blessings from the lelavisionaries

peace hope songs

2011-08-13T21:43:00.000-07:00

jolted out of blogger complacency to do a post after way too long.

peace and hope songs!!! focused radiation prayer of miraculous possibility!! change, evolve, balance!!!
youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=g1ZEJWVSiEI#at=37
youtube.com/watch?feature=fvwp&v=Hzi4sUwiO6E&NR=1
youtube.com/watch?v=aEW0BtFuj5I
youtube.com/watch?v=axfe6Pl1SbQ

ela is just back from japan. he performed in the japan international children's festival.
nuclear energy is thus on our minds.
highly recommend anything by helen caldicott
helencaldicott.com/books/nuclear-power-is-not-the-answer

we are heading to atlanta in a week and a half to participate in the elevate art above underground atlanta.
we will have the honor of performing in the opening gala and ela is creating a totally rocking installation that will be up from august 26-all souls/all saints 2011. the exhibit will be our lelavision analogy for artificial photosynthesis. we're collaborating with the emory university bio inspired renewable energy lab and the center for chemical evolution / nasa / national science foundation.

here's the blog on the festival:
elevateatlanta.blogspot.com

then we do some "secret" corporate party stuff before we head to this festival in germany:
kinderkinder.de/festival/2011_Seiten/kinderkinder-2011-kl.pdf

finally i love the idea of give to get, get to give. here is a shoe company that gives a pair of shoes to a needy child for every pair sold! love it love!!
toms.com/our-movement

somalia, sudan, afghanistan, iraq, palestine, israel, libya, pakistan....on my mind

blessings from the lelavisionaries

spring updates!

2010-04-14T06:59:00.000-07:00

we have been in such a flurry of work activity! residency at the museum of glass, moisture festival performances, residencies at homestead school and chautauqua elementary AND rehearsing our buns off for a bunch of shows at the chicago humanities festival. we ship our equipment in a week!!

here's a recent tv spot link....only up til the beginning of may:
king5.com/on-tv/evening-magazine/Lelavision-to-perform-at-Moisture-Festival-89647512.html/

here are some features on lelavision:
thenewstribune.com/2010/03/07/1099649/news-brief-07lelavisionc.html
cityartsmagazine.com/issues/tacoma/2010/03/above-and-beyond

and here is an update on the camino seguro school in guatemala and our sponsored students there!

we got a computer donation from the evergreen school, thanks to julio bustamante, the spanish language teacher there.
his 8th grade spanish students are pen pal-ing with our sponsored 6th grade class in guatemala. this computer donation with camera and skype capability will allow the students at camino seguro to have video chats with their sponsors as opposed to the current method of communication....3 weeks to receive a letter, 3 more weeks to reply via postal service.
also, this donation will assist the students in learning more about using computers. we hope to get more laptop donations.
...currently students share a small number of computers. most of them just use the "word" program.

we've coordinated numerous pen pals for the sponsored classes and individual students. here is a shout out of gratitude to them!!! THANK YOU!!!!!
Debby Gouge Wood and her students- Hull Sanford Elementary ( Athens, GA)
Kristine Stoneberg and her students - TOPS (Seattle, WA)
Julio Bustamante and his students - Evergreen school (Seattle, WA)
Moving in the Spirit Apprentice Corporation -
Randi Williams, Iza Gutin, Aaliisha Shabazz, Tenesia Benson, Kacey Harbison, Juana Farfan (Atl, GA)
Lovorkah Hamilton
Laura Trevellyan
Vernon Trevellyan
Ruth Adams

special thanks to the Vashon Community Care Center. the residents there made and sold honey buns to the other residents in order to sponsor a student. they will continue to make and sell them periodically to continue their support!
here is a recent photo of the most of the students:

vashon artist, anne moses will be creating a video on crocheting plastic bags for the women's literacy program at the school. there are so many plastic bags at the dump in guatemala, the literacy program director is jazzed to figure out a cool use for them! .....something the ladies may be able to sell for income instead of working at the dump. more on that later.
finally, we will be doing a benefit workshop in chicago during our run of shows at the chicago humanities festival.
our shows begin may 6th to may 16th. check out the schedule of shows ("physical music" and our science art collab, "the accumulation of change")
chicagohumanities.org/Genres/Arts-And-Architecture/2010-Lelavision-Physical-Music.aspx

here are details of the workshop next. if you are in the area come over or send friends!!

STICKING TOGETHER:
Exploring healthy communities through science and play.
An intergenerational workshop of movement, music and art making
Thursday, May 13
5:30-7:30 p.m.
Ravenswood Presbyterian Church 4300 N. Hermitage Ave., Chicago

Could it be that the characteristics that create healthy molecular and cellular bodies are the same characteristics that create healthy individual and communal bodies? Participants will explore the idea of well functioning bodies micro and macro through movement, art, music making and science. Emory Biochemist, Dr David Lynn will join in with fun and informative stories and visuals. Then using improvisational movement games, model building and instrument making, Lelavision’s collaborators, Ela Lambin and Leah Mann, will facilitate playful analogies and examples of emergent formations, supportive environments, and collaboration. Lelavision is PLAY to the third power (playing with sound + playing on sculpture + playing through space). They weave movement, sculpture and sound to astonishing results. Inspired by biochemist Dr. David Lynn, the company has recently created work based in the chemical origins of life, assembly of matter, and the theory of evolution. Come play with artists who push the edges of the term interdisciplinary.

Cost: $10 ages 13 and up/$5 for children ages 8-12 with a paying adult
Aportion of the proceeds will go to Carmino Seguro School in Guatemala safepassage.org
Register by May 1 and receive a 25% discount!:
Contact Jane Siarny (630) 674-8891 InterPlayChicago@msn.com
For directions contact:
RavenswoodPresbyterian.org

This workshop is sponsored by InterPlay Chicago and Body Wisdom Inc. in conjunction with the Chicago Humanities Festival Stages, Sights & Sounds. Lelavision Physical Music performs in Chicago May 6-16. For information contact www.chfestival.org The views expressed in this workshop are not necessarily those of Ravenswood Presbyterian Church. InterPlay® inspires individuals and communities to foster creativity, build community and promote change through the art of PLAY. InterPlay.org

lago atitlan

2010-02-06T10:42:00.000-08:00

we've moved on from the city to lake atitlan. i have treasures on scrap paper....the letter on spiral notebook paper from our sponsored teen, the notes from the encargada de alfabetizacion (literacy program) and the email contacts from the chicago travellers that will retrieve our i phone adaptor pony express style from our previous hotel and take it to our nanny*** who will then give it to us on the plane ride home. our daughter kairos has been a wonderful traveller. she did fabulously on the winding road that led to the town of pana where we caught the boat to casa del mundo. ironically she keeps wanting to listen to and sing her favorite song, "i love trash" by oscar the grouch of sesame street and steve tyler of aerosmith. there are 7 volcanos that circle the lake and many villages. we so wished we could climb them...not a toddler adventure for this time. the main challenge at lago atitlan is the fertilizer run off from the coffee plantations...even over the non existent plumbing or waste disposal services in the villages. (starbucks plantations especially.) everyone in guatemala drinks nescafe. all the beans are exported. and for our morning pick me up, "we" pollute this beautiful world treasure. there are many folks working to help the situation. one of the largest grants has been awarded to the vashon island rotary club, where we live, stateside. so there is hope extending in many directions between vashon, guatemala city, lake atitlan. casa del mundo means house of the world. it is the mayan metaphor for the individual body and then the village. may we care more and more for the body micro and macro. bendiciones.
****laura trevellyan, social worker, emt, organic gardener, horse trainer, fluent spanish speaker came as our ninera (nanny). she rocked it for us on so many occasions, navigating rides or details. when we left for lake atitlan, she stayed behind and interpreted for the team of doctors from maine who were treating the families at camino seguro.

