An "Extraordinary" Happy New Year!

Hello and a very Happy New Year to you! I am sitting comfortably in Dunn Brothers in Apple Valley. A place that is fast becoming a favorite place to steal away for some time and a hot mug of coffee as well as a good place to create another edition of Radiant You. You may recall from reading my post about "Service" that I had felt a strong urge to tell the people of the Unitarian Church I attend that we are all radiant beings of light and that we need to be more aware of this instead of hiding our lights under a bushel. I felt the push to speak but I didn't. I made a promise in that blog to you but more importantly to me, that the next time I would get up and light a candle for everyone there. I am proud to say that I kept that promise. I stepped out of my comfort zone (oh yeah, it can be hard for me to do things like that). I spoke from
my heart to everyone. I didn't speak very long. If I said I spoke for two minutes, I would be exaggerating. But if it was one minute or ten, I spoke from my heart and said that we need to be proud of ourselves and to never for a moment think that our lives are what they are because of the road we travelled to get to where we are at this moment. The road ahead of us is still being paved and we can choose where we want to go in our lives. Afterward, many in the congregation came up and thanked me for talking to them. I feel that that was an unofficial ground breaking for "Radiant University". That was two Sundays ago. Yesterday at service we did an exercise on our experiences of the 2007. What we felt about our personal journeys and where we see ourselves in the next year.

As I was busy scrawling away with pen and hand, my initial reaction was one of disappointment that I hadn't achieved much. But as I contemplated about everything I had done, taking a big step out of my comfort zone and moving like I had and fulfilling my intention of meeting like minded spiritual people. As I told everyone there yesterday; "I came to the conclusion that my life doesn't suck as bad as I thought it did." Sure I am going through some challenges in my life that I want to change and I will, but my life now is pretty darned good. I am an amazing being of energy and light. Which brings me to Liz Phair.

Liz who? Phair. Who broke into the "Indy" music scene with her much acclaimed "Exile in Guyville". Phair's lyrics have often been described as erotic. She has toned much of that down in the ten years she has recorded but her lyrics still pack a punch. The song that has caught my attention in the past few days is "Extraordinary". It's about her challenge to herself to make the man in her life notice her that she is not average and boring. As the song begins, she is talking to herself more than him, something we all do while washing the dishes or in the produce section picking out fresh spinach:

You think that I go home at night

Take off my clothes, turn out the lights

But I burn letters that I write

To you, to make you love me

Yeah, I drive naked through the park

And run the stop sign in the dark

Stand in the street, yell out my heart

To make, to make you love me

Phair then tries to convince herself more than the object of her romantic intentions that she is someone that is exciting and vibrant.

I am extraordinary, if you'd ever get to know me

I am extraordinary, I am just your ordinary

Average every day sane psycho

Super-goddess

Average every day sane psycho

Liz soon becomes bolder as she confronts her boyfriend who thinks she is normal and thus, boring:

You may not believe in me

But I believe in you

So I still take the trash out

Does that make me too normal for you?

So dig a little deeper, cause

You still don't get it yet

See me lickin' my lips, need a primitive fix

And I'll make,

I'll make you love me

Now our heroine really starts to feel good about herself she belts out the chorus and adds even more emphasis on the words highlighted in red:

I am extraordinary, if you'd ever get to know me

I am extraordinary,

I am just your ordinary

Average every day sane psycho

Super-goddess

Average every day sane psycho

Super-goddess

Phair really understands her radiance now. She is done trying to impress someone else and knows she doesn't need to impress herself:

See me jump through hoops for you

You stand there watching me performing

What exactly do you do?

Have you ever thought it's you that's boring?

Who the hell are you?

I am extraordinary, if you'd ever get to know me

I am extraordinary,

I am just your ordinary

Average every day sane psycho

Super goddess

Average every day sane psycho.

I love this song because it's the way we should all feel about ourselves, that even as we go through the mundane of taking the trash out. We are all extraordinary super goddess' and super gods.

My intention for this new year is to continue to build on "Radiant You" and"Radiant University" as places to come to to help you and everyone to know that we are amazing spiritual beings created from Love and that being an "Average everyday sane psycho" is a good thing especially when we truly understand how truly vibrant and extraordinary we are.

I send you all love.

"Extraordinary" words and music by Liz Phair

My thanks to Sarae for her photo of Liz Phair.