Salma
The Higher Education Bubble Part 2
February 2nd, 2012
The Higher Education Bubble Part 1
February 2nd, 2012
The Higher Education Bubble
February 2nd, 2012Created By: Education News
“The higher education bubble, as some say, is “boom and bust theory” applied to college and graduate school. Tuition has risen over 400% since the 80s and the trend doesn’t look like it’s getting any better — in fact, in that same time span, college students have also taken on higher amounts of student debt while jumping into entry-level jobs that pay them less comparatively. The effect of this phenomenon is that today, more than ever, pre-college students and even graduates are asking the question: “Is college really worth it?” That’s a good question, and this animated infographic breaks the higher education bubble down into an understandable thing: what is it? Why does it happen? And is there hope for the future?” -Tony Shin
Godlike Digital Natives
January 25th, 2012
Godlike Digital Natives
This is a repost not written by Salma but rather written and posted by Odd Edges | January 23, 2012 originally on Evolver.net here: http://www.evolver.net/user/oddedges/blog/digital_natives_rising
The Internet and technology as they are today are giving us Godlike powers of perception and action: Digital Natives are the first generation of young adults to be endowed with them. Look at what these network-connected extra electric brains our parents got us are really doing here–the Power Macs, the smartphones, the tablets, which are connected to evermore relays and satellites, evermore detailed maps, evermore evolving encyclopedias are all upgrading our reach into the universe. We can be deep in space, beyond the center of an atom, in an Amazonian Jungle, or in a Massachusetts court house. We can be in the heart of Japan, or in the heart of a star, and we can be there in real time. We are becoming omnipotent. We have dropped torchlights throughout the world and the cosmos, which we access on a second by second basis–from our bedrooms to our phones. We are granting ourselves uncanny levels of perception and interaction. Our technology is telling us that given time, we can really go anywhere and see anything and mayben even move beyond time. We are amassing incredible potential. It is no surprise that one Digital Native worked very hard to get the simple action of copy and pasting to be acknowledged by his peers and his government as the sacred activity it is. Knowledge is the first religion. And this transmission of wisdom, of light, reveals that we are becoming the information we are gathering—and that it is our most ancient human quality.
From cave paintings and stone tools we have been growing an eye of media and a hand of technology. We have been extending our power of sight and our power of action as far as we can push them. But the internet is a combination of both these appendages, these arms and eyes, into something else entirely. Something completely “Outside history,” as Tim Wu calls it. It acts like a mirror, “A psychological object,” as Sherry Turkle calls it. Computers, smartphones, satellites, cameras, and screens—they are ubiquitous eyes, hands, and mirrors. While they offer us Godlike powers, they also reflect their users: the human beings and their world as they are. They are revealing us to ourselves. What do we see in this ancient mirror, this tunnel, this cauldron, this kaleidoscope of media technology? I think it has a very clear message: we are capable of great things. We are becoming more Godlike. We can see any point in space, we can hear any whispered message, we can cast any vote, we can say anything—and as we do so, we are gazing into a worldwide mirror that keeps updating faster than a second. For thousands and thousands of years we have been changing our cave paintings into an Internet. We have been staring into our own human record and it’s that record, that mirror–that’s given us a quality that we consider higher than mere animal. We have a visible, accessible changing record of what we have imagined the world to be. The home cave painting is now the home 3D HD Internet TV, but it’s still the same changing puddle, the same evolving mirror.
All media, from the word and the cave painting to the electronic billboard and the tweet, has been telling many things. But one message stands clear throughout history: wake up or die. That with Godlike powers comes Godlike responsibility and that the most worthwhile mind to grant access to such an immense power would have to be a Godlike love. Contrary to popular belief, a loving intelligence of that magnitude is not at all difficult to manifest: It easy when you feel that we are all sharing the same fabric–reality.
Look at your phone; know who you can connect to, who you could connect to. In that grip realize that you are not alone. You couldn’t be alone if you wanted to be. To be life is to be caught in an act of constant sharing. There is an open-faced glory to this—The undeniable truth that everything is shared. That the air you breathe now is the same air that passed though the lungs of humanity as it began to build its first monuments and cities. We are all the same universe bubbling up here. We are all the same universe, engaging in an act of endless participation. And all this technology is amplifying this process. The Internet amplifies us all into the world, into the cosmos, into each other, into every corner we can sense. We have omnipotence: we can see everything; we have omnipresence, we are everywhere; and we have the power to destroy the world thousands of times over—we are Godlike. Since 2000 we have destroyed entire bodies of water. 70 years ago we learned how to destroy the world with a single device. We have weaponized life: created beings like bacteria that can wipe out our species. And we can pollute our home so quickly and with such irreversible force that our pale blue dot will look more like Venus or Jupiter, massive hurricanes of poison. For almost 100 years we have stared in the face of the knowledge and capacity for complete annihilation and we have chosen to innovate upon it. We can see everything, know everything. We are full-blown awake. We are completely here in every way we can be. And in this most extreme presence: that now a single raised arm ripples through world into a chain of cause and effect that leads into a calamity that ignites a riot, decimates entire villages, counties, ecosystems, species. We have reached a threshold. Now any future is possible. We have the sight, the knowledge, the power, and the mind to make any future possible. And, if we wish to avoid tremendous folly, we must understand the mind that has birthed all of this.
The mind. It is the mind that wields these Godlike powers with thought and choice. I’ll say it again—that is how we direct our Godlike powers: through thought and choice. First we think. We think all day long. It creates our world and our selves and each other. It gives us a map and this map simulates the world. It simulates our idea of our selves and each other. Our ideas constitute the map we use to move, see, and act through the world.
Then we have choice. We think things up and then you chose. We make one of them happen, or we try to make one of them happen. These are our mind tools: ideas and choices. Maps and decisions. Or, if you want to be technical: simulations and actualizations. Our ideas and how we choose to express them commands our Godlike technology, our Godlike sight, our Godlike knowledge, our Godlike powers. Now ask yourself—what do you see? Look in the mirror of the human record and realize you are seeing one long story. The ideas, the visions, the choices, the innovations, the developments, the powers, the changes, the organizations—they are all one whole story. What is our story? Wars. Famines. Revolutions. Innovations. Triumphs. Goodness. Tragedies. Compassion. And corruption. But If you look closely, I think you’ll see that one of the messages, not just from that ancient tale to its digital update, but a message from the cosmos itself is one that states: you can not escape responsibility. We are the ideas and choices and our world becomes them. As long as you are alive, neither can be avoided. And with that, if you remember anything from this comment, remember this: that you are the channel, you are the media, you are the vehicle through which the future arrives. You are the landing pad for the future. It is inevitable. That’s what you do. As long as you exist, you think up and choose the way that the future happens. What happens is directly congruent with what you are. What we all have in common is that we are all the same universe and we are helplessly caught in the act of making the future—right now. There is no way out. This is the pact of life.
