Gaia Community: Samme's Blog

In The Arms Of An Angel

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 03:06:59 -0000

Gaia is crying today...,

DOODLE GREETINGS

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 13:02:20 -0000

I have a new fun and friendly expression of my love and appreciation for my Gaia Friends, with a capital G and F, my girlfriends and men friends here at Gaia. Need I say more? Just look at the pictures, lol. For those who do not have one yet, please be patient.

"It might have appeared unnoticed, but I've got it all here in my heart."

Peaceful Easy Feelings

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 04:43:20 -0000

I love to post this song before I head outside...,

In Praise of Women

Tue, 26 Aug 2008 04:20:02 -0000

"Well behaved women rarely make history."
~ Laurel Thatcher Ulrich

"So much has been said and sung of beautiful young girls, why don't somebody wake up to the beauty of old women?"
~ Harriet Beecher Stowe

Add to the list of quotations in praise of women. Add your favorites or your original quotations.

PHENOMENAL WOMEN

Tue, 26 Aug 2008 02:47:08 -0000

PHENOMENAL WOMAN
by Maya Angelou

Pretty women wonder where my secret lies
I'm not cute or built to suit a model's fashion size
But when I start to tell them
They think I'm telling lies.
I say
It's in the reach of my arms
The span of my hips
The stride of my steps
The curl of my lips.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally
Phenomenal woman
That's me.

I walk into a room
Just as cool as you please
And to a man
The fellows stand or
Fall down on their knees
Then they swarm around me
A hive of honey bees.
I say
It's the fire in my eyes
And the flash of my teeth
The swing of my waist
And the joy in my feet.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally
Phenomenal woman
That's me.

Men themselves have wondered
What they see in me
They try so much
But they can't touch
My inner mystery.
When I try to show them
They say they still can't see.
I say
It's in the arch of my back
The sun of my smile
The ride of my breasts
The grace of my style.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally
Phenomenal woman
That's me.

Now you understand
Just why my head's not bowed
I don't shout or jump about
Or have to talk real loud
When you see me passing
It ought to make you proud.
I say
It's in the click of my heels
The bend of my hair
The palm of my hand
The need for my care.
'Cause I'm a woman
Phenomenally
Phenomenal woman
That's me.

SOUL FEST

Mon, 25 Aug 2008 13:25:34 -0000

I have thought of this blog long time ago and I am inspired today to put it up. What song or songs to you that has soul or is full of soul or soulful. There are no wrong answers, just share your fabulous songs.

I have lots but this is the one for now..., and I will come back later for more and you can do just the same.

soulful love,

Samme

What, in this moment, is bringing you joy?

Sun, 24 Aug 2008 23:46:17 -0000

My friend's posts on my grapevine and at the PENNY LANE fun project, emails in my inbox and the comments on blogs and photography.

Love from this moment on,

Samme

SAMME'S FAVORITE distrACTIONS

Fri, 22 Aug 2008 11:12:33 -0000

Samme's Top Distractions

13. Divinations, Tarot Cards, Runes

12. Knitting & Weaving

11. Playing Music

10. Mandala Work (coloring mandala and sand mandala)

9. Trading Card Games, reading comics and manga

8. Journalling and Writing, Soul Work

7. Computer Games
6. Videography and Photography

5. Meditating

4. Singing and Listening to Music, Collecting Vintage LPs

3. Reading

2. Movies

1. Surfing Gaia, Gaia and Gaia

The Power of Film and Photography

Fri, 22 Aug 2008 08:26:20 -0000

I would like to share these two talks here from TED.com to show the power of film and photography in personal, social and global transformation. I believe humanity are inherently creative and does not strive to be creative for creativity's sake. Creativity and diversity and oneness of vision might save humanity.

Talks

Jehane Noujaim: TED Prize wish: Unite the world on Pangea Day, a global day of film

Talks

David Griffin: Photography connects us with the world

These talks may be 20 minutes in length but it will be a rewarding experience for those who view the two videos. May we all be inspired.

Thank you,
Samme
click on the titles for direct links to the video

ON DIVERSITY & ANTHROPOLOGY

Fri, 22 Aug 2008 01:57:28 -0000

Anthropology

Anthropology studies humankind from a comparative perspective that emphasizes the diversity of human behavior and the importance of culture in explaining that diversity.

