a Valentine's Blog...with water, water everywhere!

Happy Valentine’s Day! You’ll be glad to know that I am wearing my dangly heart earrings made for me by my multi-talented, Emmy-winning friend, Debi Cochran. As a matter of fact, I’m in such high spirits that I am foregoing my traditional all black attire today in favor of, well, possibly incorporating some other color like purple or red with the black. (Baby steps, you know.)

It’s been a heck of a week, boys and girls. It began last Sunday with a Valentine’s Love Fest concert that my buddy Garry Novikoff put together. I’m still figuring out how to post a video clip of it, so stay tuned in the next few days for that, because it will be your sneak peek at the title track of my upcoming CD In Color, and who doesn’t love sneak peeks? No one, that’s who!

So we’ve been having an interesting winter here on the East coast. Snow and ice, and snow and ice, and then some snow and ice. And as the temperatures turned frigid this week, our tree roots decided it was the perfect time to block drainage and send everything back into our house and all over the place, flooding it.

Well, you know me – Suzie Sunshine, trying to look on the bright side, even of dirty flood water. “What’s the lesson in this?” is always my question. Or “What’s the blessing in this?”

I’ll tell you right off the bat, two practical things – get rid of everything you can while it’s your own choice, and don’t leave anything you value greatly on low ground. Obvious things, I know, but still, they needed to be said.

We amass stuff in this country, and it seems like the smaller our dwelling, the more stuff we like to pack into it. But the truth is what we are attached to is a feeling, a memory, a moment in time. And those things we carry with us wherever we go. I’m not saying we don’t want to or shouldn’t keep physical mementos, but we don’t really need to save the piece of lint that was on the sweater that was under the jacket we wore when he kissed us. The kiss is still with us.

So as I watched a lot of waterlogged carpeting, furniture and assorted items going out the door, I began to think that the universe had a funny way of moving my life forward. But I asked for that, truthfully. I want to let go of anything that no longer serves me. I just didn’t realize it would a) be a lot all at once, and b) include chairs.

This is a strange time in my life and the lives of many that I know. It is one of transition, of growth, of moving forward into the unknown in ways we never have before. It requires both courage and faith, and it demands our trust in our own inner knowing and well being.

Valentine’s Day is a day where we can celebrate love – in all its various forms. It is a chance to acknowledge that no matter where our lives take us, or fate, or circumstance, or relationship, what is of value and eternal is love. It cannot be destroyed by floods, or distance, or changing times.

So as you partake of your chocolates, I wish you the sweetness of a happy heart filled with love, precious memories, and the promise of even greater joy ahead than you’ve known in the past.

A special note as I close out this very bizarre Valentine’s blog: Today is my friend and producer Tanya Leah’s birthday. I have written about her many times and at great length, but I cannot pass up another opportunity to say what a gift she is. Aside from being an insanely talented genius, she is a generous, loving, light-filled soul who makes this world a whole lot brighter because she’s here. Happy Birthday, my friend!!

And Happy Valentine’s Day to all of you! Thanks for stopping by. And please tell your friends.

xoxoxo

Ilene

Super Bowl Blog 2015!!!!

It’s Super Bowl Sunday, boys and girls, and being the avid football fan that I am, I have no idea who’s playing. It’s possible I won’t find out, either, since I’ll be done watching after Idina Menzel sings the national anthem.

I jest about not knowing who is playing. I’ve got Google and I know how to use it. And what’s more, all this pre-game discussion about deflated balls has got me wondering about things I’ve never contemplated before. So yay, football for expanding my horizons.

As I’ve stated in previous Super Bowl blogs, my knowledge of players is confined largely to those who’ve made their way onto Dancing with the Stars, or have found themselves in the middle of a salacious scandal…and also, Joe Namath. Ah, Broadway Joe – sigh.

I’d like to talk to you about a more important topic, though, than the men who will be jumping on each other as “sport,” tonight, and that is – food.

I just came from the frenzied free-for-all known as a supermarket on Super Bowl Sunday. And there, I witnessed delicacies I didn’t know I had been missing. “Pigs in footballs,” which I could not distinguish from the “pigs in blankets,” because they looked exactly the same to me.

