Archive for the 'zeitgeist' Category

Ze Frank’s Wisdom

Check this out SuperForest. This is awesome.

Love.

Introducing: SuperForest News

Heyo SuperForest!

So today I was inspired. Today I decided that the old news needs to go. Today I decided to start SuperForest News Network! For now it will simply be distributed on our Facebook page daily (or at least as often as I/we can). The idea behind it for now is to share potential news stories (the headlines at the very least) that should be making the news. For now it will just be generic awesomnesses, but in the future I would love to get actual specific stories of awesomeness from around the world. I want to share stories of kindness, love, compassion, thoughtfulness, sincerity, surprise, kittens, and puppies. Like I said the things that should be making the headlines. So, PLEASE go head over to our Facebook page and like it, so we can spread happy stories around the net and globe! Here is our first story (note: most stories will only feature on the Facebook page as a headline, and not on SuperForest.org main page):

SuperForest News: This just in – mother read bedtime story to child last night. As a result the Child slept happily. Today at school she brought kindness to peers and teachers, smiles were had by all.

For more SuperForest News be sure to check into our Facebook page!

Love,

Mathew

SFNN Correspondent

Internet Treasure – HelloGiggles.com

SuperForest!

I have found an amazing site that is right up SuperForest lane! It is called HelloGiggles.com. It was founded by three amazing women, actress/musician ZOOEY DESCHANEL, producer SOPHIA ROSSI and writer/Internet Sensation MOLLY MCALEER. They themselves describe it as:

the ultimate entertainment destination for smart, independent and creative females. Everything hosted on the site will be lady-friendly, so visitors need not worry about finding the standard Boys Club content that makes many entertainment sites unappealing to so many of us.

And let me tell you it is full of gems and giggles and love and thoughtfulness. The team over at HelloGiggles is large and in charge, and I want you all to go check it out.

Here is an example of the greatness found on their site. Just one small kid, bringing his school into the raptures. Enjoy!

Inspiration Abounds!!

Munchkins!

It sure has been a while!  Lovely to be back. South Africa doesn’t lend itself to frequent posting as the internet here is very slow and expensive. We’ve been rather busy since getting back here in December, getting married, travelling around this gorgeous country as well as Namibia, attending Afrikaburn (afrikaburn.com) and working on writing projects, as we wait for our move to Australia.

However, here’s some stuff I had to share with you!

 

SEEDS TRUST

Check out this amazing Glass Gem corn, a heritage seed variety carefully stewarded by the wonderful Seeds Trust in Arizona.

 

“Seedsman Greg Schoen got this seed from Carl Barnes, a part-Cherokee man, now in his 80′s, in O…klahoma. He was Greg’s “corn-teacher”. Greg was in the process of moving last year and wanted someone else to store and protect some of his seeds. He left samples of several corn varieties, including glass gem. I grew out a small handful this past summer just to see. The rest, as they say is history. I got so excited, I posted a picture on Facebook. We have never seen anything like this – Bill (Seeds Trust)

 

STELLAR VIOLETS

My dear friend Lucinda Giblett from Manjimup, Western Australia, has launched an exciting permaculture project, Stellar Violets (or on Facebook).  She is truly an inspiration for me on so many levels and I trust that her love for all things true and wonderful will bring much success to her endeavours!

“Named for my grandmothers, Stellar Violets is an invitation to tap into the world of good sense, love, and traditional wisdom. You can connect here with people ready to share their time-honoured skills in living life well, traditional crafts, and environmental stewardship.”

 

MILKWOOD PERMACULTURE

Then there’s Milkwood Permaculture, a great project based in NSW, Australia, who provide great Permaculture Design Courses, hosts speakers like Joel Salatin and teach other courses in self reliance and food growth.

 

GROW PARADISE

Then there’s the always wonderful Anthony Anderson aka Raw Model whose project Grow Paradise (or Facebook) is going from strength to strength!  While he was in Cape Town earlier this year for 6 weeks, he organised and planted an entire community garden in one of the downtrodden areas of the city.  He continues to be a great friend and someone who inspires change, and motivates me.

 

 

IMPERMANENCE FILM

Another two friends have finally left on their epic round the world journey.  Richard and Michelle, with their toddler Grace, are zooming around the globe starting in the UK on the way to the US, filming and producing a free online series about sustainable communities, ecovillages and inspiring people in the fields of natural building, permaculture etc etc.  Please support them at Impermanence and follow their amazing journey!

