New Love Birds Tile

HOLIDAY pARTy and art Sale in Santa Barbara

Saturday Dec. 20th from 12 til 5.
Hot cocoa and marshmallows too.

How to be happy in a recession.

While reading a page from AstroBarry I saw this link to an article Deepak Chopra wrote for the SF Gate. Here it is:

How to be happy in a recession.
When a box turtle is crossing the road and it hears a car coming, it reacts by drawing in its head and feet, contracting for protection. Evolution has kept turtles alive for hundreds of millions of years that way. What works as a natural defense isn’t much use, though, when a Yukon or Explorer is barreling toward you. There are times when contracting inward is the very worst thing you can do.

That’s true now in the recession that economists see barreling toward us — the road noise has gotten alarmingly loud already. But as the economy contracts, we must resist our natural reflex to contract with it. Instead, we need to do the opposite. Expansion is the best way to survive any crisis.
The lesson should have sunk in after 9/11, when the whole country learned what it means to contract with fear, anxiety, suspicion, and distrust. We felt threatened by a vast, unseen enemy, which was magnified as large as fear itself.
Fear deprives people of choice. Fear shrinks the world into isolated, defensive enclaves. Fear spirals out of control. Fear makes everyday life seem clouded over with danger.

A lot of people are approaching the economy that way, and not enough leaders are warning them that it’s the worst possible reaction.

To be happy in a recession means, first and foremost, resisting all the threats that fear possesses. Don’t obsess anxiously over what you could lose. Don’t reduce your world to a bank account or a 401k. Isn’t there an upside to losing some “consumer buying power”? To be honest, we went too far with consumerist mania. By any measure this is an inordinately rich country, and instead of mourning sagging profit margins, can’t we use the current slowdown to ask what makes for true personal happiness?
Relationship. Gratitude. Appreciation. Compassion. Mutual regard. Strong social connections. Love you can trust.
I don’t know why it takes a crisis to bring out those fundamental human qualities. But it often does. We all realize that the next video game, the next new car, the next flat-screen TV means nothing compared to the rewards of relating to other people. Yet we live as if the opposite is true. The pursuit of happiness is blocked just as much by indulgent over-consumption as by an economic downturn. More, in fact. An impoverished country like Nigeria recently scored number one in a survey of the happiest countries on earth, while the U.S. has never broken the top ten in any such survey.

Some may protest that expanding and becoming more human is all well and good if you have a job but totally unrealistic if your livelihood is threatened. I don’t think so. Whatever happens, the worst-off will be the ones who need more compassion, kindness, and relating to. They will need real coping skills, not a show of group pity.

There’s a lot more to say about how to be happy in a recession, but the main thing is to remind yourself that it’s possible. Refuse to contract just because the economy does. You have the tools to be happy in the worst of times. They’re just hidden under the box your new iPhone came in.

Deepak is the author of over 50 books on health, success, relationships and spirituality, including his latest novel, “Jesus: A Story of Enlightenment,” available now at http://www.deepakchopra.com. He is an Adjunct Professor at Kellogg School of Management.

MILK

I am emotionally blown away by the film. Milk. I lived in San Francisco for 25 years. I lived on Castro Street a block away from Harvey’s camera store. He was an incredible sweet man to know in the neighborhood, always a smile. Shopped for film at his store, back in the day when there was NO digital. One thing that impressed me in the movie was a small, small part, showing Cleve making phone calls to rally people together… WOW, he was using a telephone. He couldn’t rally the troups with a click on facebook, he had to pick up the phone and DIAL !!! This film was like a piece of my life I am blessed to say. Blessed that I am still here to see the possible progress. I’ll not forget the day the riots broke out and the police cars burned at city hall. As I sit here at my computer today, MARRIED to my man, I am sad for the ignorance and hate that still exists and also joyous for all we’ve been through and for the small step forward we have made. Remember to use your anger and sorrow wisely and never give up the struggle to be free… for everyone. PEACE … and for another poignant view, Jackadandy’s got a story too.

In case you hadn’t read this on facebook, this is my button that I wore in San Francisco, 30 years ag0, proudly electing the first OUT human being to office.

Buddha Magic

Religious Icon Art for the Holidays

Here Jesus and the Virgin Mary are merged together over Blake’s Tyger Tyger manuscript. 8″x10.5″ on archival matte paper with pigment inks. $12.00

Holiday Art

Here you see the images of Jesus and Mary with lambs exposed over “A Case of You” Lyrics and various latin text , Icelandic images and finally Beethoven and Saint Nick.
8″x10.5″ on matt archival paper with pigment inks.

Sea Goddess

The Sea Goddess is finally finished. Happy in her repose. This mosaic was made using ceramic pieces by potter, Mayah Martin (the face, foot and hands and ear) and very small bird and seahorse tiles by were created by Perry. She is 36″x18″.

The Goddess is NOW ready to grout …tomorrow