The Scrumptious Flavors of Love

December 13, 2018Leave a comment

Hello Dear Ones!

I was recently honored to be one of the presenters for a Pecha Kucha event. For those of you who aren’t familiar with these “mini-TED talks” check out their website. Begun over a decade ago in Tokyo, the Japanese name (pronouced Pech-CHA-kahcha) at an international meeting of architects, it originated as a way of sharing, in an easy fashion, fascinating (and often complex) new ideas. (Pecha Kucha literally means “little talk” or “chitchat”).

The formula for Pecha Kucha is: the speakers talk for twenty seconds about each of their twenty images. The images can be related or timed, to the speaker’s mode of presentation, or not. In a short time I will post a link here on LordFlea to my PK talk that will be posted up on their main website, along with the 20 images projected as my voice is heard speaking. Until then, here are my notes I used to practice my talk, but it’s not verbatim the actual presentation I gave.

My (no notes used!) spoken presentation was on December 10, 2018 in St. Augustine, FL on a very cold night, with a PACKED HOUSE of enthusiastic supporters of ideas, bless ’em, bundled outside, that’s what we do in north Florida!

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Greetings, you amazing beings of warm Light … only some of us, like me, needed some help to find this fact out! When I was young, I had a lot of fears and confusion about the world around me. But I can’t be the only person who has had to deal with negative emotions, right? My first memories are about flying away, escaping danger in my dreams. I started running away, for real, as soon as I could. Such delicious agony, so scary, so … crippling! I was always wondering what the secret to happiness could be?

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I soon found out that Love made me feel the best! So I decided to go for the ultimate in its possibilities. Wherever I found Love, that’s where I wanted to be. Love gives the most bang for the buck. It never runs out. The more I gave, the more I got. I began to think of Love as my life’s currency, and wanted to spend it lavishly.

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After art school, I began to focus on both mythology and love, the two subjects that turned me on the most. But I was still gloomy, and confused a lot. My art as well as my life was filled with angst, because childhood fears still ruled me. The times of my culture were mirroring this angst, people were angry all around me: It was the Vietnam War era. The acts of my government increased my fears a thousand-folk.

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So I left America. For a whole decade. I wanted nothing to do with the war, or American capitalism and materialism. I was filled with fear and frustration about the future of the world, the state of our sick environment. I had been a early environmentalist; I was so mad about our toxic atmosphere and poisoned waters and modern-day excesses … I was ready to get violent. So I had to say goodbye to my family, my friends, my country. I wanted to live in more loving surroundings. I had recently learned how to sail so I went to the islands of the West Indies where I immersed myself in Nature: the sea, the land, and hung with the simplest of jungle people. That’s me at the foot of 100-foot-tall bamboos. I explored Nature intimately, and was a botanical illustrator plus an inter-island trader of tropical fruits and veggies.

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I became like a shape-shifter, becoming One with Nature that all around me, merging with all forms of Nature. My art now interpreted my everyday experiences: living intimately with plants in jungle settings, with people in the most primitive spots I could find, sailing whenever I could, exploring the gifts of the deep blue sea. Nature became my Teacher. Through It, I learned the Power of Unity, another way of saying knowing more intimately, Love’s great Power. Because that’s what I experienced. I became One with Nature all around me. I saw that Life is a web; what we do to one, we do to all. This was my new reality.

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I began to meditate daily. This is when I discovered that I didn’t have to go anywhere, or do anything to be immersed in Love. All I had to do was go inside and feel the Love within me. I began to do healing work about the deep fears and confusion I’d had all my life. Slowly, I got better. I realized that another expression of Love is called Sacred Consciousness, the Oneness we all are, which is called by many names by different cultures. Some people call the Divine power within, or God, the name of Love. To me, Love is the Light of Consciousness, the universal consciousness which all of humankind innately has. Gradually, I healed my Self, so I could begin to help heal others.

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My art was now about honoring this Power Within that I had discovered within my Self! No longer was my art about angsty, fear-filled topics like it had been, earlier. Now I made only homages to Nature’s Great Power, within ALL! As I grew more still, and listened to my own heart, I realized the world’s environment and human society desperately called out for the same healing as I had experienced. I made a conscious choice to focus only on positives, not on fears, or evil in the world. I gleefully threw out a lot of my bad old, angsty art.

