The right moment

This morning I decided today would be a care day.  This means paying attention to the small things, the  details and forgotten places, giving myself time to take time.  It is a simple day - uneventful and yet a time to be grateful.  The sun was shining and I opened all the windows and doors to let the breeze and sunshine touch the interiors of my apartment.  Before watering my heart tree I spoke prayers to the water, imagining each of us taking care of our inner gardens, preparing the ground, making the soil fertile so that our gifts and talents can germinate, grow and blossom,  so that we become abundant within. I prayed for awareness and for people to wake up to the beautiful things in this world that work in harmony with the Sacred Matrix and the sacredness of all life.  Sifting through papers and inspirations of the past, I found some quotes and poems I had stored away and decided to give them new life by posting them here:    

Inspirations from "The Elegance of the Hedgehog" a novel by Murial Barberry:

KAIROS

Greek concept that means roughly "the right moment"

"When tea becomes ritual, it takes its place at the heart of our ability to see greatness in small things.  Where is beauty to be found?  In great things, that like everything else are doomed to die, or in small things that aspire to nothing, yet know how to set a jewel of infinity in a single moment?"

A poem by Renata Laurentino, recited during Warriors Without Weapons 2012:

Eu agradeço a todas Deusas e Deuses,

A todas as entidades, todos os guias,

Aos mestres e seres iluminados que povoam a Terra.

A todos os seres de luz de todos planos.

Abro o meu portal coronário, para que a inspiração entre,

Que minha arte transborde pelo meu corpo,

Sensibilizando a todos que entram em contato com ela.

Agradeço desde já pelas oportunidades de me expressar e expandir.

Que eu possa passar por diversos cantos do planeta vivenciando arte!

Que eu tenha forças para conduzir a minha missão pelos caminhos, desviando de tudo que não venha acrescentar.  

Que todos os seres que moram em mim possam se libertar em minhas criações.

Que eu seja dança, canto, palavra e liberdade!

Salve, todos os elementos!

Salve, todos os seres!

Salve, todos os povos!

Salve, todas as divinidades!

Salve, todos os meus eus!

- Renata Laurentino, 18 de janeiro de 2011

Translation by me:

I thank all  Goddesses and Gods,

All entities and all guides,

Masters and illuminated beings that inhabit the Earth,

Light beings from all planes.

I open my crown portal, so that inspiration can enter,

So that art overflows from my body,

Bringing awareness to everyone that comes in contact with it.

I thank from now on, for the opportunities to express and expand myself,

So that I can pass through diverse corners of the planet, experiencing art!

That I may have strength to steer my missions through paths, avoiding everything that doesn't help me grow.

That all the beings that dwell within me can be freed through my creations,

That I may be dance, song, word and freedom!

Save, all the elements!

Save, all the beings!

Save, all the people!

Save, all the divinities!

Save, all my I's.

Love is the Key

"Without love, life is impossible.  We have to learn the art of loving.  We need to support each other to build communities where love is tangible.  The well-being of the world depends on the way we take care of the world, and on the way we love."

Broski

Wanderings- Santos 06 janeiro

Today I pondered flight and gravity as the song by B.O.B came on. "what goes up must come down, don't let me fall". But then why is the expression "fall in love" and not "fly in love"? Maybe it has to do with the earth and her pull...gravity - causing you to fall. The expression puzzles me because when I feel love, I feel like flying - not like I'm falling.

O que fazer pro carnaval? É a pergunta da hora...

Choque de Amor/ Free Hugs, January 11th

Sonhos para 2012

Qual é seu sonho para 2012?

Em volta de uma mesa cheia de velas, compartilhamos os nossos sonhos para 2012 e comemoramos o nascimento desse novo ano.

Alguns sonhos:Exercitar a sua criatividade - criar coisas com suas próprias mãos, trabalhar menos e viajar mais, abrir seu próprio negócio - um restaurante, dançar Tango em um país diferente, viver uma linda e verdadeira estória de amor, passar o aniversário de 50 anos em Paris com família, um netinho, viajar fora do país, mais respeito e paz entre as pessoas, um lar, uma nova e limpa forma de energia que possa ser acessível para todos.

