Sunday, August 26, 2012
Saturday, July 21, 2012
Inspirational quotes from daily love
"Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth."
- Marcus Aurelius. Aurelius was Roman Emperor from 161 to his death in 180. He was the last of the "Five Good Emperors", and is also considered one of the most important Stoic philosophers.
"Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved."
- Helen Keller. Keller was an American author, activist and lecturer. She was the first deafblind person to graduate from college.
- Marcus Aurelius. Aurelius was Roman Emperor from 161 to his death in 180. He was the last of the "Five Good Emperors", and is also considered one of the most important Stoic philosophers.
"Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved."
- Helen Keller. Keller was an American author, activist and lecturer. She was the first deafblind person to graduate from college.
Friday, July 13, 2012
Leave your heart on the dance floor.
I found this on ASIA's Facebook..
Thanks Corina
Los Angeles USA, Week 7
By Corina / July 9, 2012 / Uncategorized / One Comment
Leave your heart on the dance floor.
Expression is rare … I dare you
Right now,my mind and body are the strongest they have been in my entire life. Even so, during week 7 I had a serious meltdown. I lost the plot and had a massive freak out in the middle of a training session. There were a number of factors that led up to this. It was partly to do with the sheer exertion that has been required of me, and partly to do with my own feelings, thoughts, and emotions towards the process. Each day has continued to be made up of breakthrough moments where my understanding was deepened, sprinkled with flashes of frustration and self-doubt.
I have been noticing over the course of this training how quickly the mind can wander, lose concentration, get frustrated and leave me tempted to give up. I have realised that very often we give up way too soon. The difference working with Shabb, is that part of the training is focused on mental strength. I have developed a will to go on when my body really hurts and when my mind tells me ‘you’ve done enough, stop’. This will has developed from it not being acceptable to stop or give up. With every challenge given to me it is imperative that I complete it at the highest physical level my body can reach. If I don’t, I have to start over. Working in this way, consistently over an extended time period has really highlighted to me how the mind plays an extremely significant role in your ability to believe, ultimately affecting your ability to achieve full capacity.
During this week, we continued to work on the upper body, the technique for the arms and the torso. We also touched once again on The Apache (the partner dance in Shway, I love it! It’s so much fun). In addition to the technique and mechanics, we were working on musicality and interpretation, creativity, connection, performance commitment, and a key component that runs through all of this … real heartfelt emotions!
As I have mentioned in my previous blogs, Shabba-Doo has a unique intuitive method of teaching. It is different to any dance education I ever had. Sometimes it overwhelms me. I guess in week 7 it got the better of me, for a moment ;) .
Tuesday morning: Before I even stepped into the studio I had been feeling emotional (personal stuff). In session I found myself getting frustrated. Shabb, in his usual style was throwing directions and challenges at me. I felt like I was trailing behind in my own body. We are constantly changing it up (there is no comfort zone). He called me over to him and gave me a different task. And then tears started trickling down my face. He laughed. He thought it was about the task he had set me. I said ‘No, I’m processing a lot of information and find it hard to do everything at once.’ His response was ‘It’s not hard.’ I said ‘Maybe not for you, but I’m telling you that’s how I feel.’ He replied, ‘But you are doing it!’ I said, ‘I don’t feel like I’m doing it.’ He replied, ‘Well I’m telling you, you are.’
And it’s true, what he was actually asking me to do was no different to any other session. It was no more difficult. And he would have no qualms telling me if I was not getting it. The only difference was my feelings, thoughts and emotions on that day. I let it get to me. And I lost the plot. Perception is an interesting thing, right?
Picture this: So from Shabb’s perspective I was being crazy, because here I am doing what he’s asking me to do, and thinking that I am not doing it. So when I started crying, it was amusing to him because it didn’t make sense. So he laughed. Which in turn made me mad. The more I cried, the more he laughed. The more he laughed, the more infuriated I became and the more I cried and shouted. In hindsight it is pretty funny. Sometimes I feel like I’m living in a sit-com. < ha ha >
Well I’m not going to tell you blow for blow what happened, however I will tell you that I let all of my emotions out in that session. And it wasn’t pretty ;) yet, even in these moments of despair, Shabb, not one to miss an opportunity told me ‘Get up and dance you are wasting a perfect opportunity to use your emotions’. I felt glued to the floor. I was too upset. And if I am honest, there was a massive part of me that wanted to do it but I put up a barrier and fear stopped me. I had all of these real emotions coursing through my blood. And I did nothing with them except wallow.
