Gems 4.89

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?

under1000skies logo 1

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

Gems 4.88

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

Gems 4.88 under1000skies

from “Being Kind” EmptyHandsMusic.org

 

Tuesday is muse day.  Who inspires you?

Nimo Patel of Empty Hands music has been one of my biggest inspirations.  I met Nimo in DC two years ago. It was one of the happiest days of my life.  Hearing Nimo perform was like being bathed in love, from start to finish, the kind of love that is pure and contagious and literally inspiring — filled with Spirit.

pete seger

Today Empty Hands released a beautiful new video, “We Shall Overcome.”  I hope it unites the entire world in song.  Small acts of kindness really can change the world. I believe that.  Do you?

 

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

 

 

Gems 4.87

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

Gems 4.87

Idea for graphic came from: Reddit, B_GCS

How Introverts Make Friends

  1. Dogs* count as friends.  (*includes all non-humans, animate or inanimate, imaginary or real, alive or otherwise.)
  2. An extrovert found them, liked them and adopted them.
How Introverts Make Friends

This was posted ↑ this way on Reddit and re-created for under1000skies with the *details after reading several comments by cat owners, and others. =)

Are you an introvert?  (If so, put your hand up, then quickly down again.)  Me too.  Some of the most interesting people I’ve never met are, or were, introverts.  Jane Austin, Albert Einstein, Dr. Seuss… (An extensive, and delightfully surprising, list of more introverts is here).

The internet is the perfect place for introverts.  Finally, we can unite (separately, in our own quiet homes.)  Go to any social media, and we have our own hashtag.  For example: #introverts on Tumblr.

Well met, dear introvert, and Happy Monday (fun day) to all, intro-, extro- and ambiverts (balanced between both).  I hope that this re-created graphic made you smile today.  If you are an introvert, here’s a fun test.  “What kind of Introvert are you? (Mine was “healer.”)

The Champion- very smart, unique, and has a vast intellect that helps them to create and invent
The Artist- non-conformist and multi-talented with an eye for change and natural expression
The Mastermind- determined, strong and inspiring, while also very guarded and private
The Protector- emotionally complex, social, outgoing, kind and yet paradoxical
The Healer- understanding, spiritual, altruistic, calm and relaxed
The Architect- knowledgeable, hands on, intuitive, and enjoys teaching others
Read more at http://www.sun-gazing.com/quiz-type-introvert

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Starting today, I’m going to do an audio version of the posts both here, on Niki Flow and on Grammy Miami.  The first two are so that my husband (or anyone who doesn’t have a lot of time to read) can enjoy these too; the last is so I can send the link to my daughter for my beautiful granddaughters.  My husband travels a lot and is my biggest fan, but he doesn’t often get a chance to read during the day.   This way I can send him the link and he can listen while driving.  The audio isn’t the best here, but we have better mics to be installed soon.

♥. n.f.

Gems 4.86

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

003 Gems 4.86 TGIForfatter

T.G.I.Forfatter (writer)

(23 June 2018)

Did you know that Norwegian is the only language that I know in which the word “writer” starts with a letter “F.”  I looked, as you can see by the extensive list below!  Thus it is the only language I could use yesterday to fit our “TGIF: What It Really Means” category. I love the beauty and diversity of these languages.  I apologize about the confusion.  This is a next day edit to explain! Our contributing homeless artists write beautiful poetry and I believe could sell their works, if they were so inclined.  Johnny O’s poems have been shared on television in Denver and he belongs to a vibrant and very hip writers group there.  Cord’s poetry and photos are exquisite, each one a work of art.  So I wanted to encourage Cord, Johnny and anyone who has the courage to “sit down at a typewriter and bleed.”

