AI means not you, not us.

Rowena Henderson's
Klimt Sunflower earrings

I wanted to write some ramblings about AI since quite a while. Here on my blog seems to be a better place than on social media. Here, only folks who care to read my posts without feeling that I rub something unwanted under their nose will hop by... (photos of some of my 2024 beadwork just for attention).

This blog article is dedicated with all my 💗 to Dini Alves, a soulful lady and talented bead-artist who passed away in December 2024.

 

Silver Wings, Happy Wings,
own design

 So AI... Sigh. I've always had mixed feelings about AI. AI is something that replaces humans a little bit more every day. Clerks and cashiers disappear. We are asked to scan our own stuff, to fill out forms ourselves.  It's easy... but so sad. People are replaced by machines in many places. Now if this was to give us more time to do our daily yoga, cooking and have more playtime with children, it would be nice. But in fact, it only takes away jobs, whilst money goes in the same fat pockets. The number of little pockets filled is diminishing at an alarming rate. Technology is nice, but it should be a tool for humans, not replace humans.

 

Mairi Carlson's Klimt Flower Garden

Halfpenney's Drum for IBW

In December I let myself be tempted... and asked an AI image generator to make something quick for my Christmas and New Year's wishes. It was fun to do and the result cute. AI can make cool images. And I don't consider them as mine, and also not as "Art"... Nope. An Art is something that implies skills and imagination. The resulting images can be really lovely. And at first sight, nothing seems wrong with having fun, having a play... But...

It made me feel uncomfortable. Because AI uses other people's work and mixes it.

I saw a post on Facebook - and although Facebook is not a reference, the text in this entry from the The Red Hand Files, by Nick Cave (a musician), answering 2 young songwriters, sums up my feelings pretty well:

 

"Open Heart" - Pregnancy Chime Bola, own design

Q1: I work in the music industry and there is a lot of excitement around ChatGPT. I was talking to a songwriter in a band that was using ChatGPT to write his lyrics, because it was so much 'faster and easier.' I couldn't really argue against that. I know you've talked about ChatGPT before, but what's wrong with making things faster and easier?

LEON, LOS ANGELES, USA

Q2: Any advice to a young songwriter just starting out?

CHARLIE, LEEDS, UK

 

A: Dear Leon and Charlie,

 

In the story of the creation, God makes the world, and everything in it, in six days. On the seventh day he rests. The day of rest is significant because it suggests that the creation required a certain effort on God's part, that some form of artistic struggle had taken place. This struggle is the validating impulse that gives God's world its intrinsic meaning. The world becomes more than just an object full of other objects, rather it is imbued with the vital spirit, the pneuma, of its creator.

 

 

Teyema earrings, BWG Journal 103, Oct. 2024, own design

 

ChatGPT rejects any notions of creative struggle, that our endeavours animate and nurture our lives giving them depth and meaning. It rejects that there is a collective, essential and unconscious human spirit underpinning our existence, connecting us all through our mutual striving.

 

Nancy Jenner's "Corrine" design
Klimtified by Yours Truly

ChatGPT is fast-tracking the commodification of the human spirit by mechanising the imagination. It renders our participation in the act of creation as valueless and unnecessary. That 'songwriter 'you were talking to, Leon, who is using ChatGPT to write 'his' lyrics because it is 'faster and easier ,'is participating in this erosion of the world’s soul and the spirit of humanity itself and, to put it politely, should fucking desist if he wants to continue calling himself a songwriter.

 

ChatGPT’s intent is to eliminate the process of creation and its attendant challenges, viewing it as nothing more than a time-wasting inconvenience that stands in the way of the commodity itself. Why strive? Why bother with the artistic process and its accompanying trials? Why shouldn’t we make it 'faster and easier?'

 

 

IBW free pattern - Beaded Marbles for Solitaire Board

 

Sue Wightman's Christingle Xmas Tree

When the God of the Bible looked upon what He had created, He did so with a sense of accomplishment and saw that 'it was good'. 'It was good 'because it required something of His own self, and His struggle imbued creation with a moral imperative, in short love. 

 

Charlie, even though the creative act requires considerable effort, in the end you will be contributing to the vast network of love that supports human existence. There are all sorts of temptations in this world that will eat away at your creative spirit, but none more fiendish than that boundless machine of artistic demoralisation, ChatGPT.

