not to have a good day when you see this:
Have a wonderful day Superforesters.
Now, go kiss somebody and give them a high five!
Monthly Archive for May, 2011
Greetings, SuperForesters from both hemispheres of the Earth.
More specifically, Greetings from Ecuador, whose name derives from the word Equator, which also means Equilibrium and Balance. On the subject of Balance and Equilibrium, I want to share an experience with you, fellow SFers.
With this new chunk of wisdom about Ecuador to chew on, we excitedly drive over the middle of Mother Earth’s belly button, into the Southern Hemisphere, where I was born, as we head for the Capital, Quito.
Quito also means Middle (Qui) of the World (To) in the ancient, local indigenous language. Here, in the middle of the old town in the second highest capital city in the world, this vegetarian pacifist faces off with a thief.
Before the Attack…
In our marathon travel trek of two and a half years, this is a first for us, so imagine my surprise when I turn a corner and see a man carrying my backpack and shoes, which are both supposed to be locked up, safe and sound, in our beloved red Toyota van, Suzie Wong.
In a moment of perfect Universal timing, I am given an opportunity to face off with my own inner criminal. Clearly, I have to stop this man from taking our most precious possessions- computers and back up hard drive with two years’ photos, writing and all our legal documents. Pennies to the pound at street prices and probably worth only two scores of dope and a bottle of forget- for- a- while. Action is needed and years of martial arts training as a youngster plus reflexes ingrained from living in Johannesburg, pushes all my philosophy, loving reasoning and rationality aside as I assume the first position of hand- to- hand combat, while calculating the first strike to the vital spot under the chin, and the second to the temple with as much force as I can manage. But before calculations transmute into actions that assemble on the timeline, never to be taken back, peace, clarity and reasoning douse my fiery aggression.
Instead, hours of countless episodes of “Law and Order” reruns come to mind; I take the man’s hands behind his back in an arresting manner, struggling him to the ground. Perfect Universal timing again brings a Police car to a halt at the end of the street, and two of my loud whistles beckon to them for help. As they approach, the thief starts yelling, “Yes, help! Help! He is stealing my stuff! He is stealing my stuff, he is hurting me! Help! Help!”
Broken window and broken Spanish, but we get the police to cuff him and put him in the back of their car. But in all honesty, what good would it do to add to the load of a man who steals to fuel an addiction that has taken him to the gutters of a cold street. My wish is to bring light and love into darkness, even at the expense of my own comforts and safety. This was a perfect opportunity to practice what I preach and test my new positive conditioning.
As Miin gives details to the police, who are just going through the motions to keep us from insisting on action and a trip to the local cop shop, I get some bananas and find the man in the back of their car. I look at him; he stares back at me in in wide anticipation and expectation of my revenge, a trickle of blood on his forehead, eyes yellowed, face puffed from the scrap against the wall. I feel remorse for this violence towards another human being.
“Please sir, take the bananas.” But he is cuffed and can’t reach out. “You have to pay for my medical expenses! You have to pay me!” He keeps protesting his innocence. But his eyes are filled with fear as I come closer to him, offering the bananas, not sure what to make of me.
“Seek God and you shall find refuge,” I make my peace with him and offer as much as I can in the moment.
I am sure the police dropped him off around the corner, as we head back to the Northern Hemisphere to have Suzie’s window fixed and cleaned up…
I thank the Universe for this opportunity to have dealt with some old
training and conditioning that I thought was part of a different me in
a different life time.
Namaste
Love and Light
Niel
Our very own Graham Nash made a special appearance on Jimmy Fallon last week with Bing David Crosby and a rather young looking Neil Young. Give it time to sink it:
Happy Memorial Day!
(via Good.is via Mathieu Young)
This story was brought to my attention by the lovely SuperForester Joey (a lover of art, western shoot-outs and plops). I’ll let this quote explain the image above:
According to the United Nations, over 25 percent of the world’s population lives without access to electricity. In Cambodia, that number is estimated to be over 70 percent. Living in a rural area without access to electricity can be dark and dangerous.
