We're All Kept Alive by Magic

.
Bill: I have no heart-beat. I have no need to breathe. There are no electrical impulses in my body. What animates you no longer animates me.

Sookie: What does animate you then? Blood? How do you digest it if nothing works?

Bill: Magic?

Sookie: Oh, come on Bill! I may look naive but I'm not, and you - you need to remember that.

Bill: You think that it's not magic that keeps you alive? Just 'cause you understand the mechanics of how something works, doesn't make it any less of a miracle... which is just another word for magic. We're all kept alive by magic, Sookie. My magic's just a little different from yours, that's all.

(This True Blood conversation is my favorite tv/movie moment ever...)

Buffy Sainte-Marie found this passage in Leonard Cohen's novel "Beautiful Losers." She sang it to him once and later recorded it - "God Is Alive, Magic Is Afoot". Lately I've been inspired yes, by this song, by my current reading, by drawing fairy mandalas, by anxiety, by music, by Mexican folkart, by love. I'll talk more about folkart later. Now, need to go hooping <3 LOL that's my Facebook profile pic at the moment:

Find Tongues in Trees :: Nature Quotes

"And this, our life, exempt from public haunt, finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, sermons in stones, and good in everything." William Shakespeare 
.
"If one way be better than another, that you may be sure is nature's way." Aristotle 

"The poetry of the earth is never dead." John Keats 
.
"In some mysterious way woods have never seemed to me to be static things. In physical terms, I move through them; yet in metaphysical ones, they seem to move through me." John Fowles

Daniel and me went to the Fairmont Park today in Philadelphia to take a nature break. It was beautiful... Fairmont Park actually consists of 63 different, connected parks. We found some treasures. I found a big, dried pea pod looking thing that fell from a tree. The seeds were loose inside it and made a nice shaker sound to sing with.

I was feeling the tree and he took a picture :) We'll go back soon unless it gets too cold for the California elf.

Zen and Waterkolorz :: The Thief and the Moon

Ryokan, a Zen master, lived the simplest kind of life in a little hut at the foot of a mountain. One evening a thief visited the hut only to discover there was nothing in it to steal.

Ryokan returned and caught him. "You may have come a long way to visit me," he told the prowler, "and you should not return emptyhanded. Please take my clothes as a gift."

The thief was bewildered. He took the clothes and slunk away. Ryokan sat naked, watching the moon. "Poor fellow," he mused, "I wish I could give him this beautiful moon."

- from the book Zen Flesh, Zen Bones

And those are some other ones I made recently. The quote above is from Dhammapada. What word brings you peace? :) Om out.

Happy Girls Are the Prettiest Girls :: Audrey Hepburn Quotes

"For beautiful eyes, look for the good in others; for beautiful lips, speak only words of kindness; and for poise, walk with the knowledge that you are never alone."

"It's that wonderful old-fashioned idea that others come first and you come second. This was the whole ethic by which I was brought up. Others matter more than you do, so 'don't fuss, dear; get on with it.'"

"The beauty of a woman must be seen from in her eyes, because that is the doorway to her heart, the place where love resides."

"Let's face it, a nice creamy chocolate cake does a lot for a lot of people; it does for me."

"I probably hold the distinction of being one movie star who, by all laws of logic, should never have made it. At each stage of my career, I lacked the experience."

"I believe in manicures. I believe in overdressing. I believe in primping at leisure and wearing lipstick. I believe in pink. I believe happy girls are the prettiest girls. I believe that tomorrow is another day, and... I believe in miracles."

"You can tell more about a person by what he says about others than you can by what others say about him."

"If I'm honest I have to tell you I still read fairy-tales and I like them best of all."

To top of the Audrey inspired day, here's the card I made with her quote. And this psychedelic Audrey is one of my favorite shirts :)

PS. I heard about the horrible bombing and shooting in Norway today in the news and wrote a post on KrishnaPath related to it.

My Favorite Bhagavad-gita Quotes

Ok, I have many more favorite Bhagavad-gita quotes but here are a few. Pics are from the past week's Warped Tour shows, kids who were interested in reading Bhagavad-gita and other books we have. (More pics here)

PS. Today while hooping I did something I've never done before - I smacked my face so hard my nose started bleeding. It's bled on and off all day. I feel like a coke addict :P

"As a lamp in a windless place does not waver, so the transcendentalist, whose mind is controlled, remains always steady in his meditation on the transcendent Self." (6.19)

"A man must elevate himself by his own mind, not degrade himself. The mind is the friend of the conditioned soul, and his enemy as well. For him who has conquered the mind, the mind is the best of friends; but for one who has failed to do so, his very mind will be the greatest enemy." (6.5-6)

"A true yogi observes Me in all beings, and also sees every being in Me. Indeed, the self-realized man sees Me everywhere." (6.29)

"O son of Kunti [Arjuna], I am the taste of water, the light of the sun and the moon, the syllable om in the Vedic mantras; I am the sound in ether and ability in man." (7.8)

"Whatever state of being one remembers when he quits his body, that state he will attain without fail." (8.6)

