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Friday, August 30, 2013

Go Out This Weekend!



Believe it or not, there are still some things in life that you can enjoy for free. Step outside and see.

Go to the woods, the forests, even the jungle and feel life vibrating like one big breathing being that you are a part of.

 If you are in a crowded place and there are no forests around, go to the nearest park. If there is no park, look for a flower or a tree. And if  you still can't find a flower or a tree, turn your eyes on the earth beneath your feet and, to quote the poet William Blake, "see a world in a grain of sand and a heaven in a wild flower."

And it is not just your sight or the sights that matter.

The universe sings. The music is there.  All you need to do is listen.

Enjoy your weekend and  be Love. See you next week!
 




Ariel in and with the woods. Photo credit: Mitchell Hegman

Posted with Aloha!
- ARIEL MURPHY

Thursday, August 29, 2013

Photo Gallery - The Art and Love of Rinus Bakker



Today I'm sharing with you the photography of Rinus Bakker.  His work caught my attention not only because of the attractive quality of his images but also because of the love and spirituality shown in the captions   that he had created for many of his photos.   Some  captions are playful. Some are in poetry. All indicate a deep connection with  humanity and nature.  Please enjoy the art of Rinus Bakker!  





Being in peace
Growing beautiful together
Reflecting each others beauty
Shining your awesomeness
upon the world around




Wishing you the softest sleep with colorful dreams






May the sun brighten your path
The flowers grow at your feet
May there be softness in your heart
Health, love, happiness and peace.



 

Be gentle. Be reminded that the human soul is as delicate as a flower.
You will look more beautiful when all around you are also flourishing.





The world we are longing for
will be when each of us
takes responsibility
to leave our egos behind
and be guided by the purity of our soul
No more words to mislead
No more words to hurt
No more turning heaven into hell











A thread of beauty, one follows another on and on
This is only a small part.
Our actions, one beautiful action triggers another and another and another
 




We all have to grow our own way
Everyone is beautiful
But never forget the source
It's the only one that feeds us all





What are you doing right now?
Take it easy
Just lay down
in the grass
feel, smell them.
Listen to the crickets
the birds are singing to you.






This is me after I started my computer and saw the many kind and sweet wishes that you have sent me


 
My child I love you, I protect you, I teach you, I care for you
I defend you, I offer everything for you and if you are ready
I'll let you go and still you can count on me for ever.
You are the most beautiful on earth. You are my child



Open your heart, open your arms and dance
If someone takes advantage dance away
Dance with the light even in the middle of the night
Never lock yourself in but dance with pride




Just quickly passing by
Only to say hi and bye
have a wonderful day
and always be remember to stay
Happy because you can't add
to your life one single day
by worrying or feeling sad
Stay happy!








Waiting for good luck can take a lifetime
While opportunities are passing by
But are we prepared to do what is right?
Without taking the first step, there can be no journey.

 

A wonderful day to all
Just natural beauty
Fly like a butterfly
Land only for the best.
Be happy, be free.









Overlooking the vastness of the lake
her transparent waves with a touch of green
Attacking the shore followed by teasing withdrawals
The Mountains calmly looking down
Like a wise old man at children's play
Behind them the Gods silently preparing
Another spectacle of thunder and lightning
They will blow it over the ridge to cool us down
before the night comes to take our burdens
to carry our souls to the fields where they graze
Until we wake up to learn another lesson
How many of us will find ourselves
On the tribunes of the madhouse
How many of us will stay confused
By the countless voices of the ego
How many, tell me how many.



Whichever way you choose to go
All streams return to the source.





But now it's time to go



Changing all the time; never boring.
I hope to inspire you
To embrace Mother Earth
With all her beauty.
It's free. It's there.
Waiting for you.




Ariel's Note: Rinus Bakker could be described as a romantic-realist who finds beauty in almost everything that crosses his path. To see more of his work, please visit www.rinusbakker.nl.



Posted with Aloha
By ARIEL MURPHY

Wednesday, August 28, 2013

No Religion; Just Love!


I saw two photos on Facebook yesterday. The photos were about the unrest in Egypt. One photo showed Christians protecting Muslims as they were praying. Another photo showed Muslims forming a human ring around a Catholic church as mass was going on.

 I was touched by those  photos. They were beautiful. They were powerful. More than words can ever say, those pictures showed love.

 Yes, we have conflicts. We fight. We kill and we destroy. But despite our differences, we also know how to love. And that gives us hope.

