Be sure to read to the end for a gift from me to you. Being 58 years old has seemed in the past like an age where everything would be integrated and whole-connected and complete. I’d have it all figured out. Well, that’s not quite the story. Here’s how I see it. Turning 58 means that I can live life with a greater perspective. I can see the big picture more easily and come from a place of love instead of fear. It doesn’t mean that the pain or the challenges aren’t there, but that I can come closer to connection and completion than I ever have before. The whole year of 2023 has been amazing and challenging at the same time. It has challenged me to look at everything from my past, present, and future and ask myself “What do I want to let go of?” “What do I want to create in this new space?” and “What do I see and embrace for my future?” There’s been a squeeze, an organic pressure, a deep knowing this is the time for change! This means, turning 58 and moving into 2024, is GO and BE time! Get up and rise! There’s no room for being afraid to say “This is who I am and this is what I do.” It’s the unfolding into a new season and time—a cycle, but a cycle that is a rising spiral staircase. We aim to step up to the next tier as much as possible, but we also step down occasionally or circle to face the same challenges but with a new perspective. We learn, we grow, we move forward.
The first part of my life was looking at and experiencing the world from the outside in, trying to fit in, and finding my passion and purpose...this next ½ is about being IN my passion and purpose, creating and living it, and being of service. This IS who I am, the inspirational, creative, compassionate, change-making, peace-making music artist, and life stylist.
This is the season when we all notice that we are returning to light-filled days after the winter solstice. I feel so much better when we return to the light. You’ll see some special packages below for my 58th birthday and this next phase of my life. If you’d like to book a package or even have a conversation around whether or not this is right for you or a loved one (last-minute Christmas present or birthday present, anyone?) reach me at: [email protected] or call/text 218-689-8432. Return to the Light Special
I support you in the transformation that I am always talking about on the blog - from fear, to love. I want to help as many people as possible jumpstart into 2024, which is why I'm offering “PAY WHAT YOU CAN!!” Your life deserves to be beautiful, abundant, and meaningful. You are worth the investment. Call or text me at 218-689-8432 or email [email protected] to learn more and plan your session. Happy birthday to our inner children! Happy Holidays to all. May your new year be filled with beauty and love. Love Always,
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Hi Luminaries! I can’t believe that it’s the end of November. The holidays are here and we’re starting to wrap up 2023. Which, in my world, has been feeling like a SQUEEZE. What do I mean by SQUEEZE? The squeeze I’m going through is trying to fit my BIG VISION through the tiny hole of a needle – and a big part of that is working with my 2 R & R’s, Rest & Relaxation + Rock n Roll. In other words, taking care of my health and wellness and collaberating with my musician friends to re-start a band. For more on the 2 R & R's, watch my most recent podcast interview with Jodee Bock below.
I’m dealing with how I become that bigger version of myself in the real world. Distractions come up, from social media to relationships and other life changes. I make big goals for myself and sometimes fail to live up to them – can you relate? I have the awareness now to know when I’m acting out of fear instead of love. I try my best to stay true to my truth, my vision, my loving spirit, but it doesn’t always work. Yet I know how important it is, not just for me, but for the health of our planet. If there is to be peace in the world, What’s going on in the Middle East and with the attacks is not separate from us. We’re all connected. Outer affairs, world affairs IS an INSIDE JOB. Learning to be connected with the LOVE within will help us to create love without. I ask myself, “How can I stay connected to faith and love in the face of so much division and separation?” I ask you the same question. How do you do that? How do we do that together?
That’s what it means to be grateful for feeling the squeeze – because when you flow through being uncomfortable, you get to really start feeling alive!