 

Sylvia Fairhurst's
Priscilla Pinguin

As humans, we so often feel helpless in our own smallness, yet still we find the resilience to do and make beautiful things, and this is where the meaning of life resides. 

Nature reminds us of this constantly. The world is often cast as a purely malignant place, but still the joy of creation exerts itself, and as the sun rises upon the struggle of the day, the Great Crested Grebe dances upon the water. It is our striving that becomes the very essence of meaning. 

 

This impulse – the creative dance – that is now being so cynically undermined, must be defended at all costs, and just as we would fight any existential evil, we should fight it tooth and nail, for we are fighting for the very soul of the world.

 

Love, Nick

 

Nancy Jenner's Ginger Bead Man

Can you feel how it is all about things that one cannot see but know is real and important? Feelings are what makes us humans, real and true. I am not a God-this or god-that person. Maybe you aren't either but haven't ran away yet. So perhaps this will speak more to you: 

Reading the above lines, I strongly felt the same emotion when reading a chapter in Harry Potter -> the moment when he chooses to bury the House Elf Dobby without using magic. Out of respect, he pulled up his sleeves and dedicated time, effort and sweat to honor Dobby's sacrifice, for he died while rescuing Harry and his friends from Malfoy Manor, demonstrating his loyalty and bravery. 

Kathy Fritz's Champagne Bottle (IBW)

Art and acts of this importance should be meaningful, soulful. That's where our value resides. Inside of us, inside of what we do and create.

And this revealed to me why I didn't feel happiness or real satisfaction in the making of these images. 

 

If you've read this until the end, thank you! 

Happy New Year and much love to you.

Cath

Bow & Mistletoe, own design

To bead or not to bead ...

is not the question. I'm a bead junkie! So the question is rather: why do I bead and why we should all transmit our passion for beading to other people during International Beading Week (and beyond).

I am a permanent International Beading Week Ambassador. I am not paid for this. I have discovered the magic of beading thanks to generous, kind souls who transmitted it to me for free, and I want to pay it forward. IBW is about sharing passion, friendship, and making this world a better one, one bead at a time.

Many beaders start beading because a friend showed how to make something beautiful. Others started beading because they needed something to change their mind from something frightening... like illness and treatments, or to have something to keep their hands busy... Some do it for cultural reasons, some bead to make a living.. but most bead because it is simply so good...

"After the Rain" glass tubes and
metallic round beads

Yes, beading is good. It is grounding. It is fun. It is beautiful.

And... colors do good.

Chromotherapy has been used since times forgotten by humans and left aside by modern medicine. It is fortunately making a come back, because it has proven to be healing, physically and mentally.

I think that this is one of the reasons why I can't stop beading. It is my colortherapy.


After the many years that I bead, I know now that if I listen well, my body will choose what feels right. I've beaded with all colors, starting with blue, then green, brown and gray, later pink, purple, orange and yellow. The last two were my least favorite colors until I started beading rainbows; now I don't know how I could live without them. I love red too. It is always very intense, and after making something with red, it takes me a moment until I want to use it again.

Meryl bracelet - a free
pattern made for IBW 2018

My "need" for colors resulted in a lovely stash. I have beads in colors which I absolutely "had to have" but beaded nothing with. Just having them, looking at them was enough. I know that I will make something with these beads one day.

The healing properties of colors might also be the reason why, after having beaded during many years, you suddenly have a blockage or no more desire to bead, or no more interest in using this or that color. Maybe you've healed something in you without knowing about it.
 
It's a bit like a sailboat waiting for wind. While waiting for the wind (or here your muse) to come back, you can do other things...  like beading rainbows. Because rainbows will make you feel good. Always.

International Beading Week logo. 

We bead rainbows in the International Beading Week Group year long challenge.
I created Anthea's Tiara (which won a gold medal in the Fire Mountain gems and Beads beading contest last year) by making each month one element in one color of the IBW banner.

Anthea's Tiara

The free pattern for the Meryl bracelet is still available on my website (and will remain free).

This year I beaded bolas canastas in the colors of the IBW logo, and the instructions for them will soon be available there too, as well as in the IBW group on Facebook. I will also make a video to explain the method.

