"Suppose you had the revolution you are talking and dreaming about. Suppose your side had won, and you had the kind of society that you wanted. How would you live, personally, in that society? Start living that way NOW!" - Paul Goodman - author and sociologist, 1911-1972.
Yes, suppose... suppose everything we needed was right here, right now, (like the very nose on our faces)...everything we needed to create the lives we want, for ourselves and for the world... the beauty, the bounty, the freedom, the peace, the respect, the Bliss, the Grace!?
It is! If WE have the courage, the stamina, the determination to create the REAL revolution...
the Revolution INSIDE -
the choice each moment to seek the Good, to connect with the Divine within us and without us (whenever possible - we are human after all!)
in all that Is...
as it is ever unfolding...to BE the good...
Suppose We WERE
the
REAL REVOLUTION...what would that look like?
golden light blazing!
silver rivers flowing...
airborne and light
as feathers on the wind!
...in order to...
BE THE CHANGE (!!%!)
Not asking for change, or wishing for change, or praying for change....
BEING the Change!!!
hmmmm....what if???
I'm so grateful to be alive. To be here. To be a part of the Universe and to learn and to grow as the grasses grow!
Happy NEW YEAR 2008!!!!
Peace y'all!
Let's KICK IT!!!" xoxoLV
"It is important in becoming artists to make sure that we do not pollute this world; moreover, as artists we can actually beautify this world. Inspired in this way with our contact with dharma art, there is less room for neurosis. That is the actual project of dharma art, which is both necessary and important. Inch by inch, step by step, our efforts should wake people up through the world of art, rather than please everyone and go along with the current. The dharma artist is not a self-styled artist painting a picture out of his own shit and piss and selling it for a million dollars, but an upright person, a good, gentle, and well-meaning person who is willing to cut through his or her subconscious gossip completely so that a straightforward, brilliant, precise, clear mind takes place....What makes you artistic? What convinces you, if you are uncertain, that a work of art is a real expression of yourself? Or is a work of art something to make sure that the rest of the world is convinced about you, so that in turn you yourself find ground to exist?"
- Chögyam Trungpa, Buddhist meditation master, scholar, teacher
So much to ponder! Only love the world. Only work a little bit, each day, on what brings you joy, and goodness to all creaturekind!
"What concerns me is not the way things are, but rather the way people
think things are."
- Epictetus
"The problem with the world, is that we draw the circle of our family too small."
- Mother Teresa
"The poet must never avert his eyes. We must see everything."
- Werner Herzog
"If society wants me to be an outlaw, then I'll be an outlaw and a damned good one. People at all times need outlaws." - Ken Kesey
"The ultimate measure of a person is not where he or she stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where that individual stands in times of challenge and controversy." - Martin Luther King, Jr.
"Your imagination is the single most important tool you have in your daily fight to be free. It is the source of every act of liberation you will ever need to pull off. " - Rob Brezsny
"Ain't nuthin' more satisfying than actually doing what one said one was gonna do!" - LV
Born in Minnesota and raised in corn-country, Linda Viens has been playing and singing and writing songs since getting her first guitar at age 12. Linda moved to Boston to attend Mass. College of Art and has been performing since graduating from art school and discovering punk rock. She played drums and sang in the punk band, Children of Paradise, went on to lead local roots rockers, Witch Doctor, sang cabaret with collaborator Catherine Coleman in Les Chanteuse Sorcieres, and formed the notorious funk orchestra Crown Electric Company with her husband Wayne Viens in the mid-nineties. Linda was a founding member of Boston Rock Opera and performed in many productions, including Sgt. Pepper, Jesus Christ Superstar, Abbey Road, Preservation, and Billion Dollar Babies vs. Aqualung. Her daughter Ruby Clare was born in 1998. Linda has also recorded with some of Boston's finest including Mark Sandman of Morphine, Asa Brebner, Bad Saints, StarMatters, and Ted Corrigan. Linda has also produced and directed many Boston based musical projects and recording sessions, and lives to nurture the latent rock star in us all! Linda is currently writing, working with DJ/composer/trackmaster Ted Corrigan, raising her daughter, working for political change, playing with Angeline, and is available for hire as a music arranger, lyricist, and producer.