So what shall we do? What shall we do when we accept our power, our sight, and our knowledge, and when we realize we wield them with thought and choice: these mental tools of simulation and actualization? We look at the world and we see there is the greedy, shortsighted, brutish, dying social program of our elders and their elders—but that was before the Internet and computers. In realizing this, we must also quickly understand that we are entering adulthood with these powers, and the old program is one thought up and created before our awareness was expanded by an extra-global network of eyes and ears which showed us in living detail the consequences of our actions. That proved to us that what we thought and did mattered. That proved to us that we live in a world of ever-amassing crises, crises that don’t need to exist at all. How we are all helplessly unified. One. How we can’t be alone, we aren’t alone, that we will never be alone because we are here with each other, and that we are the very same universe we occupy. And in the utterly, utterly apparent glow of the living presence of each other awakens an evolutionary intelligent loving awareness. And that the most worthy goal is a sane and loving society. This is the great awakening we have been writing of. And it’s everywhere: from all our most insightful moments in ancient holy books, to the story of Star Trek. We write of an awakening to unity. We speak of a moment of realization. And that unity can be felt in your phones. Through your phones you can hear every corner of the planet. Some of your phones are smart enough to actually see every corner of the planet. Others are smart enough to offer the best directions to any location on the planet they desire. With a few dollars worth of plastic and sand you can touch every living soul. You can watch society unfold before your eyes. You can witness the cause and effect of our ideas, choices, and Godlike powers in real-time. Feel the reality of this constant contact. Feel the pain that’s out there. Feel the brutality that’s out there. Feel the greed. Feel the shortsightedness. Now feel the wonder. Feel the depth. Now feel the creativity. Feel the potential. Feel the love that’s out there. Feel the imagination—the soft rumble of new things coming. That is the constantly available experience that leads to a realization of our unified circumstance, and the love necessary to keep it alive.
Can we keep it alive? Can we keep this touch alive? Is there a way out of the mess we’ve made for our selves? Or are we doomed to violent, short, and horrific end? Well it turns out that this whole notion of human nature is just a bad idea that legitimizes worse ones. It is denial. How much of us still looks like a prehistoric giant crab, or a land-strutting fish—maybe I should’ve picked what most would consider to be more flattering or familiar species. Fact is we’re not human beings, we are life itself and life itself does one thing: change. The only thing that seems to have a little trouble changing is our ideas and choices. And those don’t need much effort to change at all. Not much at all really. Well, maybe a tug. Maybe a push. Maybe a broke neighbor, or a sick family friend, or maybe a starving brother, or maybe more dead families, or maybe another war, or maybe a few more degrees of heat, or cold, or maybe a few hundred nautical miles of radioactive water, or maybe just the simple knowledge that you that someone was just born into a life that will hopefully be blessed with a quick death—And that their children, and theirs will hopefully for a quicker one. And that we here now complain of oiled-down gulfs and radioactive oceans—but what those kids are getting will look like good life in compassion. A radioactive west, an oil-polluted south, a warring east, and a melting north—this they will call the sweet life. This will be the good life, if we don’t allow ourselves to become the appropriate medium for a better future to pass through. And it doesn’t take much. All it takes is feeling it all out, and that’s all your ever really doing anyway. All you have to do is feel the evolving cosmos in front of your face. And in that confrontation you may be gripped by what we could call an awakened intelligent evolutionary love. Not a perfect soul, not some holier than thou judge, but a caring awakened sanity. This is what will seize you when you are in confrontation with the inferno of life that can not be escaped.
Everyday I hear my peers saying that they don’t want this old program they’re learning. Everyday I hear them speak of crafting a better one. And everyday I see them take steps towards making it a reality. Everyday the Internet is telling us a very different story than the one we learned in school. The greatest difference is between what we learned in classes and what we’ve learned online is that there is no difference—we are all in this together. We are all connected. And we see that we don’t need this old program anymore. We are realizing that to actualize the most beneficial possible future is to allow for something far more wise to be behind the wheel of these Godlike powers. We will not be the same adults; our imagination has been unleashed at too early an age for that. We grew up with an interactive window to the whole of humanity—it’s moved from a corner of a room to the corner of our pockets. What makes us different is that we grew up with a Godtoy. And since we will continue to play with them, we can not be playing the old games of conflict, war, greed, jealousy, hatred, fear, scarcity—all the old school programs and models have been voided, because—here I have to be really straight up with you: look at yourself and look the room you’re sitting in and the world around you and realize that, as one observant writer said, “Thought is responsible for all of this.” We have thought ourselves here. From our cultures, religions, philosophies, arts, sciences, and entertainments—we have thought ourselves into this condition. We have mentally simulated the conditions we call society and then we have actualized them, extended them into physical reality. We have made our ideas real. We are the bridge between mental image and its physical manifestation.
That’s how we got ourselves here—We thought our way, talked our way, and built our self into this being. We can think, and talk, and build our way into another being. We are the bridge. We are the landing-pad. And if we don’t let go of this low quality, low sample rate old school program we will be doomed to becoming a stain on the very fabric of the history our earthly cosmos. We must let go of their Pre-net ideas.
So we must begin discussing about what one generation always does with another: relinquishment. The fundamental difference between one generation and another is what is relinquished. The old models, the old ideas, the old patterns, the old choices, the old programs of one generation are left behind as that new generation begins a process of moving beyond the old generation’s limitations and imagination. This is evolution. One generation teaches another what the world is and that new generation begins to bend and break those limits. It has new experiences, new technologies, new powers, new visions, new ideas, new words, new maps, and crosses new frontiers, and explores territories that the previous generation believed never existed. That is what furthers evolution, furthers–here’s an important word—maturation. That is how we mature, we let go of what doesn’t work anymore. So then, as we look around us and see a truly global collective suicide before us as one possible future, we are quite obviously being called to relinquish the cherished old beliefs, old ideas, old models, old maps, old notions, old behaviors, old teachings, and old societies that proceeded us. Quite clearly, they do not work. They give birth to a future none of us want, or need, or can allow. An instant and full disclosure of human ugliness was already available to us at age 15. We are not interested in a global death sentence at all. We are life itself. And in the old program, the remains of media, the political rhetoric, the reality television, the adverts, the false-understandings, the idols, the leftover bits of flickering militainment—that will be the collective suicide note clutched in our species’ dead fist. We must not be alone on this precipice—There must be hundreds of millions of attempts at civilization scattered about the ecosystems of the universe that look just like that suicide note scrawled with our faulty ideas.
