Picture of Jacob Collier conducting his audience in singing harmonies.
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Jacob Collier Creates Community Harmony

by Emma Laurence

A community sound leader today is Jacob Collier. By creating beautiful, improvised harmonic experiences, Collier brings his audiences together in music.

Take a moment to notice how you feel right now, then listen to this extraordinary sound (2 min):

Do you feel differently after hearing this music? How so?

Harmony is heart opening, and it’s also mathematics. A surprising fact about this technique is that it’s quite simple. The sonic result is layered, so it may appear complex to create. But more than anything, harmony requires simple listening.

You can bring harmony to your family, friend group, classroom, office headquarters, courtroom, restaurant, Zoom call — anywhere you are, whenever you’d like — by listening differently.

You don’t even need to conduct the music. All you need to do is be the one who’s tuning into the overview, paying attention to where harmony already rings, where notes meet in the space between.

Two practical examples.

You manage a corporate team. You notice the common ground of disparate factions at a group meeting and speak up to say, “One thing we all agree on here is…” A single commonality serves as the strength of unison and the necessary first tone upon which to build harmony.

You’re a waitress at a restaurant. You begin to pay attention to the rhythm of co-working where timing is key — chefs to servers to patrons. Just by noticing the dance and your part in it, you begin to create a level of community harmony in your workplace.

Naming and noticing. Seems so simple. It is.

That is living as music.

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Looking for a creative way to navigate a transition in your life? I’m here to help.
💛Emma

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Find Your Rhythm. Navigate in harmony with your heart.

Young Sugar Chile Robinson smiling while playing the keyboard
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Sugar Chile Robinson

by Emma Laurence

What is it that delights us about a child prodigy? Surprising talent flows naturally and joyfully in someone so young that we’re baffled.

Where does it come from? Whether we believe the gift is in-born, earned in past lives, or a simply a mystery, there’s no denying the result.

Smile big as you watch Sugar Chile Robinson at age six (less than 2 min.):

Did you happen to notice Sugar’s hands on the keyboard? Young Sugar Chile hits the keys in a way that suits his hands, not the restricted manner in which a player might be schooled.

We each have talents as natural to us as piano was to Sugar Chile at age six. We play the keys in our own way. But sometimes our gift is so natural to us, we don’t even recognize it.

I had a friend who could listen to anyone’s story without making a ripple. Holding profound respect at being invited to listen, the storyteller’s pain, joy, growth, learning, or simple observation emerged in all its fullness.

He never saw his gift as any big deal. But we did.

What’s your unrecognized gift? Maybe you just naturally:

  • know how to be patient when someone needs extra time
  • make others feel included in social situations
  • keep a cool head in an emergency
  • lighten a heavy moment with humor
  • repair any machine that’s broken
  • appreciate animals and advocate for them
  • distill complex ideas into simple, comprehensible statements

What’s most common to us may seem insignificant. It’s not. It’s music!

Today, when you notice someone else’s “invisible” talent, name it for them.

Help them see, and maybe you’ll begin to notice yours, too.

That is living as music.

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Take a look at this if you are in a major life transition and need help.
💛Emma

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Find Your Rhythm. Navigate in harmony with your heart.

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The Sound of Laughter

by Emma Laurence

The sound of laughter is universally human. It brings joy. It’s also contagious and builds connections because who doesn’t love joining in a good laugh?

Babies show us full-body abandon in laughter. They couldn’t care less if it’s a socially appropriate moment or not—and they find humor in the most common things.

Pause and enjoy this baby who finds sneezing hilarious (1 min):

Jean Houston once said that at the height of laughter, the universe is flung into a kaleidoscope of new possibilities.

What a great way to be more creative, find new solutions to stubborn problems, and turn a bad day into something better. Especially when we can laugh at ourselves.

Think of a moment you did something really stupid. (easy, right?) Can you find the humor in your misstep? Laughter shatters shame. Yeah, you looked like an idiot. So what?

Humor also bonds us. When I share a joke with my 9-year-old grandniece, our age difference melts away. When we find commonality in laughter, we find our friends.

Today, ask life for an opportunity to find humor. Appreciate the sound of laughter as part of your day. Share a snicker with a stranger. Break through a disagreement with your partner by chuckling at how ridiculously attached we get to our own viewpoint.

And for one week, try marking Laughter on your calendar at 8pm. If you haven’t guffawed that day, find a funny video, pick up a comic book, or call a friend you know will split your gut.