While the discipline encompasses the biological nature of our species and the material aspects of human adaptation, it takes as fundamental the idea that we respond to nature and natural forces in large part through culture. Anthropology, then, is the study of human beings as cultural animals. Sociocultural anthropology draws its data from the direct study of contemporary peoples living in a wide variety of circumstances, from peasant villagers and tropical forest hunters and gatherers to urban populations in modern societies, as well as from the history and prehistory of those peoples.

The Anthropology Program at MIT offers students a broad exposure to the discipline as well as an anthropological perspective on problems and issues relevant to other fields in the humanities, social sciences, and engineering. It also provides more intensive introduction to areas of faculty specialization, which include social and political organization, economics and human ecology, religion and symbolism, and the anthropology of medicine and scientific research. Geographical specializations include cultures of Latin America, the Middle East, and the United States.

The anthropology curriculum is divided into six groups that show the breadth of the field, with particular emphases: introductory, social anthropology, technology in cultural context, and areal and historical studies. Special topics in anthropology and advanced graduate subjects are also offered.

MIT Anthropology students learn about the concept of culture, the nature of anthropological fieldwork, and the connections between anthropology and the other social sciences. They study the various theories that attempt to explain human behavior as well as the range of methods anthropologists use to analyze data. Students can focus on geographical areas, and on issues like neocolonialism, gender studies, religion and symbolism, or comparative political organization.

For those who are not aware that the MIT Opencourseware is free learning program for anybody but is not degree granting. They have scores of learning program curricula from different fields and behaviors. Check the anthropology offerings by clicking this link.

A question that must be raised is this: when natives of the various cultures denied history and intellectual authority do indeed theorize, are those theories legitimated? Are they even acknowledged as higher order explanations?

~ Faye V. Harrison,

“Anthropology as an Agent of Transformation: Introductory Comments and Query,” 1997 [1911]

It is a curious fate to write for a people other than one’s own and it is even stranger to write to the conquerors of one’s people.

~ Joseph Memmi, The Colonizer and the Colonized, 1991 [1965]

Currently Reading:

Black Feminist Anthropology

I think with the advent of modern technology such as the internet, diversity have come to the forefront and it is much easier to learn and connect with cultures other than one's own. The new form of "blogs" and "blogging" is like a modern personal and historical writing that is easily accessible to anyone. By telling our "own" stories, we are making and rewriting history firsthand. By reading other people's blogs, it is a window to mutual respect and understanding that hopefully will pave the way to a more diversified and peaceful society and the world at large. I believe the study of anthropology albeit without its limitations and flaws is essential to a better understanding of oneself's role in relation to personal, political, sociological and historical scheme of things. Race, gender and class continued to be a determining factor in contemporary social issues such as violations on human rights, inequalities, modern-day slavery, child labor, fair trade and wages, etc. By sharing our stories and telling our truths, we are rewriting not just anthropology but history and herstory.

When was the last time you behaved out of character?

Thu, 21 Aug 2008 11:27:31 -0000

Since my recent transformation/retransformation, I thought that I could no longer tell a story from my past since the darkest story of the past had been laid out in the open and let go. I thought that the past no longer describe who I am although I am grateful for the paths I have tread for they have made me who I am today - still alive and have the power of will to move on and transcend. So the last time I am behaving out of character is ever since my recent transformation, every moment, everyday. I am rediscovering myself with new set of eyes and mindset. I observe and I allow and I accept my limitations and hopeful for my unlimited capacities. Those are what I am trying to find out now - my unlimited capacities. I can be anything I want to be or I can do anything I set my mind to. I just have to do it and see if it brings me to a higher state of my beingness. Otherwise then I just have to do something else and live life everyday.

I just saw a movie at Tower Theater titled Vicky Christina Barcelona. It is a story of two women who have characters on the two sides of the extreme scale. They went to Barcelona to spend their summer vacation. One night while dining in a restaurant a native Spanish man (Javier Bardem) approached their table and after the formalities asked the two women if they both would like to sleep with him. Just like that. And I am going to stop telling the rest of the movie here so as not to spoil it for anyone wishing to see the movie. The reason why I brought that up is because of this thing about "behaving out of character". One of the women thought she is the way she is until she found out different and her world and mind has never been the same again.

Behaving out of character is fun just as long as you are not hurting anyone. I'm not.

God grant me the serenity

To accept the things I cannot change;

Courage to change the things I can;

And wisdom to know the difference.