I later found myself being mad for wasting the opportunity and wasting time getting upset followed my actions. We ended up doing literally multiple HUNDREDS of repetitions of the contraction technique because that was all I could face at that moment. All was not lost, I do believe that everything happens as it is supposed to and it was important for me to experience that feeling and go through that meltdown.
“Every defeat, every heart ache, every loss, contains its own seed, it’s own lesson on how to improve your performance the next time.” OG Mandino.
“Adversity has ever been considered the state in which a man becomes most easily acquainted with himself. “Samuel Johnson
Shabb said to us on Saturday: “There is no separation between you and your dancing. If these dances don’t allow you to express yourself they are pointless. They are vehicles for you to express.”
This leads me to my next point. Emotions. You may recall in last week’s article I talked about how I watched Shabb closely to try and work out how I can connect my dancing and my emotions as one. Really there should be no separation. SO WHY is this like a big brick wall in front of me? We are emotional creatures. It should come natural, right?
As I was watching him it occurred to me that all through our lives we are taught that it is not okay to have emotions. We are expected to sensor our feelings. We are taught a certain type of behaviour is acceptable. We are taught what is polite. How often do we see children being told to keep quiet, stop crying, stop running around and doing what comes naturally etc.
Natural behaviour is replaced with learned ‘acceptable’ behaviour. Society teaches us to suppress our emotions and now we live in a world where displays of real honest emotion make people uncomfortable and defensive. It isn’t ok to cry in public. It isn’t okay to scream when you are frustrated. If you speak your mind on a tricky subject, it is likely to upset people.
I have experienced the fallout from such behaviour, because I am an emotional person. Ask any of my close friends … or my enemies. I guarantee you they either love me or hate me for the same reasons. The ones who veer away from me do not like my strong views, my direct personality or my emotion. It may be too intense for them. It makes them feel uncomfortable. I KNOW!
What happened to expressing honestly from the heart? Social norms killed it! (Along with a number of other influencing factors). If you want to understand more check out these behavioural theories: Theory of Reasoned Action (Fishbein) and Social Cognitive Theory (Bandura).
Therefore, it’s no wonder we find it difficult to express freely when given the opportunity. It is almost alien to us. In that moment we are basically being given the chance to do the very thing we are constantly taught NOT to do. SO when we get that opportunity, we don’t quite know what to do! When someone says – go ahead, express in any way you like, it’s a scary moment. It is very difficult to authentically do it 100%.
However, emotion is also the thing that people connect to. When you watch someone dance and you enjoy it, more often than not, it is because it resonates with you somewhere on an emotional level. Take note of that next time you see a performance that you enjoy. I guarantee that it’s because it made you FEEL something!
This is another fine line and can be like a tight rope that we must learn to run along.
I can express verbally freely. Yet when it comes to channelling these emotions in to dance for some reason I am finding there is a wall between me and… myself, the physical being versus the emotional being. NOW, my biggest challenge is to get the two to meet. The good news is that I am not afraid to cry or tell someone exactly how I feel about something. Plus, I don’t mind if you like me or not, I can live with that. Like Shabb says “Who gives you the license to express? YOU DO”… So I guess, if it’s down to me, now it’s time to FIND IT and connect those pieces of this dancing jigsaw puzzle.
As I hit rock bottom in my melt down, I received some valuable reminders:
~ A strong mind and resolve is an absolute. It is the thing that will push you forward and keep you focused and on message when the going gets tough.
~ A strong, healthy body will assist this as it will help you to ensure that you can physically take the challenges thrown at you by your good friend ‘Life’.
~ There is a fine line for the use of emotions. They can make you or break you! In dance, they need to be channelled effectively. In this situation I allowed them to engulf me, and it manifested in an unproductive way. When dancing, your emotions should be present. If you can harness the energy of a ‘break-down’ moment and channel it in to your dance, you are bound to discover something new and find an increased level of freedom within yourself and your art. Not only in dance and generally in life, it is important to allow yourself to feel & recognise your emotions, and to be brave enough to express them honestly.