That is living as music.

Oboe up close with fingers on keys
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Gabriel’s Oboe

by Emma Laurence

I adore the sound of woodwinds. On my very best nights, I’ll hear something similar to a far off oboe, drawing me towards it as I drift off to sleep.

Gabriel’s Oboe has been performed by many musicians, on a variety instruments. Yet, it’s Henrik Chaim Goldschmidt whose playing makes my heart soar on sound.

Pause and listen through to that final high note (4 min):

To me, this version of Ennio Morricone’s Gabriel’s Oboe embodies the art, feeling, and grace of music.

Why is it that music played by a certain person opens our hearts? It can be music of any style, yet the vibration resonates deeply when that individual begins to play.

Who’s your person?

This phenomenon, perhaps explained by the physics of resonance, also occurs with the voice of someone we love. We may awaken to the fact poignantly when our loved one has been away, and we hear that unique sound once again.

“It’s just great to hear the sound of your voice,” my husband and I said recently when we were finally able to talk to a friend in the hospital.

Someone’s sound is not just words. The music of your child’s laughter may open your heart. My cat makes a certain meow, a tiny throat trill, that I find most endearing.

Whatever the music that warms and uplifts you, listen today.
Be grateful for that sound. It’s not forever.

That is living as music.

Learn more about navigating the challenges of life.

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And learn to navigate more easily through the art & science of sound

Riding the rhythm, the Nicholas brothers best tap dancers of all times shown here in mid-air
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Riding the Rhythm

by Emma Laurence

Two of the greatest tap dancers who ever lived, the Nicholas Brothers, bring fresh, dynamic, awe-inspiring expression to riding musical rhythm.

As if born in synchronicity with each other and with big band music, these gifted dancers fly. Pause now to experience their surprising story, sound, and way of riding rhythm (less than 2 min):

The Brothers’ level of rhythmic genius is precise, acrobatic, and fluid. Can you hear/feel their tap shoes matching the beat of the music?

Most impressive to me is the joy with which the Nicholas Brothers dance to a song they didn’t even like! Yet, they found a way through their love of music and dance.

That’s inspiring—and gives us a key to navigate more easily.

When the soundtrack of our lives turns sour, we can sweeten the discord. The Nicholas Brothers offer an image of moving gracefully and playfully in a distasteful situation.

We may be frustrated by our current job, ending a relationship, having to relocate cross country, or facing a real health concern. Whatever the story, for the moment we’re in a tough time.

Let’s remember the Nicholas Brothers and lean into the rhythm, find something in the song we can dance to and be inspired to stay light on our feet.

Bring the best we can, given the circumstances, without self-judgment. The song won’t last forever. We, too, can be riding the rhythm, tapping lightly.

That is living as music.

P.S. Want to see the Nicholas Brothers as kids? check out their Lucky Number “audition”



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Navigate more easily through the art & science of sound

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Human Sonar

by Emma Laurence

When you feel you’re in the dark and can’t clearly see a path forward, use sonar to navigate. How so?

Creatures like whales, dolphins, and bats use sound frequency and echolocation to navigate towards food, away from predators, and into the free, open sea or air.

Pause now and experience the amazing song of whales and dolphins (less than 1 min.):

You can call on your intuition, gut instincts, and spiritual perceptions. These are human sound frequencies that allow us to use vibration to feel our way forward.

When your vision is blocked by fear, or you feel lost and disoriented, try not to panic. Literally vibe it out. Drop your attention into your gut, check in with your intuitive spider sense, or open your inner hearing.

For example, wondering which of two choices is best?

Your answer may come through the words of a friend’s passing comment, or a visceral letting go in your belly when you consider one option over another. Hearing and sensing are both vibrational phenomenon.

Sound frequency exploration, like human sonar, can bring guidance, wisdom, and protection.

Through sound, we can still navigate life with greater ease, even when we can’t see clearly.

That is living as music.

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And learn to navigate more easily through the art & science of sound

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Milky Way Symphony

by Emma Laurence

Music is alive in the universe. Are we listening?

NASA scientists paired with musicians to turn a photograph of the Milky Way into music by matching light wavelengths to sound wavelengths.

An expert in astronomy visualization collaborated with several musicians to create this musical interpretation of a photograph from the Chandra X-ray Observatory.

