BeautyDialogues

Harvesting Lightning

This image came at the end of one of those "state of the world" PowerPoint slide-shows that are being emailed around. The material was fairly predictable until this last slide, which I found myself totally enchanted by - an image of ma and pa - two regular folks - harvesting lightning.

I don't know where it came from, so I don't know how to credit it, but there's something so cheerful and matter of fact about this image of harvesting lightning, light-filled bolts of inspiration that are emerging from the cloud-saturated skies of these dark days. Regular people watching for the ideas and dreams that are appearing now, and harvesting them like canned peaches for the winter when they will be most sorely needed; a time that is coming fast upon us now.

Meet you in the root cellar!

Alex Grey's Obama

Here's the amazing Alex Grey's view of Obama as a truly global visionary:

"If I ran the Internet"

In one of the superb series of TED videos sponsored by BMW, performance poet Rives shares this yummy juicy poem - "If I ran the Internet":

TED is currently sponsoring a number of videos on the subject of happiness, and what makes us happy, no doubt inspired by the ground-breaking "Happiness and Its Causes" FREE conference coming up this week in San Fransisco (don't miss it!). One of the TED Happiness videos is of journalist Carl Honoré, talking about the slow movement, and slowness as a key to happiness.

Cabbage

Definitely not ephemeral, but no less beautiful, these cabbages (also from my morning beauty walk):

Speaking of Flowers

The delicacy of the flowers on this datura entranced me on a recent beauty walk ... so incredibly ephemeral, they were shriveled & gone the next morning.

 

 

Fleur Erotica

Biological order-freak Carl Linneaus was acutely aware of the erotic architecture of flowers, a fact revealed in a Very Short List article showcasing the Swedish exhibition Herbavarium Amoris.

If you don't live in Sweden, you might check out the exhibit's website for Edvard Koinberg's exquiste photography alone (see left).

If you don't know about Very Short List - you may want to sign up for one or more of their daily emails, which are, in my opinion, one of the few things on the web I'd happily receive every day.

Heart of Leadership

This month's Thought Leader Gathering was explicitly about the Art of Leadership. I say explicitly because each of the TLGs supports and promotes leadership in some way, but in this session it was the focal topic.

Regular Thought Leader Gathering conveners FireHawk Hulin and Pele Chadima were the Conversation Starters and they hosted a session from the 6 month Leadership Journey they've designed with alternating sessions between their home in the Santa Cruz mountains and the Thought Leader Gatherings.

Drawing on the timeless wisdom of Medicine Wheels, FireHawk and Pele introduced a powerful exploration of four different aspects of a human being; the Adventurer, the Healer, the Warrior and the Creator.

I was pleased to have been invited to create the "beauty" of this month's altar along with Grace Gamboa and Janet Aguilar, and blessed to have two special friends join me at this event - Lisa Berg, who was visiting from Santa Fe, and my home-girl Mariah Howard, who brought her talents as a visual listener.

Global Celebration

One of the thrills in the aftermath of this election has been the excitement with which the news of Obama's win has been met abroad. My in-box is full of jubilant congratulatory emails from friends around the world and it's so joyous to see television coverage of people dancing in the streets of Kenya and naming streets after our new president-elect.

The photo above came from Ricki Bascombe in Paris, where Barak has a 95% approval rating, reporting on the massive celebrations there - launching red white and blue balloons and drinking champagne as gospel singers sang "Oh Happy Day" and thousands of people shouted "Yes We Can" in French.

The Good News Sinks In

 

"If you're walking down the right path and you're willing to keep walking, eventually you'll make progress." ~ Barack Obama

And what a path it's been..

As the election returns were coming in the other night all kinds of emotions were rising up in me. I found myself restless and unable to concentrate; it was almost unbearable to hold the uncertainty with any equanimity. I was transported back to the previous election where the fire of hope had also been strong in me, only to be worn down to a flicker by all the conflict and eventually doused altogether when the "official" decision came in. I almost couldn't stand to hope again.

The morning after the election I was talking with a close friend and sharing these thoughts, the two of us still almost dazed with the shock and delight of Obama's victory, OUR victory. I realized that it's not just me - my entire generation has experienced this frustration of hope that "good" in the way we understand it will be manifested in the world. I was a child when J.F. Kennedy was assassinated, and as an adult every one of the good men I voted for - George McGovern, Jesse Jackson, Al Gore - were defeated in the presidential elections.

So the good news is slow to sink in... but now, several days later, it's beginning to. And with it a renewed sense of civic purpose and hope and responsibility. Not the overwhelming futility of responsibility without authority that I've been feeling for so long, but a new authority that comes with the "Si Se Puede", the "Yes We Can" that brought this new administration into power.

Now let's see what we can do together.

The Rhythm of Change

This is my other favorite video from the 2008 election campaign. Written by poet Aaron Jafferis and performed by him and his friends (here are the full lyrics) with music by KronZilla, it has the strong stamp of one of the clearest blessings emerging from this campaign - the young men and women of this generation stepping up to make their voices heard.