A Year of Collective Paradigm Shifts: Mind, World Body, and Soul...

I am grateful to be ringing in the New Year in a place where I am afforded a couple extra hours to reflect.  As we cross the threshold of 2011 to 2012, there are a few feelings about this shift - the most popular being:  GOOD RIDDANCE!   I will second that; but I also give big thanks.   

This life is a fascinating journey, and as many of you have come to know, is the main focus of this blog.  Though this year marked the end of my 'sabbatical' that I went on about for a couple of years, it ended up being one of the most dense to date.  So personal, painful, joyful, and intense were the paradigm shifts that I often felt too overwhelmed by the experiences to even blog about it - hence the significant lack of soulful and investigative posts this year.   

I met and connected with scores of new souls, each of whom touched and moved and lifted me in ways I can scarcely recall in years past.  I think it had much to do with being more open myself.  When terrifying events in life come to test our characters, or the resilience of our hearts, it's truly the tribes we have formed around us that keep us reaching higher.  And this year was high.  If there was any moment to question the oddity of serendipitous or seemingly coincidentally unlucky events, all one had to do was truly listen to the tale of another, or turn on the BBC news to truly feel connected to something bigger. I can't remember any time of worldwide uproars such as what we witnessed this year - so much so that TIME magazine name The Protestor the person of the year!  To feel this connection is to be charged by it, whatever the circumstances or prior held convictions.  The pulse of our world this year insisted on truth, equality, openness, second chances; it demanded a rebirth of ONE spirit, in friendships, business alliances, communities, and nations.  

As I prepare to look back while stepping forward, I will set my focus on the very long list of things I have to be grateful for this year; my new friendships and the evolution of old ones,  my accomplishments with my creative work, my freedom to travel, and my deeper understanding and connection with my family. And all this despite the very real and frightening challenges I faced regarding all of the above since Jan 1st, 2011.  

Perhaps the thing I am most grateful for is in ending the year in integrity.  I have no hang ups about how I have related to the world - and I can't truly say that about any other year.  I got comfortable enough in my humanity this year to be myself, to stand my ground, and to offer understanding, patience, truth, and love, where ever and whenever I could - and I'm incapable of accounting for the worth of such a gift.     

I've always been one to insist on focusing on gratitude - as it's the only way to see what you have to work with rather than to live in lack.  It's the only way you will feel abundant enough to help someone else. It is the only way you will feel whole enough to forgive others, or to offer true understanding and compassion. True gratitude will keep fear away, and keep you honest.  It's the only way to love your life, to love yourself, and to love your fellow human - who is just as challenged in navigating this journey as you are.  

Happy New Year folks - May you cross into 2012 with an open heart charged with courage to soar ever higher.  Know what you deserve, and dare to manifest it all, and do it with love.   

Power to the People

Mass, en masse, united in purpose and a clear non-violent vision for change, and we mean change - 5000 years of one way, ...to a new way.  That's DEEP!  

These people have proved a most important philosophy to a world that often seems exhausted by or allergic to true activism.   Inspired by Tunisia's revolution, they now inspire the world with their demand for free expression.  

Photo Source: Travel Guide

Photo Source: Flickr

Congratulations to Egypt - Land of the Ancient Kingdoms, Land of the Pyramids, may you continue to beguile, seduce, and expand our minds with your mysterious history, and the enthusiastic valor with which you tread the path of your future. 

Photo Source: Travel Pod

NB.  I've posted this before, but Ben Okri's Lines in Potensis is I think a perfect toast to this historical moment.  (Thanks Sean for sharing this - it's never lost its potency for here it is again.)

SUPPORT POST: YOUmanity begins with YOU

My darling friend and now X-hussy has the mind of a peace loving insane genius.  Everything he does leaves me shaking my head and wondering...'how?'  He's a fantastic actor and a wordsmith wonder who rivals the best Who's Line Is It Anyway heavyweights.  He's also a creative artist with the soul of a true humanitarian.  He's always involved in some effort or another to assist a group of individuals, or some poor animal to have an easier go at this thing called life.