pre school , literacy program

2010-02-04T03:10:00.000-08:00

yesterday was the first day at the camino seguro pre school. with the pre school and the main school, camino seguro teaches just 40 % of the children who live in the dump community. the others just stay in the maze of tent / shack structures, older siblings caring for the younger siblings...even if that means 3 yr old taking care of infant, while their moms go to work. the moms and some dads work long hours amid a huge flock of vultures, graves falling off the hill from the municipal cemetary, and 1/3 of the trash in the country. it is their cycle of life. apparently, last week a dead hippo from the zoo ended up in the dump. a company did studies of the largest emissions of methane in the world. the guatemala city dump won! so the company will try to make a system to harness the methane for fuel possibly training the current workers there. 7 yrs ago they predicted the dump would close in 2 yrs....but locals predict it will be here for decades more. just 2 weeks ago a piece of land that was cleared by the dump land owner for camino seguro use was squatted by 250 huajerros. at this time they think there are 1000 people living in this relatively small area maybe 100´ x 100´. workers are still coming to be in the dump and children are growing up to work in the dump...all needing space. the school is in a quandry....they need space too. yesterday pre school started. the volunteers walked into the compound smiling, crying, frightened, delighted children from 1 yr old up. the kids ate breakfast, learning to use forks and spoons, then all brushed their teeth before going into the montesorri style classrooms. their moms have to volunteer to help at the school in order for their children to attend. some of them have begun to take literacy classes as well. somewhere between 45 and 60 will begin some sort of literacy training either beginning where their preschoolers are or trying to finish 6th grade. there are a few at the high school level....there is even a 78 yr old and an 82 yr old learning! the men have begun to show interest as well. so far 8! ela and the director of that program, gabe, are scheming to figure our a craft for the men to do in addition to the literacy program.
.....meanwhile, our sponsored teen, jose 16yrs old,spent a couple hours that morning writing a note to us in english with some of his airbrush style art. gonna have to frame it. we are hoping to set up a system to skype with the students throughout the year.

2010-02-03T03:51:00.000-08:00

"what is rich?" ....happiness?!! ....satisfaction?!! being here in guatemala city with the "huajerros" has us thinking about this. 80% of the workers in the guatemala city dump are women supporting their families. we have 3 sponsored teenagers whose mom´s do this challenging work to support up to 9 children. they all live in small shacks of wood poles with metal or plastic placed on top, on land which they are squatting, crowded with their siblings and with thousands of other people packed in closely....no running water. yesterday we took these hopefilled teens to macdonald´s (their choice) for the first time. they graciously tried to interpret our spanish and they practiced their english beautifully. and they told us their hopes. we are inspired by their tenacity and determination. they get themselves to school, they self motivate to study, they are raising themselves and often caring for their siblings while their moms work incredibly hard to bring anything to the dinner table. they are even inspiring their moms to learn to participate in the literacy program. with every odd stacked against them they still dream of being a mechanic or stewardess or architect. ....and they walked home after school with the bag of food we gifted them hoping not to be robbed of it so they could share it with their families.

2010-01-29T11:03:00.000-08:00

we're off to teach at camino seguro in guatemala city, guatemala. we'll post some pics of the experience. til then, here are some collages of the sponsored classes with some pics of the students. we'll take whole class photos when we are there!

2009-12-26T08:09:00.001-08:00

so we have continued our fun raising for camino seguro with holy day presents....through the month of january to usher in the this time of the heart! they are made by our family and our friends from mandala design works and luma fused glass. so far we will sponsor 3 classrooms of students and 2 teenagers soon to graduate. more donations are still coming in and an organization has chosen camino seguro for matching funds up to 100 for any new donor. so, most of the donations we've sent in will be doubled!!! here is the link to the "give blog" then photos of our art sale still in progress. you can follow the link to our website where you can still buy/donate any of these items for a good cause!!
give.typepad.com/give/2009/11/launching-the-give-blog-our-50000-challenge-to-you.html

....coming next, i'll post pictures of some of the students we'll sponsor and some of their stateside pen pals. happy new year!

go to lelavision's site to donate to the cause!! lelavision.com

safe passage

2009-10-28T08:05:00.000-07:00

Ela and I will be heading to Guatemala at the end of January to teach at Camino Seguro (Safe Passage School). This school was created to provide education, training, meals, healthcare and general support for the children and families that make their living scavenging in the enormous Guatemala City Dump. Over 500 of Guatemala’s poorest children and their 300 families receive integrated support through Camino Seguro. We will be going January 30th through Feb 8th. We will be collaborating with the school's teachers to provide classes that include movement, music and instrument making from recycled objects for curricular reinforcement. (I'm sure they will teach us alot about reuse and recycling!!!!)

Ela and I (and maybe you too) primarily work from shoe strings and pennies AND we also know that pennies can go so far in impoverished communities. Our hope is to raise enough funds each year to support a class of students through their graduation (1200/yr) as well as to develop a relationship with these students through the years through visits to the school and hosting students here.
If this interests you, we invite you to join the "Lelavision Community" sponsors in opening the world to a child through education.
Any amount will be welcomed. Below is a donate now link for use with credit card donations through PayPal.

If you would like tax credit, checks can be written to:
"Safe Passage" with "Lelavision Community" in the memo line.
Send checks to: Lelavision, 22608 111th Ave SW, Vashon, WA 98070.

We will present them to the school all together. If you are able to help us in this endeavor, you'll receive general information and pictures of the students you are sponsoring as well as footage of Lelavision's residency at the school.

If you want more info on the school go here: http://www.safepassage.org/
This is the lastest newsletter: http://safepassage.org/about-us/2008%20Holiday%20Newsletter.pdf

Other Lelavision news:

We have just completed our premiere of "The Accumulation of Change" in Atlanta with Emory BioChemist, Dr David Lynn.
We will continue to develop this art science collaboration through 2010. We'll be presenting developing aspects of this work at Seattle's Northwest Film Forum (Jan) and the Chicago Humanities Festival (May).

2009-09-03T08:37:00.001-07:00

we are having tmi and tmtd (tooooo much to do!)
< words = best!
here are new kinetic musical sculpture pics for "the accumulation of change" with dr david lynn.
premiering oct 16, 8pm, eyedrum, atlanta, ga.
check out the entire month of art science events sponsored by emory university!
arts.emory.edu/news/100809_science%20and%20art.htm/

photo by: Kirsten Szykitka

touring and talking toys

2009-06-21T11:51:00.000-07:00

en route to the airport at 4 am, AGAIN, i sent up some prayers for guidance during our toronto stint of rehearsals and shows. kairos was sleeping in the car seat....we dressed her the night before so she was ready to go.
somehow one of her talking books was bumped. in the quiet of the morning it stated: find the big circle. find the little star.
where is the triangle (try angle). funny how answers come sometimes.
the words were a prompt to immerse myself in the community gathering to muster the show.
to find the angle for best wishes and minimal diva-hood.
and to keep trying, keep trying, keep trying as we improvised and animated the lake ontario shoreline on the structures
comprised of triangles....2 bucky fuller domes.
these were important prompts amid our 12 hr rehearsal and performance days. but the result was certainly greater than the sum of the parts of the participants. 10,000 people acting as one, clapping and cheering in unity! may there be more of this...more people unified in joy!