“Any writer worth his salt writes to please himself…It’s a self-exploratory operation that is endless. An exorcism of not necessarily his demon, but of his divine discontent.” – Harper Lee

“Writing eases my suffering . . . writing is my way of reaffirming my own existence.” – Gao Xingjian

“I write because I don’t know what I think until I read what I say.” – Flannery O’Connor

“I just knew there were stories I wanted to tell.” – Octavia E. Butler

from Why I Write

TGIF – What It Really Means

Thank Goodness I’m a Forfatter*

*escritor
*skrywer
*shkrimtar
الكاتب*
*գրող
*yazıçı
*লেখক
*idazleak
*пісьменнік
*pisac
*magsusulat
*wolemba
*scritturi
*spisovatel
*schrijver
*verkisto
*kirjanik
*manunulat
*kirjailija
*écrivain
*skriuwer
*escritor
*მწერალი
*Schriftsteller
*συγγραφέας
*લેખક
*ekriven
*marubuci
*ka mea kākau
סופר*
*लेखक
*kws sau ntawv
*író
*rithöfundur
*onye edemede
*penulis
*scríbhneoir
*scrittore
*ライター
*ಬರಹಗಾರ
*жазушы
*អ្នកនិពន្ធ
*작가
*nivîskar
*жазуучу
*ນັກຂຽນ
*auctor
*rakstnieks
*rašytojas
*Schrëftsteller
*писател
*mpanoratra
*എഴുത്തുകാരൻ
*kittieb
*kaituhi
*लेखक
*зохиолч
*စာရေးဆရာ
*लेखक
لیکوال*
نویسنده*
*pisarz
*escritor
*ਲੇਖਕ
*scriitor
*писатель
*tusitala
*sgrìobhadair
*писац
*mongoli
*munyori
اديب*
*ලේඛකයෙක්
*spisovateľ
*pisatelj
*qoraa
*escritor
*nu nulis
*mwandishi
*Writer
*нависанда
*எழுத்தாளர்
*రచయిత
*นักเขียน
*yazar
*письменник
مصنف*
*yozuvchi
*người viết
*ysgrifennwr
*umbhali
שרייַבער*
*onkqwe
*umlobi

Source:  Google Translate.

 

under1000skies logo 1

I hope you have a wonderful weekend.  If you get a moment, please send a prayer and/or good thoughts for two beautiful creatives souls and under1000skies’ artists, Johnny O who hasn’t been seen in a couple of weeks, and my son Ben Archer, missing since March 2, 2016.   ♡  Thank you. 

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

Gems 4.85

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

4.85 johnpaulgeorgeringo love love love

 

Please send good thoughts for our ♡ Johnny O. I haven’t heard from him in two weeks and I’m really worried.  He’s not picking up his phone or answering texts or email and hasn’t been seen as far as I know on Facebook since June 7th.  If anyone knows John, please have him call me.

Thank you.

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

Gems 4.84

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

Gems 4.84 gandhi determined spirits unquenchable faith alter history

 

Special thanks to ♡ Rajni♡  for sharing this quote.  I found it really comforting and empowering after weeks at feeling helpless under this deluge of negative news.  We can alter the course of history.  We all have part of the answer and we’re stronger together.

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

Gems 4.83

I hope you’re having a beautiful Tuesday (“Muse Day”). ♡
Here’s another light-filled ¤ Gem ¤

Gems 4.83 Oriah Mountain Dreamer An Invitation photo Lynnie Dance Comp NYC

The Invitation
Oriah Mountain Dreamer

 

☼ It doesn’t interest me what you do for a living. I want to know what you ache for and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart’s longing.

☼ It doesn’t interest me how old you are. I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool for love, for your dream, for the adventure of being alive.

☼ It doesn’t interest me what planets are squaring your moon. I want to know if you have touched the center of your own sorrow, if you have been opened by life’s betrayals or have become shriveled and closed from fear of further pain.

☼ I want to know if you can sit with pain, mine or your own, without moving to hide it, or fade it, or fix it.

☼ I want to know if you can be with joy, mine or your own; if you can dance with wildness and let the ecstasy fill you to the tips of your fingers and toes without cautioning us to be careful, be realistic, remember the limitations of being human.

