Enews banner
March 31 2009                       www.yournextquest.com                 Volume 1, Issue # 6
............................................................................................................
Do you know someone who'd enjoy reading this? Please send it along to her!

Forward to a Friend
Join Our Mailing List!
In This Issue (click a title to link to an article)
Is it your time "to bust out later on"?
An Interview with Quest Maker Louise Grasmere
March Journal Sparker
Is it your time to "bust out later on"?
 
Greetings!

Late Bloomer. Let's acclaim, celebrate, honor, respect, admire, commend, applaud, extol, laud and sing the praises of the woman who proudly claims that title! Mind you, she is not standing alone in the garden. She has plenty of remarkable women for company.

A mass of peoniesThis is what I think. We late bloomers are like late peonies in a June garden - splendorous in our generous, luxurious, fragrant, petal-rich magnificence. We are in the prime and the ripe time to blossom. When is there a better time to set out on our journey and savor all of its twists and turns? For as this month's Quest Maker Louise Grasmere declares, "Something this good, oh honey, it just takes that long!"

Have you ever listened to a song that made you feel as if the composer had slipped inside your own skin? That's how I felt the first time I heard Louise sing, Sometimes You Bust Out Later On. It electrified me. You see, Louise had read my mind, plumbed my heart and divined my aspirations. I recognized her story as my story. It has become Your Next Quest's anthem - if you've visited my website, you may recognize some of its lyrics interwoven on the bio page. As soon as I heard the song's lyric, I knew deep down that Louise had captured what was happening to me, and I bet, other women too.

So with winter melting away and the promise of a chartreuse haze of new leaves and vermillion-plump buds dotting the trees, I can't think of a more apt season to interview Louise than now when spring itself is ready to bust out. At the end of her interview, you can enjoy her jazzy, bluesy singing for yourself. For now, I'd love to share with you Louise's sassy and spot-on lyrics about late blooming.

Sometimes You Bust Out Later On
Lyrics and music © Louise Grasmere

They told me I was this but then I turned out to be that
They said I should be skinny but I was built to be fat
First I was too young and now they say I'm too old
Oh, you'll never be what you want to be if you believe what you are told

So here's what I've been thinkin' and I know that it is true
You've just got to keep on keepin' on, you got to do what you love to do
'Cuz I know sometimes you bust out later on!
Something this good, oh honey, it just takes that long!

Well, I'm all revved up and I know what I'm gonna do
It might have taken some time but this road ain't nearly through
Well I've no regrets and I don't look back
Can't keep me down cause I'm all charged up
And sometimes you bust out later on!

I hit a few bumps but I'm still good lookin'
Blew a tire once but my engine's cookin'
Took a wrong turn down a lonesome highway
It took some time to find my way!

Crossed the finish line so I changed direction
Took a dead end street at the intersection
Made a U-turn and then I came around
There's not a damn thing left to slow me down!

Pick yourself up and do what you want to do
Don't look down that road you did not choose
Well it's never too late, don't look back
Can't keep me down cause I'm all charged up
Sometimes, baby, you bust out later on!

Everything's that good just keeps on getting better
Sometimes you bust out later on!

So what do you think? Is it your time to "bust out later on"? 

 Interview with Quest Maker Louise Grasmere
Louise Grasmere headshot
Music maker extraordinare, Louise Grasmere began her quest - for music to be at the center of her life - when she turned 30. That journey continues even now 22 years later. 

In 2000, Louise made the transition from full time to part-time as a business analyst at a local university so that she could dive deeper and deeper into music in all its forms of expression. That same year she produced her first album, No Detour Ahead. Four years later on her 48th birthday, Louise completed work on her second CD, Blue Ain't Only Blue.

When did you decide to embark on your journey?
I was 30 when I realized I wanted music be the central part of my life. I had always played music and performed from the time I was 13 until I was 20. Then-except for taking lessons in African style drumming from Babatunde Olatunji, a really influential and amazing teacher-I stopped.

As I blew out the candles on my 30th birthday cake and looked around the room I made a wish: "I want my live to be radically different from what it is today." I really had a kind of aching inside to be singing and doing music. The work I did with Baba and his messages of service and the importance of pursuing what you are meant to do led me to that moment. I had got a little lost in my 20's and had gone on a different path. It took me another three years to get to a place where I had the freedom to move from Vermont to Boston.

How has your quest unfolded?
Singing and doing music meant immersing myself in it-becoming a voice teacher, producing both my albums, learning how to sing well, being a percussionist, having different bands, performing live, being part of community music with the Mystic Chorale, learning how to sing different styles of music.
March Journal Sparker

With its questions and exercises,  a Journal Sparker can be a spark for reflection or action that can help you take the next step on your journey to where you want to be.

Babatunde Olatunji photo


One of the greatest tragedies of a life is to die with your music in you.
Babatunde Olatunji



Sometimes what makes us bust out and bloom is reconnecting, as Louise believes, with your own passion, your own reason for being - a drive toward something that matters to you. For her, it really is music. For me it's connecting.

In this month's Journal Sparker you'll find some suggestions for exploring what is the "music in you" waiting to be expressed.  We've also created a cover sheet if you would like to begin a binder for your Journal Sparkers.
Do you know a Quest Maker, a woman who has realized her dream?
Woman in silhouette
Do you know a woman in her 40s or beyond who declared "now it's my time," and realized her dream, just like Louise Grasmere has done? Perhaps she's a friend, a family member, an acquaintance. Perhaps it's you! If she or you would like to considered for an upcoming Quest Maker column in the Chronicles, please send me an email with a brief description and the best way to reach her.

Need an idea spark to ignite your own quest?
lighted path

Have you decided that now it's your time to claim your own realm and undertake your own voyage of discovery? Except you're not exactly sure how (or even where) to start?

You may need an Idea Sparker to help you figure it out. That's where I can help. Learn more about me at www.yournextquest.com.

Take the next step with a free 15-minute consultation with me. We'll talk about where you are now and where you want to be and how I can help you get there.
Learn more about how I can help you at www.yournextquest.com.


Start your journey now by contacting me at info@yournextquest.com or by calling me at 781.583.7185.Together, we can start you on the journey to where you want to be!
To your next quest!

Michèle
 
Michèle M. Meagher is the Idea Sparker in residence at Your Next Quest. She can help you claim your own realm (personal or professional) and get started on the path to the life you love.

Published monthly. You are on our list because you subscribed to it or signed up for one of our programs. To change your subscription, see link at the bottom of this issue.


Michèle M. Meagher © 2009 All rights reserved
www.yournextquest.com

Stripes