here are some recent art pieces and pics from along the way:
new glass by leah, nifty gate by ela, kairos doing an aria in portland for the acoustical society of america.

musico ballistica

2009-03-25T21:43:00.000-07:00

spiff article just out on lelavision's new project
("http://www.pnwlocalnews.com/vashon/vib/entertainment/41766642.html/");'>pnwlocalnews.com/vashon/vib/entertainment/41766642.html

Dr Vogel’s lecture deals with the mechanics of ballistics via plants, insects, animals and humans. Physics doesn’t judge but studies this action, which spreads seeds, propels bullets and balls, helps fetch dinner or wreaks devastation. In this collaboration with Dr Vogel, Lelavision is playing with both the physics of the ballistic action and the use of the force. We have been examining the motivations for throwing things, noticing the through-line in our human use - from play to competition to war. We continue to ponder what it would take for humans to further evolve to use their inventiveness for the good of all not just the empowering of a few. We look with awe at the evolutionary trait of ballistics for the purpose of survival, and we look with curiosity at the human tendency to turn this same creativity into a destructive force. Do you know of any other creature that is willing to annihilate it’s own on such a grand scale? Be part of the solution for human evolution.

This performance is a part of the “Propagation Project” a series of collaborations between Lelavision and 8 scientists from across the United States under the broad theme of propagation. The idea is the brainchild of scientific illustrator, Nancy Lowe, who brought Lelavision together with the scientists for the purpose of making science more accessible to the general public. It is being created under the umbrella of the Program in Science and Society at Emory University.

new scrappy dance glass:

kairos just turned one! she's spun once around the sun!! here are pics of her on musical swing and under ballista...elements of our new show:

GEL / art science / scrappy glass

2009-02-26T18:41:00.000-08:00

lelavision had the honor of presenting at this conference in NYC, Times Square (fun!)
it rocked our world. totally inspiring.
here is our video:
gelconference.com/videos/2008/lelavision/
here is the general site for the conference:
gelconference.com/
we just finished a residency at emory university with:
biochemist, david lynn, who is studying the chemical origins of life at emory & ga tech
reproductive biologist, anna edlund, who studies pollen at spelman
biomechanician, steven vogel, who founded the field of biomechanics at duke
biochemist, arri eisen, who heads the college of science and society at emory

this is what our steel drums look like for the pollen piece:

we'll premiere vogel's piece in our barn on march 28th at 7pm! catapulting action in nature!
we'll be throwing alot of stuff!

we did a show at oxford college of emory. here is a blogged review by a chemist:
counterminds.com/2009/02/lelavision-prop-gate.html
here's kairos and i rehearsing on the rumitone:

body psalm and art for the holy daze

2008-12-22T16:55:00.000-08:00

here is a gate that doubles as monkey bars that ela just installed at a private residence on vashon island.
(now he has to make one for our household....sculptural monkey bars!!! yeah!)

i've just been making small things between kairos' naps!
scrap glass ornaments. my favorite were clear glass wasabi bowls soldered together with found marbles in between.
(alas, our spiff little camera gave out and i had to gift the orbical decor...your imagination will make them more interesting!)

hmmm....trying to figure out what to do with this blog..... i think it will be more art pics and less words along my journey of full integration of art into life for 2009!!

here is a poem by my friend celeste, dancer, author, professor, mother, improviser.....

Bodypsalm for the holidays

Remember each day is a hol(y)day,
a place to recall presence.
No day is more special than the other,
but you can breathe into each day differently.
Remember the simple things - a deep breath into all your cells,
the gorgeous limb of one branch, a place of connection
between a friend or a stranger.
The art of life comes to you everyday, unfolding from its skin
and asks for a greeting.
Welcome the unexpected
and have compassion on the expected.
Live with bold colors from a place of still silence.
Come back to quiet.
May the inside of your body be a zen garden.
Nap daily, for sleep is the sustenance of surrender.
Remember beauty walks before you, now just walk.
Incremental steps, even backward steps towards wonder.
Know you will not get everything done, said,
written, wrapped, made or thought of.
Celebrate incompletion and know that can be enough.
It is all about cracks of opening
into heart, body, mind, soul.
Make peace with the cracks and the interruptions,
for they are echoes of the divine.
Greet the ordinary with fresh eyes,
here is the fragrance of a day set apart.
Know you are held in a wider embrace.
Let the natural world hold you and give in to the weather.
Here you are called back to release.
Bare beauty on the back of December
and lend yourself to rest.
Sip small beginnings of calling yourself and
those around you to the juice of joy.
And drink from your own deep well
and spill when necessary.

Celeste Snowber - December 2008

By the way her full title is Dr. Celeste N. Snowber, Associate Professor, Dance Education/Arts-Based Educational Research, Faculty of Education, Simon Fraser University.

here are some sideways snow angels:

new edge....all art

2008-09-21T16:05:00.000-07:00

what is your "edge"?
i have been thinking mine is the art of making everything art. homelife, worklife, spiritlife. here are pics of new visual art pieces created recently for greater delight on the planet by ela and leah. plus one of kairos giving me the "oh mom!" hand and reminding me to just "change hats" if i need new perspective.
below is a sweeeeet publication by a friend. check it out if you need something uplifting!
http://www.spreadingblessings.com/
spreadingblessings.com

kiss of the sun....summer fun

2008-09-11T21:46:00.000-07:00

these are a couple pictures from the national sacred dance guild festival at which i taught and performed.
with my cohorts in fun, pictured, anita bondi (PA) and dana lupton (GA), we pulled together a humorous piece called
"ElevaTOR Grrrrlz". kairos came too. this was her 16 week picture.

here are links i loved!
poetry in hospitals. beautiful stuff, awesome program at shands medical center in florida...this is where i trained to do our hospital program which we run at a couple hospitals in seattle and one care center on vashon.
healingwordsproductions.com/productions.html#
i'm about to get my girlfriend to cut my locks to give to kids with cancer. just need 10 inches..i've got way more than that and i need a new look anyway! nexxus.com/locks-of-love/index.html
dance, earth, our body, planetary body earthdance.org/
absolutely inspiring talk about kids using technology to teach each other! check it out!
ted.com/index.php/talks/sugata_mitra_shows_how_kids_teach_themselves.html
loved this sacred music with a twisted twist of jazz and improv
cdbaby.com/cd/shakersnbakers

new art new season

2008-09-07T08:38:00.000-07:00

hmmmm...
been feeling like i haven't been exercising my creativity lately. sleep deprivation.
in actuality, in reality, ela and i have busted a huge move these last months. i've been teaching at conferences with kairos in tow and doing some stained glass. ela has been working on a public sculpture, just installed last week. now he's working on a custom art railing. and we even squeezed in a show at the arts in nature festival.
(check out the amazing organization run by nancy whitlock naturec.org )

here's some of that art hot off the welder and solderer:
door inset residing in oregon now and "the wheel world" residing now at beacon hill elementary school

the permission slip will now permanently travel with cynthia winton henry and the interplay movement

interplay.org

2008-08-03T19:17:00.000-07:00

the permission slip went from pennsylvania to the 50th annual sacred dance guild festival where it got a lot of great juju.
i taught a weeklong workshop called "the dance of awareness" (the me, the we, the self, the selfless, the body (individual) the body (the world). i combined brain gym, brain dance, dance dance and info from david suzuki ecologist biologist.
check him out!!
youtube.com/watch?v=pG6LzrELkn4/
the slip is now in oakland for the international interplay conference
interplay.org
here are some pics and video from pennsylvania.

