July 2018 Gallery Show

Posted on July 9, 2018 by Niki Flow

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

Happy Birthday Johnny O

Posted on June 15, 2018 by Niki Flow

I hope you’re having a beautiful day. ♡
Today we celebrate a light-filled Gem named ¤ John Olander. ¤

Our friends John “Johnny O” Olander and Nicole Huguenin, superstar Dream Walker, giftivism co-creator, and photographer. Nicole introduced us to John. ☼ Thank you! ☼

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☼ HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOHN! ☼

Today is a very special birthday. Our first contributing artist, John Olander, is celebrating 60 years on our sweet old world. Today we feature John’s contributions over the years in a slide show. John has something really special planned for today that he wrote and which he’ll be performing live in celebration. He has given us permission to share it soon. Meantime, if you get time today, please leave John a birthday wish in the comments below.

♡ Thank you John for you trust in under1000skies and for your generous contributions and open-hearted friendship. Happy Birthday dear friend. ♡

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

Gems 4.74

Posted on June 4, 2018 by Niki Flow

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

“Annual Light” Copyright John Olander 2018. All rights reserved. Used with permission.
Thank you! ♡ Photos “Moon Sky” and “Sky Amazing” by Niki Flow

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

Gems 4.73

Posted on May 31, 2018 by Niki Flow

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

Poem “2nd Grade” John Olander. Photographer Unknown.

2^nd Grade

by John Olander

What was I thinking in the second grade?

How about the luminous face of my vibrant teacher?

She may have been a nun, but she still looked like she’d be a lot of fun.

But let’s not get carried away,

She did rap my knuckles with the ruler more than once,

And looked like she was enjoying it.

Just the same, what you are taught in the second grade is to love each other.

That comes long before bullying and ridicule, arrogant self-identity,

Followed by the beginning of separation and cliquish behavior.

Your drawing need not be perfect,

Your penmanship doesn’t matter.

Your Generosity permeates everything.

You still emulate everything that is good.

Your joy in life itself is both palpable and contagious.

It is only in becoming jaded and forgetting the joy

that is the giving of yourself that you begin to age.

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

♥ Gems: A Thank-You Note ♥

Posted on May 22, 2018 by Niki Flow

Who Inspires You to Be Your Best Self?

Our homeless artists inspire me every day. Johnny O has been on the street for 20 years, and he has never given up. He constantly focuses on helping others, on improving his life and on giving to the world with his uplifting and inspiring poetry.

Cord is a very gentle soul whose quiet presence and comments on Simbi made me feel so welcome there when I joined. He was homeless for a long time, but he keeps a gorgeous poetry blog that blew me away first time (and every time) I read it. He’s so talented. He also takes some of the most stunning photos I’ve ever seen.

I was homeless as a teen in 1974 (a runaway for a week) and again in 1997 when I lost literally everything. Both times, I met some really cool people who live in the cracks between everyone else’s reality. These are my people — the ones I feel most comfortable with. I guess that’s because, in my own way, I live in the fringes too, made “homeless” in this world by my own demons. I live in shelter, in comfort, with abundance and with as much support as I could possibly need. Yet both these kind souls have never judged me and have been really supportive about under1000skies.

The irony of an agoraphobic trying to help the homeless is not lost on me. I hope some day it will be a really cool part of the story of how I overcame this thing; about how under1000skies thrived; and about how, together, we connected and helped homeless artists around the world.

Who inspires you to be your best self?

Posted on KindSpring here: 300 Days of Gratitude Day 13: Who Inspires You to Be Your Best Self?

300K+(VI) – 12: INSPIRATION

Gems 4.67

Posted on May 22, 2018 by Niki Flow

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

Gems 4.67 John Olander First Light In Memoriam

Continue reading →

Gems 4.39

Posted on February 22, 2018 by Niki Flow

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

Gems 4.39

Resolve

Will it be the word with which everything is solved?

Probably not.

Is it worth the effort? Probably so.

Is it problematic? Definitely.

Will it pay dividends? Perhaps.

Win or lose you still must choose.

Discipline equals accomplishment or so we are told.

Sing praises or denials, what usually remains is pride.

Resolve. You know you will feel better if you try your best.

No pain, No gain. No effort, complete shame.

Gems 4.37

Posted on February 20, 2018 by Niki Flow

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

Gems 4.37

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

Gems 4.29

Posted on February 8, 2018 by Niki Flow

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

Photo by Picmonkey

Tell Us a Story

under1000skies story

The theme for February and ongoing throughout 2018 is “storytelling.” We are always looking for your story, poetry, photo and art submissions. Here’s the Submission Guidelines post from earlier this month: Tell Us a Story.

Changemaker JohnnyO

JohnnyO of Denver and Nicole Huguenin, (Dream Together) one of our most generous contributing photographers.

Big shout out to JohnnyO in Denver who has some amazing stories to tell (coming soon). Johnny was recently featured in Channel 9 KUSA Denver News reading one of his poems, Climb Again. When I spoke to John on Tuesday, he told me some wonderful news. He has secured a venue in Denver for two different Gallery shows which will feature the art and writings from under1000skies. One show will be in March and and the other in June. These venues are quite expensive and exclusive but Johnny was able to get the venues pro bono! This is amazing news. Johnny has been passionate about helping spread the word about under1000skies since he learned about us a couple of years ago. As more information becomes available, we’ll share it here with you. Kudos to Johnny O and deep bows of gratitude for your enthusiasm, kindness and creative vision.

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

Gems 4.17

Posted on January 23, 2018 by Niki Flow

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

Gems 4.17 under1000skies_1

What Is Equal?

It is non-existent, that is “What it is”.
There is no such thing as equal.
God dealt the cards and one can only
play the hand which they are dealt, regardless
of the obstacles. Fair or unfair.
The biggest “offenders” feel no shame, they know no guilt.
They embrace only their own bigoted double standards.
Asking someone to resolve problems that they not only perpetuate,
but don’t even acknowledge, is a fruitless waste of your precious breath.
You are either of a mind of equality or you are not.
Few are persuaded to do an about face.
Children of all races, creed and colors are not BORN haters.
THEY ARE TAUGHT.
Those thoughts and beliefs of inequity become their values,
No matter how injurious they may be.