Rio de Janeiro

Boas Novas of the day: Marina Engels joins the Elos team

you are the place to be

You might second guess your first guess,
you might miss your intuition,
building complex after complex,
it just gets too hard to listen,
you might go into the ocean,
you might go out to the woods,
you might seek to understand,
and you might seek to be understood,
you might wish you had the answers,
you might think that there are none,
you might wish that you could take back
all the things that have been done,
you might laugh,
you might cry,
you might learn not to feel,
you might learn to think your happiness
couldn't be real,
and you might be blocking,
blocking,
blocking,
the medicine you are
but no matter where you're walking
you are never too far
and there's no might about it
you are mighty soon we'll see
cuz no matter where you are,
well that's the place to be.

Come and fall up through the ceiling,
and then dive into the skies,
and reach for your father's closeness,
ride the wind as it arrives,
spread your wings atop of healing,
let the feeling of alive
come and fill your every moment,
go as deep as you go high.
Say "I'm alive"
I'm alive
I can feel the life that's living me,
and I don't need to try,
And I'm the life that's living me
so I can't even die.

And there's no might about it,
I am mighty soon we'll see,
Cuz no matter where I am,
well, that's the place.

Cuz no matter where you are, see
you're the place to be.

You might be the perfect present
for whereever you are now
you might give them what they need
even while you wonder how
and you might carry deep inside you
all the love that's ever lived,
And you might give us you and you us them,
and then you get all you can give,
and you might open up and see this world
is magical again,
you might find love and then end love,
you might make yourself a friend,
and there's no might about it,
we are mighty soon we'll see,
cuz no matter where we are
that's the place to be

-Iamani

Flight

The Revolution is Love

What we want to create is the more beautiful world our hearts tell us is possible - a sacred world, a world that works for everybody, a world that is healing, a world of peace.

only joint creativity and gifts create intimacy and connection

The Revolution is Love

If you love somebody then their happiness is your happiness, their pain is your pain, your sense of self expands to include other beings. That's love - love is the expansion of the self to include the other and that's a different kind of revolution - there's no evil to fight, there's no other in this revolution, everyone has a unique calling and it's really time to listen to that. That's what the future is going to be.

Um novo ano! A new year

After a week at Fazenda Bom Jardim I am back to civilization and ready for the new year!! Viva 2012!! May it be the most magical and auspicious of years! Harmony, peace, freedom, community, excitement, beauty, magic, connection, creativity, abundance, joy, interdependence, dreams, light, and most of all love!

December 23rd

Uma andorinha só não faz verão

Sonho

Keep a green tree in your heart and perhaps a singing bird will come

December 22nd

Solstice + Dreams for 2012

Yesterday I rode the bus with my dad to São Paulo to meet up with Patricia Sogayar, her husband Paulo who works at Ethos, and Rodrigo about the Art of Learning Center Gathering here in Brazil. On the bus ride, my dad told me about a small house he's dreaming of building out of straw-bale, timber framing and cob. It was fun to draw the plan out and think of the natural lighting, heating, and ventilation. It made me realize how much I really know about sustainable methods of building... At least in theory. But there is sooooo much to learn through practice. So now I'm dreaming of taking a course at TIBÁ on bioarchitecture.

What are the first steps I can start to take to get things moving around Fazenda Bom Jardim? Thaís said it's obvious - plan a gathering to talk about dreams and a gathering to prepare the model and then have an Oasis. Alright!! Thanks Thaís! Simple enough right?

Today was the holiday party at Elos as well as the longest day of the year here in the southern hemisphere!

December 21st

And today's theme...

drrruumm rollll - BATICUMBUM!

FOOD

one of my all-time favorites!
a tasty surprise is a cookin'!

So what is food all about?

It's quite a complex theme! And definitely one I could explore for a lifetime.

But let's keep it short and sweet for now. Just a taste :)

It's the art of bringing the perfect blend of ingredients together, it's about timing, and temperature, and precision, and experimentation, about the art of savoring the company of friends and family, of connecting with the earth, with our souls,

of living in the moment.