youtube.com/watch?v=S9zayBYpaxQ

this is a fabulous event that a friend created in the uk. check it out for a brightened moment!
hebdenbridgeparade.org

this is an organization i learned today. love the name in itself!
lightgivesheat.org/lgh/index.php

upcoming glass pieces and public sculpture by ela coming in pictures soooooon!!!
and best baby pic of the moment!

circle of influence

2008-07-02T21:03:00.000-07:00

this video rocked my world. have always loved sarah mclachlan but just saw this video.
it maps the value of money and demonstrates how one person can affect so many...interconnectedness.
youtube.com/watch?v=hzoNInZ2ClQ/

love love the "where the hell is matt" guy. this is his new video which includes people converging to dance with him all over the world! elicits smiles and joy wherethehellismatt.com/?fbid=BMmBZ-

this is kairos doing the same - eliciting smiles and joy by just being authentic. may we all follow suit!

glass ceiling

2008-06-09T14:21:00.000-07:00

finally finished this ceiling insert in our home! it is an 8 ft long scrap glass experiment!

and this is an almost grouted in shower insert - the soap and shampoo cubicle ultimately.

and kairos at 2 months!

kairos landing

2008-05-31T13:49:00.000-07:00

the "permission" slip is now in pennsylvania. it has been to india and back to washington state in between. will post pics on that soon. here's to more permission!

after 4 yrs of trying, we have adopted a sweet little girl of mayan descent. kairos talismann lamblin is her name. we got her at birth. and in her 2 months of life so far, she's toured with us to nyc and chicago and is currently bouncing along in the baby bjorn while we teach instrument making residencies!

besides kairos, this is the most inspiring thing i've come across!
amazing story and interesting info from neuro scientist
jill taylor brain researcher
ted.com/talks/view/id/229

she wrote an article "superhighway to bliss" in ny times sunday's edition.
nytimes.com/2008/05/25/fashion/25brain.html9

lots of permission!

2008-02-01T16:42:00.000-08:00

the permission slip has been circulating in the bay area and beyond! here are some photos of folks at interplayce in oakland california giving themselves permission to hope and dream for the new year! to find out more about interplayce and interplay, go to

interplay.org

one minute

2007-10-17T10:57:00.001-07:00

happy season of light and delight!

santa left me a sleigh (tub) for the holy daze!

the permission slip is circulating in this season of hustle and bustle hopefully creating a moment in which we can allow ourselves some self love.
it's been all the way to new zealand and back to the states. currently it's in portland and will go to california next.

amy gave herself permission to be imperfect.

olivia wrote: "I gave myself permission to stay in the present more, to hurry less, to worry less about what needs to be done/where I need to get to and to focus on savoring where I AM and what I'm doing each moment. It's...a struggle for me, I admit...so I'm hoping that actively giving myself permission to do it will make it a bit easier."

lyric gave herself permission "to allow myself to get a job i liked (meaning one in the arts or film with nifty co-workers that i might actually be friends with out of work and doing something that i actually want to do)". she says, "not long after i got my current job at the book council. didn't hit all the above stuff, but is heaps closer than my previous jobs (being in the arts, if not a job that really grooves with me, at least it had nifty co-workers). so go permission slip! :D

i've been digging these noetic society encouragements
http://oneminuteshift.com/videos/eleven_percent
http://oneminuteshift.com/videos/lynne_mctaggart_video/can_intention_change_the_world

i have also been inspired in a very simple down to earth way by the book, the 4 agreements.
this is what one reviewer says of this book that i found simple and inspiring:
"Don Miguel Ruiz is known as a nagual, or shaman, of the Toltec tradition. The Toltecs were an ancient group of scientists and artists that was formed to explore and preserve the practices and spiritual knowledge of the ancient ones. It is not a religion, but a way of life that embraces spirit and honors all the spiritual masters who have taught on the earth. Toltec wisdom arises from the same essential unity of truth as other sacred esoteric traditions that are found all over the world.
The Four Agreements are very simple, but very profound. To embrace and live each of the Four Agreements is to find yourself experiencing personal freedom--possibly as never before."

The Four Agreements are:
Be Impeccable With Your Words
Don't Take Anything Personally
Don't Make Assumptions
Always Do Your Best

happy season of light and delight!

fall and recover

2007-09-26T08:14:00.000-07:00

photo by ela

"when i rise up
let me rise up joyful
like a bird
when i fall
let me fall without regret
like a leaf" wendell berry

happy fall!!

the dance challenge is complete. one participant said "I felt strong…inhabiting my space in the world", another said, "...these many days of dancing _inner and outer_ are/were a balm on my many bumps and scrapes." for me i realized that i wanted to make it part of my daily spiritual practice. some people meditate sitting but my head feels clearer if i move the energy!

the traveling wings are staying in pennsylvania at anita bondi's house and healing center, spreading the good juju!

and the permission slip has begun it's travels! it's going to new zealand first!

together with a group of ladies at my vashon home, a slip was decorated with rhinestones and feathers and pompoms and confetti. the front of the slip reads "permission". this permission slip will now travel to friends we want to remind to give themselves permission....permission to love and forgive (self) especially.

here is the labyrinth created on the living room floor for the fall equinox ladies retreat - fall and recover

happy journey's in and out!

more "tell me something good"

2007-09-03T09:27:00.001-07:00

the dance challenge is moving along.
12 ladies are taking 10 minutes out of their day to dance.
recent inspirations for these dances include:
trying to remember how to do the robot, blasting edgar winter's "frankenstein" in the car and playing air drums, dancing with the kids, and spontaneous dances while walking!

this is a recent delight:
chuck hoberman, architect, designer, transformer
instead of moving through space, space moves around us - transformable design
hoberman.com/popup.html

cynthia winton henry sent these "something goods" to earn her underwear ensemble:

doodling your prayers by sybil macbeth a dancer, mathematician and doodler
prayingincolor.com/praying.html

pronoia and freewill astrology by Rob Brezny
freewillastrology.com/

former muppet maker now coaching playfulness
gwengordonplay.com/about.html/

the play ethic
theplayethic.typepad.com/play_journal/2007/05/gwen_gordon_pla.html/

renegade priest
matthewfox.org/sys-tmpl/door/

transforming the world though spoken word
speakingmatters.org/

one of the fruits of a 7-year project by the photographer Frans Lanting
lifethroughtime.com/

this is the something good that is cynthia winton henry and her partner phil porter the inventors/leaders of the
interplay world movement. they are just back from malawi.
interplay.org/abtcp.asp/

fig tree and dance challenge

2007-07-29T20:19:00.000-07:00

(picture by amy)
this is the something good that amy sent me to earn her "axis of oh MY goodness" underwear ensemble. (pictures of the silly but flattering ensemble coming sooooon! really!!)
here's that something good:
"Tonight we walked by the yard of a home with a HUGE fig tree that we have always admired... and have most certainly stolen many a squishy ripe fig. There are so many on the ground, we justify this crime by saying that we are saving them the terror of free-fall. Tonight, the gentle-man, long white dirty beard, who must live there was sitting in the yard, book in hand, wearing, what looked like his boxers and undershirt. Inside the front door, which was open due to the heat of the evening, illuminated by dim light, there were piles & piles of paperbags filled with who knows what; filling up the foyer and living room leaving just a walking path to what was probably the kitchen. In a split second, I got a [mental] snapshot of this man. I wondered if he knew we stole figs, and wondered if there were wishes inside those bags. I wish we don't get caught... Maybe bills, or newspaper clippings of horrid events. I like to think that this man reads poetry in his underwear in the twilight hours, eating figs and gathering wishes as they tumble down the alley."