Pause now and experience the symphony (1 min.):

How are you changed by listening?

I believe experiencing galactic music can help us navigate more easily. As we face daily challenges by growing bigger, wider, deeper—expanding our awareness out into space—our problems shrink.

We can be awed and comforted by our galaxy’s music rather than fixating on petty annoyances or becoming overwhelmed by true suffering.

We are not alone, but live amidst an infinitely larger, more beautiful sound. Blessedly, we are a part of this stardust. Doom and gloom are not the only realities that exist.

Today, you can listen for the sound behind all sounds in daily life. Pause to hear bird songs, a firetruck siren, or your loved one’s voice as part of this universal music.

Know that the Milky Way ever sings its lullaby to humanity.
That is living as music.

P.S. More amazing NASA collaborations in music:
https://www.system-sounds.com/nasa/

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And learn to navigate more easily through the art & science of sound

Burnout Support

Until You Can Exit, Embrace the Pace

by Emma Laurence

If you’re burned out at work but can’t exit yet, embrace the pace and navigate your environment in a healthier way.

You may know your job is unsustainable. The pressure is too intense, or leadership is not aligned with your values. You wonder if you’ve outgrown what once seemed an ideal opportunity.

You’ve contemplated, or even begun crafting, an exit plan.

But for financial or other reasons, it’s just not wise to leave right now. You can feel the timing is off and, much as you want to move on, you have to finish the cycle.

At the same time, you’re tired of feeling overwhelmed, exhausted, and a victim of your negative work environment. You want be in the driver’s seat until you reach that exit ramp.

Rather than resist the current chaos or dwell on your despair, consider this short-term approach with a long-term benefit:

Today, you can begin learning to master your personal pace—a skill that will serve you no matter where you go next.

A Common Challenge

Learning how to gear up your physical, emotional, and mental energy is challenging!

Maybe you’ve had a lovely weekend or vacation. You’ve gotten some rest, enjoyed what lights you up, spent time with those you love. Now you need to shift into high gear for a demanding work week.

A common trajectory is: spiral downward into Sunday anxiety, struggle with a restless night, lean into caffeine and sugar the next morning, and hope for the best. 😃

Highly-skilled and well-meaning workers often live in inner conflict, struggling with a job that doesn’t fit. Even with the best intentions, a burnout lifestyle seems hard to avoid.

However, using your creativity to remain in alignment with your rhythm is a key practice for life beyond burnout.

Why not start learning now?

Embrace the Pace with Creativity

A client with high emotional intelligence recently shared her need for a “harder shell” at work. Without closing her heart down, she wants protection from the intense pressure—including productivity demands, office politics, and other peoples’ worries.

As a coach, I often use the words my clients speak to help them design and test out an imaginative technique. This is a powerful way to take charge of our inner state in tense environments.

Creativity and playfulness ease stress. So, we get curious: what has a harder shell? A turtle, a medieval soldier, a mollusk. What provides protection? Bones encase the spinal cord; thick stone walls safeguard a castle; a bodyguard provides security and prevents threats.

See where we’re going here? Give it a try.

Picture yourself putting on a kind of protective gear. Step into a suit of armor or visualize a bodyguard standing beside you. I’ve imagined a black jaguar walking beside me, or sitting in sphinx position near my desk. The image serves as a reminder that I’m not alone in times of need.

Your conscious practice of imagination is key to lowering your stress level and taking charge of the situation, allowing you to remain intact in a fast-paced environment.

Literally craft what you need. Strength? Imagine yourself lifting weights. Courage? See yourself facing your nemesis without blinking. Endurance? Feel yourself smile at the end of a day as you finish work with energy to spare.

I know this is easier said than done. It’s in daily practice that victory is won.

If You Have to Wear a Mask

If you feel the need to wear a mask, to be someone different to survive at work, take a tip from theater. Until you find the workplace where you can be yourself, consciously create a character.

A client of mine had to fill in for her boss at a meeting—an usual request in her company. Her boss got along well with his colleagues, and she felt she wasn’t good enough to represent the department.

To overcome her fear, I helped her create a character she was excited to play. This character (really a version of herself) was completely confident, at ease meeting new people and speaking up in the group.

She dressed a little differently that day—slightly taller shoes, added a scarf—wearing a bit of a costume. Courageously, she stepped in to that confident role, wondering if she could pull it off.

