fire_heart

The tired girl took her raw gushing heart with severed roots exposed and caressed it gently before burying it deep within the dark moist earth. It absorbed the cooling support as it gushed to its little content, there was limitless soil to absorb her fertile blood freely in the depths where it was buried. Hidden from the world her delicate heart started healing in peace, re-growing those damaged roots.

The rains poured down, bringing soothing waters to stream amongst the hidden raw heart fibers. This water felt ever so delightful, her heart followed its flow to the ocean and immersed itself into the nourishing salty water, only to be tossed around in the waves, battered upon the sandy shore, left bruised and bare yet smiling at the sun.

heart_light

Narrowly avoiding becoming burned by the suns powerful rays, she plunged deep into the dark depths of the ocean following the strong currents until she nestled gently in a life bearing crevice feeling the pulsations and sensations from this new aquatic environment. She found peace there, a familiar comfort and although she was enjoying this new environment an awareness slowly emerged. A primordial feeling urging her focus upward, there is more to my existence than this she felt.

Rather than becoming a permanent fixture at the bottom of the ocean, unbeknown to the world, her heart was carried by the wind to the expansive sky. She heard her own pulse, once again, she heard it in the trees’ leaves, she felt the pulse of the clouds, they felt her pulse, and they beat together. Her heart started beating in unison with nature, with the world and with the stars, fortifying her fibers once again deeply feeling the interconnectivity of the entire world, and the entire universe. Her heart swelled at the beauty of it all, her heart swelled and swelled and swelled and the girls body was completely rejuvenated by her glowing heart.

From a tiny spec to an expansive orb, the girl’s heart was singing and shining with complete openness. This time her heart explored this phenomenon with the grace that comes from having experienced such an odyssey. Then suddenly, this heart felt a new sensation reverberating inside her inner chambers, an infinite warmth radiated within and beyond. Sparks were born, growing into flames, and instead of turning towards the ground she looked up, and she looked in, and she experienced a beautiful heart connection that lit her up.

fire_heart

The heart connection nourished the pure flames that radiated from the center of the two hearts. The warmth fueled them, gave them energy to create beauty for the world, a pure universal expression. The trees felt their fire, and smiled. The clouds felt their fire, and smiled. The ocean and all of its creatures felt their fire and smiled, purifying its waters with the fire medicine. The steam rose high into the atmosphere then rained upon the Earth and every creature drank the love infused water. The other fire hearts smiled and beat stronger and brighter and in unison they all enveloped the planet and showered the broken bleeding hearts with their fire, encouraging them along.

The fire hearts knew that the connection was precious, it was honored but never grasped upon. They knew that the fire heart connection was powerful but remembered the importance to beat with the elements, the earth, the water, and the sky too. And the Earth became a lighter place.

 

Pandora on Earth

This past week I broke a personal record and saw Avatar for the second time. I have never seen a film in the theater twice so this is an impressive feat. James Cameron brilliantly revived the theater experience by developing a new method of filming and the result is beautiful, I am sure you have experienced it for yourself. The second time I put on the 3D glasses and immersed myself into the luscious lunar landscapes of Pandora I was further enchanted by the beauty of the animated jungle environments and the sensuality of the Nav’ii, how they interacted with their environment with such agility and grace. The movements and expressions were exquisite and made up for a story that could have been further developed in many ways.

Nav'ii glow

The message of the film is totally required and relevant to this moment on Earth and has been well received by the masses having raised more at the box office than Cameron’s Titanic. As well as living in harmony with their environment, the Nav’ii lived in peace as a spiritual community “seeing” each other with a deep connection to the divine. So evolved, so primitive. It was so refreshing for my eyes to take in the exotic Nav’ii’s reverence for all life. According to Mayan prophecy, this is where we are heading; we are ready for these shifts!

The violence in the film I could have lived without though I realize without tension the film would likely not have reached the masses. Thankfully we don’t need extreme science to bring us into the body of a genetically engineered Avatar to learn how to connect to nature in such a profound way, to learn to fly. We don’t need an unspeakable crisis or catastrophe to take a giant leap and start living in line with our deeper potential, though sometimes we need these life altering experiences to gain a new perspective. It is interesting to conceptualize a moon based society that worships the divine mother as female energy is coming into power in our masculine dominant world. I see it all around me, we are waking up and changing our priorities. We are lucky, all we have to do is open our heart and go outside and make a connection to the world around us. Dare to dream and remember how important our Earth is and all of the life she hosts.

In appreciation for the precious flora of my environment I am currently drinking dandelion tea. Thank you for stopping by.

