Tag Archives: community

Cycles of Nature and Life

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This year I was blessed with a schedule that wasn’t as hectic during December which left me lots of time to enjoy the process rather than feel pressured to get all of the holiday preparations done in time.  One of the biggest blessings was that I got to spend Christmas Eve with both of my Grandmothers which was definitely a highlight for me.  I consider both of my Grandmothers to be highly inspirational and adore them immensely.  I always gain from spending time with them.

The Winter Solstice is always a pivotal day for me and this year I experienced a desire to return to my days of living with more austerity, to the days where I lived with greater control and intention. To generate bliss from within.  I feel so incredibly blessed and have a lot of amazing opportunities on the horizon this year.  I am excited for what lies ahead, it fuels me.

2012 was an incredible year in that I feel I accomplished a lot and had a few amazing surprises. When I rang it in 2012 I felt somewhat ambivalent about the upcoming year.  This year as we were counting down the final moments before 2013 I had a massive giggle fit accompanied by a feeling that this is going to be an incredible year.  I have been contemplating the cyclic nature of life on this planet, within ourselves extending out into the cosmos.  This awareness gives me a sense of calmness and acceptance.  I feel an alignment to my life’s purpose and an incredible passion for life.

One of the things about my work that I love so deeply is the collaborative element to it, I deeply enjoy working with talented people and feel so blessed that the projects I work on to be so inspirational.  I am also blessed with a family that I adore and friends that keep me lifted.  With an open heart I wish you all the greatest for the upcoming year.

Machu Picchu | October 2012

“What the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve”. Jules Verne

12-12-12

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A year ago I directed a short documentary on Vancouver based vocalist and beatboxer Shamik.  His live shows are not to be missed and he is a beautiful human.


Today, on the great alignment of 12′s it is his 30th birthday.  He just released his first EP that he produced.  Check it out, it is truly some great work.

shamik 121212

You can check 121212 on Soundcloud:

Or download it directly from Mediafire: http://www.mediafire.com/?nbusj7s3ihfogx8

Wishing you an abundance of love and light as we near the solstice and that your life is enveloped with magic.

Love For All Living Things

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This past August I directed a music video for Vancouver based musician Buckman Coe for his track ‘Love For All Living Things’ off his upcoming EP ‘Crow’s Nest’. The catchy Motown inspired track was inspired by the guerrilla gardeners in Mexico City and as someone who lives in a city and grows food I had a deep resonance with Buckman’s vision. I believe it is important to ‘go local’ as much as humanly possible to offset the over consumption of our Earth’s resources and don’t get me started about GMOs.

We filmed at City Farmer and in my back yard as well as at ‘The Wilder Snail’; a Strathcona cafe that supports local farmers and at the Nomadic Alternatives mural by Commercial Drive depicting people giving back to the Earth rather than depleting its resources. The message of that mural seemed like the perfect spot to film Buckman as it is fully in alignment with his message with this song and it’s simply beautiful.

This was such a fun video to create. I worked with Chase Bowman from LA on camera who was amazing to work with. This was one of those projects that had it’s own life force, a magic surrounding it. It feels so good to create work that is completely in alignment with your core beliefs with like minded people. Check it out and start thinking about what seeds you will be planting this spring!

You can buy the track on Bandcamp or purchase the full EP. Check it out, it is truly amazing.

http://buckmancoe.bandcamp.com/track/love-for-all-living-things

Seasonal Slowness

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I am currently working on a documentary on slow clothes and have been in contemplation on how hand made items can deeply enrich our lives, how it is a necessity for us to make more of our own goods with 7 billion people cohabiting on the planet with a limited amount of natural resources.  It is a fact that the majority of people in our society have no connection to the items they possess other than selecting them at a store. 

