Let Twitter Inspire You
If you are feeling blue about what you read and hear, from nonsense tweets to disturbing news, know that hope IS alive and plenty of people from all walks of life are doing their bit to bring a little light into the media.
Culture & Media articles:
The Zen Sand Art of Cansu Bulgu
Her calling to the creation of sand art began in 2010 in Kauai, when she “touched the sand and the first drawing came. It was one of those sparkles of life” that she felt compelled to follow.
Ghostly Beauty
The sea wasn’t put there by nature, but by accident. A dam broke, a series of small resort towns touting fishing and water skiing grew, agricultural run-off became the main water source, and now, despite legislative bills pending for funding its revitalization, the sea is in ecological danger. It’s a terrible dust storm waiting to happen, and a town waiting to dissolve.
Courtney Barnett
The confessional collection is truly a peek inside Barnett’s fascinating head, filled with many contradictory, and human, reactions to life’s complications.
ARTISTS FOR TRAUMA
“Artists for Trauma is about focusing on the positivity, on the possibilities at a time when trauma victims are dealing with great emotion and physical stress. There is great opportunity for quality recovery from life-altering trauma,” Sharpe explained.
GODFATHERS AND GODMOTHERS OF THE BRITISH BLUES
Ironically, this mimicked a bit of blues history in the United States, where the very first blues singing stars were all women, i.e., Bessie Smith (Ottilie’s first major singing influence), Ethel Waters, and Ma Rainey. In fact, “Crazy Blues” a 1920 hit sung by Mamie Smith, is considered by most blues historians to be the first blues song ever recorded by an African American.
Yo La Tengo
Essayist Luc Sante notes, “If records were dedicated to the cardinal elements, this one would be water. There are shimmery hazes, spectral rumbles, a flash of backward masking, ghostly flamingos calling ‘shoo-bop, shoo-bop.’”
Earth Warriors: Singing Peace into the World
Need some tunes to reconnect you to your Earth Mother muse? In honor of Earth Day, yoga music label White Swan Records has curated a heart-centered soundtrack on their Spotify channel that will get you in the mood.
Maharishi and Me
I spent over two decades spinning around the eye of the hurricane of this charismatic, bliss-bestowing, fear-inducing guru while he sliced away at my ego and ricocheted me daily from glorious heights of ecstasy to intense depths of devastation and back, all with just his glance. It seemed to make no rhyme or reason, but in the process, I became myself.
A Man of Peace
…all these qualities of his life demonstrate the value of Tibetan Buddhistic civilization and make a powerful case for what it offers to a world embroiled in the violent confusions caused by industrial consumerism and industrial militarism.