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Ocean of Dreams by Mark Shepard is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

Please Pass This Song Along:

1. Download and Send this file to a friend (it’s sort of big, so ask first).
2. Send them the link so they can download it themselves:
http://www.markshepardsongs.com/beautiful-day
3. Burn as many copies of this or my other songs to CD as you like. Give them to friends.
4. If you prefer, you can order a copy of the Eyes On The Horizon CD containing this song

It’s A Beautiful Day | 9/11/2003 | Song # 334

(Nancy’s Birthday Song)

It’s a beautiful day to be alive
It’s a beautiful day
It’s a beautiful day to watch birds fly
It’s a beautiful day
It’s a beautiful day to be your friend
It’s a beautiful day
It’s the kind of day you never want to end
It’s a beautiful day, it’s a beautiful day, it’s a beautiful day

Look o’er your shoulder and see
Just how far you’ve come
From where you used to be
Look up ahead in the distance
The future is bright and
Don’t you just want to dance?

It’s a beautiful day to want to dance
It’s a beautiful day
It’s a beautiful day to take a chance
It’s a beautiful day
It’s a beautiful day to celebrate
It’s a beautiful day
It’s the kind of day you commemorate
It’s a beautiful day, It’s a beautiful day, It’s a beautiful day,

Remember when you were young
And thought that you knew?
Now you know that you don’t know
Now graced with abundance of years
Full of laughter, some tears
And the love that always grows

It’s a beautiful day to grow your love
It’s a beautiful day
It’s a beautiful day to be a dove
It’s a beautiful day
It’s a beautiful day to eat birthday cake
It’s a beautiful day
It’s a day to remember there are no mistakes
It’s a beautiful day, It’s a beautiful day, It’s a beautiful day,

© 2003-2009 by Mark Shepard All commercial rights reserved. Permission granted to reprint lyrics as is. Permission granted to download and share song for non-commercial purposes.

Commentary:

In September of 2003 I had just finished my NLP Training. I arrived home in CT after 9 weeks of intensive study and practice in CA only to confront some of my old demons. Impatience. I had the unrealistic expectations of starting to teach and practice NLP right away. My frustration level built and built until I could hardly stand it anymore. I remember finally going out into the back yard and cleaning out this old shed that was full of all kinds of junk. In the process my mind cleared. The weather was perfect as it often is in September in New England. It also happened to be the anniversary of the 9/11 World trade center attacks. A friend of mine, Nancy, was turning 50 that week and she had asked everyone coming to bring a poem or a song or some other creative expression to celebrate.

Suddenly everything seemed to be put into perspective and I was able to relax into being alive and filled with the joy of each perfect precious moment unattached to “goals” and “results” and “the bottom line”.

Please Note: This song is sponsored by Maureen Carney

Sponsoring a song enables me to record it and share it. Over 30 years and close to 400 songs, some have been recorded but many have not. I’m starting to forget them and I’m not getting any younger ). Find out how you can help me preserve and share these songs through the Life In Song Project – Sponsorship Program

And finally at the risk of being redundant, may I ask you a favor?

If you got anything out of this song, I’m hoping you’ll do something for me:
Pass it along to someone else. E-mail the link. Download it to your computer. Burn it to a CD. Play it for a friend like you used to. Share with them how it made you feel. Ask them to listen to it. Maybe you can sing along to it together.

Maybe they need to hear this song today. Maybe you need to connect with someone you care about who you haven’t touched in a while. This is one way.

We (these songs and I) need you. We need your friends too.

A song does no good unless it is heard. Spread the word.

Thank you so much!

- Mark

Play the Song. Download it Free. Share it.

 

 Field of Dreams by Mark Shepard: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This song is from Thirsty For The Sky: Songs of Empowerment and Healing

Field of Dreams (Take A Ride With Me)  | 7/21/2002 | Song #320

When I was a young boy I dreamed a mighty dream
But I told it to the dream thieves and they laughed and called me “green”
They told me I should wake up to reality
They said that I had better take responsibility

So I got myself a good job I and went to school at night
I followed to the letter all their sound advice
I got a better job and then a bigger house and car
I had my benefits and a dozen credit cards

Refrain:
Take a ride with me, Take a ride and see
Take a ride with me, To your field of dreams

One night I could not sleep and so I went out for a walk
It seemed as if the moonlight and the stars began to talk
They whispered and they sang about my long forgotten dream
They told me I could live it. It was mine still to redeem

The moon said I should listen to that still small voice inside
Instead of to the dream thieves because the dream thieves have to lie
They have to steal from you ‘cause they’ve been robbed right to the bone
But if you dare to live your dream, they just might find their own

Refrain:

Bridge:
Why do you see the possibilities?
Why do you live a mighty dream lately?
Why do you listen to your own wisdom?
Why do you know to ask the right questions?