Chili con Queso, in a tray the shape of a football. Chicken wings, ribs, 7 layer dip that had 4 layers, because, call me crazy, I counted them when it looked shy a few layers. And tortilla chips – who knew there was such an unlimited number of varieties? Corn, white corn, with a twist of lime, scoop shaped, strips, restaurant style, and those are just off the top of my head. Blue corn! How could I forget the blue corn!!! Wait, there’s actually blue corn??? What was God thinking…or is this courtesy of a couple of guys with a chemistry set? I’ll have to investigate…which I’ll have plenty of time to do…during the Super Bowl, no doubt.

Me, my purchases were not as highly caloric, because I was shopping in preparation of the next snow storm, set to begin tonight. I suggest my fellow east-coasters utilize their prayer time for something more practical than which team will win tonight. I myself am going for “Please, God, let it drift out to sea and miss us completely.”

I feel like I should actually talk about football now – the sport, the strategies, the players, their strengths and weaknesses, the teamwork necessary to be crowned champion.

Wow, I just realized I know none of that. So I think my work here is done. Enjoy the game! And may the best team win…whoever they are.

a Special Guest Artist!!!!!!!

This is a special project update. I’ve been waiting anxiously to post this particular installment of “Meet the Players” for a while now. And finally, the day has arrived…

Kenny Loggins has recorded a duet with me for this album!! (I’ll pause while you read that sentence again. As a matter of fact, I think I’ll pause and I’LL read that sentence again!)

The song is called “Friends Like Me & You” and I wrote it with Anthony Barone & Tanya Leah, whom I could not be happier to share this experience with.

I’d like to think that Kenny’s decision to join the joy-filled, heart-centered love-fest that is this project speaks to the quality of its content. But the truth is it also speaks to the quality of the man.

So I am glad I get to say thank you publicly here for the first time. Thank you, Kenny, for contributing both your immense talent and huge heart to this project. I hope it blesses you in a big way, too. And if it’s true that what we give comes back to us tenfold, then it undoubtedly will.

Normally, this is the place in the update where I list some impressive credits so you, my beloved readers, know something about whomever I’ve just introduced. Though his voice and music have likely been a part of the soundtrack of your own lives, too, it gives me great pleasure to say…

Kenny Loggins is a Grammy-winning, Oscar nominated, multi-platinum selling artist. He has penned such classics as ”Danny’s Song,” “Celebrate Me Home,” “I’m Alright,” “Footloose” and “House at Pooh Corner.” (And I could seriously go on listing hits for another page and a half).

When I started out on this project, I could not have imagined the incredible turns it would take. I am reminded each and every day that this adventure is possible and infinitely sweeter, because all of you said, “Yes!” and are on it with me.

Question: What do Michael McDonald, Stevie Nicks, and Ilene Angel have in common?

Answer: All have recorded duets with Kenny Loggins! (#squealswithdelight, #doeshappydance)

Big, fat gratitude-filled hugs to all of you (And especially you, Kenny Loggins!)

I can’t wait for everyone to hear the song!

xo

Ilene

The singers of the duet!

The writers of the duet!

the thing that changes our lives forever...

It’s a passing comment. It’s the line in a song. It’s an evening that didn’t seem all that important at the time.

We are unwitting players in each other’s lives, and most of the time, we don’t know it. I suppose that is the way it’s meant to be, like finely woven silk, almost imperceptible, but I can’t help but think we could all use a dose of knowing our own impact, if for no other reason than to bring home the point that who we are and what we say and do actually matters.

We know this when it comes to raising children – they are sponges that absorb everything that’s conveyed to them, both on spoken and unspoken levels. But the thing is – so are we all. That doesn’t stop at some magical threshold. We take in, we assimilate, and it shows up as our lives and the snapshot of the world we live in.

I’ll be honest with you, when I put it like that, even I start thinking, holy crap, we’ve got some fixing to do! But the truth is I’m really not talking about it in the negative. 

Every one of us can think of a pivotal moment, person, thing said, or event that changed our lives forever and hopefully, for the better.

Lately, I’ve taken to telling people, as much as possible, how they show up to me and what I love about them. I find that it catches people off-guard. And a lot of times, makes people uncomfortable, which kind of saddens me.

