Last Day: Whew! (July 31st)

Photo credit: Roberto Kaplan, Roberts Creek (Sunshine Coast), BC

WOWWWWWWWWWWWWW! Finally! It's the last day of the Ultimate Blog/ging Challenge (UBC) and I am home free - thank goodness! - at last, in more ways than one! ;) (Imagine me wiping the sweat from my brow due to not only hot weather, but also finishing the UBC of blogging every day this month, for 31 days: WOW! I can't believe I did it!)

You see, even though I enjoy, actually love creative writing and reading and researching affiliated with it, I think it highly impractical, at least for me, to blog on a daily basis.

For one, it's challenging on my body. My body is meant to move, not sit or stand while typing, reading/researching online for hours on end at times. It's also not a great idea for the eyes: my eyes seem to dry out even though I attempt to blink consciously, never seemingly enough. And my body. I have been avoiding eating decent meals or eating late sometimes due to this...am I crazy or what? Don't answer that: that's a rhetorical question!

And secondly, it's summer! What am I doing spending time indoors (except keeping cool on hot days)?

Am I or was I rather crazy then to participate in this? Yes for the reasons above and no.

No 'cause I challenged my mind, my writing, and in the process, met and gained some wonderful international bloggers and friendships, not to mention read a lot of great blog posts. There are a lot of good bloggers out there! :)

Now, question is: what will I (or you if you are a UBC blogger) do with all that free time? You know, the time you used to spend reading/researching/typing/looking for and downloading pictures? I know what I will be doing based in part on my blogging and that of my fellow UBC bloggers:

*enjoy summer what's left of it(!) including in no particular order:
*attend my favourite Harmony Arts Festival by the ocean
*finish reading a fascinating (spiritually-based) book, Michael Jackson: Man Behind the Mirror by a man I know named Raamayan Ananda
*"catch up" (st least some) on reading blogs including UBC bloggers with honourable mentions to some of my newfound friends in India: Vinodini Iyer who deserves an award for her compelling and brilliant story writing/telling - love it! - and sweet Asma Ferdoes (aka Asiya)with her sensitivity shining through brilliantly in her delicate stories and poems (that I can so relate to it seems)
*listen to free live bands outside in the sun
*dance outdoors including salsa lessons

*go for walks and hug trees in the process
*attend free community events and festivals
*watch beautiful sunsets
*hoola hoop with my sturdy portable (and foldable) hoop
*sing and sun doing a vision therapy exercise
*look at the supermoon (maybe practicing trataka (something I learned while blogging)
*learn Zentangle (thanks to bloggers Minette Riordan and Laura Regan)
*clean my pile of dishes and cooking/preparing meals which I neglected most of this month (oops!)
*tidy/clean what has become my messy home (also neglected after so many days)

*hang out with my friends over iced tea or iced espresso drinks
*visit farmers markets and listen to the free outdoor entertainment
*AND hang out more on my patio whether eating, reading, zero gravity chairing! (now, that's poetic license!) ;)
*read and write my blog posts at my leisure (usually about every two weeks with my busy schedule, thank you very much)

Thank you to the organizers including Michelle Shaeffer and Kathy Hadley as well as all of you UBC members and readers. Know that I appreciate you whether I have (had the time to) read your blog or not. I hope to read more of your posts next month in between everything else! ;)

I look forward to keeping in touch with some of you through your blogs and/or social media. I already have some ideas brewing for future posts such as performance poetry, and a tribute to a woman who healed herself of cancer. ;)

How will you dear reader spend/enjoy your summer or free time (depending when you read this!)>

Sounding like a Dervish? (like Michael Jackson?)

Yesterday, I made reference to a particular dancing style of Michael Jackson's in relation to that of whirling dervishes. Today, I am doing so in terms of a particular sound in his music.

A number of Michael Jackson's songs feature him singing "hoo" "which sounds somewhat similar to "hu") at or near the beginning or end as well as in the middle; "Man in the Mirror" is one of them. When you watch the video, notice at the 3:35 mark for about eight such repetitions as well as at the 4:10 mark and beyond.

(The link is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTTgxq1JTqw&feature=player_detailpage.)

According to Raamayan Ananda, a Vancouver, BC author of Michael Jackson: Man Behind the Mirror, "The third step (in his [sic?] dynamic meditation) is a particular sound: HOOO. Not the word 'who,' just the sound hoo - meaningless." The sounds has definite implications that can, if turned inwards be a rebirth or spiritual transformation (http://manbehindthemirror.com/).