Wishing you a wonderful Thanksgiving and holiday season. Love Always, Denise Marie PS- Next Month is my Birthday…My 58th Birthday! I’ll be celebrating the gift of getting younger and wiser, LOL. As well as celebrating my peers and audience – stay tuned! In loving memory of my daughter, Amanda Rose Ostby December 17th, 1985---May 17th, 2003 Today, I want to share a little bit about Amanda Rose Ostby and the story of her passing and our connection. If she were here on this earth today, she would be 36. I’m going to tell you a true story about the magical moment I was able to see, touch, feel and hear her 11 years after her passing, in 2014. It was special weekend in November - the recording of the songs “Love Always” and “Broken Open” in NYC with Cari Cole and her team. It was 5:30am the first morning and I remember thinking that I should sleep longer because I had such a big day and weekend ahead of me. I was so excited to be back in the Big Apple and not only having the opportunity to be working with Cari Cole, my producers, and songwriting friends, but that I I was able to stay in a beautiful NYC studio apartment in downtown Manhattan. When I woke up at that early hour, I didn’t realize that instead of jumping out of bed, ready to face the day, I’d be flying out of bed, literally floating in magical space with my daughter. I didn’t know it was her at first, I just felt this presence of pure, holy love, and then a surprise warmth as the presence landed and hugged me from the back. I remember not knowing who this was for sure, until I felt her kiss on my cheek and the blonde hair in my face. I said, “Amanda - is that you?” Sure enough, she floated in front of me and said “Yes! Hi Mommy! Welcome! Isn’t it wonderful here? I am so happy that you got yourself to this place where you could meet me here!” Despite her words being a bit cryptic, I knew exactly what she meant. My spirit had been high enough to have this experience with her. My spiritual light-seeking had raised the atmosphere into love and forgiveness and we were together again. She was dressed so beautifully, in a pink angelic dress. She showed herself to me as the 17-year-old girl I knew before she passed. Yet she was an old soul, with wisdom and knowledge beyond this world. I was so filled with joy and in complete awe of seeing her, that this was really happening! We were both crying and hugging one another so tightly, yet freely. All I could think was, “Oh my God! I am with my daughter once again and I never want to leave!” Though she is always with me in my heart, this was different. It was as if we were inside a movie where life moves fast and slow at the same time. The next thing I knew, she was coming towards me with a HUGE pair of golden scissors. She was giggling as she held up the shears like she was going to cut my bangs. Surprised, I said, “Amanda, sweetie, what are you doing?” She said, “Mom, don’t you know? I’ve been working with you, alongside of you and in front of you to cut all the dead ends off - to free you and our family from the generational bondages of the past, present and future. All that has no longer served you, me, us, our family had to be removed so that we could be in this place to work together and create the music. To assist the rest of the world in cutting the dead ends off, freeing themselves from bondage too.” Amanda was so giddy, so filled with joy and gratitude that she had been able to complete a huge part of her mission (that was left incomplete during her short life) by getting her words “Love Always” through to me in this note that she had written and help me to bring those words into a song. Love Always~A Tribute to Amanda Rose Ostby She was so excited because I had been able to let go, to forgive, and be in a state of true grace and unconditional love. That is why I could see her. That is why I could be a vehicle for her message - to “Love Always” and be “Broken Open” enough to bring our hearts together and create the music for the album. The incompletion that she left the world with, not having fully completed her mission, was now resolved through this music. It was mission accomplished in bringing her love and beauty back to the world through song and music, transitioning from grief to joy. The way she left this world was painful, unexpected - and her work was not done until we had transformed that pain into joy and acceptance. For those of you that have gone through the loss of a loved one, I want you to know that there is ALWAYS a CONNECTION. Whatever was uncompleted before they left can ALWAYS be completed when they are gone from this earth. Unconditional Love, Grace, and Forgiveness are the keys to unlocking the door. Always. If you are open and willing to see and receive their messages and connections, you can be the body and soul that helps them complete their work. I know this might be hard to wrap your head around, but it is an experience that I will never forget. An experience that changed me because I had allowed myself to be changed. I refused to harden into hatred, resentment and fear - I chose to express through my core passion, music. I was ready and available to express who I was as an artist and to be an open vessel for my music, and Amanda’s music. After Amanda’s passing, I wrote a piece(with the help of a special friend) called “Angel in Training-Lessons in Love” which you can read here. The words of that story were written within the framework of Christianity, which helped me through that time and beyond. I’ve discovered in my own personal connection with Christ, that grace is universal and is available for ALL of us to give and receive! Whatever religion you do (or don’t) participate in - the message is the same. We Are One, no matter what happens to us. Amanda, my angel, whether it's on your birithday or the anniversary of your passing, may the power of God’s grace raise our spirits high enough to be in a state of unconditional love and forgiveness. To work together as one in peace, joy and harmony. “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” Love Always, Denise Marie P.S. Several years ago this prayer came into my heart and out on to paper. May it bless you as it has blessed me. "WE ARE ONE" UNITY PRAYER |
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