As always I will leave you with a quote, this week it is song lyrics from one of my favourite girl groups from back in the day, Salt ‘n’ Pepa:
You know life, is all about expression, you only live once and you’re not coming back, so express yourself … Afraid to be you, livin’ in fear, boo, expression is rare, I dare you.
Give it a try; what have you got to lose?
Much love & all that good stuff,
eLlem <3
Her blog is: http://ellemsakura.wordpress.com/2012/07/09/los-angeles-usa-week-7/
Thanks Corina
Los Angeles USA, Week 7
By Corina / July 9, 2012 / Uncategorized / One Comment
Leave your heart on the dance floor.
Expression is rare … I dare you
Right now,my mind and body are the strongest they have been in my entire life. Even so, during week 7 I had a serious meltdown. I lost the plot and had a massive freak out in the middle of a training session. There were a number of factors that led up to this. It was partly to do with the sheer exertion that has been required of me, and partly to do with my own feelings, thoughts, and emotions towards the process. Each day has continued to be made up of breakthrough moments where my understanding was deepened, sprinkled with flashes of frustration and self-doubt.
I have been noticing over the course of this training how quickly the mind can wander, lose concentration, get frustrated and leave me tempted to give up. I have realised that very often we give up way too soon. The difference working with Shabb, is that part of the training is focused on mental strength. I have developed a will to go on when my body really hurts and when my mind tells me ‘you’ve done enough, stop’. This will has developed from it not being acceptable to stop or give up. With every challenge given to me it is imperative that I complete it at the highest physical level my body can reach. If I don’t, I have to start over. Working in this way, consistently over an extended time period has really highlighted to me how the mind plays an extremely significant role in your ability to believe, ultimately affecting your ability to achieve full capacity.
During this week, we continued to work on the upper body, the technique for the arms and the torso. We also touched once again on The Apache (the partner dance in Shway, I love it! It’s so much fun). In addition to the technique and mechanics, we were working on musicality and interpretation, creativity, connection, performance commitment, and a key component that runs through all of this … real heartfelt emotions!
As I have mentioned in my previous blogs, Shabba-Doo has a unique intuitive method of teaching. It is different to any dance education I ever had. Sometimes it overwhelms me. I guess in week 7 it got the better of me, for a moment ;) .
Tuesday morning: Before I even stepped into the studio I had been feeling emotional (personal stuff). In session I found myself getting frustrated. Shabb, in his usual style was throwing directions and challenges at me. I felt like I was trailing behind in my own body. We are constantly changing it up (there is no comfort zone). He called me over to him and gave me a different task. And then tears started trickling down my face. He laughed. He thought it was about the task he had set me. I said ‘No, I’m processing a lot of information and find it hard to do everything at once.’ His response was ‘It’s not hard.’ I said ‘Maybe not for you, but I’m telling you that’s how I feel.’ He replied, ‘But you are doing it!’ I said, ‘I don’t feel like I’m doing it.’ He replied, ‘Well I’m telling you, you are.’
And it’s true, what he was actually asking me to do was no different to any other session. It was no more difficult. And he would have no qualms telling me if I was not getting it. The only difference was my feelings, thoughts and emotions on that day. I let it get to me. And I lost the plot. Perception is an interesting thing, right?
Picture this: So from Shabb’s perspective I was being crazy, because here I am doing what he’s asking me to do, and thinking that I am not doing it. So when I started crying, it was amusing to him because it didn’t make sense. So he laughed. Which in turn made me mad. The more I cried, the more he laughed. The more he laughed, the more infuriated I became and the more I cried and shouted. In hindsight it is pretty funny. Sometimes I feel like I’m living in a sit-com. < ha ha >
Well I’m not going to tell you blow for blow what happened, however I will tell you that I let all of my emotions out in that session. And it wasn’t pretty ;) yet, even in these moments of despair, Shabb, not one to miss an opportunity told me ‘Get up and dance you are wasting a perfect opportunity to use your emotions’. I felt glued to the floor. I was too upset. And if I am honest, there was a massive part of me that wanted to do it but I put up a barrier and fear stopped me. I had all of these real emotions coursing through my blood. And I did nothing with them except wallow.
I later found myself being mad for wasting the opportunity and wasting time getting upset followed my actions. We ended up doing literally multiple HUNDREDS of repetitions of the contraction technique because that was all I could face at that moment. All was not lost, I do believe that everything happens as it is supposed to and it was important for me to experience that feeling and go through that meltdown.