 

We Are One

Exactly one week ago my singing teacher told me about an existing technology that has the capacity to cause earthquakes and that many people speculate that this technology was involved with the catastrophic Indonesian earthquake and tsunami that devastated the coasts of SE Asia. I personally don’t have the time to focus too much of my awareness on conspiracy theories though I do have a strong feeling that things on this planet are not right. So imagine my surprise when the very next day after hearing about this technology Haiti is devastated by a massive quake. There are a lot of people out there that feel something along those lines was possibly correlated with this most unfortunate disaster. I have no evidence of this though I am deeply shocked at how relief efforts are progressing, or not progressing.

Haiti

It is humbling to see the world come together so quickly, utilize social media and modern communication tools to raise millions within days. One nation is down, and the world steps into action. If you feel compelled to donate to relief efforts do so with mindfulness. Please do your research. I don’t trust Bush’s intention for us to raise money and wouldn’t let my cash go anywhere near that individual. Some organizations I trust and I believe to have positive impact are Amma’s charity Embracing The World, Avaaz, and Doctors Without Borders.

Haitian born Wyclef Jean’s organization Yélé Haiti has a great blog you can follow to keep up to date with how relief efforts are unfolding.

I greatly hope that swift aid comes to the Haitians. I am deeply moved by video footage of survivors singing in procession through the damaged streets of Port-au-Prince. I pray for balance on our planet and that the unethical power structures that ruthlessly pursue their own agenda be brought to their knees.

visualizing swift aid

In solidarity for Haiti. In solidarity for all people living together on this precious planet.

“One of the greatest problems of history is that the concepts of love and power are usually contrasted as polar opposites. Love is identified with a resignation of power and power with a denial of love. What is needed is a realization that power without love is reckless and abusive and that love without power is sentimental and anemic.”-Martin Luther King Jr.

 

winter SOULstice

I always seem to experience a deep connection to source during the enchanting summer and winter solstices. Living in Canada we experience the four seasons so fully with winter being such a challenge to so many, myself the sun worshiper included. I have found it necessary to focus on cultivating inner light during the darkest period of year as a method in overcoming lethargy, irritability, and to prevent plummeting into an abyss of blah. Usually by solstice I find that elusive balance.

This year, during the darkest time of year I am feeling ever so *bright*. Earlier in the fall I dove deep into my subconscious, I listened to the sweet melodies, the ice cold terror, the intense laughter, I listened to it all. I observed my dreams, and I slowed down enough to listen to that inner song waiting patiently to be heard. I looked deep within the dark crevices, the places that we like to gloss over and pulled out some thorns. I recognized that some of my ideals that I thought were so noble were indeed holding me back and were ready to be shed, truly becoming aware of the limitations of my own thought patterns. I have been able to take my spiritual practice deep enough that it is not just keeping me balanced, I am actually feeling like I am finally making some progress on the path. If I can get through the holiday season feeling genuinely blissful, thankful, and totally abundant rather than feeling fried, frazzled, and overwhelmed then I think I am onto something or perhaps we have been graced with more sunlight in place of our usual autumn rain.

Who knows why we insist on being so complex. Thankfully I feel surrounded by the most amazing people and community and am inspired by all of the creativity around me. I am happy to focus on that. Spending time with people who make our heart happy, who inspire us, who nurture us can help keep us from being swallowed up by the darkness. If the darkness does manage to swallow you up, don’t be afraid to listen to what it is trying to show you, you will certainly re-surface with more sparkle.

The lack of daylight brings a longer night, in the absence of light there is still light that shines though in a more subtle form. I am so grateful the emerging darkness reminded me to travel deeper within myself.

Wishing you all a very happy winter solstice and infinite seasonal bliss.

From my ‘Yogi’ ginger tea bag: One of the best actions we can take, with courage, is to relax…

 

Arts Cuts: Make Your Voice Heard

The BC Liberal Government has proposed massive cuts to arts funding over the next few years. If you are an artist, have artistic children, or if the arts in any form have enhanced your life PLEASE contact your MLA and encourage your tribe to do so too.

Be informed, check out the Stop Arts Cuts website: http://www.stopbcartscuts.ca/

Apparently ‘ink’ petitions are more powerful, so get out your pen and write right now! This blog has some great guidance: http://stopbcartscuts.wordpress.com/

I can’t even begin to articulate how opposed to the cutting of 92% of the funding allocated to Arts in BC over the next few years I am. At the Wrecking Ball, a fund raising event put together by the vibrant theater community, the statistics were presented so colorfully and humorously. In the new year the government is going to be making some big budget related choices, NOW IS THE TIME TO CONTACT YOUR MLA. I don’t feel like reiterating the facts, I just want to remind you that your voice counts and now is the time to speak out.