The word, the idea we are wrestling with together and the word we will be wrestling with forever is “civilization.” “Spend” and “War” has been the mantra of over 5,000 years of attempted civilization and its proven itself to be no civilization all. In fact the very word “civilization” will forever remain in quote—that is with quotation marks around it—as long as the love and care of all life comes into conflict with social norms.
But the good news is now we’re on the fast track to a Telewakening. We are on this fast track because we are quickly seeing and learning that a Pre-Internet society can’t survive the Post-Internet awareness. Nothing can be hidden. It is a different world now. We are all different beings now. And this Pre-net civilization we have found ourselves born into is obviously too unstable. It can destroy itself at any moment, simply because someone coughed the wrong way, or played followed the leader a little too seriously. It’s a shameful and juvenile state of being: Godlike or notlike. Telewakening means to see that all these screens are mirrors showing you what we are and that they will only change if we change our being. Don’t look into your smartphone—feel into them. Do not pick out what you want to see, feel the whole of the Internet, the whole of reality—feel all that life. Know what it knows. What it has known. What it can know tomorrow. And feel what we can be right now. Realize that you are always home, and that your neighborhood really never ends, so it’d be best if you saw beyond the convenient contrivances that we think separate us, and make peace with all your neighbors, friends, family, and brothers and sisters now. Notice that very time you log on, you are reflecting into the global mirror along with everyone else. You are changing it along with everyone else. What you are seeing on a Facebook profile, or your Linked in, or your email, on your newsfeed, blogs, tweets, updates, and statistics is what we are. When you see the riots, the poisoning, the corruption, the exploitation, the brutality, the abuse, the fear, and the willingness march further into the abyss of it because someone said we had to, realize you are seeing your family, you are watching your family, you are feeling your family. You are seeing and feeling, what I like to call: the pressing matter of our shared circumstance. Know that you can only change the global mirror, the global pool, the world, the family, by changing what you are—by changing what is looking into it. All you can change is what is reflected into it: your choices, your actions, your ideas, your images, your love, your Godlike powers.
So I must admit that I am calling for something. I’ve been calling it an evolutionary intelligent loving awareness—An evolutionary wise loving intelligent awareness to be at the command these Godlike powers. Call it reason, call it nature, call it God, call it the cosmos, call it heart, call it empathy, call it sympathy, call it compassion, call it wisdom, call it love—it doesn’t matter what you call it, because it’s the same damn thing you see, the same damn thing you feel when you confront the pressing matter of our shared circumstance. Sometimes you hear Christians call it agapé. A great intelligent loving unity: agapé. When you think civilization, you should feel agapé. Not the nasty, childish state of affairs that parade around the world today. But the wisdom that Godlike powers demand, and that wisdom is a Godlike love. We must allow that Godlike love to emerge amongst us, within us. It is a Godlike love that a future worth living in demands. I’m not the first to point this out. I’m not at all the first see that on the horizon of the universe, there is a burning tower of light that’s beckoning life to realize its greatest destiny, its greatest quality of being, and I wont be the last. Many, many, many, many people have seen it, do see it, and will continue to see it because—it is apparent. It is and always is right here.
We see what we are. We see that we are all in this together. We know that it is the depth of what the goodness of humanness has to offer that’s actually worth our time. We know that an apocalypse now is not what we need, an apocalypse now is not the great destiny of life—It is an agapélypse now that we need. It is an agapélypse now that is the greatest destiny of life. And in that announcement I have to say that I would forgive all the wrong doings of all the people of all the world if it meant that we all realized this great destiny together—For with the Godlike powers must come a Godlike understanding, a Godlike responsibility, and with that quite naturally, a Godlike love. As Rupert Murdoch has said, “Like many of you in this room, I’m a digital immigrant…My two young daughters, on the other hand, will be digital natives. They’ll never know a world without ubiquitous broadband internet access…We may never become true digital natives, but we can and must begin to assimilate to their culture and way of thinking.” I’d say it would do the world an enormous good to follow Mr. Murdoch’s advice—Get on our level.
Think amore.
Copy and seed.
See the original post for more fun pictures and quotables!: http://anti-teachings.tumblr.com/post/16342125675/godlike-digital-native…
2 Comments
tags:
Souldish NYC Events January 2012
January 22nd, 2012
-
==Thursday, January 26, 2012==
The Design of Dissent: Socially and Politically Driven Graphics
A panel discussion hosted by RS founding member and Creative Director, Michael Robinson will feature Milton Glaser and Mirko Ilic and focus on graphic design’s ability to convey how power is effectively used and distributed, and justice is fulfilled. Basing the talk around the book The Design of Dissent: Socially and Politically Driven Graphics and current events, the authors will discuss how to raise consciousness and awareness of design’s role on a variety of issues ranging from peace, animal rights, gun control, religion, the Iraq war, equality, women’s rights, gay rights and the corporate world. Here we can discuss how today’s image makers and corporate shaman can help to create a more beautiful world we all know is possible.
January 26, 2012
8-10 pm
Hosted at the Open Center
22 E. 30th St., NY
Ph: 212.219.2527
http://www.opencenter.org/the-design-of-dissent-socially-and-politically-driven-graphics
Members: $13 / Nonmembers: $15
Milton Glaser:
Milton Glaser is among the most celebrated graphic designers in the United States. He has had the distinction of one-man-shows at the Museum of Modern Art and the Georges Pompidou Center. In 2009, he was the first graphic designer to receive the National Medal of the Arts award. He was selected for lifetime achievement awards from the Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum (2004) and the Fulbright Association (2011). As a Fulbright scholar, Glaser studied with the painter, Giorgio Morandi in Bologna, and is an articulate spokesman for the ethical practice of design. He co-founded the revolutionary Push Pin Studios in 1954 and New York Magazine with Clay Felker in 1968. In 1974, he opened Milton Glaser, Inc. where he continues to produce a prolific amount of work in many fields of design to this day.
Mirko Ilic:
Mirko Ilic was born in Bosnia, former Yugoslavia. In Europe, he drew comics, illustrations, and art-directed posters, books, and record covers. He arrived in the U.S. in 1986 where he became the art director of Time Magazine International Edition. He later became art director of Op-Ed pages of the New York Times. In 1995 he established his firm Mirko Ilic Corp. He received numerous awards, including those from the Society of Illustrators, Society of Publication Designers, the Art Directors Club, I.D. Magazine, Print Magazine, Graphis, Society of Newspaper Design, and others. He has written several books with Steve Heller, including Genius Moves: 100 Icons of Graphic Design, Handwritten, and the Anatomy of Design. He has also written The Design of Dissent with Milton Glaser. He teaches masters degree illustration at the School of Visual Arts.8:00pm until 10:00pm
The Open Center - 22 E 30th St - NYC
https://www.facebook.com/events/352460918102163/
==Friday, January 27, 2012==
Dance Parade January Social @ Dance Manhattan!