Rainbolas - tiny bolas canastas - this is the project
for International Beading Week 2019

Not only does beading do good, but as far as I'm concerned, beading prevents me from going nuts. Thanks to beading and the Internet, I am blessed with lots of online friends, like-minded people I would love to meet in person but cannot because of my health. If you can, don't hesitate and go to a beaders meeting. You'll have a blast! And if you cannot attend one of the events listed on the BWG website, then create one yourself!

Farfalle stitch - Rainbow Butterfly Cuff

Invite friends, or do a demo. You can do this anywhere! Sit at a café table or in a parc and take out those stunning beads and weave them together. Show your art to others, be proud. Don't forget to let the world know about it in the group and tell the Guild, and post lots of photos and videos of the fun!

Remember that beading might not be for everyone, but it might be the right thing for someone.
And we are there to help him/her find it!

Little Rainbow Warrior's ruff (2012)

International Beading Week is about our beautiful art, about friendship, about connectedness.

It is about raising awareness about our craft, making it better known, and recognized as a noble Art.
It is about raising awareness about ethics, and promoting our local bead shops, because we need them to continue sourcing beads and findings for us to enjoy.

It is also about raising funds for charities - for example, Jean Power's secret bead along is a  big success every year and all the procedures go to the charity of your choice.

During IBW, you can become a member of the Beadworkers Guild for a special price. Take advantage of this special offer to discover the quality of their magazine and projects. I love to read their articles.

The Guild also organizes a draw during IBW, in which you can win awesome prizes. To enter, you only need to send a beaded bead to the BWG for their beaded bead collection, which is a many yards-/meters-long beaded bead chain to enter. You can also bead a name badge, of which a photo is enough to enter.

Last but not the least: artists from all horizons offer free patterns of beautiful beadwork and beaded beads for free, to download either directly from the BWG page or from their websites. Visit this page for more information.

Happy Holidays and a very Happy New Year

2018 comes to its end and I wanted to look back at it.

I have been struggling a real lot with my health. The Summer was too warm and sunny and if you know me, you know how hard that is for me.

Both my desire and ability to write tutorials was extremely low after the Cellini peyote shapes were finally all done. I am grateful to those who bought a pattern: Thank you very much for your support! But I hope to sell more of my Cellini peyote shapes, for I haven't done anything else for sale the past 6 months, except Frosty. Instead, I did a lot for free:

'Frosty' - snowman made of one single Bola Canastas

I founded a wonderful new Facebook group, Cellini Peyote Freaks, where you can learn a lot about the stitch and its applications. Color challenges with prizes are organized.
I wrote and drew instructions for various Cellini peyote techniques, including the Bolas Canastas. I consider it as a technique people can take further, like I did with Frosty, this little snowman. He is one Bola Canastas. You will find the tutorial only in my IndieMade shop.

I was very happy with the two workshops I organized in collaboration with my ergotherapist and am very much looking forward to founding a beading group in my hometown next year.

I was less happy with some painful misunderstandings. And with people who didn't understand my genuine concern, who didn't see that I cared for them. People who understood things I wrote wrong and created more darkness in my life. One of them not only spread hate, tore my reputation to pieces, but thinks that everything is all fine now! Well, some harm cannot be undone. There is no UNDO in real life.

Fortunately, I saw this video about Sunny Jacobs, reminding me to shine my little light of mine. It helped me more than telling myself that Karma would bite eventually. And my many other, real friends on FB were precious allies. You know who you are! 💗💗💗 I thank you from the bottom of my heart!

'Silver Lining'

'Silver Lining' also reminds me that there is light in the dark. If none, there is my light. That there is a tomorrow, with new friends and adventures. Always. And that we learn. and learn. and learn.

I for sure enter 2019 wiser and freer than I was in 2018.

I wish you a Happy Holiday Season. May your heart be filled with love and your days be peaceful. And I wish you a

Happy New Year!!!

May laughter illuminate your days often.

Last but not least, this is the text I wrote on Facebook when posting the photos of my 'Silver Lining' bracelet there. Learn more about this cuff.

What is sacred?

Everything.

Life is sacred.

The birds, the fish, the dragonfly, the pangolin, the big and the small cats, the apes. the trees, the moon, the sun, the stars, the entire Universe. Your life. Your body. Your soul. Everyone's life, body, soul.

Love is sacred.

The love in your heart is sacred. Even the sorrow in your heart is, for sorrow is linked to love that is not acknowledged, may it be because of absence or departure...

