Category: hippies

Let’s Color!

Karen

A blog I read posted an entry about how doodling is good for the brain and how mandalas–drawing them or coloring them–are used as a form of art therapy ( even by Carl Jung, no less).

Much like the author of the original post, I went down the internet rabbit hole and learned about the history of mandalas and benefits of drawing or coloring them. Plus, I learned that the internet has whole sites dedicated to coloring pages, and that there are lots of mandala drawings out there to download and color! I still don’t have a knitting project for the evenings; maybe I’ll print out some mandalas and get out my colored pencils instead.

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Equinox

Karen

It’s the vernal equinox today, the first day of spring and a day of (symbolic) balance between day and night. It got a Google doodle, but how about some hippie thoughts, too?

“Throughout the world, the spring equinox is a time of great confrontation between the forces of darkness and light, [as symbolized] in the death and resurrection of the central deities of sacred teachings throughout the world. […] Without the opposition that darkness brings, there would be no movement and no struggle, and it is from the struggle that the spiritual treasures are produced.”   (via)

Coming out of the long dark of winter or the long dark of the soul, it’s good to remember that there’s purpose and balance to everything, even darkness. For me this equinox marks a year of adjusting, a year post-breakup, and I hope at least a little growth (I won’t go so far as to say “spiritual treasures”).

It also means the tulip and hyacinth bulbs I planted last fall are coming up, and I’m not even going to try to make that an analogy. Happy spring!

Outside Again

Karen

Remember when I used to go outside? Between a product launch, two rounds of head colds, and a vacation, I realized that I hadn’t been up in the mountains since New Year’s Day. So I fixed that:
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I didn’t do anything fancy, trail-wise–I need to get back into condition and there’s still avalanche risk higher up–but it was good to be out in the watery light and see how much has melted. Spring’s on its way.

 

Unrelated, it would have been Steve Jobs 59th birthday today. Not one to miss a chance to quote the old hippie, here’s something to ponder for Monday (via):

Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything—all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure—these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.

 

Tracks

Karen

I spent Saturday afternoon up at the Solitude Nordic Center so someone could try out new snowshoes and I could practice what I learned on my nature walk.
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There were blue skies! And I didn’t even need a full coat, just a vest!
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I’m pretty sure these were snowshoe hare tracks:IMG_0299

And I want to say these were bird tracks (?):
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And I even saw the rarest track of all, from the elusive Wild Hippie:
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(I did not make these, I promise.)

Friday Unrelated Information

Karen

1. My friend’s new book arts gallery got a article in a local magazine. I want to buy just about every book in her store, so it’s definitely worth a look.

2. Remember when I went to demolition derbies? Apparently there’s a new show about the Utah derby scene on the Velocity channel.

3. And finally, here’s the hippie reading of the week, which is appropriate if your hard little heart has been getting more brittle with the ongoing winter:

“The image is that of a warm spring wind steadily dissolving winter ice. This is meant to teach us that it is through perseverance and gentleness – rather than aggressiveness – that we overcome what is hard.”

Friday Unrelated Information

Karen

1. It’s February 1st, known as Imbolc to ancient Celts and modern pagans, Candlemas to Catholics, and Groundhog Day (or thereabouts) to the US. In any case, the date marks just six weeks until the Vernal Equinox. Six weeks! We can do this!

2. If you want to get all hippie about it, you could celebrate more than spring coming, too:

For many, Imbolc is simply a time to recognize the coming spring, but I say that Imbolc is also a time to acknowledge the challenges which winter has placed before you. It is a time to reckon…the fullness of  [your] life, the fullness of [your] personhood,  and the great abilities and the necessary limitations in [your] humanness.

This

Karen

From “Christmas for Mystics,” by Marianne Williamson. Happy hippie Christmas, everyone!

According to the mystical tradition, Christ is born into the world through each of us. As we open our hearts, he is born into the world. As we choose to forgive, he is born into the world. As we rise to the occasion, he is born into the world. As we make our hearts true conduits for love, and our minds true conduits for higher thoughts, then absolutely a divine birth takes place. Who we’re capable of being emerges into the world, and weaknesses of the former self begin to fade.

Beyond the mythmaking, doctrine and dogma, [Jesus] is a magnificent spiritual force. And one doesn’t have to be Christian to appreciate that fact… Beyond the nativity scenes, beyond the doctrinal hoopla, lies one important thing: the hope that we might yet become, while still on this earth, who we truly are.

 

Friday!

Karen3 Comments

So the blog move is all done and you should be seeing a fancy new font and fancy new navigation and a fancy new book linen background. Many thanks again to my long-time friends (and brilliant business owners) Amber and Steve for getting this together for me.

I need to do a wrap-up on the 3+2 Things for the year, but I think that’s about all I’ll be posting next week–because we made it through the Solstice (at 4:11 this morning MST), Christmas is upon us, and there are Thin Man movies to be watched.

Because I never miss a chance for a hippie quote, here is what the shamans are telling us about the Solstice today:

The energy is about honoring and forgiving the structure that has held life together up until this point. Move yourself into a place of trust that a new structure has been organizing itself… through a collective intention of having a better world. The best intention during this time is to be in trust.