on a different note!
i've sent out a dance challenge to my dancing buddies. here are the details:
all you have to do is dance.
10 minutes. anytime of day or night. solo.
starting now through the first day of autumn, september 23rd.
(this is separate from teaching/choreographing. this is inner work for your pleasure.)

if you need a motivation for you dancing, consider:
self care
health/healing
balance - self and or planetary
rejuvenation or renewal -self and or planet
fun
inner outer peace
insight

dance your passions, prayers and wishes
dance on behalf of someone else who needs it

in your bathroom, living room, studio, kitchen, yard, bedroom, office....
with stereo blasting, i pod programmed or in beautiful silence

....or in best buys... http://wecantdance.com/v/uAxG3lgRKUU

from now until the first day of autumn...or longer if it delights!

let me know if you can join me! ....or if you already do such!

this is what i danced to this morning. (pink rocks my heart.)
youtube.com/watch?v=ugH5MUNNL0c&mode=related&search=

this is the modern dance inspiration that amy sent for the dance challenge:
youtube.com/watch?v=rNPCnqVPWa0

tell me something good

2007-07-23T11:41:00.000-07:00

okay! finally transformed the traveling wings for their next journey. am sending them to the northeast.
to represent all the kindergarteners who put hearts on it, i added a wire heart.
to represent all the girls scouts that put flowers on it, i added a wire flower shape.
bobbles were also added from a full moon ladies night gathering here on vashon.
on these support shapes, many more bobbles can be added.

here are the wings on our reindear staff.

in addition, if you feel like participating in this project of focusing on the good within instead of the opposite, i'll send you the all new axis underwear ensemble.
YES YOU!!!
i've decided to make t-shirts and mini shorts to go along with this project. in honor of duality and the need for balance therein. the ensemble is in pastel pink with silver glitter lettering. on the front of the tee is "the axis of oh MY goodness" and a heart. on the bum of the shorts is printed "asses of evil". don't beware of the axis of evil, be aware of the asses of evil!
pictures forthcoming of the outfit.

to get your ensemble:
1) "tell me something good" - this would be a story of goodness, a feel good practice, links to sites that inspires, your art, community events, etc.
2) send me a digital picture of you or the subject of your "tell me something good" contribution.

this is, of course, a limited offer. maybe at a later date i'll make some even better tee's and shorts for purchase. let me know if you are interested in that!

so here are some good things. these make me smile:
girlpoweredpeace.com
janphillips.com
heartmath.org
youtube.com/watch?v=bAkJgJ27uVQ&mode=related&search=
3quarksdaily.blogs.com/3quarksdaily/2007/05/royal_de_luxe_i.html
ponderingpool.com

sun and shadows

2007-06-23T14:07:00.000-07:00

i just read this article by the director of the institute for figuring, margaret wertheim. ( i love the name of the institute!)
it is a science and mathematics education organization. the article was titled "sun rises and shadows shrink", printed in the seattle post intelligencer june 21st, 2007. in the article she says nothing can go faster than light except the absence of light - like a shadow. she writes that "according to relativity, no physical substance can exceed the speed of light because it would take infinite energy to accelerate anything to such a velocity. yet the laws of physics pertain only to that which is. that which is not, is not bound by relativity's restraint. from the point of view of relativity, a shadow ( having no mass) is a non-thing, an existential void. .....shadows suggest the limits of all classification schemes, a tension that even modern science cannot compeletly resolve." ms wertheim notes that prior to the invention of clocks, shadows were the most important means for telling time. "weightless and without energy, shadows can nonetheless convey information - though they cannot be used for faster than light communication." she says this is the case because shadows cannot be detected until light arrives.

i also read an article on dark energy. it was by another woman scientist, meg urry, chair of the department of physics at yale. (yeah women in science!) so dark energy makes up 2/3 of the universe and it is called dark because scientists have no clue what exactly it is and because there is no way to directly see it. it is there but unknown and it is apparently speeding up the expansion of the universe.

wertheim writes that the scientific corolary might be light is that which "nothing" is faster than. it could also be said that god is that which nothing is greater than.

hmmmmm!

here's to the light and the dark on this solstice.

otherwise these thoughts are illuminating to me of late:
"extravagant forgiveness"
job description: "wake up!"
motivation: "is it true, is it kind, is it necessary?"

here's some light refractions and reflections that i've been working on:

more news and views on the axis of oh my goodness wings after we return from montreal - performing for cirque du soleil at the mont-tremblant chalet!

here's some pics of us goofing on the beach after our recent shows on long island:

wings' journey

2007-06-16T13:12:00.000-07:00

so the wings landed at a class of kindergarteners in north carolina and a girl scout troup in georgia!
here's the "tell me something good' part of the latter stop written by laura green, ashley's mom:

Ashley belongs to a Girl Scout troop of 11 girls: mixed ages and races. They get along so well and have a great time together. I
am the new leader as of this fall and a parent asked us to "adopt" a friend's son who was stationed in Iraq w/ the Marines...25 yrs old., no girlfriend or signifigant other etc., and in need of some "attention". We gladly accepted and Josh became a member of our troop immediately. We took a full color picture of him mounted on foam core with us everywhere, taking pictures along the way to send to him. The girls became completely aware of the war through this process...touching each one of them (and the parents) in a unique way. We sent him numerous pictures and several care packages and he, in turn, sent us a US flag w/ a certificate of authenticity that it flew over the base in honor of our troop. Wow! What an honor. The girls were able to meet him when he returned home in late March where they received so much appreciation for everything they did for him and his platoon (he shared everything we sent!). Ashley's wish for the "wings of peace" is that all the troops in Iraq would come home soon and come home safely. Each girl has a "flower of power" on the wings w/ their name on it as a wish for peace...and lots of smiles.

today i watched the movie "gandhi" and am reminded what thoughtful vision and hope can do. i attended a talk on deepening our spiritual journey. the speaker used the image of a larger circle with a smaller circle inside it to represent "our reality". the larger circle he called our "circle of concern". the smaller inner central circle was called the "circle of influence". he said we often get all wrapped up in the circle of concern and because we can't do alot about that area, it becomes the circle of impotence. so the goal is to focus on the circle of influence. i love the way the ashley's troop used their circle of influence to support one soldier while still holding the larger circle of concern in mind - bring all the soldiers home. beautiful!

more wing journey's soon!

joy in join the new axis

2007-04-08T19:32:00.000-07:00

the axis of evil is defined as a regime that sponsors terror. thus i came up with the idea to create the axis of oh MY goodness in response to the notion of an axis of evil. the axis of oh MY goodness is a new regime that sponsors joy. joy transforms in beautiful ways. this "regime" is not a government but a practice of health, a systematic plan for therapy....health regime/ healing regime.

(please see blog titled "psyche project" below to read more about the motivations for this new axis.)

the wings went first to the williams family in portland oregon. my friend amy and her daughters, abby and millie added to the wings and sent them on to north carolina to a first grade class.

in response to the prompt, "tell me something good", amy replied:
I love to see my daughters developing who they are right before my very eyes.
I love that I am finding a stronger community of women.
I love that I am feeling more sure about that life purpose can shift and morph over time.
I love that I can look at my husband across the room and he can still make me swoon.

they added hello kitty, some bells, a few dangly bobbles, glass flowers and some clip on earrings as a symbolic action to join (joy in) the axis of oh MY goodness!

more members to be posted soon!

launched!