Linda studies magick, music, and the mystery of existence. She believes we each can (and do) change the world.
"Be Brave. Be Kind. Compassionate. Uncomplaining. Then you will truly be a Warrior of Light". - LV
Try to praise the mutilated world. Remember June’s long days, And wild strawberries, drops of wine, the dew. The nettles that methodically overgrow the abandoned homesteads of exiles. You must praise the mutilated world. You watched the stylish yachts and ships; one of them had a long trip ahead of it, while salty oblivion awaited others. You’ve seen the refugees heading nowhere, you’ve heard the executioners sing joyfully. You should praise the mutilated world. Remember the moments when we were together in a white room and the curtain fluttered. Return in thought to the concert where music flared. You gathered acorns in the park in autumn and leaves eddied over the earth’s scars. Praise the mutilated world and the grey feather the thrush lost, and the gentle light that strays and vanishes and returns.
- Polish poet Adam Zagajewski
"Life's a freewheeling vendor: occiput, penis, knee...and geography blended with time equals destiny."
- Joseph Brodsky
Ladies and gentlemen, the free and the brave, the Bad Saints:
"I'm not telling you to make the world better, because I don't think that 'progress' is necessarily part of the package. I'm just telling you to live in it. Not just to endure it, not just to suffer it, not just to pass through it, but to live IN IT. To look at it. To try to get the picture. To live recklessly. To take chances. To make your own work and take pride in it. To seize the moment. And if you ask me why you should bother to do that, I could tell you that the grave's a fine and private place, but none I think do there embrace. Nor do they sing there, or write, or argue, or see the tidal bore on the Amazon, or touch their children. And that's what there is to do and get it while you can and good luck at it!"
- Joan Didion, 1975 UCLA commencement address
"The secret of life," said sculptor Henry Moore to poet Donald Hall, "is to have a task, something you devote your entire life to, something you bring everything to, every minute of the day for your whole life. And the most important thing is - it must be something you cannot possibly do."
So that is it, then, the great discomfort of ever reaching, ever striving? Knowing: there will never be enough hours in the day to love enough, live enough, laugh enough, play enough, kiss enough, dance enough, help enough, write enough, make love enough, create enough, cry enough, heal enough, sing enough, learn enough, see enough, serve enough, give enough, receive enough...and on and on, ad infinitum...? And still, it MUST be, joyously, carelessly, effortlessly, truly.....enough! The Now. The Now. The Now. Today. All that we could ever want. Enough.
The words below were gifted to me from my wise and amazing friend, Luna Jade (http://www.myspace.com/LunaJ). I read them at her page and the directness and clarity of her vision spoke for my own soul. I share them here as one might cast a prayer upon the wind; putting forth focused intention and desire, but also understanding that Life brings an infinite variety of experience: things and people that will challenge us and bring us to our knees, and things and people that will restore us and empower us, but All will be lessons to embrace and grow from....Thank you Luna Jade!!! xoxo
"Who I'd like to meet:
Those with the grace and confidence in their own light not to be threatened by the glow of another.
People who:
- are masters of their own mind.
- allow themselves to dream... and believe.
- are responsible for... and can provide for... their own existence.
- create, think, feel, learn, work, love ... with tangible results.
- truly are in forward motion, reaching for the next level.
Teach me something new and I will return the gift.
I believe in the true spirit of partnership, where each person brings what they have to offer to the table and works hard toward the common goal. "Investing" in a partnership requires giving more than that which doesn't cost you anything.The synergy that is possible when each person lives that is amazing... "
"May the road rise up to meet you and the wind always be at your back. May the sun shine warm upon your face and the rains fall soft upon your fields. May your heart continuously open to the knowledge that you are worthy, and able, to know true communion with the divine, and true joy. And until we meet again, may the Goddess hold you gently in the palm of her hand...." Eternal love, xoxoxoxo Linda Viens
"Don't worry...be strong.....we're almost there........"