Peter Alsop‘s SONGS TO CHEW

    This week, our song is from my ‘Family Roles’ album, … TAKE A STEP.  One of the most difficult things for some of us to do when we want to get something accomplished, is to begin the journey.  When we see other people who have lots of accomplishments out there in the world, we often ‘measure ourselves’ by them.  We want to accomplish things too, but as soon as we start a project, we’re confronted with obstacles we didn’t expect!  “All these other people seem to get things done so easily!  Why is this so difficult for me!?”  When we were little kids, we wanted to do great things, but the discovery that “it’s not all that easy!” is an important lesson, that we learn over and over again until we ‘get it’.  So I’ve learned to be careful about falling into a “perfection trap”, that leads me to believe that “there’s only one right way to get things done!”  There are lots of different ways to get things done, and all of them begin with taking that first step!
~ Subscribe to my Songs To Chew podcast = https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/peter-alsops-songs-to-chew/id1446179156
~ CAMPING WITH DADS = https://www.amazon.com/Camping-Dads-Peter-Alsop/dp/B08CS871QW/ref=sr_1_1 
~ www.FaceBook.com/WeLikePeterAlsop 
~ Youtube.com/peteralsop = videos
~ Patreon.com/peteralsop = support my music & other artistic endeavors
~ www.peteralsop.com/music  = CDs & downloads

    It’s New Year’s Eve today.  Tomorrow is 2022.  So today we’ll 'chew on a song' I wrote about about ‘Time’.  As we change the calendar year, our vacations from work and school give each of us a chance to reflect on how we spent our time this last year.  Many of us will resolve to spend it differently in the next year!  So this song’s called MY LITTLE CLOCK, part of my ‘In The Hospital’ album project for kids and families.  It’s designed to help us “pay better attention to how we spend our precious minutes with others around us; our little patients, our children, as we try to understand a bit more about how they’re treated in a hospital setting.  Check it out.  Please hit “follow”, and ‘a Happier, Kinder New Year’ wish to everyone!
~ Subscribe to my Songs To Chew podcast = https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/peter-alsops-songs-to-chew/id1446179156 
~ CAMPING WITH DADS = https://www.amazon.com/Camping-Dads-Peter-Alsop/dp/B08CS871QW/ref=sr_1_1 
~ www.FaceBook.com/WeLikePeterAlsop 
~ Youtube.com/peteralsop = videos
~ Patreon.com/peteralsop = support my music & other artistic endeavors
~ www.peteralsop.com/music  = CDs & downloads

    Hi there!  I'm Peter Alsop.  Glad you stopped by!  Today is Christmas Eve, so we’ve got a “Story to Chew” instead of a “Song to Chew”.  I wrote and recorded this holiday story about LITTLE TREE and put it on my “Chris Moose Holidays” album.  It’s about ‘being special’.  We know that each of us creatures living on the Earth have our very own story, and that’s what makes each of us special.  Some parts of our story will be like stories of others, and other parts of our story will be uniquely ours!  Because we’re the only one living our life, right?!  We get to learn lessons from all the trials and adventures we go through, and we get to make the choices that create our own unique story.  So love to the fullest, and happy holidays to all of us!
~ Subscribe to my Songs To Chew podcast = https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/peter-alsops-songs-to-chew/id1446179156
~ CAMPING WITH DADS = https://www.amazon.com/Camping-Dads-Peter-Alsop/dp/B08CS871QW/ref=sr_1_1
~ www.FaceBook.com/WeLikePeterAlsop
~ Youtube.com/peteralsop = videos
~ www.Patreon.com/peteralsop =support my music
~ www.peteralsop.com/music  = CDs & downloads

    For our “Songs To Chew” episode this week, we’ll listen to NEW GROUND, from my ‘In The Hospital’ album.  Our lives shift when a big loss happens.  Things go along smoothly, then BANG!, something occurs and our lives change drastically.  Our perceptions shift and we see things with ‘new eyes’.  A little girl in a wheel chair once told me that I was ‘T.A.B.’  I said, “What does ‘T.A.B.’ stand for?”  She smiled and said 'Temporarily Able-Bodied'! She was right.  A disabling accident can happen so quickly, that suddenly, I might not be able to walk or throw a ball or speak.  If we’re currently ‘able-bodied’, and we want to try to understand the plight of folks who are ‘other-abled’, without going through what they’ve gone through, we can open our hearts and listen to their stories.  When we do that, some of our own fears and sadness and other painful feelings surface.  But when we’re overwhelmed with hurt and sadness, our tender state of grief often creates a heightened awareness in us.  We notice the loving acts around us that we didn’t notice before. Painful feelings come up for us humans from time to time, and eventually they pass. The more familiarity we have with feeling these feelings ourselves, enables us to better help our friends, family and our children through tough times.
~ Subscribe to my Songs To Chew podcast = https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/peter-alsops-songs-to-chew/id1446179156 
~ CAMPING WITH DADS = https://www.amazon.com/Camping-Dads-Peter-Alsop/dp/B08CS871QW/ref=sr_1_1 
~ www.FaceBook.com/WeLikePeterAlsop 
~ Youtube.com/peteralsop = videos
~ Patreon.com/peteralsop = support my music & other artistic endeavors
~ www.peteralsop.com/music  = CDs & downloads

