EMILY PERRY:: ELEMENTAL

spring manifesto

seeing that shari is declaring her manifesto for spring, i thought it was high-time i share mine with you, too!  (thank shari!)

spring manifesto 2010

i will shape and enjoy an {almost} daily yoga practice

i will practice bare attention as much as i can- especially with the kids

i will play more with friends

i will carry more film

i will make things

and enjoy our new home and beach

i will keep it simple

and enjoy the sun.

what is your manifesto for spring?

{p.s. seeing that i am actually moving this week, and my internet service is changing over, i will be taking the week off from this space.  you can, however, catch me from time to time on twitter!  happy spring!}

c a k e

{at the party, polaroid SX-70 with TZ artistic film, last weekend}

::

sometimes, there is nothing like shooting a little film to get you inspired and excited about taking pictures again.

the creative lull: a podcast!

today, i bring to you my first podcast- have a listen::

Elemental Podcast 1: The Creative Lull

the podcasts i mention here are over at: Jen Lee.net, and Creative Living with Jamie.

Enjoy!

bare attention is love

 {at the party, polaroid SX-70 with expired TZ Artistic film, yesterday}

sometimes, you read about or hear about the same thing so many times, it is as if someone is sending you a message: "hear this!"  i was reading my new issue of body & soul magazine- a great issue, by the way- and i came across an article about mindful housekeeping "The Meaning of Cleaning" (see the community posts about it here).  this is one of the things i battle- cleaning a house throughly with two small children, a dog that like to shed, and a tabby cat.  i find it hard to clean and get my yoga and art in, so that when i am cleaning i am rushing, rushing, rushing to get it done.

and then, in the article i came across the bits of insight from Karen Maezen Miller, author of the forthcoming book Hand Wash Cold, and Momma Zen, and it was like- bingo- there are those words again:

"Your own attention is what spiritualizes things.  Attention to the meal you cook, the clothes you wash.  Attention is love.  And that's transformative." 

-Karen Maezen Miller, from The Meaning of Cleaning, Body and                                                       Soul Magazine, April 2010

:::

attention is love!

so, let me back up a bit.  last october, i was listening to a great podcast from the ID Project (my one of my favorite dharma podcasts) and i wrote down this: "bare attention is the same thing as love".  yep.  and i am realizing now, that yes- it is.  i think bare attention is such a good way to describe it.  when we are paying bare attention, we are in the moment, we are undivided, we are engaged.  how is this different from love, really?  this article may have been about housekeeping, but it is such a great reminder for me to bring my bare attention to all things more often: parenting, writing, making the bed.  i am reminded that the kind of bare attention i bring to meditation, yoga, and taking photographs can be evoked in everything i do.  

when we bring our bare attention to things, we are bringing ourselves fully into the moment, into relationship.  what could be more authentic than that?

moving & distractions

i must admit, i am finding so many ways to avoid packing.  i think this weekend i will really need to get "down to business," and so i though i would share a few things i'm checking out...

new books: a year of living your yoga (so good, and perfect little daily reads), awakening the spine (really making me re-think gravity), & the inner tradition of yoga (catching a theme here?)

(somewhat) new places: red dress studios (a great spot for creative entrepreneurs), the art of seeing things (because shari has a wonderful eye!), sheri gaynor (for inspiration gallore!)

worthiness, nonviolence & lovingkindness

this week, brené over at ordinary courage is hosting a week of worthiness to celebrate the release of her new DVD.  she really got me thinking about the idea of worth, and how it impacts our lives.  and while there is much to be said about self-worth in terms of self-care [am i worth spending the money on? am i worth the time?], there is also an aspect of worth that ties into our daily internal dialogue.

in buddhism and yoga, non-violence is referred to as ahimsa.  ahimsa refers not only to physical violence, but mental and emotional violence as well. when we doubt ourselves, when our internal tapes repeat messages about our unworthiness, this is a form of violence towards the self.  when we say to ourselves "i will be worth it when..." , this is in fact an act against the self as we are right now.  it is great to have goals and visions of who we want to be and become, but we don't need to pay the price now by beating ourselves up.  because, as we all know, when we do get to the "destination", often that is never enough either, and we are left striving for a state a being that is beyond reach.  we deserve to find happiness now, right in this moment.  we don't need to achieve anything to get there. 

part of our practice, as humans and creatives, is to shut this cycle down.  when you come up against internal resistance and messaging about self-worth, ask yourself, "am i practicing ahimsa?"  am i practicing loving-kindness (metta) towards myself?  a peaceful life and world starts with our internal world.  if we are not at peace, our world cannot be at peace.  if we cannot be kind to ourselves, and love ourselves fully as we are in this moment, then how can we practice authentic kindness and  love with another?

so as you can see, for me, this idea of worth comes back to a sense of loving-kindness (or metta) and non-violence towards the self.  how are you going to celebrate this week of worthiness?

on tapas

late last night i was reading, and trying to get a plan together to get some writing done during this move.  i have a feeling it is totally unrealistic, but when you have three ideas for articles that will not leave you alone, you know it is a good idea to get them down and work them out.  and yet- when i have so much on my plate at once- things can come to a stand still for me.

and then i started reading about tapas.  in yoga, tapas is the intensity or drive that we bring to things.  it is the engine, so to speak, that propels us into action.  in our lives, so many of us are driven, and are going non-stop- but to what end?  i want to use tapas to fan the flames of a healthy, balanced life- not to drive myself into a state of burnout.  through this reading i realized that i may need to save all my drive and intensity for the moving process- and save the work projects for april.

there is a healthy way to engage our lives so that we are motivated and pro-active while maintaining a sense of being grounded.  Bo Forbes mentions in this great article, that the way to accomplish this is with our intention.  Forbes states that it is our intention, or sankalpa, which "acts as a guiding sutra, or "thread," that we weave throughout our yoga practice, on and off the mat."  i could not have said this more beautifully.  it is our sankalpa which gives us direction, and acts as a reminder of what is at the heart of all this activity in our lives.

i am working on applying these ideas to my everyday life.  what for me is just busy activity, and not rooted by my intention?  what activity keeps me from being present and calm, and what really is steering me towards my goals?  i would love to hear how these ideas apply to your life right now.

{for more on tapas, there is more great insight here and here}

what we carry with us

Remember that every action of body, speech, and mind creates a samskara, or subliminal activator- a track, or a seed...[which are] in effect, stored in the vast storehouse of consciousness.  Our future actions of body, speech, and mind are then influenced by these samskaric tracks.

-Stephen Cope, The Wisdom of Yoga

so, what does this mean for our daily lives?  i think samskaras are great reminders that what we say and do has energy.  that our actions and reactions can further either the birth of more positive energy into the world, or they can take us down a path of pessimism, angst, anger, and resentment.  it is our choice.

this is our energetic legacy alive in our own bodies:: what do you want to carry with you?

they're back...

oh, how i just love the california poppy.  bright.  open.  just what i need to usher me into spring!