While traveling in Cambodia and taking pictures for various nonprofits, I met employees of KamWorks, a Dutch social enterprise which focuses on bringing solar power to rural areas. They have recently completed a design project in collaboration with the rural Cambodians it is meant to serve, and the result is the “Moonlight,” a small solar-powered LED lantern, which they have started manufacturing in a small solar powered facility in a fishing village an hour outside of the capital, Phnom Penh.
Traditional light sources were kerosene lamps, hardly safe for the structures that they live in, mostly made of wood and straw. Burning kerosene also releases fumes and soot, as well as contributing to greenhouse gases. So not only is the Moonlight a sustainable alternative, it has an added bonus of being safe.
Not only do these lamps provide a safer, alternative light source, KamWorks is producing the Moonlight locally, creating jobs within the local economy.
Seems like WIN! WIN! WIN! all ’round!
(via Good.is via Mathieu Young)
Embodiments of Awesomeness!
Here’s the story of two inspiring people we had the privilege of meeting in back in Belize!
On our marathon trek through the ups and downs of our Planet Earth, we sometimes bump into people who take our breath away within a couple of seconds. Edward and Nathalie are two of these people, found in one chance meeting.
In order for French speaking Edward, the sailor/ artist, to meet French speaking Genevan Nathalie, the herpetologist/ techno DJ jungle girl, a boat named SCARF had to be sacrificed just off the Florida Keys. A seemingly high price at the time, but pocket change in hindsight. Many times in life, what seems to be the biggest disaster with the walls tumbling down, turns out to be the universe arranging our lives into smaller baggage for quicker, more harmonious travel to places where we need to be, in order to reach farther and higher heights.
For Edward, losing his boat was losing his source of income, his home, a life’s music collection, his almost finished book and passion. The result of those few devastating minutes could almost have been the end of his hard won way of life. But, born with not one, but two hardworking timber thumbs, nothing seems impossible to build, fix or grow for Edward. The answers always come when we are awake and aware, as this sailor was when his whole life sank beneath the wet waves of chance, preparation and destiny in one quick growling storm. He looked to the heavenly stars for guidance and set course for the only place where the last masters of the almost extinct art of boat building and Mahogany trees live hand in hand in a time capsule, dragging thirty years behind the rest of the continent’s development.
Where the continent reaches out into shallow, hot waters for the Caribbean Isles, the deeper designs of the Spanish ships on conquest for the golden cities of the Americas could not breach the white powered beaches and kept them at bay in other parts of the Yucatan peninsula. This made Belize, Sartaneja the perfect place for international pirates, local Mayans in their magnificent cities and a diverse group of travellers and fortune seekers, boat builders and traders to stay out of the way of the Spanish and lap up the natural treasures (Mahogany and exotic species), so uniquely Caribbean.
In the aftermath of what must have been a very sudden, life changing moment, Belize gave Edward more than just a place to grow Mahogany and build a traditional shallow cargo boat haul – it brought him to Nathalie, the nature spirit with a cute French accent and a passion for animals, especially snakes. A match forged among the stars which have chartered our skies night after night, since oceans separated from earth and night from day.
Meeting Nathalie and Edward and sharing in their living experiences has shown me once again how good manners and awareness about solutions for our planets’ problems brings a whole climate of great vibrations to town and country. Simply existing as the natural light beings they are is not enough. Established and integrated deep into the tiny fishing community of Sarteneja, Belize, Edward and Nathalie have their community’s best wishes and positive development at heart.
The new dream is possible and personified in their organic food gardens which serve as an example to local farmers who still use slash and burn techniques, as well as supporting their eco friendly accommodation that also hosts couchsurfers, Backpacker’s Paradise (complete with horses, puppies, dogs and welcome snakes) and Nathalie’s Restaurant. Their sphere of influence spreads to locally supported businesses and farms, nursery projects for replanting Mahoganies for every locally hand built boat in Sarteneja, local seed saving and reforestation projects… the list of positive projects trails off into the goodness.
