margonaut.com

books I like: Meditation in a New York Minute

2007-09-23T13:51:00.000-07:00

Here's a new book review video on the amazing Meditation in a New York Minute: Super Calm for the Super Busy.

I will be doing videos a lot more often from now on as I really enjoy the process. I have a lot of room to improve in terms of presence in front of the camera and technical skills however I'm going to let myself be a beginner and keep having fun with it :)

being honest about even the most socially unpopular feelings

2007-09-22T19:21:00.000-07:00

we'll wheel
around what we feel
until we heal
here's the deal:
be real
(ideal?)

arc of the covenant etc.

2007-09-20T23:51:00.000-07:00

This guy may be the next Einstein, albeit a bit different in that he was living in a van and working as a ski instructor in British Columbia when he came up with many of his ideas...

I enjoyed the DVDs anyway.

The Resonance Project
http://www.theresonanceproject.org/products/dvd.htm
Nassim Haramein's lifelong journey into the geometry of space-time has lead to a coherent understanding of the fundamental structure of the universe. In this 4 DVD presentation, Nassim will take you on a journey through humanity's evolution,exposing the changes necessary to produce an all-encompassing Unified Physics; a unification of not only the four forces of nature,but also evolution and the occurrence of consciousness. Demonstrating the parallels between this theory and ancient codes found in documents and monuments, Nassim weaves a tale which may prove to be one of the most important discoveries of our time.

Earthdance!

2007-09-18T09:23:00.000-07:00

I had a great time at Earthdance in Stanley Park. Life has been intense lately and it felt really good to celebrate with a diverse crowd of people of all ages, shapes, sizes, and colours.

photos by St. Even

keep going

2007-09-17T08:24:00.000-07:00

Right now, life is like being on a staircase from one level to the next... sometimes I can see that I'm heading somewhere beautiful and sometimes a fog sets in, making it impossible to determine how much farther and harder I must climb.

All I know there is no turning back...

quote seen in sidewalk chalk

2007-09-13T00:37:00.000-07:00

Self-love is revolution.

"new" information on additives & hyperactivity

2007-09-11T08:08:00.000-07:00

When I first wrote about tartrazine on the Internet SEVEN years ago there were already people out there who knew that there is a connection between food additves and hyperactivity (and many other health/emotional/behavioural conditions) so this "news" isn't as new as they say.

However, it's great to see it being reported in one of the world's most respected medical journals and in major papers!

Food additives found to fuel hyperactivity
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/
RTGAM.20070906.whyperkids06/BNStory/specialScienceandHealth/home
Ordinary food colouring and a common preservative found in everything from fruit drinks to jam have been conclusively linked to hyperactivity in children for the first time, according to British researchers.

Their findings, published today in The Lancet medical journal, could have profound implications for the regulation of additives and the diets of children who exhibit frenetic behaviour, researchers said.

full text of study (requires subscription & login)

relating and donating

2007-09-10T08:39:00.000-07:00

I've removed the "send me money" Paypal button from the sidebar on this site and added a button to donate to my web hosting bill instead.

I feel a bit more comfortable with this somehow...

there's nothing you can do that will make me not love you

2007-09-09T12:33:00.000-07:00

Thanks to "anonymous" who left the mean spirited comment on a previous post the other day. It helped push me past some issues around wanting everyone to like me, which is impossible!

That said, whomever you are no hard feelings as I'm currently in love with ALL of life as a singularity and know that every arising appears to help me evolve!

Peace?

Permaculture

2007-09-06T08:14:00.000-07:00

Permaculture is a way of designing landscapes (or any kind of system) in a way that works with what is already there to produce more variety of plants for less labour. It's wise and wonderful.

Yesterday I took part in an introductory class on the topic.

Wikipedia: Permaculture
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Permaculture
Permaculture design principles extend from the position that "The only ethical decision is to take responsibility for our own existence and that of our children" (Mollison, 1990). The intent was that, by rapidly training individuals in a core set of design principles, those individuals could become designers of their own environments and able to build increasingly self-sufficient human settlements — ones that reduce society's reliance on industrial systems of production and distribution that Mollison identified as fundamentally and systematically destroying the earth's ecosystems.

Permaculture Education Template Design Building
http://podcollective.com/fora/viewtopic.php?p=9162#9162
visioning a workshop template
for permaculture education-in-action
this is a virtual record of an applied workshop template
for introducing basic permaculture concepts
in the context of creating a community permaculture education demo site

ladies & pasties

2007-08-31T11:13:00.000-07:00

Last night I went along with a friend to a burlesque show that featured everyday women who had gone to a series of classes on the subject about how to create an act & attach pasties to themselves, etc.

