Sunday Morning

On this January morning I was looking out my home office window and had one of those amazing little moments. One of those moments of insight and introspection that may mean nothing to anyone else, but which brought tears to my eyes.

I looked out my window seeing the grey, gloomy sky, then gazing higher above, almost straight up, I saw clear blue sky. Such a gorgeous expanse of limitless blue with white puffy clouds zooming by. The clouds were moving so fast it looked like a time lapse film that compressed the cloud movements of an entire day down to seconds. I looked back at the horizon - the grey clouds sitting there motionless.

In the peripheral vision of my right eye, I could see dark, ominous trees. I turned to them to see a field of leafless, dark shapes with translucent rays of light poking though, giving the branches ominous highlights. It was rather eerie and menacing, a bit of a traditional Halloween scene.

I realized all of this was happening at the same time. All of these scenes, these views, were real; and my mood, my emotions, my outlook, changed depending on which one I focused. The overall scope was too grand for me to see all three aspects at the same time. I had to choose what I wanted to see; what I wanted to focus on. I got to choose what I wanted to experience.

The sky is always blue. It is the clouds that are sometimes grey. The sun is always shining, we just don't always see it.

Life is always good, we just aren't always aware of it. Sometimes we are deceived by the filters, the clouds, the temporarily leafless, scary trees. It is all good.

2013 was...

It was the year I got my worst day out of the way quickly. It was the January 4th I lost my best dog, Homer. It was also the year I became a best-selling author (three times!) and one of those books was all about Homer, so it was especially meaningful.

It was the year of a great visit to Detroit (of all places!) for Metallica's 2nd Orion Music and More festival, where not only did I see my 32nd Metallica show, but also a secret performance of "Kill 'em All" under the name of Dehaan and I got to get my mitts on one of Jame's guitar while Lori sat behind Lars' drum kit. I also won tickets to an advance screening of their IMAX 3D movie, "Through The Never," which was the most amazing filmed concert experience ever!

It was the year I finally left corporate America, after threatening to do so for 90% of my career. Woohoo!

It was the year of certifications as I earned them in: Positive Psychology, Soul Entrainment, Akashic Records, Infinite Possibilities, Playing the Matrix, and a few others I'm sure I've forgotten about. It was the year of meeting Anita Moorjani, Mike Dooley, Andy Dooley and hundreds of other new best friends. It was also the year I was interview on TalkingAboutSuicide.com

It was the year Lori and I had our first joint speaking engagement, our first experience teaching together, our first classes taught at home, and the first time she filled in for me to teach a class. It was also the first time we both interviewed for the same job and the first time I wanted someone else to get a job I interviewed for. It ended up being the year Lori got her dream job, being a life coach at a local hospital.

It was the year I maintained a yoga practice and got hooked on Body Combat classes. It was my first full calendar year of living the Virgin Diet (well, most of the time). It was the year of my first on-line, on-demand course, The Power of Gratitude, and also the first time I taught a webinar.

It was the year Sadie, the three-legged wonder dog, bounced into our lives. It was the year I worked on five feature films, but still have yet to be seen on a theater screen. It was another great year of friends, family, concerts, movies, books, classes, clients, fun, love and growth. Thank you for being a part of it. What more could I ask for?

2013 was my best year so far, and I've got an even better feeling about 2014. Bring it on!

Talking About Suicide

I recently discovered a very cool website, TalkingAboutSuicide.com, working to remove the stigma of suicide attempts by allowing people to openly share their stories. The site was created by Cara Anna, a journalist and suicide attempt survivor, and has dozens of frank, open discussions about depression, suicidal thinking, attempts and what comes after.

In case you didn't realize it, I am a survivor of years of suicidal thoughts and multiple suicide attempts.

You can read my full interview here.
http://talkingaboutsuicide.com/2013/10/27/talking-with-andy-grant/

The Power of Gratitude

My first online course is live, and over 650 people have signed up in the first week! I am blown away.

The course is, "The Power of Gratitude: Learn how to improve the quality of your life with an attitude of gratitude." It is based on my in-person gratitude workshop, but it ended up being longer than my live event (over four hours of content!) and it is cheaper than attending the live event too. Plus, you decide when to take it, what speed to go through it, and you’ll always have access to it. I decided to launch it at the amazing price of only $37, but I want reward my people with a special deal of only $19. That’s right, use the link here and you get this 4 hour+ course for less then twenty bucks!
https://www.udemy.com/the-power-of-gratitude/?couponCode=navitas1




Check this rave review:

“This course is incredible. It really made me stop and think about so many things I take for granted each day. I enjoyed doing the exercises that were included in the course. Your energy and enthusiasm are contagious!” ~Sue

In the course we will explore gratitude from a spiritual, energetic, and scientific perspective. Whether you’ve been keeping a gratitude journal for years, once had a gratitude practice but have stopped, or even if you think the notion of gratitude having any effect on your life is utter nonsense I invite you to join me. You will take part in a number of journaling exercises and learn simple rituals you can use on a daily basis to bring about an attitude of gratitude in your life. I’ll share my story later, but let me say up front that everything I’ll teach you is something I used to think was a ridiculous waste of time – that is until I tried it.