"But those who worship Me with devotion, meditating on My transcendental form - to them I carry what they lack and preserve what they have." (9.22)

Krishna Sun Rising in the Heart

"Just like fog is immediately, I mean to say, moved, simply by sunrise. Sunrise. Just like this is night, darkness. In the morning, as soon as there will be sunrise, there will be no more darkness. Immediately all thousands and millions of miles of darkness immediately moved. So try to make Krishna surya - the sun, Krishna - rise in your heart, and everything will be solved." A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

Good morning Sir Tree! I drove all night through Texas and took a few pics right when the Sun rose. We are entering New Mexico, the next state over towards west, in 30 minutes. Change of plans: not going to Electric Forest in Michigan this week, instead going to California. The desert is beautiful. When the sun came up and I saw the prairiedesert dryness, vastness and distant mountains, I just kept grinning and almost started crying. Love nature.

"Man's heart away from nature becomes hard." Standing Bear

Touch Her :: Nature Quotes

"Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience." Ralph Waldo Emerson

"One touch of nature makes the whole world kin." William Shakespeare

"I believe a leaf of grass is no less than the journey-work of the stars." Walt Whitman

"The world is mud-luscious and puddle-wonderful." e.e. cummings

"Forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair." Kahlil Gibran

"I thank you God for this most amazing day, for the leaping greenly spirits of trees, and for the blue dream of sky and for everything which is natural, which is infinite, which is yes." e.e. cummings

"How strange that Nature does not knock, and yet does not intrude!" Emily Dickinson

Nature quotes from my favorite poets and photos by my favorite nature people, Gopal and her family! It looks like it's her little daughter's, Avani's hands in most of the pics. Gopal sent me these photos for our movie project but they came too late to be included. They're so beautiful I wanted to share them anyway! Thank you Gopal & fam!

I'm in Tennessee right now, getting ready for Bonnaroo music festival so I will not be able to go online for over a week. Lots of bare feet touching nature will be taking place, as well as super hot Tennessee sun touching my poor Scandinavian skin ;)

In Finland I had some really nice moments in the nature, just walking in the forest and getting my head very clear, nature does that to you. I need to take the time to do that more often. If you have any nature memories, inspirations, quotes, or photos to share, I'd love to hear from you in the comments! Let's touch her more!

Hopi Prophecies :: The Earth is your Mother, She holds you

A shelf my hubby made years and years ago :)

"The earth is your mother, she holds you.

The sky is your father, he protects you.

The rainbow is your sister, she loves you.

The wind is your brother, he sings to you.

Never a time this was not so. Hoka-hey-ho."

.

.
"When the birds fall from the sky and the animals are dying, a new tribe of people shall come unto the earth from many colors, classes, creeds, who by their actions and deeds shall make the earth green again. They will be known as the Warriors of the Rainbow."

Bob Dylan Says Any Idiot Can Write A Song

...and it comforts me as that's what I sometimes enjoy doing :) I was reading a book of interviews with songwriters like Neil Young, Paul Simon, Alanis Morissette, Madonna even. And what Bob said really struck me the most.

Dylan: The world don't need any more songs.

Interviewer: You don't think so?

Dylan: No. They've got enough. They've got way too many. As a matter of fact, if nobody wrote any songs from this day on, the world ain't gonna suffer for it. Nobody cares. There's enough songs for people to listen to, if they want to listen to songs. … Unless someone's gonna come along with a pure heart and has something to say. That's a different story. ...But as far as songwriting, any idiot could do it. If you see me do it, any idiot could do it. [Laughs] It's just not that difficult of a thing. Everybody writes a song just like everybody's got that one great novel in them.

Bob Dylan with George Harrison, another favorite of mine. 

Then they went on to have a conversation about how some claim that Jim Morrison is still alive and, according to Dylan, perhaps "riding a donkey on the Andees".

Interviewer: People have a hard time believing that Shakespeare really wrote all of his work because there is so much of it. Do you have a hard time accepting that?

Dylan: People have a hard time accepting anything that overwhelms them.

These Quotes Drive Me Up the Walls

Yesterday me and Philip were at the Princeton University, met with students and passed out Bhagavad-gitas to those who were interested. Surprisingly many were actually really into it. Anyhow, being a quote maniac, I couldn't pass these walls without taking some pictures. This is a cool idea and totally doable. If I had more walls I would totally paint my favorite quotes on them.

I Find No Sweeter Fat Than Sticks to My Bones

Here are my favorite quotes from Walt Whitman (1819-1892). Don't you just love these:

"I believe a leaf of grass is no less than the journey-work of the stars."

"Be curious, not judgemental."

"Every moment of light and dark is a miracle."

"I find no sweeter fat than sticks to my bones."

"Keep your face always toward the sunshine - and shadows will fall behind you."

"Re-examine all that you have been told... dismiss that which insults your soul."

"Simplicity is the glory of expression."

"Stranger, if you passing meet me and desire to speak to me, why should you not speak to me? And why should I not speak to you?"

"If you done it, it ain't bragging."