Someday, somehow we will learn to appreciate the richness of our diversity and accept that, despite our differences, we are all one. 

We all have the same dreams and aspirations. Our body is of the same stuff that the stars we see at night are made of. If we only allow the good and the noble in us -- our higher selves -- to prevail we can all live in peace and harmony.

Just look at these pictures.
 


Source: Facebook

Posted with Aloha!
By ARIEL MURPHY

 

Tuesday, August 27, 2013

A Tiny Idea (Part 1) - A Guest Blog by Mark Shapiro




Growing up in Southern California, the subject of cars was pervasive. Casual conversation would rarely cover the weather, but there was never a dull moment when the topic of cars came up. I grew up in the epicenter of the car culture.
 
I love my car. As a matter of fact, I have always loved cars eversince I was very little. Cars can go incredibly fast, stop on a dime, and zip around corners like they are glued to the road. There are millions of different models and colors, going back over 100 years. I mean, really; what’s not to love about cars?
 
I hate my car. I hate all cars. They are a pain in the ass when they break. They get into accidents, hurt people, and  use a ton of energy and pollute. They are despicable.
 
What a hypocrite I must be. Cars were my life and I made a living off these things. I should know better now, but I’m still in love. This is my personal example of the love-hate relationship.
 
Most of us depend on our cars. Without them, we feel helpless and weak.
 
One day, on the way to an important meeting, the car sputters for a moment. Oh shit! What to do? Then the car comes back to life and there is an enormous relief. The stomach settles and the adrenaline stops pumping.
 
Back in college, I was driving my 59 Rambler  home late one afternoon, when the car suddenly died. I coasted it to a parking spot and walked home. I was so upset about it, I couldn’t even get up the nerve to look at it for two weeks.

Finally, with my hands shaking, I lifted the hood to discover that the problem was minor. A coil wire had merely fallen off the distributor cap—a lot of terror over nothing.
 
 
 Years later, after I became a mechanic, a  friend of a friend allowed me to drive his Porsche 930 twin turbo race car, on city streets! I was so excited, I couldn’t use my foot to modulate the throttle properly, so I floored it. The G forces pinned me to the Ricaro seat. Zero to 60 in less then 3 seconds. What a ride!  The incredible excitement stayed with me for hours. 

My relationship with cars illustrates the special love and special hate relationships we all have. Typically, they are with other people; but often they can include objects, animals, plants, or even ideas. What they all have in common is the seeming ability to bring passion and drama to our lives. In other words, it makes our lives seem real by sucking us into the play as it unfolds.
 
Our thoughts and feelings are jumping all over the place. One minute I’m madly in love, the next, I feel like I’ve been victimized and absolutely hate the person I loved before. These are the stories of our lives. They make us who we believe we are. But what if that isn’t who we are? Is that even possible? My love feels so real, it has to be true, it has to be! And doesn't the story of  Romeo and Juliet, the world’s greatest lovers who killed themselves so tragically for love,  prove that love is real?

Several years ago I gave a ride to a woman who had just left her husband for the second or third time. Her body was bruised and she cried continuously as I brought her to family she was going to stay with until she could re-unite with her husband.
 
 I asked her what happened and how she got her bruises.
 
“He beats me.” she replied. Then I asked her why she’s going back to him. “Because I love him,” she said.
 
“Because she loves him," I repeated to myself, utterly blown away by the simplicity and the complexity of her remark. Why would anyone who has the freedom to leave, want to remain in an abusive situation? This question made me very uncomfortable. I had to ask her, “Do you think he’ll do it again?” Quickly she replied, “Probably.”
 
That response had me spinning. With little hope of things getting better, this badly beaten, good-looking woman was more than ready to step back into the lion’s den.
 
She told me she didn’t like being beaten up and I believed her. I thought that if I asked the question again, only asked it better, I would get a different response. But every time I rephrased the question, I got the same response:  “because I love him.”
 
There was definitely something going on there. But whatever that was, was beyond my comprehension.

What do you think? Please share your ideas. If you don’t want to make them public, write to: marksavoid@juno.com, and if I use them, I will do so anonymously.
 



 About Mark Shapiro: Mark was born in Los Angeles in 1948. He lived in California until he moved to Hawaii in 1991, where he currently resides. What happened during this time is of no consequence; the events are only stories.

When Mark was 8 years old, he liked watching old movies. At 65, he still likes watching old movies. On his 12th birthday, he surfed for the first time. At 13, he learned to play the tuba, which he enjoyed. He no longer plays the tuba but continues to surf.