Time is sacred.

Your time. Everyone's time. Because life is time.
Your feelings. For feelings come from love or the lack of it.

Your eyes telling how you feel. My eyes. Theirs. Your eyes seeing life unfold. Our eyes seeing miracles happen. Miracles of life, miracles of love.

And all this echoes with that light that you have inside of you, that light that has no name, that light that shines or sometimes dims...

The time you are not gazing at the moon, not holding a kid's hand, not laughing with friends, not making love - maybe because you can't, but still need to put all that love into something to keep that light shine on, is sacred. Maybe just to say to whomever will see it that you exist, with all this love or light inside of you that you don't know what to do with... To say that you are life, still alive, also there, also a part of it all. To be acknowledged.

And so the things in which you put all that time, all that love, a little bit of your soul, making it meaningful things, are sacred. By extension.

And so, everything becomes sacred.

Everything is sacred.

Kitsugi-inspired freeform peyote

I discovered freeform peyote and bead embroidery nearly at the same time. I was completely fascinated by Tina Koyama's and Lillian Todaro's beautiful beadwork.

I have never learned it from a teacher, or book and was a bit lost, but managed to make 2 necklaces.with bead embroidery and freeform straps. Both are dating back to 2006. One is called Atoll, inspired by the beautiful photography "Eye of the Maldives" by Yann Arthus-Bertrand, and the other is called BaBe ('Baah-Bay') - formed by 3 rivers, in Vietnam. Babe means 3 lakes, but it forms only one nowadays, due to all the sediments that have filled the bottom of these 3.

'Atoll'

'Babe'

Although I love the result very much, they are far from perfect, and I wanted to learn more beadweaving techniques before tackling this type of beadwork again. I got hooked on Cellini peyote, and geometric beading, but I knew that I would come back to freeform one day. 

I made progress and created many designs. One day, I dreamt of another, entirely freeform beadwoven necklace, called Liquid Earth. In that dream I offered it to sha-woman Keisha Crowther, aka Little Grandmother and founder of the Tribe of Many Colors. Keisha is a protector of Mother Earth and healer. I respect her work tremendously, and so I made it, and sent it to her.

'Liquid Earth'

Last Summer, I decided to offer a workshop to other persons who are also struggling with health issues, in collaboration with our common ergotherapist.

I decided to teach them peyote, and a freeform ring, and see what would happen. To prepare myself for this class, get my hands back at freeform peyote and have an example to show to them of what can be made with the technique I taught them, I made this 'River' bracelet and ring. 

'River'

'River' - upside down

River has a double glass button clasp.

'River' - ring

I was  pretty happy with the result. And my students were happy with theirs. And now I am in search of a place where to continue the adventure of beading all together. My ergotherapist herself is hooked too, and helping me. She will arrange for another place to visit in February, which is not soon enough, but alas, at least there is hope! And it is so close to my home that I should be able to go there by foot. Please, cross your fingers for me!
 

Now, after completing this piece, I decided to go for a special freeform peyote cuff, inspired by the art of Kitsugi, which is the art of repairing cracks in broken pottery by adding gold to focus the attention on the breach, and the story behind it. To make an item that was already something dear to our heart a piece of art, with more significance. 

I have been wanting to create a cuff like this since a long time. With beautiful materials.

My goal was to make an allegory of a walk of life, with its moments of darkness and light...

with stellar people met, and key moments, be they good or bad, and light passing through all the cracks.

I let my needle and beads take some initiatives and ...

it ended up becoming the Universe... Initially, moon and sun were not meant to be there (and finding the sun button was quite challenging), but the piece simply called for both to be there. 

Also, the moon, reversible, is black on the other side, which allows me to wear it with its bright or dark side to the front.

'Silver Lining' - precious metal seed beads, freshwater pearls, sterling silver
findings, a glass moon bead and a gold plated metallic sun button.

Apparently, when I do freeform, my love for nature makes me create landscapes of all sorts.

There are lots of tutorials and explanations out there to do freeform peyote. I hope that you will give it a try. It is very liberating!

Make some magic: put a beautiful day in a bottle

Sometimes you have such a wonderful time, such a perfect day with friends or family, that you say'd "I wish that I could bottle this day and be able to open it later, when I need to feel those good vibes again". The good news is that this is possible (and there is no bad news).

