This is the place to find writings, quotes, multimedia, and more. Some were produced by me, while others I came across and wanted to share.
In memory of a truly unique, dark, otherworldly art legend. Rest easy.
H.R. Giger
February 5, 1940 – May 12, 2014
Last night’s full moon in Scorpio was enormous and beautiful. But what does it mean? This full moon illuminates that which we must move forward from, calling for us to gather our courage and take action that will enable us to do so.
Use this full moon time to work with beauty. Pay special attention to all the beauty around you, bring beauty into your environment, and focus on beauty for your body. It may be a great day to do something luxurious and be in tune with our health – physical, mental, and spiritual.
This full moon is also a good time to embrace gratitude and honor the expansive quality of anything big that is happening around you either to yourself or to others. Welcome love, beauty, and change into your life with open arms.
Today is not just Valentine’s Day. Today would have been my friend Mary Clark’s 25th birthday. She was taken (along with our friend Ali Heth) from us in 2005. Both girls have left a significant impact on my life.
Pausing today to remember Mary. Not in the sad, agonizing way. Mary would never have wanted that. She was the most enthusiastic, happy, silly, ecstatic person I’ve ever known. You could often hear her exclaiming “I love my life!” Below is a video made by none other than Mary’s little brother, Patrick. He has blossomed into an incredibly talented musician, writer, and videographer, among many other things. This is a tribute to his sister and I hope it evokes nothing but love in your heart.
“And in the end, it’s not the number of years in your life that count, it’s the life in your years.” – Abraham Lincoln
Spending time lately reflecting on detachment. Not detachment in an excessive way – I still want to love and appreciate all things in my life. I just see the need to not focus so much on a certain outcome, person, or expectation.
Kristen Hedges, a yoga and meditation master, artist, and writer said it perfectly…
Separate from the attachments of the mind. The preconceived ideas. The plans for the future. The need for a positive outcome, or for any specific outcome, for that matter.
When you ache so heavily for things to go your way that it begins to spoil your mind, your body, and your spirit. It’s these things that stick. That turn us sour from the inside out. We can easily catch fire and burn away with the desire to cling fast onto ideas, plans, beliefs, people. And I believe that the one thing that we are most attached to is stability. We want to keep things exactly where they are. We build brick walls around our lives so that we never have to move and shift, though in reality, all the world around us is in a natural and constant state of growth, and flux. And even the strongest bricks and mortar are no match for the Universe.
If you find yourself with a ruined plan, or an empty bank account, or a relationship that’s beginning to feel old, do not cling to the ideas of “good,” and “bad.” Make peace. Trust. Observe. Look down – there, you’ll find your path. You’re always on it.
I can’t tell you how many times I find myself lost in unending thoughts, plans, and ideas. Which are good! But remembering we are on our path right now and not getting so caught up in the future can be very centering and in turn make you more grateful for the journey.
Taking a moment to reflect on the progress made last year…
- For my country – Illinois (as well as many other states), signed same sex marriage into law as well as legalized marijuana for medical purposes. Colorado legalized marijuana for non-medical use as well.
- For myself – Travelled to many beautiful places, met lots of new friends, and made huge steps in my career including 42 published pieces and covering festivals like Spring Awakening and All Good.
2014 promises to be even bigger, with tons of incredible things on the horizon. Guess what guys? YOU get to paint your future on a clean canvas. Not just every year, but every day we are given the chance to start fresh and be warriors of inspiration, courage, and joy. Cheers!
“Your life is a sacred journey. It is about change, growth, discovery, movement, transformation, continuously expanding your vision of what is possible, stretching your soul, learning to see clearly and deeply, listening to your intuition, taking courageous challenges at every step along the way. You are on the path… exactly where you are meant to be right now… And from here, you can only go forward, shaping your life story into a magnificent tale of triumph, of healing, of courage, of beauty, of wisdom, of power, of dignity, and of love.”
-Caroline Adams
In this hectic and crazy life, I can’t help but get overwhelmed sometimes. But when us humans get in the woe-is-me, boo-hoo state of mind, the best thing to do is think outside of yourself and make someone else’s day a little better. The result…rays of positivity then shine through the dark corners of your mind and you end up cheering up as well.
I want to share a story which illustrates this point. A couple weeks ago I visited St. Louis with my best friend, Bird. We attended a concert (review to come) and adventured under The Arch but when we attempted to head back on Sunday afternoon, we found ourselves in a monster traffic jam. After hardly moving in an hour period, we could sense tension and frustration from the drivers around us.
Sure, it was our day off too and we wanted to get home. There wasn’t anything we could do to get out of the traffic jam. Instead of succumbing to anger, we chose joy. And we wanted to share that joy. So we gathered flowers and leis from the vehicle and hung them out the windows, then turned on Bob Marley and blasted it loud. As we slowly moved along, the leis fluttered in the wind as groovy reggae tunes caressed ear drums. We definitely got a lot of stares, but you know what? We got a lot of smiles too. It’s a great feeling to know that you helped someone feel better, even if it is only for a moment.
