Category Archives: Communication

Creative Artistry Versus Senseless Killings

Posted on July 22, 2012 | 2 comments

Today is the anniversary of a lonely man’s senseless killings in Norway. It is interesting to me how such an extreme expression can generate such interest for so many all over the world. What is it with us humans that make us pay so much more attention to a single act of violence than a multitude of loving gestures, such as healing and creative artistry?

Is it our survival instincts kicking in or an ancient thirst for blood? Or are we paying attention simply because we have already risen to a higher consciousness as society and are intrigued by those who appear to be stuck in past realms of being and interacting? Will their primitive sense of power dissipate as we loose interest and thus stop feeding them our fear based energy?

I am reading a wonderful book at the moment, titled “A Discovery of Witches“, written by Deborah Harkness. It’s an exploratory adventure of historical literature and alchemy, where witches, vampires and daemons are being forced to work together for the common good, and in the process, they are learning to respect and accept each others’ abilities and differences. Highly recommended!

For the next seven days, I’ll be staying at the House of Songs in Austin, Texas, thoroughly enjoying the amazing live music scene while enduring intense heat and humidity. The latter being not being the easiest task for a freckle faced Norwegian. Temporarily saved by the cool air conditioner at Starbucks, new songs are willing their way onto the paper in front of me, aided by the sweetness of my new love and the memory of the one I lost…

Love and Blessings, Caroline

IF YOU WERE HERE WITH ME NOW
Words and Music written by Caroline Waters.
©2012 by Caroline Waters. All Rights Reserved.

If you were here with me now
Would you tell me to swing low

Would you yell at me for dropping the ball
Would you smile at me for standing tall
Or would you just listen, sweet and tender
While I release it all in reckless surrender

Would you tell me to hurry or slow down instead
Would you ask me to come out and play outside of my head
If you were here with me now, somehow…
Would you ask me to swing low

Would you simply observe, in your usual way
Things that might appear to sway
Left of center, less than perfect, curiously odd at first
Seeing how the magic stay between the lines
Intensely increasing, like a vampire’s thirst

Would you smile like only you can do
And illuminate the room with your laughter
Would angels appear right next to you
Singing songs of the hereafter

Would I cry or laugh or count to ten
Or open wide to my perception
As you fill my heart all over again
With the knowing of our connection

Would you hold me in your gaze
Until I found my true existence
Or would you trust me with my own grace
To know the value of persistence

If you were here with me now
Would we let the curtain fall
Or would we simply be still
and savor, savor, savor the awe of it all

2 Comments

Posted in Communication, Healing, Love and romance, Sivilized Debate, Songwriting, World Peace

Tagged A Discovery of Witches, Anders Behring Breivik, Austin, creative artistry, Deborah Harkness, House of Songs, If You Were Here With Me Now by Caroline Waters, loving gestures, Norwegian Jazz Entertainer Caroline Waters, senseless killings

Finding Venus in Norway

Posted on May 31, 2012 | Leave a comment

I am scared shitless, to be perfectly honest. This is my home country, where I grew up, where all my “baggage” first assembled, where all my first impressions were formed, where my first insecurities took hold, where I first began to compare myself to others, where I used to feel extremely uncomfortable in my grown-up clothing.

I am also intensely excited, as I feel like I am stepping onto a new stage of life, in my home country, as someone who has come full circle in so many ways.

Three weeks from now I will be performing my new jazzy musical thriller, Finding Venus (På Hengende Håret), for the first time with a full cast in Norwegian. Yeah, it’s happening at Herr Nilsen in Oslo on June 21st!

The scary part is that I suspect I might be met with a more critical eye and ear in these parts, since I come from a well known entertainment family, which of course entails certain expectations. At the same time it feels absolutely fantastic to finally get to tell my story of healing and transformation, which has been partially hidden for so many years.

The cast is fantastic, just the right mix of talented, wild and wise. A beautiful bundle of creative energies, each with their own unique expression of love and life.

The musicians are some of my very favorite in the world. Deb and I used to play together in a duo called Sirens. We’d make the European clubs go wild with our combination of jazzy classical pop and funky groovy out-of-this-world weirdness. Aage and I met when I played my violin in a Nordic Youth Symphony orchestra at fifteen and have played together off and on since then. Amazing cellist!

Here’s a link to the calendar and ticket sales: www.carolinewaters.com/shows.php

Here’s a link to my official website, where you can find video and sound clips for both the Norwegian and English versions: www.carolinewaters.com

Looking forward!