Join us for Dance Parade’s January Social on Friday, January 27th at Dance Manhattan!
Join us as Dance Parade celebrates Dance Manhattan as a Float Sponsor in the Sixth Annual Parade! All are welcomed! Current Dance Manhattan students, feel free to bring your friends, family and colleagues along!
Join Dance Manhattan and the organizers of Dance Parade NYC for a once-a-month Open House. Get to know Dance Manhattan with a FREE introductory dance class @ 8pm featuring a half hour of Salsa and a half hour of Swing taught by Rodney Lopez, a FREE party starting @ 9:00, and FREE performance showcase @ 10:30…followed by a FREE Dance party till 12:30am!
The evening features a variety of music and dancing (ballroom, swing, salsa & tango) and a showcase of performances at 10:30.
Discounts are offered to new students who register for classes on Guest Night (some restrictions apply).
No pre-registration required…just come!8:00pm until 12:30am
39 W 19 Street, New York, NY 10011
-
==Wednesday, January 25==
The RADICAL WAY to Realize Reality
Reality is not what you think it is. It is not a “thing” or a condition or even a state that is objective to “you”. Reality is undifferentiated consciousness—boundless, centerless, indivisible, non-separate. Reality is the radiant conscious light in which all forms of body, mind and world arise and disappear. The radical realization of Reality is about unlimited participation in and as this condition of perfect freedom. In the context of these four seminars, you will be introduced to the extraordinary discourses and the transcendental spiritual transmission work of Adi Da Samraj, who is the realization of Reality, and who is the means to realize this perfect freedom.
RADICAL WAY SERIES DATES…
Wednesday Jan 25 - The Intelligence of the Heart
Thursday Feb (TBD) - The Process of Transcendental Spiritual Transmission
7:00 - 8:30 PM
Brooklyn Urban dZong
778 Bergen Street, 2FL
Brooklyn, NY
At the Corner of Bergen and Grand
Prospect Heights Brooklyn
Nearest Trains…
Washington and Clinton C
Eastern Parkway/Brooklyn Museum 2/3
Flatbush and 7th Ave B/Q
All the events in this series are FREE!
www.adidasamraj.org
www.adidam.org7:00pm until 8:30pm
Brooklyn Urban dZong, 778 Bergen Street, 2FL
https://www.facebook.com/events/255107581203603/ -
==Tuesday, January 24==
THE BIKE TRIP
A hilarious and heart-wrenching journey into the psychedelic soul.
Created & performed by Martin Dockery
In a solo show that The Charleston City Paper says is “Funny, moving, and remarkably uplifting,” and which High Times Magazine says is, “Not to be missed,” Dockery sets out to recreate the exact circumstances of the first LSDtrip by the drug’s inventor, Albert Hofmann, as he rode his bike home from work in Switzerland in 1943.
It was, suffice to say, quite the trip.
Equally hilarious and frightening, his bike trip introduced the world to psychedelics and offered millions of people an entirely new way to perceive their place in the world.
Please join me for a ONE NIGHT ONLY performance of a show that’s earned Best-of-Festival distinctions at The Winnipeg and Orlando Fringes, and about which The CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corp) wrote, “Exceptional storytelling. An engaging, well-crafted piece of art. One heck of a trip.”
The Barrow Street Theatre Fortnight 0.5 presents:
The Bike Trip
Tues, Jan 24 @ 8pm
$20 at www.smarttix.com
“Vivid and deliciously funny.” -The Orlando Sentinel
“5 stars… A one-man storytelling extravaganza.” -The Winnipeg Free Press
“A+… Masterful, mesmerizing, and hugely entertaining.” -Uptown Magazine
“Dockery’s gifts as a storyteller border on the supernatural. Go see The Bike Trip. Oh, go see The Bike Trip.” -nytheatre.com -
F**K! Scream for your Well-being
==Tuesday, January 24==
F**K! Scream for your Well-being
With Surya Healing
Are you tense? Do you ever say to yourself, “F**K! I’m so stressed, I want to scream!” Well, you aren’t alone. When we feel overwhelmed, we tend to hold onto our emotions until they affect us in a physical way, causing tension, stress and dis-ease.
Osho believed that before we begin to practice silencing the mind and attaining inner peace, we must first release what is repressed in our bodies. During the five stages of Dynamic Meditation, we remain conscious, alert and aware. We breathe, we move, we scream, we get silent, and then we celebrate.
Give it a try! I highly recommend it for those who are having difficulty starting a traditional meditation practice, or just need a good release. Cost: $15. * No-one will be turned away due to lack of funds. Space is limited. Pre-registration is not required, but appreciated. Send payment via paypal to vmarie.vasquez@gmail.com.
Contact me if you have any questions. Much love. ~Surya(7p until 8:30p, $15)
Tupana Love
471 5th Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11215 -
21 days of Meditation - A tool for life!
Free with Tammy Lynne Monday at 9:00am until Sunday, February 12, 2012 at 9:00pm at A quiet space
A gift of clarity, peace of mind & increased intuition, just for you! Sign up today and be supported for 21 days of Meditation. Create a new habit that will serve you in every way. The commitment will begin on the lunar (chinese) New Year & with a New Moon in Aquarius, Monday January 23rd.
~The commitment is to yourself. Meditate for 15-20 minutes at least 1x a day for 21 days~
You will receive ~
*A daily email that will inspire, motivate & support you on the journey
*1 guided meditation video
*Top 10 meditation Tips to help you get started and stay committed
*A tool for life
AND the first 3 people that sign up will receive a 15 minute private phone session. This is the perfect way to get all your questions answered plus learn how to truly personalize your daily meditation to ensure you are getting the most out of your time in silence.
***I am limiting this offer to 21 people SO sign up now :-)*** And yes this is all a gift to simply help you get more connected to your divine, authentic, wise, powerful self ~ no charge.
~Email me directly at Tammylynne444@yahoo.com OR reply to this message with your email & phone # by January 20th. You will get specific details then :-)
==Friday, February 17, 2012==
ART PARTY: Galactic Winter edition @ Sullivan Hall
We are back at it again to bring you another ART and MUSIC extravaganza!!!
Some come on out and celebrate 2012. Dance off the winter chill with good friends and groovy tunes.