Similarly, according to the following beautiful video and music, "hu" - slightly different - was the sound of the out breath (i.e., exhale) which denotes "that which is, that which was, and that which will be" (at the 5:33 time mark):


HU - An Introduction to Sufi Zikr Meditation... by Gurumaa-Ashram

Again, Michael might have had his twist on the word "hu." Even though, if you recall from my post yesterday, Michael did read Sufi poetry, did he really have knowledge about the word? The following is what appears on the front of a business card on HU:

HU
A Love Song to God

Singing HU can:
Expand your awareness
Help you experience divine love
Heal a broken heart
Offer solace during times of grief
Bring peace and calm

After all, Michael Jackson didn't necessarily experience peace and calmness in his life, did he?

On the website regarding hu (www.hearhu.org), there is a short video clip (and featured below) where it declares at the 1:01 time indicator, "This word has been sung for thousands of years for spiritual upliftment" and further on, "It is an ancient name for God."

http://www.eckankar.org/Video/play.php?name=Miracles+in+Your+Life

Take a few moments to sing/chant the word 'hu'. What do you notice? How does it make you feel? If you prefer not to do this, then how do certain vowel sounds make you feel when you say them outstretched as in "aye" (for 'a'), "eeeeeh" for ('e), "eye" (for "i"), "oh" for 'o', and 'oooh' for 'u?'

NB: Please be advised that I am not endorsing any particular philosophy or religion in any of my blog postings. I am only informing or sharing that which I find of interest in my research as part of my writing. It is up to you to decipher what is best for you - what calls or draws you - and take responsibility for your own decisions. Namaste.

Whirling like a Dervish? (like Michael Jackson?!)

Photo of MJ by Zoran Veselinovic



The above video highlights some of the "King of Pop", Michael Jackson's spins over the years. And following below is an enlightening poem, dancing the dream written by Michael Jackson - yes, he wrote poetry - about his dancing.

http://bluemoon.fem.jp/dancing/main_e/dancing_1e.html

Do you notice how this poem seems to describe Sufi dancing (if you are a bit familiar with the depth of it), not to mention that his style of poetry is very much like that of Rumi? It is perhaps no wonder then that Michael used to read Sufi poetry and performed his own version of twirls and whirls, though he had his own style, his own spin on it! ;) Couldn't resist that pun! (Info from Michael Jackson: Man Behind the Mirror written by Raamayan Ananda, a man I know from Vancouver, British Columbia. Check out his book at (http://manbehindthemirror.com/).

Next we will look at another interesting aspect...to be continued, tomorrow?

What kind of things do you notice in our world that whirl? What does the spinning symbolically represent to you?

Parodies in Music

I love videos such as the one above created by Raamayan Ananda, a man I know from the spiritual community in Vancouver. It addresses GMO's (genetically modified organisms), rather, it is an anti-GMO music video that was created to support Prop 522 for GMO labelling.

This first video entitled "Don't Eat It", a parody to Michael Jackson's (MJ's) "Beat It" with partial imagery of MJ's "Thriller" dance routine, has the following storyline: "GMO executives Have Taken Over the Food Chain, a group of dedicated citizens march to face them off in an epic battle, but something nefarious and unexpected happens..."

The lyrics are as follows:

They Told Them Don't You Ever Grow Around Here
Don't Wanna Eat your food, You Better Disappear
The Fire's In Our Eyes And Our Words Are Really Clear
Don't EAT It

You Better Run, You Better Do What You Can
Don't Want no GMO's, You better ditch your plan
We'll fight you to the end, We're making a stand

Don't EAT, If you wanna stay allivee

(CHORUS)
Don't Eatt it (eat it), don't eat it (eat it)
g-mos will to be defeated!

Show em, its funky, show'em its not right
It DOES matter, who's wrong or right

Don't EAt it..(eat it... eat it... eat it....)
------
(Monsanto Execs Speaking)

We've got the politicians dealing our hand
You've got no right to know what's in your fruit and bread
Be like a good sheep, and just do what 'sam' says
JUST EAT IT

(GMO Activist Speaking)

Were Out To Get You, Better Leave While You Can
Our kids won't be no lab rats in your business plan
You wanna stay alive, Get GMO's Banned

Don't Eat It.... Better Do What You Can!

(Chorus)-

The short video below, "Plastic State of Mind" is a parody of JAY Z and Alicia Keys' "Empire State of Mind." It is about the ramifications of plastic waste in the form of bags. (Both videos are brilliant in my opinion and I hope you enjoy them as much as I do! Please feel free to share and circulate them as they are important messages.)



These two videos are an example of only one idea (of many) that I have for my non-traditional, co-creative children's/youth choir. Co-creative in that we get to play with ideas - theirs and mine - in creating our own music, rhythms and yes, even rap.

Rap can be especially effective on matters that are close to one's heart and/or the heartbeat of Mother Earth. The results need not be as sophisticated as these videos and that's totally ok. It's the intent and the words and the message that is important.

What are causes close to your heart? Do you take action on them? If so, how often? Do you or can you do so in a creative or artistic manner?