2007-03-24T10:19:00.001-07:00

the wing project is in flight from equinox to solstice!
members of the axis of oh MY goodness to be posted soooooon!
until then, springy spring!!
this video link below made me smile.....the life of the cell.
amazing is happening right now inside you!
studiodaily.com/main/searchlist/6850.html

the psyche project - axis of oh MY goodness

2007-03-07T12:46:00.000-08:00

leaving the cage

....so i decided i needed to make some traveling wings back in december. i have since been waiting for the right moment to launch them....the right flow of air currents or thoughts to set them in flight.

i was longing to have a means to notice and celebrate goodness in people, to make inspiring connections and to be part of a
shift in the cultural psyche toward empowerment in the face of "current" events, somehow in communion.

current: flow of energy, flow of events, flow of elements

did you know that sound is merely a vibration of air, creating currents that flow to our ears, vibrating hammer, anvil, stirrup, and ear drum, morphing sound waves to static eletricity as the waves rub on the ear's hair follicles, and sending that air turned to electrical impulses to our brain?

it is miraculous and natural to change energy, ie ...eat food, fuel body, well-being - simple miraculous.

i recently read in the dec 2006 resurgence magazine that for the greeks, the word "psyche" means both butterfly and soul.
i started reflecting on the miracle of metamorphosis while the radio was saying something about the "axis of evil".
i laughed thinking it would be great to morph that idea by making a group called the "axis of oh MY goodness",
a club where folks acknowledge and cultivate their highest heart and encourage that in others.

i am so tired of rumors, leaks and propaganda all of fear and i am sad with the reality of death, war, violent crime, and corruption. tell me stories of change, healing, serendipity, kindness, brilliance and love love love overcoming to bring balance.

i read this poem recently called, faggots of song, by john moat. in it he says "the starlings are back, famished, living on rumours, on what they whisper."

where does the resurgence of joy, collective joy, start? a little whisper, a little rumor that changes the sound of fear to the sound of bravery, hardwiring that into our brains.

so here it is this little current, humble and powerful, that i hope will resonate with you.

i'm sending these wings out with this note:
Dear Friend,
Enclosed is a traveling communal art project. The outer work of the project is to participate in making/decorating the butterfly wings. The word “butterfly” also refers to “psyche” in the Greek language. With that in mind, the inner work of the project creates an opportunity for participants to focus on the goodness in themselves and humanity –
to morph and transform fixations on “fear” and “evil” in a metamorphosis of the individual and collective psyche.
1) “Write” love on these wings by adding something to the frame. (wire enclosed)
2) Wear them, dance with them, fly them around, animate them in someway, just for the fun of it!
3) Take a picture
4) “Tell me something good” about yourself, your life, your community, etc.”
5) Send me the digital picture with your reply to step #4.
6) Send the love (butterfly wings infused with thoughts of goodness) around the world. (Or at least to the next participant on the list enclosed. Please do that in a timely manner!)
Completing these tasks will make you an honorary member of the Axis of oh MY goodness whose sole mission is to transform the collective psyche from fear and evil to the good that is now and is possible for our future. If there is a law of attraction (you get what you think and focus upon) then dedicated members of the Axis of oh My goodness will change the world, one whisper at a time, creating a new butterfly effect on the planet.

email me if you want them sent in your direction!

axis of goodness asks us of goodness
evil backwards is live
axis backwards is not bass ackward
but six a
six a live to change the evil axis.

so....i'm hoping for these wings to land in at least six places on the planet.

it just takes a breath, a little ripple, a whisper to begin.

alighting

year of the pig

2007-03-06T10:32:00.000-08:00

decided i'd post this update....still in a blur of activity and have been waiting for kairos the perfect time to send out my wing project. but that will be the next post. til then highly recommend the book, dancing in the streets, by barbara ehrenreich!
(previously posted this on the lelavision blog.)

Happy 2007!
The year was a blur of activity!
In addition to touring and premiering a new show, Ela has designed and is building a house! This is a lifelong dream for Ela and will continue to be lifelong entertainment for him to embellish aspects of our 5 acre property.
The house should be done in a month or so....at least done with inspections!

(These are from a few months back - our radiant heat floor and the bathroom tile going in.)
It will be lifelong entertainment to continue work on the homestead we are calling, "The Love Shack" (after the B'52's dance tune). But the "Ela BuiltTough" structure is definitely no shack, withstanding the 80 mile per hour winds that blew through the northwest last week, re-landscaping our property. We had 5 huge madrone trees totally uproot in addition to about 10 other firs and alders! We are thinking of milling them for the next building project - the sound recording studio!

We were without power for a full week....It went off while we were watching "An Inconvenient Truth". The light returned on Solstice though we were thoroughly "de- lighted" to have had such simplified holy days!

That is what we are wishing you for the new year - simple moments of ease infused with gratitude for life.
We also wish you wild enthusiasm about the little things....playing with leaves, skipping down the street, holding the hand of a loved one and running against the wind with arms outstretched!

Peace in and out!
Ela and Leah

2006-11-29T18:21:00.000-08:00

it always feels like a new beginning, whenever i get snowed in.
in the past getting snowed in has marked new relationships.
this is the second day of snow here on the island. more coming tonight. sometimes i feel like the novelty of living in a yurt on an island has definitely worn off. but this morning after our pipes burst, i scraped snow from the porch and melted it on the heat stove to wash the dishes, everything simplified and real - heat, water, manditory vacation.

i have just finally solved a challenge with my blog in which i could not add entries or edit. it has given me time to consider what this blog is about and what it adds to my life and the world, if anything. at the same time we (lelavision physical music) are in dialogue with scientist from duke university about a collaboration. we've been talking about time, scale and locomotion. it all seems to relate.

seems this snow will mark a new relationship to my blogging.
during lelavision'srecent premiere and tour on the east coast i kept up with my angel making via
collaged and doodled benevolent beings in my journal. since we have landed back on the island, i have been longing to do projects of a larger scale. i have a project resonating in my head like the snowflakes softly and musically tinking on the dome of the yurt....a traveling angel project.

so here is today's benevolent being of copper wire and found feathers. i am planning to launch the new benevolence project that travels the world on solstice. ....stay tuned!
leah

believing

2006-09-03T09:26:00.000-07:00

"bless our stories that they may somehow be true, for this is all we have....
bless the empty spaces that are within our bodies, the vast distances inside each cell. bless each cell, which is its own universe, ready to divide, split in two and make more than enough" stuart kestenbaum

i read somewhere that people created religion so that they could feel better about the fact that they would die, a finite ending to their reality. so, an afterlife story makes death less scary. And I guess the next step was that living a "good" life would allow for a good afterlife and so on and so forth until we get religions dictating the "right" way to live and even the "right" god to believe in.

so, it was slightly depressing to consider that my beliefs were just my imagined story or something i adopted that was dictated to control the population. i keep thinking of the radio spot on national public radio called "for this i believe", saying the title to myself, trying to find a core knowing that resonates clearly. today, i believe "for every action there is an opposite and equal reaction." i think it is scientific proof of the golden rule.
i have been meditating on an article i read by pema chondra for a week now. in it she says that war begins in our hearts. she said that if we all dealt with (softening, healing) the rigid, hardened, contracted places in our own hearts that there would not be war. immediately i realized i needed to deal with a relationship in which a person offended me greatly and thus i decided, in a sense, she was dead to me.

then a wasp stung me on my chest, smack dab center!! really!!
nature giving me and electric jolt to re-activate that deadened place in my heart.
i have been walking around for a week feeling like the sacred heart jesus icon statue. (the one with his heart exposed and enflamed.)

hmmmm...do i really believe that is why the wasp stung my chest?
yes, for this i believe.

i have been reading a book called the left hand of god. in it the author says that often people vote for candidates or parties that tout strong religious leanings to the right, even if they don't agree fully. the author's research showed that people just wanted to believe in something and the left hasn't provided that. i also heard dr cornell west say on the tavis smiley radio show that people who believe (in something anything) live a longer life.