As usual we will be showcasing members of the local art, craft, and music scenes… Stay tuned in for further updates
$10
The first 50 guests will receive a limited edition signed/numbered print
http:// sullivanhallnyc.com/
**Any person entering the venue that is under 21 years old will have to pay an additional $5 “ under age fee “ on top of the ticket price. The under aged fan that is paying this fee will get 1 free soft drink ticket so they can get 1 free soft drink at the bar.12:00am until 4:00am
Sullivan Hall
214 Sullivan St, New York, NY 10012
Beyond the Abyss
January 4th, 2012
Orchard Windows Gallery presents BEYOND THE ABYSS
Solo Art Exhibition by KALIPTUS
Curated by DINO ELI
On the first Friday, the 13th of 2012, step into a portal that will take you through and beyond the abyss.
Kaliptus will be creating a universe of its own, an exhibition of multimedia and contemporary fine arts that will take those present on a vision quest to the gap in between the Real and the Unreal. Experience a sensory overload of divine trauma that points the finger at man, the mind, some of the deepest secrets of the universe and what lies beyond the “inner abyss”
This exhibition will take place inside two galleries
“THANATOS” Room: Orchard Windows Gallery on 37 Orchard Street
“EROS” Room: Dino Eli Gallery on 81 Hester Street
(Both galleries are a walkable distance from each other and no less than a few yards apart.)
Improv sounds by PHUSE.ANALYSIS
https://www.facebook.com/pages
For gallery inquires please call 917-995-1001
email: windowgallery@gmx.com
http://www.
http://kaliptus.blogspot.com/
Kickstarter: The Arab-Americans
November 29th, 2011 
Kickstarter:
The Arab-Americans - A Documentary
Written by Abe Kasbo
Hello,
About four years ago, I had just about enough of how the media was portraying Arabs and Arab-Americans. I decided to do something about it. I started working on a film that illustrates the rich history of Arab-Americans. Why? Because I believe that Arab-Americans should own their history. They should have a platform, rightfully so, that is rich in history. But owing the message, owning our history goes a long way to building bridges, educating and fighting misperception.
From the start of the project, we had challenges…”no one will give you an interview…” they said. We’ve persevered…Ralph Nader, Helen Thomas, Senator Mitchell, Jamie Farr are among the many who stepped up and said “this is important.” ”No one will partner with you…” they said. The National Archives and Smithsonian along with Warner Brothers and DC Comics are now partners. “No one wants to see this film done…” over 3000 emails and 2500 photographs / video from around the country tell me otherwise.
As a quick background, we’ve invested time and a considerable amount of resources to get to this point, and I need your help to get to the finish line. We have a kickstarter campaign that is coming to a close and not doing as well as I had hoped right now. While, I don’t want to admit it, but these same people told me that the film will not find financial support for a variety of reasons. I would like to prove these people wrong, although time is running out. Funding is a challenge in any environment, and today’s seems especially difficult.
So today, I am asking you to help me tell this story. This is your story, it is our story, a uniquely American story that has been untold. This film will tell it, in a world class production that is worthy of the history of the people who made it. No short cuts, we want to do this right, and with your help we can. We need about 125 people who believe that $100, or whatever they can contribute, is worth the 200 years of Arab-American History, and I believe we can get there.
I am attaching the media kit for the film for your review. We only have about 10 more days on Kickstarter, and if we do not hit our goal, we DO NOTget the funding! So, please consider the over 8,000 or work thus far on this project, and back it. Please tell your friends. Here’s the link:http://www.kickstarter.
Thank you for your consideration of this request, and I hope to have you on board as a backer soon.
I welcome your questions and feedback.
Abe Kasbo
Producer/Director
The Arab-Americans
Purpose
Toproduce a full-length, broadcast-quality documentary about the Arab- American immigrant experience through the stories of Arab-Americans who have made significant contributions to the fabric of America through
their dedicated pursuit of the American Dream. With historical immigration patterns as background, we will explore the personal stories of Arab-Americans and how they have contributed to the collective American experience. At a time where the media tends to paint Arab peoples and culture with the broad brush of terrorism, it is increasingly important to present a positive image of the many Arabs who have made America their home and highlight their many achievements.
Background
Arab-Americans, like many other immigrant groups, left their homeland to come to the United States in search of a better life. In the process, they became an integral part of American society contributing to the Arts, Sciences, Public Service, and Business. Arab- Americans share common challenges in their own immigration story just as Italians and Irish and many other immigrant groups who have faced the trials and tribulations of leaving their homeland and immigrated to the United States.
While there are countless books about this subject (i.e. Adel Younis’ “The Coming of Arabic- Speaking People to the United States.” “Grape Leaves” edited by Orfalea and Elmusa. The Museum of New York City’s “A Community of many Worlds – Arab Americans In New York City”), as well as articles in scholarly journals, festivals, scholarly gatherings, and newspapers articles, there is no singular film; a documentary, with the kind of quality narrative and production value to be considered by media outlets like PBS, that spans the points and depth of this ambitious project.
High quality, “PBS Documentaries” appear to exist for virtually every other American ethnic or immigrant group: Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, African-American, Jew, Italian, Irish and so on. To our knowledge, no such documentary exists that provides an historical narrative of the experiences of about 6 million Arab-Americans.
Considering the current zeitgeist in the United States, today, more than ever, the American public is seeking to learn more about Arab Americans. Beyond superficial discussions in the media, the historical immigration perspective of Arab-Americans in the United States has still not been eloquently told.
Arab-Americans have proudly ventured beyond their ethnicity, language and religion to make noteworthy contributions to both the immigrant-American experience and ultimately the American experience. They served this nation with significant contributions throughout the spectrum of society; as politicians and public servants, entertainers, physicians, business leaders, and educators. It is this extraordinary story of people and places that must be told.
Souldish NYC Events August 12 - 16, 2011
August 12th, 2011Still trying to decide what to do tonight? If so, consider these tasty bites.
love,
Salma from Souldish
http://www.souldish.com
==Friday, August 12==
Sankalpa Fundraiser
Join Krupa Devi and friends at the House of YES for her very worthy fundraiser for the Sankalpa school in India. Embodying the mission of Sankalpa, this event is a celebration of creative potential and collaboration. Performances, music, interactive art stations and more will help support the opening of an art therapy studio space in Auroville in south India! Art, performance, delights, healing/chill room, music, dancing, beautiful people, what more can you ask for? Cumba Mela, songs by Adam Collett, kA, Optimus Tribe, and interactive improv with Valerie Geffner! Includes a Sankalpa sticker and an original painting by a child in India! Henna artists needed and other talents also welcome, please message me here or email krupa.jhaveri@gmail.com to get involved!
$20 at the door
House of YES
342 Maujer Street
Brooklyn, NY
More info on Sankalpa at http://www.sankalpajourneys.com/
Join the FB group: http://www.facebook.com/sankalpajourneys
Opportunity 4 Life (non-profit umbrella which Sankalpa just joined!): http://www.opportunity4life.org/
==Friday, August 12==
==Friday, August 12==
Auditorium Episode III
Kevin Balktick and Taylor Kuffner do it again and it keeps on getting better and better. Auditorium is a loft party for lovers of ambient, experimental, downtempo, and slow electroacoustic sounds. Expect an evening of inspired music, immersive eight-channel sound, enchanting lighting, surreal décor, and mountains of pillows.