It is disconcerting for most of us to be told what a gift we are. But that is the thing we most need to hear, because how are we supposed to bring that gift to the world if we can’t even acknowledge it?

So I go for depth in a world of superficiality. I know, I’m Don Quixote. I tilt at windmills and believe in the impossible dream – that we will all not only wake up to our divine nature, but that we’ll actually embody it one day. And my dream is that today will be that day.

So how about we make a conscious effort today to see how we can build each other up. I don’t mean by saying something that isn’t true. I mean by saying something that is true.

Freak someone out – tell them you love them. (Wow, I think I might make that into greeting cards and/or bumper stickers.)

My point is we should be as free flowing with our acknowledgment, love, and appreciation as we are with our judgment, criticism, and disdain. In fact, we should be freer flowing with it.

This world is only going to change one kind word and loving gesture at a time. So today’s the day. Now’s the time. And if you’re reading this – I love you. Go ahead and freak out if you want to – just don’t forget to pass it along. It might just be the thing that changes someone’s life forever.

Thanks for stopping by. Please tell your friends. 

a little inspiration

My friends inspire me. They do. They make me look at things differently, think differently, reach, and strive, and ultimately, live more fully. And it’s not just some of them. It’s all of them.

Yesterday, my friend Sandra asked me, “When you look back at the end of the year at 2015, what do you want it to be about? What do you want to be able to say about it?”

Holy cow! Great question. And my initial answer to her was obvious and way too small, upon contemplation. The question has been gnawing at me ever since she asked it, because I am a big believer in knowing what you want your end result to be. And yet, I’ve already declared here, in my beloved little blog, that my three words for 2015 are trust, surrender, and embrace.

So I’ve been mulling it over, because I want this to be a year of completion, turn arounds, and new beginnings. (Yes, I like things in three’s.)

I would like to impact as many people as I can profoundly and for the better with what I create. And in so doing, I would like to turn around my finances such that I not only don’t need to worry about them anymore, but so I can also be a blessing to others.

I know my fellow artists, if we’re being completely honest, feel much the same way I do. We want to do what we know our souls are called to do in this lifetime, and we want it to sustain us in this world. It’s as simple as that.

It’s bold to say that, I know. But nothing great has ever been accomplished without that kind of audacity. And frankly, if I can’t say it out loud, how likely is it that I will be able to actually do it?

I also have goals for my personal life, which are very much in keeping with the new beginnings category. I’ve wrestled a lot these past few years with how much “putting out there” is too much. I’ve written a memoir, so I’ve done that. And now, I’d like to not do that.

We live in a world that’s obsessed with social media and gossip. We have little expectation of privacy. It’s a double-edged sword, really, because some of us need to gain a following in order to have a career, but there also has to be something sacred, precious, and private in our lives. And that is a hard balance to find in the current world we live in. So each of us must navigate and determine for ourselves what is and isn’t off-limits to the world.

And also, just for the record, since we’re talking about social media, I don’t need to know if you bought a new pair of socks. Nor do I believe God really cares which football team wins. I do, however, enjoy the occasional savory food picture. (Yes, JoAnn, I am talking about you!)

There’s a famous singer/songwriter who is always posting pictures of his travels on Instagram and Facebook. He is in exotic locales all over the world. But he is always alone in these pictures, and if you ask me, he doesn’t really look all that happy. Now, obviously, someone is snapping the picture, but all I think when I look at them is what good is the travel if you are not surrounded by people who sweeten your journey?

So I know enough to be grateful for the riches I have. I don’t take for granted the people and moments that delight my heart. And as I step boldly forward in 2015, trusting, and surrendering, and embracing the adventure, I am inspired by the friends who join me, each on their own journeys, each answering the calling of their own hearts.

When you look back at the end of 2015, what do you want your year to have been about?

Let’s all start today.

Thanks for stopping by. Please tell your friends. And peace and blessings to you today and always…

Ilene

a birthday blog for my friend Lorraine!

From time to time, when some unsuspecting friend has a birthday, I feel compelled to write a blog about them. And today is Lorraine Ferro’s turn!

I first met Lorraine (insert undisclosed amount of years here, because we couldn’t possibly be that old), when I heard her sing at a Songwriters’ Hall of Fame showcase at what was then The Lone Star Roadhouse in Manhattan.