"Amphorette"

As many of you have probably heard, most gemstones have special metaphysical properties which vary from one to another. Amethyst has, for example, a calming reputation, whereas bixbite is a stone that will increase your energy levels which is very helpful to kick ass when needed. It is better to put a large specimen of the first stone on your bedside rather than the latter. This website gives interesting information about many gems.

You should always cleanse your
gemstones and crystals, also new
ones, before using them.

You can also charge quartz crystal with good vibes. Yes you read that well: quartz crystal can be “charged” with moods, feelings, intentions, messages. Love. Laughter. As my hubby says, "it is magic until science explains it". I like both science and magic.

Many moons ago, at the occasion of a global "give crystals back to Mother Nature" action organized by a Facebook group, I gave back many quartz crystal chips. I cleansed them in full moon light near a children’s playground, where they got charged with their playful good vibes the next day. Even though it sounds odd, quartz crystals are like sponges, they absorb what surrounds them. When I removed my crystals from the tree where I hang them, I could "hear" children laughing. It felt really good.

Bridge over the Serine, from where I
threw my crystals in the river.

Then I went to a small river near my town - the "Serine" to throw all the crystals in the water. I sang a song that I had composed for the occasion. The crystals in the water would transmit the good vibrations to the river. Streaming with the water, the good vibes would travel to the Lac Léman (Lake Geneva), and then further down enter the Rhône, cross la France, then enter the Mediterranean sea... Eventually the water would evaporate to become rain and maybe drop on someone's head in Budapest, or China... In the end, the good vibes would go round the world and touch every single person. It may sound completely surreal, but think about homeopathy: the active substance is diluted to a degree equaling less than 1 drop in the entire Atlantic ocean. In other words: inexistant. But nonetheless, homeopathy heals.

I did this many years ago, but the tiny powerful crystals still are charged with children's laughter and good vibes. I kept a few chips to add onto a mini hair-comb which always feels very special when I wear it, and kept the 4 chips that felt best for a special project. They still feel amazing, I still "hear" the children's laughter.

no matter how small, or insignificant
they look, if they feel good,
quartz crystals are good.

You can charge your crystals in a very simple manner, but you can also hang them, cleansed, in an organza bag in the room where you expect to have a wonderful moment with a beloved one, a family reunion, Thanksgiving, a birthday, a wedding, etc. Immortalize that perfect moment, and enjoy it as often as you wish. Experience the magic, or offer some magic as a gift to a dear one. If things don't work out well, cleanse them, and start over.

It may not be noticeable, but inside the Paradox Pendulum, there is a hollow that can contain a small item like the little "Amphorette". I embellished it with beads left over from the Perlen Poesie project. I love how this secret compartment can welcome a keep-sake. You nearly can't see it. In the photos above, the Amphorette is added to the pendant in the right picture, not in the left.

The other good news is that I just discovered that I can list free tuts in my IndieMade store, so I listed the free tutorial for this Amphorette for you to download (note: you need to give an e-mail to receive a link for the download). And while you are there, have a look at my other tutorials - I just listed the instructions to make the beautiful Faraday bracelet in my IndieMade shop, and also in my Etsy shop.

Have fun creating!

Stitch story

Do you know Geneviève Liebaert?

If you know chenille stitch, then you should know her, because she is the

Chenille ropes

designer who invented this lovely technique. But I don't think that many of you do know her.


The 'Chenille spiral', which is the original name of this creation, is
a lovely design and the variations suggested by Geneviève in her little tutorial, recommending the use of other seed bead sizes and/or types, consequently are her designs. The frontier between technique and design are a bit unclear sometimes. And techniques can normally not be copyrighted - they can be protected if the process is really very complicated, with specific step-by-step intstructions... Where the level of complication lies or how many steps are necessary to make a technique eligible to be protected is a mystery...

Back in the days where 2 huge francophone fora were counting more than a thousand beaders connected every evening, sharing their tips, patterns and designs with fellow beaders for free, Geneviève was one of the best, most talented designers, admired under the name Sereine. She wrote her tutorials for all to use for free, but asked for credit and a little "thank you" on her blog. It was all for the love of beading. Free doesn't mean that there is no copyright. She didn't want her work to be used by shops to sell beads, but of course shops benefited massively from her inventiveness and patterns, because the number of seed bead weavers increased drastically during these days of beadevolution. However, not only did Sereine's work get used without credit or thanks, but some, when asked, pretended that the design was theirs, and some even sold her patterns in their shops. After many hopeless attempts to "educate" them a bit, Sereine stopped beading. That day, we lost a treasure of a designer in the battle of good against evil.