If you Twitt follow these great tweeps:
http://twitter.com/AllianceArts
http://twitter.com/stopbcartscuts

May BC remain a colorful province. May artists everywhere be victorious. :: Creativity Counts ::

 

Carefully Crafted

In an electric fast paced bustling world, I seek solace in anything hand crafted with love. I find these objects spark imagination and don’t over stimulate my already overstimulated mind. I especially find delight in hand spun fabrics, woven together on handlooms. On textiles I love traditional patterns with natural dyes developed over centuries by cultural traditions. Preserving these traditions from becoming extinct due to globalization is as important to me as buying organically grown food. So that is why I have been supporting the work of Maiwa Handprints since I discovered their existence on Granville Island years ago.

a handloom in a small village, Kerala, India.

Charlotte Kwon, the heart and soul that founded Maiwa and the Maiwa Foundation has been a part of the resurrection, preservation, and development of handcrafts from artisans across the globe. Touching base with Charlotte ensured my trip to India two years ago was filled with magic, from checking out natural textiles being dyed by hand with indigo and eucalyptus, watching hand looms in action, to spending a day at a Toda Hilltribe settlement in the mountains of Tamil Nadu. These experiences fed my love for natural textiles in such a refreshing way, added a deeper dimension to our travels.

Toda Hilltribe Elder, Tamil Nadu, India

Traditional Toda Hilltribe Embroidery

The Maiwa Textiles Symposium is one of my favorite events in Vancouver. This year, as the VIFF was wrapping up, the symposium was just getting under way. I attended a few lectures that informed and inspired my love of the woven world. Autumn in Vancouver is a good place to be with such inspiring events, I only wish I could attend them all… Today I watched Tibetan Monks dismantle a vibrant sand mandala that they have spent days creating and submerged the grains of sand in the ocean, symbolizing impermanence and allowing the sand to continue its existence in another form. These grains of sand are blessing the waters of Spanish Banks as they have been a part of a highly charged sacred mandala. In a reflective state I observe the impermanence in my life, ebb and flow, every moment infused with perfection, only sometimes not visible. Inspired from my environment, inspired from within.

 

dreams

It is November in Vancouver, I am dancing with the emerging dark season. I have been resting my body, observing my subconscious mind and listening. I don’t want to be afraid to shine. I don’t care if my light blinds the eyes of the weak, eventually they will get used to the light, and shine too.

Last night I dreamt that I was looking out at the ocean, it was a lovely little bay illuminated by the night sky. The tide was coming in quickly and the sand was covered in thick snow, the ground was icy and cold. I stared out at the waves rolling up onto shore and marveled at this beautiful phenomenon, water passing over snow. The sound was amazing, it absolutely mesmerized me and I am thankful that my subconscious mind produced this experience for me to enjoy as it is not a common phenomena in the developed world. Winter draws nearer, close to the water my heart swells.

A super big thanks to Cora M. for the bag of Tulsi tea.

 

Heart Mind Education

I had been feeling a little less centered in my heart than usual, a direct effect from facing many challenges in a short period of time. We all go through difficult periods, though navigating our way through them with grace and ease can be slippery. Luckily for me I had the great fortune to be in the presence of the Dalai Lama, once again. Since his inaugural visit to Vancouver in 2004 then again in 2007 my life has gained great inspiration from attending events and talks with H.H. This year I attended Educating the Heart: Creativity and Well-Being and Heart-Mind Education, a part of the Vancouver Peace Summit.

Inspiration

I navigated my way through the morning crowds and the rain Tuesday morning super focused to get to the Orpheum on time and to be receptive to the forum and energy. After being on the verge of having my heart shut down once again it is sufficient to say that all traces of my angst have been dissolved into bliss. Enlightenment is infectious after all.

The morning forum on Creativity and Well-Being started with a half hour presentation by the Blue Man Group. Having gone to one of their inspiring and immensely entertaining performances in NYC I was thrilled to have them present on creativity at this event. Creativity and spirituality are two of my biggest passions that I relentlessly pursue. The Blue Man Group proposed the question worthy of some consideration: What is creativity? Is it a mystery or can some parts of it be understood? The Blue Man Group comically demonstrated how creativity is where we focus our mindset.

Maintaining and connecting to our innocence balances our ever evident hero mentality, they got the entire sold out Orpheum to go back to childhood, and re-connect with the feelings of insecurity, awkwardness, and irrelevance and encouraged us all to focus that awareness on red clown noses handed out to us when we arrived at the venue. With all of those feelings rekindled then channeled on to those clown noses protruding from our faces, we were encouraged to connect and interact with the people around us with their noses on representing that vulnerability. That state can be frequented easily, with or without a clown nose. Don’t suppress it!

As the forum on Creativity and Well-Being progressed I couldn’t help but swell up with warmth and fondness for the Dalai Lama. His presence seems to evoke a spiritual growth spurt every time I see him live. Some key points from the forum for me were in discussing education systems, the emphasis is on reading, writing and arithmetic. The delegates discussed the importance to expand the schools’ focus to adapt 3 other arms: reflection -a skill that enables the brain to keep growing beyond childhood, a skill required to train the mind and to liberate creativity, relationships – a necessary skill to develop in order for there to truly be peace on this planet, and resilience.