Kevin Balktick is a designer and producer of imaginative experiences and culture events, including the Winkel and Balktick warehouse parties, the Lost Horizon Night Market, and Horizons: Perspectives on Psychedelics. Taylor Kuffner (aka Zemi17) is a sound designer, media artist, and composer who has performed across the world. Most recently, he is the creator of the Gamelatron, a MIDI-controlled robotic gamelan orchestra.
9p-2a; $10 advance, $15 door
446 Broadway, third floor, Manhattan
All ages
The Day the Earth Stood Still
Another awesome party with Kaliptus Arts and friends…Experience an evening of Psychedelic Trance, Tattoos, Good Vibes, & more. Live DJ’s (Psy Room)
(10:30pm - Tomorrow at 6:00am, 20$ @ the door)
18 to enter
Private Loft
117 NJ Railroad Ave
Newark, NJ
https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=128763767213472
==Friday, August 12==
A Six Degrees Burning Man Fundraiser for Camp OverKill
Come out and and lets get crazy to help support CAMP OVERKILL for BURNING MAN 2011. This year we are hitting the playa hard with 3 brand new art cars and some heavy new sound, so…… LETS PRE- PARTY AND CELEBRATE.
(10p-4a, $10)
Theater Bar
114 Franklin St near West Broadway)
New York, NY
==Saturday, August 13==
High Vibe Full Moon Party f/ Earthrise SS, Psylab and Nightlight Astrology
UNITRIBE and Didge Project in association with EVOLVER Present ~ High Vibe Full Moon Party Featuring Earthrise SoundSystem, Psylab and Nightlight Astrology ~ The August full moon has blessed the High Vibe family with new sounds and cosmic talent. Following our usual kirtan kick-off with SriKala we will have two special guest acts that will keep us moving: The World-Beat flavor of Earthrise SoundSystem and the live-electronic sounds of Psylab.
Also in the house; we have the Donation Based, Nightlight Astrology giving readings through out the event and Didge Project to close us off with a deep didgeridoo sound meditation.
- Kirtan with SriKala, Tom Lena and family (http://srikalogy.bandcamp.com/)
- Earthrise SoundSystem (http://www.earthrisesoundsystem.com/)
- Psylab (http://www.psylab.org/)
- Nightlight Astrology (http://www.nightlightastrology.com/)
- Sound meditation with Didge Project (http://www.didgeproject.com/)
- Ceremonial space held by Alokananda (www.alokananda.com)
Vegetarian Food
(7 - 1 am, $20)
7:00pm - 11:30pm
City Life Wellness, 75 Frost St.,
Brooklyn, NY
http://www.citylifewellness.com/
https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=212576572126761
==Saturday, August 13==
Adam Collett, Xango Shola & Santiparro Live @ the Tea Lounge
Dearest friends! We hope you can join us for this free Full Moon concert at the beautiful Tea Lounge cafe/bar/gallery in Park Slope.About the Artists…”Equal parts Jeff Buckley, Bob Dylan and Frank Zappa, Adam’s songs are journeys that manage to be angelic, transformative and far out, all at once.” http://adamcollett.com/ “When Shola sings, the angels come. Her ancient songs of healing light up every heart in the room.” http://xangoshola.com/ “Santiparro Alan Scheurman is an intuitive sound healer, artist, musician and writer committed to the active co-creation of a peaceful universe.” http://santiparro.com/
(9:00pm - 11:30pm, Free)
Tea Lounge
837 Union St
Brooklyn, NY
http://tealoungeny.com/
==Saturday, August 13==
Full Moon at CoSM - August celebration
At the Chapel of Sacred Mirrors, Alex and Allyson Grey invite you to celebrate the Full Moon with an evening of wisdom and prayer from all faiths. In this inter-denominational ceremony, we embrace the richness of our diverse cultures in music, poetry and shared community. Please bring a drum or an instrument to co-create joyous rhythms and inspire dancers to ecstatic movement. Come with an open mind and heart…expect lively dialogue and interactive experiences through art, music, meditation, prayer and rhythm. All are welcome. his is a family-friendly, drug and alcohol-free event. No camping or pets.All visitors must leave the grounds before 1am. Doors open 6:30pmCeremony 7:30- 9:30pm, Drum & Dance 9:30-12midnight.
6:30 - 12 am,
Chapel of Sacred Mirrors
46 Deer Hill Road
Wappingers Falls, NY
visit https://secure.cosm.org/np/clients/cosm/event.jsp?event=202 to buy tickets online
https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=223813074322111
==Saturday, August 13==
Dance Dance Revolution
Your friends from RefugeNYC are back. We are proud to bring you to the next level in underground nightlife. Get ready to party likes its 2099.
$15 advance, $20 before 11:30p
Morgan Warehouse
250 Varet Street, at Bogart, Brooklyn
dancedancenyc.com
facebook.com/event.php?eid=176347969098117
==Saturday, August 13==
Brooklyn Bridge Party
Dance and March and imagine…
Riveting musical acts and circus performances. Carnevale is a fundraising event for Arlekino Theater Troupe, produced in partnership with Brenner Media Labs. Arlekino Theater Troupe is a non-profit theater, music, art, and dance program for children ages 2-7 whose parent(s) emigrated from the former Soviet Union.
Brooklyn Bridge
Meet on the Manhattan side around 11:30p; $free
losing of official/unofficial festivities.
==Saturday, August 13==
Carnevale
7-10:30p; $20 advance, $25 door, all proceeds from ticket sales will be used to fund Arlekino Theater Troupe and to help lower costs for future programs for families of with limited resources
Galapagos Art Space
16 Main Street, Brooklyn
galapagosartspace.com/event/arlekino-theater-troupe-presents-carnevale
==Saturday, August 14==
Bassnectar Presents: BASS ISLAND NYC
The Bassnectar team is thrilled to bring you the 1st ever BASS ISLAND adventure, part one in a spellbinding trilogy of music, art, and culture that will unfold on the beautiful South Island Field at Governors Island, New York City this summer. We want to create a unique world to explore, beyond the realms of a normal concert experience. Much like the regional Bass Center events, we expect to ram this island to the gills with freaks and bass heads, as it is our only stop in NYC for the rest of the year. We are excited to announce our stellar support line-up featuring Lupe Fiasco, Z-Trip, Prefuse 73, Virtual Boy, Dave Nada and Joro Boro!