A project that we would like to highlight is about keeping the wooden boat building that is so unique to Sarteneja alive. Edward works closely with local builders who, for generations, have been hand crafting amazing boats using sustainable logging techniques. However, the skill is slowly being lost as the next generation has no interest in this beautiful craft, moving instead to the cities. This is a real threat to a way of life and culture, and Edward hopes to attract people from all over the world to learn this craft before it’s too late.
Helping Belizeans to keep power in the communities and prevent exploitation from within and without are big issues promoted on their website www.bluegreenbelize.org, among information about the rest of their projects and cool photo galleries.
Love and Light!
Science is proving it more and more everyday – we are all connected. Here is David Brooks speaking at RSA about how we are emotional creatures instead of logical and calculated and how our emotions, not our logic, is responsible for some of our most profound thoughts. Enjoy!
A Synopsis
The eponymous hippopotamus
chose to remain anonymous.
“What’s in a name?” he drowsed,
a head full of bed,
on an orange mimosa morning,
a spicy samosa snoring,
“It’s all so boring!”
intoned a supine bovine,
hooves all a-clatter,
wolves are what’s the matter,
a splatter of fickle facts:
the Duke wields an axe
so behave, be hooved, or be headed.
An Accident
In the mountain mist an arrow
pierced my side, and I staggered,
circled and fell.
“My love, it was for you,”
I said, looking into the sky,
searching for your eyes,
but only seeing my own
“for you, love, for you.”
and I layed myself on the beach and bled
into the foaming shore.
the surf slowly ate my body,
“where did you go, love?
I am lost, love.”
in the caves of my weary heart I looked,
deep into this earth:
blind fish told me she was not there:
“you are a fool, boy, to look so deep
Why would love burrow
when its nature is to fly?”
I built wings, love, to see you, love,
so I could soar too,
but my flight was false, love,
for you, love,
and not so true,
and so I leapt, love,
and so I wept, love,
“Goodbye,” I called,
and down I flew.
As some of you may know, since graduating from NYU in January ’10, I’ve been back in Hong Kong, employed at a company that sells Korean Ginseng. Something about working in a corporate, office-y setting and doing corporate, office-y things shifts one’s attention away from where it’s most important. It is true. Where you choose to put your attention defines who you are, who you become. Lately, I have found my attention being shifted towards surviving and achieving in this ‘business’ world.
A couple of days ago, SuperForester Heather sent out an email to Team SuperForest, requesting us to pitch in to hit 1000 likes on Facebook (we’re currently at 903). In response to that email, I spoke of how things around here seemed to have slowed down these past couple of months, and along with that, my motivation and dedication to leading a life of positivity and love has somewhat withered and shriveled. In dire need of some SF watering and immersion to bring myself back! (I highly recommend digging back through the archives.)
Which brings me here now. A blog written recently by our friend, SuperForester Jason, spoke of how we oughta approach life with the attitude of a beginner. Ever-inspiring, this wake-up-call of a blog post raised my spirits and gave me hope. Who says we have to be experts on being love or being positive? We are human and we will falter! As long as we try again and don’t let up.
Then, I saw this:
(via Neatorama)
….and faith has returned, SuperForesty-ness reclaimed! Thanks to a one-two combo of beginner’s advice and internet cat video:
I Am Restored
in Love,
Jackie
Heyo SuperForest!!!
Check out Wavy Gravy’s song, “Basic Human Needs”:
Definitely a song for the SuperForest Soundtrack, don’t you think?
Even more SuperForesty than that is his totally rad circus camp, Camp Winnarainbow!
Not just “that Woodstock guy” after all, in the short time I’ve taken to research him post-Woodstock online, Wavy appears to be very committed to a variety of charitable deeds and causes. Very SuperForesty indeed.
Yours from the garden of my heart,
SuperForester Heather
Embodiments of Love!
Heads up on this Awesome project!
