Thoughts

The Ever Repeating Known
(Getting caught in the Maintenance operator mode of evolution)

We have been watching nature’s destruction for a very long time.
It’s cyclical… It’s repetitive.
We, as a collective, sit back and watch, time and time again
hurricanes, fire, destruction…imposing itself on our
communities and our lives.
What can we do when we perceive the ever-repeating known?

We highlight behaviors, actions and ways of being
that are no longer relevant for our growth,
our community, our planet…for Deletion. 
For instance, if we luxuriate in the shower for hours on end,
shorten that time. 
If we sit and chat while the water is running and not in use.
Stop it.
Overconsumption of anything causes destruction.  
The beauty of all of this is, after destruction comes
Creation
in the ever-repeating cycles in life.  

This weaving was started in the aftermath
of Hurricane Katrina where Graft Architects,
in conjunction with Brad Pitt for Make it Right Foundation,
conceived of a project to rebuild the Lower Ninth Ward.
This was 2007, approximately 2 years after the hurricane.
They took action and conceived of constructing
150 Pink tents to house people in need. 
Destruction turned to Creation.
When my son went to college at Tulane in 2010,
I met up with local architect Trey Trahan and
introduced him to my textile collections and
my weaving of recycled materials. 
He had been one of the architects that participated
in the campaign and asked if I would care
to have one of the leftover pink tarps for a weaving. 
I jumped on it.
So every year when I would go and visit my son,
I would have a little box in my luggage
filled with detritus from NOLA and I stashed it away for
use in a weaving.  
Recently and long overdue, I cleaned out a storage
unit and brought all my art and things back,
and there she was, partly completed.
It has maintained its presence in my storage unit.
Instead of destroying it…Now, it’s back up for Creation.   
We excavate and discern how we utilize
Creation Maintenance and Destruction to move on.

10.21.2024 Deck Talk available upon request info@fifthfloormeditation.com

The news of the weather and water temperatures
reaching peaks that are beyond where they have ever
been is a warning call which we feel inside us.
These calls have been going off for some time.
The heat from fighting around the world is reflected
in the raising of temperatures.
There are infinite correlations as to why the heat is rising.
The political climate adds stress which culminates
in heat and we go on and on. 
What can we do as individuals to decrease the heat?
Stabilize our inner being.
This allows us to learn to cultivate a calmness that doesn’t add to stress levels.
I have found that Vedic Meditation gives us this capability.
Growing up as a 4th generation recycler,
I watched artists from all fields,
coming and rummaging amidst the discards of everyday life.
Looking for pieces that would inspire their next sculptures. 
This early childhood experience is embedded in my
sense of Being. It’s that inner sense of innocence
that triggers the creativity.
It’s that sense that sustains my life’s mission.
When I learned to meditate I was able to sense what I needed to do.
That  enabled me to build a new brand of textiles,
LUUM for the A + D community with the support of David Feldberg at Teknion, the focus was sustainability.
This has been a steady mission for the past 24 Collections. 
Now with art commissions, I recognize that the need of the time is to follow that passion and continue on.  
The weaving process takes time in the making.
Winding the warp, Dressing the loom, Threading the warp.
Collecting the hangers, cutting the hangers, winding the bobbins…
all a sequence that is both rewarding and calming.
When we sit twice a day we cultivate our baseline happiness.

It comes from inside us. Not outside us.  
We cool down.
Shown and grateful for this next wire commission.
Two strands of 5 to be woven. 

Concentrating on innocent and natural stabilizing.
And recognizing what’s needed.

10.13.2024 Deck Talk available upon request info@fifthfloormeditation.com

The Seeds we sow. 

Love this time of year in the northern hemisphere
when the tops of grasses are sprouting their seeds for
next spring to take root. They are fluffy and fanciful.   
Nature’s natural seasonal flow takes us to our closets as well.
Boxing or moving our summer clothes to make 
room for our autumn and winter clothes. 

This weaving of cotton and autumn grasses holds this changing
transitional time of year woven with beauty and content.
It holds both richness and rustic textures.
It’s in these transitional times
that we feel our senses more in our individual practices.
Dawn comes later and dusk comes earlier.
Both great times to do our meditation practice.
These four transitional morning times.
As colors shift.

Vedic Meditation offers us the use of a “Bija” (seed)
mantra which is used in our twice a day practice.  
Each day, twice a day we sit with our eyes shut and draw
the mantra into our awareness. That’s all we need to do.
The effortless attention to the “mantra” (mind vehicle)
 is essentially watering the seed.  
The technique takes over, transcending.
Our thoughts sprout up which have no meaning in our
practice and we let them go and come back to watering the seed.
This seed turns into a stabilizing factor in our lives.
Just as the warp and weft stabilize the grasses.

