a slice of stewardship

December 19, 2008December 19, 2008Leave a comment

dear friend,

here is an excerpt from “More Than Dust,” the book i’m writing. enjoy!

brunfelsia, "yesterday, today, and tomorrow"

Timote and I traveled to Jamaica, our trip funded by a grant to discover a feared-extinct medicinal plant that researchers desperately needed, for a possible cancer-killing alkaloid they’d isolated from an old specimen, in a lab. Tim and I arrived in the blue-green island and drove to a mountainous region, a tiny hamlet called Bamboo. From there we made day trips all over the region, scouring the land around the site of the last known sighting of Brunfelsia Americana. In the 40s specimens had been collected from there, and none from any other location on earth ever since. Because of botanical information-gathering sources, called herbariums, dried and pickled specimens of every plant gathered by botanists are available for research, and that is how the cancer-experts discovered a near-magical ingredient found only in this particular species, that Tim and I were now hunting for.

Brunfelsia americana...the near-extinct species

Extreme strip mining, for the mineral bauxite, had changed the lay of the land in that part of Jamaica, drastically affecting the natural plantings. Still, Timote was not discouraged, because as we talked to native people we found that some old-timers remembered seeing the plant, called by various local, patois names. After a week of bush whacking our way through one red-herring lead after the next, we climbed an isolated plateau of land we were directed to, in a hidden valley, of sorts, a place where one small bit of land rose above the desolation below like a living altar, which had miraculously survived decades of destructive bulldozing by bauxite miners. We were elated to find one lone stand of this rare species of yesterday, today, and tomorrow, brunfelsia’s common name, and even more thrilled to find seeds and seedlings among the shriveled, deformed, last remaining group, anywhere, of this precious plant.

Live and love and laugh a lot, today and everyday,

moon flower: plants, minerals, humanity: we are All One on planet Earth

your pal, lordflea

Staring at my feet

November 24, 2008November 24, 2008Leave a comment

Friends,

the importance of what i spend my time doing the most of has been central in my thinking of late. y’know: you are what you eat, and you certainly become what you think. that’s why i haven’t been bloggin’ as of late. wanted to keep centered in my heart, and not just spew, at least for the sake of spewing.

i do this occasionally. withdraw and feel life living me, instead of trying to be so active, so concerned, so consumed with “other” that i forget this experience of life itself. here’s another way of looking at it:

the interconnectedness of All

all i have is my self, and my Self–the little me that squirms with responsibilities and worries, and the big Me that knows there is more to this life than i’ll ever know…and to feel the majesty, the magic, the wonder of it all is more than enough for me to be concerned about. certainly enough upon which to base my creative energies’ pursuits–my arting, as i call it, whether i paint, draw, make a garden, a cake, or sew a sail, write a book–or blog.

this feeling of being connected to all came to me as a child. then i lost it. then i rediscovered it later, mostly through working on getting rid of the garbage that my mind collected over the years. now i have trained myself to stay as much as possible in that simple place, that inner place, where the breath connects with even the movement of faraway galaxies, and the knowledge, the Truth of feeling connected is real–this is my daily experience.

the drawing i use as an example shows us all in our “Higher Self”… our so-called “angelic” bodies…that part of our nature that is connected to the Highest good for all. yes–we all have that in our nature, whether you are aware of it or not, whether you exercise that birthright, that ownership of your highest nature, or not.

living in the moment; accepting our sacredness, our divine nature–our Higher Self: this is the way of living i want to share with you, not because of any other reason but my humble offering to help make the world a better place to live in.

we are not all just scrambling around trying to get something to eat, or make happen, or elect, or conquer, or succeed, or even be good at. but yes, we all exisit as individual cells within the larger “thing” that makes up this known reality…what is called the Universe (and some call, simply, “God”).

we are all One, breathe, and feel: Truth

many other things have passed my mind, and of course i’ve been doing many (many!) other things since my last entry here. don’t worry. some of you who read my blog might think i’m just a holy-roller who only sits around contemplating my navel. but no—-i have a family, a job, lots of social duties, and creatively i’m consumed by writing a nonfiction narrative, illustrated, naturally, which i am debating about uploading here, so i can let you, friends on my web, read as i write, day by day. but…i haven’t decided to or not. ha ha! all i can say for now is…writing this book is certainly my immediate, and main creative focus, not this blog.

