Love the Skin you're in!

Now some of you may have guessed from the photo's on my various sites that I'm not exactly....well.....er....trim, taut, and terrific.....well actually I AM terrific .... but the trim 'n taut bit, well....err.....yes....it's true!  I'm not!

Guilty!

And if I listened to the media, I'd get real sad about that .... depressed .... morose ....self-conscious.....uhm, embarrassed.....hmmmn.   Well reader, if you've ever seen me in live performance, you'll know that none of those descriptions apply.  I'm larger than life - and loving it!

But I'm fed up to here [pointing to the top of my wee short head] with the bombardment of 'lose weight' messages .....get fit....fit in....fit the right shape, the right size, the right clothes, the right pigeonhole.  Well Bugger it - I won't!  I refuse to be shaped by popular tastes and stereotypes.


And I'm REAL ticked off with a society that tells our young people that they can't be loved, accepted, worthy, unless they fit that bloody pigeonhole!  Because that's nothing more than marketing hype to fuel a weight loss industry which is making millions ....currently $750million per annum in Australia....and a marketing machine that wants to sell squillions of beauty-based products.


Well you know what.....I like to know who somebody is under the skin ...and I'm surrounded and loved by beautiful people who love me for who I am ....and who I am has nothing to do with how I look.  In my mirror I'm beautiful.  [my mirror's not for sale by the way!]  I'm respected, admired, appreciated by people who matter [including me]....and that's ALL that matters.


so endeth the lesson.........


but the reason I've shared that with you is so that you'll know what's behind the song A Little Fresh Air 'n Exercise.   It's a send-up song.  Written during the time of my last relationship with a dear man who couldn't handle any more than 9 years with a wacky muso!  [and we are still friends]   He used to say "gawd, I love a woman with a big bum - y've got something to snuggle in to"


I think you'll enjoy the song .....and if you haven't heard it, it's now loaded up on my reverbnation site.  You can have a listen.  And you can buy the track if you like it.  Even make it your ring tone!


http://www.reverbnation.com/mymaureenobrien


Oh, and its on the Many Shades of Blue Album - which won the national Trad&Now magazine award for best CD in Blues and Roots.  You can order that direct and we'll post it out.


Enjoy the listen ....and love yourself.

A Little Fresh Air 'n Exercise!

This is a track from the Many Shades of Blue Album and is a tongue-in-cheek stab at the "get fit" campaigns which bombards us daily.

I have a real issue with a society that tells its young women [and men!] that they can only be happy, accepted, loved, if they fit the standard mold -that is, beautiful, thin [or muscular if you're male]. Is it any wonder that we've raised generations of young people who are obsessed with image, crippled by neuroses because they're "different"?! Surely there's something bizarre about a culture that celebrates an industry solely focused on surgical and medical procedures which change a persons appearance? Supported by spin-off industries which market their products to convince people that how they look is unacceptable.

The reality is that every single one of us on this earth is absolute unique. Each one of us is our own unique size, shape, colouring. And until we as humans can celebrate that uniqueness, find joy in the 'different', get past the external facade to recognise the divine inspiration of our individuality, we will never find the inner peace that comes with acceptance.

So this song was my way of standing up and saying that I am loved....I have been loved...and I will be loved...by wonderful men who care little about my external paintwork and everything about my internal landscape.

I took a comedic approach and the story in a nutshell is this......
"the tv tells us that Aussies are too fat, the doctor says trim down with a little fresh air and exercise, my gym gear turns my hubby on! and his idea of exercise is of the bedroom type! He's even got an answer for the fresh air and a solution for a smaller dress size"

It's a fun song to sing along with and if you'd like a FREE COPY just email me and ask - I'll happily send you a free MP3 via email.