So if you are a young boy or a young girl in your heart
Now is the time to give that mighty dream of yours a start
If you come to a crossroads where you need to choose
Choose the “path with heart” and it will give you dancing shoes

Refrain:

Why do you see the possibilities?…

Tuning: EBBEBE

Copyright 2003-2009 by Mark Shepard. All Rights Reserved.

Commentary: All my life I’ve struggled with the conflict between what I wanted to do and who I wanted to be versus what I felt others wanted. I think that is a natural part of growing up. We are told so many things by well meaning parents, teachers, friends, society. We hear “You can’t always have what you want…” We hear, “Well how are you going to pay the bills?” We hear, “be sensible, be practical.”  We are told constantly to “settle”. So we do. Until it starts to fester inside. Many people get cancer. I’m taking a course with Dr. Bernie Siegel. In the first class he says one of his cancer patients said, “My mother’s words have been eating away at me…”

A few radically change their lives. They start living for themselves instead of for all these others. Healing occurs. We discover that when we are being true to ourselves, we have excess love and energy for others. When we try to be who we think others want us to be we stifle and start dying. We close up. We dry up.We get sick.

I ask myself every day, what would I do if I only had 6 months to live. Not always easy to answer or to live according to my truth.

I was put here to write and sing songs. I’m a storyteller. I’m a healer. But first and foremost I’m a songwriter. “Every one knows it’s impossible to make a living as a songwriter.” Particularly now. Bah, blah, blah, blah, blah

That’s fine. I’m going to do it anyway. What would you do if you could not fail? If you were guaranteed to succeed? That’s what you should be doing. Sometimes you will miss the mark. I would rather go for what I want and fall flat on my face than to be miserable thinking “if only I had….”

You are not getting any younger. As Bernie Siegel’s mom said to him everyday. “Do what makes you happy.”

May I ask you a favor?

If you got anything out of this song, I’m hoping you’ll do something for me:
Pass it along to someone else. E-mail the link. Download it to your computer. Burn it to a CD. Play it for a friend like you used to. Share with them how it made you feel. Ask them to listen to it. Maybe you can sing along to it together.

Maybe they need to hear this song today. Maybe you need to connect with someone you care about who you haven’t touched in a while. This is one way.

We (these songs and I) need you. We need your friends too.

A song does no good unless it is heard. Spread the word.

Thank you so much!

Thanks! – Mark

p.s this song can be found on my Thirsty For The Sky CD

p.p.s. Please leave comments or reviews below!

Click here to play the song. Right click the “Download” link to save to your computer free.

 

 Rose Colored Glasses by Mark Shepard: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

If you feel so moved, please use the donation link in the right side bar or at the bottom of this post. Proceeds from this site will be used to preserve and share the songs that have never been recorded. Thanks for listening!

Rose Colored Glasses | July, 6, 1993 | Song #190

I may look like a fool in my rose colored glasses
I may look like a fool in my rose colored shades
I may look like a fool but I don’t care
Cause I believe in the power of prayer
To pull me a miracle or two right out of thin air*

I know that the good times are gonna catch us
I know that the good times are gonna come and stay
I know that the good times are gonna catch us
Though today they seem slow as molasses
I know that the good times are gonna come and they’re gonna stay

Refrain:
The Sun is hot and mean this morning
It’s a hundred in the shade the radio’s warning
And I’m wishing for a breeze to blow a storm in through these trees
I’m wishing for, I’m wishing for a breeze…

I called you on the phone but you weren’t home today
I called you on the phone but your home and that’s okay
I called you on the phone to tell you why
I refuse to hang my head and cry
Called you on the phone and you weren’t today

Refrain:

I’m walking down a road that’s got no name and has not end
I’m walking down a road that’s got no name and has no end
I’m walking down a road that has no name
Just mountains, rivers, valleys and plains
Walking down a road that got no name and got no end

Refrain:

I may look like a fool in my rose colored glasses
I may look like a fool in my rose colored shades
I may look like a fool but I don’t care
Cause I believe in the power of prayer
To pull me a miracle or two right out of thin air*
To pull me a miracle or two right out of thin air
Gonna need a miracle or two or three right out of thin air…

*Alternate:
‘Cause I’m floatin’ on clouds of air
I know that someday soon I’m gonna have it made

Commentary:

I wrote this song at what was arguably the worst time of my life. I had bought 4 houses for “nothing down” at the top of the 1980’s real estate bubble. The “Bubble” subsequently burst and left me owing far more on the houses than they were worth. I made a living at that time as a Title Insurance agent. And that was a business that was totally dependent on the real estate market as well. So when I talk to a lot of the people in this current economic “melt-down” I have deep compassion. I know that horrible sinking feeling in your gut…

The old saying goes, “the only way to avoid making mistakes in business and life is to have experience. But the only way to get experience is to make mistakes.”