Love and Blessings, Caroline

Focus, Murder and Healing

Posted on March 17, 2012 | Leave a comment

The murderous results of negative focus:

It has been interesting, reading about Anders Behring Breivik and how he chose to focus his attention in increasingly destructive ways in the years leading up to the mass murder. I find it extremely valuable to see the correlation between focus and action in human behavior.

When I was recovering from a serious head injury and addicted to prescription drugs, following a serious car accident in my late teens, I too was negatively focused for periods of time. My emotions ranged from depressed to homicidal, which created some rather disturbing thought processes.

I don’t know exactly why I didn’t end up as a drug addict, alcoholic or murdering maniac in the end. I certainly had enough crazy thoughts and violent emotions in me to go there. Was it that little voice of reason that guided me through the despair and kept me on the path of healing rather than destruction? Was it the music that allowed me a positive outlet for all kinds of thoughts and feelings? Was it family, friends and angels on my path who gently nurtured me back to Self?

How life affirming choices makes a difference:

I am fully aware that I made choices every single day of my recovery. Choices that probably saved my life. But how come I chose the way I did? What was it that made me able to quit the prescription drugs, cold turkey, in spite of the horrible pain I was in, when so many others simply cannot? And what was it that made me choose being good over being bad when bad felt so much more in sync with the painful state of mind I was in? How was I able to transform pain into something life affirming and positive when every cell in my body was screaming bloody murder?

Some say I had it in me from the start, that I was born with a powerful ability to positively focus my attention beyond immediate needs. This I do know: The power of music and having permission to express myself, verbally and vocally, with no holds bar, has made it possible for me to come full circle. I think we all have the ability to do crazy destructive things if we are bottled up inside. Having a positive outlet is key to any healing journey.

The power and magic of Vocal Freedom:

One of the main reasons I choose to share my journey of healing transformation in words and music is to give hope to those who are struggling with similar issues. Many who experience trauma go through similar negative behavioral patterns as a result of the pain and the fear involved. People may have different coping mechanisms based on their upbringing and support structure, but many patterns are triggered through the subconscious fight/ flight mechanisms, which we all share, regardless of our make-up and social habitat.

Vocal Freedom Camp is specifically designed to gently find, strengthen and nurture the voices in each and every one of us that need to be heard. In addition to promoting my new musical thriller, Finding Venus, which tells the story of my powerful transformational journey, I am working to set up a series of Vocal Freedom Camp seminars to tour Norway and the US.

Please let me know if you have venue suggestions or would like to book a seminar in your town. I am also available for private one-on-one sessions.

More info at www.carolinewaters.com

All Love, Caroline

Finding Venus – Come Hell or High Waters

Posted on January 14, 2012 | Leave a comment

I’m not exactly sure why it took me so long to find the courage to share this particular story. It’s not like I haven’t shared at all, but my sharing has mostly consisted of blippets of life and carefully selected soundbites to illustrate an emotional journey that has left many questions unanswered.

Stilling the voices of fear
It has taken almost ten years to finish the process of writing this memoir. The writing itself didn’t take that long, but stilling the voices of fear and arriving at a point of feeling worthy of sharing it took lots and lots of processing.

Since I grew up as a child star and got ample validation for my performance, sharing myself in musical and theatrical ways have been much easier than sharing myself as a person. In many ways, I have hidden behind my artist image, carefully selecting the pieces that had “promotional value” for public display.

At this point in my career, all I really care about is to share my truth and being in ways that will empower and build bridges of love, tolerance and understanding. And, in order to do that, I need to be as real and honest as I possibly can.

Finding Venus – Come Hell or High Waters is the true story of how I managed to recover and come back to life after the near death accident that left me with temporary brain damage, amnesia and enhanced psychic abilities.

During this time, Stefanie Stroh, the only person I felt any kind of connection to after the accident, disappeared in the Nevada desert in the same area the notorious serial killer Tommy Lynn Sells operated. My search for her was instrumental in bringing me back to a sense of Self and purpose.

Many layers
This story has many layers: In addition to describing the transformational journey of healing from amnesia and post traumatic stress, it is also a testimonial to how I found my identity as a human being, how I dared to come out of the closet as a sexual being and how I managed to embrace life from a whole new perspective.

Since I also have written songs that go hand in glove with this particular journey, Finding Venus – Come Hell or High Waters is also being transformed into a 90-minute musical stage performance, which I am currently preparing to showcase in Oslo, New York and Los Angeles. I am terrified, to tell you the truth, of putting myself out there is this manner. And, at the same time, I am excited to finally let the cat out of the bag and share this powerful adventure of transformation and healing.