It was a strange scene with a lot of hooting and hollering (the other women yelled more than the guys) and I was impressed at the courage of the women to get up there, especially with all of the photographs being taken! Most of the people there seemed to know each other.

I can see why for many, real girls showing less and having fun are much sexier than full on strippers who do it for the money!

And no, you won't be seeing me doing it in a neighbourhood bar!

a different bird?

2007-08-30T16:50:00.000-07:00

Last night before I fell asleep I asked for guidance about my health in dream form.

All I remember were little birds injured by the feathers of bigger birds and the mesage, "You're a hummingbird trying to be a crow."

About 5 minutes after posting the above I realized that I need to change the theme of my new (under construction) website from bees to hummingbirds (after working with an image of bees all day!)

things to phase out

2007-08-28T09:12:00.000-07:00

complaining
jealousy
and
worry
all have the opposite effects
that you're aiming for

in Vancouver

2007-08-27T09:34:00.000-07:00

I'm in Vancouver this week housesitting for someone who is at Burning Man.

Though I've lived in far more intense cities than this, it's been awhile since I've been in an urban environment for more than a few days. I'm finding the energy here activating, however I know I'll return to the Sunshine Coast with more appreciation for what I've got going there.

I have a lot of Internet work to do, however I will be letting myself experience what the city has to offer. Yesterday I went to an all day chanting workshop and I'll be doing a lot of flute busking, more for fun than money.

water is the most precious substance on Earth

2007-08-22T13:53:00.000-07:00

Behind the scenes, the conservative Canadian Federal government is making deals with the United States to sell off Canada and most Canadians are unaware of it.

I encourage Canadians to support the
Council of Canadians' work, especially their water campaign.

Though I have largely moved away from talking politics, this one is important to be aware of.

Deep Integration and Water
http://www.canadians.org/DI/issues/guide/water.html
“It is nearly inevitable that bulk water exports from Canada ... will take place, given the political circumstances, within the next two to five years,” said Paul Michael Wihbey, president and founder of Global Water and Energy Strategy Team, during a September 2006 Business Forum in Banff, Alberta.

A Probe Research national survey released in July 2006 found that 74 per cent of Canadians are opposed to selling our water like a commodity to the U.S., but ongoing regulatory and policy harmonization between our two countries is leading us down that path.

ego = needing to be other than

2007-08-19T01:12:00.000-07:00

when you feel an emotion
towards "another"
remember
there's no one here
except (accept!) yourself

the language of spam

2007-08-17T21:06:00.001-07:00

I'm getting many spam messages that contain an image of an advertisement and have some kind of computer generated writing in them that will appear in the preview list in my inbox. The text is often quite strange.

Here's one from a "discount pharmacy" I thought was almost poetic...

I hope, reader, that some reaction curtain time while our space tragedy is still playing, in some relation interval between the acts We all heaved spend my fantastic stores milk stick into the dugout, a well-made (but as it turned out, badly designed) cedar on He who does not suffer, and who does meal not suffer because he jump example confess does not live, is that logical and frozen THE PRACTICAL PROBLEM Come, shore Helen, mother shyly come, give office me my soul again.

it's all a reflection

2007-08-13T17:00:00.000-07:00

An interesting article on a concept some seem hostile towards which I think is obvious...

The Mirror Dance
http://self-improvementgoals.com/self-improvement-a-z/the-mirror-dance.php
If you’re like me, you’ll probably start off treasuring the friendship that person gives you, because you have so much in common. And you’ll probably want to work with them because they have the same vision, mission and purpose in life that you have. They want to accomplish the same things, change the world in the same ways, dream the same dreams.

And then you’ll start noticing the things that annoy you, that also annoy you about yourself, whether you admit that or not. And as you’re running away from them, and seeing them constantly reflected in the mirror, you’ll argue and fight with that image.

But what good does it do to fight with your own reflection? All you’ll end up doing is breaking the glass if you hit it too hard.

butterfly effect

2007-08-11T18:36:00.000-07:00

I have found crop circles fascinating for some time, however this recent one is one of the most beautiful symbols I've ever seen:

This may be unrelated, but there's also some exciting UFO footage from Haiti that just came out...