☼ It doesn’t interest me if the story you are telling me is true. I want to know if you can disappoint another to be true to yourself. If you can bear the accusation of betrayal and not betray your own soul. If you can be faithless and therefore trustworthy.

☼ I want to know if you can see Beauty even when it is not pretty every day. And if you can source your own life from its presence.

☼ I want to know if you can live with failure, yours and mine, and still stand at the edge of the lake and shout to the silver of the full moon, ‘Yes.’

☼ It doesn’t interest me to know where you live or how much money you have. I want to know if you can get up after the night of grief and despair, weary and bruised to the bone and do what needs to be done to feed the children.

☼ It doesn’t interest me who you know or how you came to be here. I want to know if you will stand in the center of the fire with me and not shrink back.

☼ It doesn’t interest me where or what or with whom you have studied. I want to know what sustains you from the inside when all else falls away.

☼ I want to know if you can be alone with yourself and if you truly like the company you keep in the empty moments.

 

 

2011a

Lynnie / Niki 2011 NYC

Special thanks to  Lynnie Bear  one of my muses.  The photo used today was taken in NYC at a dance competition during one of those happy days when fear did not shut me down.  It is among my favorite memories.  I changed the photo to try to portray the way I feel when I dance.  Lynnie’s gracefulness always inspired me to recapture the joy of dance I had as a young girl and to let go of the fear.   Dancing is one of the things I ache for, and long to do well again. What do you ache for? What do you long to do?  Who inspires you to do it? Share your thoughts in the comments.  Feel free to answer any of Oriah’s beautiful questions.

Here’s a beautiful version of this poem by KalaGaia:

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

Gems 4.82

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

4.82 under100skies Paul Gauguin

 

 

Paul_Gauguin_1891

Paul Gauguin was born in Paris on June 7, 1848 at the time of revolutionary upheavals throughout Europe. Unappreciated until after his death, Gauguin is now recognized for his experimental use of color and Synthetist style that were distinctly different from Impressionism. Contemporaries and friends included other post-impressionist artists Émile Bernard, Vincent van Gogh and Eugene Boch. Towards the end of his life he spent ten years in French Polynesia, and most of his paintings from this time depict people or landscapes from that region.  He died in May, 1903 at the age of 54. Source: Wikipedia

 

“No one is good; no one is evil; everyone is both, in the same way and in different ways. …It is so small a thing, the life of a man, and yet there is time to do great things, fragments of the common task.”  — Paul Gauguin, Intimate Journals, 1903

 

Gauguin,_Paul_-_Still_Life_with_Profile_of_Laval_-_Google_Art_Project

Still Life with Profile of Laval, 1886, Indianapolis Museum of Art by Gauguin, Paul (1848 – 1903) – Artist (French) Details of artist on Google Art Project – 6AG67_MG6cNK3w at Google Cultural Institute maximum zoom level, Public Domain

 

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Special thanks to ♡ Carole  for sharing this quote.

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

 

Happy Birthday Johnny O

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

Happy Birthday John

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.   

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

Gems 4.81

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

Gems 4.81 Maximilian Kolbe

 

No Greater Love

Fr.Maximilian_Kolbe_1939Saint Maximilian Maria Kolbe OFM Conv. (Polish: Maksymilian Maria Kolbe (8 January 1894 – 14 August 1941) was a Polish Conventual Franciscan friar who volunteered to die in place of a stranger in the German death camp of Auschwitz, located in German-occupied Poland during World War II. He was active in promoting the veneration of the Immaculate Virgin Mary, founding and supervising the monastery of Niepokalanów near Warsaw, operating an amateur radio station (SP3RN), and founding or running several other organizations and publications. Kolbe was canonized on 10 October 1982 by Pope John Paul II, and declared a Martyr of charity…John Paul II declared him “The Patron Saint of Our Difficult Century”.  Source:  Wikipedia

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