Hello my name is... , a recipe by Paola de la Concha Zindel

cocinar & disfrutar, "Cozinhar é simultaneamente uma brincadeira de crianças e um prazer de adultos. Cozinhar com zelo é um ato de amor."

A banquete a year ago

Millets of Mewar

Sakhi's Gift
50 Classic Curries. My favorite so far is the Masala Okra! I've made it twice and it is sooo packed with flavor. I cooked an Indian feast at home for my family.

December 20th - So Hum

So this morning I had sooo many ideas of what to write about. There was inspiration and discovery everywhere I looked. I seemed to breath it in like air. I took pictures of the outdoor market, talked to the street vendors Roberto and Maria, who changed aprons because they wanted to look fresh and clean in the photo. I scanned some interesting things I had picked up during my time in India. But by mid day I was feeling like all the ideas were too much - how would I compose and squeeze everything into one day's post? I was trying to remember everything I had been inspired to write about and suddenly all my ideas seemed to evaporate in the afternoon heat. Sizzling brain cells... When I got off work, I went straight to the beach with my brother and passed out on the sand. So now that night has come and I'm dead tired from staying up till 2 last night (which is when the power outage happened and I had to light a candle to get into bed) i've decided to keep it simple. So here it goes: Big news of the evening: I finished "You are Therefore I Am: a Declaration of Dependence" that Emi lent me before I left for India. I'm going to share the last chapter with you because I love it so.

A Declaration of Dependence

The American Declaration of Independence in 1776 may have been right in its time and context. At times of slavery, colonialism and imperialism, it is right and proper that the colonized stand up for their dignity and claim freedom from oppression.
But now the age of Ecology is dawning and a new consciousness is being born. In the wake of multiple environmental crises, we are rediscovering the ancient wisdom that we depend on each other and we depend on the ways of nature. We depend on the Earth.
The Industrial Revolution, scientific discoveries and technological inventions have created the illusion that we, the human race, are the rulers, that we can take nature's laws into our own hands, and do what we like with them. We are the masters of creation; we are in charge of the natural world - its forests, rivers, mountains, fishes, fossils, animals, birds, oil, gas, coal. We have dominion over the land, the oceans and the sky. We can split the atom, engineer genes and walk upon the moon. We can ever diminish the wild, enslave the animals, dam the rivers and deplete the energy reserves accumulated over millennia. There are no limits to our power.
This is human arrogance at its worst. As a result we have turned the abundant bounty of natural gifts into scarcity. Time is infinite, yet we have turned it into a limited commodity. We have reduced the Earth, our planet, our home, to a battlefield where we are competing and fighting for materials, markets, power.

Now we are at a crossroads. We can continue to follow the same path. We can continue to live in the illusion of perpetual economic growth. We can stick to our technological addiction. We can pursue genetics, robotics, nano- and nuclear technology. We can take the road to ruin. We can drive to the abyss. Or we can turn towards ecology: the path of values, ethics and aesthetics, the path of love and reverence for nature, the path of participatory science. We can relinquish the knowledge which enables us to lord it over the Earth. Like the Chinese in the middle ages, who discovered gunpowder but decided to use it only for fireworks, we can be wise and say enough is enough.
For survival and for the good life we need humility. We come from the soil and will return to the soil. We are part of nature, neither above it nor separate from it. Nature is the source of all life: the source of joy and celebration, the source of arts and imagination, the source of poetry and inspiration, the source of skills and inventions. Earth gives us experience of time and space, it gives us seasons and change. We work and rest in response to the earthly cycles. Earth grants us a sense of place, from which we derive our identity and belonging. Earth is the source of music, dance and delight. It is the source of beauty, wisdom and insight. For our existence and experience, for our happiness and health, for our nutrition and nourishment, we depend on the Earth. We depend on the love of the beloved, the beauty of the beautiful and the goodness of the good. Embracing vulnerability and humility, let us declare our utter dependence on the Earth, and on each other: You are, therefore I am.

december 19th

This morning I received a heart-shaped cookie from Lia "pra a Ariane é de coração", she gave me a kiss and my heart melted instantly.