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I began exploring all forms of creative energy, another expression of Love’s great Power. Feminine, masculine energies, separately or both, simultaneously, sometimes. Looking for symbols that are universal, that anyone could understand, I painted, drew, made sculptures, wrote about my new passion: to express Oneness: that We Are All One. The Energy of Love became my favorite motif. I found unique ways of expressing it. Because Love within (Self Love) helped heal me, I wanted to help others discover this self-healing they have, too. We can heal the world, one person at a time! I knew Love could change our toxic environment, just as people get healed. To everyone, and in every way I could, I shouted my main subject: Love heals; Fear causes dis-ease.

Family Values, side 1 of floor screen, 6'x5'

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I became a family person! Then I realized, in my blended family setting (marrying a man whose very young children I helped raise) that “bad things” do happen, but never causes the love to stop, ever! I was Angel Mom to my husband’s two kids. In my blended family I realized challenges are opportunities to transform negatives into positive experiences. Finally, I realized all of humankind is one big blended family.

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I realized I had completely changed my thinking! Instead of holding onto fears, my work and my life were now about spreading positive solutions to others! Using Love’s great Power is the only way to heal our toxic, challenged world. I knew this because it worked to change my own bad thinking. As we think, we become, I now knew was true. I had discovered the secret of happiness that I’d been searching for all my life. What we hold in our consciousness, our thinking, is what we become, and, in turn, when enough of us think this way, what our world becomes. I said NO to fear, worry, gloom. I said YES to Love in all its many scrumptious flavors. This is the secret of happiness!

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I nurtured my blended family, and with my art I nurtured the world. I began to write books. I created Lord Flea, this spiritual blog. I wanted to share how great a creative Force that Joy is, a cousin of Love. I documented the resilience, hope, gratitude we can choose instead of hanging onto negativities like hopelessness, fear, anger.

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Experiencing Oneness became my everyday occurrence, everywhere I went! Interpreting it in my art and my writing became my passion. The stories we tell each other, the dreams we have, the songs we sing, are the healing balm of our very needy world. Instead of conflict, we can look for similarities in others. We can choose to BE happy even though bad things swirl around us, like storms do in Nature. I started calling myself a spiritual activist, because spreading Love however I could, was now my art form.

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Then, in 2012, the Higgs Bosun was discovered by quantum physicists, who were awarded the Nobel Prize for their long awaited proving of this connective energy force. Nicknamed the God Particle — at last there was tangible proof about what every meditator since time immemorial knows if True (and Albert Einstein predicted in his Theory of Relativity) … that … we are all One. Our connection is now a measurable form of invisible, sub-atomic energy, this energy that is discernible in every single substance available for testing, from Earth and beyond. Love, or consciousness, or “invisible energy” is called many names. I just happen to choose to call that interconnecting energy, simply delicious Love in all its many flavors.

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Creativity is generated on the right side of our brains. The left side of our brain focuses on the logical use of thought. In order for us to be balanced, energetic beings, we must strive to use both our rational and our creative energies. Love is also a freely operating use of a person’s creative power. The collective unconscious connects us, fills us with inspiration. Solutions for ALL our challenges await us, just waiting to be discovered, if we cultivate creative energy. We are all connected through this positive creative Energy of Love. I am taking recruits for the Army of Love!

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At this time in our society, we are experienced a great division. But we have a choice. Because our minds are the builders of our lives, we can choose to find similarities between ourselves, instead of focusing on how different we are. Listen to people who are different than us. Reach out to them. The only solution for our numerous world challenges is to USE the tremendous energy of healing, of acceptance, of creative ideas that pour forth from the unlimited Source: the Power of Love we all have, within our own selves.

What we think, we become motivatonal quotes

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It’s true: How we Think, we become. Recognize the choice all of us have! Let’s create a wave of healing, nurturing Love that can overcome any difficulty, any hurt, any evil, any challenge. The Army of Love has the power to end wars, even. There are millions of us enlisted in this Army already, more and more everyday. How we think, we become.

A demonstrator protesting the shooting death of Alton Sterling is detained by law enforcement near the headquarters of the Baton Rouge Police Department in Baton Rouge, Louisiana

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Iesha Evans is one of us, here when she stood against the armed Riot Squad of Baton Rouge, Louisiana in 2016, showing the force of her steady, serene love in this spectacularly inspiring picture. Anger begets anger. Love breeds more love. Show the Force of your loving acceptance. Be part of the solution, not the problem.