my garden has been covered with an entire truckload of mulch, delivered free by a tree-man who took down a big One over at my mother’s place. Carter and i’ve been doing lots of HOT HOT yoga, in our little yoga shed, which i call the santosa shack (santosa being contentment in Sanskrit). we chant, we meditate, we even attend his church, ahhweeee, diversity in God-liness! lots of cooking (made dosas twice this past couple weeks…a lentil and rice fermented east Indian flat bread, terribly exotic tasting, and terribly nutritious because of the legume and grain mixture). what else? oh so much biking, hiking, rehabing my knee, still injured from dancing too fiercely at daughter’s wedding way back in June. injuries take energy. life takes care. time is precious. do i use it wisely? i try to. when i lay my head down on my pillow, i feel rewarded by deep, comforting, beautiful sleep. what a gift, life is.

i will do a page next, i promise, on a subject i’ve been thinking a lot about: what to say to someone who is really, truly, either physically, spiritually, or mentally suffering. because recently i ran into an old acquaintance, who has all the world at her feet: she’s rich, successful, socially powerful and consciously humanitarian beyond measure—but—she’s absolutely miserable. the only outer proof, however, is that of her uncontrollable, mind-numbing, self-pitying drinking. of course she’s in denial about having a drinking problem. and i simply can’t share with her my own experience in that matter (being in alcohol and drug addiction recovery now for my third decade)…but i can post a page here. perhaps one day a chink will open in her tightly-bricked-up facade, and what a person formerly-miserable (me) has to share with another who still is (her), will make a difference.

a little light in the well of darkness, that’s all i attempt to do…with my art, with my words, and now with this public web-spew.

so look on the right hand side in a day or say and you’ll see a new page. those pages stay up, where this post side changes when i enter a new one.

whew! i finally figured that out! now, if only i can find my beautiful color paintings. let me see, let me try again. a treat for you, perhaps?

plants, animals, mineral--we are all One

i love each and every one of you, truly! lord flea

makin’ do with what you’ve got

November 14, 2008Leave a comment

excuse me while i chuckle.

just got an email from my friend terry, who has just moved to moloki, hawaii, to caretake a 2,000 acre health/wellness/meditation complex with her hub, om-tom. she was writing me how hard it is, how things are just not running right, equipment breaking down, computer stolen when they went in a rented car to the main island–oh, what else, oh yeah, the makeshift computer doesn’t work, and on top of that, there’s no phone reception.

life is rough.

my partner is having a hard time, too–life is challenging these days. it seems to me we’re having not just an economic crisis, but a spiritual one as well. here’s one way of looking at it, a la art:

keeping mind-ful in the midst of hell

after a decade of living on islands in the “third-world” i can empathize with you, terry, perhaps more than others…and know that you are just living the life that happens, when you’re not on “the continent.” it’s just the way it is on islands. but the “pros” you will experience, and have, and continue to, will FAR outway the “cons”… believe me. living separate from “all that is” is sooooo spiritually fulfilling, and fun! just write me whenever you get down, and i’ll jump up and dance with you, my friend, and share with you my experience of developing patience, tolerance, and … quite a snotty attitude, actually, that “i’ve learned to do better” than ordinary continentals, as we call them. Because once you get used to adversity being the way it is, always! and learn to adapt to “what is,” … a person changes. we become so much more an “in the flow” kind of person. and that’s really where the Self resides. being in constant contact with true Inner Peace takes hard work. but the rewards? living a good life, even in the midst of unprecedented adversity.

who needs things to flow smoothly all the time? that’s so…predictable! ha ha! look at me, miss positive. but i’m not there, where you are, terry, right? but … if i wasn’t here, taking care of mom, you bet that’s where i’d be. i can’t wait to pack my bags and leave “ever-reliable, oh so abundantly efficient” america (or any continental place)…and go to live with the simpler, more “don’t care” kind of folks—the islanders.

sorry about losing your mac, though. that’s a bummer. we get spoiled, don’t we? i still use a dinosaur p.c., but i’m happy.

here’s a little cheer-up for my pals terry and om-tom out there in molokai. when life gets tough, when our nerves start to shout! ouch! here’s one solution—retreat into your ever-abundant imagination…yes, just float away in a story. even if you haven’t got bread to eat, you still have your imagination and you that can fill a person right up to the top!

this character sitting in the middle is my good pal Cleozed. he’s a composite, as you can see: man, plant, fish, and –what else?