During the winter holidays, when daylight is scarce and our schedules are full, it can be hard to maintain our bliss.  I am coming out of a very busy spell with a schedule that kept me at school working on projects until 1-2 AM several days a week, and sometimes at school 7 days a week.  Now that I have a few weeks off my first instinct is to sleep.  My second instinct is to spend as little time as possible shopping for obligatory gifts and to spend quality time with friends and family, the people who fuel me.  Taking the time for the subtle joys.

bright

The first thing I did with my free time was to buy materials in which I can create with.  For the next few weeks, aside from quality time with loved ones, I am developing skills pertaining to hand crafted textiles.  I am slowing down this season and that does not mean that I will be hibernating.  Aside from catching up on sleep I am going to be less spread thin and more intentional with my time.  As the winter solstice envelopes us with darkness I find my equilibrium, I engage in activities that recharge and inspire rather than distract and deplete.  Moving forward with clarity and focus on what the holidays really represent and not so caught up in the superficial aspects of the winter holidays in North America.

drop spindle

I hope to create more of what we normally consume, always contemplating how to reduce my footprint.  I look at all of the stores selling stuff and I wonder how much of it ends up in a land fill within a few years, barely making a lasting impact on the person who acquires it. I dream of a society that spends more time with peers creating rather than shopping for useless distractions that are depleting our Earth’s resources.  I dream of people learning more traditional skills and combining them with our modern technology and wisdom to truly innovate and revolutionize how we be.

I slow down this holiday season and my mind feels anything but slow.  I feel sharp and inspired.  My heart is full and ready to give.

Truly sustainable textiles consider the land that grows the materials spun then woven into cloth.  It is a human art deeply connected to the Earth.

Imminent Change

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It seems that the keleptocrats are getting their asses kicked and rightfully so. The unethical practices conducted by Wall Street have griped me for many years. My ex-husband transitioned from a sensitive software developer to a bond trader for Citibank a decade ago and my marriage went downhill from there. He became volatile and corrupt, he lost interest in his children as he fully subscribed to the world of finance which he described as ‘sexy’. He has been in touch lately telling me that the world’s economy is on life support again with a state of anxiety in his tone.

Our youth have become distracted by media; Facebook and iPods keep them distracted and unaware of what is really happening on the planet. I am so thrilled to see a revolution, to see that people are standing up for their futures, for their freedom. Revolutions are a healthy part of any society and there has been a lack of revolution in America since Vietnam. Corporate America has done a great job at keeping the masses somewhat sedated but now the corruption on Wall Street seems to have left many in a position that they can no longer be passive. I am thrilled to see people expressing their views in a peaceful way.

Major media conglomerates have not been covering the Occupy Wallstreet protests though you may want to keep one eye on what is happening, this is the boldest and bravest event I have ever seen by the American People, David is taking on Goliath. There is plenty independent coverage.

I have been feeling intensity boiling in my veins, I have been unable to tolerate situations or people who violate my freedom or the freedom of others and have been feeling bolder than ever. The feelings within me mirror the energy collectively being acted upon. I feel a balance in power is on its way and I am excited at this prospect though I must admit to feeling somewhat terrified by the process. Ready or not I think things may eventually get ugly before they improve. Brace yourselves.

Synchronistic Flow

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Continuing with my theme of the past two posts this is turning out to be a magical summer where all of my efforts have produced a flow that seems to have a force of its own. That is what synchronicity is after all. After seeing ‘Cave of Forgotten Dreams’ I ended up at a ranch on native land near Lytton, BC. We stayed with a beautiful family with a special ancestry steeped in rich traditions from BC’s first nations. In the surrounding area and in the nearby Stein Valley there are caves with petrogylphs and for three days I listened to stories of the paintings in these caves, stories of the land and of ancestry. Stories of prophecy.

My dreams during my stay on this pristine land were vivid and insightful. My dreams were different than I have ever recalled, and I am a dreamer. I felt a strong connection to nature which was refreshing after months of intense study. Further to the synchronicity the room I stayed in had an old spinning wheel in it which was exciting for me as I am developing a documentary on textiles produced from hand spun fabrics. This family has lineage as very skilled weavers. When I drove home I felt elated and allowed myself to fully relax and rejuvenate before jumping back into my hectic schedule.

There once was a time when people lived in harmony with nature, when communities coexisted without causing destruction to the environment. These people looked up and had a vision that reached beyond the sky. Our leaders today look down and squabble over breadcrumbs in comparison. I am feeling refreshed after listening to stories that have been preserved over thousands of years. I am feeling refreshed to remember that life is beyond what we produce and what we acquire.