In support of his efforts, and theirs, I wanted to post this here.  Check it and get one! Sarah Palin, Carol Channing and Lady GaGa Endorse!!!!  Haha!!

Thanks for the support.

100% of the profits from the sale of this YOUmanity T-shirt will be donated to the following organizations that help children:

The Babygirl Project is a part of FREE THE CHILDREN - show you LIKE them on Facebook.

YOUmanity

It begins with YOU

SOLE of REDEMPTION: Majesty of the Little Things

Over the course of one’s life you accumulate a lot of shoes – and many of them reveal an awful lot about who you are or who you’re trying to be and most importantly, they are obvious markers of what races you’re running or which ones you fit into (or not).   I’ve been tossing out a lot of shoes lately – not so much because of a bad fit, but rather because I bought a few that were simply uncomfortable. 

In my travels over the past year I’ve found a few new pairs in Europe (UK and Germany) and back home in Jamaica that fit really well.  Particularly back in Jamaica, the fit was so good that I broke out into a sprint.  My life over the past few months has taken on the most unpredictable direction which has focused my most recent running efforts into producing and possibly showing my new photographic projects there.

I’ve been so taken by the open generousity, warmth, beauty, and ease of temperament of my fellow Jamaicans, which frankly I’d long forgotten in my fast-and-furious-singular-ambitious-race-for-survival in New York.  I will admit that over the years, I’ve become a New Yorker in every sense, I correlate my needs and resources at a constant pace of supreme urgency just as a matter of course, and being confronted by anything slower is enough to cause a crash.  And crash I did, from utter exhaustion into a necessarily new (though old and familiar) way of navigating the path.  

Hanging out with friends and family needn’t be as complicated as arranging a triple by-pass surgery with the world’s most sought after surgeon.  In Jamaica, I experienced a social ease that seemed to be free of self-importance - free of attachment to busy schedules. I experienced myself at ease, which as odd as this may be to say about oneself, is quite the novelty! The scene in Kingston has changed immensely since my youthful days there.  I shamefully admit now that I left Jamaica thinking it was limited in its cultural views and therefore in its expression and growth – and I’ve never been more wrong about anything in my life. 

          Now that I’ve become, for all intents and purposes, a complete tourist, when I travel there my eyes are always open to every new development, and to my absolute wonderment and delight, there have been many.   Thriving galleries (you must check out the newly renovated National Gallery!), art fairs and festivals offer new avenues of visual and performing art expression with several exhibition and performance spaces for new talent to share their creations (eg. Kingston on the Edge [KOTE] & Liguanea Art Festival).  Gorgeous new hotels with lovely lounges for evening gatherings (Backgammon nights, and lunch at Spanish Court Hotel - winner!  thanks Mickey!), which are among the many nightlife options that even the New York Times referred to last November as a happening scene.  There is a thriving café and restaurant culture with more culinary explorations than were ever available in my day, and a huge fashion explosion (see Caribbean Fashion week) with promising collaborations of new and established talent from all over the Caribbean and the world.  There are also open venues for new writers to present, publish, and sell their works (see Bookphilia). And all this, against the backdrop of an incredibly beautiful, tropical, mountainous paradise with fun, gregarious, talented, sexy, beautiful people.  And now all this seems to be hanging in the balance of a few individuals who have all but set the capital on proverbial fire.  

Jamaica for all its glaring beauty has unfortunate glaring socio-economic challenges that have created hot ground under the shoes of its citizens.  With the pending extradition of the alleged drug and arms trafficker Christopher “Dudus” Coke, the descending hell of his supporters to prevent his arrest has now sent my fellow Jamaicans running for the hills before a 6pm curfew.  State of Emergency?! My God my mind is beating louder than my heart.  Being a West African born girl, I know what that means in perhaps a more palpable way than even my friends who are currently in the middle of this fray.  I can’t help but project my knowledge of a particular type of national unrest onto this my other home.   Ironically "Dudus" is to be extradited to my third home, New York City. 