What small thing can you do to make someone smile today?
Rise Above Mediocrity
“On average, Americans watch almost 5 hours of TV every day, and wonders when they’re finally going to be rich, happy, and fulfilled.
Wealth, happiness, and fulfillment don’t come by accident, and daily habits are incredibly important in deciding where your life will end up.
You must make the conscious decision to rise above the minimum, the expected, the normal, and the routine and become the best person you possibly can be.
What do you want your legacy to be? What do you want people to say at your funeral? You have one shot at life – it’s your responsibility to make it as amazing and worthwhile as possible. Do you want to live a life of mediocrity or excellence? The choice is yours.”
The Bloom is a documentary web series spanning from 2012 and into 2013 and beyond, which examines the transformational impact that festivals have on the people who attend. As someone who myself has been deeply connected to festival life and culture since I was 18, I can appreciate this intensive investigation into the life-changing effect these adventures can have on one’s perspectives, goals, consciousness, and spirituality.
Broken into four parts, the series tackles the following subjects:
1. Fundamental Frequencies: Inspiration-Connection-Healing
Examines how festivals create immersive environments of inspiration, which become containers for peak experiences of connection, very often catalyzing powerful healing processes with lasting and positive life-changing effects for participants.
2. Practicing the New World: Co-Creation-Participation-Modeling
Examines how transformational festivals have become opportunities for practicing the new world through the paradigm shift of producing reality through c-creation, utilizing an ethos of participation which results in immensely rich environments that take the festival beyond commercial entertainment and into the realm of meaningful community experience and ritual, and modeling, the many ways that participants are taking their experiences back into their communities and everyday lives.
3. New Ways of the Sacred: Mythos-Ritual-The Sacred
Explores the new ways of sacred that have emerged in festivals, including how they re-instill a sense of mythos for participants, or an awareness of our role in a greater multi-dimensional reality and story; fulfilling the functions of ritual once common for traditional societies and often missing fro contemporary urban life; synthesizing into an authentically third millennium spiritual culture that is experiencing and honoring the sacred as a community without dogma, doctrine, or charismatic gurus.
4. Growth Edges of Evolving Culture: Gender Alchemy-Indigenous Right Relationship-Re-Inhabiting the Village
Explores the current learning curve of festivals through exploration of themes of gender alchemy, a cultural process seeking to find balanced gender relations that unite the powerful medicine of the divine feminine with an emerging model of the divine masculine; indigenous right relationship, how transformational festivals support an honoring and deep connection with the earth, and the way this is catalyzing a culture re-encounter between neo-tribal festival communities and representatives of indigenous communities in right relations; and re-inhabiting the village, how outdoor festivals are answering the need for experiencing the deep community connections of the village, and the growing number of festivals consciously becoming multi-generational community gatherings.
“If music be the food of love, play on.”
William Shakespeare
“What goes around comes around like a hula hoop.”
“Anchor yourself in the present moment. Pretend that you don’t have a past or future, because in reality you don’t. All you have is the present moment.
Notice what’s here, right now. Feel your body. Be aware of the sounds around you. Tap into the joy of what’s already here.
You already have everything you need to be happy. And when you operate from this place of stillness and peace, your life will change.”
This video is a masterpiece work for Lightning in a Bottle festival. Even if you’re not a music festival junkie like myself, I hope you find this piece inspiring. It truly conveys the energy, love and togetherness that attending to a music festival is all about. One may think that dancing and running around on little sleep for four days at a time would be exhausting, but music festivals open your mind to new people, art, and ideas, and I always come back refreshed and excited about life.
Lightning in a Bottle originated in 2000 as a private Southern California birthday bash. It became an annual event and shifted to a public festival in 2004. The producers of the event (and this video), The Do LaB, put on on concerts in the Los Angeles area when they’re not busy planning the next Lightning in a Bottle.
Yesterday as I came into work on a chilly Monday morning, I made the conscious decision to seize the day and kick ass. Not an easy feat with a busy week ahead, but completely effective, not to mention a great way to start the week fresh.
TGIM
“Hooray for Monday. Time to kick off the sheets. Clear out the cobwebs. Kick out the jams. I am ready, willing, and able. Bring me a whole case of the Mondays. I’ll grab a bottle, shake it up and dance in the champagne shower of awesomeness. While the drones dread Monday, I see it as a starting line for dreamers and doers. There’s a fresh week of days on the clock and countless possibilities for my boundless potential. I’m relaxed, recharged and reloaded. Ready to tackle the work I was born to do. Ready to create something remarkable. This is not the day to be back at the grindstone. This is the day to be back at my passion. Breathing new life into my projects. I am a conduit of innovation, imagination, and inspiration. It’s Monday, and I can’t wait to get started. Kick ass. Every day.“
Ecstatic Magnolia 