The second in our series of fast, hard-core goal setting workshops, designed for you to get real about creating a year of SERIOUS ABUNDANCE in 2012 on all levels. Jump in! You know you want to!

Where:  Medina Executive Northbank

550 Flinders St Melbourne.

When: Monday February 20^th, 2012.

6.45pm for 7pm sharp.

Facilitators: Tracy Bartram & Rosemary McCallum.

Investment: $77.00

Click here to book now!

For further information, email Tracy Bartram on tracy@seriouslaughter.com

Rosemary McCallum & Tracy Bartram
Founders & Facilitators of Serious Abundance Seminars

I must admit, I am a late convert to the joys of the op-shop. The opportunity shop.

For overseas readers, the charity store.

My English Mum used to call it the Olly Olly shop. I never went in one as a child. There was a real shame attached to going into op shops in those days. Only poor people went in op shops.  If only my parents had spent more time in op shops, we wouldn’t have been poor people!

My girlfriends have been trawling op shops for years. I could never understand why. ‘Why would you want someone else’s junk? But now I’m older and wiser, and an avid recycler, and I now see the true beauty in finding a treasure that nobody else wants, for a song.  I love to shop, and I love to bring beautiful things into my home. But I loathe crass commercialism and having things that everyone else has. I am in nesting mode and I am getting ready to  leave one home and move into a place closer to the city after 8 years in the country.

I’m being gentle with myself and hunting through op-shops, looking for treasures that I can take into my new place, to baptise it, so to speak, and give me a sense of creating a new space, a new creative and nurturing home as I leap into the next adventures in my life.

So, seeing an  Op Shop sign as I drive through an unfamiliar area is always an excuse to stop and have a quick rummage and have a chat to the lovely, elderly (mostly) ladies who give up their time to staff these fund-raisers for the local communities in which they live.

I like to spread my donations around, so I’m not always taking my stash to the one store.  I like to give to the Animal Liberation Op Shop in Burwood and I love the Salvos – what wonderful stores.  But sometimes I’ll go into unchartered waters and today I was in the Epilepsy Op Shop in Kew.

Not the sort of place you’d generally head to for a fun time, admittedly.  Let’s face it, you’re not going to inspire a bunch of mates to meet you there for a rummage.  But I felt compelled to see what it had to offer.

Never been there before.  But I was on a role! Driving through Kew, I’d already snaffled a silicon cake ‘tin’ for $5 and a gorgeous green vase for a few coins and a chat with the boisterous senior citizen in charge  - always the high point!

But at the epilepsy op shop today, I met a young man, around 20 perhaps, not much older than my son.

I asked him why he was there – in a cold, dark op shop on a lovely sunny spring Melbourne day.

“I don’t know.  I just felt I needed to do something”.

He told me he was studying commerce at Melbourne Uni and in that one sentence, my heart was lifted.

Here was a young guy, a Gen Y? Or a Gen Z? A young bloke giving up his time to be in an old  op shop with an image problem. Not a hip young Salvos. A dusty old blast from the past op shop that smelled like 1950s. I bought a heart shaped necklace for $6.

And I left, knowing that I would write about him, just because I wanted to share how wonderful I felt after meeting him.  We only exchanged a few sentences.

But actions speak louder than words.

He volunteers his time every Tuesday morning, and he’s a full time student.

He impressed me.  And I though about his parents, and how proud I hoped they would be knowing that they had raised a son who has a sense of duty for his community.

The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. Someone has influenced him. And if it’s not his parents, then I send blessings to the adults who have inspired this young guy to be a shining example of the New Age.

Be of service. Open your heart. Offer to help. When we do this, our whole lives change. I’m living proof.

Meeting this young man today made my day.

And I came home with some great booty for under $20.

Life sure is good!

Lindsay Le Compte, Chief Executive Officer National Electrical & Communications Association, 75th birthday celebrations, Sydney 2011.

I get a lot of emails.

I’m on a lot of mailing lists.

A lot of my time is spent reading emails from enlightened beings walking this earth.

And then, I spend time laughing at Wal-Mart people. Or demotivtional posters. Or recently,  gag-inducing, damnautocorrect emails, which make me laugh so hard I nearly pee my  pants.

I love a good laugh.  Lucky I’ve made a career out of it!

But mostly, I love personal development stuff that really makes sense

I really am hungry for knowledge and in particular, hungry for knowledge on the human condition.

In 2007, my dear friend Sally took me to India to Osho’s ashram.  We’d been talking about going there for years.

Those Sanyasans really know how to meditate and it was one of the best trips of my life.

And so I ended up on Osho’s mailing list.

I don’t always read the dead guru’s musings, but today I did. And I’m glad.

Because it makes so much sense about neediness, and men wanting to be mothered, and their fixation with boobs.

so I thought I’d share it with you.