Parallel to this is the irony that for some time now the citizens of Jamaica have been less than pleased, not only with the government and it’s handling of the country and this current set of circumstances concerning “Dudus” but also with the Police Forces – some calling for their total disbandment and replacement.  I unfortunately don’t have a fully informed opinion on  much of this to be perfectly honest.  I am an artist, and a dreamer; I purposely ride in a bubble, and currently with really comfy shoes that want to run home. 

The irony is that with the intensity of our current civil unrest – our very safety now relies completely on those whom we have spent all this time criticizing.  The burden and full extent of accountability of the reasons behind this not withstanding, I’m sure of this much, we can only pray for and support those who are literally laying their lives on the line to keep our loved ones safe.  The run in the streets now is almost like a race for redemption, and their bloodstained soles, in my dreaming mind, serve only to clear the path for clean new ground upon which we can tread together slowly, calmly, and stain-free to a better, brighter, and united future.  

May the Universal Love of Life Redeem Our Majestic Little Island

+ Photos of local children and Bonsai trees (courtesy of award winning Bonsai artist Kynan Cooke) in Kingston, Jamaica  – all beautiful little things, that with loving care, bend and grow and thrive in little spaces with grand elegance.  

++ For more on hot gathering spots, arts & entertainment, and open discourse on current cultural tides in Kingston - YardEdge.net is pretty much the best resource for listings on everything happening now.  Check it and bookmark it. 

+++ Wise appeals from Bob, Black Uhuru, Shabba, Buju, and Matisyahu:

Bob Marley - Ambush In The Night

 

Black Uhuru - Solidarity



Shabba Ranks - Roots and Culture

Buju Banton - Cowboy/Curfew

Matisyahu - One Day (LIVE Sirrus performance with beatboxing)

We Hope

   We Pray

      We Clamour for Peace

                     for Truth

                       for Justice

                         for Unity

                        AS A NATION 

~Mystic Urchin~

Let Go: While Haiti Cries, We Must Try (UPDATES - Jan 20th)

+This Post will be periodically UPDATED
with new info marked in green 


Not sure what to write. Seems everyone is scrambling in the mad dash to help - and thank goodness.  There's been so much devisive shit on the news the past year spurring on the negative aspects of humanity  - and here's one really awful event that is uniting the international community to help the vulnerable.   And the death toll and displacement numbers in Haiti are so staggering at this point (now reaching 140,000 dead according to the Guardian) that there could be no other response than this incredible worldwide community effort. Lets just hope in the next 48 hours rescue efforts will result in more successes. 

I first wanted to share photos from a talented and versatile photographer and purist in the craft, Christopher L. Mitchell (aka NEOERO) living in Haiti (thank God he's fine).  He's been traveling between there and New York city for years, and his love of Haiti caused him to move to Jacmel I think almost  2 years ago. 
Instead of pulling from the major news sites - I'd rather show these images from someone I'm somewhat acquainted with, admire, and support.  He's been posting his images on Facebook and I'd like to share some with you here:

All Fotos © Christopher L. Mitchell

Secondly, I like sharing lists, and below I've compiled a short one mainly for the collection of non-perishable goods (clothes, shoes, sanitary napkins, diapers, canned food, dry food goods, candles, batteries, flashlights, blankets/towels, bandages/gauze - you get the idea), as there are more than enough fund raising options out there.  Whatever you have, you have more than they do. Let go of the extras and find the relief orgs in your community to send stuff.  It's not just for this weekend - Haitians will need help for a REALLY long time. So if not the pockets, dig your closets. I'm doing a lot of packing too.