Cleozed and Hummin

walk in the unlimited-ness of your being…expand your possibilities, and come fly with me! how, you ask? just breathe…long breath in…long breath out…ahhhhhh-men, and ahhhhhhh-women, too!

in the Light, lord flea

Make each moment meaningful

November 12, 2008November 12, 2008Leave a comment

Hi friend,

what can i do to make my life more filled with that energy that excites me? that gets me out of the bed in the morning with a bounce and a purpose? for each of us it’s a different thing. i’ve been contemplating what makes ME filled with life’s exciting call to living at the maximum fullness. rather than write it, here’s one of my paintings to interpret it for me.

the Source of All

it is so thrilling to think how we, the United States, has now chosen to show the world, by electing Barack, that we truly embrace tolerance, love of all, and are ready for this next exciting chapter in our great country’s history.

i know i am, and many of you, are happy beyond measure that we’ve broken through a major barrier that separates we humans from each other: thinking we’re so different because of our skin color, or our religion, or even where we’re from. this is a moment time in human history. i’m beyond excited: i simply glow and await what happens next.

accepting our differences, and soaring

who’s to say where the journey will be going? all i know is that change is afoot, and change is GOOD. the only constant in life is change, and a relationship with one’s Truth, one’s Higher Power. everything else falls by the wayside, sooner or later.

that’s my thought for the day.

i must tell you readers of my blog that i’m having a lot of trouble figuing out how to adjust the new drawings i want to share with you. but…in time and with effort, i’ll figure it out. just like all of you with your various challenges. where there’s a will, there’s a way, right? just persevere, and all that is to be will be yours, and ours.

in the Light, your pal lordflea

change…the only constant in the Universe

October 9, 2008Leave a comment

i’m off to cambridge, mass for a fun-filled, information-packed reunion at the revered alma mater of my spouse, and to celebrate life and all its changes with our good friends of many years.

change…the only thing you can count on …

the cycle of life ... consistently changing

i’m thinking how i change … my body … where i am … my moods

and i’m thinking of how the world changes … seemingly so unstable, so vulnerable to outside influences.

and then i think of the one constant, besides change, that i’ve found that gives me great comfort in my journey here:

my deep contact with the Oneness of All — that force some call God, but i prefer Great Spirit.

i am a big fan of the I Ching, called the Book of Change, and written down by Confucious about 4,000 yrs. ago. change has been a familiar comforting essence in my search for Truth. i trust change. i honor change. but i also know that if i’m not flexible, like a young bamboo shoot, and allow change to happen, naturally — i am doomed for diaster.

i don’t know, i just felt like sharing that today.

mom is having a hard time adapting to the change that’s affecting her body. her state of thinking has been altered by this tiny tiny TIA that hasn’t even registered in a CAT Scan. but…change is not her comfort zone.

many people are freaking because of the unprecedently change in our financial world. this is the time for all good people to rely upon nothing but their own Higher Selves. that is the change we’re all challenged to accept.

the steadiness of eternity

in case you’re wondering, this “down-ward dog” person i’m representing here, in sculpture and in black and white penstrokes, is the ancient egyptian goddess named Nut. she represented the passage of the sun across the sky. like the sun, Nut is symbolic of eternal life. always changing, but always constant, and never ending.

i am here with you, and i wish you all a pleasant change, each and every moment of your lives.

now i change places, from st. augustine to boston! always something.

in the Light, lordflea

no time no time, well…let’s make some anyway

October 7, 2008October 7, 2008Leave a comment

hi friend,

why does it seems like there’s never enough time to do the things we want? instead, there are so many things we have to do that just fill up the hours of each day. i’m starting a new club:

make time for the things we need to do,

find time for the things we want to do!

wanna join? just follow the spirals, and come on in!

fly with me from here ...

to here …

earth energy with you-and-you-and all of we too R 1

how? you ask.

breathe. deep and long in, long and slow out. breathe from the belly. learn to be a buddha belly, breathing from the belly (belly pushes out gently when you take air in, and as you breathe out the belly contracts and tightens, going flat).

have fun, make time for you!