Our dear friends Richard and Michelle, along with their lovely bub Gracie, are embarking on an epic round the world trip to make “A Film About Global Solutions For Perennial Living”, a 12 part online series. Their goal is to explore “regenerative solutions across the globe- from indigenous wisdom to cutting edge applications of technology”.
We all met at PanyaProject.org (where Richard was managing the food forest, among other things) and PunPunThailand.org (where Michelle was in charge of seed saving and practicing acupuncture) in Northern Thailand- both of them were immediately inspiring and continue to be! They teach free Permaculture Design Courses, Compassionate Communication workshops and are constantly expanding their awareness in a myriad of ways.
We couldn’t think of anyone more perfect to undertake such an awe inspiring adventure!
They are currently raising funds for the trip.
Please support them in any way you can!
Check out their project at http://www.impermanencefilm.org
Embodiments of Love! Of Peace! Of Light! Superforesters!
Hola! Our names are Miin and Niel, and we feel very blessed and giggly that we get to be on Team Superforest! Muchas Gracias, Querido Jackson! We’ve had the pleasure of posting here on occasion, but we’re rubbing our hands together with glee as we have lots of goodies for you all to enjoy!
Just a tiny background.. we’re two little beings from Malaysia and South Africa respectively who are into Year 2.5 of our round the world, co-creating, eco warrior adventures. We’ve just arrived in Ecuador after 3 glorious months in Colombia, chugging along in our beloved Toyota Previa, Suzie Wong.. and the Universe has been our guide all the way! From Thailand to Turkey, and all through the Americas.
Eventually, we’d like to start an ecovillage/ community/ awesome collection of people (whatever you want to call it) in Australia, to spread the Love and be a hub for permaculture, seed saving, biodynamics, green business etc etc.. Another Space of Love for SuperForesters to come and play Down Under.
Us
With gratitude, and much love, we will share with you our journey, our amazing friends, our inspirations and our aspirations.
Paz y Amor!
Join us on our Journey at Weareallmadeoflove.blogspot.com or on Twitter @suziewongtravel
(image via laursite.com)
Goooood Morning SuperForest!
Oh, beautiful SuperForest! How glad I am this day! To wake up and know that I had secured a new Zero One and now Melissa and I had a place to put our few belongings and our precious chickens was a warm and glowing feeling to say the least.
Here’s how it happened. We did not plan. We asked the universe clearly and repeatedly for a place to live and work, and that was it. We set the intention and then trusted that the universe would take care of the rest.
This is harder work than it seems.
When Jesse told me that he no longer wanted to host the Zero One experiment on his land, admittedly I was bummed. But a huge part of me was so relieved! Whew! I no longer had to be in charge! I no longer had to think about all the endless details involved in this project, and there were lots. It felt like a huge weight had lifted.
But then I got a bit freaked. Where was I going to go? And where could I possibly go that was at least as good if not better than Zero One, where we had organic eggs and kale and food and cool ocean breezes and great neighbors? Was I going to have to get a job? Where would we put the chickens?
I’ll just get the hell out of dodge. That was my next thought. For the past year, people have been coming through Zero One and telling us stories about other intentional communities and permaculture projects that sounded amazing. Fine, thought I, I’ll travel around and see them all, see for myself how everyone else is doing things, meet the new players in this game, refresh my inspiration batteries.
But then I thought, what if I get stuck on the mainland and cannot for whatever reason return to Kauai? Fear thinking, I know, but that’s what went through my head.
A few weeks had passed by this time and I was calming down a bit. I realized that the key question in this scenario, the one the universe was waiting for me to answer was: What do I want to do?
This is a harder question to answer than most people realize, for it involves answering an equally significant question: Well, who are you?
I knew that I loved living on Kauai, and I knew that I loved permaculture, agrarian living, and community building. I knew that I loved creating new ideas and sharing them with my friends. Most importantly, I knew that I needed a space I could call my own where I could play and make decisions and be supported.