    It’s that time of the year again!  So today we’ll listen to the title cut from my "Chris Moose Holidays" album!  It’s for anyone who feels clumsy, and for people who like puns!  “Chris” is an irrepressible moose, excited just like a little kid about everything that goes on around him!  We all know folks like that!  Maybe you’re one of us!  I used to spill the milk at least once each meal!  I’m glad my parents didn’t label me “clumsy” because I’m not.  It’s amazing how someone can call you a ‘name’, and then other people start calling you that name too, especially if it’s a negative name!  Some of us actually start using that name-label on ourselves, which isn’t so great because then we just accept those negative things that were said about us.  I hope we can all take some time to “chew on” ideas like this from my “songs to chew”.  I think that’s why we’re here on Earth. 
~ Subscribe to my Songs To Chew podcast = https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/peter-alsops-songs-to-chew/id1446179156 
~ CAMPING WITH DADS = https://www.amazon.com/Camping-Dads-Peter-Alsop/dp/B08CS871QW/ref=sr_1_1 
~ www.FaceBook.com/WeLikePeterAlsop 
~ Youtube.com/peteralsop = videos
~ Patreon.com/peteralsop = support my music
~ www.peteralsop.com/music = CDs & downloads

    Our ‘Song To Chew’ this week is called THE GIFT from my "Chris Moose Holidays" album.  It’s sung by my daughter Willow, from the point of view of a child who tells her Mom, “I don’t want any gifts from Santa this year, all I wants is for you to please quit smoking.”  I’ve had parents tell me that it helped them quit.  After one of my shows, a friend told me he sat behind a couple of Moms and their kids.  The families were laughing and singing along, until I played this song.  He said “the kids got really quiet, and after the song there was lots of applause.  One Mom leaned over to the other Mom and said quietly, “Well I didn’t like THAT song very much.”  Her friend just took her hand, looked her in the eye, and said “But it was a really good song, wasn’t it!”  The first Mom looked away and teared up, and the second Mom leaned over and gave her a big hug.  We need to learn new skills when we’re trying to quit an addictive behavior, including how to ask for help.
~ Subscribe to my Songs To Chew podcast = https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/peter-alsops-songs-to-chew/id1446179156 
~ CAMPING WITH DADS = https://www.amazon.com/Camping-Dads-Peter-Alsop/dp/B08CS871QW/ref=sr_1_1 
~ www.FaceBook.com/WeLikePeterAlsop 
~ Youtube.com/peteralsop = videos
~ Patreon.com/peteralsop = support my music
~ www.peteralsop.com/music  = CDs & downloads

    Today's ‘Song To Chew’ is DADDY’S ROLL, from my “Chris Moose Holidays” album.  It’s written from the point of view of a child concerned about the health and well-being of their parents, specifically about compulsive eating!  Of course, there’s nothing wrong with ‘eating’, but sometimes we over-eat or drink because we feel sad or scared or angry, and eating comforts us and fills us up, so we don’t notice our painful feelings as much.  Many of us have been taught that food equals ‘love’, and who doesn’t need more love?!  So even though we know that how we eat might not be so healthy for us, we still have a hard time stopping.  Let’s listen to our kids!
~ Subscribe to my Songs To Chew podcast = https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/peter-alsops-songs-to-chew/id1446179156 
~ CAMPING WITH DADS = https://www.amazon.com/Camping-Dads-Peter-Alsop/dp/B08CS871QW/ref=sr_1_1 
~ www.FaceBook.com/WeLikePeterAlsop 
~ Youtube.com/peteralsop = videos
~ Patreon.com/peteralsop = support my music
~ www.peteralsop.com/music  = CDs & downloads

    Our Song To Chew this week, WHEN ONE IS TOO MANY, was inspired by the Alcoholics Anonymous saying, “one is too many, and a thousand ain’t enough!”  When we try to soothe our painful feelings, by using medicators like alcohol or other drugs, food or even compulsive behaviors we can become addicted and unable to stop.  We start on the path to recovery, when we understand that we NEED to feel pain in order to change our lives.  No, we can’t change our history, but we CAN resolve many of the current behaviors that continue to make our lives difficult.  When we avoid painful feelings in the short term, we lose our incentive to work on caring for ourselves in healthier ways in the long term.  Recovery is a step-by-step process.  We learn lessons, work the program and slowly recover, so we can get ourselves back into balance, living a better life; one that’s healthier and more clear.
~ Please subscribe to this podcast = https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/peter-alsops-songs-to-chew/id1446179156 
~ CAMPING WITH DADS = https://www.amazon.com/Camping-Dads-Peter-Alsop/dp/B08CS871QW/ref=sr_1_1 
~ www.FaceBook.com/WeLikePeterAlsop 
~ Youtube.com/peteralsop = videos
~ Patreon.com/peteralsop = support my music
~ www.peteralsop.com/music  = CDs & downloads