 

ANNA VAN RIEL

And last but certainly not least, our dear friends Anna Van Riel and her man Lox, with their miracle baby Matilda, who are all going on the Whistle and Hum Tour 2013 in the USA, where she will be playing shows at Sustainable houses.  They have been through a lot together but always face the difficulties with love, patience and deep wisdom.. even though Tildy was born with a rare condition requiring much medical care, Anna organised fundraisers for the hospital, recorded an album, went on tour in NZ, wrote a children’s book, hosts WWOOFers on their permaculture nook that Lox built and organised this tour!

Please read all about this truly beautiful family on Anna’s blog!

 

We are truly blessed to have these people in our lives and feel it is such a privilege to share them with you!!  Life is SuperAbundant and full of Joy!

Love and Light

Miin

Lila Roo – aWall

My friends Lila Roo and Jesse are artists and geniuses. She crafts beautiful and intricate costumes out of recycled plastic and travels the world making art, and he’s a video/sound/collage alchemist. They’ve joined forces to create a one-two hug of sweet smelling whimsy.

LR&J have put together a kickstarter campaign to create a mobile white wall to put art upon or create art in front of, and move it about the planet, inspiring and creating in an endless mobius strip of delight.

Sayeth Lila Roo:

“The purpose of aWall is to share art, music, performance, and film outside of normative spaces; museums, galleries, private collections, studios, music halls, and theaters. Thereby facilitating multi-sensory, and participatory creative expression beyond walls.  In order to tear down the walls that box us and our creations “in”, we have decided to construct a singular, linear, transportable 8′x24′ wall that can exist out in the open, and move from place to place reaching a broad and diverse audience.”

Lila and Jesse have 34 hours to raise the remaining five thousand they seek to fund aWall. Melissa and I gave ‘em some smackers. If you vibe with them and want to help support the arts, check out their kickstarter page and follow the links.

aWall Kickstarter page.

Lila Roo’s website

Good luck Lila Roo and Jesse!

 

Eric Valli – Off the Grid

(via)

Photographer Eric Valli’s shots of people living off the grid are stunning.

Where are these folks living? It looks like Clan of the Cave Bear.

Heather’s Journal: React With Love

via

Hello SuperForesters!

It is a sunny Monday here in Ottawa and I am enjoying a rare day off, after returning from a weekend away at my cousin’s wedding. Before I venture out into the sunny streets I wanted to share with you a mantra and a lesson I’ve been practicing and learning lately, and share an example of how it came up for me this weekend.

I traveled to the U S of A this weekend to celebrate my cousin’s wedding to his lovely bride, and much family fun was had by all. It was quite a beautiful wedding, with many messages of love, respect and trust. Weddings are good like that, whether or not you believe in the formality of it all, you find yourself sitting in a church (or other setting) listening to people talk openly and honestly about love in all of its forms.

Receptions are full of family and friends dancing, smiling, laughing, hugging, kissing, and expressing candid feelings left and right. It makes me wonder why we do not act like this every day, not just during special occasions!? It was lovely nonetheless.

Lately I’ve been very busy, and with my Type A personality, at times I have to remind myself to breathe and not let things get me riled up. One mantra that has helped me is to remind myself to:

React With Love.

Sometimes I write it on the little chalkboard in my bathroom, sometimes I repeat it over and over, and sometimes I write it down on paper. Whatever works, SuperForesters!

On my travels this weekend, I experienced one flight cancellation and one delayed flight. In general this would not be a huge problem as usually when I’m traveling my plans are not time-sensitive, but with this wedding weekend, time was of the essence. When I heard about my flight cancellation, I was able to catch myself in a moment when the former me might have verbally expressed my frustrations. Instead, I realized this was something out of my control, but what was within my control was my reaction to it. It was not the airline staff’s fault that my flight had been cancelled — it was really nobody’s fault at all! Mother Nature just decided that all flights in and out of Chicago weren’t going to happen. So, I breathed, and I reminded myself to react with love. Instantly I felt so much more calm and my travels went smoothly from then on.

Although I arrived late and missed the rehearsal dinner, I was still welcomed with open arms by family and new friends, and enjoyed a festive evening. On my way back home yesterday, I checked in to find out that my flight had been delayed, and that I would have a short time to connect to my next flight home. Standing in line with a friendly chap from Minneapolis, we laughed and smiled and joked about the whole situation, of which his travel plans were more seriously derailed. We both agreed, why worry about it? There is always a solution and getting upset really would not change things. The only thing getting upset would do, would be to upset ourselves. Who wants that? Exactly. 

As the handsome airline staff told me, “Don’t worry, you’ll have enough time to connect” — I really believed him and trusted that all would work out as it should. Once I landed at O’Hare, I told my little boots to git runnin’ and I made it, cheeks flushed, adrenaline pumping, to my gate in time for boarding.