…Compassion and creativity are the ultimate in keeping the brain healthy…

Ekhart Tolle was an engaging speaker, as always. He shared a humorous story of a soccer statistic he read in the paper that morning. During a kickoff the player that pauses after the whistle is blown before kicking has a higher likelihood of scoring than the kicker that goes for it right away. This process fortifies the creative process, it redirects our attention to deeper levels of our being, where all power resides. Conceptual elements dissolve and we join forces with the power of stillness. From stillness comes universal power that can be put into form. Stillness was defined as non-conceptual intelligence. Though, relying on tuning into the stillness is not enough, it was noted that it takes 10,000 hours to master something… To get the humorous version, you have to hear Ekhart tell the story, you are not getting it here!

To cultivate creative power you need to ‘do’ something, this enables our imagination to work. Collaboration in schools is commonly considered ‘cheating’. Does this raise an issue of human rights? Has education become de-personalized? In problem formation creative thinking evolves. The school does this for the children, leaving them with an academic focus to solve problems that gives little or no opportunity to develop creativity or strengthen collaborative skills.

So what does teaching to the whole child look like? The Blue Men Group have started a school in NYC, the Blue School, that teaches to the whole child with an emphasis on creativity and compassion. With these conditions in place then the child is empowered to learn and has an innate curiosity that comes from deep within. A world with children that have been raised in this environment would be harmonious and sustainable I am sure.

The Dalai Lama said that the 20th century was a century of bloodshed and violence, millions of people were killed. May the 21st century be the century of peace. Intelligence is a source of conflict as we all fight to defend our views. I am down with focusing my awareness towards my heart rather than my intellect. Are you?

People who are the happiest are the ones who make others happy. Accept children exactly where the are at, do not be controlling and demand that the be successful in the world. To be happy human beings how do we deal with emotions inside such as desperation, fear and anxiety? We all have these emotions and for me I have a mediation practice that keeps that all in check. How do we educate our children to develop these skills? I feel relieved that H.H. addressed 16,000 students after the forum and discussed tolerance. Our children are our future, and they are receiving the empowerment needed to take charge and make this century the century of peace. He talks about how war is outdated. If we all had this message when we were young from a role model such as H.H. how would our planet look now?

By no means am I developing curriculum though the forum gave me renewed energy, motivation, and insights that I can bring home and integrate into my family. My heart is feeling nourished, swollen with inspiration and holds a feeling of gratitude to have had such an inspiring morning.

Vancouver Peace Summit
Nobel Laureates In Dialogue
September 26-29, 2009
http://dalailamacenter.org/

For more information on how schools may be killing creativity, check out Delegate Sir. Ken Robinson on TED HERE.

 

Creative Buzz

It is hard to believe that summer is coming to an end but alas, the seasons must change. Here in the Pacific North West summer is too short, cliche I know. I must lament, many of the creative projects that I intended to work on or wrap up this summer simply didn’t happen. Though in my failure beauty emerged, beauty in the form of unscheduled spontaneity that resulted in amazing time with family and friends, beauty in the form of downtime that allowed a very deep and profound ancestral healing, the type that you cannot command to happen or schedule in. I feel so deeply calm and focused and although I crave more sun, as we all do, I feel ready to embrace autumn.

summer sunset

***

Here is a teaser from the documentary END:CIV directed by Franklin Lopez of submedia.tv based on the works of Derek Jensen. During the winter and spring I had a ton of fun doing some post production on this project.

***

Meat consumption is a significant contributor to global emissions, primarily beef and pork. The larger the animal, the heavier the footprint. If you are not vegetarian, consider going veg one day a week to do your part. If the whole planet stopped consuming meat one day a week emissions drop considerably. See if you can go to two days from there, and stick to poultry and fish, although it seems that salmon is not really an option anymore. When I think about how we can carry our existences and pursue our dreams while reducing our footprints on the planet it kicks in my creativity and I get a little buzz from it. Riding my bike around, growing food, consuming less, it has been fueling me as I discover little details that make my day more sustainable, and more magical.

 

Three Veils

The setting sun
and sparkling sea
surround the majestic bluffs, creating a platform
where through her dance, heaven meets earth.

She adorns, embodies, expresses.
With 3 veils she sets herself free.
She is the wind, with limitless movement, able to reach the remote.
She is the sea, soothing, fertile, a great mystery.
She is the sun, warmth, light, disappearing to return after the darkest hour.

On this bluff,
you can see.

On this bluff,
close your eyes.

Choreographed and performed by Yasmina, Yasmina Dance Productions on Hornby Island, BC. ‘Beloved’ by Jesse Cook.