Monday, April 22, 2013

Happiest of Earth Days

What a gloriously awesome day.

After a few hours on the job, I decided to head downtown to play some guitar for Earth Day.. Rewinding now to over 10 years ago, on  Earth Day, I played guitar at a book store to help raise money. This was a televised event.  Ten years ago, I was much more shy behind my guitar, but I still went ahead with courage and played three songs, two of which were from my favorite band of awesome guys.  Today, now moving forward, I revisited the downtown core and played two songs on the streets for my favorite band. On Twitter, a group of fans organized a genre of "fest" to celebrate this band, so it was nice to raise money for their foundation as well as sing a few of their songs openly with a much louder voice than 10 years ago..

Here's a photo of a gentle man I met. He was also celebrating Earth Day.  *Note the sign on his bike and my tshirt.



Afterwards, heading home, I met another man by the nickname of Soupy.. I helped him walk to the Samaritan Centre for a warm meal.  What would normally take me 5 minutes to walk, because of my baby giraffe legs (hahah) took an awesome hour of enlightening conversations along the way, through memorial park, past the "frolicking seals" and stones set in the ground reading off RESPECT at the beginning of the trail and the last one being FRIENDSHIP...  

We talked a lot of life, taking one step at a time, and how to enjoy the sweetness of the lemons in life. 

We hope to bump into each other again.  Of course, got a few funny compliments about my booty. Needless to say, I had some red gum on my jeans from sitting down with Soupy for a midway break.  hahha.  Not the first time I've encountered an embarrassing moment I can laugh out loud about later and for years to come! 

Love and Light and once again, Happy Earth Day

Andrea


Monday, April 15, 2013

Conversations With A Raccoon

Yesterday. as I took my lovely doggie for a walk, I was preparing my mind to do a knot tying ceremony to release some of the anxieties I felt earlier that day.  My dog made me aware of a raccoon that was sitting by a pool of water in the bush and I observed him.  He didn't look very healthy, looked rather sick and weak.  I calmly tied my dog to a tree and sat 5 feet from the raccoon that was now laying down.  I must have spent about 10 minutes or so talking with this raccoon about life, about his life.  I felt extremely humbled in this moment.  I told him he wasn't alone and I sent a prayer out to the universe for him.  He got up and started to walk closer to me, as he struggled to breathe.  I got up and asked him to follow me, and he did.  I wished him well as he made his way to a small stream that connected to a creek that runs through our city (and below).

I continued on my walk with my doggie and as I made my way back, I had now noticed the raccoon was laying between the stumps of two coppice tree by the smaller stream.  I told him that if I were in his shoes, I would want to be exactly where he was resting, listening to the sound of the flowing water as he prepared to make his way into his next life.

It's funny how life throws moments like these.

Peace and Love
Andrea

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Act of Kindness And An Act of Kindness Pt. 2

A few posts back, I talked about a gentle man that offered me a few homemade gifts and a blank canvas one night I played guitar to raise money for a foundation close to my heart.  I took time to paint the canvas he has given me that night.  Here's a painting below:



Today, I had the day off and I geared up with my guitar and smile and head downtown and played guitar (busked, as I call it...) in front of where an old record store used to be that has recently relocated to another area.  I ran into the kind man and gave him a painting I did a few months ago, called Tent for Two....  Act of Kindness, the art that keeps giving :)

This is Tent for Two..

Hope you all have a wonderful day and enjoy the New Moon!

Love and Life
Andrea

Monday, April 8, 2013

Building A Better Futures Within Our Communities

I recently found a bookmark that I would love to share with you.  It has thoughts and ideas on how to build better communities.  I will also share some of my own thoughts as to what we can further do to create some of the positive changes.  They are great ideas I've thought of, or have tried and the results proved successful.

1. Turn of TV
- cut down on the amount of negative feedback you receive by what is being played on TV.
- you get to save on your electrical bill
- enjoy the outdoors and fresh air

2. Know your neighbors
- Be kind and understand that everyone comes from a different background, or has a story that can break your heart.

3. Look up where you are walking
- Don't get yourself into a sticky situation going down that dark alleyway, alone

4. Greet people
- Be kind, say good day; you may increase the positivity in their lives by just smiling.  I feel in larger cities, you don't see this happen often, people are way too consumed with where they're going and look at you like an alien when you smile at them and say good day...All the more reason to greet them.

5. Plant flowers
- Let's face it, flowers are beautiful, they smell pretty and they also offer oxygen which is essential to our survival.

6. Recycle
- Very important in today's world where the demand for products have increased.  It helps cutting costs by reusing ziplock bags, using styrofoam as artists' palettes, etc...