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So we must be careful about, and watch! the way we think. Our brains don’t know the difference between reality or fantasy. This has been proven scientifically. What our mind focuses on becomes our life’s reality. If you want to help yourself, and the world around you, change your thinking from fear to some form of Love. You create your own reality. What you think, you become. Change your thinking, change your life, and help change the world to a better, safer place to live.

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Always look for, and you’ll find, chances to celebrate Love. Choose to be filled with Love, the magical elixir of life. Reach out, talk to people who don’t think like you do. Find common ground. Share the JOY.

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When life doesn’t make sense, or things anger or disappoint us — go within. Follow your breath, focus on Love that burns brightly within, as our connected human consciousness. Solutions are waiting to be discovered for all our challenges. We have a choice, no matter how dire we feel about things going on, outside our own control. In difficult times, go within. Choose to focus on the Light of Love within everything in existence. We are amazing beings of warm, creative Light! What a simply scrumptious idea this is!

united in our cause to make a difference--one person at a time

All Lives Matter

July 12, 2016July 12, 20163 Comments

ALL LIVES MATTER!

The past couple weeks has seen much turmoil in my country, the USA. I’ve barely been able to crack a newspaper or a news site without shedding a tear, or at least bucking up, getting ready to feel more pain. Everyone I know is reeling from the violence in our nation. People want to blame. Blame Trump, Blame Obama, Blame Bush, Blame Blame Blame.

My response to anyone who says this to me is, “If there’s anything to blame, in my opinion it’s the way Hollywood and TV depict violence, with such randomness and regularity that we’ve all become inured to it. Violence just doesn’t seem real anymore, unless we become its personal victim.”

And now — most of us are feeling as violated as the victims. True, we’re not dead. We can still breathe. Yet our entire nation, and much of the so-called civilized world, is suffering from a soul-sickness in which violence and fear are on everyone’s mind. And people who see this as just an American problem, they are not as aware, or in denial of the prevalence of the growing trend of violence in our entertainment world.

There is no one thing or one person to blame.

If a friend or random person to whom I addressed my “violence in entertainment” opinion (usually following their more political rant) still wants to talk (most just turn away from me, only wanting a head to chop, a name to blame, a face to spit upon! not a rational conversation) I would then offer what I’m ready to state here, in my public forum.

United, we have STRENGTH!

I named my spiritual blog Lord Flea Sings because I always meant for it to be a place where all of us who care to join in, can sing a song of Love. Sing, as in state our case with joy, with strength, with clear notes, with rhythms that MOVE us. Just like the calypso singer, Lord Flea for whom this blog is named in honor of. So … if you want to join in the discussion, please do. I am curious to hear your point of view. Leave comments below and I’ll respond.

My sense is that the world is in the midst of a huge sea change.

We are at the crossroads of our moral evolution. The computer age has accelerated our growth so much, that … old norms just don’t work for us as well as they used to. Coming from a place of extreme materialism (for decades, since the industrial revolution at the turn of the nineteenth into the twentieth century) humankind is quickly stepping into a new era … the spiritualization of our entire race. One person at a time, it’s been happening for ages. Now personal transformations are happening at a much more accelerated pace, in part, due to the outrage of every human heart that is reacting to the calamities that are happening everyday around us, pushing us to change.

Anger and fear and melt downs are catalysts to change. We who experience these things must change inside, or else we suffer horribly. Some even commit suicide, not able to contend with the insanity of the world. Some retreat into drugs, alcohol, denial, numbing themselves with whatever they can get their hands on. Others — like you and me, certainly anyone reading this — realize that pain is a way that Nature (aka God) has of forcing us to change.

Yes, our world has become more violent. Yes, people are not feeling safe. Yes, the African-Americans of America are sick of being treated with disrespect. Yes, the good Muslims must help herd in the bad Muslims. Yes, most everybody realizes that something has to change in order to make our world a better, safer, more viable place to live. It used to be people were scared of an enemy, like some still are of radical fundamentalism of any sort (evil is color blind and non-discriminatory in regards to race, religion, origins or politics). But now … we have a strain of discontent that doesn’t even have a name, although people are pouring out on the streets in scores this week to bring attention to “Black Lives Matter.” The latest of the unspeakable signs of our society’s silent sickness: Intolerance

To me, the real issue is that ALL lives matter, not just a certain group. Of course I feel for my black brothers and sisters. For years I was one of a handful of whites who lived on an all-black island nation. I know first-hand what it feels like to be singled out, treated differently because of the color of my skin. Even accused of crimes I didn’t commit, because of my race. I’ve been thrown in jail because of being in the wrong place at the wrong time, and have had to fight for my own survival because I wasn’t like all the rest. I know what it’s like to be unfairly treated. I know how upsetting it is and agree that change is what’s called for.

