Art By Tali Landsman

It all started when I got this email from my friend Peter. It was a long email string, that we exchanged, in which we discussed the possibility of him visiting us in New Zealand sometime in the next few months. I will add here some paragraphs from his letter, that brought me to contemplate the subject of BEAUTY and UGLINESS, which I want to explore today. He said: "I read in your writings on Facebook [I don't feel the need to call it fishbowl anymore. Facebook IS a wonderful thing], that the Maori men are so gorgeous. What about the women? Are they all fat and ugly or something? Or is it only men living over there? I mean... how can I consider visiting NZ, even if it is beautiful, if it's going to be just you, Jules, me and a bunch of beautiful young muscular half-naked tattooed Maori warriors? Does that sound fair to you? How could I feel inspired there? I guess I could try... "Fat" and "ugly" would work for me even... I've never idolized skinny bl...

His name was Nathan and he was a tall journalist with a cynical tongue and many connections. I met him one summer night, when he drove his open top, beat up jeep, down my street. His blond long hair was blowing in the wind and his eyes were narrow with laughter. He was a young man then, but his face already developed the attractive wrinkles you get from too much sun and too much laughter. He showed up with a famous writer, called Dan, who never wore shoes, and who wrote great books about sex and fucking, mixed with deep and real ideas. I always wanted to meet Dan, and here was my opportunity. They were good friends, Nathan and Dan. Even though I adored the books Dan wrote, and was totally in agreement with most of what he shared with the world, I could never envision myself in his bed. By the time I became a woman, Dan looked already like a dirty old man. He ate like a pig, had black crusted foot soles, and was quickly becoming an unhealthy man who saw too much, liked too little, an...

It is so easy to memorize nuggets of truth principals, spoken by masters, spiritual teachers and lofty poets. It is easy to embrace concepts and ideas that rings true in our minds and hearts. But the trick is not to keep these in the realm of ideas, but to integrate it all, into a one coherent life. A life that gives you the joys you deserve and enriches you with constant flow of blessings, rewarding experiences and that encourage inner growth.   Each of us is responsible to finding the disconnected areas in our own lives, and to work on integrating them into a happy and working flow of experiences that serves our highest good.   What do I mean by this?   I will give you an obvious example, but I do NOT mean to leave it at the surface of the obvious, but to urge you to dig deeper and to explore these concepts in your own life.   To urge you to examine all the areas in which you do not live up to your own ideas and where you do not manifest or fully embraced your own truth principles.  ...

Dear Virtual, Sorry that I took so long to write back to you. I have been very busy in the past few days with a visit from a dear friend and with rearranging my studio with some new desks and a sofa. You know how everything these days comes in a flat packed box? and how you have to assemble it all yourself? Well it took me the better part of a whole day, just to build a corner desk unit for my studio. Luckily it all came with nicely numbered parts, tools and with easy to follow assembly instructions. I am so pleased to have a writing desk in the studio. I like to be able to write between detailed drawing sessions. Up until now, in my studio, here in Colorado, I did not have a comfortable sitting area, just some chairs to sit on, while reflecting and pausing, during my painting schedule. In the past, I was mostly working with oils and I was such a messy painter, that I did not want to be concerned with dirtying a nice sofa with my stained fingers or worrying about accidental splashes. B...