July High

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As we are graced with 15 hours of daylight this time of year in the Pacific North West, festival season is in full swing.  Vancouver is a city that harbors whimsical summer fun and I am feeling ever so grateful to live here.  Happy 125th birthday Vancouver.  I am riding the high from being surrounded by inspiring music, films, and people in a city that you can swim in the ocean and climb a mountain, hike pristine forests, and eat amazing organic food all in the same day.

One of the films that impressed me the most this month was Mike Mill’s ‘Beginners’.  Ewan McGregor and Mélanie Laurent rocked the screen in a well told story with enough subtle humor to have kept me giggling throughout the film while striking enough of an emotional cord, a necessary element for me to give a film praise.  Sweet story, sweet film making.  I especially was impressed that the dogs thoughts were subtitled.  I really loved this film.

‘Submarine’ by Richard Ayoade is a coming of age film humorously presented with depth, whit and enough of a twist that I loved as well.

Wishing you summer bliss and creative fulfillment.

Gunbare Japan

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Gunbare translated from Japanese means to persevere, to not give up.  It was one of the first sayings I learned when I first went to Japan and it is evident that the Japanese need global support right now after these tumultuous events.  I envision Japan whole heartedly re-embracing its nature loving Shinto roots while it recovers and rebuilds.

“…the discipline and strength of the survivors are inspiring the world.” – David Suzuki

Please support an evening of music at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre on April 19th. Tickets are available at Ticketmaster http://www.ticketmaster.ca/Ganbare-Japan-tickets/artist/1578058

100% of ticket sales will go to Japanese Red Cross.

Over twenty thousand people are confirmed or presumed dead, and half a million people are displaced.

http://bc-jerf.ca/ganbare/

 

Land of the Rising Sun

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Again YouTube is keeping us connected as disaster strikes our tumultuous planet.   When a natural disaster or major uprising surfaces we are all effected as we are hyper connected since the internet has made its way into our homes on so many devices, we carry it around with us in our pockets.  Updates make it to us instantaneously.

I’m grieving too.  I know that northern Japan will rise again, this nation’s ability to regenerate is unprecedented.  The way the people co-exist with such harmony is truly impressive and has always filled me with inspiration.  Japan has given me so much, right now all I can do is send love back.  With such an intact collective mentality I can envision the entire nation suspended in disbelief yet being able to move forward supporting each other and finding order amidst the devastation.

I hope Japan takes on renewable energy with as much passion as they take on pretty much everything else they do and move away from nuclear energy.  It is time, please learn from this.

Let’s find solutions that don’t include putting our health at risk.

***

I fell in love with this song when I spent my first year in Japan, back in 1994.

A Revolution for Sustainability?

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For the first time I watched a feature film on my iPhone, fully embracing the convenient technology. It is a noteworthy project, the Zeitgeist Movement a documentary that is brilliantly leveraging the viral video phenomenon and also is ‘non-commercial’.

If you have ever wondered what the world would look like without money then it is worth checking out, it goes into detail on how a resource-based economy would impact the Earth. I think that it is healthy to envision the future of this planet through different lenses in different scenarios to our current socioeconomic model in which we work so hard to transcend. What I like about the ideas presented in this documentary is that they are discussed along with an understanding of human needs, the first section reveals our needs in utero and in the developmental years. It is grounded in a thorough understanding of one of the key components to the critical situation on this planet: PEOPLE.

It is a common thread in many of the documentaries I have watched in the past year; revolutions are a necessary component in world history, they bring about justice and allow us to move forward in our development in a healthier trajectory. In the west we have such a comfortable lifestyle and are bombarded with personal entertainment and consumerism that it does appear that the masses pour their energy into sustaining their lifestyle rather than look deeper for solutions to global concerns. We have become passive and complacent. Sustainability is such a poignant issue it seems alarming that the revolution has been so ineffective. It seems we are all going green though global emissions are still on the rise.

Check out this documentary that has almost 4 million views in just over a month and let me know what you think.