I hope you’re having a beautiful day. ♡
♡ Happy Birthday America. ♡
Artist/Photographer Unknown. Graphic art by Niki Flow.
“I pray Heaven to Bestow The Best of Blessing on THIS HOUSE and on ALL that shall hereafter Inhabit it. May none but Honest and Wise Men ever rule under This Roof!” -John Adams in a letter to his wife, Abigail Adams, November 2, 1800.
I hope you’re having a beautiful day. ♡
Here’s another light-filled ¤ Gem ¤
John Olander, known to his friends as “Johnny O” is a self-employed change-maker currently living in Denver Colorado. He has been “on a camping trip” for over ten years and understands life on the streets better than most. Yet this hardship has not made John bitter, only better. Nearly every day when he is not engaged in a search for food or shelter, John is helping others on the street. Johnny O and I became friends about a year ago when he became one of the first supporters of under1000skies. He is very dear to us all here, and we look forward to more creative content from Johnny in the years to come.
May you find joy every day,
☼ A “Giftivism” Initiative ☼
We are photographers,
writers, artists & advocates
serving and connecting
homeless creatives.
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Occasionally, some of your visitors ma
I hope you’re having a beautiful day. ♡
Welcome to our third ¤ Gallery Show ¤
Created using a PicMonkey template. Artist unknown.
Thank you so much to all the contributing artists and creatives who have helped under1000skies every day since we began in 2015.
In 2013, under1000skies was just a site Niki Flow created for random poems, photos and sketches.
She didn’t do much with it in 2014. Then on November 14, 2014, Niki’s whole life changed. She wrote a story about it here: It Begins with Me.
Year 1: Gems 1.1 to 1.81. It took almost a year to solidify a plan to keep the promise made in the November 14, 2014 blog. On September 2, 2015, the first “light-filled gem” was published: Gems 1.1
Year 2: Gems 2.1 to 2.82 On March 2, 2016, Niki’s oldest son Ben Archer, disappeared. Ben was one of the main contributing photographers and one of Niki’s staunchest supporters. As of this writing (1 year, 3 months later) none of his family nor any of his friends have seen or heard from him since. Many of the posts on under1000skies were about Ben that year, but the family decided to take most of those posts down. They thought Ben might be embarrassed at all the fuss and would come home when it died down. So we took down all the blogs, waited and never gave up hope. We never will. Ben’s case is also now on the Federal Database here: Ben Archer: NamUs MP # 33696 All updates about Ben are being kept here: Niki Flow. In October of 2016 we started an Instgram Account for under1000skies and in November of 2016 we started a Twitter Account. We’re also on Tumbler, G+, Pinterest and Facebook.
Year 3: Gems 3.1 to 3.65 (so far). In 2017 we began a brand new year with new photographers, artists and, for the first time, our first contribution from one of our homeless creatives, “Johnny O.” We also began our first Spotlight Saturday and hope to continue these at least every other week in the years go come. We also finally designed a signature logo and a website logo.
There’s a lot more coming in the next six months of 2017.
We’ll be getting under1000.org up and running as well as our stationary store under1000skies.com.
On or about August 1, 2017 Niki Flow will be begin a USA tour which has three objectives: (1) to meet volunteers and supporters of under1000skies around the United States; (2) to get the word out about under1000skies with road shows, poetry slams, music shows, and on-the-road gallery shows. We’ll have a table set up with information about us as well as boxes of stationary, volunteer packets, and artist packs; and (3) to follow in the footsteps of Niki’s son, Ben Archer who was a traveling artist. He visited 25 states in 2015 from one coast to the other and went to dozens of artist shows. This is where Niki will set up her under1000skies table with the Gallery Show and Ben’s photo prominently displayed. If anyone has seen Ben, it would be these creative folks he loved to spend so much time with. If you would like Niki to stop in your city; if you’d like to support this road trip with materials, a bed for a night, supplies, a meal or even a few hours of company, please write to us at Gems@gmail.com.
To all our artists, photographers, writers and advocates, quote suppliers, cheerleaders and especially to our homeless creatives and those who love and support them too, with all our hearts, thank you.
With deep thanks and lots of love,
☼ A “Giftivism” Initiative ☼
We are photographers,
writers, artists & advocates
serving and connecting
homeless creatives.
I hope you’re having a beautiful day. ♡
Here’s another light-filled ¤ Gem ¤
Poem “History Shelf” by Johnny O (John Olander); photo “Blue Denim Skies” by Niki Flow
I hope you’re having a beautiful day. ♡
Here’s another light-filled ¤ Gem ¤
Poem “Boy Oh Boy” by Johnny O. Photo “Some Kinda Blue Love Supreme” by Niki Flow
I hope you’re having a beautiful day. ♡
Here’s another light-filled ¤ Gem ¤
Poem “The Wow In Now” by Johnny O. Photo “Verdant” by Niki Flow.
I hope you’re having a beautiful day. ♡
Today we are happy and excited to bring you a brand new story for:
"Courage is not the absence of fear. It is the conquest of it." William Danforth
I hope you’re having a beautiful day. ♡
Here’s another light-filled ¤ Gem ¤
Photo by Niki Flow.
“The earth has music for those who listen.”
-William Shakespeare
I hope you’re having a beautiful day. ♡
Here’s another light-filled ¤ Gem ¤
Photo “LBI Jetty” by Niki Flow
I found this quote today while looking for a quote that combined vision (to go along with the photo ^_^) and “silence.” What a gift that search became! It not only led me to this beautiful excerpt from “Seven Sacred Pauses” (which is now on my “want to read” list) but it led me to Macrina’s website. This is how she describes herself in her about section which is so lovely I included the entire thing on today’s Gem on under1000skies:
Windows are openings to life, providing scenic views for inspiration. If you come to my window I hope you will find the blessing of a scenic view that inspires you. Perhaps it will be a supportive message from my blog, a poem, a quote or a prayer. It could be the discovery of a good book to read, or a movie to view—perhaps an invitation to attend one of my retreats.
When someone asks where I’m from and who I am, this is how I like to introduce myself: I come from the meadows, vineyards and forests of Altus, Arkansas. The country is a cherished memory of what I call first home. My childhood companions were animals, birds, insects, trees, plants, wild flowers and angels. I come from a family that was not without flaws. By today’s standards we may even qualify as a bit dysfunctional yet in spite of our defects I have always felt a unique and beautiful bond with my family.
My second home is with my Benedictine community of sisters, St. Scholastica Monastery in Fort Smith, Arkansas. We follow the rule of St. Benedict with the gospel as our guide.
from About Macrina on MacrinaWeiderkehr.com
Monday June 19 to Saturday June 24, we’ll be offline (medical stuff). We’ll return on Monday June 26th. The theme for this last week in June is “silence,” “listening,” “stillness,” and “sacred space.” If you have a favorite quote about any or all of those, please let us know. Also, we don’t currently have a theme for July. If you have any ideas, please let us know.
As always, we would love to feature your creative visions! If you would like to contribute photos, art work, short poems/stories, quotes, time, etc., please see our “About Us” page for details. When we show each other what we find beautiful, we get a glimpse into each others’ hearts.
May you find joy every day of your journey through life,
☼ A “Giftivism” Initiative ☼
We are photographers,
writers, artists & advocates
serving and connecting
homeless creatives.
under1000skies 