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.
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.
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
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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.
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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.
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.
The smooth round orb was called into action, it had been cultivating potent energy stores for its allotted season. This dense mass was masterful of fusing vital frequencies from the sun and from the rain, culminating a fiery juice that would leave a blood like stain where ever it landed, unlike the clear mark of water or the black scorch of fire. This mark resembled blood, but had a sweet aftertaste. The magical orb had great powers, whenever it was assimilated by one of the Earth creatures, it NOURISHED, restoring balance to the creatures that otherwise consumed too much garbage and excessive sludge. It infused these depleted beings with the elements, once again. A necessary fortification connecting the Earth creatures to their ancestral roots.
The umbilical stem that connected the orb to its collective pod docking structure, that enabled the orb to fuse the ancient and present dual energies with the earth, was being tugged upon. With a gentle force it was blasted out of its stem dock to begin its mission to infuse the anticipating lovecreatures’s existence on a cellular and energetic level.
***
If you are a parent please, feed your children an abundance of this wonderful tree fruit. I grew up on Okanagan cherries and to this day eating them brings me back to my childhood where I spent many sunny days at a lake, eating cherries… I absolutely love eating them and had so much fun making them into jam last week.
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If you are experiencing intense summer heat like we have in Vancouver be sure to eat plenty of raw fruit and vegetables, the potassium they contain will cool you down. Stay hydrated, drink plenty of herbal tea. I drink hot tea all day long in this heat, ginger has been my favorite lately. Don’t let the heat bog you down, I parked my car and have been cycling everywhere.
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A super big thank-you to Patrick C. for the 1KG of organic fair trade super premium loose leaf Puttabong – SFTGFOP-1 first flush Darjeeling tea!
Every year on July 7th through out Japan people celebrate Tanabata, the festival of stars. On ‘the night of 7’s’ parks are adorned with giant lanterns and decorations, people eat together, enjoy music and dance, play games, and write their wishes on paper then tie them to bamboo trees in hopes that their wishes will come true.
Legend has it that there once was a princess that was a great textiles weaver. She worked very hard, spinning her cloth, she was a star that we know of as Vega. She fell in love with the Shepard who lived across the river we know as the Milky Way, he was a star that we know as Altair. Both of the hard working star lovers stopped working and spent all of their time together, much to the disdain of the princess’ father. He cursed the young lovers and forbid them from seeing each other. Well, separating lovers is not in the best interest of the universe, so naturally, the hard working princess was so heart broken that she couldn’t spin anymore. Her strict father realized that the punishment was too harsh, as parents sometimes go overboard for the best interest of their children, and granted the lovers one day a year to come together, if the conditions were ripe. That day would be 07.07. So on this day, the underlying theme is lovers being able to come together, cause for celebration indeed.
Some Japanese also use Tanabata as a day to wish for more skill. Wishing for more skill appeals to me, we don’t need a larger flat screen, a newer car, more clothes, we could all use a little more skill. Learning what our ancestors did as we evolved as a society then applying that to our modern lifestyle really appeals to me. So today I am focusing on what skills I want to develop, and celebrating my son that was born on 07.07. To me Tanabata celebrates his birth which has certainly brightened my life.
I am wishing that all obstacles, inner and outer, be dissolved, so that lovers everywhere can have the opportunity to cross the river and be together, to join the strongest force in the Universe. What are you wishing for?
I was recently asked at a family function if I had created a summer solstice video, like the video I made at winter solstice. I didn’t though it did cross my mind as honoring cyclic natural phenomenon is a part of my ritucharya. My schedule has not been conducive to that, I didn’t create a video but had many sweet visuals flowing through my mind. Summer Solstice was celebrated with my family and a wonderful dinner honoring my father as father’s day was on summer solstice, as was a new moon. My father is quite a magical person, though don’t tell him I said that. After lots of laughs we then went to the beach with other family friends and danced with the children to the drummers as the sun set beyond the mountains and the ocean. The bright setting sun felt so good on my skin, I truly felt immersed in light.
summer solstice
The seasons have morphed from spring to summer with hiccups back into spring, the weather seems to be more unstable, the realities of climate change settling in. I have been busy, working on many inspiring projects, including two documentaries that I will write more about later. I am so honored to be working with such conscious people who are creating work that elevates our awareness of our responsibilities to the planet that hosts us all. I have also been creating video media for some inspiring friends, musicians, and groovy small businesses as well as for SierraSil. Luckily I love what I do, and I don’t mind that weeks pass by without me coming up for air it seems. But there are moments of magic that keep me intact. With all of this activity I am scheduling in time to enjoy the sun with my young apprentices, aka Sarina and Solen, my sun and moon that perpetually orbit me.