Living one day at a time;

Enjoying one moment at a time;

Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;

Taking, as He did, this sinful world

As it is, not as I would have it;

Trusting that He will make all things right

If I surrender to His Will;

So that I may be reasonably happy in this life

And supremely happy with Him

Forever and ever in the next.

It's funny but most of the things I am doing now, I already have done before. But now there is a difference. Now I am really seeing, really meditating, really loving, really living, unblocking. It is a better feeling. I am elated with the simple things that I try to capture them by photographing, coloring, journalling, etc. without guilt, inner criticisms and fear of ridicule.

Now looking back at my life and my consciousness, it seems like I am water falling and then being catched and then falling again and being catched and having fallen again to be caught again. Who's doing the catching? God!

I love you!

Samme

I'm at the age where...

Thu, 21 Aug 2008 04:58:10 -0000

it is just like any other, just like that, age.

BLOG HAPPY!

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 10:22:43 -0000

Oh what a beautiful morning!!!

Love needs no reason and explaNATION.

What do you think about when you're feeling down?

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 08:43:45 -0000

"Come Samme the water feels good."
This blog is sponsored by life.

I should answer this. I need to answer this not for anybody but for me. And not in the same lower vibrations I felt when I was feeling down. I will answer this my own way and it may not be the answer that you are expecting but my answer will come from my heart.

In my own experience, lately I have waded and paddled myself out from feeling down. I learned that only I, hold the answer to keep myself from feeling down more and be feeling up and about. No one can tell me what I need to do. I need to find the answers on my own. Most of the times I already know the answer but I did not apply them at once before. I always know what to do. From now on I can ask myself if ever or whenever I am feeling down again that, "what can I do right now to keep myself up and positive minded?" The thing also to keep in mind is, "how do I keep myself from repeating the same patterns of feeling down time and time again?" I need to learn the lesson once and for all. Stop the pattern. Be of service to the world and you will feel good about yourself. I am writing that for myself but you can listen and hear your soul beckoning you towards healing also.

My affirmations for myself that I would like to remember are;
I am love
The world needs my love now.
The only moment is now.
I allow life.
I accept love.
I listen to myself.
I must be in service to others for the betterment of not me, not us, but all of us.

Okay I felt feeling down already. I need to think more of what do I need to think to keep myself feeling up?

I found out that letting out what's bothering me or hurting me by blogging with full honesty of letting my feelings out without fear of ridicule or whatnot, was a great catalyst for my personal healing. Letting it out by blogging, talking to a friend, reaching out, confident in the notion that the universe is conspiring to give me what I wish for me. We should be careful what we wish for, aye there's the rub! Forgive and forget and I allow love to come in.

I need to keep on vibrating on the higher positive planes of my existence. I need to nurture and feed my soul and listen to my intuition. Creativity and art are great healing tools for me. I occuppied myself, my time by coloring mandalas, doing sand mandalas, walking out by the river, photographing, journalling, etc. And all this I am doing for me, myself and I. Funny how when I am in a higher positive mood that simple things can give me pleasure which I could have chosen to do when I am feeling down. But I did not. And so the key that I realized is to know those things that will give me pleasure and by all means do them. I have lots of passions and I can try them all out but if it is not working for me then I should stop wasting my time doing things that is not contributing to keep my beingness vibrate to higher states of love.

This is a dialog going on between me and myself. Can you imagine, I found out that just by coloring with crayola, colored pencil or any other art materials can give me "peace of mind"? I define myself. Nobody else can define myself for me. I allow myself to answer the QaR when I want to answer the question and to explore myself more. I choose not to answer the QaR when it will not progress me to a positive higher level. I can turn things around and in my world nothing goes wrong. I need to learn to dance with chaos, surf crests and throughs, tango my way out of negative thinking, etc.

This is not evading the question. I find I can devise plan, draw a map, think creatively what to do in every situation. Then there's the choice whether or not I should or should not. And also not mistaking that the map is the destination. No I have not arrived. I want to continue on my journey always listening from my highest self the choice of always choosing life and highest positive choices. Am I making sense? I am making sense to me.

Thank you for your time and if you comment that is a great bonus,
alright now,

Samme

I am the full moon shining without clouds hiding myself.

I am the sun shining sharing my light but really being a sun just being a sun for myself.

I am the river not stagnant but choosing to flow.

I am really a part of everything, everything that is, life-giving, loving and life-affirming.