Miss Isabel's Diary "What I AM and what YOU are in US..."

My dear family,

Since last week I've been in touch with something really cool that I want to talk to you about. In my last blog I was talking about how we are all united together very powerfully. I'm so amazed to see how people from so many different backgrounds, countries, cultures, ages and education can relate to a music that is true and then open up even more as we all look deeper into what we all are as a group and also as individuals. We get to know each other because we have a common love which is the music but it doesn't stop there! In fact it's just a starting point!

A starting point... Alex just came back from Japan filming as the only band member for one of our next projects. He told me it was such a wonderful experience for him personally and he was even more excited about what a positive impact these images will have in the near future. We are all proud of Alex fulfilling his dreams and I started to really observe him getting excited about little things like shoes and vinyls and learning about the Japanese culture.

Ben

And then I started to look around more to find out that Ben was starting to restore an old vintage bass in his rare (and late!) spare time...
I listened to him talking with so much excitement about how he would find the missing parts and sand this bass body until perfection and then put that color etc...
Do you remember when Jeff, Big Byrd, Alex and Momoka went to San Francisco? They went there with the only purpose in mind to live each minute as a dream coming true... And if I look at myself, I just can't go one day without thinking of my jewelry project and when I work with my glass artist partner she just can't stop saying "I love your happy face!" laughing at me as I get excited with every little idea and possibility!

I realize with all of this how what we live as a family, this common dream we share opens up not only a way to touch the impossible all together, but it also helps us find our own personal way in the midst of it! I really think we truly get to know ourselves when we are living with others closely. Why? Because we can either say "wow...I'm the same, I do react like that too, I would have done the same thing... I can just feel what that person is going through..." or "I am definitely not like that, I just don't know how this person can do this, I would have done the opposite...I don't understand why this person is feeling like this". It's important not to judge others but that doesn't mean being isolated!!! In fact it's the opposite, if love brings us together, we can not only accept others but also learn about ourselves through them.

"You share with us all these magnificent things that you live daily... it allows us to keep in touch and stay close to each other, that's what we call friendship..." -Marlène, CANADA

How do we react when we see happiness around us? Are we jealous? Are we trying to find what's wrong so we don't have to think we're missing something? Or are we sharing the happiness... opening up our own life to see if we could also add to this happiness with our own joys. We can feel joy for many things, a beautiful sunset, a promotion at work, a good mark in school, a successful project. Joy transforms into happiness when we share it with others. That means it is so important for all of us to feed these personal joys and ALSO to share them with others to give life to our own happiness and to be involved in the happiness of those we love.

Someone said one day: "Find your people and you'll find your purpose". I do believe in this. The day I found my band, my family here, that day I knew I would have a safe ground to heal, a cheerful home to grow and a supportive strong love to help me find my way, my purpose. We've had many amazing discussions the band together, simple friendly talks about what we see, what we dream of and how we plan to accomplish our next big craziness. But for me the most amazing part about these discussions is that I saw how we were all equal yet so different, all excited yet for different reasons, all talented yet in many different things, all enjoying our common friendship and dream yet looking at it from a different perspective and living it in such a different way... I found in that discovery such freedom...

Do we all have to talk like Alex or jump like Ben or act like Jeff or groove like Moose or like the same things as Sef to be united with the Your Favorite Enemies family? no.
We believe in the commUNITY.
Unique and united...
Pushing toward a common goal and sharing common love AND adding to it our own individual color, our own individual crazy dreams, our own individual life...
And when times are harder, the joys of others will help us still touch happiness...

And when we're at our height of success and strength, others will allow us to taste it fully, to make it worth even more by making it so much more meaningful.

There is US and and there is YOU and there is ME and there is this miracle that unites YOU and ME and US and makes ALL things possible.

Miss Isabel

Miss Isabel's Diary "Treasures & Seeds" - We thought of you -

Ok... I was about to write something poetic about how excited we all are about the new release of "The Uprising Sound Of An epiphanic awakening..." DVD project and special package. Then I changed my mind as I just want to share with you simply why I am so proud of it and why you guys are at the center of it all.

We thought of you when we were planning the tour in China. We wanted you to see everything, from every angle possible, all the beauty and miracles that happened during this exciting journey... So we worked really hard ensuring our visual crew could do this and make it all happen for you!