Mark was never fond of going to school, until he went to college, where learning was fun. He was one class short of earning his degree in Radio, Television, and Film, but didn’t care because he was working in Public Television. One of the programs he produced was about car repair. He later left television and went back to school to learn auto repair. He set up a business to help people learn about automobile maintenance and diagnosis.

In 1988 he retired because of health issues. He currently drives a 1990 Toyota Corolla Wagon with a 5-speed transmission. It’s the best car he has ever owned.

 




- Ariel Murphy

Monday, August 26, 2013

Gratitude



I was blessed yesterday when  a friend and I  went to the local Sunday Farmers' Market. 

It was a sunny mid-day  and people were milling all over the place. Most of them, however, congregated at  the designated area for eating where a 10-member band played  jazzy rock-and-roll music. 

Good vibrations emanated from the enticing music,  the variety of food offered by vendors, the relaxed demeanor of people of all ages, and the sunny morning.

My friend and I lost no time in joining people dancing to the band.

I could tell that the band was energized and inspired by the audience's participation.

After my friend and I were spent dancing, we bought and  enjoyed a Thai green papaya salad and  organic fresh  fruit shakes.

Later, as we were leaving, we bumped into  Auntie Linda, a local personality, who excitedly told us her joy for the day.

She said that she started the day not knowing what to do. She didn't have the money to even buy food for her pet dog.  She made leis of fresh flowers and brought them to the market. By the time the market was winding up, she had enough money to buy food for her dog and a little extra to treat herself to some green papaya salad.

She was grateful.
 
And like Auntie Linda, I was grateful for a wonderful Sunday of fellowship, music, dance, and good energies.

I took the photos below of some market scenes using my "smart phone."



The band


 
People eating while listening to the band



Dancing to the band's beat



pineapples and bananas



costume jewelry being sold



fruits and vegetables



especial home-made soap



a vendor selling local honey










Posted with Aloha!
- ARIEL MURPHY

Friday, August 23, 2013

Off to the Beach



I'm off to the beach! Wooohooo!
Have a great weekend!

Be Love!



Grateful for the warmth and light of the sun, the soothing sound of  waves lapping the shore, the  comfort of an expansive horizon, and the love of true friends at Hapuna Beach, Big Island, Hawaii.


Posted with Aloha!
- ARIEL MURPHY

Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Are Your Buttons Being Pushed?



I've realized that whenever I feel my buttons are being pushed it is because there are loose threads behind them. The wayward threads often come from a particular spool called Ego.

Rather than being resentful, insulted or demeaned, I feel grateful to the button pusher for unconsciously leading me to look inward and reflect on the reason for my feelings. Realizing that my feelings arise from my own insecurities and weaknesses, I'm able to forgive, accept and love both myself and my "tormentor."

 Wisdom can be found even from the most unlikely sources and the most annoying situations. All it takes is to see with the light within us.
 


Source: Facebook
 
- Ariel Murphy
 

Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Loneliness - A Guest Blog by Mark Shapiro



Dear Ariela,
 
You asked me for my take on loneliness (a great topic, by the way), and I came up with this:
 
In the fall of 1969 I moved into a small duplex on Venice Beach. It was the first time in my life that I lived without roommates or family. I loved the house and the location—it was perfect for me, and I even rented it sight unseen. I was so sure of its perfectness, the sight of a bloody sofa and the story of a double murder/suicide in the unit only a month earlier had no effect on me.
 
My first few days there went without much ado. I busied myself with all the details of moving into a new place; finding furniture, cleaning, painting, obtaining utilities; and just settling in. All went well for a few weeks until I started to feel uneasy. I felt a need to interact with people, but there was nobody nearby whom I knew, so I walked around the neighborhood until I met a couple of junkies. They were nice enough fellows and they even invited me up to their apartment and let me watch them shoot up. What the hell, it was company.

A few days later, they introduced me to a friend of theirs, a wild-haired artist who drew pictures of rockets and airplanes. I invited him to my place where he showed me his work and I bought one for a few bucks, but I didn’t think it was very good. I was uncomfortable with him in my house and wanted him to leave. In his psychosis, he could see my discomfort and he enjoyed the power of the torturer. When the junkies discovered I had a car, they wanted me to be their chauffeur. My need for company had a cost and I discovered that I didn’t like paying it.
 
I chose to be alone and it wasn’t easy. I desperately wanted to interact with others. The pain was intense. Where was it coming from?
 
