"A Tale of Two Cities" by Gary Stephen Ross | The Walrus | March 2010

Vancouver is sometimes a hard place to put your finger on.. this article does a great job of covering it:

"A Tale of Two Cities" by Gary Stephen Ross | The Walrus | March 2010

Said The Whale Presents "We Are The Music: Musicians for (spare) Change"

Pug smile

Pug smile, originally uploaded by veggy.

I always wanted a pug, and this weekend i spent a whole weekend with one. They were bread to be the queens dog, and that it is. It followed right on our foot steps, always in the submissive position, and we never had to trip on it. I don't believe they are very smart and she was incredibly needy. She didn't like being left alone, and it got more walks then most dogs yet still had energy. Every single person we passed would oggle over Bella. This i found annoying. Do i still want a pug? Nope. But they sure are damn cute.

I can fly!

I can fly!, originally uploaded by r.AI (-).

Isn’t it great to laugh?


Dashama in Rishikesh, India

*It reduces stress almost immediately.
*Laughter is the medicine that heals a broken heart.
*It raises your energy level and changes your mood instantly.

*It triggers serotonin production in your brain, which is the body’s natural feel good hormone, thus producing a “natural high”.

*If you laugh really heart, it can be an ab workout.
*If you’ve ever rolled over on the floor holding your stomach from laughing, you know what I mean.
*It gets things moving inside of you, awakening energy channels that were previously closed or blocked.

*If you are feeling down or sad, you can become uplifted, light hearted and blissful
simply by laughing.

So, how do you evoke laughter when you need
its healing properties?

1. Remain light-hearted. When you are heavy in the heart, and have a frown on your face, nothing will make you
laugh, no matter how funny it is.

2. Learn to laugh at yourself. No one is perfect. Many of the things you do on the day to day are silly, or just down right comical. If you can see the beauty and innocence in all of your actions, you won’t take yourself to seriously.

3. Have friends who make you laugh.
Nothing better than a friend who speaks frankly with pure intentions and a loving heart. It can make us laugh, smile and lift our spirit.

4. Go to a comedy club. There are some brilliant professional comedians out there, try it out.
A few of my favorite are:
Dean Cooke, Chris Rock, and Ellen.
Be prepared, many of them use negativity to make people laugh, this is not the best form of comedy.
Good, light-hearted jokes are the best.
They lift your mood without bringing negativity into your mind.

5. Watch a funny movie. If you’ve never seen silliness like Billy Madison (Adam Sandler) or Dumb and Dumber (Jim Carrey),
you need to see it just to know what I’m talking about. There’s something magical about people who are very oblivious to the world around them , not seeing it as the rest of society sees it.

6. Read comics. Either in the Sunday paper, or online you can find some good humor out there… One of my favorites is Garfield and Dilbert. Everyone has a slightly different style of humor that gets their juices flowing.. Figure out what yours is so you don’t waste a lot of time with the stuff that doesn’t do it for you:-)

7. Try Laughter Yoga! I’ve heard this style of yoga, which is rapidly catching on
world wide, can turn a frown upside down and with the right teacher, get you rolling
on the ground pretty quickly. Find a local class and give it a try~

I wish you a day filled with joy and laughter!

Generate kindness

, originally uploaded by chris wang.

It isn't that hard.. it's actually harder to be angry and grumpy. I find myself laughing my ass off a lot these days. I sometimes wonder if there is something wrong with me or maybe i am just that happy. I like to think i am just that happy. Life is great.

Download.. the good ole days

Hello Kitty

Yelp00050, originally uploaded by Yelp.com.

Hello non stop photo booth fun! Every party i go to there is one. This one had fun asian themed ridiculousness!

Grasp

, originally uploaded by Lá caitlin.

You know when you set an intention, and you know it's close? You can feel it getting closer? The shift is happening.
I feel something exciting is going to happen soon.

spirit

spirit, originally uploaded by edward olive edwardolive.

Have confidence in yourself. Release your self-doubt, one day at a time.

Meditation is natural. By closing your eyes, and allowing your body and mind to relax, you can experience inner stillness. 5 minutes is great, but so are three, deep breaths in and out with your eyes closed.

“The best water is rocky water. As water flows over rocks, its quality improves and is purified. So the best meditation is one that is flowing and free, with nothing to hold on to, for once we hold a position, we are brought to a standstill by our grasping.” –Tulku

Daily life, every bit of it, is a path to higher wisdom. Look for the meaning within yourself, within your own heart. To search external will create turbulence, problems, and drama.

What is your motivation? What are your true intentions? Other people will found out, one way or another. So it’s always best just to be straight up and honest in the first place.

Inspiration can show you the map, but you need to take the initiative.
Release your culture, religion, career, and habits for 10 slow, deep breaths every day. Release everything that you think that you are, to create space, truth and stillness. This will help us to detach from problems that we “think” that we have.

Listen to your inner guidance. The more you reject it, the harder it is to find again.

“Truth is like gold. The more it is burned and beaten, the finer it’s quality becomes.” –Tulku

Emotions are contagious. What are you spreading around? Negativity and arrogance? Or compliments and smiles? These are not goals for some later date. They are for you, right here, right now.

Escapist, paradise seeker

Escapist, paradise seeker (365/131), originally uploaded by JenniPenni.

I have been overwhelmed by the need to escape the last few days. It's been 4 whole months of sitting still.. and i have barely been still. My summer has included camping, surfing, rafting, bon fire, beach volleyball, weddings, float plane rides, ferries, pole dancing, staying up all night, picnics, bike rides, bocce, music, illuminaries, whistler, oregon, seattle, folk fest, hikes, lakes, endless bbq's.. really i have not been sitting still. I have done almost everything i have wanted to do. This summer so far has been epic and continues to be epic. I do no regret, i seize, i live, i love, i enjoy.
My heart is pulling me towards Latin America. My urgency to learn Spanish and immerse myself in enveloping me. At the same time i am thinking maybe i need to sit still for a bit. Sit and observe rather then run and explore. Is one better then the other?

hanging

direzioni e versi, originally uploaded by mluisa_.

By the end of my rope.. hanging onto something and everything.

The layers

The layers, originally uploaded by veggy.

We’ve gone through two eclipses in the past month—lunar and solar. We’re approaching August 7th, which is the Grand Cross. In a nutshell, the Grand Cross only happens every 2,000 years where 4 major planets will align in a geometric equidistant diamond shape, which creates a frequency. This alignment directly affects our energy, pressure, influences and reactivity. It’s no longer about if we’ll be effected energetically or not—but rather how we choose to deal with it. Old programming, limiting beliefs, deep seated fears are surfacing to be purged. It’s a classic case of clearing out the smoke and mirrors—the true self will be revealed and we have a choice to freak out and react, or to slow down, face ourselves, memories and experiences and decide to move on.