We are essentially rooting ourselves and establishing
ourselves in our true sense of Being.
We get a sense of who we are minus all the stress
and anxiety, anger and sadness. That is not to say that
we don’t get stressed or angry at times.  
Actually meditators feel their senses much stronger
then non meditators. It means we simply
don’t stay stressed. Which is the real cause of dis ease. 

As we clean our closets, weave our art pieces, and
prune our gardens we recognize the importance
of all natural materials.
What we wear, that we are surrounded by and
what we design or create with.
These are the materials that have true stabilizing energy.
Deep in our roots we find meaning…

Sowing the seeds of stability in everything we do.

10.06.2024 Deck Talk available upon request info@fifthfloormeditation.com

This week I was delighted to hear the Vedic Worldview on
the differences between Envy and Jealousy
from my ultimate Guru,Thom Knoles.
With a broader discussion with my teachers
Melanie and Neil Kirkbride last night
that brings me to this post today.  
(I would be remiss if I didn’t share this weaving
commissioned awhile back by Ken Cohen…
on his birthday week! HB Ken and Thanks.) 

We have all felt the heightened state of watching
someone having an experience that inspires us.  
An enviable position that was self created.
I felt it this week at “Lunch at a Landmark” as I watched
with pure joy Shigeru Ban being honored and speak of his work. 

I pondered as I started my trek homeward
how wonderful his mission in helping aid so many people in crisis
by creating housing for them around the world In times of disaster.
It felt wonderful to be in his presence in this enviable state.
Not to mention, seeing his numerous masterpieces.
I believe that Nature organizes for those that help others.
He is a case in point. 

We can’t speak about envy without discussing
the anti evolutionary, consuming state of low
self worth called Jealousy.
Jealousy arises when one wants to have unity
with someone or thing and cause the other not to have it.
To have something that others have.
If you have waves of this….stop before it takes over.
As it is self fulfilling and causes others not to be around you.
Jealousy is considered a comfort tactic not a strategy for growth.
Melanie and Neil stated that as
we get older our most important mission is 
to continue on a spiritual path of learning,
growing and helping others.
And Thom stated that these moments are all opportunities
to share our practice.  
In becoming more and more conscious of our deeper
states of awareness.  

Step aside states of Jealousy.
Weave / Build / Create– Be sustainable! Be Green.

Reach out if you care to discuss this
and how Vedic Meditation aids
in all that we do to evolve and grow.  

9.29.2024 Deck Talk available upon request info@fifthfloormeditation.com

A year and a half ago during a Luum design charrette, we were
pondering what the need of the time would be for September 2024.  
I discussed with the team that these are the months leading up
to election day and the collective will be kinetic.

You could see it back then. Election time, democracy divided,
war in Russia. Strong divisions.  The best way I thought to handle
this kinetic energy is to match it with energetic patterns,
bright use of color and optimism.
AI was being discussed in a big way,
so that had to be adopted to the collection by us of
pixelation and collage. 

Where attention goes energy flows was our theme for 2024.

Our discussions revolve around the collective
consciousness of the universe. 
We as individuals are filled with energy, mostly in constant movement.
Our minds are the same.  Flickering from one thought
to the next, cascading on the currents of life.
Tapping into what to do, why is this happening?
what to eat? why would they vote that way? who is that person?
do I have enough time? why do I feel this way?
what to say at this meeting?  On and on is our questioning.  
Our questions are not who we are.

Meditation allows us to see that these thoughts
as they bubble up and to “let them go”.
The thought is meaningless in our Mantra based practice.
What happens after that, is that we start 
recognizing in our active state outside of meditation,
what we truly want to do for every moment.  
Each meditation cleans the slate of the unnecessary
60,000-80,000 thoughts we have everyday.
And opens up the door to our true Dharma.  

We recognize we aren’t a single individual wave,
in the ocean, we are the ocean.  
We are not these individual thoughts we are a being.  
Searching and then therefore recognizing
what is the best use of our time.  
In service to the collective.

Welcome, Kinetic Energy Collection.
It’s upbeat, happy, sustainable, energetic,
supple, performance driven and colorful.
Definitely the need of the time.  
Special Collage discussion.

9.22.2024 Deck Talk available upon request info@fifthfloormeditation.com