I didn’t know all these things at first. I had to calm down and listen to the trees whisper and the ocean sing, and then it was clear as day: I didn’t want to leave the island. I didn’t really care how anyone else was doing the permaculture thing. Permaculture is like gardening or parenting. There is no right way to do it. It all depends on the results you wish to achieve.
Anyway, so I waited and I listened and I got clear about my intentions, and it all added up to I want to stay on Kauai and continue the work of building permaculture healing centers, writing on my blog, making media, and stirring things up.
So I asked the universe for exactly that. Out loud. I said: Universe, I would very much like some land to live on to continue my work, and I’d like for it to be awesome. I decided to make no plans. I would simply repeat my intention and request and allow the universe to provide whatever it saw fit to help me on the next stage of evolution.
The next day, a man walked into my living room, sat down and started talking to me about his plans to create permaculture communities. This seemed an extraordinary nod by the universe to my request, and I was very pleased to listen to this friend speak and dream with him. Because I was making no plans, I let myself be directed by the universe’s seemingly random nudges here and there, always making sure to stay in Aloha, stay with the breath, keep my energy up with good food and rest.
Jesse had given us two months to clear out of ZO, so I had a few weeks at the beginning to be freaked, another two weeks to calm down, and then nearly a month to just vibrate along with the music of the universe, listening to what it was saying, going where it directed. Friends came forward and offered Melissa and I places to stay, jobs to do, projects to involve ourselves in. I stayed in the breath, listened to my heart, and waited until I got a big YES from the universe.
And yesterday, that yes came. Two days before Jesse is set to arrive. One day before our friend Angela is coming in to Zero One to deep clean. Just in time. Perfect time! Aloha time!
Our plan of making no plan and staying in the moment/love/aloha brought us stewardship of One Love Gardens, which is exactly what we had asked for and so much more. We got exactly what we wanted BECAUSE we didn’t try to go out and get it. We waited for it to come to us, which it did, with no struggle or heavy effort on our parts, because we allowed it to happen in its time. If One Love had not happened, something else would have happened and it would all have been perfect.
To sum up, the plans do not matter. They exist only in your head to be thwarted perhaps by the universe, who has plans of its own. Schedules to do not matter. They exist only to stress us out. Make plans and schedules and get stressed out when they are broken or altered. Make no plans and there is nothing but the moment and love and aloha. The intention and successfully sharing the vision is the only thing that matters.
Plans and schedules are the engines of stress and discomfort. Imagine eliminating them from your life? What would your life be like if you decided to stop making plans and simply asked yourself in each moment what would make you happiest?
Such a course of action would perhaps put you at odds with the matrix, where everyone is hustling to survive. But what if such a course of action set you free from the architecture of your incarceration, and allowed you entry into a new world of limitless love and aloha? Would it be worth it? Does it interest you to play and discover in this new land?
The universe is waiting to take care of you, if you trust it and you allow it to love you. That is what has been the hardest for me. Trusting in the universe and trusting in myself. Not easy.
But the results! La dolce vita!
Here is to the great undiscovered landscape in us all. Drink deep the universe juice and see what treasures await you.
Love and aloha,
-Jackson
Dear Superforest (2011-05-22),
I really don’t know why, but the sky here in Africa is a completely different animal from the sky in Europe. It is deeper, fuller, more intense and infinitely more variable than I have ever seen before. During the day the sky is the most intense shades of blue you can imagine, starting off almost white at the horizon and gently fading into deep, dark blue the further up you look. When there are clouds they spill out over the landscape like an ocean of swirling whites. At night the darkness is illuminated by thousands of stars, so clearly visible that the space between them appears to be gently lit by stars so distant that they look like a fine, glowing dust. The most amazing spectacle reveals itself when day and night gently brush shoulders with each other. Sunsets and sunrises here go by fast; you have to run to catch them. Ten minutes, and it’s all over. The sun is like a giant egg, splitting open when it meets the horizon to reveal orange light so intense that it makes the scenery below start glowing like burning coals. At twilight towering cloud formations turn pink and purple by the last rays of a dying sun. I love it, and I will miss it much when I leave.
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