One Word

“One Word. Encapsulate the year 2010 in one word. Explain why you’re choosing that word. Now, imagine it’s one year from today, what would you like the word to be that captures 2011 for you?” (Author: Gwen Bell)

2010
Transition
Completion, New Beginnings, Continuation. I began my year in Brazil at my aunt's farm - Fazenda Bom jardim. Returned to San Fran to complete my last semester at CCA. Graduation and completion. And then a new beginning, moving to Santos to work at Elos. Continuation of working towards bringing different areas of my life closer together; Spirituality, Sustainability, Architecture; North and South America. Becoming more of a connection and bridge. My aunt and uncle visiting the U.S. for the first time. Generation Waking Up in Colorado and Rodrigo visiting the U.S. for the first time. Moving to Brasil, getting to know São Paulo, spending more time with my family here.

2011
Liberation
Letting go of all that is holding me back, all that has accumulated but doesn't serve a purpose any longer, all that is stagnant, all that needs to be healed so that I can be free to experience new and wonderful things. Becoming lighter and at the same time ever more centered and grounded. Having a space to call home. Letting go of fear and allowing new energy and dreams come to fruition. Abundance, creativity, travel, and sharing. Clear communication, true friendship, and wild enjoyment. Magic.

Sublime

In October of 1717, Dom Pedro de Almeida passed through the town of Guaratinguetá on his way to Vila Rica, a gold-mining town. Since he was the governer of São Paulo and Minas Gerais at the time, the residents of Guaratinguetá decided to host a feast in his honor. They sent the men down to the nearby Paraíba river hoping to catch some fish to please Dom Pedro de Almeida. Unfortunately it was not fishing season and the men had little luck catching any fish. The fishermen were desperate and began to pray. They continued to cast their nets, but still no luck. They cast their nets one final time in desperation and to their bewilderment pulled something quite heavy to the surface. It was a statue of a body with a missing head! Alarmed, they cast the net once again and what did they catch? The statue's head! They cleaned the statue up to discover it was a black version of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception. Suddenly the statue's weight increased and it became so heavy that the men couldn't move it from it's resting place on the boat, so they wrapped it in cloth and tried their luck at fishing once again. Suddenly they began to catch fish. Not just one or two fish, hundreds of them! There were so many fish the boat almost sank. And this is how the first miracle of Our Lady of Aparecida happened.

Uma Casa Muito Engraçada/ A Very Funny House

This was one of my favorite songs to sing when I was little:

Era uma casa
Muito engraçada
Não tinha teto
Não tinha nada
Ninguém podia entrar nela, não
Porque na casa não tinha chão
Ninguém podia dormir na rede
Porque na casa não tinha parede
Ninguém podia fazer pipi
Porque penico não tinha ali
Mas era feita com muito esmero
Na rua dos Bobos
Número zero

There was once
a very funny house
it didn't have a ceiling
it didn't have anything
no one could enter
because there was no floor
no one could sleep in the hammock
because there was no wall
no one could go pee
because there was no toilet
but it was built with much care
on Fool's Street
number zero

Benke

Beija-flor me chamou: olha
Lua branca chegou na hora
O Beija-Mar me deu prova:
Uma estrela bem nova
Na luminária da mata
Força que vem e renova

Beija-Flor de amor me leva
Como o vento levou a folha

Minha Mamãe soberana
Minha Floresta de jóia
Tu que dás brilho na sombra
Brilhas também lá na praia

Beija-Flor me mandou embora
Trabalhar e abrir os olhos

Estrela d’Água me molha
Tudo que ama e chora
Some na curva do rio
Tudo é dentro e fora
Minha Floresta de jóia

Tem a água
tem a água
tem aquela imensidão
tem sombra da Floresta
tem a luz do coração
Bem-querer!!!

* Essa canção é o nome de um curumim do povo Kampa e é dedicada a todos os curumins de todas as raças do mundo

translation:

Hummingbird called to me: look
White moon’s time has arrived
The ocean’s kiss gave me proof
A young star
In the light of the forest
Strength that comes and renews

Hummingbird of love take me
Like the wind took the leaf

My sovereign mother
My jeweled forest
You who gives light in the darkness
Also shines there upon the shore

Hummingbird sent me away
To work and open eyes

Water Star splash me
All that loves and cries
Disappears in the curve of the river
Everything is inside and out
My forest of jewels

Is the water
Has the water
Has that immensity
Has the shade of the forest
Has the light of the heart
Wishing well!

I remember my mom playing this song at home when I was little. It brings tears to my eyes. At the School of Warriors Without Weapons 2007 I met the man the song was written about- Benke. He showed up as if out of nowhere and brought his wisdom and stories to teach to the group. At Bioneers later that year, I got to be one of the youth who hosted the 13 indigenous grandmothers. My grandmother was Maria Alice from the Amazon. Her daughter was also there and I later found out that she knew Benke well.

