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Shane N.G. Daly
Hi.First and foremost I am a performer. I love it, no matter whether it is Opera to a concert hall of thousands through to busking in the Mall to an audience of one. To me being able to share my vo...view moreHi.First and foremost I am a performer. I love it, no matter whether it is Opera to a concert hall of thousands through to busking in the Mall to an audience of one. To me being able to share my voice with others and see the enjoyment in their faces as, for a brief time, they are lifted from their current worries to enter my world of music gives me such a thrill of satisfaction. But even without an audience I like to sing and dance and just ‘be’ playing with sounds and movements. I am a performer and my soul purpose is to perform.Secondly, I am a storyteller much to the amusement of my students. In classes supposedly dedicated to the mechanics of breathing and the craft of singing I am notorious for going off onto tangents and instantaneous improvised comedy routines. The late Robin Williams was my hero [one of my nicknames at school was Mork] and as a performer, see previous paragraph, there is nothing I love more than bringing smiles to people’s faces. This has had a detrimental effect on my life - I was told at my practice school when I was legitimately studying to become a Primary School teacher that naughty children were to be met with discipline and not treated as annoying hecklers - but to be honest I don’t really care. People remember things better when they are having a good time and even if they can’t recall the details, they will remember the way you made them feel and if it is a positive experience then they will look upon the subject matter with joy and affection. I have had many of my students, whether in my classes or under my leadership as a musical director, go on to positions in the entertainment industry. Even those who go on to have careers away from entertaining still have me inside their heads and, for the most part, are able to aim for life paths that suit their temperaments. I want children to be happy and so always encourage them to seek that which makes them happy. Happy children become happy adults and a world full of happy adults is a world in which unhappiness diminishes on a daily [Daly] basis. And, as a story teller, I dream for a tale which can finish like any fairy story - ‘and they all lived happily ever after.’Thirdly I like to think of myself as a spiritual individual. This has not been an easy journey. It is said that Religion is a belief in someone else’s experiences whereas Spirituality is a belief in your own experiences. I used to be religious but experiences decided to put my religious beliefs to the test and, in my case, Religion did not pass the test. So I began to look for a world view that could encompass the experiences that life had oh so kindly thrown at me. Unfortunately once you set out to look for something the process automatically puts you onto a ‘path’ as you begin a ‘journey’ to discovery. I say unfortunately because once you leave the well-travelled path that a Religion puts down you end up on a track that has been created by only a few individuals and eventually that path too turns away from where you need to be and you must forge through the wilderness on your own.This is not an easy process and can lead to some very dark places but once you get passed those dark places you can end up in areas of such amazing and wondrous beauty as to make the journey totally worthwhile.What sort of dark places? These are what I write about, those on the edge of any society whether they are witches, Goths, superheroes, or just the persecuted race or religion of the day must suffer for their life choices. There is pain and loss and yearning, so much yearning to be just like everyone else so that the pain will stop. But to try and fit in with the expectations of society means a betrayal and loss of your own individuality and that can be the greatest pain and loss of all. As has been said many times before, ‘I tried being normal once: worst two minutes of my life!’So what sort of beauty can come from following such a path? There is a joy in being yourself; there is a thrill in knowing what your purpose is and the reason why you were brought into being on this planet as opposed to any other, in the form that you now occupy. There is a beauty in being able to acknowledge that behind the veil of normal life is a far greater experience than any of us allow ourselves to believe and, the most beautiful of all, there are those moments when the veil lifts and we experience the true power and wonder and magic that the Universe has to provide.I am a science geek. I love Science Fiction but I love even more the fact that science discovers on a daily basis just how vast our universe truly is and how science fiction sometimes doesn’t even come close to the reality of it.It is my belief that there is an underlying physical mechanical process that allows for all of it; it allows for the existence of Quantum Mechanics and, equally, for the existence of Magic and supernatural creatures and entities that those of us on the fringe speak of, much to the delight and derision of the more ‘normal’ members of society. It is my quest, my journey, to find that process.To this end I have researched Quantum phenomenon as well as Life after Death. I have chased ghosts while studying theories regarding a Holographic Universe. I have read equally the works of Allison DuBois, Dr Michael Newton and Dr Ian Stevenson along with Stephen Hawking. My texts on magic and the occult share space on my shelves with tomes on Physics, Chemistry, Quantum Physics and String Theory (okay admittedly these are the ‘For Dummies’ publications but you get the point).There is an answer.And I will find it.And I will let you know.But I will not just explain it to you, drily, in the form of a report or scientific paper.Nope!I am a storyteller and so I will weave stories in which I present my findings to you using as my inspiration stories like ‘The Celestine Prophecy’, ‘The Alchemist’ and ‘The Magician’s Way’.I promise to hold nothing back and will show you why I think what I think and the journey that has shaped those thoughts.And, if you find enjoyment in my stories, if you find something that makes you think or even lifts the veil for a second such that you can view the wonders that are present in this cosmic home of ours, then I will be happy in my performance as a story teller.For those who like details a little less esoteric, I live in Queensland Australia and am recently separated from my wife and son. As a family we are obsessed with musical theatre, Science Fiction and Crime Dramas, have a love/hate relationship with Cartoon Network and most emphatically have no desire to own a cat.Once again thank you for reading my book. If you enjoyed it, won’t you please take a moment to leave me a review at your favourite retailer?Thanks!Shane Dalyview less