For more details and tickets, visit: http://www.bassnectar.net/2011/07/081311-bass-island/
Esssential Survival Guide: http://www.bassnectar.net/2011/08/bass-island-survival-guide/
(no scary puppets or parachutes please)
3pm - Sunday at 1am
South Island Field at Governor’s Island, NYChttp://www.bassnectar.net/2011/07/081311-bass-island-2/
https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=114443041975119
Listen: (After Midnight with Nelly Furtado and Bassnectar) http://youtu.be/v90utlNYnBI
Afterparty at Poisson Rouge…
http://lepoissonrouge.com/events/view/2603
==Monday, August 15==
Sensual Awakening & Goddess Puja Ceremony
Special Gathering to awaken your senses with special guest Atia Marie from the Toronto Sexual Awakening Centre! Experience food like never before… tasting, hearing, seeing, feeling, and smelling at this Soiree! Heighten …your body’s awareness to everything going on around it and within it by muting another. Be fed raw chocolate while blindfolded, enjoy juicy fruits with your hands. Menu is all raw & all organic provided by Alchemy Café. Our evening will end with a special Goddess Puja Ceremony led by Ran Baron that will integrate our evening of awakening and take us to a whole new level. a ‘Goddess Puja’ is an authentic Tantric ritual offering different elements (incense, fire, flowers and even chocolate) in an act of honoring and bringing out our divine nature.
$50 couple/ $30 person ~ includes all luscious live delicacies & evening performances
Sexy Spirits NYC
301 W 55th St.
New York, New York
Email Imani@themamalution.com to register
https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=103635993070764
==Wednesday, August 17==
Wild Plant Walk at Open Skills Night
Join Dan Farella (https://www.facebook.com/ShaktiBhakta) for a walk as we explore the wild foods and medicines surrounding the practical primitive school and harvest and sample some of natures wild delicious treats! Learn Practical first aid applications as well as how to identify plants to eat from a survival situation to your every day diet, and the many wild plants to flavor and spice up your existing food. If it rains around the time of the walk you will also explore and search for wild mushrooms and learn how to identify some of the more common edible species you are likely to encounter. Afterwards you can sit around the fire in a serine environment and learn primitive skills from Eddie Starnater and Julie Martin and whoever else shows up that night!
(6p - 9p, 10$)
any questions email Dan@returntonature.us
www.returntonature.us
www.practicalprimitive.com
==Wednesday, August 17==
Shamanic Dream Collective - Making Friends with Your Nightmares
With Matthew Canale. This week we’ll be heading right into that place that we don’t always like to go, the home of the nightmare. What are nightmares? Are they something to be afraid of? What are they trying to say? Are they actually there to help? How can we get rid of them? Better yet, how do we love them? After we talk about our own dreams we’ll journey with the aid of the drum to see if we can’t unearth some more information that was lost to the dream. If that sounds like fun we’d love to see you! Sweet dreams!
(7:00pm - 9:00pm, Regular Admission: $10 – $∞)
** Special **Returning Dreamers! – bring a friend and you come for $5
Golden Drum
97 Green St Apt G24
Brooklyn, New York
https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=270976286249422
==Wednesday, August 17==
BROOKLYN SHAKEDOWN :: JOHN DILL (Robot Heart / Found Love)
JOHN DILL, Zoe Wilder, Mikey Beatz throw another great dance party. John honed his sound on the white isle of Ibiza in 2000 and ever since, he’s grown residencies at some of New York’s own best parties and travelled the globe to share his unique style. From Found Love, Sunday Sessions, Sullivan Room, Table 50, Movida, and Crobar, to the beaches of Punta Del Este, Puerto Rico, and the infamous Robot Heart parties, John’s solid reputation is built entirely on making asses shake.
10pm - August 18 at 4a
BEMBE
81 South 6th Street
https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=256574544370601
Brooklyn, NY
6pm - 9pm
Practical Primitive School
14 Sussex Lane
Great Meadows, NJ
==Wednesday, August 17==
Conversational Street Hypnosis-With Hypnotist Matthew Detrick
Conversational Street Hypnosis And Hypnotherapy. Have you ever wanted to give somebody a gift to experience life even more fully than you do now? Well, it’s not magic and actually rather simple when you learn and apply the skills required to give your gift. What are these skills you wonder? Come and learn street hypnosis,instant and rapid inductions, hypnotic deepeners, and hypnotic language patterns. You may use all of the above both in everyday life and in your energy healing practice, but just don’t know it. Don’t worry, these are all gentle and done with an intent from the heart that wants the best for everyone involved. It’s Gentle and highly effective! We’ll also learn how to use hypnotic demos to gain rapport with a group, which you can actually gain business from if done right. The last thing we’ll learn together is conversational hypnotherapy and I may reveal part of my new hypnosis model:Ultimate Truth. By the end of this funshop, you’ll know how to give this gift to others. Most of all, I invite you to come with an open heart and mind to the wonderment and amazing experiences you can have, one trance at a time.
Workshop Exchange-$15 With RSVP & Registration/$20 At the Door.
Reserve Your Seat Here:https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=VW3XEPZCQQHY2
(7pm - 9pm, $20)
TRS Professional Suites
44 EAST 32ND STREET-11TH FLR
New York, NY
Learn more about Matt Here:
www.remarkablehypnosis.com
Watch Matt’s Video Here:http://youtu.be/WkkqsKQljbA
))Upcoming((
==Saturday, August 27==
Wild Woman Art Gallery ” My Body is My Sanctuary”
Third year in a row..we will have our own corner at the Walt Shamel Community Garden’s annual art show Art On Dean, where we will be creating and showcasing wild woman & womb art! It’s time for you to express your creativity and be wild! This years theme: My body is my sanctuary. Join us for interactive art, A-Bun-Dance, wombing, music, food & fun Artist Call—-calling for Wild Woman art…contact Kiana @ info@bewildwoman.com to submit your work
Be Wild Woman
2pm - 5pm
Walt L. Shamel - Garden
https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=232424866795123
MAP: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Walt-L-Shamel-Garden/128521503905561
Off the Grid Community Project
August 11th, 2011 
Off The Grid: Our Purpose
Brad Johnson and Reece Jones (of Youtube fame: ReeceJones87) are spearheading a new exciting world-wide project called Off the Grid Community Project. Their purpose is simple. They are here to unite humanity by creating sustainable ‘off the grid’ cooperative communities where humanity comes together in consensus equality.
They write: “Through collective intent, there is nothing that we cannot achieve as a people. Our vision is not about leaders, superiors, inferiors or followers. It is entirely about community and functioning together as a whole. We all have a common goal, and that goal is the purity of freedom.
