In 1984 I was in the sixth grade and 10 years old. My older sister, Tisha, had a copy of the Prince, Purple Rain album, and, since we lived in southern Ontario, Canada, close to the border with Michigan, his first single from that album, When Doves Cry, played several times a day over the radio waves that we gladly scooped up from across the river in Detroit. I already adored the sound of Prince's music from before that, cluelessly singing along to Little Red Corvette and other inappropriate songs for children from previous albums. I loved the music so much, my sister recorded a cassette tape for me of the whole album, and every night, I went to bed with a tape recorder (intended for piano lesson practice lol) playing that album over and over under the covers until I fell asleep.  

It's hard, even now, for me to pinpoint the source of my love and obsession with this album, mostly I think it was because it was a difficult time in my life, and the music was like a dear friend that I could count on to be there for me each night. His words and sounds, inappropriate or not, were full of a raw emotion that I connected with. But I think there's more. Since his death on April 21, 2016, I've discovered a couple of things about him that I didn't know back then that have gotten me to thinking:

 

He hand-wrote his song-lyrics. (Actually, any of us who've been alive since before 1999 might remember this strange practice of holding a pen or pencil in our hands to write cursive, yes?) For some reason, the above photo of his handwritten lyrics for When Doves Cry dropped my jaw and my digital scroll when I saw it, you don't see a lot of hand-written things like that in our digital age anymore. His hand-written lyrics for Nothing Compares to You (made more famous when sung by Sinead O'Connor in 1990), sold in 2021 for over $150K.
 

Even earlier, in 1979 at age nineteen, yes NINETEEN, he went on American Bandstand and was interviewed by Dick Clark about his music and his second album at the time, which he had produced himself. He had been trying since age fifteen, but no one would let him, so, he didn't sell any of his songs or agree to an album deal until they did.
 

These two things, him writing down his feelings and, believing so deeply in his capabilities and musical talent that he refused to settle for anything less than his goal, reminded me of the same power we all hold in our own hands.

In the summer of 2020, I attended a Creative Mornings field trip webinar that was focused on writing. The only rule was - you had to physically write down your thoughts to the prompts, and preferably in cursive. It threw everybody for a loop, including me. I was all ready with my laptop and my word doc. Grumpily, I went along with it, and you know what? That became the start of a novel I've been working on since. It was in fact, so effective, that I ignored the rest of the prompts and kept writing, for pages and pages in cursive, just like I had done as a kid when I discovered how much I love to write. It un-locked something in me, and I was off and running. 

 

Studies show that writing, and particularly cursive writing, help the brain and the body to learn and grow in ways that typing and texting do not.

 

So you can probably guess where this is going, are you with me? Will you try a few hand-written practices this month, and see what it unlocks for you? Here's some prompts to get you started:

Stylized photo of Prince in action by crystal artist, Sarah Shakeel. 

I hope it inspires you to think about and then play your real and metaphoric life guitar in ways you never dreamed possible! 

Go ahead, I dare you to find your flow state and let it rip.

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My other big sister, Cecelia, holds an E-MBA from Notre Dame, and works as an executive business strategist, who was recently interviewed on another show about supplier diversity, cultivating community and generational wealth. She's also a client relationship expert, community volunteer and mentor, a DEIA advocate, and keynote speaker. Also of note - she's a proud Mom of two with her partner of 30+ years! In this episode, I interview her to draw out some of her personal and professional stories, and we focus on what Cecelia does best - helping others. Whether it is in the c-suite, at home, in school, as a volunteer or as a Mom, she wears all the hats, and believes her ultimate purpose is to be in service to humankind.

James Kapicka is a 21st century yogi I interviewed who lives and works as a movement facilitator, yoga ambassador and Thai bodyworker with a passion for bringing people together to celebrate, learn and connect. Through sincere and heartfelt guidance, James creates an environment that empowers students to trust their intuition and listen to their heart. His approach promotes curiosity, creative play and authentic expression, allowing for a deeply resonant relationship with self, others and our planet. Explore his website, yogajames.com to see all his wonderful offerings.