Ultimately after all the twisting and contorting to try to find a way out of the financial mess I was in I ended up losing the houses to foreclosure and went through the “humiliation” of bankruptcy.

I had a lot of moments of sheer panic and doubt and anxiety where I saw myself and my family homeless and living out of cardboard boxes…But on occasion I was able to clear that out and focus on miracles. One miricle that happened was when we went in to court for our eviction hearing. The Bank attorney never showed up. We had 6 more months of living in our home before they found the file that had “fallen through the cracks”. Call it what you will I call it a miracle.

The reason I’d bought all the houses in the first place was because I was trying to make a lot of money so I could do my music. Ultimately I had no choice but to do music. My friend Gene Moore said “Mark, this guy comes to my son’s day care center once a week and plays songs for the kids for $75.00 an hour.”

I had written a bunch of kid songs for my own three children and so I opened the Westchester county phone book and started “cold calling” nursery schools and day care centers. I have since helped a lot of professionals overcome their fear of “cold calling” and I know what that terror feels like staring at the phone…knowing that if you don’t make that call you may not eat.Being  terrifed of “rejection”. But I figured “how mean could a nursery school director be?”

I had no choice. I made the calls and I started getting a few opportunities to play for kids. Ultimately that economic meltdown gave me a chance to do something that I truly loved to do.

Eventually I added drums and story telling to my bag of tricks and DrumSongStory was born (which in this current economic meltdown is still providing income as well as satisfaction.)

Now don’t think that all my financial challenges were over. Because I have yet to discover how to get “steady, passive income” flowing. I am continually challenged by changing circumstances and economic conditions. But the point of the story is that sometimes when it seems really grim, the solution is trying to get your attention. Sometimes when everything else falls apart it’s an opportunity to re-align your core values. And ask some powerful questions like,

• “If I knew I could not fail, what would I be doing?” or

• “If I only had a year to live what would I be doing?”

Take a moment and write some of that down. Now start doing it. Even just 15 minutes a day. Do what you would do if you knew you only had a short time here on earth.

And as you focus on that and begin to do that, I guarantee all the other stuff begins to lose it’s scariness.

Thoughts? I always appreciate hearing from you.

© 1993-2009 by Mark Shepard http://MarkShepardSongs.com
All commercial rights reserved.
Permission granted to reprint with copyright info and link intact.
Permission granted to download and distribute/share the mp3 file for non-commercial purposes

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This song goes well with the post I wrote today over at www.ModernJedi.com about “Failure”

Download this song for only $2.00!

This song is from Eyes On The Horizon CD.
Get the whole CD (plus a full length Bonus CD of my newest songs) for only $20 postpaid!

Stand Tall |  Fall 2003, Winter 2004, Fall 2004 | Song #340

A rainy day and it’s not yours
You had to face a few slammed doors
So you sit and hang your head (wondering how to earn some bread)
Was it something someone said?
Or is it a picture in your head?
Was it a feeling in your gut
Was it an open door you imagined shut
You decide.

Refrain:
Stand tall. Force a grin. Forget the loss and count the win
Hold fast. Dig down deep. First you sow and then you reap
Look up. Breathe it in. You’ve got the gold of Solomon
Look left, Look right. Brighten up your inner light

When did you decide to lose?
Don’t you know we always choose
To retreat or to go forward
To move away or to move towards
So pick yourself up off the boards
Give yourself an award
You gave it your best shot and now it’s time to dig down deep
And pull out just a little more, pull out just a little more.
You decide.

Refrain:

What just changed? Not the world, the world’s the same
You just rearranged your perception
You shifted your focus and in the process chose to let go of some old pain.
That’s right! Take it, shrink it down, fade it out, push it far away and Let it go!
Rearrange it into something you can learn from.
Now you know. And it just goes to show…
It’s lost its power over you hasn’t it?
And every thought has become a friend
Like the cripple throwing a way his crutch or
The shy kid reaching out his hand
And looking you right in the eye with an open smile and warmly inviting you to dance…It’s the shy kid inviting you to dance…
You decide. You decide.