I am learning, SuperForest, to react with love to all situations. It can only make things better.

Gratefully yours,

SuperForester Heather

A Poem I Wrote Awhile Ago: “A Hymn to the Loved”

I wrote this poem while in Mexico over the last summer. The people I met and the places I visited inspired me, and now I would love to share it with you. I also attached an audio of my reading of it.

Love!

“A Hymn to the Loved”
Oh Childe of the lord!
Oh Childe of the earth!
Oh Childe of the universe!
This I write for you.

I call out to the mother
Who birthed at 16. 
I call out to the father
Who left home in pain. 
I call out to the child
Who cries secret tears. 
I call out to the brothers and sisters
Who stand at our side. 
I call out to the young and old
Who can’t see eye to eye. 
I call out to those lost lovers
Who created our world. 
I call out to the fed
And I call out to the starved. 
I call out to you, Childe. 

Hear my voice. 
And let it sing. 

You are loved.
You are loved.

Your dreams are cherished in the womb creation.
Let them churn in your soul until they bear fruit. 
And let you bring them into this world
To be shared amongst your friends.

Your heart will be kept safe in mine,
If you desire it to be so. 
Your soul will be kept sacred in my mind,
If you share it with me now. 
My trust will be laid at your doorstep,
If you open up your home.  

Let your heart sing
And your mind hum the tune. 
Let your body dance
And your soul jam along. 
Let your hopes fly
So you can watch them soar.
Let you share this all with me
So I can give you more.  

Give each of us the gift of you
So we can all say, “I love you.”

This is a hymn to the loved. 
This is a hymn to you. 
May it remind you that the rest of us
Are just like you. 
May it awaken your soul
So you can awaken mine. 

This is a hymn to the loved. 
This is a hymn to you.

93 Million Miles by Jason Mraz

Listen and LoVE. Then check out Mr. AZ’s new songs here. They are full of love and full of abundance.

Love.

P.S. SuperForeset, it is not hard for me to love you because you are the world to me. Listen below ;)

Pop Up Park

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The super forest. It’s happening.

Everybody in the world needs to see this

Please pass along. Love you guys.

Monarch Spirit: A Quest for Love and Connection

Image via Jordan Bower

Good Evening SuperForesters!!

I MUST share with you the creative endeavours of one Jordan Bower, a beautiful soul I am grateful to be acquainted with who is SuperForesting all over the place! Jordan is a self-described Lovewallah — loosely translated as a servant of love. I think it was almost a year ago that I had a very fascinating and passion-filled Gmail phone conversation with Jordan. A very close friend had connected me to him because she marvelled at the similarities between our life goals, so I had to call him!  During our chat, I interviewed him for a story I was going to write about his life project at the time: he was walking from Vancouver to Mexico!

Ever since that awe-inspiring, soul-connecting conversation, I kept promising myself that I was going to take the notes I took and synthesize them into a story that I would share on SuperForest, and perhaps even share in a newspaper or an online magazine as well. I felt that Jordan’s story needed to be shared with as many people as possible. Jordan’s spirited energy and his honest, unabashed quest for love and connection and meaning in his world was and is so inspiring!

I still have not written the story, but I am finally feeling inspired to put pen to paper and I will share the fruits of that interview soon.

For now, please hear from Jordan himself as he launches his Monarch Spirit Project. It is a quest for love and connection, which is a quest we are all on, SuperForesters. Please consider supporting Jordan to make this project a reality. I know he would be very grateful.

In Jordan’s words:

Even if you feel you can’t [support financially], I’d really appreciate your help spreading this video in your network. In the past few years, I’ve spoken with thousands of young people who feel disillusioned by the prevailing culture of fear and disempowerment.

I think we can do better.

I believe passionately that telling a different story – a real story – about love, adventure, growth, creativity, and courage can have an important impact on the way we relate to each other and to the world around us.

I have a story like that. And I need your help to get it out.

This is the beginning of a new type of journey. I’m excited and nervous, like at the start of any quest. I intend to follow this path confidently, one step at a time. I hope you’ll come along with me.

Yours in support of brave souls who want to change the world,

~SuperForester Heather

The Story of Stuff!

Howdy SuperForest! Sorry I haven’t been around. If I’m not at work, I’m at school. Life’s got me dangling by my you-know-what’s. Who cares! I don’t know if this has been posted before, but my sociology class recently had us watch this really informative albeit scary video about consumption in America. Check it out and explore the site for more crazy stuff about things like cosmetics and bottled water!