“Every defeat, every heart ache, every loss, contains its own seed, it’s own lesson on how to improve your performance the next time.” OG Mandino.
“Adversity has ever been considered the state in which a man becomes most easily acquainted with himself. “Samuel Johnson
Shabb said to us on Saturday: “There is no separation between you and your dancing. If these dances don’t allow you to express yourself they are pointless. They are vehicles for you to express.”
This leads me to my next point. Emotions. You may recall in last week’s article I talked about how I watched Shabb closely to try and work out how I can connect my dancing and my emotions as one. Really there should be no separation. SO WHY is this like a big brick wall in front of me? We are emotional creatures. It should come natural, right?
As I was watching him it occurred to me that all through our lives we are taught that it is not okay to have emotions. We are expected to sensor our feelings. We are taught a certain type of behaviour is acceptable. We are taught what is polite. How often do we see children being told to keep quiet, stop crying, stop running around and doing what comes naturally etc.
Natural behaviour is replaced with learned ‘acceptable’ behaviour. Society teaches us to suppress our emotions and now we live in a world where displays of real honest emotion make people uncomfortable and defensive. It isn’t ok to cry in public. It isn’t okay to scream when you are frustrated. If you speak your mind on a tricky subject, it is likely to upset people.
I have experienced the fallout from such behaviour, because I am an emotional person. Ask any of my close friends … or my enemies. I guarantee you they either love me or hate me for the same reasons. The ones who veer away from me do not like my strong views, my direct personality or my emotion. It may be too intense for them. It makes them feel uncomfortable. I KNOW!
What happened to expressing honestly from the heart? Social norms killed it! (Along with a number of other influencing factors). If you want to understand more check out these behavioural theories: Theory of Reasoned Action (Fishbein) and Social Cognitive Theory (Bandura).
Therefore, it’s no wonder we find it difficult to express freely when given the opportunity. It is almost alien to us. In that moment we are basically being given the chance to do the very thing we are constantly taught NOT to do. SO when we get that opportunity, we don’t quite know what to do! When someone says – go ahead, express in any way you like, it’s a scary moment. It is very difficult to authentically do it 100%.
However, emotion is also the thing that people connect to. When you watch someone dance and you enjoy it, more often than not, it is because it resonates with you somewhere on an emotional level. Take note of that next time you see a performance that you enjoy. I guarantee that it’s because it made you FEEL something!
This is another fine line and can be like a tight rope that we must learn to run along.
I can express verbally freely. Yet when it comes to channelling these emotions in to dance for some reason I am finding there is a wall between me and… myself, the physical being versus the emotional being. NOW, my biggest challenge is to get the two to meet. The good news is that I am not afraid to cry or tell someone exactly how I feel about something. Plus, I don’t mind if you like me or not, I can live with that. Like Shabb says “Who gives you the license to express? YOU DO”… So I guess, if it’s down to me, now it’s time to FIND IT and connect those pieces of this dancing jigsaw puzzle.
As I hit rock bottom in my melt down, I received some valuable reminders:
~ A strong mind and resolve is an absolute. It is the thing that will push you forward and keep you focused and on message when the going gets tough.
~ A strong, healthy body will assist this as it will help you to ensure that you can physically take the challenges thrown at you by your good friend ‘Life’.
~ There is a fine line for the use of emotions. They can make you or break you! In dance, they need to be channelled effectively. In this situation I allowed them to engulf me, and it manifested in an unproductive way. When dancing, your emotions should be present. If you can harness the energy of a ‘break-down’ moment and channel it in to your dance, you are bound to discover something new and find an increased level of freedom within yourself and your art. Not only in dance and generally in life, it is important to allow yourself to feel & recognise your emotions, and to be brave enough to express them honestly.
As always I will leave you with a quote, this week it is song lyrics from one of my favourite girl groups from back in the day, Salt ‘n’ Pepa:
You know life, is all about expression, you only live once and you’re not coming back, so express yourself … Afraid to be you, livin’ in fear, boo, expression is rare, I dare you.
Give it a try; what have you got to lose?
