Reeling in my Imagination

As I sit here alone, 

In this cold and sterile empty place,

I make an effort to contain my imagination,

In attempts to maintain my sanity.

Night-time place: 

Strained thoughts of good things.

Day-time place:

Makes it all worth while-

Prevention of Self

Often times,

I wish I could

get to know someone better-

To become friends;

Rather than acquaintances.

But I don't know how

to go about doing that,

without coming off as

overzealous or even desperate.

I'm afraid that

maybe they won't want

my Friendship...

So I just don't try.

Retrospect

Nothing is ever one-sided;

What one might perceive one way,

Someone else may perceive otherwise.

Actions and words become misinterpreted

Until someone comes clean and discussion begins.

There are always two sides, two perspectives,

Learning someone elses vision can lead to

Awareness of oneself and of others.

True friendship needs honesty.

Words of Wisdom

I don't know why, but I've literally been going through an obsession with Cat Stevens for the past 2-3 weeks. Every morning when I wake up, I set a playlist of about 15 of his songs and go about getting ready for my day with it playing in the background. It always puts me in a happy, positive, ready-to-take-on-the-World type of mood. I had always loved certain pieces of his in the past, but I've lately become enthralled with his work and his outlook on life.

Cat Stevens is a stage name that Steven Demetre Georgiou developed for himself at the onset of his musical career. At the height of his popularity in the mid-late 1970s, he converted to Islam where he adopted the Muslim name Yusuf Islam (unfortunately for him, after the tragic events of 9/11, his name has since been added to the "No Fly" list due to a suspected terrorist having the same name!). Shortly after he converted, he set his musical passions aside and devoted himself to philanthropic and educational causes within the Muslim world. Since then, he has received numerous awards and worldwide recognition for his efforts in promoting World Peace.

I wanted to share a few of his quotes that I found because I truly feel that he is an extremely talented, genuine and brilliant man who possesses a refreshing and realistic perspective and ideology of the World. Ride on the Peace train, enjoy :)

"All things can be forgiven if we can progress. "

"Communal well-being is central to human life."

"I always knew looking back on my tears would bring me laughter, but I never knew looking back on my laughter would make me cry. "

"I am confident that, in the end, common sense and justice will prevail. I'm an optimist, brought up on the belief that if you wait to the end of the story, you get to see the good people live happily ever after. "

"I found a religion that blended scientific reason with spiritual reality in a unifying faith far removed from the headlines of violence, destruction and terrorism. "

"If you want to sing out, sing out, and if you want to be free, be free, cause there's a million ways to be, you know that there are. "

"To be what you want to be, you must give up being what you are."

Mr. Yusuf Islam a.k.a. Cat Stevens

He's a little out of it, but hey, it was the '70s ;)

Beautiful song <3

Conscious Awareness

Anything that has a shape will crumble away.
Anything in a flock will disband.
We’re all like bees alone in this world, buzzing and searching with no place to rest.
Illusions are as various as the reflections of the moon upon a rippling sea. Being so easily become caught in a net of confused pain.
May I develop compassion boundless as the sky, so that all may rest in the clear light of their own awareness.--From the Bardo Thodol- The Tibetan Book of the Dead

Lately I've found myself thinking more and more about the concept of conscious awareness, that is, breaking from the state of unconscious consciousness.

I've been reading a multitude of publications on this topic and have been trying, read trying, to incorporate this practice into my everyday life, starting with my Yoga practice. Now, it's quite easy to maintain conscious awareness whilst practicing Yoga, especially when a soft-spoken teacher is guiding you through your breath and focus but applying this theory to everyday life is a challenge... especially in this fast-paced, bustling, busy, race, race, race society. It's too easy to forget why we are here, that we are here in the first place and that there is so much more going on around us and within us everyday that we are living unconsciously conscious- The bigger picture of it all. 

One article I read states that: "Self-Aware-Existence can be experienced in so many ways without noticing why or how the whole process works to create an experience of the now" and that "Ones higher cognitive abilities begin to awaken just by exposure to the different ways of relating to ones thinking, thoughts, emotions, and interpreted perceptions of life and reality."
(http://www.geocities.com/gadbyme/ConsciousAwareness.html) .