....well here's to figuring out what we all personally believe!

p.s. i have shifted to mainly doing collage angels of late as we are gearing up for a premiere and rehearsing in every spare moment! now i'm gluing and cutting is my morning meditation on benevolence and enough time.
...maybe next time i'll post photos of my favorite collage....a group of construction workers stretching before their workday begins now winged beings alighting right in front of the port o potties!
check out the details of our new show "warped like space and time" on our site schedule.
lelavision.com and our collaborators
correoaereo.com

the angels pictured are awards for the moving in the spirit 20th anniversary. check out the organization at:
mitsdance.org

homo ludens

2006-08-11T10:27:00.000-07:00

i went from reading about homo sapiens sapiens, the doubly wise (hu)man to reading about homo luden, (hu)man the player. in johan huizinga's book (homo ludens), he says play can be a learning tool, societal game, leisure activity, competition and sport. but when the "players" are named as unequal or dehumanized altogether, the play can become war. war games evolve when one side is deemed evil - terrorists, savage beasts, islamo-fascists, etc.

i have been playing with the concept of duality lately. ela has invented a new musical sculpture called the "metalphor" in which this long string instrument emits both rising and descending tones simultaneously when we roll metal spheres across the strings....an aural metaphor to encourage playing with the full range.

here in the west we have challenges with obesity, depression and road rage, while others are starving, hoping just to live and walking hours just for dirty water or limited supplies. but the extremes are right here within me just as intensely! ....one moment feeling deep love for my partner and in the next feeling intense anger like a magnet flipping, the humbling push pull of relationships. feels clear to me that keeping everything in play keeps us together.

what if we all decided to keep everything in play? fair play infused with compassion, forgiveness, justice and grace as we play with all this pain, joy, sadness, anger, possibility. what if we all played more often with the idea that everything could play out in a most surprising and beauty way. that is the ball i will toss into play today.

today i can't quit hearing the phrase "islamo fascists" in my head. so this is the new propaganda i'm putting out in this game of life.

once upon a time 50,000 people were killed in the middle east. they became "isomorphic familiars". (isomorphic familiars, isomorphic familiars, isomorphic familiars.....)
they adopted 50,000 people on earth to love with wild abandon. each night while these 50,000 people slept or took a moment of silence, these isomorphic familiars would embrace them and whisper one or two words in their ear... just what each person needed to hear. "...like a note from a great harp, the frail wave came to our lips as one or two honest words." (antonio machado in his "it's possible" poem)

you know what they said.

here are some pictures earth angels in flight (from an aerial interplay workshop), a schilling (shy-ling) harmonica angel (makes a beautiful noise!) and a recycled mandala angel.

here are some sites that totally made me smile or laugh out loud in delight. check them out to excite your endorphins!

stickwork.net/dougherty/main.html

video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2942922314315974986

ebaumsworld.com/flash/honda-ad.html

thesultanselephant.com/gallery/large_image_pages/W2H0834.php

write love on your wings

2006-07-26T21:31:00.000-07:00

i will write love upon your wings and set you free
(i read something like that on a tibetan prayer flag recently.)

leonard shlain says in sex, time and power,"homo sapiens sapiens - the doubly wise human (as we used to be called) is at present undergoing a metamorphosis."

he says an apt example of the process of metamorphosis is the life cycle of a caterpillar, a notoriously rapacious and greedy insect which morphs into an entirely new organism after a period of turning inward. as a butterfly it is utterly transformed to destroy nothing while pollinating the flowers.

marion woodman said in the august sun magazine that she felt there was a new consciousness emerging. "all the selfishness and judgement, the religious posturing that says, "anyone who doesn't believe exactly the way i do and have the same god that i do is inferior to me" - all of that is dying a violent death. we are being driven by the earth itself to begin functioning with a world consciousness."
shlain writes, "in buddhist parable, an ordinary person may behave in a selfish and self-serving manner until (s)he becomes "awakened". to achieve this state, a person must withdraw temporarily from the world and turn inward (chrysalis). the transformation that is occurring within his (or her) soul is not visible to anyone observing him (or her) from the outside upon achieving enlightenment.

yes, it is difficult to see transformation amid the violence in the middle east...or in my middle aged self. but this is my mantra these days. 4 aspects of love from the buddhist tradition. 4 angel butterflies. i write love upon their wings and set them free to fly around the world.

maitri, karuna, mudita, upeksha
kindness, compassion, joy, freedom
maitri, karuna, mudita, upeksha
maitri, karuna, mudita, upeksha

in shlain's book he says ontogeny is the short rapid recapitulation of pylogeny (gestation mimics evolution).
i believe that the creative process mimics evolution too.
so this week i've made butterfly benevolence, chanting my hopeful love chant and claiming that this is not stupid but doubly wise to believe homo sapiens sapiens can be transformed to love!

we got to perform in haifa israel last year. our friends are o.k. one of them emailed saying he moved his family from near the border where he had just purchased a home and is hold up in tel aviv which is unusually quiet, for now. in the midst of trying to find safety for him and his family, he feels so bad for the "living hell" his country is creating for the innocent people of lebanon. i can so relate to feeling bad about and even responsible for what governing bodies are doing!

wishing for the fighting to stop, for the armies of caterpillars to be transformed...for those wielding power to have an awakening !!

smile gently inward at yourself,
at the wounded places here and abroad.

xoxoxo

communicable ease

2006-07-01T10:43:00.000-07:00

in the face of current events on the planet, i am making myself smile. exercising my smile in order to feel better in the midst. i am praying this simple act will cause entrainment, activiting the mirroring neurons of those around me, pumping us all with endorphins of happiness. communicable ease! could this become an epidemic...a pandemic. lawd! lawd! then let it make it's way to my heart and the middle east too!

i have been reading and listening to work by dr paul ekman, a professor of psychology, who has become the world’s most famous face reader.

it is known that the simple act of smiling releases endorphins and makes us feel better. one of dr ekman’s key findings is that if a person merely arranges his face into a certain expression, he will actually feel the corresponding emotion - in other words, emotions work from the outside in as well as the inside out. "in a real smile, the eyebrows and the skin between the upper eyelid and the eyebrow come down very slightly. the muscle involved is the orbicularis oculi, pars lateralis."
crucial to how we feel is being aware of how we are feeling in the moment. "the sine qua non of that is to realise that you are being emotional in the first place. the earlier you recognise an emotion, the more choice you will have in dealing with it.
...in buddhist terms, it’s recognising the spark before the flame." in times like these, we can go through the back door, so to speak. practicing the physical and spiritual discipline of smiling to get to happiness.