in the Light, much love, lordflea

jaZZ and raZ-a-ma-taZZ, TIA-style

October 7, 2008October 7, 2008Leave a comment

friends,

last weekend i attended the savannah jazz festival up in savannah, to honor and support our good friend and world renown congo player, mr. Big Black.

in case you’re wondering, Big Black is very big, and yes, he’s very black.

big black calming for the storm ahead, on his congas

Black, as he’s known to his friends, has played with most of the “old guard” jazz greats, including Miles, Dizzy, and my personal favorite keyboard artist, McCoy Tyner. Black’s brother, an eclectic musician (gone for some years now) named Fish Ray, who played a home-made instrument that looked like a cross between a tin washtub and a broomstick-neck bass fiddle, which he jubilantly played with the original Lord Flea’s band, back in the day when calypso was the true voice of the people. the people i’m speaking of were mostly island-types, but also from all other walks of life (and all races) where, just as today, movement and dance are just as integral with human expression as the sound of instruments, including the soulful one of the human voice, singing the joys of life, as well as its pains. yet when Lord Flea chose to sing about the pain of life, he sang with great joy, still.

the dance and the sound of life's celebration...carnival!

the sound of life's joy, life's gratitude...life's dance

Big Black is practically the only one left of that era, when Lord Flea rocked people’s hearts, and Fish Ray made everyone want to jump up and shout, and Big and Fish’s sister, Becka, that gorgeous nubian princess, caused a sensation with her rendition of the “sand dance,” an erotic slice of rhythm and physical stamina performed, on a patch of sand placed on a shiny stage, to the blood-current-tingling sounds of Lord Flea’s calypso band.

check out you tube’s Lord Flea clip. you’ll know what i mean when you see it. the early ones who knew that music was to celebrate the spirit, and uplift the soul.

we're all in it, whether we know IT or not, so enjoy!

the dance of life: we

black invited us to come and help him celebrate being inducted into the jazz All-Stars, the veritable Hall of Fame for the greats, featured at the savannah jazz festival. we enjoyed hearing him and all the All Stars Band play, and all the other fabulous musicians, including the jazz band of the university of florida, and simone, nina simone’s sensational daughter (oooh, love those neat coppery coily-dreads!), whose lusty voice was strong and will be heard a lot more, i dare say.

jazz festival attendee...with lots of interesting features

meanwhile, back at the flea ranch, mom has suffered a slight set-back. i’ve been busy rushing back and forth to doctor and hospital, and we finally determined she’s had a TIA, a transcient ischemic attack, which is sort of like a “mini stroke” but much less severe than that implies. all of a sudden she couldn’t finish her sentences, was confused, and grew increasingly scared about what was happening to her. terror set in when she tried to pay her bills and numbers just swam in front of her eyes.

the life of the party at her surprise 90th, mom just two weeks ago

life can change…for all of us…in just the blink of an eye.

mom is fine now, thanks, but … she’s been given a clear warning sign from the Great Beyond, that she has to make some major changes (diet, exercise, mindfulness, calming herSelf into let-go-let-God-ness) if she wants to live to her 91st birthday. which we’re all sure she will.

she’s a strong, incredibly self-reliant person, and i’m very sure i wouldn’t be half the artist, writer, and spiritual warrior that i am today, if i hadn’t been raised by this particularly unique, lithuanian-descent woman (well versed in all the pagan-catholic fairytales that that culture embraces)–my mom. i don’t want to lose her, now that i’ve finally found, and accepted her.

thanks, mom. it’s a pleasure and a delight to be able to give you some loving support in your time of need. for years, i couldn’t. now i’m strong enough, well enough, and self-reliant enough, like you, to pay back just a small portion of what you’ve given me all these years. i love you and i accept that i had to be raised by someone so different from me, in order for me to find out who i really was.

ancestry, from embroynic to the highest possible...and everything in between

a mother-daughter kind of thing: ancestry, from embryonic to the highest possible...and everything in between

i send love and Light, healing and invigorating, and filled with joy…to each and every one of us,

lord flea, your pal

we’re more similar than dissimilar

September 25, 2008September 25, 2008Leave a comment

hi world,

do you recognize yet how much more similar all we humans are than dissimilar?