Conscious Awareness provides a new perspective on everything, from the way I feel at any time, to the how and why I think and perceive the way I do. It also provides a consciousness about our surroundings, the people we encounter, our senses, our emotions, our society, Life, nature, the World. Another article states that: "Consciousness is so fundamental that we habitually overlook it, leaving it in the background while we remain distracted with the surface phenomena of our life.... Repeatedly letting go of all the inner events that seduce us into losing ourselves, we create the possibility of looking beyond them." http://www.innerfrontier.org/InnerWorkArchive/2005/20050620_Entering_Conscious_Awareness.htm

The concept of Conscious Awareness is so vast that I can't sum up everything I want to say about it because I am still not 100% sure of all that it entails but the primary step is becoming consciously aware of ourselves, in our bodies, in the here and the now. This is what I attempt to do while practicing Yoga; you first quiet the mind and become fully aware of your breath flowing in and out of your body, oxygenating your blood, rushing through your nasal passages. You start to meditate on this breath and feel the sensation of being in a particular place, of the energy surging through your body from one toe at a time all the way up to the hairs coming out of your head. Feeling this and the sensation of your clothes and the air on your skin, creates an indescribable tingling, surging sensation that is literally your energy flowing through your body. Total body awareness. My Yoga teacher walks us through this by having us bring our focus to our right baby toe, and then the toe next to that and so on, then the edges of our feet, the sole, the heel, the ankle, etc.. etc.. until you reach the top of your head on the right side of your body where you then repeat the process on your left side starting with your left baby toe until your consciousness reaches every part of the entirety of your body. The feeling is unreal.

I've also been trying to remain aware of my connection to the Earth while out and about; of my feet being grounded to the Earth, that I am a part of it and truly savouring all that it has to offer. I could go on and on and on about this topic and considering I'm currently blogging rather than writing an important school paper, I should probably stop now before I start going even deeper. My point though is that Conscious Awareness is a valuable tool for truly experiencing what it is to be Alive and can help quel judgements of others and the situations we encounter day to day.

Try the Yoga awareness exercise I outline above, it can't hurt to try it at least just once! And when your mind wanders, which is most likely will, make a concerted effort to bring your focus back to the awareness of whatever body part you're engaging. I guarantee you'll like to effects and perhaps pursuing Conscious Awareness will become a goal of yours as well :)

October 13, 2006

3 Years Later,
although it feels like it's been a decade.
I still turn to you for guidance
and look to the skies for your Rainbows.

I miss your hugs,
Your laugh,
Our nights of sleepovers,
movies and ice cream.
I miss getting to borrow your head to toe night gowns,
and your never ending supply of flannel socks with the stickies on the bottom.
You showed me the value in taking the time to "veg out",
And taught me what it means to be a true Warrior.
Our games of intersect90
and the afternoons we spent "poking around";
I only wish we had more time.

You are forever missed and always in my Heart;
Give Babes and Mocha a love scrub for me,
I know you're watching down on us.

<3

Passion

Always be True
to the Hopes and Dreams
you hold Deepest
in your Heart.

Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda

*sigh*

Feeling unnecessarily disgruntled at the moment.

Have you ever experienced psyching yourself up
over something you were so strongly looking forward to doing,
Only to discover that someone's already done said anticipation
and that the train's left the station?

BAH!

Well intended,
Non-appreciated.

Blue Sky Tripping

Imagine you were walking down the sidewalk listening to music,
When you pass by another person walking down the sidewalk listening to music-
Now imagine, just for a minute, that you were both listening to the exact same song,
at the exact same part of that same song,
at the exact time you just passed each other by...

Something to muse ;)

Ukraine's Got Talent

Historical, Moving, Inspirational, Pure Talent, Beauty, Art-

If you haven't seen this yet, I strongly encourage you to watch the entirety. You will not be disappointed, this woman possesses an unimaginable skill and will move your heart.