Be Peace

My Smile

Dave — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 18:47:00 +0000

Paint Your Picture

Dave — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 16:29:46 +0000

I thought I would start posting some inspiring art that I’ve been working on recently. Check back often!

Love to you all.

Omega Teen Camp

Dave — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 20:08:04 +0000

I’m going to be working at Omega Teen Camp again this July, a great place for teens to discover new things and be part of an amazing community of wonderful people. Here are some pictures from last year and the year before to give you a taste of what happens there. More about OTC soon…

A Good Friend Asked Me

Dave — Fri, 21 May 2010 08:29:28 +0000

A friend asked me just the other day, do you like to write things down?

I said – I do, but only if I feel inspired.

Now I’m thinking, why couldn’t we write things down more often? If you already do, I think that’s amazing and I would like to join you. If only to bring all the thoughts we have in our heads out into the open, to let them breathe a little bit and get some sunshine on their faces. Maybe that will help us notice which thoughts have been hiding in dark places, not wanting to be seen, and which thoughts need to be exercised more regularly like a young golden retriever who needs to run around outside to grow healthy and strong.

My friend also got me thinking about another self-inquiry – balancing what the world says we need and what we say we need (you can tell this friend is of a high-quality nature by now, yes?). I responded with something like – isn’t it all about finding the deepest, most ‘authentically us’ place inside ourselves that we can and then listening to what this place has to say about everything?

If that sounds right to you, the question becomes, how do we get there? How do we live our lives in such a way? How do we really know ourselves and what we need and want from life? Ha! I can only laugh at these questions because haven’t humans been asking them in some form or another for our entire existence as a species? Every time we start a fight, every time we suffer inside because of anxiety or confusion or anger, every time we chase blindly after things in life that won’t make us happy, every time that we are afraid of living fully, aren’t we fundamentally saying that we wish we knew ourselves better?

It could be a stretch for some, but it seems to me that our own suffering comes from a lack of self knowledge. Following the wrong path is a paradox too – sometimes we have to suffer the uphill walk so that we can see the beautiful vista at the top of the hill, then continue on to the next trail.

If there’s a conclusion to any of these words, then maybe its something like this – if listening to good friends carefully can lead to wonderful realizations about life, then maybe we should make ourselves our best friend in the entire world.

Plastic Bag

Natalie Ryan — Thu, 06 May 2010 19:33:50 +0000

This is a really well made, beautiful short film about a plastic bag’s life. It narrates and takes you through its time spent in a grocery store to the time spent polluting the beach and potentially causing harm to the sea life. The cinematography, music, story line, even the voice of the plastic bag, all play so well together to create a story this is not only creative and beautiful, but leaves a lasting impression about plastic bag waste.

Pictures of Dreams

Dave — Wed, 05 May 2010 06:53:27 +0000

I thought I would round up some photos that feel like they were inspired by dreams, or at least might encourage some dreaming next time you sleep.

Take My Time

Dave — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 00:34:47 +0000

My good friend Abram Leon sent in a really lovely video that he made recently of explorations around his town in Japan during cherry blossom season. He wrote and performed the song too. Spring is definitely here, thanks Abram!

Answers from Deepak Chopra

Dave — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 20:53:11 +0000

Thanks to Kaye Lee for submitting a link to a Deepak Chopra interview in which he answers the big questions we spiritual beings on a human path ask. We couldn’t embed the video, but you can view the full video here.

Below is just a short taste of some of the things that Deepak touches on in the interview.

Interviewer: How can we get rid of violence in the world?

Chopra: To get rid of violence ask yourself if you are totally nonviolent in every thought, action and behavior of yours. If, today, you can make the commitment that every thought of yours and every behavior of yours is nurturing and loving to your immediate environment, the world would transform because you are the universe. At the most fundamental level you are not separate from it. We give Nobel prizes for peace to people who have no peace in their lives, in their families. You want to create peace? Become a beacon of peace yourself.

Interviewer:What are some the greatest qualities humans possess?

Chopra: Wonder, a sense of mystery. To ask questions. Where did I come from? What is the meaning of my existence? Do I have a soul? What happens when I die? Does God exist and does she care about me? These are the qualities that humans beings have that other animals don’t. Also, the ability to love and the ability to have awareness of our mortality as a body-mind system. We are the only species that is aware of our mortality and with that comes the great desire to look into the unknown. So if you can step into the unknown every moment, and be aware of the great mystery of your existence, than you have realized your humanity. If you’re not totally amazed and bewildered and mystified by yourself then you’re still not fully human.

Poem to Myself

Dave — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 01:56:09 +0000

Resist nothing, dear friend.

Resist nothing and see what thoughts of wisdom may come to you from your own depths like so many schools of brightly-colored fish, free to swim out into the world and flourish.

Let the light in your eyes shine as bright as the sun for each and every face that they rest upon.

Let the clouds and the rain nourish your spirit as much as the warmth of summer afternoons does the same.

Let the problems and hardships of your day be your greatest teachers, your perfect opportunities for gracefulness and patience.

Let the hopes and dreams of the world be a carefully held mirror, through which you notice your own heart’s rhythm, your own spirit’s calling, your own inspirations beckoning you to shine brighter and brighter.

Let the noise and movement of the city be an alarm clock for which you are filled with the deepest gratitude, for the time to awaken from dreaming is now.

The time to resist nothing, dear friend, is now.

Mandalas

Dave — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 17:00:33 +0000

You can find out more about these mandalas and other work at anandaphoto.com.