But to my mind there is more to this issue of intolerance (of any kind) than what meets the eye.

The Sacredness of ALL LIFE

It really is about ALL Lives mattering. Life itself. All in existence, from the smallest snail to the largest lunar spot, everything in this multiVerse is sacred. But yet there are the masses who still believe life on Earth is a silly game of power, prestige, and who rules who, and who gets to sit on the throne and who gets to shine whoever-is-in-power’s lowly shoes. It may be the final chapter of our color-story in the limelight today (although in the USA with our mixed-race President I don’t see how our black people can’t see the vast improvements since the desegregation of our country, in the sixties). But who and what-kind of person(s) is in power today will change tomorrow, for sure. Power people come and go. What really needs to be changed is something much more basic.

The only really worthwhile change I see that can come out of the current tragedies of black men and women being gunned down, forcibly held, dying in police presence or custody, and the ensuing hatred like the (black) sniper who aimed at (white) police people (how could he really tell with their helmets on?) are all indicators of how much more work we have to do, as a nation of people, not divided by race, religion or any other factors — to accept each and every person as what every single one of us is: a sacred being.

Whether a person acts or even thinks they are sacred, depends on how aware each of us is about our true nature. The more people who make it their pleasure, their personal quest, to become as aware and awake as possible, the more our society gets influenced by so-and-so’s positive energy, instead of barraged by the negative energy that causes more mishaps and tragedies, which then sells more papers, clicks, air time, and catches the attention of greedy Hollywood vampires.

People love to be scared. Look at the crowds at roller-coaster parks. Without fear and vomit-producing twists and turns, lots of people think life is pretty dull. So the drama that unfolds in our real life, on real streets, in real gay nightclubs, and real Bible study classes, and real traffic stops by trigger-happy cops are now re-enacting the thrills that are innately a part of our thus-far-evolved human experience. Most of us love thrills! We love drama. We love … to be scared to death!

Personally, as an artist who writes, I don’t think the censor laws will ever go backward from where they are today. We’ve fought too hard to have the freedom of expression that has become the modern way. And I know for a fact that it was artists (in Lithuania) that singlehandedly started the internal revolution that brought down the Soviet bloc. Creative censorship is considered unAmerican. Un-Freedom of Speech. Un-cool. So the guns and bombs and slashings and accompanying rudenesses that go along with all that mind garbage won’t stop. Hollywood loves violence. There will always be a place for trash. But that doesn’t mean we have to fill our own minds with it. Trash, and violent trash especially makes tons of money, pockets are filled from every slaying, and woe to the producer who comes up with a sweet story of spiritual transformation, without a murder or two, ’cause nobody will come to see it in the theaters. Not yet, that is.

True, there are lobbyists who are out in force, trying to get Hollywood to stop making such sex and violence-themed movies, groups like the Dove Foundation and Ted Baehr, who have attempted for years, to great effect, to introduce more family values into the film and entertainment industry. So let’s face it, the cleaning up of America’s entertainment industry, including gyrating, ripped-lace pop and hip hop and gangsta rap singers, ain’t gonna happen. Dirt and shame and taboos are too much a part of our culture to deny.

What we can do is … each and every individual … is to clean up our own act.

There’s always HOPE

Yup, that’s right. The BIG answer to all this hair-wrenching worry over “Where’s our humanity going?” boils down to “What are you doing about your own life?”

The only thing each of us has power over, is our own individual life, and the choices we make. Of course if we have young children, we’re also responsible for instilling Love and Inner Peace in their own life quests, and prepare them, best we can, for the world that’s outside the comfortable nest we all want to make for ourselves, for our family.

Take a look around you. Are you doing enough? Is your inner life as peaceful as you’d like? Are you able to read today’s news without getting freaked out? Can you see as many positive things happening in the world as there are negatives?