Much love & all that good stuff,
eLlem <3
Her blog is: http://ellemsakura.wordpress.com/2012/07/09/los-angeles-usa-week-7/
Tuesday, July 03, 2012
Anis Mojgani at The Seattle Grand Slam 2006
Wow this Amazing Spoken Word Poet, one of my friend's OK CUPID chatter guy recommended she listen to
this is purely inspiring
Anis Mojgani at The Seattle Grand Slam 2006
there is soo much in seconds of his phraseologies....
"already am , always was, and i still have time to be...."
this is purely inspiring
Anis Mojgani at The Seattle Grand Slam 2006
there is soo much in seconds of his phraseologies....
"already am , always was, and i still have time to be...."
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
You learn
Thanks to DONNA Arrogante for posting this on FB
"Comes The Dawn "
After a while you learn the subtle difference
Between holding a hand and chaining a soul,
And you learn that love doesn’t mean leaning
And company doesn’t mean security,
And you begin to learn that kisses aren’t contracts
And presents aren’t promises,
And you begin to accept your defeats
With your head up and your eyes open
With the grace of a woman, not the grief of a child,
And you learn to build all your roads on today,
Because tomorrow’s ground is too uncertain for plans,
And futures have a way of falling down in mid-flight.
After a while you learn
That even sunshine burns if you get too much.
SO PLANT YOUR OWN GARDEN, DECORATE YOUR OWN SOUL, INSTEAD OF WAITING FOR SOMEONE TO BRING YOU FLOWERS.
And you learn that you really can endure...
That you really are strong,
And you really do have worth.
And you learn and learn...
With every goodbye you learn.
Author: Veronica A. Shoffstall
"Comes The Dawn "
After a while you learn the subtle difference
Between holding a hand and chaining a soul,
And you learn that love doesn’t mean leaning
And company doesn’t mean security,
And you begin to learn that kisses aren’t contracts
And presents aren’t promises,
And you begin to accept your defeats
With your head up and your eyes open
With the grace of a woman, not the grief of a child,
And you learn to build all your roads on today,
Because tomorrow’s ground is too uncertain for plans,
And futures have a way of falling down in mid-flight.
After a while you learn
That even sunshine burns if you get too much.
SO PLANT YOUR OWN GARDEN, DECORATE YOUR OWN SOUL, INSTEAD OF WAITING FOR SOMEONE TO BRING YOU FLOWERS.
And you learn that you really can endure...
That you really are strong,
And you really do have worth.
And you learn and learn...
With every goodbye you learn.
Author: Veronica A. Shoffstall
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Recently did an interview for HYPHEN MAGAZINE
and they asked one word to describe the next 10 years of mylife, I said SATORI!
Satori (悟り) (Chinese: 悟; pinyin: wù; Korean 오; Vietnamese ngộ) is a Japanese Buddhist term for enlightenment, meaning "understanding". In the Zen Buddhist tradition, satori refers to the experience of kensho.[1] Kensho (Japanese) is a term used in Zen traditions meaning "seeing into one's true nature." Ken means "seeing," sho means "nature," "essence."[1] Satori and kensho are commonly translated as enlightenment, a word that is also used to translate bodhi, prajna and buddhahood.
Satori is considered a "first step" or embarkation toward nirvana:
Ch'an expressions refer to enlightenment as "seeing your self-nature". But even this is not enough. After seeing your self-nature, you need to deepen your experience even further and bring it into maturation. You should have enlightenment experience again and again and support them with continuous practice. Even though Ch'an says that at the time of enlightenment, your outlook is the same as of the Buddha, you are not yet a full Buddha.[3]
The student's mind must be prepared by rigorous study, with the use of koans, and the practice of meditation to concentrate the mind, under the guidance of a teacher. Koans are short anecdotes of verbal exchanges between teachers and students, typically of the Song dynasty, dealing with Buddhist teachings. The Rinzai-school utilizes classic collections of koans such as the Gateless Gate. The Gateless Gate was assembled by the early 13th century Chinese Zen master Wumen Hui-k'ai (無門慧開).
Wumen himself struggled for six years with koan "Zhaozhou’s dog", assigned to him by Yuelin Shiguan (月林師觀; Japanese: Gatsurin Shikan) (1143–1217), before attaining kensho. After his understanding had been confirmed by Yuelin, Wumen wrote the following enlightenment poem:
A thunderclap under the clear blue sky
All beings on earth open their eyes;Mount Sumeru leaps up and dances.
Everything under heaven bows together;
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