Dollars

Holy Cow, this is the least amount of dollars that I have had since my days as a student.
It is a pretty interesting thing to manage very nearly no dollars, and know that I am slowly slipping behind in almost everything. The biggest awareness that I am facing is 'Ego' . A person.., well, this person thinks that ego is mostly or sufficiently a non-issue and then circumstance gives you ... hmmm... me ...what, poverty? (well I wouldn't even say that here because I still feel very fortunate)... So, lets say there are, value challenges and income deficiency. This is humility building to a huge degree in our society( the suggestion being that so much of our self worth is attached to this).
But I'm also learning that it doesn't have to be damaging to self wellness, and I had never realized just how much one can be ok with the state of things.
I have to juggle a great deal right now, and there are stressful moments but that is because I have not had to give up everything yet. I work hard and long hours in my business endeavors at the moment and I need to keep trusting that at some point it will bear more fruit... it is not much different from the life of a farmer who works much of the year only in the hope of a good harvest.
Again, I feel fortunate because I have that one thing, hope,... hope for better things to come...
That is what all these silly blog postings are, they are sharing my various expressions of hopefulness.
And the flip side is the very real awareness of just how much hopelessness there is out there in the world, how many individuals there are out there that have so much less of everything that I have...
So, this is me expressing hopefulness and thankfulness,
Bye for now,
Namasté

Me and Facebook

Facebook, now there's a thing... I wonder about it... I like it... it scares me... it can open the door to authenticity...maybe... this is where it gets scary... But, I have leapt in to see what happens. I am hiding less... opening more... and marketing here too...
I wrote of my Sangha, I wrote of my changes...
There is a dream that I have attached to all of this and it is about me building my livelihood, with my creations, through the internet and my little book store. It is a formidable challenge and I am painstakingly training myself to understand the technical details of how this all works.
It is also about me writing just how important it is to buy locally and consider the impacts we have on our selves and our environment.

So what's new for Mandalalama? Well through trial and error I am relearning and brushing up on my sewing skills for the making of the 'Moto Totes' which are made of recycled and re-purposed stuff. I just learned that there is such a thing as a leather needle and that acquiring some of theses would mean that I would break many less sewing machine needles.

Also, I've been thinking about the finite supply that I have of these old Motorola cell phone carriers, and wondered if there are more to be found in storage out there in the world at large. These were made available through the auction of the contents of an abandoned storage locker.
I have enough to keep me sewing for a while... but, I would rescue more if the opportunity presented itself...
All that having been said, here is a photo of the latest tote that I have been making...

Bye for now,
Namasté,
Andreas

My Sangha

This month has been about putting the pieces together, connecting with my tribe, or as my friend Ken says My Sangha. This is a new word for me, it is from the Pali or Sanskrit and it can be translated loosely as ones community of persons, with similar purpose or vision.
I like this, it has a gentle enfolding sense to it that I may cloak around me for warmth and support...
I roll it on my tongue... hmmmm my Sangha... and can conjure up images and memories of my good people.
Of course my very favorite person is my daughter Aurora, and there is the long list of my friends and family also.
And this brings me back to memories of Robin, of Ric and of Claude, three of my Sangha that I hold dear and miss profoundly(while rejoicing for them in their transitions). Robin left this world in August of 2008, Ric in BC and Claude in Quebec both died in July of 2009.
Each in their own way were beautiful Lights, and I miss them.

They are still part of my Sangha, my Sangha ( I like the sound and the feel of that), my people , the ones I love dearly and am glad to share moments with.
So this is me saying thank you from deep down... I know that I am fortunate,
Thank you for your support, your comments, your courage, your compassion, your kindness, your presence...

God Bless,
Namasté,
Stay well,
And Be

Just Imagine and then Act

I am not quite of the flower power time line but have nonetheless seen and recorded a thing or two. It was 30 years ago on December 8th that Mark David Chapman shot John Lennon. Imagine… and that all gets me feeling pretty strong about things…

My ‘self” is fairly Utopic minded and altruistic, I bought into the ideas of that era, whole-heartedly I believed (and still do) the anthem and the ideas of John Lennon’s ‘Imagine’… it is the ‘heart ‘path. I try to live by; Do no harm , speak your truth , loving kindness, respectfulness, mindfulness and reverence for our world and the life in it. And, I practice grace in forgiveness and humility, which can be a pretty tough row to hoe for a German born Leo-fire dragon raised in Ontario. I hold onto and strengthen ‘faith’ and trust every day that I have the privilege of fresh new breaths.