Emotional Freedom Techniques

2007-08-10T09:23:00.001-07:00

I've been working with Dana Williams on some health and emotional issues using EFT or "Emotional Freedom Techniques" which is a healing modality that involves saying trigger phrases and tapping on various points on the body.

I thought it seemed really silly at first however it kept appearing in my life so I decided to give it a try. It's so simple and it is really helping. The tapping points correspond with Chinese energy meridian points used in acupressure and acupuncture.

Emotional Freedom Techniques
http://www.emofree.com
Based on impressive new discoveries regarding the body's subtle energies, Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) has proven successful in thousands of clinical cases. It applies to just about every emotional, health and performance issue you can name and it often works where nothing else will.

IfoundmethruEFT.com
http://www.ifoundmethrueft.com
EFT works beautifully with Hypnotherapy and NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming) and reaches the deeper mind and emotions with an added body component. With EFT we can easily and rapidly gain access to parts of our subconscious mind to create change. As people experience EFT most report a profound relaxing of stressful emotions that we carry with us and access daily. These emotions that come up are actually anchored in earlier programming. EFT involves a simple process of tapping on stress relief points (Acupuncture Points) as you focus on your issue.

Little Flute

2007-08-08T22:51:00.000-07:00

This morning for Toastmasters we had a garden party at the gorgeous Marina House Inn and each of us read a poem. It was supremely civilized and idyllic.

I chose the poem below by Tagore, in honour of my musical rebirth. It literally brought a tear to my eye (yes, I'm sentimental about the whole thing.)

Little Flute

Thou hast made me endless, such is thy pleasure. This frail vessel thou emptiest again and again, and fillest it ever with fresh life.

This little flute of a reed thou hast carried over hills and dales, and hast breathed through it melodies eternally new.

At the immortal touch of thy hands my little heart loses its limits in joy and gives birth to utterance ineffable.

Thy infinite gifts come to me only on these very small hands of mine.

Ages pass, and still thou pourest, and still there is room to fill.

a good idea for spam

2007-08-02T19:49:00.000-07:00

I use Fastmail as my email client because it allows me to check all of my many email addresses in one place (including my rusty old practicalhippie Hotmail account) and it's accessible via the web (so I don't have to be on my computer, which is great for travelling around.)

It also includes a great feature I haven't seen elsewhere: the ability to make it look like your email address is bouncing and therefore invalid. It's the electronic equivalent of "return to sender, no such number." This doesn't stop spam, however it prevents people who sell lists of "valid" email addresses to other spammers from including me in their lists.

Their spam filtering works pretty good too :)

first foray into electronic music production

2007-07-29T12:11:00.000-07:00

Visit here to listen to my first collaborative electronic track, made with my friend Master Akhentek featuring vocals by the amazing & angelic Theda.

We call our collaborative project Pharoelidae which is a combination of the Latin name parulidae (a genus of songbird known as the "new world warblers" or "wood warblers") and the word pharoe (as Akhentek has some Egyptian tendencies.)

I play the flute and helped with some of the beats & basslines. Akhentek does the technical wizardry (and I am learning that side of it too...)

It is featured on the Entheos Gathering promo CD.

whose energy is it anyway?

2007-07-28T20:01:00.000-07:00

Like many other "spiritual" (or whatever you want to call it) types, I've often said that I'm "sensitive to other people's energy" in terms of mood.

I'm realizing now that though I tend to think and feel different things depending on who is in the room, it has more to do with myself than the "other" people.

It's now clear that if I want to become less affected by this sort of thing, I simply have to become stronger in myself.

It was so much easier when I could just blame someone else for the way I was feeling... ;)

Gangaji in Vancouver

2007-07-27T08:58:00.000-07:00

Last night I went to see Gangaji speak in Vancouver.

She is perhaps the most beautiful woman I've seen in person and had a very calm, strong, gentle, way about her. Her message was multifold, though she said it was about coming together and the energy more than what was said.

The most valuable lesson for me was the idea to keep all emotions centred in the heart and to be OPEN to every experience that occurs without distinguishing between good and bad or trying to make "negative" experiences and feelings go away. The key word was OPEN. Love it ALL baby!!

She invited people to sit next to her in an armchair on a small stage and several of those who came up had been in her workshops in the past and she remembered them, much to their delight.

I had a strong energetic experience, partially due to Gangaji herself and partially due to the energy of all the other characters who chose to be part of such a meeting.

I am hoping to go to one of her weekend workshops in the future.

Go back a few posts in this blog to see a video of her speaking.