'tis the season of gifting
and of embracing,
of sweeping out the old
and kissing those fuzzy dust bunnies good-bye
to make room for what's to come -
all those surprises and gifts life has to offer!

The Elos holiday card went out today... or maybe it was on Friday, I'm not sure because it was sent out titled: Teste. Val forgot to change the title when she sent it out to all of Elos' contacts. This was a blessed mistake because we think it left people more curious and resulted in a record-number of viewers!

Also on the menu today: A sneak peak at my design process for the Warriors Without Weapons 2012 participant handbook. The themes I'm exploring today are speach-bubbles, hands, and line-drawings.

dec 18th - surprise!

hmm, this trying to post every day. I dunno :P but here it goes! A quick post before bed...

This morning we woke up early to go watch the Santos vs. Barcelona game for the finals of the Copa Mundial happening in Japan. It sounded as if a war was being waged outside with the fireworks and all. We headed to the beach where we watched the game on a big screen near the stage set up for New Years festivities. Even before we arrived, Barcelona had scored 2 goals. Santos fans were not happy, but Barcelona is clearly the better team and I think everyone knew that. Their passing is impeccable and they work really well as a team. So the final score was 4 to 0. Not even one little goal from Santos, which was super disappointing. Soccer is a funny thing. While one side is so extremely happy, the other side cries...

The sun was toooo hot so we headed back home. Then around lunch time the doorbell rang... I thought it was my dad who had just stepped out returning. When I opened the door... Surprise!!!! my cousin Julia! my aunt Irene! Sonia! Eliane! It was a total surprise. They had been trying to call but my phone wasn't getting service for some reason. And the other day they had said they wouldn't be able to make it. So the day basically turned into a party- going to the beach, listening to some live music, walking, talking :)

At the end, after my aunts and Julia left, we returned to the same stage where we watched the Soccer match in the morning to see the São Paulo Orchestra play. It was during sunset and the light made me feel expansive. There was an elegant crowd and beeautiful instrumentals and the whole experience was quite moving.

And now starts the week... I'm curious to see what's in store.

december 17th

Boas Novas of the day: Paola's project got funded!!! It was so exciting to follow the funding process because it was as if they had a huge leap at the last minute! When I checked before going to bed on the 16th, they had 9 hours to go and still needed $3,000 to reach their goal of $29,500. They ended up raising $30,155 with 264 backers! Mindblasting! :)

"This year, we want to encourage five Latino-American mural and graffiti artists who are currently living abroad and have never been to Mexico to come to Puebla in April 2012. This is an opportunity to celebrate an exchange of talents and experience through a collective effort towards the restoration of these Xanenetla homes.

Destination of funds

With your generous donation, you will be contributing to the project by helping five Latino-American artists come to Mexico and contribute to Latinamerica by painting murals with the community of Xanenetla, as well as twenty other local artists. Donations will go towards all the necesary materials to paint twenty five murals including the restoration of the twenty five facades, coordinate several workshops with the artists during the two-week mural painting festival, and document the entire creative process on video and printed material. Every single dollar will support us. If we are successful together, we will be celebrating the triumph of art over anguish and economic struggle. We shall celebrate community effort over dispersion. We will celebrate the joy of coming together as friends and families over territorial limits. We will celebrate color over deconstruction. We will celebrate the voice of cooperation and the power of sharing.

Puebla: Mural City by Colectivo Tomate

Puebla: Ciudad Mural

Colectivo Tomate

Today was a day of getting several things done at the apartment - installing a clothesline, hanging the old door as a canvas to paint on, stripping paint from the doorway, hanging up artwork, fixing the doorknob for the bathroom door... it felt good to hang out with the family and leave the apartment more snazzy and fixed up. Today was also a beach day! It's actually the first time I've been to the beach since I got back from India - I've been so busy preparing for my family's arrival that I was doing little else, so it was so nice to chillax for a bit. Sun, bikini, pastels, caipirinha, mate gelado com limão, and reading a few more chapters of "You are Therefore I Am - a declaration of Dependence" by Satish Kumar.