What we know of the system today is that of an illusion. It is time to come together to bring forward a common good. Our mission is to show the world that we are capable of ending hunger, building shelters for every man, woman and child, working in harmony with the Earth and uniting together as a true civilization.
Off the Grid Community Project is not about egos nor one person’s vision. It is an idea that is ever expansive. It is a legion where the all functions as the one. It is the true mechanical principle of the universe itself. No one is rejected, no one is in charge. We are all part of Off the Grid. We are all responsible. We all act as parts of the whole together to help the world become aware that we exist.
This website functions as an online resource that provides you with tools, information, updates, how to’s and more to help you get a full understanding on the collective vision of the Off the Grid Community Project.
Our main social hub can be found on Facebook via the Off the Grid Community Project Group. Our current range of participants are ranging well within the thousands! Come join our community collective and make a difference in the world by being a part of the whole.
Be one with your freedom, your fulfilment and your passion!
Off The Grid Community Project Facilitation Crew.”
You can find out more about Off the Grid Community Project at the following links:
http://www.unitedoffthegrid.com/related-videos.php
http://www.unitedoffthegrid.com/current-progress.php
Dance as an Intentional Transformative Experience
July 30th, 2011
Dance of Liberation documentary & DOL Workshop
July 31
Join Parashakti GateKeepers & Jivamukti yoga teachers Purnima Langen & Luis as they guide us on a mystical journey to self-discovery and well-being. A screening of the documentary Dance of Liberation will be featured, a film featuring Parashakti’s spiritual voyage with guidance from renowned spiritual leaders and elders. Festivities include a High Vibe Raw chocolate Party, live performance with HERITAGE O.P, an acoustic percussion and vocal ensemble that fuses the rhythms of Africa and South America. GateKeeper mini healing sessions, ritual performances with the ShaktiSpirit dancers, and the launch of the WHITE ceremonial clothing line.
6pm-11pm Jivamukti yoga 841 Broadway second fl $8 DOL film/ $30 for DOL film & workshop
http://www.jivamuktiyoga.com/fms/event_fm.html
http://www.souldish.com/
Dance as an Intentional Transformative Experience
Dance has a way of transforming the dancer. Many people feel transformed while dancing, but for most, it’s back to business as usual after it’s over. Not so with some of the more innovative dance movements such as Parashakti’s Dance of Liberation. Surprisingly, dancing with intention in sacred space, with eyes closed has transformed me in a positive, lasting way. It was only when I first experienced her blindfold dance that the act of dancing actually facilitated deep and meaningful spiritual growth within me.
My first blindfold dance was up at CoSM’s retreat “Honoring the Divine Feminine.” Intentional dance in sacred space can transform one’s life. It may not be an instantaneous transformation. Mine wasn’t. You may even forget the intention. The dance may a vague memory. However, the moment you cast your intention, the transformation begins like a seed dropped from its packet into fertile soil.
A fire was built, and we made a circle. We connected with one another by holding hands and created a sacred space to dance. Settling into the circle, staring into the fire, I began to feel the connected with everything and everyone around me. I didn’t know what to expect, but all was explained before we proceeded with the blindfolds.
Some say safe is boring. However, this is not Mother’s brand of safety. This is the creation of sacred space for us to be ourselves, to express ourselves creatively through dance, to sweat and vision and move without judgment. This kind of safety is exhilarating, liberating and yes a bit daunting. At first, it felt too good to be true. In a society where our every move is recorded, judged, measured and scrutinized, this blindfold dance was incredibly refreshing. It took me a while to really believe it when we first began, but I soon fell into rhythm.
After creating our sacred space, we set out intentions for the dance. Our intentions for the dance represent a goal we would like to set in motion through our blindfolded, free-style movement. My intention was to reconnect with the nature and the Earth and by extension, with my own nature.
Before we began the dance we were taught a special kind of breath. Two short inhalations through the nose and one powerful breath out through the mouth. This powerful breath brings us into an ecstatic state of trance and connects us within non-linear time. With the breath, the dance becomes a meditation.
Then, with blindfolds on the music started and we began to dance. The music was a mix of live drumming, healing sounds and hypnotic beats. It was primal and went deep into my bones, leaving me feeling ecstatic. As I touched the earth I could feel its energy surge within me touching every cell in my body. More and more, I began to feel a bond with nature. For the next hour I forgot everything and let the medicine of the dance do it’s silent work upon my soul and my psyche.
When the dance was over, I was feeling both emptied and refreshed. We then reconnected as a circle and were encouraged to begin to integrate our intention and what we learned during the dance into our everyday lives. I returned home ready and committed to making a change, excited about taking what I had learned on my inner exploration out into the world in order to make a difference.
The transformative effects of the dance became apparent gradually over the next year. I found myself yearning to be outdoors more and more even despite the cold, which usually has been an awfully good deterrent. Six months later as winter’s frost subsided, I dug up my rocky little yard and planted a small garden. This terrified me for some reason but I felt driven. When I think about it now, I was afraid that it would be work in vain. I feared that nothing would grow, that nature would not take its course, and that it was personal.
Despite my fears, I felt driven to dig, build and plant and so I did. Somehow, I managed to quiet any expectations and just go with the flow. I chose to just see what would happen, with curiosity. After all, the adventure was the most important medicine. Although I looked forward to the results with some anticipation, I put way more energy into the creative and nurturing aspects of the project. It became a therapy in and of itself. It was more calming to concentrate on the work rather than on the thoughts of what would become of it. I felt invigorated and refreshed, renewed and calm.
What I didn’t realize at the time was that the lack of trust in nature, was the root of the problem I was having in my life in general. I did not trust my own nature to accomplish much that was good or worthy. Planting those seeds was an exercise in faith. The garden grew and prospered as nature took its course. My role was to nurture, guide and care for it. I was steward of, rather than the source of what began to happen. This was symbolic, a foreshadowing of what could be on an even deeper level. When I thought about it as a whole, it all seemed so overwhelming. However, gardening is slow food and all I really had to do was take it one step at a time, tackling challenges as they came up. The pressure was off. I did not need to over think things.
In the bigger picture, what I needed next was to apply that same philosophy to my life. This meant, trusting more and taking time to quiet my mind each day. It is truly okay to proceed one step at a time, remaining present in each moment. I have seen the fruits of my labor and understand now, that all the while, I was liberating myself. Going forward, I will prepare my inner garden and trust that it will grow in just the right way at just the right time for my highest good. In it, I will plant three exquisite seeds: friendship, creativity and service.
What I have discovered is that the dance has taken me from a place where I had little trust and expected the worst, to a place where I can operate with more trust and less expectation. Now I can start projects without so much of that paralyzing fear and the resignation that comes with it. I can trust that whatever happens, I can deal with it, one step at a time, with love and care and with nature as my trusted companion.
-Salma