If you’ve assessed your own life, and feel you want more inner peace, more happiness, more joy–then take some action, my friend. There are so many things anyone can do, in this day of YouTube’s abundant offerings from mindfulness teachers (Eckhart Tolle, Depak Chopra, Thich Nhat Hanh, Marianne Williamson, to name just a few of my favorites). If you are unhappy with the state of the world, you can join a prayer or protest group, click on an instructional video and learn to calm your fears, or … go take a walk and look up at the clouds and let go of angry thoughts that you’ve let rule your life.

We don’t have to let heinous actions of others ruin our own lives. We can choose what we do with the strong feelings that injustices evoke in each and every human heart.

That’s the remedy I do when I feel powerless over another’s violent and scary actions. I breathe. I do yoga, meditate, take a swim in the sea, go for a bike ride … garden in my yard, talk with other mindful folks. Anything but go deeper in that feeling of powerlessness. Because I DO have power — over my own self! And I can take action to remedy the severe sadness that each and every intolerant act of one human upon another brings to my consciousness. The action might be … to take no action other than to pray, to meditate, to focus anger into tolerance. That’s a very high form of action.

I don’t deny the hurt. I don’t try to brush it off as “not my problem.” It is a human problem we are all facing. To me the answer, the pivot upon which change revolves, lies within each of our own hearts. To be as true as we can to what we really are, this is the spiritual challenge of today’s scary world. We are all pure spirits wearing a human body … for just a little while longer.

Let’s make the most of what time we’ve got here. Let’s make a difference, and let’s celebrate Love. By focusing on love, acceptance, tolerance, we increase the power of Love all around us. It’s like spreading an atomizing of Love cells wherever we go. Love is a consciousness, not just a verb. Love is a way of life, not just a saying. I have made it a pledge to live from love, not fear. With each day, I renew my pledge. I believe in Love.

I wish I could say the same for the political process, or the power of government to help change society, truly, at its core. I don’t believe governments or political parties have that kind of power. The power of true transformation only comes from the human spirit. I believe it comes from our core, from each of our heart (not the brain necessarily, although that comes in handy when it comes to taking action). The heart of each human being is where we feel the connection of Love. I feel it for everything and everyone.

One Life---each of ours, amounting to the total of all our decisions

the currency of LOVE … our life!

Maybe someday we will have enlightened Hollywood directors and producers who come from their opened hearts and minds, but for now (believe me, I know, I have a close relative who’s in the Hollywood game) money rules. Wherever the money comes from, that’s where Hollywood’s decisions go. Until enlightened artists transform our tastes … violence and sex are still a lot more entertaining (but not forever) so tolerate unscrupulous images and blood-gushing stories will keep coming to our screens. Just don’t watch them and they will … in time … go away.

Just turn off your mind, your screen clicked off to those kinds of choices. Open your screen as you do your heart and mind. Explore the endless possibilities of … an awakened life. It truly is the best show on earth!

lifting ourselves UP UP UP!

YOU are The Most Important Person!

August 24, 2015August 25, 20152 Comments

Civitas, the goddess of civilization

I’ve been wanting to share this special moment for so long now. Be prepared to be moved to your core, as I was.

Sitting at a memorial for a very special friend, the buttoned-down gray-haired man stood up to speak to us about the African-American friend we’d all lost. This was in an A.M.E. Church, in which most of the white folks, as my husband and I are, sat in the back. Weird, huh? But Carter my consort and I didn’t, that’s not who we are. Maybe the rest of the whites felt strange being there, but we didn’t. Maybe that was because Everett was our daughter’s best friend’s father, and when our kids were young (they’re now 30) we all felt each other was family. Carter and I had moved away from our hometown almost a decade before this day, of Everett’s funeral. Sadly, not even sixty, he’d succumbed too soon to a stroke.

After introducing himself as Everett’s supervisor at work — where everyone in this sea of strangers was a mutual friend, as special, each one of us, one-on-one to our pal, as Everett’s closest friends and family — the white man said: “Indulge me, and close your eyes. Imagine Everett standing right before you, right now. Go ahead.” And we did. Not a hard thing to do when the living are not that long dead. “Now hear Everett say to you as he looks you right in the eye with that big sincere grin of his: ‘You are the most important person in the world, and I love you!”

Every single person in the church, black or white, felt Everett’s love for him- or herself. I certainly did. Carter told me later he did, too. Because it was easy to imagine this affable, sweetly-smiling man, Everett, a man who had time for everyone and anyone, to do such a thing and say such caring words. Although, he never had to. His smile and gaze said it for him.

