Art By Tali Landsman

"Have you been to Rawene to see all the lively changes that are happening there?" asked our friend and neighbor. "Not yet," I admitted, "I haven't been to the other side during this trip at all." "You should really take the ferry to the other side and see all the renovated buildings, and the art galleries that have opened there." Following her advice, we took the vehicle ferry from our little village of Kohukohu, to the somewhat bigger, but still little village of Rawane. Our time in NZ is soon coming to an end, and so, in just a short time, we will fly to Colorado. It has been a dry summer for us. We are almost out of water in our water tanks. We had to empty our big concrete water tank in order to repair it. After many phone calls and email exchanges, we finally got a man to come and fix the leaks in our tank. The man came, looked at our steep terrain, and said that it would be impossible. His helper and worker is unavailable these days, ha

                It is traditional at the end of each year to make New Year's resolutions, and to try to adhere to them during the upcoming year. It is not exactly goal setting, but more of a series of resolutions, firm decisions to guide your life  in certain ways during the coming year. Some people vow to improve their health, because we all know that without a healthy, strong body and a sound mind, living on this earth can be very difficult. People make an array of resolutions; some vow to work on their personalities, or to nourish better relationships, to cultivate a satisfying career, or of course to have more money. Those are NOT small egocentric wishes. One MUST first attend to her own healing, to finding inner joy and health within herself, before she ventures out to help fix the world.   There is great merit and nothing at all selfish in cultivating a healthy body and having money.  A sick body is a liability. Having a lot of debt is also a hindrance to your progress. All y

                              I would like to share an old joke: "Once a little girl, about five years young, asked her father where human beings came from. Her father scratched his beard and, unsure of how to explain the theory of evolution to his baby girl, said that human beings had evolved from apes. The little girl was confused. Did that mean that her beloved puppy dog would one day evolve to become a lion or a hippopotamus?  Since her father was obviously busy, she went to her mother, and asked her mother where human beings came from. Her mother explained that God, the Creator of all living things and of all the galaxies and planets, had created each of us in His own loving image. The little girl looked at her mother completely puzzled: "But Mommy, Daddy said that human beings had evolved from monkeys and you said that we came from the gods." "Yes, darling," said the mother, unfazed and without blinking an eye.  "Daddy told you about HIS side of the

New Zealand is a beautiful enchanted land. I have been living here part time for 13 years, and have traveled to many places around the country, but I shamefully must admit that I have only explored a tiny fraction of the beauty of this country and even of the region in which we live. We have spent years renovating our house, and have often gotten tied up with cleaning, repairs, maintenance, shopping, running errands and gardening. At our house, we have a deck which overlooks the Hokianga Harbor. The harbor is framed on the left side by a distant range of densely forested mountains. That area is called the Puketi Forest, and I have seen it countless times, occasionally wondering how it would feel to take a walk inside that dense forest. I have always believed that people can make deep connections with the landscape around us, and allow the rocks, minerals and the earth around us, to help us and to ground ourselves when we face challenges. Many people have reported feeling elated or havi

Years ago, when I was a very young woman, I read about the concept of reincarnation. I was aware that we all internalize some sort of belief system, and if it were all a matter of belief, why not adopt a belief that life is continual and everlasting, instead of believing that life is short, that you only get one chance, one go-round to live. My culture has a saying: "You only live once!" And to me, this seemed so cruel, it meant that life is short and that one must squeeze life like a juicy orange, in order to extract as much juice as one can, out of it. It brought me peace to join the billions of people around the world, namely Hindus and Buddhists, who believe wholeheartedly in reincarnation. Over the years, I periodically asked myself, why does the idea of continuity of soul give me such a sense of peace.... I had to admit that it made me sad, to think that this is a random universe, that nothing has a purpose and a meaning, and that I will never exist again. Around the ti