Author Archives: Niki Flow

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About Niki Flow

.♡ I feel the world and want to help heal the world. When I listen, I learn. ♡. If you enjoyed my writing, you may enjoy Sara Michele O'Sullivan's (former pen name) first book, "Elanthian Love Songs—A Bard's Tale," available on Amazon. I hope you're having a beautiful day. ♡

Of Obama’s Summer Reading list and The Obama Leaders Africa

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How will you celebrate Mandela Day?

July 18th is the 100th anniversary of the great man’s birth. Thank you Beaton for sharing this blog. We’ll share Mandela quotes on Mandela day.

What is your favorite?

♡. under1000skies
☼ A “Giftivism” Initiative ☼
We are photographers,
writers, artists & advocates
serving and connecting
homeless creatives.

Beaton's avatarBecoming The Muse

Former US President Barack Obama is in Africa for the first time since he left office; he draws great inspiration from Africa’s literary traditions and shared with me his recommended summer reading list (technically he didn’t share with me but the Obama Foundation passed it along to me as an interested party in the  Obama Foundation Leaders: Africa program.)

Obama summer reading listThings Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
A true classic of world literature, this novel paints a picture of traditional society wrestling with the arrival of foreign influence, from Christian missionaries to British colonialism. A masterpiece that has inspired generations of writers in Nigeria, across Africa, and around the world.

A Grain of Wheat by Ngugi wa Thiong’o
A chronicle of the events leading up to Kenya’s independence, and a compelling story of how the transformative events of history weigh on individual lives and relationships.

Long Walk to Freedom by Nelson…

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July 2018 Gallery Show

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I hope you’re having a beautiful day. ♡
Welcome to our July, 2018 ¤ Gallery Show ¤

JOHNNY O

Nicole Huguenin, one of our contributing artists and volunteers, and a dear friend, introduced us to our first homeless artist John Olander in 2017.  Nicole was featured on our first Spotlight Saturday:  Dream Together (fka Wild Dream Walks).

John has not only been generous with his poetry contributions, but has been very vocal and supportive about getting the word out about under1000skies to other homeless creatives and supporters in Denver.

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CORD X

Through Simbi, I met Cord in July of 2017.  Cord, a very kind and wonderfully creative soul, not only shared some of his vivid photos from San Antonio but his absolutely beautiful poetry as well.

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Thank you so much to Johnny O. and Cord X.   I’m so grateful for our connection to you, for your generosity, compassion, strength, tenacity and, most especially for your blazing creativity which inspires me every day.


With love and gratitude,

♡. under1000skies
☼ A “Giftivism” Initiative ☼
We are photographers,
writers, artists & advocates
serving and connecting
homeless creatives

Gems 4.96

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I hope you’re having a beautiful Friday. ♡
Here’s another light-filled ¤ Gem ¤

Read by Thich Nath Hanh, chanted by brother Phap Niem. The creators of this audio track were Gary Malkin, the composer/arranger, producer, and collaborator Michael Stillwater. The work came from a CD/book called Graceful Passages: A Companion for Living and Dying, and it could be purchased by going to wisdomoftheworld.com. The creator of this video is R Smittenaar. This video can be downloaded at: https://vimeo.com/6518109 Visuals taken from: HOME, Earth and Baraka

Please forgive the lateness of this Gem.  The time/stamina I had today went to something that is deeply touching my heart:   Updates from Texas.  The chant came from a friend on KindSpring who is grieving the loss of a sister. I needed a way to let go of the anxiety that was building since I began writing this morning.  It really helped. It’s a beautiful chant.

Some news…

July

Next Monday we’ll feature our homeless artists, JohnnyO and Cord X’s beautiful creations in a Gallery Slide Show.  We’ll be taking the rest of July off except for any Spotlight Saturday interviews we might be able to line up.

August

August and ongoing, our theme will always be about the homeless and the struggle of homelessness.   We’ll use quotes, share news and feature those serving the homeless (more Spotlight Saturdays).