The speaker went on saying this n’ that about how great Everett was, telling how he made everyone feel at ease, quoting some scripture, making us laugh, something anyone at a packed-church funeral knows is rare and gratifying. Finally, the last sheet of paper was being turned as the gray-haired guy spoke.

“Indulge me one last time, please. This time with you eyes wide open.” And we did, every last one of us.

“I want you to turn to your neighbor in your pew, man or woman, and look them right in the eye, and say, ‘You are the most important person to Everett, and I love you.'” And we all did.

With those words, I felt the love this man felt for each one of the people there. And instantly, I felt love for every person, strangers all, except for our daughter’s weeping friend and her mother and brother.

What this speaker reminded me about, is what any speaker, I”m sure, could say about any of us. How each of us can love the person right in front of us, black or white, straight or gay, friend or assumed foe. How easy we can love those close to us. But with practice, and a little urging to do so, we can go further. We can look strangers, any one!, each and every human, another, the “other” in the eye and say, “I love you” as easily as that. I felt my heart, my life expand, by doing this.

Know that the world isl be a better place for all of us doing this. People like Everett who have gone before us, spent their time here on earth, reminding us. How important it is to … Love One Another.

humans with open mind, open hearts

In case you don’t know it … I love you!

Toward the One, the perfection of Love, Harmony, and Beauty: the only Being. United with all the illuminated souls, who together form the embodiment of the master, the Spirit of Guidance. (the Sufi Invocation, one of my favorite prayers)

Love your neighbor as yourself!

Remember, smile! Spread the joy.

Help heal the world with each glance, each token of kindness you extend to a stranger.

Remember Everett!

If he can do it, so we we!

So can you, so can I

We can heal our world, one person at a time.

We Are One.

OmmmmmmLove!

What daVinci and LordFlea have in Common

December 6, 2012December 6, 2012Leave a comment

the Feminine Healing Power of Shakti

I drew this image several years ago, inspired, of course, by Leonardo daVinci’s famous Vitruvian Man, executed in 1492. Can you see the obvious differences and similarities?

leo’s famous guy

My drawing is, most evidently, a woman and Leonardo’s is a man.

Mine is filled with objects of nature (plants, animals, forms and squiggles) while Leo’s is a study of simplicity, design, and sacred geometry. Lordflea’s Shakti-woman has 11 chakras, centers of spiritual energy, while Leo’s defining fulcrum of power, from my visual evaluation at least, is from the figure’s naval, his so-called solar plexus area, that spot from which he entered his human existence. Leo’s figure is devoid of any other detracting symbolism, such as the emanating, profuse natural growth of organisms I surround my female with. My woman’s glance is downward (humility) and inward (reflective) whereas Leo’s is forthrightly outward (aggressive) and in-your-face (proud and sure).

When I did this drawing I was thinking, I suppose, as all artist do, about what I was feeling. As if I were the model I was drawing I’d suppose you’d say. Of course this is NOT a self-portrait, but … why not think of how we feel as how we truly are, rather than how we look?

Because yes, I do feel that the female energy (which is my birthright, this time around) is the most healing, the most naturally-inclined to compassion, the most nurturing. and therefore, the most likely (out of the male population) to be heading the phase of enlightenment that now beckons all of us on planet Earth.

What do you think? I’d love to hear your opinion. Thanks for joining my thinking about this one.

In Spirit, with much love, your pal

LordFlea

It’s the little things that mean so much

October 2, 2010October 2, 2010Leave a comment

hi friends.

the other day my consort and i went to the beach for a swim and there, sitting on a sandy ledge, were three guys in tight spandex, wearing bike helmets. there was a bigger, spandex-free guy standing close to them, and all four were relaxing, drinking cold beers. It was quite obvious they were tired, finishing up a ride, perhaps. I noticed they all wore the same black and red official-looking outfits, so I asked them, “Are you guys in a club?” and they answered, “Well, just our own club. We’ve just finished a cross-the-USA-bike ride for this–” and they pointed at their T-shirts, which had imprinted upon them:

www.usacoast2coast.usa with the name of a children’s hospice, from—it turns out—manchester, England. Will wonders never cease! These guys had started out (the bigger one, as I’d suspected, not a rider, but the driver of their support vehicle) from San Diego, California a month earlier and were on the final leg of their cross country jaunt. For those of you who are new to Lord Flea, I live in St. Augustine, Florida. WOW. That’s quite a ride. You can imagine how flabbergasted Carter and I were. Why, we both asked, have you made this awesome journey? The tired men replied, in turn: “to bring awareness to our children’s hospice back home in Manchester. You have to do something like this these days to get attention, to put yourself apart from the pack. We need the fund-raising publicity, so….here we are!”

