Thoughts

This week I must have received a half dozen
messages from friends with the same heartwarming message
from ‘the’ Toni Morrison. 
It reads like this:  

This is PRECISELY the time
when artists go to work. 
There is no time for despair,
no place for self-pity,
no need for silence,
no room for fear. 
We speak, we write…
That is how civilizations heal. 

So this week, in the midst of the turmoil, I refrained from
the news, social media; and I taught, I wove,
I responded to friends,
I took a class, I collaborated with a friend,
I listened to Thom Knoles podcasts, I colored, 
I selected fabrics for the Teknion showroom. 
I entertained and cleaned out closets. 
And this morning at 7:30 a.m. 
I helped a friend in need.

Recognizing what the need of the time is, helps
iron out the difficulties. Keeping in a good-spirited
Creative mode, enhances all that we do.
Being awake and doing what feels charming,
is essential.

What I didn’t do was sink into a dark hole
of despair over the what ifs?? 
Recognizing that all that is happening
is an evolutionary process, that I may not understand
at this moment… but will soon come to 
realize why the change is happening.  
It has been heartbreaking to hear how much despair
there has been in our collective. 
Now is the time to help each other.

stay light, be light  

We will continue to activate our creativity through
our twice a day practice. 

11.10.2024 Deck Talk available upon request info@fifthfloormeditation.com

“Golden Rule” the name of this Weaving,
seems apropos to share for these last few days
before the election.
It is woven with yellow happy face mylar balloons
found on the beaches here on Fire Island
and golden mylar balloons from celebrations
of friends, that I’m the thankful recipient,
for producing my weavings.
I love embedding moments of celebration
into my weavings.
It gives the weavings their own consciousness.

This morning I woke up to the golden glow
of the sky just before sunrise.
Yellows and Golds.
Yellow the color of Optimism and Golden,
as in the rule, outlines:
treating others as they would like to be treated
and/or asking people not to treat others
in ways that they would not enjoy being treated,
…comes to mind…
as I observe behaviors so amplified
by the fear of the unknown outcome of what this election will bring.

In the Vedic Meditation community
we have been discussing with fellow meditators,
how important, especially at this time,
to not miss our twice a day practice.  
If you have a meditation practice, no matter what kind…
Let’s help the collective consciousness of our
community to keep the rising heat
of the collective down and do our part in
lessening the madness.

We survive to the extent that we change.  
You live inside the consciousness you are in.
There are 5 elements of Progressive Change.

The first is Stability – complete inner contentedness.
and the fifth is A Willingness to Grow.
With Entheos which is the root of the English word “enthusiasm”.
This state of consciousness has a most
optimistic approach to everything that holds supreme.  

We see these traits in Kamala! 

Please VOTE
Please Meditate!
Please treat all as you would like to be treated.

We will discuss all five elements
of Progressive Change and meditate together…
and hold room for all to share and learn from.
Life is golden.

11.03.2024 Deck Talk available upon request info@fifthfloormeditation.com

This is what 8′ of recycled drycleaning hangers kept
from the landfill for a piece of art can look like.
The first of 5 metal strands woven for a new commission.  
I get so thrilled every time I weave this material.
The weight of this coat of armor is evident.
When I gently un wrap it from the loom beam,
I can feel the loom beam on the last revolution
want to cast it off.  
This cast off is similar to the weight that gets
released from our physiology
with the effortless practice of vedic meditation.  
It’s like no other meditation technique that
I have tried that,
#1. I could do 
#2. I continue doing 2 x a day 
#3. It’s effortless and simple.

We have all felt the effects of adrenaline on our physiology.  
It is produced abundantly in time of stress reactivity.
Stress is a biological survival technique.
A fight or flight response.
It comes from an overabundance of expectations
we put on ourselves.
We feel resentment=rejection chemistry fills
our entire system and provokes irrelevant reactions.
We feel anxious=Our adrenal glands fill up and
we cast off a scent.

The aftereffects of a huge bout of adrenaline are
tiredness, lethargy and sometimes confusion.  
The body gets addicted to these rushes of adrenaline,
and acting out old behaviors become a hallmark
of a stressed person.  

Consistent practice of Vedic Meditation dissolves
adrenal chemistry, and the exhaustion
that has been masked by elevated adrenal
activity is being highlighted for deletion. 

The beauty of this practice is that
the more you practice and willingly surrender
to it, the better you feel.
The nature of the mind is to look for greater happiness.  
The nature of the body is to throw off stress.
 
Like the loom beam throwing off the completed strand.
Once it’s off the loom, I rewind, rewarp
and begin weaving the next strands. 
Each time with more clarity, joy and stability.  
If you would care to learn about this Vedic Meditation practice.
Or are interested in weaving or weavings.  Reach out. 

10.27.2024 Deck Talk available upon request info@fifthfloormeditation.com

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