She took her tutorials away from her blog, but left them on the forum "Ile aux Perles". Sadly, that website got destroyed several years ago in a mega cyber attack on the American servers where it was hosted. Because there was no backup, years of knowledge and designs had gone in an instant.

Sereine's website and blog still exist, but are not updated anymore. There are very little tutorials written by her still visible on the Internet, and if it wasn't for those who saved a pattern and re-hosted it, like the one linked to above, there would be no trace of her work.

Chenille stitch, however, became very popular, and this thanks to Sara Spoltore, who mentions that she thought of it herself, but she credits Sereine (aka Geneviève), as the first inventor of it, which is class. But now, when people make a Chenille rope, it is the one who posted the latest video gone viral who is thanked...  Below is Sara's video.

For those who wonder, Chenille means caterpillar in French, but it is the result of a brilliant Belgian beady brain. If another beader had invented this rope in another corner of the world, this rope would probably not have kept the name it had initially been given, so somehow, there is a bit of legacy.

Beadwork made with
Albion Stitch

For that is what happens with techniques. They one day are invented by brilliant persons, become popular, and in the end the persons who developed it are forgotten... It lasts only as long as the names of the inventors are mentioned.

If the stitch isn't given the name of the inventor(s), only the name of the technique will be remembered, like peyote stitch, which is the name of the stitch created by Native Americans to create beautiful adornments for their celebrations involving the use of a cactus of the same name.

"Ndebele stitch" which is still used for herringbone stitch, reminds of the tribe where the stitch was invented initially, but this tends to be forgotten.

Beadwork made with
Hubble stitch

The origins of Right Angle Weave are forgotten. It seems to be attributed to
Africa, but I am inclined to think that it is originating from Asia, somewhere in China, seen that there are extremely old beadwoven soldier's coats made with bamboo beads in musea there, made with this stitch.

Zulu stitch and Pondo stitch still have the name of their native tribes in Africa. St. Petersburg stitch is clearly mentioning that it's origin is Russian.

For how long will people remember that Hubble stitch was created and

developed by Melanie de Miguel? That Albion stitch was invented by Heather Kingsley Heath? That Gerlinde Lenz created and developed "Rautenstich" (Diamond Weave)? Will people remember them as English, or European, or German? If I am not mistaking, Albion is an old name for the Island of England, so that might well help finding back its origin in the future... and only the future will tell. It is my wish that many will remember their names.

Beadwork made with Diamond Weave

And that is why I wanted to write this post: to honor all inventors of beading techniques which bring us so much creative joy, and to say

THANK YOU!

for your gift to planet bead.

To learn to train the mind to be still

I'm wondering if you also have a wandering mind, tentacular... thoughts popping up in your brain when you look at a film, or clicking on links to learn more about this and that subject and in the end, you don't even remember what you were looking for or how you got there? I tracked my 'brainy wanderings', one day, back in October 2014 I think.

You may like or not like reading my wanderings. If not, which I can sure understand, scroll down for the rest of this blogpost (search for a little *).

My wandering started when I listened to a beautiful mantra, sung in sanskrit. It is a beautiful melody, the kind you don't need to understand what's said to feel good. I added it here so you can listen while reading, if you want.

I was curious to learn more about the bottisatva of compassion Avalokiteshvara and Googled a bit. I found out that his appearance was graceful and feminine, and that 'he could adopt 4 different apparences among which the apparence of a woman'. A few centuries later he is a she. In China she is the Goddess of mercy and compassion Kuan Yin. She's often shown with many arms. The first sentence of Avalokiteshvara's mantra, "Om Mani Padme Um" is the most pronounced mantra worldwide and best known even by non-buddhitsts.

This deity fascinated me already, because I saw a beautiful statue on Etsy made by artist Rose Youngsam and wanted to know more about her and stumbled on a picture of this marvelous head, shot by Hubert Steed, and I fell for the soft and gentle lines of her beautiful heart-shaped face. I would like to make a pendant with such a lovely face one day. In China, there are immense statues built nowadays. I am wondering why humans want to build huge statues, huge buildings.