7. Bake extra and share
- I'm a sucker for this one, I love baking/cooking so I always have extra.

8. Use your library
- Instead of using internet sources, electrical power, read read read!

9. Play together
- Road hockey, sports, non competitiveness, enjoy the people you are with and not so much winning the match.

10. Buy from local merchants
- Help support your city and the community by buying from local meat markets, fruit/veggie stands.  Inquire with the merchants on how they grow their veggies. Know what is in your food. With today's larger markets, we fail to notice that half of what we eat has been genetically modified and making us sick.

11. Share what you have
- Lets face it, we don't have a trailer hitch tied to our coffins when we pass onto our next lives.  Share what you have.  Donate clothes, shoes, articles to causes that help support people that are less fortunate.

12. Pick up litter
- Oh, I can write a book on this subject... It is our responsibility as consumers to pick up litter.  Please don't wait for someone else to clean up our communities.. Create street cleanups with your neighbors, recycle, take care of our mother Earth. I did 6 hrs/week of garbage cleanup on my own time last year and worked as well.  No excuse people.

13. Garden together
- Creating community based gardens in every ward, asking your city councel to create these projects to instill a sense of togetherness, and community and sharing the yield at harvest time. Remember, more oxygen, healthier people

14. Compost
- Create composts, research on how to create a great composting system.  This is the best way to create amazing gardens for the years to come!

15. Take children to the park
- I see how there has been an increase on the amount of children with TV's, Playstation units, computers in their rooms and homes.  Share time together, take your children out of the electrical environment and spend some quality time with them.  This creates a stronger bond and improves their lives.

16. Listen to the birds
- I think everyone can agree that they love to bird-watch.  Take time in the morning and listen to the sound of the birds.

17. Fix it even if you didn't break it
- Problem solving will help increase brain productivity and imagination.  You feel a sense of accomplishment when you fix something.

18. Take action to create positive change in your community
- Take part in local organizations, volunteer.  I love playing guitar downtown to bring music back to the community.

19. Honor elders
- I love sitting with elders and hearing their stories of the past of our cities and how things were when they were teenagers through their thoughts.  It helps create a mental image where you can improve your community today.

20. Have potlucks
- I am a sucker for having potluck music playing sessions.  Everyone brings a snack and we get to enjoy great food together and great music

21.Start a tradition
- This summer, I will be starting my own tradition with others of like mind, playing hand drums around many of our surrounding lakes.  What traditions can improve your community?

22. Know your political representative
- Very important to ensure that the promises are kept and to ensure that things improve within the community. Offer suggestions

23. Seek to understand
- Understanding how things got to where they are today, with open eyes, and seek ways to improve them.


Lots of love,
Andrea

Saturday, April 6, 2013

Act of Kindness And An Act of Kindness

I've been playing guitar on the streets trying to raise money for a trip across country and continent.  Half the proceeds raised will be going towards the Make Yourself Foundation (About the Make Yourself Foundation)

Tonight, despite the cold northern Ontario weather, I geared up and went downtown to play some music.  I love interacting with the random people that I meet and so grateful all the while for all the support and donations.  The best donations are homemade gifts.  Tonight, a wonderful Metis man gave me two candles he had made, along with an empty canvas to paint upon as well as shared some of his poetry, a poem called Two or Tree.  I was touched by these gifts.  Next time I see this gentle man, I will have a painted canvas that he can enjoy with the gift me gave me in the first place!

I sang a special song for a young man that was struggling in his life and as I was singing and playing, I can see he was writing something down on a notepad.  He tearfully handed me the paper afterwards.  I didn't read it then, but as soon as I got home, I was completely moved by his words.  I will always keep that note.

I didn't make much money but the memories will remain! It's beautiful sharing some music with people and to hear their life stories and talk about hope for a better future! So grateful for tonight's conversations and smiles.

Love and Light!!

Thursday, April 4, 2013

Dreams And Synchronistic Events

I recently had a wonderful dream where I had two individually wrapped feathers in cellophane, and I was taking them out of their packaging.  This was the most significant part of the dream.  Both feathers seemed slender and dark in color, but beautiful.

Today, as I made my way through the mall, I found myself in a shop that I had bought a Tibetan Singing Bowl, in search of a cute skirt.  As I made my way around the store, slowly, soaking in every content in sight, I caught my eyes on a Hindu/Buddhism book.  I sifted through the book quickly, and as I put the book back on the shelf, I noticed beside the book there were 3 individually wrapped feathers, in cellophane.  The feathers were painted, each having their own picture and frame, holding the feather in place.. I took the feather with the spotted frog to the store owner and told him about the dream and how I found this feather interesting.  He told me that he had bought it from a Shaman from South American, in Panama.  The Shaman had set the price himself for sale.

Lovely synchronicity through a dream.

Love and Light