© 2004-2009 by Mark Shepard ASCAP All Rights Reserved

commentary: I wrote this song at a time when I was really struggling just to get by even though I had invested thousands of dollars and thousands of hours in learning NLP specifically so that I would be able to break through the junk that was holding me back. Little did I know at the time that I was “deep in the process” of learning and practicing tools and techniques that would enable me to “hang in there” and eventually get back to my original “purpose” which was to share my 30 years of original songs with people who would not only appreciate them but who would benefit from the songs, the story as well as the NLP concepts and techniques…

Please share this with your friends and loved ones.

all the best! – Mark

Play Audio:

 

 Thirsty For The Sky: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Download this song for only $2

This song is from Thirsty For the Sky CD.
Purchase the CD for $20 post paid.

Thirsty For The Sky | 9/18/2000 | Song # 310

I’ve been dreaming of birds and leaves,
Clouds of dust and dandelion seeds
And other things that spend their time in the sky
I’ve been working on healing the hurt,
Digging myself up out of the dirt
Mending these broken wings so I can take flight

Refrain:
I feel so dangerous and I feel so alive
I get so receptive to the heavens,
So thirsty for the sky
I feel like a Peregrine Falcon,
Untamed and unbound
It’s been a long time since
I’ve had my heart on the ground

Sometimes when I am talking,
I think I’m brilliant, I think I am stalking
Some great truth but then
I realize the weakness of words…
Though I may be just a candle flame
In a universe too huge to explain
That doesn’t mean I can’t speak
My intent and be heard!

Refrain:

I release myself from the chains of fear
Climb up into the atmosphere
Learn to quiet my thoughts
So that I can see
I give myself to the calling wind
Out to where the horizon bends
Unattached and at ease I set myself free

© 2000-2008 by Mark Shepard. ASCAP. All Rights Reserved

Commentary: This is the second version of a song that originally wasn’t quite so positive! Written several months before I discovered NLP, it is heavily inspired by some of the key Toltec concepts from the books of Carlos Castandea.

Please leave a comment below or “Stumble” or “digg” this or book mark it with any of the sites below. Also feel free to e-mail a friend or 2 (or 20). thanks – Mark

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For a limited time you can down load the mp3 of this song for FREE!

Right click and choose “Save as” or “Save Link As”
Download Adventure Girl: The Fran Capo Theme Song

You’ve Got To Hear The Story Behind This Song!

She’s the Guinness Book of World Records ” Fastest Talking Female.”  She also holds the record for the deepest book signing (at the Titanic) and the highest book signing (Mt. Kilimanjaro in Africa). Fran Capo is an amazing dynamo of “can do it” in a world full of people saying “it’s impossible”.

I was introduced to Fran by Kathy McAfee who’s Marketing Motivation seminar inspired me to write a theme song. Well, if you’ve been following my blog at all, you’ll know that last week I posted a music video of the song “Motivation” that I wrote for Kathy.

Fran Capo is on Kathy McAfee’s e-mail list and she watched the video and started thinking about how cool it would be to have her own theme song…

So after checking out Fran’s site: www.FranCapo.com I was pretty impressed. This is a woman who really and truly lives!

While I was checking out her website, I got that little chime that tells me I’ve gotten an email. It was Fran! So I emailed her back and then just hauled off and picked up that old fashioned thing…the PHONE!

We actually tawked person to person! It was a modern day miracle. ) ( I mean, have YOU tried to get anybody on the phone lately?)

Anyway, so we talked about her essence and her vision and her philosphy…and I started to feel the old familiar feeling…..

so I got off the phone and I wrote the song in a veryveryveryshorttime!

I called her back to let her know the song was done. Even Fran Capo the worlds fastest talking woman was impressed. She thought I was just calling back to get the info she had promised to e-mail me. Nope. The song was done.

So then I called my recording genius Joe Mennonna up and asked him what his availability was for recording and arranging the song…unfortunately he was getting ready to go out of town for a month to perform with the Kevin Bacon Band but he said, “if you can get by with an acoustic version we could record it this afternoon. to produce it with a full drum set would be too involved and take too long, but I could squeeze youin for a couple of hours and we can get something done.”

so I jumped in the car yesterday afternoon and for once I-95 was flowing in the direction I wanted to go.

Boom! Recorded it.  Fran will be using it in all of her radio and TV appearances like now!

listen in for yourself!