So as I listen to ‘Imagine’ and be aware that we have moved far from its possibilities, I wonder how we shifted to:

Imagine there’s no health care

Imagine there’ still genocide

Imagine building companies for the sole purpose of stealing from investors

Imagine stealing money from the poor and giving it to the rich

Imagine killing children in the streets

Imagine making trillions of pharmaceutical dollars to drug up our children for school

Imagine suing farmers for growing food grain accidentally (GMOs)

Imagine actively trying to destroy the finest hope of three generations, Barack Obama

Imagine ownership of water by the few

Imagine a government suffering from Munchhausen’s syndrome

Imagine society being only able to think in terms of fear and self

And I ask my ‘self’, ‘’self, where has all the love gone, what happened to our evolution, when did we begin to slip backwards?’’

And my ‘self’ says,’ ask the world

And when I ask the world, I am prompted through 6 departments and put on hold each time and when I finally get an answer it is to the wrong question.

So, I reflect some more about that, in one Generation we shot, The Kennedys, Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, well, we know the rest of the list. The thing I don’t get is how or why did all of those folks in the generation before me, decide to let go of all the great ideas that they Imagined into existence and then slowly and systematically deconstruct them one decision at a time… very unfortunate.

And then, for a moment I look in the other direction and see hope as grand-parents and grand kids, in concert, lift their hands to the sky singing , ‘Me to We’ ideas and awareness out into existence in the Universe…

So how about

Loving Kindness

Do no harm

Respect for the world around us

Yup, it’s a tall order to fill… while we still can, added here changes it from being daunting perhaps.

Time to change things,

So, Imagine,

Stay well,

And Be

Imagine an image

I've Just posted a few more cards and my first 'other' thing, which is a tote bag made of all recycled materials. That was sparked by the discovery of a bunch of black leather 1990's era cell phone carriers... and a refusal to throw them away... But that is not what I wanted to write about, actually it was about the staggering number of photos that I take for each item before I get a few that I can work with... I could not even imagine an etsy shop without a digital camera (compared to my old 35mm)... For me it is pure magic how all the elements come together from a few seed ideas to what we are able to do these days... And there are so many ways that we can pump our brain muscles too... So, here is a photo of my latest offering and now my Blog has a link to my Etsy shop too, Wishing you a magical day, Namasté,
Stay well,
And Be

first electronic sale happy dance

Yes, process can sometimes take a very long time, getting how a thing, or a series of things works can too, but then the day comes when, after a series of pushes and efforts in a direction, you arrive at the moment when you have gotten an idea to where you wanted it to be... and that is the Youpee! happy dance moment... :0)

Well after nearly two years of process, (recall that I wrote about my various challenges), yesterday was the completion of the very first online transaction of a sale of a Mandalalama product
Youpee! :0) today I am happy dancing myself to smithereens.

A grand thanks to both, Julian Nelson who bravely tested my set up and made that first purchase and to Michael Franti(who doesn't know me yet) for his inspiring music and lyrics that have reminded me to, ''...don't stop and never give up'' and that this way is good,
do good works....
do no harm...
love big...

So I invite you to check out my links, and blogs and various scribbles and send them to your people, and in your corner of this wonderful world say a little YAY! for me too and send some positive energy and perhaps a prayer or two... and if you feel so inclined, send me an encouraging email at:

mandalalama@yahoo.ca

Much love from here to there ( wherever your 'there' is)

bye for now,
Stay well,
And Be
:0)

Mandalalama's first showing ever :0)

Well firstly, I posted the following on Mandalalama facebook page ''This morning I am drinking tea out of my Dora the explora mug.... I'm feeling somewhat 'Explora-ee.... so in keeping up with the ups and the downs and now is an up for some reason, I will reafirm that today is the first day of..... wait! stop that train, (I almost had you there) clichés, gotta love 'em, sometimes.... ...ah hell its raining , my cold is leaving , I slept well, it's a good start to a day so this is me wishing a good day all around.... :0)''

That is a good start, Also Last weekend I participated in the Brighton Arts council winter show and sale in my Mandalalama capacity . It was a good excercise in pulling a thing together on very short notice ( Much thanks to Ken for helping with my booth, and also Tante Ingelore and my friend Dawne who manned/womanned the bookstore for the weekend).
I met up with some wonderful folk and was engaged in some great conversation, and all the while had the chance to extol the virtues of our 'new' second hand book store here in Brighton.
The book store has now been officially named 'READ and GREEN' thanks to the help of Rob Greco. So one can now follow the book store happenings at: readandgreen@blogspot.com

Ok so back to the show.... oh and up there^ is what the booth looked like,
Happay day to all,

stay well,
And Be