things that have made me smile this week:

the laughing church
cnn.com/CNN/Programs/anderson.cooper.360/blog/2006/07/this-religious-revival-is-laughing.html
i saw a video of it in the airport, couldn't hear the minister's message but no matter, i just loved the idea of it. laughing uncontrollably in church, sacred unabashed joy.

the street guy in toronto in the worn suit jacket talking loudly palm to ear, as if he were on a cell phone amid people in their spiffy bus - y - ness suits scurrying by doing bus-i-ness on their actual cell phones. it was a moment of beautiful real performance art, a statement on our wacky society!

climbing trees with a 5yr old girlfriend, swinging on branches and flipping off onto the ground!

the article about the new implant that reads the brain's electrical impulses to allow paralized folks to operate computers, thoughts making things happen! july 13th edition of the seattle times ("chip helps turn thoughts to action")

face of unseen things! a friend, karen telford photographs magical nature art. faceunseen.com
her tag reads: "to be a part of something one doesn’t in the least understand is, I think, one of the most intriguing things
about life. -- dame agatha christie

playing tag with my cat pixxel in the yard

the newsweek special addition called "giving back awards" (july 10 2006) about people who use fame, fortune, heart and soul to help others. newsweek.com

august 2006 popular science magazine....or any past publications for that matter. i love reading about the new inventions!!!
in this issue check out the 10 breakthroughs in science. by 2010 scientists hope to perfect nano knitters a technique of helping nerve cells regrow to bridge the gaps left by injuries. popsci.com

and even simpler:
baths, sweet peas and radishes from the garden, coffee, hugs, sunshine, sleep

hope you'll notice what makes you smile and or decide to practice the art of smiling.

i love this practice: just for a moment, close your eyes and smile gently at yourself. i like to stretch and breath deep while i do this!

insight incite endorphins.

notice the hub cap angel with the saw blade wings above. she is smiling a rusty but full smile.
see the article on mirroring neurons and art
nyas.org/ebriefreps/main.asp?intSubSectionID=3529

may you empathize!

connecting dots

2006-06-22T16:08:00.000-07:00

my very first memory is of me, around 15 months old, sitting on a brown, tan and orange woven rug in stuttgart, germany. suddenly, my pregnant mother scoops me up and takes me to the door. outside it is snowing. we live on a steep hill. as we peer out of the open doorway, snowflakes floating down softly, my mom says over and over, "she's an angel! she's such an angel!!" there is a thin stooped old woman, grey hair pulled back in a neat bun, wearing brown square heeled lace up shoes coming slowly up the hill carrying something wrapped in brown paper.

my mom places me in a playpen and i watch the commotion as she scurries in and out of the kitchen, serving tea as they sit at the end of the dining room table. she opens the package shrieking and laughing in delight. it is a coo coo clock.

for the longest time, this image of the older woman bearing gifts was my image of an angel. ("she's an angel! she's such an angel!!"). sometime in my 20's, i started praying to specific "spirit guides" beyond the holy trinity, embracing other spiritual traditions' icons and making up some of my own. somewhere along the way, i started calling my first memory angel, "grandma coo coo", the wisest funniest angel of them all.

in my late 20's, i meet my partner in work and life. i also meet his grandmother. her name is lois coogle and she loves coo coo clocks. later i find out that the young grandkids can't pronounce "coogle" so they just call her grandma coo coo. 2 weeks ago, she moved on to the next life at 90 yrs old. she got her master's degree in statistical mathematics. (unheard of for women at that time.) but she spent her life as an artist, a painter. everyone said that she didn't like to cook or clean but painted everything in sight. her kids joked that if you stood still near her too long you'd get painted too. and that she might forget the sandwich in their school lunch but she'd always remember to paint a picture on the outside of the paper sac or paint "i love you" on a card placed inside.

the metal scrap angel pictured is in honor of lois, constructed from a broken piece of garden art from her yard in georgia and a metal piece found at a beach front gravel mine on vashon island. the thinking cap / halo is part of a bottle with a cap that says "choice is good".

may we all remember that aspect of ourselves, the wise funny parts, the prophetically silly parts and the brilliant delightful parts!!

happy solstice
shine on!

p.s. the other angel can actually fly. you put a finger in his mouth (hand facing outward from your body), grab his little feet with the other hand, pull back and release. (parts gathered from a parking lot and a retirement party! thanks cynthia!)

internal angular momentum

2006-06-06T07:46:00.000-07:00

what i know about flying:

when i was 2, i would sneak out into the back yard and spin in circles until i was totally dizzy. then i would weave about the yard in that altered state, thinking i was hovering over the ground. no matter that it was just my perception, i experienced flying in total joy and delight.

the clear mind belongs to spirit and is like the immortality of childhood. it calls us to rise up to life, to rise up to the task, to buoyantly rise above the challenges, to foster self-respect which keeps us aloft as the next challenges surface.

in my dreams of late i fly through maze-like houses. i keep coming to deadends. my arms are so very very tired but i am determined to get to the center.
somehow in my psyche, this major aerobic activity promises to manifest evanescence, the lightness of a young heart. ....besides,"how can you keep your feet on the ground when you were meant to fly?" (some ol' country song)

like the larger bodies in the universe may we work with gravity (and the things that bring us down) to exercise our internal angular momentum (spin)!

knows

2006-05-27T10:38:00.000-07:00

we've been performing in canada recently. some of the inspiring artists we worked with were: michel lauziere http://www.michellauziere.com and robert munsch http://www.robertmunsch.com . michel is the performer who among other things performs classical music on bike horns attached to his body. a video was passed around on the internet of him a while back. robert is an author (love you always and paperbag princess). both artists have the stunning ability to inspire and bring delight to folks of every age and background. this skill is particularly inspiring to me. such a mysterious, magical and needed skill!! anyway, check out their sites!

it was really fun to create spontaneous angels each day with materials at hand - the confetti from the sacred arts troupe from manipur (india), rubber bands from the punching balloons that serve as the compressed air for our boat shaped harmonium, shells and glass from stanley park near our performance site, etc, etc.

along with manifesting some benevolent beings, i have been thinking this site warrents inspiring stories, which is another passion of mine...collecting inspiration.

here's a fun one i heard the other day: a friend of mine's mom has to get her nose removed due to cancer. in the wild and disfunctional system of western medicine, her mom's insurance doesn't cover the outlandishly expensive consultation to get a prosthetic nose....but it will cover the creation and fitting of the nose. the one part can't happen without the other. after weeks of trying to find a loop hole so her mom would not go into debt (re: long dead end phone calls with the systems that be), she realized she had the skills to outsmart the system. she called the doctor and asked if what he needed for the consultation was basically a cast of her mom's face. (my friend is a costume designer and visual artist and has made many a mask.) the doctor was totally taken aback and then just began laughing and laughing and laughing. yes, that just happens to be all that is required for the doctor to make her a new nose!!! she will cast her mom's face and her mom's new nose will be ready for her right after her surgery! my friend says this is just the "artist's way".

emerging

2006-05-08T14:26:00.000-07:00

there is a timeless place
where attentiveness becomes love
emerging
and just one breath
is the beginning
of all peace

first angels

2006-05-07T16:38:00.000-07:00

"i was not looking for my dreams to interpret my life, but rather for my life to interpret my dreams." susan sontag

featured angels of the past week:

there is happiness to be had
it hovers in the air waiting
for you to embrace it
let it come in and attach little wings to your heart
so you can hang out with hope
in the light places
these are challenging days for empaths
turn off the news
be your own best story
posted by the lelavisionaries at 7:50 PM 0 comments