It worked! She introduced herself to people she hadn’t met and spoke up to share ideas. Through this persona, she engaged an aspect of herself that she hadn’t been able to access.

Stepping into a role you’ve created puts you in charge. You know you’re playing a game. You stay in integrity with yourself—the version of “you” that can master every possible situation.

Your Exit Ramp

Creative techniques allow you to finish out a work cycle on your own terms. It’s grueling to resent the energy demands required. So be playful, laugh about it, and love yourself through to the end.

Sooner than later, your clearly-marked exit will appear. You’ll be done. You’ll welcome the pause that transitions you to a fully sustainable, inspired life beyond burnout.

The Beyond Burnout Playbook (free and downloadable) gives you five keys to crossing that threshold at your own pace. Burnout isn’t all bad! Learn how to shift your perspective, try out some exercises, and have fun with the process.

If you’d like help planning your exit strategy and creating a life beyond burnout, I’m here with a free Clarity Conversation.

And if someone you know wants to make a change at work, please forward this blog. There’s always a way beyond burnout!
💜Emma

Photo by Sammy Wong on Unsplash

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Claim Your Creativity: Burnout to Brilliance

by Emma Laurence

Exhaustion or inspiration? Life beyond burnout is far more fun! So, let’s look at how claiming your creative play and power build a joyful, sustainable life.

Am I saying that creative arts help us thrive beyond burnout? Absolutely. But, I’m also referring to the innate creative ability within each of us, as individuals, to bring our dreams to life.

Burnout’s Gift

The overwhelm, deep fatigue, and even draining despair of burnout comes from constantly pushing beyond our work capacity. Like an overloaded donkey, we can barely navigate the narrow streets of our daily life.

We all agree; this is not a healthy lifestyle. Yet burnout’s gift is a loud call to action from our creative self. Burnout shouts, pay attention!  It asks:

  • Are you living in alignment with who and what you most value?
  • Do you want to be crushed under the weight of life-as-you-know-it?
  • Or do you want health, joy, and freedom to enliven your every step?

Our creativity—both play and power—establishes a strong foundation of well-being and wisdom.

Is Your Creative Play on a Shelf?

Creative play primes the pump for a flow of vitality that never burns out. Let’s invite this precious part of you to come out of storage.

I believe that creative flow once came so naturally to us that we didn’t require labels or permission. We simply immersed ourselves in activities that brought joy. As adults, it’s harder to keep that channel open.

Did you used to paint, sing, or play dress up? Maybe your creative self went bike riding, running in the hills with the dog, baked cupcakes, danced in the rain, read books, took pictures, or designed a new game.

Right now, though, are oils and acrylics gathering dust in your attic? Journals boxed in a closet? Has your guitar become relegated to wall art?

Time to pick up the paint palette, grab the guitar by the neck, and put on those dancing shoes. Pull out the half-finished book of recipes, pump up the tires on your bike, and head for the hills.

Embrace your sense of timeless play and watch your energy transform into joy. You’ll be activating the necessary vitality to thrive beyond burnout.

Reclaim Your Creative Power

Creativity is not only artistic expression.
It’s also the essence of our being—our powerful core.
Think coeur, the French word for heart.
Or shinbashira, the central pillar of a pagoda that ensures
its resilience against earthquakes.

As an innately creative individual, you have tremendous power. Power to bring something extraordinary out of nothing, to blend ingredients in novel ways, to explore horizons beyond your wildest imagination.

Creativity is enlivening, giving, and often seeks to be shared. It also keeps us balanced and sane.

While arts are a channel to express the beauty, pain, ever-changing love, and challenge of human living, activating our creative core enlivens the journey overall.

This is when the real fun begins—just one brush stroke at a time.

Listen to Your Dreams

Dreams are creative visions of what / where / who we’d love to be. They resonate with the harmonic vibrations that allow us to rise ever upwards. Without them, we stagnate and lack direction.

How do you treat your dreams? As ethereal, impractical hopes-to-be-dashed?
Or as a parallel universe waiting to be activated?
The grounded one, where you’ve already built your heart’s most generous desire.

I come from the latter perspective, which is why I’m a coach. I firmly believe that by choosing to claim our creative power, we cross a threshold. We embark on a transformative journey to bring to life dreams that already exist within us, fully formed and realized.

Activate Your Dreams

A doorway “magically” appears when you say, I invest in my creative ability. It’s one you didn’t notice when you walled yourself in, trying to meet demands and expectations of everything and everyone around you.