What has been on my mind a lot lately is TRUTH. Listening to what my subconscious brings to light, speaking what has come to sight. What is making my heart happy? What does it desire, what does it want to say? What is creating tension in my heart? Reflecting my truth makes me feel more capable to do meaningful and relevant work, ready to support you to tune into your truth too. I have unloaded so many physical possessions, so many old thought patterns, so many obligations that held me back from dancing on the inside, dancing so freely.
sparks
With all of the tragic unrest in Iran and in other parts of the world, with the passing of Michael Jackson, and all of the other dark news I observe I feel the need to speak my truth more than ever. We all have the ability to feel in our body what is right and wrong, and we may not all agree, but to speak from our soul what we know to be true, with compassion for all that we are speaking to, we can transform a tense situation with a neighbor and live in harmony, support a family member through a sticky situation and have a tighter family to surround ourselves with, challenge a friend to be honest to us and have more deeper connections with our tribe, disarm a foe and expand our alliance, let go of those who have a controlling grip on us preventing us from achieving our purpose and be able to let in those who will make our souls dance. We can do all of this with grace for the highest good of all. This world can shine. Thank you for shinning with me.
See the world from fresh eyes,
you are the alchemist.
You have the ability to transform a painfully mundane moment
into pure magic.
Enter the flow…
…find that inner spark,
blow air onto it,
and allow it to burn.
Feel the warmth, the bliss.
Listen to that song, the birds, the traffic, the people, to that voice from within. Feel the wind, the heat, the raindrops, the vibrations, your heart. Look at the view, the colors, the light, beneath the surface. Touch your feet to the ground, the textures, the hearts of all the people around you.
It is contagious and irresistible and a potent remedy.
Today I had to do some errands downtown and serendipitously stumbled upon the first ever Family FUSE Weekend at the Vancouver Art Gallery. I had the young apprentices with me so naturally they were excited about all of the great activities that were going around the VAGs perimeters, inside and out.
making seed balls
We hula hooped, stilt walked, made an animation, and even made seed balls. The Environmental Youth Alliance creates events that connect youth to wholesome activities ranging from gardening plots, walks to educate on edible herbs growing in our environment ect. Seedballs are a great way to re-plant areas that don’t have great soil or irrigation conditions, it involves mixing local seeds with clay and soil, the clay holds the water, helping the seeds to germinate in less than ideal conditions. These seeds can be planted anywhere including in unsuspecting abandoned lots and unnoticed free spaces of land in our environments. I think guerrilla gardening is pretty cool.
parkour krew
Solen was thrilled and amazed by the Parkour demo. It is impressive… think of the stunts from The Matrix, guys running up walls and doing back flips off, guys diving through the air and doing acrobatics over stair wells in sequence ninja style. It is amazing what we humans are capable of training our bodies to do.
painting bliss
While Sarina and Solen did some paintings that will be displayed at the VAG for the next week I got to dance to a DJ while admiring all of the chalk art and other engaging activities. Later on, while exploring the Annex inside we found the amazing goo sculpture that mesmerized Sarina & Solen at Granville Island. Sarina was transfixed upon the florescent goo coming out of all of the pipes ever so beautifully and I literally had to drag her away. Vancouver based sculptor added the ink from 50 highlighter pens to 250 gallons of non-toxic polymer to create a beautiful snot-inspired visceral piece to appease his wacky sense of humor while managing to create a dynamic piece that captivated all children who crossed its path.
glow in the dark goo
The VAG has a new Director who was at the TATE before coming to Vancouver. The Family Fuse Weekends will be happening three weekends of the year. Don’t miss it! Check out the new programing!
marbles
After spending 5 hours at the beach yesterday I had no problem playing downtown on such a gorgeous day. I am drinking up all of the creativity boosting goodness that we stumbled upon.
Almost one full rotation around the sun ago I found myself weaving in and out of a beautiful crowd fed full on divine music. With my young apprentices ecstatically exploring rhythms so divine, I too danced myself into bliss. It was the weekend of the Vancouver Folk Music Festival. The sun was shining, giving the landscape a blessing of luminosity. The ocean danced with sparkles and sail boats on the surface. I stumbled into The Master Musicians of Jajouka playing music capable of teleporting you to another world. A world of magic carpets, senses appeased with ecstasy, and every moment filled with a story worth telling…
Go ahead, watch the entire 7 minutes if you dare. Just be sure to empty your mind enough for just those few minutes to tune into the perfection that mastering a traditional art can offer.
