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Its simple Dexter says its simple to go M.A.D! Make a difference through dance The brazilian dance teacher at the YMCA inspired me with a simple message...just dance ! Make a difference with selfless service This man is a devotee of Amma - the hugging mother. Selfless service is his creed...but you do not need to live in an Ashram to do it, it can happen anywhere :) We are all M.A.D Make a difference through ART I met this inspired artist at 11pm on a sunday in the NYC subway station uptown. Temenos I'm writing to tell you about the amazing experience I had this past weekend. As a birthday present my sisters gave me three nights at a retreat centre in McGregor on the verge of the Karoo. It was a first for me and I felt more than a bit apprehensive. How does one get through three days without anyone else and what if the people there are weird and too pious/deep/evolved? The name of the place is Temenos - Greek for sanctuary. I arrived at night and was shown to my own little fragrant thatched cottage. Lovely linen, absolute silence... You can come and go as you please. You can cook for yourself or go to Tibaldi's, the restaurant attached to Temenos. The next morning I was woken by the birds and the bees in a tree covered in blossoms right outside my cottage. The garden is huge, lush and full of the most beautiful nooks and crannies to just sit and stare at the bounty around you or wander along whimsical paths through the most amazing 'rooms'. Every now and then you come across a stream or fountain or pond or little sighing water feature. It is very quiet except for the birds, and truly awesome. You can stay there the whole time and, if you prefer, never speak to a single soul. I came across very few. Billy Kennedy, the man who created the whole space, is a lovely guy. He has travelled all over the world and there is evidence of his experiences in the many sacred spaces indoors as well as outside to honour the great figures and symbols in various religions. It is made with respect and great attention to detail and beauty. There are a serenely beautiful Buddha statue, a Zen garden which you can rake if you like, stones in a circle with an old treestump in the centre of the labyrinth, a Hindu shrine with the freshest flowers, painted in deep pink and midnight blue, a mosaic cross in mirrors and blue with a soaring dove in the centre, a Jewish candelabra with its seven candles and a painting of a young man holding the sacred Torah. There's also a tiny chapel with a huge Celtic cross in a round glass window, a painting of Jesus and Buddha hugging each other, a Byzantine painting of the Mother and Child. Beautiful lappe. Candles. A wooden floor and wooden bankies around the wall. Very simple and earthy. My favorite place is called The Well. It's in a separate little building with very little light streaming in through two tiny coloured glass windows. In the middle of the room is a sunken round bath lined with tiles, and a gently bubbling fountain amongst stones makes for the only sound in there. Around the water there are various candles and kneeling mats and incense and along the walls stone bankies are built in with cushions to sit on. Against the one wall is a massive mandala woven in colours that seem timeless. One is overwhelmed by a sense of utter security and awe. You want to stay and stay. Like a womb I guess. In another part of the garden there's a small round building with a very high ceiling just big enough for two people to sit in. My other favorite. It's called Temore, the Temple of the Inner Heart. It is painted white on the outside and gorgeous blues on the inside. Blue light streams in through four very tall exquisite stained glass windows with images of roses, flowers and bright bits cascading down in the blue glass. You literally sit in colour. The ceiling is covered in glittering stars. You sit and smile with the utter playful beauty of it. There's also a very well stocked library with huge windows and wide open doors and massive couches inviting you to stay all day. You just take what you want and put it back when you are done. Nobody in attendance. Fiction, psychology, religions, philosophy, mythology, architecture, you name it. I found the evenings a bit lonely but then I just read and forgot all about the outside world. You get comfortable with the silence and you relax and your spirit fills up with all the love surrounding you. I took various walks in the village. Mostly dusty streets. Past lovely unpretentious white thatched or Georgian houses with their low garden walls and with fruit trees and olive groves and vines. Even the odd cow and horse. Lots of chickens by the sound of things. Friendly people greeting you, a complete stranger. And everybody lives there - no separate area for coloureds and the whites in smart houses at a safe distance. They even have a donkey sanctuary called Eseltjiesrus. There are no shops with brand names. Just a rather primitive General Dealer and various coffee shops and places with handmade goodies to buy. Mountains all around. Magic vibe. At Temenos you can get all sorts of pampering and treatments for the old body as well. I was booked for a reflexology session on Monday morning. Very special. Hour and a half of bliss. The woman who did the treatment is easy to be with and she really gave me a bumper version. I'm overcome with a sense of abundant blessings. It's a present that will remain with me my whole life long. I haven't experienced this particular sense of fulfilment before. One looks after one's mind and body but very often the soul and spirit are neglected and have to be satisfied with quickies here and there. Temenon is a true Eden for the soul and spirit. I hope you can experience something like this for yourself sometime in the future. It is truly worthwhile. The website if you want to have a look at the pictures to get an idea: http://www.temenos.org.za/ The pictures must have been taken a while back because the garden is a lot more lush and mature than on the website. I's like to pay tribute to Billy Kennedy and the staff at Temenos for making a real difference in the lives of all who go there. http://www.storyofstuff.com http://www.storyofstuff.com/ From its extraction through sale, use and disposal, all the stuff in our lives affects communities at home and abroad, yet most of this is hidden from view. The Story of Stuff is a 20-minute, fast-paced, fact-filled look at the underside of our production and consumption patterns. The Story of Stuff exposes the connections between a huge number of environmental and social issues, and calls us together to create a more sustainable and just world. It'll teach you something, it'll make you laugh, and it just may change the way you look at all the stuff in your life forever. CHANGE IS HERE I am so inspired by all the people that I see making a difference on this website :-) jungle love For three years I've been working at the Cloud Forest School, helping to (re)turn pastures into primary cloud forest, helping kids to read, write, create, sing and love learning. It just gets better and better, and each day brings new joy, frustration, triumph and discovery. eee why wonk really, i really believe that sillyness will change the world. imagine substituting every word that makes us feel contracted (words that make us feel yuck or sad or down) with a silly word like "eee why wonk". this is such a silly word that it will dissolve any yucky feeling we were trying to describe, and all that will be left is sillyness!!! i can't take myself seriously if i'm being silly. (and really, seriousness is all made up anyhow.. for all there really is, is love) (i am still learning to remind myself a lot) and i often feel so eee why wonk i don't know what to do with myself. try it out. i am being brave with sharing this ingenious inspiration! and perhaps even the sillyness of this silly suggestion finds you drifting into smile :o) yippadeeee! i'm in findhorn when i was down and feeling all falorn i packed my bags and headed to findhorn up til now my world view has been fairly bleak but today i feel better and it's just been a week! there's change in the world and it's taking it's toll, but the magic of findhorn is filling my soul. so blessings, dear ones, whose love shines so bright, i am grateful to all who are keeping it light. xxx love is African Angels I founded African Angels - an educational sponsorship programme based in South Africa. www.sponsoranangel.org We find sponsors to send very disadvantaged kids to school, working to break the cycle of poverty through education. GOING M.A.D Welcome to one of the most exciting projects of the century-GO M.A.D today! 01-01-70 01-01-70 01-01-70 01-01-70 01-01-70
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