At the time, I hadn’t a clue. But the pain needed to stop. I sought out friendships with anyone who was “normal” to ease the discomfort that just wouldn’t go away. A friend who was a psychology major told me that humans are social animals and the need to be around others is genetic. I didn’t find that answer very satisfying.

Another friend said I was locked up emotionally and needed to learn how to better express myself. I liked the idea of loosening up and spent the next two years studying theater. It was a lot of fun, but the nagging fear of being alone stuck with me like a shadow on a sunny day. Being a romantic, I thought the answer could be found in true love. I spent 20 years in various romantic relationships in my  next effort to keep the loneliness away, and it worked! Sort of.
 
A long-term relationship ended and I took on a roommate to cushion the blow of being alone again after all those years. But something had changed. I now wanted to be left alone. What had changed? Was the fear of that desperate feeling replaced by a desire for solitude? If so, why?
 
Psychologists may tell us that our genetic coding or unresolved issues of abandonment cause loneliness, but I don’t agree. On the surface they may be correct; however there may be a much deeper source.
 
How could it be that many of us have felt a deep and painful sense of loneliness while being surrounded by people? We are obviously not alone, so what exactly is wrong? It’s not people we want so much as a sense of connection. If we’re around a group of people and feeling alone, it’s because we’re aware we are not joining or connected, and the feeling of safety and belonging associated with it. This seems painful because we have isolated ourselves to the point of near incarceration. However, the awareness of isolation itself is not painful, but the effort of beating that awareness off is. In other words, the sense of non-connection is actually true.

In an effort to keep that unwelcome truth at bay, we make friends, find lovers, drink and use other drugs, -- all to distract ourselves any way possible.
 
Here’s the capper: even though I said that it’s true that we have isolated ourselves, and are totally alone, we are not. It is our individualized self that is always setting itself apart from others by comparing and judging, that actually wants this separation. Joining would actually weaken that sense of self, or so it believes.
 
Aloneness is a concept based on a belief that it is possible to be separate, or separated from something else. If I believe that you are different from me, it would then be possible to be separate. On the other hand, if I believe that you are no different from me, then logically, we must be joined. As distasteful as this exercise might be, just try and imagine that everyone in the world is exactly like you. Difficult, isn’t it? That’s because we value our uniqueness above everything else. And the cost of this value is the effort it takes to keep the awareness of being alone away from our consciousness.

Most of us try to go back and forth, from oneness to uniqueness and back, etc. Logic tells us that it’s impossible to have both at the same time, so the “compromise” we make is to vacillate. The problem is that the part of us that wants to be separated from others does not like exposure. It tells us that if we should join or connect with anyone or anything e.g., an idea, God, a favorite person, our most valuable possession will be lost­—­our personal self. The idea of this is very threatening, and we interpret this fear as loneliness.
 
Often, the pain is so intense, that when we do actually join or connect with another, others or anything, the memory of losing one's self is quickly dispatched. And we're able to escape from loneliness.
 
However, once we start feeling that we are compromising our self image,  ideals or values that are important to us,  in favor over oneness, we are back to where we started in the first place -- separated. Lonely.
 
So Ariela, the next time you feel lonesome, try sitting with it and looking honestly at why you want to be alone. You may find a list of pros and cons. Weigh them out in your mind and ask yourself if you made the correct decision. There are no right or wrong answers. Honesty is the key. Shedding light on darkness is never painful; only our resistance to truth is.
 
Yours truly,
Mark



Photo from googleimages.com

About Mark Shapiro: Mark was born in Los Angeles in 1948. He lived in California until he moved to Hawaii in 1991, where he currently resides. What happened during this time is of no consequence; the events are only stories.

When Mark was 8 years old, he liked watching old movies. At 65, he still likes watching old movies. On his 12th birthday, he surfed for the first time. At 13, he learned to play the tuba, which he enjoyed. He no longer plays the tuba but continues to surf. 

Mark was never fond of going to school, until he went to college, where learning was fun. He was one class short of earning his degree in Radio, Television, and Film, but didn’t care because he was working in Public Television. One of the programs he produced was about car repair. He later left television and went back to school to learn auto repair. He set up a business to help people learn about automobile maintenance and diagnosis.


 
In 1988 he retired because of health issues. He currently drives a 1990 Toyota Corolla Wagon with a 5-speed transmission. It’s the best car he has ever owned.

- Ariel Murphy