we are One

these days i’m thinking about the warm inside feeling i get when i think about behind human, particularly at this auspicious time in human history. things are in such flux, aren’t they? the world is quickly changing. people are becoming awakened in record numbers than any other time, and ancient prophecies of “the time of reckoning” is quickly approaching (2012, I believe has been mentioned by many sources, as being pivotal to earthly existence). things will never be the same again after 9.11, i knew that the day it occured. that heart-stopping black tuesday. i was not there, but it felt like i was. i had visions of the event in my meditations that have greatly influenced my thinking, and the purpose of my life.

and now, less than 40 days before the november election, everyone here in America is all heated up with the passions of choices and preferences! yes yes yes, now is the time to be heated! yes yes yes. get out there and do whatever you can to ensure your choice gets elected … speak, shout, argue, implore, poll, canvas–do whatever it takes.

but–and this is the difference between spiritualized peole and non-spiritualized–when the tally has been counted and the new president has been elected, please commit to supporting whomever is elected. whichever party ends up in power (it is a party thing, not an personality contest, right?), it is the Spiritually Correct (SC instead of PC, ha ha!), the humanly right thing to do, to support an elected official that has been chosen by the democratic process we honor in the U.S.A.

after 9.11 a lot of people started to bad mouth our current president, George W. Bush. to tell you the truth, i wasn’t any happier than the next guy about what was going on, but i nonetheless felt it was my spiritual duty to support him. why? because things are never what they appear to be. i feel very strongly that i, as a private citizen (even though pretty well informed, compared to some) can never know what the insiders, the diplomats, the elected representatives of the citizenry knows. how could a private person possibly think they can know what the politicians, the military, the professionals in charge of information-gathering and decision making know. it’s simply not possible.

we don’t know how to perform brain surgery, most of us, but we do allow a surgeon to do his job without interfering in his methods. similarly, i have determined it’s the spiritually correct thing to do to support our leaders, once they’ve been democratically elected, which mr. Bush, for better or for worse, was. the time for dissention is over, in my SC committed existence, once the election is over. and with bush, the time to bitch was over late in Nov. ’00, then then again in ’04.

so…be it wrong or right…i have learned to make a decision based on my spiritual “correctness” gauge (what would my teacher do…in any particular case? i ask myself) and have since the beginning of his term, decided to give Bush the benefit of the doubt, and not voice dissent, even though in my heart i was no more certain of his methodology than the next guy (hey! does that brain surgeon have to use that scapel, need to take that tissue sample? right then? over there?). deciding to support our legally-elected leader doesn’t mean my confusion was cleared away by my decision to do the spiritually correct thing. no, it simply means that i remain silent when others gather to discuss and usually end by dissing the current administration, for daring to do what they did. i’m quite sick of the ugly dissention and hope this upcoming election will end it. it probably won’t. it seems human nature is for people to bitch. that’s why political ads, just as toothpaste ads, love to put down their competitors. it’s base, ugly, non-spiritualized human nature, and unfortunately, that kind of half-asleep-ness is still the majority of the population throughout the world.

YET…the consciousness of all is awakening. the time for awareness–the real CHANGE–is happening.

is it wrong or right to support an unpopular leader of a nation that elected him, when so many others seem to delight in dumping on g.w.? even though many feel he stole the election from gore? who am i, to be so presumptuous, to think i know more than the tens-of-thousands of people involved in the presidential decision, to think what he’s done is wrong? how insanely presumptuous that thought is, to me.

but for the answer to my inner questions, i have to go within.

going within in times of turmoil

when in doubt, i always find my true answers within. not by listening to the conflicting opinions of intellectuals, fast-talking political pundits, or even the opinion of my friends, associates and the vastly popular, majority opinion. i go within to discover what my heart-mind says is true–for me–and i listen to no one when i go within. i listen to the Source of All.

going within, resting in the heart-mind

this is the process i call “awareness, acceptance, action.” i use this three-part process for each and every tiny or large step i’ve taken, in my journey to undo my childhood hang-ups, neurosis, mental tendencies and obstructions, or any other challenges that have blocked my ability to live a happy peaceful productive life. whether it’s political, personal, or universal concepts i need to figure out, i do so with “awareness, acceptance, action” and have thus learned to function at an amazingly high happy level of inner peace…most of the time.

like the Dalai Lama said in a book i read by him recently, “i’m not perfect. i just keep trying. i recongize my mistakes, and try to do better the next time.”