Now, you can begin to play with life. You begin to perceive the presence of gifts that have been patiently waiting for you to believe that your dreams are within reach.

Sound mystical? Maybe. Or maybe it’s the gift of creativity that makes visions real.

So, how do you activate the dream? You pause.
You choose to gradually, playfully, and practically mold your daily life into the embodiment of your dream.

The vision takes over your imagination while ‘pragmatic you’ takes action
through necessary micro-steps that ground you.

Daily life gently transforms into an architectural masterpiece—a real version of the dream you hold dear.
You’re a long way from the burnout shell you chose to leave behind.

And, as you build, you dance while you put away the dishes, doodle while you’re on a Zoom call, and sing in the shower. Just for joy.

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sweet dog resting on couch
Burnout Support

Learning How to Rest

by Emma Laurence

We all know how important it is to get enough rest. Not just sleep, which can be restful or fitful, but a deep restoration that comes from releasing tensions, worries, and concerns. Is there a process for learning how to rest that deeply?

Without rest, I find myself restless. A kind of low-grade buzz or anxiety creeps in, telling me the world is too overwhelming a place for me to find peace. The harshest news stories can capture my attention.

At that moment, I must remember that I’m in charge of my mental and emotional state. I need to turn off input, let go of chaos, fear or aggression and invite calm, quiet and rest.

Here’s a three-step process I found effective in reaching a deeper restful state. I’d love to hear what works for you.

One: Preparing for Rest

Many of us seem to need permission to rest. Isn’t that shocking? Maybe we feel irresponsible taking time to rejuvenate. A friend living abroad once reflected on American culture. He said it’s like living in perpetual springtime where new things always have to be breaking ground. Right?

For me, preparing for rest is essential. I can gear up as fast as a Porsche, but slowing down is much more challenging. I have to consciously choose to gear down.

Now, I drive a standard transmission car. So as an exercise when sitting or lying down to rest, I close my eyes and picture myself downshifting. I feel the car slow to a crawl. This quiets my revved up internal engine in preparation for rest or sleep.

Certain low-key activities serve a similar purpose, downshifting me from high activity to quietude. Cooking decelerates me because I double the estimated time recommended for any recipe.

Curiously, my husband gears down watching well made action TV shows (with aliens, of course). He tolerates fight scenes that cause my muscles to grip.

This preparation step simply acknowledges the need for a transition time from high to low rhythm. We each have our way to begin.

Two: Sliding Deeper into Rest

Once we’ve begun to slow our pace, sliding into rest may require a willingness to let tensions go.

As an example, Yin yoga requires longer duration in each pose. The final corpse pose (yeah, great name) suggests a heaviness, a sinking into the support from the floor. [My favorite online yin yoga teacher is Brittany Timberlake of Timberlake Yoga]

Another way to slide deeper is through music. Humans are very susceptible and sensitive to sound. The backtrack playing inside an army tank is just as effective to the goal of destruction as a lullaby is to the intention of sleep. We need only explore a bit to find the sound that relaxes us.

As a kid at camp, I sang my bunkmates to sleep. I learned guitar at a young age to bring peace to a warlike environment. Chanting is a common spiritual practice to induce a restful state because external sounds are powerful in shifting our rhythm.

Would you like to experiment with these techniques or explore your own? Alternatively, you could live in a hammock. 😄

Three: The Profound Restful State

For those who crave the deepest dive, surrender into silence brings a whole new level of rest. I find this practice requires trust. What starts as silence becomes a tuning-in to my own internal music.

To reach this next level, I start by experiencing my thoughts as ocean waves that start out fierce and choppy. Gradually, as I watch the waves, I allow them to calm. Not by force, but by invitation.

Then, I gently listen for internal sounds. I often hear a buzzing like a high electrical wire, or music like a flute or woodwinds. I’m sure we’re unique in what we perceive when in this deeper place.

No matter what, I awaken profoundly refreshed.

Sustainable Living Through Rest

Learning how to rest is vital for sustainability in our times. Allowing for a gradual shift, like from bold color to pastel, may help us relax into the process. Then, we can slide more deeply by degrees into profound states of inner sound and silence. I’m ready for a nap just writing this.😄

If you’re inspired by reading these steps, please share with others. You may want to ask how they find rest. And if you’d like, leave comment below.

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