Well, I certainly do salute those guys. I didn’t have my camera so all i can do is write my congratulations, and i’ll be sending then a tribue of a cash-contribution. I hope some of you who read this will too. For fellows like them (a fourth biker had to return to the UK because his dad died midway cross country) to ride every day over a hundred miles, face the dangers of being run down by high speed traffic (they agreed, being a biker in America is very very dangerous), enduring fatigue, hunger, aches and pains (they all said it was unbelievably grueling at first, yet something “kicked in” about day 14 that made resistance futile. Yipes! fourteen days waiting to get used to that pace?). I walked away really admiring these guys. Carter and I invited them for a meal at our house but they said they wouldn’t be very good company. Honestly, I think all they were interested in was sleep. Maybe another beer or two.

And—the most curious thing of all—not a word was mentioned in our local newspaper, the St. Augustine Record. We asked the men if anyone from our town called the newspaper, and they said they thought so. But, we could tell … all they wanted was to finish their beverage, bike the last few 9 miles to the campground and crawl into the RV where they slept at night in some other strange American park … and return to the UK, which they were doing just two days later. I’m going to keep these guys in my thoughts. They are a terrific example of to what lengths some people go in order to demonstrate their commitment to their cause.

A few more minutes after shaking their hands as they sipped the last dregs of their beers, Carter and I were in the surf preparing for our afternoon swim. I turned back to see the guys on the beach … and they were gone already.

Will Wonders Never Cease.

will wonders never cease

so many delights in everyday life.

Yes, there are also sadnesses, and bad things to be wary of, too, don’t get me wrong and think i’m a flake who believes all and everything is just honkey-dorey all the time. Bad things happen. Extreme things happen. Terrorists plan attacks, diseases take down good people, murder, bankruptcy, and viciousness like rape do occur. BUT … what i’m saying is that where we put our focus is the tune of the song our lives are singing. I choose to focus on the magical events, the joy, the power of the human soul. The song we all can sing when we’re in tune with our own inner power, and those of good people everywhere. the Goodness of Human Power is all around us. All we have to do is learn to recognize IT, use IT, and invite IT into our lives as much as we can. And pretty soon….life becomes heaven on earth. Who can even say war or global warming are bad things if—now stick with me here—they result in humankind evolving to a higher plateau of being? Let’s face it, Hitler had to be taken out. And perhaps the earth going through its freak-out toxic stage here, where we are—is going to reverse humankind’s apathy and we’ll WAKE UP! and become more spiritualized, more mind-ful as an entire race. Wouldn’t that be nice?

We have to learn to trust goodness, of course, and cultivate it. Even if, dear friends, we are surrounded by dismay, fears, others’ phobias, extremisms, and neurosis…we can learn to say NO to evil. We can stand up and fight against it. I’m studying the Baghavad Gita right now, and that is the exact subject. “Don’t be a wuss,” Krishna says to Arjuna. “Be a man! You HAVE to fight evil.” By focusing on the positive instead of the negative of things, we can combat anything—anything!—eradicating evil and replacing it with love. It’s up to each one of us to train our consciousnesses to focus on the unlimited possibilities each one of us contains, like little seeds waiting to burst forth into cosmic fireworks! Each one of us is a little bitty seed that can grow into something gigantic and gorgeous—like this!

each moment of life is a surprise

i hope you have a joyous surprise in your day, and the next, and the next. Here’s a little inspiration about how we can cultivate that state, learning to invite the positive in our life and saying “no” to the negative.

each day make a special time to sit quietly. get comfortable. Set the intention of letting go of all thoughts, and prepare to follow your breath. Protect yourSelf from outside interference (noise, telephone, etc.) and close your eyes. Go Within. Learn to journey in the interior landscape of life’s possibilities—starting with your own life’s infinite possibilities. There are endless things to discover in this vast vast territory called your Inner Realm. Spend some time with your Inner Self. Listen to the messages that you WILL receive….if you sit quietly enough. And then, when you’re ready to come back to the everyday life you and I have to live, working, having families, friends, politics, opinions—try to bring some of that quiet peacefulness with you when you return to the world of interactions. It IS possible to learn how to be peaceful. It takes practices, yes. And learning some techniques helps (like the meditations focusing tools I discuss here and everywhere….especially following your breath).