The truth is I felt the presence of God when I heard her sing, and though it’s many years, lifetimes, and songs later, that is still the case for me. And she is still quite possibly my favorite singer on planet earth or in any constellation, frankly.

Needless to say, we became fast friends and our personalities could not be more different…which is one of the things I enjoy most about being friends with Lorraine.

People come into our lives for a variety of reasons, and I can remember moments of conversations with her that have impacted my life forever and for good. And for that, I consider myself exceedingly blessed.

But that is not the only thing for which I am grateful when it comes to Lorraine. No, Lorraine has the distinction of being the one person who has introduced me to many, if not most, of my closest friends, colleagues, and people whom I love and adore. So thank you, Lorraine, for Sue, and Dan, and Nic, and Tanya, and Arnie, and Garry, and JJ, and Jera, and Sandra, and JoAnn. (I hope I haven’t left anyone out, but if I have, please know I love you, too!)

The thing about friendships spanning many years is that you walk each other through a journey containing many rites of passage. The loss of parents, the highs and lows of music careers, the shared victories and defeats, because what happens to or for one of us, happens to or for all of us. And I am as grateful for the shared tears as I am the shared joys.

So before I close out this birthday blog to go celebrate with the birthday girl herself, I want to wish Lorraine not only the happiest of days, but the gift of knowing what a beautiful soul she is and that she has impacted lives in this world in ways she can’t even begin to fathom.

May your day be joy-filled, your year be love-filled, and life be blessed.

Happy Birthday, Lorraine!

xo

Ilene

with Lorraine Ferro, Tanya Leah, & Sandra Sotero

the first blog of 2015!

We’re a week into 2015, I’m three days into a migraine, and football season is in full swing. At least I think it is. I try not to pay that much attention to things that cause traumatic brain injury unless they impact me directly.

I’ve decided to start my spring cleaning in January, because it makes more sense to me. January is cold and we’re largely confined to our homes. It seems like the perfect time to go through and get rid of stuff. In spring, the weather is nice and who wants to be indoors cleaning? Sure, laugh all you want to, but come April, I’ll be free to frolic, and frankly…oh crap, I got so excited about seeing how many words I could come up with in a row that begin with “fr” that I forgot where I was going with this.

Anyway, we’re one week into 2015, and each year since my friend Debi told me about this, I’ve picked three words at the beginning of the year. The idea is for them to be the kind of thing that will motivate you when you’re in a pickle or tempted to give up. I, however, go with the three words that come to me first, with no effort or thought. I figure that what comes first is where my focus needs to be, my mantra, if you will. And 2015’s words are…Trust. Surrender. Embrace.

Now, I’m not gonna lie to you. My initial reaction to those three words was an expletive also starting with the letter “f.”

I have not historically been a shining example, particularly in the trust and surrender department. But I have been very clear, for some time now, that my CD project is completely, 100% about that. And I had no problem doing that in the writing of it. But the writing wasn’t where the lesson stopped. It was where it began. The recording has also been a lesson in trust and surrender and embracing what is and learning to go with it.

I am certain I will be provided with many opportunities to practice my three words in the coming year, and I hope I manage to do it with some grace this time around. (I believe there has been kicking and screaming in the past.)

No one can say for certain where life will take them. We can set our intentions, plan and act accordingly, but life has a funny way of surprising us, of taking a sudden turn in directions we hadn’t anticipated going in. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, especially if we’re open to it.

So my intention for 2015 is to be open to something better than I expected or imagined. To embrace the journey, wherever it might lead. To trust that life has my best interests at heart. That surrendering to what is greater than I am can only lead to good.

2015 is a blank slate, a fresh start. But so much of what this year is about for me is completion. Completion of projects that have been years in the making. So I am committed to enjoying every remaining moment of the process. The people I get to work with, the love and joy brought to each detail. And equally as important, putting that love and joy out into the world and sharing it.

Whatever your goals and dreams are for 2015, whatever your own three words, I hope they take you places greater than you imagined. I hope, for the sake of our world, that we find our way back to loving each other, that we recognize that our destinies are inextricably linked, and our source is the same one, whatever we call it.

Peace and blessings to you in this New Year! Thanks for stopping by. Please tell your friends.