"We are part of the web of life, not the owners, nor even the managers nor the stewards; instead we should consider ourselves to be the trustees of the Earth.

The idea of trusteeship was first formulated by Mahatma Gandhi. He believed we humans should hold the Earth in sacred trust on behalf of all living beings and on behalf of future generations. It is the responsibility of a good trustee not to squander the original capital - only the interest can be spent, without depleting the capital.

As trustees, we need to look for ways and means to replenish and enhance rather than diminish the Earth.
If we continue along the path of ownership and hope that all people - six billion of us - can have access to the same resources, we will soon be disappointed. If everyone were to seek a Western standard of living, we would need the resources of four to five planets, which is absurd. We need a new purpose in life which is different from the ideology of high living standards for everyone. This new purpose could be termed 'trusteeship and elegant simplicity for everyone', where quality of life is more important than quantity of possessions."

december 16th

december 15th - familia!

A random act of creativity and kindness...

The other day I wondered... what if I had to play the way of the warrior game over again? What would I do? and then I remembered my days in art school... my balloon and letter project... random acts of creativity and kindness, leaving money in decorated envelopes hidden in between the pages of library books for a random reader to find. Anonymous, secretly spreading beauty and affection and care. Then I remembered my FOOD class - setting up the monday brunch stand and making sourdough pancakes for people as they walked by in downtown San Francisco. Churning butter, grinding flour, offering homemade jams we made using fruit picked from trees growing in the streets of Oakland. Aahh glorious memories. Sharing with classmates, sharing with people as we picked the fruit. art and life. omg, and I just remembered... the date on the video was December 15th... that's tomorrow. Aniversary of my random act of creativity and kindness project...

cheers to posting and postcards and balloons and seekers and inspiration and love and life

*sigh* a hazy day of searching for inspiration. of feeling lost and wandering... my family gets here tomorrow... appreciating simple beauty... wanting to curl up in a ball and sleep... Letters, letters, letters... thinking of my dreams for next year... deciding to post more things on my blog... intentions... art of living the future now... wanting to create... wanting something spicy and filled with chocolate... mmm...

Reunião

Learning Journey India

This is setting out.

The leaving of everything behind.

Leaving the social milieu. The preconceptions.

The definitions. The language

The narrowed field of vision. the expectations.

No longer expecting relationships, memories, words, or letters to mean what they used to mean.

To be, in a word: Open.

-Rabbi Lawrence Kushner

The Road

what gifts do we discover as we slow down, look around, invite more people in, and enjoy our well-companioned journey?

-Walk Out Walk On

caminante, no hay camino, se hace camino al andar. Wanderer, there is no road, the road is made by walking.

-Antonio Machado

Mandalas

Entropy_06

Entropy_06
Originally uploaded by studioMode

Last night I decided to erase all the old pictures from my camera and take it to work today. As I walked down O'Farrell to go get lunch in the Tenderloin I noticed the sky was filled with smoke. The site was kind of spectacular with the cathedral all hazy and monolithic in the background. As I approached, the smoke seemed to get even more black and I could actually see the billowing red flames. At first I thought it was a car fire. I wanted to get closer, but this man started running down the street yelling to get away because it was going to blow up. I decided to get lunch where I was and watch from a distance.

Apparently it was an underground fire caused by an electrical explosion. The flames were shooting out a manhole and it took firefighters at least 30 minutes to control it.

Talk about volatility - literally. It reminds me of a dream I had last year where downtown San Francisco caught fire. The cause, however, was entirely different. It was so vivid that it inspired me to write this poem:

I dreamed... (August 1st, 2008)

I dreamed of fire-
San Francisco
up in flames
from rage
in the hearts of youth.

a molotov cocktail
thrown to the sky
in feverish passion
twice up,
then twice
crashing down
into flames.

a moment of worry
a moment of confusion
of feeling lost

what is fire?
why does it burn?

fire is chaos
that brings about balance