We thought of you when the visual crew: Kim, YB, Kosho and Stephanie were spending sleepless nights working on the images of the day, to upload them for you so you could follow the action and feel a part of the adventure.

We thought of you when, back home, we made the "Hear It From The Band Members" Special Interview Series, because we had the feeling that if we could explain deeply what we felt, lived, learned, saw and gained from what we went through over there, you guys might gain something from that.

We thought of you when Kanu was sitting days and nights in front of his 27 inch imac...(maybe that's why he has a year round tan!lol) to find the design that could translate the best emotions in a picture with ambiance of the video, just as the frame of a beautiful painting allows it to take its place in a room.

We thought of you when Big Byrd ran all over Montreal to see the quality of different t-shirts, totebags, and other cool stuff and even choosing carefully the type of shipping envelopes to make sure you guys would already feel the excitement just from receiving your package.

We thought of you, our dearest friends, when we discussed extensively about the prices, wanting to make it as affordable as possible.

We thought of you, our family, as we chose the inspirational words and the empowering images that you guys could wear and carry around as a reminder of who YOU ARE... yes! these words and images are not those of Your Favorite Enemies 6 musicians... they are Your Favorite Enemies Family which is you, your impact on us and what you decide to create with what you see, hear and feel.

We thought of you, because we do love you, when we had in our hands the very first DVD entirely made by the family, the first t-shirt printed with ink that is still staining Big Byrd's hands, the first totebag, the first buttons... everything that we are so proud of because it reflects who we are all together and what we can accomplish because we are as one.

Yes... you truly are at the center of everything we do. So be proud too and live completely the joy we are living right now accomplishing by ourselves all these amazing projects, as they are yours too!!!

Your sister's still thinking of you while writing... for you.
Miss Isabel

GET YOUR COPY OF THE DVD NOW: CLICK HERE!

Miss Isabel's Diary "Treasures & Seeds" - Flying again or for the first time -

My dear ones,
You who I am blessed to be able to carefully whisper in your ear...

You make me realize that those whispers coming out of my heart result in much more than a personal release echoing randomly. No, in fact, they are powerful for me and their aftershock in your own life comes back to me with another round of energy and a positive driving force. You guys are really courageous. You might think you're not but you are... the moment you start thinking differently, the moment you allow yourself to think of pushing the limits set in your mind, the moment you believe in the fact that you can change, you can build something of your own, you can be yourself and use whatever you have inside of you to make a difference in your world... at THAT moment you are already a living courageous warrior!

Last weekend, I had the privilege to spend two whole days wondering around the most beautiful parts of Montreal and Quebec City with Sef and friends from abroad. We drove, crossing the stunning multicolored trees celebrating the glorious fall with all tones of reds, oranges, greens and yellows... We walked for hours, sure to discover some hidden parts of places we visited so many times...lol... We saw the sunset falling over Mont-Royal mountain and on the St-Lawrence river... We laughed so much and had great discussions!

One of these discussions came up as we were admiring birds flying over the water as if they were really just fooling around...playing with the wind...like friends surfing on the air just because they had wings and this was the coolest thing to do at that moment!lol I said "These flying birds really represent freedom...but what in them exactly portrays it?" Is it the fact that they have wings? Is it the fact that they use what they have to escape the ground? Is it that they know what they are and fully embrace everything that identity means?... My friend Jonathan gave me this picture he took and said "these birds were so hard to catch on camera!" yeah... exactly... that's the point of flying! Much easier to capture a walking bird (or step on it...yeah... ask Sef how in the world you can "step" on a bird...as he did it!lol) than catching a flying bird!

During our tour in China, Alex constantly declared to the crowd that they could fly, inviting them to try again or for the first time. Again or for the first time... I felt that our Chinese young friends were trying their wings for the first time encouraged by the music and realizing through Alex's words that they actually had wings they weren't aware of... It was maybe intimidating at first but as more and more people in the audience were extending their wings, starting to live what they felt inside freely, dancing, screaming, body surfing.. more people tried their wings as well for that moment. I truly believe that first "flight" made in such an encouraging and memorable environment is going to be a starting point for many, if not all, of them! I watched again their images and I felt emotional to see the powerful sparks of life that were born during these concerts... especially as I believe they are already growing into lifetime changes and even into a society shift. (click HERE to look at them... have you experienced something like this?)