the above painted screen is my way of trying to render in imagery, and humbly duplicate the extremely calmly experience of becoming aware…and once aware, simply sitting in the feeling of that new awesome state, so expansive, so honey-rich with wellness, blissfully full.

this screen (two-sided) is my weird way of trying to say “the acceptance of awareness” feels awfully damn great!! beautiful enough to create fine art about.

when i’ve accepted something (like higher consciousness), i no longer have any inner (or outer) dialogue of dissention. it simply is.

how to connect with the state of awareness: take long, deep breathes somewhere quiet, alone, serene, clean. put any issue, situation, person, etc. into that center of quietness, once you have reached the place (through continued deep breathing) where disturbing thoughts no longer pierce the emptiness of pure awareness (within us all). then… just listen. listen to the Truth that emanates from the heart-mind (of all). serenity fills (all). Truth is pure love (in all). Truth is pure awareness (for all). Truth is “seeing” things that you cannot discern in “ordinary” states of consciousness (awake, sleeping, thinking, analysing, etc.). Truth is also God speaking, but one must be very quiet in order to hear this, and have already gone through the stages of purification (no addiction, no neurosis leftovers, no inner chatter dissention) in order to “hear” this pure voice of the Divine that awaits us all … in emptiness.

often i receive answers to the questions i put out to the Universe. sometimes they’re as clear and as loud as inner “billboards.” sometimes i just receive a “feeling” — something like being allowed to bathe my aching hurt (mental, physical, or spiritual) in pure soothing Love. surrounded by the sea of Truth, the ocean of Love, the atmosphere of pure Bliss, the solution to problems becomes quite clear, quite simple, quite obvious. quite Right. learning to do this kind of discerning is called viveka, “spiritual discrimination,” in yogic scriptures. Truth is here all the time, if we can all learn to quiet our “monkey mind” as the buddhists call our inner chatter (also known as the “freight-train” mind in other circles), and learn to go within to tap this incredibe Source of wisdom.

once i realize my Truth i can take action.

inner wisdom as inspiration for worldly action!

and thus…the process of

awareness
acceptance
action

can easily take place within us all. but we must go within to do it. most of us are too lazy to go within, but–i’ve learned it’s so delicious that i actually look forward to the time when i can meditate, go within, and relax in my inner Self.

being human is about having choices. we all can go within and listen to our inner “guide,” that wisdom within, the Source that is innate, pure consciousness that’s available to all of us, which represents Truth. this inner Truth is more reliable than any politician’s campaign promise, or presidential decision. the inner Truth is, in fact, subliminally influencing our ever expanding grasp on evolutionary possibilities, more than any organized group or culture, be they religious, political, scientific, social, or philosophical.

i know that you are just like me: that we are One, that we all are connected by our inner consciousness. that is the Truth i have discovered in my quest for knowledge of what this life is all about.

the connectedness of all

truthfully, i trust no politician. democrat or republican. but i am voting, and my vote will be the best i can do. but whomever wins i will support wholeheartedly. i hope each and every one of my fellow americans will also support our newly elected leader. my wish is that we can leave this time of dissention behind us, and enter a phase of healing and growth that will help the entire world to come together as One.

in the Light, lord flea … sending gleaming banners of joyous, energizing white Light around the democratic process of election

global mala

September 22, 2008September 25, 2008Leave a comment

dear One,

yesterday we met on St. Augustine beach and formed a human mala; a rosary bead of intent. the focus of our 108 sun salutes, followed by 108 chants of Om was global peace. sending out our prayers as action (hatha yoga asanas) and sound (the seed mantra, Om) was a glorious way to be active, to participate in being part of the solution, instead of remaining part of the problem.

the sound of peace, the sound of God consciousness … the sound of Om:

visualizing the power of Om as its vibrations resonate throughout the atmosphere

try it yourself. why not now? or soon. find a quiet place, all by yourself or with a like-minded friend. get quiet. breathe deeply. set your intention that this sound of Om, this ancient sound that the sages say was the sound of creation that was first heard by those who sought answers to such things, intend to send out your tone with this ancient note. send it out to the world. help heal the world with your sound. forget politics for this moment. forget the strife. forget the confusion. focus on sending out the positive vibrations that are here, for all of us, at any given moment. all we have to do is listen, and then join in with our voices.

breathe out long. breathe in long … now make this beautiful sound with your own tone. make this sound over and over until you feel you have sounded and become One with Truth It-Self.

