We did it!  Our collective voice has been heard and America has elected a real grown-up for president.  I am giddy with hope.  At the same time we are in the midst of what seems to be a truly horrendous economic melt-down and an endless list of serious global problems.  Who in their right mind can possibly assert that they have  No Complaints Whatsoever?


And here it is:  You can’t be thankful and bummed out at the same time.  You can’t complain and simultaneously allow beauty and well-being to flood your life.  You can’t be truly effective and in your best  zone without leaving your negativity behind.  This is not being cheesey, it’s just being practical.

The 2nd verse of the song “No Complaints Whatsoever” says,
    “The high road is surprisingly easy.  Forgiveness shows up without a fight. 
    Through the ups and the downs I see beauty all around,
    ‘Cause I’d rather be grateful than right.”

What a relief!  And what a great option:  Consciously choosing to live into the solution rather than focusing obsessively on the problem.  It’s just possible that we can all do a lot better by  tuning into dynamic good humor, and becoming instruments for that universal energy to flow through, than we can by bucking the current.

Please note that there’s a big difference between being intelligently informed and noticing what needs improvement….and, out & out kvetching. 

As satisying as it might seem to trot out our long and well-documented list of grievances, pushing too hard against them just makes them push back.  It’s a law of physics.  Worrying and grousing is hard work, it feels crappy, and the truth is it doesn’t really work all that well.  No wonder we’re all so exhausted.

But what about complaining as a cheap form of therapy?  Doesn’t unbridled wallowing sometimes have an up side?  So let yourself whine for 3 minutes.  Then get over it. 

Here’s an elegant assignment for all of us, even in (or especially in) the midst of the madness:  Make “No  Complaints Whatsoever” a daily practice, choosing moment by moment to focus our attention and our creative power on the BEST case scenario.

The chance of a lifetime is to be ourselves.  We’re all on this good red road together.  I, for one, am really excited and hopeful about what’s on the other side of this shift we’re in the middle of.  And I intend to have a rollicking good time through it all.


1.  Turning Tide
    A couple of years ago I read a Garrison Keillor essay about the kind of old fashioned politics that truly cares about the common good, and an ideal prosperity that raises all ships.  I started feeling the exhilaration of that rising tide on a deep soul level, turning in a beneficial direction for everyone.  There is a beautiful energy moving now that I haven’t felt since the 60’s.  JD and I drew on our church-y gospel choir roots for the music.  We love singing this vision into the future, and hope you’ll join us one way or another.
    
2.  Listen
    JD and our brilliant poet/songwriter friend Tom Kimmel wrote this one in Nashville last Fall.  We all cried and loved it from the start, but it really came together when JD wrote the cello part and found a Julliard graduate from the Aspen Music Festival to record it for us in July.

3.  Whoo
    We are told that in the ancient world words had power, and that when these sacred sounds are intoned from the heart, Divine realization happens naturally.  So all listeners are invited to sing with us:  “Whooo,” (the sound of the breath, the wind in the trees, and the primordial question, Hey, who are we really, anyway?)  “Ahhhh,” (as in “We are alllllll together now”,) and the sacred sound of “Om,” which is cleverly tucked inside the English word “home.”

4.  Open the Door
    This one is just for fun.  Dance, laugh, sing, and open the door.

5.  It Ain’t Over Yet
    I grew up listening to big band music and especially loved Gene Krupa with Andrew Sisters harmonies.  My Mom taught me to jitterbug when I was 7.  Early pre-bebop tunes can  incorporate deep spiritual truths:  Everything is connected to everything else.  We can’t get it wrong, because we’re never gonna get it done.  We keep getting new chances.  So we say cheer up ‘cause it ain’t over yet.

6.  See My Way Through
    Last winter some dear friends found themselves in the middle of having to make some very tough decisions.  It felt to them like a room in Hell.  We all knew it was temporary, but still.  I went to bed asking for the best outcome for them, and woke up the next day singing this goofy little tune.  (We LOVE Brent Rowan’s guitar playing on this one.)

7.  No Complaints Whatsoever
    While in NYC last spring we heard about a woman Zen master whose main advice for enlightenment was to practice this mantra all day every day:  “I’m thankful for everything, and I have no complaints whatsoever.”  A tall order!  We tried internalizing it, and after a few days this song came through in 4-part harmony.  So now I guess we have to actually practice it.  God has a great sense of humor.

8.  Windows
    I wrote this song to The Beloved in 1976, and have been wanting to record it ever since.   

9.  Song to Sing (Congugational Hymn)
    Just a little sing-along we put together to get from “Windows” to “Say That!”

10.  Say That!
    We came home last December after being very inspired by the movie August Rush and started messing around on the piano.  This tune practically wrote itself.  

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