And look at good art! Celebrate life by supporting visionary art! Those who are brave enough to depict the inner journey are often met with skepticism and mis-understanding. It takes a more patient, more thoughtful person to take the time to go beyond what appears to be “reality” and …. dive deeply into another world depicted in visionary (or dream-like, or surreal) art.

Enjoy this one:

always go for the HIGHEST

Tell me how your day is special, and what joy you’ve discovered. I’d love to hear from you.

your pal sending Love and Light, lordflea

It’s an OM kind of New Year!

January 4, 2009January 5, 2009Leave a comment

Hello dear friend,

Busy time of year for all of us, yes! Many friends, families, events, and energies spent just keeping up with it all. Whew! I’m ready for the quiet again. Well, I shouldn’t say that too loud or I might just get my wish. You know how they say to be careful for what you wish … you might get it.

In some cases though, it’s a very good thing to “wish for something” especially if it’s going to effect goodness throughout the entire world. And so I give you this special gift (painted by another than myself) to try this spiritualizing technique for yourself.

Try making the sound aloud. make it easy, long, and full of love.

Ooooooommmmmmmmmm

the sanskrit sound, Om -- the primordial mantra

Wouldn’t it be an incredible thing to wish for, if many of us (as many of us already DO) sing the song of positive transformation? Sing the sound of Ooooommmmm and see how it changes your life. Make this sound that sends vibrations throughout every cell of your being–out into the world around you–and beyond! It happens. Just try it and see for yourself. Go somewhere quiet, away from others (so you won’t be inhibited) and just let it rip! Let the sound come loudly out of you, from the depths, as if this was what you were meant to do, from the very first day you drew your first breath!

Ommmmmmmmm

Om was often mentioned by the ancient sages, the writers of the oldest scriptures of Earth, called the Upanishads and the Vedas, written down in India two thousand years before Christ was born. To sing (with intention, with “meaning”) this sound–pronounced (h)-Ooooh-ummm, is to be associated, and aware of the Oneness of All, the thread that weaves through all of our lives, wherever we are, wherever we live, whatever we do.

Here’s a way I’ve drawn it, in English, signifying how the energy vibrates beyond our own individual self, out into the the entire world, helping all of us to become healed and whole.

the sound of Om throughout the Universe...constantly oming

So that is my New Year’s gift to all who come to sing the song of Oneness with lordflea.

Just carry this sound in your mind, and keep it ever sounding from your mouth. First you’ll feel the difference in your own life, and then–slowly, but very truthfully–the energy you send out to help those in need, those oppressed, or in fear.

How do I know?

Believe me, it’s happened in my own life, that’s how I know! But a person never gets totally “healed” until they do what they can to help heal others. So that’s why I share with you how I changed my life, from one of fear and self-sabotage to a life filled with hope and wanting to help others.

Here’s another image that might describe the purpose of my life: to help others experience the majesty of Oneness which continues to give me so much of everything: happiness, energy, freedom from obstacles and addictions, and most importantly–to know why we all are here.

we are ONE

we’re going to Cuba! leaving soon. next post will be about the trip, what we’re doing (yes yes, we’re going with permission from the US gov’t, in case you’re whispering to yourselves about it), and we’re very excited.

in the Light, 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

hip openers, backbends, breath and self-love

August 17, 2008August 18, 2008Leave a comment

hi friend,

today i’m going to the second day of my hatha yoga workshop here in st. augustine. can’t write much, but wanted to say, as i say so often inside how much i love doing yoga, being with yoga people, learning the depths of what yoga has to offer. yoga, the poses, the philosophy, the “tribe” is the best thing that’s happened to me. wherever i go i meet the most interesting, open-minded, big-hearted people, and best thing of all, we get to be physical together in a non-competitive way. praying with our bodies, respecting our Iner Self, shutting off the noise, the racket, the double-deal of living in a tumultuous time, a conflictual world. in the inner world there is no doubt that love is the past, present, and future president.

focus on …