what an expansive, rewarding feeling. enjoy! over and over! whenever you can.

i send you my loving sound also, Om with me, lordflea

groovin’ with the newfies

September 16, 2008September 20, 2008Leave a comment

hi everyOne,

we’re baaaa-ck! back from sailing the gorgeous, wild, mystical, mysterious, and oh-so-weird southern coast of newfoundland.

fog, gale, or doldrums...take your pick!

two weeks away! many books read:

my third read of “Eat Pray Love” — enjoyed it even more this time around
“A Flash of Lightning in the Dark of Night,” the Dalai Lama’s interpretation of an ancient text on how to be a bodhisattva, the Bodhicharyavatara by the sage Shantideva
“Bird by Bird,” some instructions on writing and life, by Anne Lamott
the Upanishads, which i must say i didn’t understand hardly, perhaps one minute iota, and
a couple trash novels which i only seem to enjoy on long, endless days aboard a sailboat

sunset at anchor

we were a crew of five:

lordflea and carter (american)
captain petur (iclandic) and his lady rhea (american)
malde (danish)

some crew of yacht Dagny

and oh, let’s not forget the boat’s doggie, Scrappy, the queen of Dagny (pronounced dine-ee, an Iclandic name for girls meaning “new dawn”).

scrappy with her best friend, rhea

the retired fishing captain from iceland….Petur, our boat’s captain: the man who –without even blinking an eye–sailed our 70 foot yacht through an inlet’s tiny hole, one that looked to any other like we were surely headed for deadly rocks; the man who senses change in current, weather or wind, or any other sea conditions, long before news comes over the airwaves:

captain petur peturson, seaman extraordinaire

and finally, the young (19 years old) Danish mathematician, Malte (pro-nounced in English, mal‘-dah) who is having himself a fine adventure sailing Dagny from Newfoundland to the Caribbean, before going off to college, back in Denmark:

the modern viking, a young dane named malte

our time aboard dagny was filled with the pleasures of simplifying our complicated lives: living in a small space, sharing that space with others, cooking simple delicious nutritious food (lots of cookouts on the shore, next to one magnificent waterfall after the next), and, most importantly, getting quiet in the mind.

it took us about three days to quiet ourselves from the hustlin’ pace of living in the fast lane (well…. let’s face it, anywhere in the good ol’ U.S.A. is much faster than anywhere else, to live).

i’ll have more to say about my experiences in newfoundland in my upcoming posts.

before leaving for our sail i made it a goal of mine to spend some time after returning to learn how to get this blog of mine out into the public’s eye. so that’s what i’ll be learning in these next weeks. always something to learn! always! i’m also working on my spanish, something i’ve been enjoying and speaking more and more over the past years, but…unless i practice daily, it all goes out the window (there was not much opportunity of speaking spanish up in “the rock” as the newfies call their country).

this life is so filled with possible adventures…all we have to do, like malte, my new friend from denmark, is to pack our bags and hop aboard a boat and go somewhere new. of course not all of us can do that, literally. but we can, however, metaphorically do it. we can “pack our bags” by making a decision to make space in our lives for something new. we can “hop aboard a boat” by setting a goal, then unfurl our sails (by choosing to direct our energies toward that special something new) and … finally … we’re cast off, setting out on our new life adventure, simply by one day deciding to do it!

go somewhere new, somewhere different!

breathe…enjoy…take a chance and go some place different (in your mind, at least!) that you’ve always wanted to go. you CAN do it! how? just by giving yourself permission to do so. and then…surround yourself with people, situations, affirmations, visualizations, activities, etc. that reinforce the positive decision, and the adventurous destination you’ve chosen.

congratulations on opening your mind, opening your heart.

lordflea with daphne...we are all capable of being living a mythical journey...just do IT!!

lordflea with daphne...we are all capable of living a mythical journey...just choose, and then do it!! don't think! just do.

how exciting it is to experience something totally, absolutely, mind-blowingly different from what we know as “normal everyday life.” what an incredible adventure life is, this journey, with you all as my fellow crewmembers. i’m very thrilled to be alive, especially at this time, this amazing time when so many vital things are happening that will forever influence the evolutionary course of all humankind. think about that for a moment, why don’t cha?

with love, in the Light, your pal lordflea