Consciousness expanding activities
If you or anyone you know have ever experienced trauma to the brain, loss of identity, amnesia, performance pressure, challenges in relationship to parental opinions, enhanced psychic abilities, paranormal activity, post traumatic stress or other consciousness expanding activities, you might find this musical particularly intriguing, comforting and empowering.

Sharing the love
It is my desire to share the love that I experienced throughout this powerful healing transformation in ways that will entertain, humor, enlighten, delight and give hope for the future.

Please stay tuned for show dates and more info at www.carolinewaters.com

Here’s a taste:)

The Challenge of Treating Each Other with Courtesy and Respect

Posted on October 11, 2011 | 3 comments

Speaking my mind on the treatment of a serial killer

As I ventured to my favorite Starbucks, and happened to sit down next to an ultra conservative, self proclaimed Christian, I made the “mistake” of mentioning in conversation, to the person sitting across from me, that I thought it was a good thing that the court system in Norway was treating Anders Behring Breivik, the serial killer, with courtesy and respect in their proceedings.

Being challenged

The guy next to me just simply took off, raising his voice and saying things like, “Who are you to forgive? Who gave you that right?” And then he proceeded to tell me about his grand mother who was raped and murdered by someone who “only” served fifteen years in prison and is a free man today. Clearly, there were some unresolved feelings on his part. Since I recognized the pain underlying his statement, I actively listened with a compassionate heart, yet maintained my position; that I believed we could only heal this kind of violence by holding ourselves to a higher standard.

Feeling powerless

The saddest thing to me was that he seemed completely unable to hear anything other than what might be fueling his rage. He just continued to ramble on about “what the bastards deserve is to get raped and killed themselves… an eye for an eye..” etc. “Wouldn’t that just turn the rest of us into monsters?” I asked, but that only served to fuel his anger even more. When I asked him his name he wouldn’t give it. When I told him that I was sorry I made him upset and that that was not my intention, he said “Shut up and leave me alone! I don’t want to talk with you!” So, as he continued to ask me questions in an accusatory manner, but not wanting to hear any answers, I felt I had no choice but to leave.

Adding perspective

The person across from me, who had witnessed the whole thing, said not to take it personally, that this guy always worked himself up over other people’s statements. He even said the guy might even end up killing someone in a rage one day, just because of his lack of ability to listen to other people’s point of view. No pun intended. This, of course, gave me pause.

It made me sad that I had to leave. It made me feel powerless over the situation. I really wanted for us to come to some kind of understanding, even if it meant to agree not to agree. And it made me realize how upsetting it is to me when people choose their anger and righteous claim to whatever their point of view is, rather than being open to civilized debate. It saddens me when people shut down, for whatever reason, instead of opening to communication and to widening their perspective.

Finding a solution

How can we contribute to that wider perspective in our communication without fueling the rage of those who cannot handle what we are trying to say? One answer could be that it simply isn’t possible, that one person’s expansion might more often than not contain someone else’s trigger.

I know all too well that I cannot please everyone, that I certainly cannot control anyone’s choice of expression and that when I choose to take a stand in a public space, I am vulnerable to the wrath of those who oppose my view.

As a performing artist, author, composer, Vocal Freedom coach and keynote speaker, I am on a mission to empower people to their heartfelt expression. The tricky part is, as healthy as I believe it is to express angry as well as joyous notions, to channel these expression in ways that honor our co-creative efforts.

Learning from the actions of a serial killer

Anders Behring Breivik thought it necessary to kill in order to get his point across. He said he felt unheard and disrespected in his previous attempts to communicate in a “more civilized” manner. This is a powerful statement, from someone who, however misguided and delusional, was able to carry out one of the worst terrorist attacks in modern history.

To listen without prejudice

I have made a vow, to listen without prejudice as much as I can, to those who happen to cross my path. We all need to be heard, seen and validated in order to survive and thrive and make our best contribution on this planet. And our contrasting perspectives are what makes us learn and grow and expand.

Imagine what we could co-create if we were to treat each other as if we sang in a choir together or played in a symphony orchestra. Each of us truly appreciating the different timbres, notes and expressions of our different instruments and how they blend together in harmony when we practice listening to each other as a whole and at the same time hone our own instrument and how we can play our part so that it supports the overall sound as intended.

Love and Blessings, Caroline

3 Comments

Posted in Communication, Healing, Sivilized Debate, World Peace

Tagged Ander Behring Breivik, feeling powerless, finding a solution, Jazz entertainer Caroline Waters, serial killer, The Challenge of treating each other with courtesy and respect, to listen without prejudice