My personal credo

I believe in actually physically stopping to smell the flowers

I believe in staying in bed all day to kiss and cuddle

I believe that if nothing else you can always have hope

I believe in ice cream at midnight with whip cream on top

I believe that it’s only human to be wrong, sad, jealous, or angry sometimes; but don’t make a habit of it

I believe in equality, for all people, at all times

I believe in a good cry

I believe that weird people make life more interesting

I believe in the power of music to brighten a day, inspire dance, or change the world

I believe that we create our own reality

I do not believe that hate, despair, or a bad attitude have ever accomplished anything good.

I believe in the slap of my shoes on the concrete and the wind rushing through my hair on a morning run

I believe in the ability to laugh at yourself

I believe in the touch of a dog’s wet nose to make everything better

I believe that the grand city of San Francisco and my small hometown of Medford Oregon each hold beauty and adventure

I believe in mountains, trees, rivers and lakes

I believe in coffee shops, local bookstores, and farmer markets

I believe in the ability of the human body to always exceed expectations

I believe that a kiss on the neck will always give me shivers

I believe in the power of love to heal, inspire, comfort, ignite, confuse, create, enlighten, and shine, brighter than the sun the moon and all the stars in the night sky.

- Amelia Clay

So what do you believe in? Explore yourself and enjoy writing your own personal credo. It really is quite fun! The only hard part is not saying too much. Alright, ready...set...GO!

When I Grow Up I want to be a forester run through the moss on high heels

good sounds, good colors, good moves. GOOD.

field daisy eyes

Wonderful words. Daybreak in Alabama When I get to be a composer I'm gonna write me some music about Daybreak in Alabama And I'm gonna put the purtiest songs in it Rising out of the ground like a swamp mist And falling out of heaven like soft dew. I'm gonna put some tall tall trees in it And the scent of pine needles And the smell of red clay after rain And long red necks And poppy colored faces And big brown arms And the field daisy eyes Of black and white black white black people And I'm gonna put white hands And black hands and brown and yellow hands And red clay earth hands in it Touching everybody with kind fingers And touching each other natural as dew In that dawn of music when I Get to be a composer And write about daybreak In Alabama. Langston Hughes

Om Nashi Me

I love you. And I love you forever. Om Nashi Me.

No truer words have ever been spoken than those by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros possibly and probably the most beautiful grouping of people and music I have ever experienced. They are in fact the group who inspired the name to this blog and they have captivated my soul.

I saw them in concert last night for the second time. But instead of being 100 feet away I was standing at their feet, sweat dripping down on me. It was an experience of pure pure bliss. The stage itself was tiny yet the band of 9 people sometimes more were jumping and janglin all around. I think the thing about them, besides their wonderful sound, that is so mesmerizing is their incredible joy. Each and every one of them lets loose, jumps and dances around the stage, all the while with a huge uninhibited grin on their face. Looking out at the crowd around me I saw this joy everywhere, I felt it in my body, it is infectious! It's electrifyin'!

At one point in the concert a violin player was hoisted up by the crowd and he played beautifully along, a girl form the crowd was brought up to bang on a drum for On Nashi Me, and for the last song, Brother, something like 30 people were brought onto stage to sing and be one. Yep I was up there and oh yeah it felt good.

It turns out after all this writing there is no way to do the beauty of Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros justice. I think only Alex, Jade, Nora, Orpheo, Stewart and the rest can do that job. I urge you to listen to them, soak up their beauty their love, and if you ever get the chance see them live and let them transform you into a janglin soul.

La verdad

Something to think on.....

What is truth? Is truth even possible? Can we as human beings see beyond your own point of view, view things objectively, or will there always be something swaying our thoughts? So then what can truth be if we can't see beyond our own views. Truth can only be relative to what we believe truth to be. Hmmm....?

the sky is blue?

Today while on the train home I was looking around at all the different faces around me. How wonderful it is to be of one human family yet each one of us be so completely different. I started wondering just how these people around me see the world. What do they see when they look at me, at the colorful add on the wall, at the precious wrinkly couple in front of me? What do they feel...a pain in their stomach, a sore back, the scratchy seat on the back of their leg? Then it hit me. I will only ever see these people around me through my one lone view. It is a dissapointing realization that I will never be able to see, feel, smell, and experience the world through any perspective than my own, very subjective one. Oh and how I would love to! I would love to be someone else if even for a moment. Not because I am unhappy with myself, for despite my normal critical view, I am happy with who I am. No, I would like to be someone else, in fact many someone else's, so that I may take in the world as they do. If we are all so different then we must all have wildly different perspectives too. Just looking at the comotion of the world this is clear. How can I ever know that the sky is really blue? What if the blue that I always thought was blue is not. I suppose I will never truly know anything different than what I percieve.
To me the sky is blue, and oh is it beautiful!

Roy G Biv

Today I saw a rainbow. Have I ever told you how much I love rainbows? I love em. Today it was rather dark and a bit gloomy and it hadn't even rained that much so I wasn't expecting a rainbow. Then out of nowhere I look out and see it, this purely wonderful rainbow. Everything went up hill after the rainbow. The clouds shifted to only cover half of the sky, the sun came out in full force, and I was happy.

Have you ever stopped to realize the wonder of a rainbow? I think we take them for granted. Imagine telling someone who had never seen one before that an arc of every wonderful perfectly complementary color appears in the sky for our viewing pleasure. And get this it's completely natural you just mix rain and sun! I don't know about you but I would either call that person a lunatic or make it my life long quest to see a rainbow. Now imagine telling them that sometimes there are double rainbows....I'm not even going to imagine what would happen then :)

My point is that whether it be rainbows or the wagging tail of my dog, I take a lot of things for granted and I bet you do too. Let's face it, unless it's Thanksgiving when do we think on all of the things we are grateful for and truly give thanks for them. If you do it daily of even once a month then bravo to you. But I think those of us that don't, are missing out. Active gratitude can have such a positive affect on your life. Just for today try to participate in an act of gratitude. Tell someone you are thankful for them, tell mother nature you are thankful for her, make a list of things you are thankful for, or just sit for a minute and fill your mind with the wonderful things in your life and say, "thank you". Now rinse and repeat, as often as you'd like. I don't think you'll regret it.

Today I am thankful for: coffee, glue sticks (those things are genius!), good music, my sweet dog, fresh air, the moon, my best friend, my mother, water, open minded people, laughter along with the ability to laugh at myself, pictures, my ukulele, good books, and rainbows.

p.s. one more cool thing about rainbows Roy G. Biv is a saying to remember the colors of the rainbow in order of longest to shortest wavelength. Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet. Great now you'll never forget the colors of the rainbow even when you can't see one! Oh, I'm thankful for that.