YouTube always shows suggestions at the right of my screen, one of them lead me to a Chinese film called Avalokiteshvara. I loved the costumes, photography... some of the 'magical' aspects a bit less, but overall, I liked it a lot. It's in Chinese, but you can see it in its entirety with English subtitles, from the start, that is, when a Japanese queen sends a monk to China to get a statue and bring it back to Japan. She is convinced that the statue will make peace return amongst the populations tearing each other apart. I immediately thought: "what makes you believe that you can go to a country, take a statue -sacred for the people there-, and bring it back to your own country?" but that question got actually dealt with, beautifully.

Clic to enlarge and maybe you will also
see the "dragon" with Hawai
forming its wings

"Formose", seems to have had more temples dedicated to Avalokiteshvara than to the local great goddess Mazu. 'Where was 'Formose' already?' asks my brain.  

Formose was an old, colonial name for Taiwan, and still is the name of a famous Oolong tea. I love Oolong tea, and also the name Formose. I don't know why. The map wich I thought would show me Formose shows lines in the Ocean which reminded me of a dragon. That made me curious of its topography. Checking the map below shows so very clearly where Africa and America where attached to one another millions of years ago that on the screen of my mind I could see the earth opening up in the middle of the Atlantic; lava pooring, widening the cracks, modifying the structure of our natural amazing spaceship. I could also see the crust collapsing in the center of the Pacific and the continents come closer on that part of the globe... This is just my imagination, helped by documentary films seen on TV. But it makes me think that one day there will be nothing left from our countries and borders. The earth will have a completely different face. Will humans still be there?

I hope that there will be vegetation and animals and wise humans by that time... 

In that order.

Topographic image of Terra courtesy Service Cartographie

And then, I wonder if we couldn't do better and stumbled upon Amara Tia Ann's blog quoting a 12-year old considered to be a "Crystal child" whose incredible insight brought me back to where I am, here in my chair, in the middle of the room in my flat, town, world I'm part of. Insane too, yes, trying to make my life meaningful according to human standards while it is already meaningful in itself for the Universe. Who knows what still has to come, who knows if I have already done 'my share'... My hope was to be on the 'right path' and I suddenly realize that there is no path, only life. 

Then, even if I wanted to stop my wanderings, I stumbled upon Tina Turner's albums made in collaboration with singers from other cultures, for the benefit of the organization "Beyond". I love their message. It really touched me and reminded me that we all are beautiful if we want to.

And I ended up makin my own musical Mandala. This is the result. I might come back to make other mandalas. It seems like they're not erased. 

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Voilà. This is just one of my busy brainy days and it could continue like this endlessly... But even though it was interesting to browse, play with music, learn more... it is NOT what I really want to do. A planned day dedicated to wandering, searching, browsing etc. might be cool, but not every day, not because my mind does what it wants instead of what I want. I realized that I needed to learn to be more in the present, to engage more with myself, to control my mind better, to get my time back for me. Because I don't want to waste time. In a world of so much information and funnies, I feel like I'm loosing myself.


More than one year ago, I subscribed for a series of 10 free guided medications  meditations online - they are guided by a man called Andy Puddicombe, founder of Headspace. I stopped medications due to irregular heartbeat and needed to find something to help me. These free short sessions made me feel much better and so I promised to myself to sell enough patterns to pay for a full registration and have access to everything on their website.

I finally could start their upgraded programme last month and I am thrilled. Not only is my brain clearer, less wandering, but I have more sense of humor, I see things more clearly, and, above all, have less and less mood shifts. Things still matter, but "I don't mind" so much anymore. I worry less. Exactly what I hoped. In fact, it works even better than what I expected. It has a positive impact on my relationship too. I'm more patient.

I recommend this to any person who would like to give meditation a try but got bored or discouraged. Visit their website. You might be surprised how simple it is. I think that they have the best approach and explain things so well that they really succeed to help anyone to become one's own friend and feel happy again.


Tomorrow will be Valentine's Day and because I love you, and am grateful that you read my post, and even more grateful for your support allowing me to do things like these guided meditations, you can have a 30% discount on all patterns listed. Only valid on Valentine's Day (February 14).

use code HEADSPACE30

Thank you for reading me! 

 

Cath