Sunday, Dec. 14th, 2008
Comedy CUres Laugh Talk Radio AM 970
11- noon EST
Fran Capo goes on around 11:45
For streaming live you can hear it at:
Live Streaming on www.am970theapple.com
or www.comedycures.org

Monday, Morning Dec.15th, 2008 From 1 – 2 AM. (You know late Sunday night
on the Joe Mazda Show – Syndicate show in Chicago
You can hear it streaming at www.gcnlive.com

Play Motivation:

Download this song for $2.00

Motivation | 9/7/2006 | Song #356

(The Kathy MacAfee Song)

Motivation
It’s concentrated inspiration put into action
Its 10,000 steps in the right direction
It’s a goal on the horizon that you always keep in sight
It’s taking a chance on a dance at the leading edge of life

Motivation
It’s what you said to yourself this morning that got you out of bed
It’s focusing on the things you want to do before you’re dead
It’s a quiet kind of power that grinds down walls or goes around them
It’s the ability to see opportunities where everyone else sees problems

Refrain:
Focus in on who you truly are
Aim high for one specific star
Stop trying to be everything to everyone
Focus in on who you truly are
Aim high for one specific star
Then take a deep breath… and get it done

Bridge:
Motivation,
Innovation, Inspiration,
Motivation
Concentration, Re-Creation,
Motivation

Motivation
It’s noticing the grass is just as green over here on your side
It’s thinking the kinds of thoughts that open the world up wide
It’s standing strong in the moment you decided
To call upon the deep resources you always had inside

Refrain:

© Mark Shepard 2006

Please leave a comment below! Help spread this music! “Stumble” or “Digg” it or “Facebook” it or email it to a friend. thanks!

Need Some Courage? Watch The Video Below.

But before you click “Play”, check this out: To celebrate vanquishing stage fright and performing anxiety through the application of NLP, I’ll be celebrating by performing my first concert in 2 years on Sunday November 23rd at the Space in Hamden.Details and directions here There are still about 20 seats left so get your tickets Now ($20 online / $25.00 at the door).

Also! For the first Time ever I’ll be making some of my Paintings available to be seen and purchased at Sunday’s concert. Whatever doesn’t sell will be uploaded here to my site so even those of you who live on the other side of the world can get access to them. The short version of the story is: At one point performing was so painful for me that I just gave up and started painting acrylic abstract canvases. There’s a much longer story to tell but I’ll share it on Sunday at the concert or in a future post.

Here’s the video:

Let me know what you think

Commentary: This song literally contains the NLP Anxiety treatment process that I use with clients from all over the world to help them stop worry, anxiety, phobias and panic attacks. I used the same techniques to clear my own anxiety and self sabotage around getting my music out of my living room and into the ears of other people. The fact that in the last 3 weeks people  from 49 countries have visited this site and experienced my songs is literally proof that NLP works. Watch the video and enjoy the images. To learn more check out www.ModernJedi.com

Please help me spread the word and share the songs! Leave a comment below, share with a friend or “stumble” or “digg” this post.  Thanks! – Mark

Original Version From Visions & Voices CD. Dedicated to the historic 2008 election of Barack Obama. After watching please share your thoughts and comments below.

Beautiful Person | January-March 1991 | Song #154

Refrain:
I am a beautiful person
I am a part of all that is
I accept the abundance of creation
And the infinite gifts it gives

I can not love you if I hate myself
I can not give to you if I am poor
I can not heal the world if I have no health
I can not bring you peace by bringing you war

Refrain

I am the lion that I saw in my dream
I unleash the hidden power in me
I am the universe just beyond my eyes
That I am only beginning to see

Refrain

I am a joyful emotion
Too huge to be contained in me
I spark across the mountains and the oceans
To the edges of the galaxy

Refrain

©1991-2008 Mark Shepard

Commentary: This is the original version of Beautiful Person from my Visions and Voices CD, arranged by Gene Moore. At the time I was just beginning to do the deep inner work that would eventually allow me to share my music with others. This song basically came out of a place that was deeper that the self hate I had wallowed in up to that point. On the morning after our historical 2008 presidential election electing Barack Obama I think it does us good to really get this message into our heads. Each and every one of us is a “Beautiful Person” and when we truly give ourselves to living on purpose and fulfilling our greatest hopes and dreams we bring hope and light to this world in crisis. Purchase the CD containing this Song

-Mark Shepard Nov. 5th 2008

P.S. Please “stumble” or “Digg” or “facebook” or “twitter” this!
I truly appreciate your comments below as well!

Here’s my song, Beautiful Person sung by 12 year old Rilee O’Neill. The arrangement is by Joe Mennonna. Produced by Bill Rodman.

Check out these Links:

4EProductions.com
LettersToDaddy.com
RileeO.com
PrivateIslandMusic.com