Flying again... For some of us, watching these images is like a distant or fragile memory, as we actually did feel so free only a few times or a long time ago. We may find thousands of reasons why we decided to forget who we are and abandon the pleasure of just "being". Maybe we are "walking birds" and bitterness, fear, stress, doubts, insecurities are catching us way too easily. "I can't fly because my burden is too heavy" and what if it was the other way around: "Burdens get at me because I spend too much time on the ground instead of flying"...

"Letting go from the illusionary security of gravity is allowing our heart and soul to turn our common dreamful desire of flying into the uplifting embodiment of what flying is truly about, 

which is the everlasting incarnation of freedom" -Alex Foster

Whatever our starting point, young or old, bruised or freshly trying to fly, once we jump it's up to us to know how far we go! Have you noticed the air has no starting point and no end? Infinite! limitless! We are not behind or further than anyone, we are just elsewhere. And if we are playing with the wind... surfing on the air just because we decide to, it won't matter where we were walking before except to admire even more how simple and fun it is now to fly. To whisper my heart to you is flying... enjoying friendship while walking in the old Quebec city is flying... playing with passion on my piano is flying...

How do you fly today?:)

Miss Isabel
p.s. I'll be waiting for you Sunday for the Bla Bla Bla!!! Our chance to fly all together;)

Miss Isabel's Diary "Treasures & Seeds": What time is it?

You guys touched me. Seeing all your comments flowing our way like true rivers gushing out of your hearts... I knew it wasn't any easier for you than for me and each of your words had to pass by rocks and dams before they could freely float and irrigate each and everyone who read them, filling us with hope, a sense of community and opening our eyes to more than ourselves.

I read all your comments and your words are now a part of what I meditate. When Danielle said " You were born to do that and to be where you are now!! " I remember that in everything I do I can cultivate a deep sense that my life has a purpose and I do have everything in me to accomplish all I wish to in my life. I said to Ben this past weekend that when I was in school I never really had to work hard to have good marks, and in most parts of my life I had just enough talent or I was just quick enough to make my way without really pushing my limits... well now that I see more clearly what I want I definitely need to work harder than ever to develop my talents, learn team work and just grow as a person.

"I know what I have to do today to stay in the fight, and accomplish what I know I need to accomplish today to stay in the race that is set before me, to strive after the hoped prize" -Sally

To hear Franca and Mily declare "I start to live again" and "I'm on my way to make (my dream) it real" is such a breath of life! It's also an invitation for Yukiko who wants to open herself to the world instead of making "an obstinate, beautiful shield of a fragile fantasy." Franca said: "Even gold locked up in my world I found the pain, loneliness, and then what to do?" Well sisters, I can say you've already overcame many shields and golden walls as you shared with us!! This time is a real :WOW... FANTASTIC!;)

Sebastien would love to have more hours in a day to do all that he wants and Mune believes that all good things come with time... time is so precious you are both right!!! But we have so little control over time... how can we make the best out of it? Do we need a "Time out!"?

"I have no regrets with the things I accomplish on a daily basis. Like you, I live in the NOW. Would I trade every conversation or task I accomplish on a daily basis for another? Sometimes. But, this is the life I choose. It's the life I live. It is all that I can accomplish in the moment." - Howard

In our last band meeting we were discussing about the upcoming DVD of the Shanghai Show that you'll be able to get after the next "BlaBlaBla: The Live Show" (look into the Facebook event for all the details!! ). Such an AMAZING project, I can't wait for you guys to get your hands on it!!! For some reason when I think of that Shanghai show, time seemed in fact suspended, as if it really didn't matter anymore, as if nothing would be too fast or too slow but just perfectly timed to allow many thousands of people to simultaneously declare "we're alive, we're important and we're determine to grasp everything that is for us in this life". It's a little bit like my sister Sandra emailed me earlier this week: "I want to take a step, not waiting for circumstances to change to be perfect... I want to charge forward knowing that I can have success with what I have in my hands whatever the winds against me... whatever I was in the past or what I should have been, what I should have done... NOW I really desire to be in motion you see?!" Yes I see!... the time is NOW!!!

We're all moving as one, united by a passionate fire for life... Our lives are all different and it's beautiful... Our lives are all unique and it's our treasure... Our lives are all meaningful and that's why we won't lose one minute and we're in motion in what we know... and we are hopeful in what we don't know:)

Miss Isabel

p.s. note on your calendar October 16th for the Bla Bla Bla... I want to see you there with us!!!