I will share with you scientific studies from the field of Positive Psychology proving the amazing power of gratitude on your health, happiness, relationships and well being. You don’t have to believe I word I say, just be intrigued enough to put some of the practices I’ll share with you to work and then decide for yourself. Sign up now!

Orion Music and More 2013 - Day 2

A superb day and an outstanding weekend.

The day kicked off with our self-guided tour of downtown Detroit, then we were on the first bus to Belle Isle for day 2 of Orion Music and More. All the transportation and entrance problems that plagued many yesterday seemed to be cleared up today.

Our first stop was the Metallica Museum, which is full of old gear, artwork, stage props and some handwritten lyrics. Then it was music time as I managed to see 10 different bands today. 

I caught All Shall Perish, a very heavy, hardcore band who got a serious mosh pit going right from the start, then Cauldron who looked and sounded like Kill ‘em All era Metallica. After those more traditional metal acts things got really interesting. The Dirtbombs are a 6 piece band with two bassists, three drummers and a guitarist - but wait there's more! They alternate. A drummer swaps with a bassist and vice versa. They covered INXS’ Need You Tonight with a drummer taking lead vocals into the crowd then taking a drum into the crowd for their final song. Sick and fun. But the funniest band of the weekend is Fidlar, a 4 piece punk band (who introduced themselves as Metallica, LOL) with such classic 2 minute sing along choruses as; “I drink cheap beer, so what, F you!” “I sit home and drink alone, you are such a whore!” and the power ballad “I didn’t know I was so good at making you feel awkward.” Plus all these songs were signed by women at side of stage for some hearing impaired fans. It was hilarious! If these guys show up at a dive near you, go see them.

Then Metallic’s own Rob Trujillo jammed with the unrelated yet similarly named skate board husband and wife Trujillos for a jam know as Trujillo Trio. They were straight ahead thrash who were then joined by Mike and Rocky from Suicidal Tendencies for a raging version of Institutionalized. 

Destroid

I saw a few songs by the drums and guitar duo, Japandroids. They didn’t do it for more so I wandered over for a couple songs by Vista Chino until Fu Manchu started. I dug them a lot as they were pretty straight ahead hard rock and did a great cover of Godzilla by Blue Oyster Cult.

Up next, I dove back into the EDM tent to see Destroid, and I've never seen anything like it before. Three cyborg, Cylon-like creatures playing drums and synth guitars and commanding people to dance and obey them in evil robot voices. Fun as shit! They got a serious pit going and I was totally energized for the main attraction.

Metallica. After the surprise set yesterday, we all knew more surprises would come. They did. I had no idea what song might show up next. At least two songs were premieres for me. Another 6 probably haven’t been heard by me live in over ten years. They sounded tight and looked so amazingly happy. They are really at the top of the world.

The more songs you don’t recognize, the more excited I was.

Setlist:

Blackened

For Whom The Bell Tolls

Disposable Heroes

Harvester of Sorrow

The Day That Never Comes

Carpe Diem Baby

I Disappear

Sad But True

Welcome Home (Sanitarium)

Orion

One

Master of Puppets

Battery

Nothing Else Matters

Enter Sandman

- encore-

Turn The Page

Creeping Death

Seek & Destroy 

Make a Wish kids join Metallica on stage

Detroit is the new home for Orion. While last year's show at Atlantic City was certainly easier for us to attend, if I had to decide right now - I think I'll be visiting Detroit again.

Here is all the official Orion photos, broken down by band.

UPDATE: 6/11/13
Last night I finally figured out the significance of "Dehaan" the fake name Metallica performed under on Saturday. Their upcoming Imax 3D concert film, Through The Never, is more than a concert film, it has a narrative and actors too. The lead actor is Dane DeHaan. So if you recognized that from the get go (which I did not), you might have been in the front row for the big surprise.

Final numbers: Came back with 5 new Metallica t-shirts, 1 new pick, and shows #31 and #32 under my belt. In all, I saw 16 bands over the weekend. And for first time in my life, I got to hold one of James' guitars in my very own shaky hands! And Lori got to sit at Lars' drum set. Sick!