Our Only Time Is Now

In 1959, at age 13, I became a teen star, best known for my hit record, “Pink Shoe Laces.” After several years of recording, touring, and movie and television appearances, fame had taken its toll. At 17, I quit show business. Shortly after that, I got married. My husband and I moved to Missouri, and I had a baby. By the time I was 21, I had gotten a divorce and moved back to California with my daughter, Stephanie.

I had hoped to resume my career. I had left as a teenager and returned as an adult, thinking that because I was older, I was better equipped to handle a celebrity lifestyle. But I soon discovered that, now, I was vulnerable to people in power, who abused their power to take advantage of young women like myself. After years of struggling to survive, I was at a low point when I knew things had to change. And I knew the only thing I could change was me.

Around that time, I met a metaphysician and Science of Mind practitioner who was in her 80s and full of wisdom. At our first meeting, she told me God is absolute, infinite love, not the God of wrath and vengeance I had been taught to fear. She had studied with Ernest Holmes and introduced me to Unity and Daily Word. I learned about the power of my mind, and how positive thoughts and words could help me transform my life and find peace, joy, and fulfillment.

A Profound Effect

Her teachings had a profound effect. She had helped me see how I was creating my reality by the words I was using, and she taught me to choose them carefully. She admonished me to never say, “I hate …” or “I can’t afford …” (which I found I had been saying quite often), because it would only keep me in anguish and poverty. She gave me positive affirmations, which I repeated daily. She said the most powerful affirmation I could ever use was to say “I am,” which means “God is,” and follow it only with statements of spiritual truth and the goodness of God.

My life changed almost overnight. I went from being negative and depressed to being happy and peaceful. With an optimistic attitude, I took control of my circumstances and created a life of good health, love, prosperity, and career fulfillment. I have remained active in the music industry for decades as a solo performer, background singer, dancer, songwriter, producer, and vocal coach. I also perform with Stephanie.

Divine order is within everyone and everything in the Universe. Worry and fear keep me in despair, so I put hope and faith in their place.

For the past 10 years I have focused on using the power of music to help heal the world. I have written songs about ending terrorism and stopping gun and racial violence. Other songs address peaceful change, acceptance, and equality. Just before the Covid-19 pandemic hit, I wrote and recorded an album of inspirational and motivational songs with Stephanie. We were getting ready to take it on the road as a musical lecture and concert when the pandemic changed everything.

Thanks to my spiritual understanding, I accepted the situation as an opportunity to turn the negative into a positive. My own experience has shown me music is therapeutic, stirring emotions and lasting in memory. It can reach people in a way mere words cannot. Singing adds to its healing power. I wrote more songs that might help and serve others.

Daily Word started my spiritual journey, and I still read it every morning and apply its messages in my life. Many of its lessons are reflected in my music, such as: Divine order is within everyone and everything in the Universe. Worry and fear keep me in despair, so I put hope and faith in their place. The present is a precious gift from God, and it’s up to us to choose what we do with it. What will you do with yours?