LISTS For Donations & Drop-Offs

Support Post: Epic Theater Ensemble Just Won BIG TIME!

I'm so proud to show support for a deserving group. My acting teacher from college, Godfrey Simmons Jr, serves as one of the artistic producers at Epic Theater Ensemble here in New York, and one of their after school theater programs "Shakespeare Remix" has just received a most prestigious reward:

WE HAVE WON

...the 2009 COMING UP TALLER AWARD presented by the PRESIDENT'S COMMITTEE on the

ARTS and the HUMANITIES for our SHAKESPEARE REMIX program. This prestigious award 

recognizes and supports outstanding after-school arts and humanities programs for 

children, especially those with great potential, but limited outlets for creative 

expression.

Here is a breakdown on what they are about, with board director and kick ass actor David Strathairn:

Check out their website for more info plus showtimes for Shakespeare Remix and other projects: Epic Theater Ensemble 

(www.epictheatrectr.org)

"Never keep up with the Joneses. Drag them down to your level."

Some people can't imagine being loved
So they don't want love
and refuse it when gently offered to them

What do we do with people like this? Grant their wish to be left alone by turning our backs, ignoring them, maybe even treating them with a little of the same miserable cruelty that they offer in abundance? Understandable if you say 'yes' here.

But I say no actually. And to be clear, it is not because of God or some other mystical reason; and certainly not in following some societal rule of deportment; far simpler.

It is perhaps unbelievable, and certainly naive, and always a bit painful, but I simply never feel better brandishing the same bitterness and hostility shown by others. It makes me feel worse. I prefer to keep giving love...if even at a distance.

It's easier to look at such misery for what it is: fearful loneliness and an incapability to ask for a way out of that darkness. I just can't be so merciless to turn my back on such vulnerability when I can see right through it - even if I'm looking through a wall of fire.

"Abatement in the hostility of one's enemies must never be thought to signify they have been won over. It only means that one has ceased to constitute a threat."

That said - I do find bitter humor thoroughly enjoyable:

"Health consists of having the same diseases as one's neighbors."

Foto ©SeBiArt
"Living en famille provides the strongest motives for rudeness combined with the maximum opportunity for displaying it."

"There is no need to do any housework at all. After the first four years the dirt doesn't get any worse. "

All quotes by ~Quinten Crisp~ Click for more Crisp-isms.

Wow - ignorance is a bitch eh? - JAMAICA & the LGBT crisis

This post is a response I wrote to the recent YardEdge post and Jamaica Gleaner Article on the LGBT community here in the US lobbying to boycott Red Stripe Beer as a message to the world to punish Jamaica for it's known prejudice against gays:

Wow - ignorance is a bitch eh? I suspect what is probably obvious here - that Red Stripe was a logical choice for the lobbyists because it's one of the more internationally recognizable brands to come out of Jamaica and thus would resonate immediately to anyone listening to their protest. It's just unfortunate that they didn't bother to do any research on the business they are targeting. And my goodness - its so EASY to find any number of businesses, organizations, or individuals in both the public and private sectors in Jamaica to target in this boycott!! It's sick but true to say that we Jamaicans have enjoyed a local freedom of open discrimination and abuse of our gay brothers for time immemorial!

Being a Jamaican national, I worry of course about the bad press for Jamaica on the one hand, but on the other, I can't object to the idea of this protest as we yardies are undeniably known for such reprehensible views and behavior towards the LGBT community.

It of course doesn't help that we have yet to see one of our social or political leaders take a public stand in this. But back to the other hand - there's quantifiable reason for this: in Jamaica - it's literally a risk to your physical safety to support ANYTHING to do with gay men and women!!! In fact - I find myself just a tad bit nervous even commenting here on the matter. For God's sake we're taking about a nation from where members of the LGBT community seek asylum...yes...ASYLUM here in the States due to the real danger of being openly gay in Jamaica.