We are the ones we’ve been waiting for

A time to fully step into ourselves.

I find myself back in the Triangulo Mineiro region, in the state of Minas Gerais where I spent a year of my life in 2003-04. Last time I was here, 8 months ago, I wondered when I would return again, thinking it wouldn’t be for at least another 3 years. And now here I am, looking back in awe at the series of events that brought me back so much sooner than I had imagined.
Since arriving in Santos, on July 31st, I have been staying at Thais and Fabio’s apartment in Vila Belmiro, home of the famous Santos Futbol Stadium. I met Thais in 2007 during the School of Warriors Without Weapons. She was a Warrior in 1999 and had been working at Elos since then. I have been learning a lot from her each day- her willingness to take on what needs to be done, whatever the cost, how she sees the world as fully hers to be molded and transformed, her ruthless revolutionary spirit and fearless leadership, her embodiment of the belief that she can and will make a difference, her strong will and persistence in pushing for justice and the best possible world- no exceptions. I have been observing and absorbing.
I have also been noting synchronicities - It’s amazing how the smallest details and alignments assure you that you’re exactly where you need to be. Before I started staying at Thais’ house, she and her in-laws had planned a trip to Minas Gerais including a stop in Prata, a town of 27,000 where I was the first exchange student and lived for a year. What are the odds? Thais’ in-laws, Eneias and Rita, have good friends that live on the exact same street where I lived, and are good friends with my host-mother Eloisa.
Visiting Prata with Thais has made me look at the town in a new way. I have been trying, more and more each day to face the world with open eyes, an open heart, and a strong back- to truly be awake to what is happening, noting what has made me feel numb in the past, and allowing myself to open up to feel and sense.
What I heard during my visit this time: The school is falling apart. A little boy lost his father on his birthday- his father was on a motorcycle and got stuck between two cars and then sucked under one of them. In another car accident, a woman was decapitated. “Mother, what is happening to the people of Prata?” All the men do is drink. Drugs, people’s homes getting robbed. You’d think in a small town, it wouldn’t be like this. Tim’s cell phone got stolen the day I arrived. “Prata doesn’t move forward.”
It makes me feel uncomfortable, hearing these stories because I don’t know how I can help, but that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be shared, shouldn’t be talked about.
I am also becoming more aware of the media’s influence on the people here, especially of the image we as Americans put out. I want to show people here that my American side is different from the images of America they see in music videos, in the messages from the mainstream. I’m tired of the two sides of me competing.
So I am realizing and I am learning. Learning more about the walls of separation I have built to defend myself, loving and letting them fall away, not in shame, but in loving liberation- to become a warrior without weapons, a rainbow warrior, a warrior of the heart. Learning to be transparent, truthful, learning each day how to become more humble, and how to love in others and in myself what I fear in myself. I am learning how to love my fears and let them be transformed.

Sharing a Meal

Cooking a meal for a group of people makes me appreciate all the care and love that goes into food, from earth to plate. It makes me appreciate all the recipes passed down to my grandmother, to my mother and aunts, and now to me. I cooked a meal for 16 today at Elos! I couldn't have done it without the help of Simone who was a superpower and was always ready help and to keep things moving. During times like these I feel humbled and grateful for the nourishment I receive every day. At the table were Andre, Andreia, Carla, Dimas, Gilson, Laura, Marina, Mariana, Mariana, Paulo, Rodrigo, Simone, Thais, Val, and Zelia. mmm. Lots of emotions during preparation! I've never had to cook for a group of this size! I'm glad I pulled it off (with the help of many others, of course) and was able to share a few of my favorite flavors.

Sharing a Meal

Menu
Gazpacho
Mango + Watercress Salad
Puchero (Garbanzo Bean Soup)
Escarola Pie

Strawberry + Cream desert

Andreia Marques

shoulders & turns - the belle game (hd) from jeffrey zablotny on Vimeo.

I saw this on Andreia's blog and liked it. It has some things in common with my balloon project :)

Amanda Hughen

♥

My notebook from 2007

Mitakuye Oyasin

"all my relations"

Aho Mitakuye Oyasin... All my relations.
I honor you in this circle of life with me today.
I am grateful for this opportunity to acknowledge you in this prayer...
To the creator, for the ultimate gift of life,I thank you.
To the mineral nation that has built and maintained my bones and all foundations of life experience, I thank you.
To the plant nation that sustains my organs and body and gives me healing herbs for sickness, I thank you.
To the animal nation that feeds me from your own flesh and offers you your loyal companionship in this walk of life, I thank you.
To the Human nation that shares my path as a soul upon the sacred wheel of Earthly life, I thank you.
To the spirit nation that guides me invisibly through the ups and downs of life and for carrying the torch of light through the ages, I thank you.
You are all my relations, my relatives, without whom I would not live. We are in the circle of life together, co-existing, co-dependent, co-creating our destiny. One, not more important than the other. One nation evolving from the other and yet each dependent upon the one above and the one below. All part of the Great Mystery
Thank you for this life.