I hope it makes you think.

And do a little digging into your own psyche.

We all have a lot to heal.

And when you’ve had a read of this, check out http://damnyouautocorrect.com.  It’s hilarious! But please, read Osho first xxx

http://www.osho.com/main.cfm?Area=Magazine&Sub1Menu=HaveATaste&Sub2Menu=TheOtherMyself&Language=english&CFID=387012&CFTOKEN=85507051

Namaste

Tracy ‘Prem Shakti’ Bartram

Today, I was totally and utterly thrilled to attend my first ever fashion parade at Melbourne Spring Fashion Week for the label I adore, TS14plus.

Those of you who know me well are aware that I am a 6ft1″ Amazon and until I discovered TS, I used to cry in changing rooms.

Not only because nothing fitted me, but because I felt forgotten.

The average Australian woman is size 16, which means many, many  of us are smaller than that, and many are much larger.

I have been wearing TS exclusively for years and seriously, the label has changed my life and the way I feel about myself.

I always feel sensational in this label, whether I’m having a normal work day, or presenting to corporate clients, singing with my band or MCing an official awards night interstate.  I do all of these things wearing TS14plus.

www.ts14plus.com.au

This blog post was not meant to be an informercial, but I am so passionate about the label and how it has helped empower so many of my friends and colleagues, that I will continue to shout about TS from the rooftops.

So, today, I was invited to attend their inaugural MSFW parades at the City Square, Melbourne.  Excitement!

By the way, I’m writing a book, in the middle of a property settlement, managing the smooth movement of my son to another school, looking at new places to live and juggling my band, gigs and sanity… so I was a little tight on my arrival, thanks to the rain, and Hoddle St.  Don’t get me started on Hoddle St…..

So – I walked in, and the parade hadn’t started. Yay!!

There was a gatekeeper.  A gaunt woman wearing a headset, a sour expression and a clipboard. (Not on the TS team).

Yep, you’ve met her too.  She has clones.  She feels important.

Hi! I’m Tracy Bartram.

We’re about to start a parade.

Yes! I know! I have a reserved seat! Can I just sit down?

No.  You’ll have to stand.

It was then that I smelled her breath.  Like a dying camel.  Louise L. Hay says bad breath is due to

‘stinking thinking’.

Or, poor personal hygiene…

I backed off.  I had to.  Call it survival instinct. Seriously, her  breath was a lethal weapon.

I stood up the back (where I could see perfectly and loved the whole thing!) and totally enjoyed

watching the TS models strutting their stuff. I even got a little choked up, I was so proud.

All the TS team was thrilled! The models were thrilled! The audience was thrilled!

And afterwards, I couldn’t help it….

As I was leaving, I walked up to Camel Woman and leaned into her ear.

I said, excuse me… Two words.

Breath Mint.

And I walked away.

God forgive me.

I am evil to the core.

I am so happy I have a blog!!

You know, I resisted writing one for so long, thinking it would create even more pressure in an already very full and busy life, but I now realise it’s the best way to communicate with the people who support me the most in my career.

I have to admit that in the past few months, pressure has been building from all the people wanting to join my personal facebook page.

As we speak, there are 894 lovely people, hovering in cyberspace, wondering why they haven’t heard back from me…

I’m truly flattered.

Sometimes they get impatient and message me with comments like ‘you must think you’re too good for us’.

Nothing could be further from the truth!

I’m a Dandenong girl, a suburb that was terribly rough to grow up in. And I am grateful every day just to be alive. So, no, that’s not the reason I’m not responding!

It’s because I just can’t write to everyone, and I have carried that guilt since my Fox FM days, my Mix FM days and my ABC days (although the latter are generally letters I don’t WANT to read, let alone reply to… I upset the ABC listeners a lot, just by breathing!!)

I even set up a ‘Tracy Bartram Comedian’ page and a ‘Tracy Bartram Plus Jazz’ page to differentiate between the people who only know me for comedy and radio, and the die-hard wonder-fans who come to see me sing with my band of astonishing jazz musicians.

But then, I had to update all of those pages and I couldn’t spend the time doing it!

And I discovered that I was NEVER seeing the facebook posts from my real-life buddies, because they were lost in the almost 5000 people on my personal page.

So, I took a very deep breath, handed it upstairs to the Angels and said “I need help with this’.

And one Angel, an angel named Fiona Lewis (who is also a speaker at our Serious Abundance Seminar – more on her to come!!) suggested we create just one fan page.

And here it is.

https://www.facebook.com/officialtracybartrampage

This is the page to ‘like’.

This page will keep you up to date with my career and my daily goings on.

So, here’s the story in a nutshell.

My personal Facebook page is full.