Should this boycott become a big international campaign, will it change anything in Jamaica truly or will it simply make it more dangerous for gay men and women due to some violent backlash; like the child being beaten for the exposed bad behavior of the parent?!?! I think the only thing that could make this boycott somewhat useful on the human/equal rights stage is for a responsible leader in our country to recognize the existing distaste that other nations hold for us regarding this issue, and thus taking the social and political risk to stand with the international community in an attempt to start creating (and I hate to use this word but we'd have to start somewhere!) TOLERANCE.

the Barnes & Noble Picture...

So no doubt you've seen or heard this one today...

-----Original Message-----

Barnes & Noble

Let us not be lulled into a sense of complacency, due to the recent political success of President Obama!

Racism still exists in this country. Like all things, nothing is perfect on this planet, in this world.

We have an obligation to be active on issues that simply cannot be ignored.
Along these lines we should all actively spread the word of how Barnes and Noble apparently feels about black people or at least our President.

Please forward this to as many people you think should be aware of it and would be offended by this.


Boycotting Barnes and Noble will show the economic effect of people who will not tolerate racism.


Barnes and Noble had this as their store front display in Coral Gables, FL, in the Miracle Mile Mall. I am totally disgusted and I think it isimportant that we all find a different place to buy our books. Obviously this is a place of extreme ignorance. How far have we really come?

God bless the CP race!


----
AND I SAY:

Is this a joke? I’m sorry but I don’t agree with this at all.

1)
As a photographer I have to note that if this was indeed a B&N window and I wanted to point out this outrage to the world, I would have ensured that there was an entire storefront photo to help market my outrage. Since this is not the case I have to question whether if this is a joke or not (considering there are so many folklore sights out there invalidating this issue)

2)
This has indeed put B&N in quite the tricky position of having to apologize as an institution for an occurrence at ONE store in one of the more racist states in the country, where it may have been a stupid prank by a customer or store worker. And so now, I should boycott the ENTIRE company (that does not sanction nationwide uniform corporate displays) for this supposed act????

3)
I live in New York and if you walk into ANY B&N here you feel proud of Barack Obama who has all but been immortalized in full show more than any other figure I’ve ever seen in ANY bookstore!

4)
The world now knows how overly sensitive we’ve become to the jokes, snears, and primate comparisons (which of course are not to be tolerated), but be careful that those who mean to offend us also mean to distract us in time wasting matters, lest we keep our attention steadfastly on continuing to build positive symbols of our obvious greatness, while enjoying the discounts off the very books that document just that. Ha!

It’s time to LIVE IN GLORY people. Pick the battles carefully, do no wear yourselves out on a win that may not count. The only satisfaction won here as I see it is the attention the prankster fool is getting out of this.

Long live the HUMAN race!

SeBiArt Hosts Video Blog on YARDEDGE - 1st Interview - SPUR TREE LOUNGE, NYC

PART I

PART II

1 COMMENT FOR THIS ENTRY

germaican_lady

Laaawwed, mi hungry now!! ...lol... Oh, by the way, what DON'T you do, girl?

Posted by GermaicanLady on Sunday, January 18, 2009 - 21:50
[Reply to this] [Remove] [Block User]

Late but still affecting...a little thought on Obama's Victory

The night Barack won, my mum called me from Jamaica. Like all around us, and around the world, we wept - and she said to me "You see Berette, do you see what he has done? Look at his supporters: an even mix of every type of person jumping together as one body. That is the world your father and I raised you to see, that is the world we wanted to you to live in." And I cried out, LOUDLY and almost violently because that night, I remembered the girl I was when I moved here and my heart opened for me to begin loving myself again.

Yes, it was truly an amazing time to be alive, to be a part of such joy, such openness, such incredulous euphoric oneness on that night, and I will forever cherish having been alive to witness and experience it. I was jumping till the wee hours in Times Square - too filled and too hungry to be filled more to go home. :) It was also the night I accepted America as my home.