[Linked Image]
Hey Everyone!

I am a singer songwriter originally from New York. This year has become such a crazy time in all our lives. But for me, it has turned into a spiritual journey. One that has completely awakened my soul....

About two months ago I realized that I was very unhappy with myself and with what I was doing. I was a singer songwriter, I was playing out regularly, I was getting good feedback, things were coming together, and then things completely fell apart. Well actually, I was the one to rip it all apart.

It became aparent to me that the importance in my life had become "Getting Signed" & "Making it". It became about all the "Buisness" and what must be done in order to "Get there".

I was rushing my life away faster and faster. There was no sense of why I was doing what I was doing in life. I couldn't remember the last time I was truly "Happy" with myself.

I decided it was time for me to take a break. To go somewhere different so that I could just have fun and find my smile again. To find the calm, the beauty in life, in music, in art.

So I did a bunch of research and prepared my three week venture to La. The trip turned out to be the best experience to date. I found my smile, I found my calm, I found kindness in humankind.

Where?
All @ The Promanade in Santa Monica. The second day in La I went to get a permit @ City Hall to play on The Promande( a three block radius of an outside mall where musicians play)

By day three I was singing my little heart out. I was playing the music I had written every day of the week , I was getting smiles from all walks of earth. I was selling both my cd's and I was making a living without even trying. I was doing what I loved and getting paid for it, not just through money, but through the energy of the people.

The three top stories I have to tell that touched and shocked me where:

1.A homeless man giving me a dollar tip.

2. Another homeless man telling me I needed a big sign for people to know who I was. I told him I would be here for a few weeks and I would get one. Well, 5 minutes later I see him return with a big cardboard box and starts writing my name in big bold letter, neater than I could ever have done. On it it said,
"MISS JENNIFER VAZQUEZ
from THE BRONX".
I cannot tell you how touched I was. I used that sign every day afterwards.

3. A few days into my second week I was singing on The Promanade, not having a very good day. I was playing my songs and I messed up one of them and eyed a heavy set gentleman who had been listening to me for at least 6 songs. Well, he walked up to me and reached in his pocket and haned me a $100 bill. I am not joking. He said to me, " You are very good, don't ever give up."

I was dumbfounded and said, "I can't take that and he said "Yes you could", and waked away. I didn't even have a chance to give him a CD of mine.

Anyway, I have lots more stories like this one that are unreal yet at the same time make so much sense to me. I ended up booking four gigs out there and went to every open mic possibe and getting a small fan base in that time. I got a good sense of what LA has to offer if I make the effort. I went out to LA to catch my breathe and ended up getting so much more.

I have decided to take a big step and take a 6 month trip back out to LA this September. I see life more clearly and my career makes a lot more sense. I write because I have to and I write because I want to touch people. LA gave me a sense of that again.

Thanks for letting me share my baby step successes....
Sincerely,
Jennifer Vazquez

http://www.JenniferVazquez.com