Clearing

I'm having sudden urges to purge
To burn.
I have too much stuff collected over the years.
Something about burning old plots and models feels so liberating
Hopefully it will clear the way for new growth and possibilities

Manon

Those arriving upon Manon from afar will see a gleaming city with five spires stretching like fingers into the sky. It seems as if it is a city which never stops growing; a sleepless city. At any given time of day or night, one can observe a hustle and bustle of movement and production. Elevators, pulleys, and stairs draw people in work attire up, up, up into office buildings and factories. It is said that the city itself is trying to reach something just beyond its grasp, and yet it keeps on reaching.

Beyond the outskirts of the city lie five great lakes, from which all of Manon's water comes. The citizens of Manon believe that thousands of years ago a great hand from above pressed itself into the contours of the land and left an imprint where rivers and streams gathered to form the five lakes. From these fingers flowed agriculture, grids, irrigation, and Manon's prosperity.

But as Manon's spires grow up into the heaves the lakes begin to shorten and the water supply dwindles. The Manonians, however, are determined to see their great city keep growing. They do not glance down from their offices so high at the vanishing lakes. All they see is the sky and to them the future is bright.

(Studio I)

Um começo

Era uma vez um lugar onde as criancas viviam em uma cidade caverna...
Tinha sido uma cidade bonita antes, mas com o tempo foi sendo abandonando por seus moradores que se cansaram dela e foi pouco a pouco se desmontando e se tornando umida e escura.

Foi neste tempo que chegaram as familias dos meninos que viviam no escuro. Como toda crianca, eles brincavam eh claro, mas no escuro mesmo. Talvez nem sabiam que tinha a claridade para brincar.

Um dia um grande vento soprou, e neste vento chegou o Indio da grande floresta. Ele perguntou para as criancas: "Porque eh, criancas, que voces brincam nesse escuridao tao pezado? Na minha terra as criancas brincam na luz do grande pai sol com todos os bichinhos e as plantas da nossa terra mae."

Mas as criancas ficaram confusas pois nunca tinha visto bichos e plantas e nao pudiam imaginar como era esta terra de luz. Vendo a confusao nas caras das criancas, o Indio decidiu dar para cada um delas sementes de esperanca.

"Planta estas sementes e cuidam bem delas e cuidam bem delas e quando elas creceram elas vao trazer luz para voces brincaram."

E com isso o vento forte voltou e carregou o Indio embora.

as time melts into a jar

midpoint to nowhere
I'm half way there
In my dreams I have seen
this so-called no-man's land
and it fills my mind with emptiness

A melancholic cloud floats by
in the opposite direction
maybe he's going somewhere
maybe to alphabet land

As I wait for the time
to come the clock tick tocks
unwinds

I fly a kite
and like fishing
I try to catch a bird

(a poem found in my drawer)

Invisible Cities

The Great Khan's atlas contains also the maps of the promised lands visited in thought but not yet discovered or founded: New Atlantis, Utopia, the City of the Sun, Oceana, Tamoe, New Harmony, New Lanark, Icaria.

Kublai asked Marco: "You, who go about exploring and who see signs, can tell me toward which of these futures the favoring winds are driving us."

"For these ports I could not draw a route on the map or set a date for the landing. At times ll I need is a brief glimpse, an opening in the midst of an incongruous landscape, a glint of lights in the fog, the dialogue of two passersby meeting in the crowd, and I think that, setting out from there, I will put together, piece by piece, the perfect city, made of fragments mixed with the rest, of instants separated by intervals, of signals one sends out, not knowing who receives them. If I tell you that the city toward which my journey tends is discontinuous in space and time, now scattered now more condensed, you must not believe the search for it can stop. Perhaps while we speak, it is rising, scattered, within the confines of your empire; you can hunt for it, but only in the way I have said."

Already the Great Khan was leafing through his atlas, over the maps of the cities that menace in nightmares and maledictions: Enoch, Babylon, Yahooland, Butua, Brave New World.

He said: "It is all useless, if the last landing place can only be the infernal city, and it is there that, in ever-narrowing circles, the current is drawing us."

And Polo said: "The inferno of the living is not something that will be; if there is one, it is what is already here, the inferno where we live every day, that we form by being together. There are two ways to escape suffering it. The first is easy for many: accept the inferno and become such a part of it that you can no longer see it. The second is risky and demands constant vigilance and apprehension; seek and learn to recognize who and what, in the midst of the inferno, are not inferno, then make them endure, give them space."

reSOURCES - tapping the net

Pachube
Visual Digital Media- CCA
Future Cities Lab - my teacher Jason K. Johnson's site
Design Reform
Real Time Rome/Roam