The exception to that is:

September

The 2nd Annual KindSpring Eowyn Challenge

Bag End To Rivendell Miles 211-229 – The Black Hills – Cristian Nitu
Bag End To Rivendell , Sam’s Journal Day 14 – Tower View – Melissa M. Morris, Dreamstime
Bag End To Rivendell Miles 194-211 – Crescent Moon, Orange Sunset – Pixabay Volunteers

Beginning on Hobbit Day (September 22nd) we’ll begin a new KindSpring Eowyn Challenge:  Walking through Earth and Middle Earth. All are welcome! All photos used will be original artwork, photos or those gifted for the limited use of the challenge.  I’ll supply the link to the challenge once it’s set up and ready.  I’ll also be continuing The Journal of Samwise Gamgee.  Since we didn’t finish that here due  to some technical problems in 2015, we’ll do the same walk as the first one:  Bag End to Rivendell with Frodo and Company.

Gems 4.95

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I hope you’re having a beautiful day. ♡
Here’s another light-filled ¤ Gem ¤

4.95

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♡. under1000skies
☼ A “Giftivism” Initiative ☼
We are photographers,
writers, artists & advocates
serving and connecting
homeless creatives.

Gems 4.94

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I hope you’re having a beautiful day. ♡
Here’s another light-filled ¤ Gem ¤

Gems 4.94 Nelson Mandela good leader

Happy Independence Day, America ♥.

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♡. under1000skies
☼ A “Giftivism” Initiative ☼
We are photographers,
writers, artists & advocates
serving and connecting
homeless creatives.
.

Gems 4.92

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I hope you’re having a beautiful day. ♡
Here’s another light-filled ¤ Gem ¤

Gems 4.92

Alan Wilson Watts (6 January 1915 – 16 November 1973) was a British philosopher, writer, and speaker, best known as an interpreter and populariser of Eastern philosophy for a Western audience…Watts gained a large following in the San Francisco Bay Area while working as a volunteer programmer at KPFA, a Pacifica Radio station in Berkeley. Watts wrote more than 25 books and articles on subjects important to Eastern and Western religion, introducing the then-burgeoning youth culture to The Way of Zen (1957), one of the first bestselling books on Buddhism.

 

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♡. under1000skies
☼ A “Giftivism” Initiative ☼
We are photographers,
writers, artists & advocates
serving and connecting
homeless creatives.

Gems 4.91

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I hope you’re having a beautiful day. ♡
Here’s another light-filled ¤ Gem ¤

Gems 4.91

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♡. under1000skies
☼ A “Giftivism” Initiative ☼
We are photographers,
writers, artists & advocates
serving and connecting
homeless creatives.

Gems 4.89

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I hope you’re having a beautiful day. ♡
Here’s another light-filled ¤ Gem ¤

Gems 4.89 Ekhart Tolle purify well of contentment

Inner Transformation

One night in 1977, at the age of 29, after having suffered from long periods of depression, Tolle says he experienced an “inner transformation”. That night he awakened from his sleep, suffering from feelings of depression that were “almost unbearable,” but then experienced a life-changing epiphany. Recounting the experience, he says,

“I couldn’t live with myself any longer. And in this a question arose without an answer: who is the ‘I’ that cannot live with the self? What is the self? I felt drawn into a void! I didn’t know at the time that what really happened was the mind-made self, with its heaviness, its problems, that lives between the unsatisfying past and the fearful future, collapsed. It dissolved. The next morning I woke up and everything was so peaceful. The peace was there because there was no self. Just a sense of presence or “beingness,” just observing and watching.”

Eckhart Tolle, Wikipedia

For the next three years after this epiphany, Eckhart Tolle did nothing.  He sat on park benches and slept on trams. Tolle’s family thought he was insane.  In actuality, he was exploring this vast new inner-space from which he emerged with a clear vision. His first book, The Power of Now circled the planet and brought joy and enlightenment to many people.

“I think Eckhart is a prophet of our times. I keep Eckhart’s book at my bed-side. I think it’s essential spiritual teachings. It’s one of the most valuable books I’ve ever read.”  — Oprah

Eckhart Tolle Now

This is much like what Nimo Patel of Empty Hands Music talked about in his Ted Talk regarding his own inner transformation.judgy opposite = free your mind  Nimo’s “nothingness” was, he said, about three things:  simplify, experiment and serve.  Like Tolle, Nimo also spoke of purification as part of the inner journey.  After three years, Nimo emerged to share his musical vision with the world.  Since then, his vision has circled the planet and brought joy and enlightenment to many people.

 

Your Nothingness
☼ Where can you find your nothingness?
☼ How would you explore it?
☼ How would you go about this purification?

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♡. under1000skies
☼ A “Giftivism” Initiative ☼
We are photographers,
writers, artists & advocates
serving and connecting
homeless creatives.