If you would like to keep up to date with what’s happening in my world, including my forthcoming book, “Namedropping & Outrageous Press: A Comedian’s Life in the Celebrity Fast Lane”

(which my Facebook friends will hear about first with a special deal!)

and my soon to be recorded CD (we’ll need a live audience!), please ‘like’ this page:

https://www.facebook.com/officialtracybartrampage

As a special thank you for liking the Official Tracy Bartram fan page, you’ll also go into the draw for a $500 voucher from TS14+ (www.ts14plus.com.au).

I live in TS14plus and it’s changed my life. When you’re a larger than life woman, with boobs and hips, the joy this label has given me is nothing short of heavenly!

You can even earn a second entry by joining my mailing list on my brand new website – www.tracybartram.com.au

Feel free to share this on Facebook – I’d appreciate it!
Thank you for your support.
Blessings to you.

Tracy

X

P.S Without sounding sappy, you are important to me!

All of my supporters are. I promise to keep you up to date on my official page and I really don’t want to lose contact with you!

To go into the draw, please ‘like’ my new page by July 31st. After that, the draw closes & you won’t be able to see my personal page any more. And the ‘Tracy Bartram Comedian’ & “Tracy Bartram Plus Jazz’pages will be deleted.

So please make sure you come with me to the Official Tracy Bartram page so we can stay connected.

I have so much exciting stuff to share with you in the next few months!

Love and blessings

X

Tracy

I’m a great believer in facing demons and pushing through them.  Like any addict (in recovery or not), I can be crippled with fear sometimes that can immobilise me.

So – a couple of months ago, I went to the The Apartment, a gorgeous venue in Melbourne, where incidentally, I celebrated my 30th a birthday …a couple of years ago……(!) and reconnected with  Daryl McKenzie from the Daryl McKenzie Jazz Orchestra.

We’d met in the Stacey Big Band each year for the Brian Stacey Memoriall Concert for the Melbourne Festival, and that was always a blast, singing each year with those awesome players.

The DMJO has enjoyed  an 8 year residency at The Apartment, on the last Monday of every month. That’s a stunning achievement for any band.

I was stoked when Daryl asked if I’d sing with the band one night and we set a date that week. I love Big Bands – we just don’t get to hear them much these days.

We live in an era now where money is king and art takes second place. The guys in the Daryl McKenzie Jazz Orchestra put all their money into a pool to cover the costs of recording their CDs and keeping the band alive.

And what a band it is! Tight, shiny and sharp. Their repertoire is as vast as it is sensitive.  One minute, you’re bopping along to a swing era melody, the next, moved by an original composition by one of the players.

There’s a rehearsal with the DMJO a week before the gig.  I turned up with the songs I wanted to do, chosen from DMJOs extensive list (1500 plus songs!).

And that rehearsal was probably one of the worst experiences of my career. And I’ve had plenty of horrible moments….

What was so bad? I couldn’t hear myself over the band. I had no foldback. I couldn’t find the note to come in on.  It was nightmarish!!! I seriously wanted to cry and go home.  But we did all the songs and I left with my tail between my legs, knowing that I had to get it right with these guys in a week’s time.

My GF Kellie Santin, a stellar sax player who’s been playing since birth, coached me through the week and held my hand and of course, I gave myself a cold from terror.  I was a basket case all day leading up to the gig.

I spent most of the day in bed, drinking lemon and honey, then I’d get up and rehearse the songs again. And again. And again.

I’ve been a performer for 21 years.  I’ve walked out on stage with Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambor, and Kylie Minogue, in front of thousands of people.

I’ve done 3 hour shows of my own material from Edinburgh to LA. I have my own band, for chrissake!!  But singing 4 songs with a big band, in my own town, unravelled me.

So what did I do?  I prayed.  Yep, checked in with the old Higher Power and handed the fear over.  Asked for help from the Angels, my spirit guides, the Ascended Masters.  And I breathed.  And I waited.  And I did the songs.

And guess what?  Everything turned out OK.  Everything was fine! We all had a ball, I loved it, we had a great laugh, the audience was fine and I started breathing properly again.

And once again it proved to me that truly, in order to grow, we have to push ourselves to do things that are really outside our comfort zones.

To do things where there IS a risk of falling flat on our faces.  I could have sung like I did at the rehearsal and never worked with a band again! But the bad rehearsal showed me how much time I had to put into the preparation of that gig, and so I did it.

I had a wonderful time singing with those glorious musicians.  I was doing what I love to do best, working live and on my feet in front of real live people. And they came along for the ride. And it was wonderful.

And of course, I remembered to thank the old Higher Power for getting me through it.  Humility is a wonderful thing. And so is recovery. And I’m grateful every single day.

Yep, I climbed a mountain last night. At 401 Little Bourke St, Melbourne. And it was sensational.