Art By Tali Landsman

33 days before our cycling adventure in China.... My random thoughts: I felt a big shake of my confidence yesterday......... What am I doing, sharing the private details of my life, my thoughts, my emotions, my convictions on FB?.... Putting my ideas on display, and exposing myself to all this criticism.... All of us live our lives guided by our ideas and inner convictions, and since we keep it to ourselves.... Nobody criticize us for it.... We are Protected by a shield of anonymity..... All my life I associated with like-minded people. I went to peace rallies, and considered those who believed in force, to be jerks and merely ignored them. Being a "greeny" and a democrat, I would never make real close friends with people who were avid republicans, did not recycle, did not care about the environment, who did not understand the wisdom of having a social conscious and our connectedness to others. But I've learnt the ERROR of my ways.... I understood that standing on ANY sid

34 days before our cycling adventure in China.... My random thoughts: I love the views of Auckland, as you reach it from the North. Yesterday, it stood basking in the sunshine...shimmering like a jewel,  surrounded with blue waters filled with marinas and sail boats. It was almost evening, when we reached the city, and we decided to put our "no dinners diet" on hold, while we are here, and have some gourmet dining experiences. At the end of Ponsonby Road, on a small side street, there is a fabulous Japanese restaurant called "Soto." It is a world -class restaurant, which could have been located in any fabulous city, from NY to Tokyo... But we arrived too early, and we needed to spend 30 minutes somewhere, before they officially open for serving dinner. We decided to follow the after-work crowd, who walked into a beautiful old building, which was a restaurant-bar and which had a lovey beer garden in the back, with a large stone outdoor fire place, and plants. Over a

35 days before our cycling adventure in China.... My random thoughts: Despite being in NZ for over a week, my body is still on Colorado time. I wake up at what would be 9am- 10am in Colorado, but it is only 4 am in NZ. Then I fall asleep again... Luckily, I am also tired early in the evening, so I fall asleep early and get enough sleep. It may take a few more days before I am fully adjusted to the time zones. Today we drive to Auckland. The weather in the Hokianga, is lovely now, but we already booked this  city break.... And I am looking forwards to it. Being an artist, I appreciate and delight in ALL art forms. And this includes cooking. Yesterday I saw a DVD, with the cooking celebrations of Heston Blumenthal.  A creative British chef, who orchestrate such elaborate and well thought feast with a central theme. This  creative chef, has a flare for the dramatic... His motto, which I adore and adhere to in life as well, is that celebration food, should be FUN.... And exciting..... Full

Sometimes life give you unexpected challenges... And you have to face them and muster all your wisdom and principles. The hardest thing for me to keep sharing ideas, is how to deal with people who cross the boundaries of what is appropriate to do and to say in civil interaction between people. It seems at time that some people on FB, forget that people are still people... And that it is NOT appropriate to come to somebody's home and to trash their furniture..... When I encounter people who consistently post opinions that are opposite to my own, I simply ignore them. If they post their opinions on my wall, or tag me, and I disagree with what they think, I try to say something neutral or to find something that I DO agree with, and elaborate on it. If I see that I share very little in common with these people, I will never tag them or post on their walls.... I have no desire to anger people...or shake their confidence. But it does make me feel pissed.... Despite myself... That some p

This morning it is cloudy, but it does not rain. The harbor looks grey, reflecting the grey clouds, But with small patches of light yellow sun with red overtones of sunrise... The birds, are already active. We have a family of big green parrots, who live in the surrounding trees. They come and stand on the railing, by my bedroom window. They have magnificent colors, and because they do not see me, they linger on..... displaying their splendor and beauty. Everything grows here so fast and so vigorously.... The ancient Purriri tree, which we trimmed back last year, is so covered with leaves and new branches now. It looks as if nothing was ever done to it. In fact, it looks healthier than ever... And to think of all the neighbors who nodded their heads with disagreement at me, after I've cut back some of the heavy limbs, which were leaning dangerously on my roof and driveway.... Luckily, I am not the kind of person who gets influenced too quickly by other people....and their opinions.

I have made many mistakes in my life. Some, I've made repeatedly, in my naiveté.... Not realizing that you cannot really help those who are NOT interested in healing.... Or in understanding the nature of illness. In my own mind, this lesson did not register quickly. Since I've always operate under the impression that EVERYONE, seeks to better their situation.... And yearns to find greater knowledge, greater joy... Healing and more ease.... In my own understanding, why would anyone find peace and comfort, under the label of mental or physical illness? But it is not so for everyone.... And it has been a tough lesson for me to learn. I keep my mouth shut now.... And offer no one healing advice, because I know that when a person is ready, and truly crave healing, the answers are all around.... And the teachers appear. Some people are "beyond reach"...... Because they've put themselves beyond anyone's reach. They do not desire healing at all... Instead, they seek

It is steaming and hot, here in the Hokianga. When the rain eases, it gets steamy like a sauna here....I can visibly see the steam rising from the plants. I forgot how hot it can get here in the summers... I went into the studio yesterday...... but maybe I shouldn't have.......the heat, made me do foolish things... I drew a pattern on the dress of the lady that I am currently painting, and spent many hours, coloring the background around the pattern very carefully...... And in one incoherent, heat stroked moment.... With sweat running into my eyes..... I ruined it all... Now it will take many hours to fix it... This steamy heat is doubly uncomfortable, since we just came from Colorado, where the humidity level is so low year round.... The humidity level here now is 94%..... Which makes me wonder ironically, that it would have been no big deal........ if I were a fish...... You just need gills and you can cut the thick air with your fins.... Yesterday, I felt the need to run away.

I decided to write DAILY, my random thoughts before our cycling trip along the Silk Road in China. (The countdown is 39 days.) I plan to write randomly, with no coherent editing. If it sounds like rumbling crap, please do not read it. I believe that it is important to write the bubbling thoughts on the surface of our mind's. It is like the bubbling foamy grey matter, when you cook a chicken soup after it boils. You need to scoop it out... So you can get to the flavors of things... O.K.... Here it is: It is raining outdoors.... It has been raining hard all day and night, yesterday also.... Everything outside is as wet as a rainforest shower... At this rate, we will be out on our bikes training,...... a week before our departure. Why? Oh, why? did I get the crazy idea to ruin my hair by dying it like a raccoon?.... Well, today I will be done with vacuuming the house, and move on to my studio. I really have to paint... Get some work done...feel productive.... Painting in the studio al

"I already make shit loads of money" He said. He was sitting across from me, in the ski gondola, and we were making our way up the mountain in the Ski Resort. He was a handsome stylish young man, with sandy color soft hair, maybe in his early thirties, or late twenties. He was talking to his ski buddy, and his unusual remark, made me raise my eyes and curiously focus my attention on their conversation. The reason that his plain- spoken statement, sounded so unusual, was that ever since the global economical crisis, which reached its peak in late 2008, many people have fallen into the illusory belief that there are less opportunities, less money, and less jobs around. As a result, you hear many more conversation about lack of opportunities, and being careful with expenses, than conversations about the ability to manifest richness. These young snowboarders, dressed in the latest of ski fashion, looked confident and secure in their abilities.... They were young, and for them, th

Recently, I corresponded with a friend, who told me that he is feeling dispirited by all the envy he encounters now in his life. He is dispirited by the fact that these people who he considered life long friends, are showing definite signs of jealously of the life of leisure and joy that he enjoys now. He went on to describe that even though he is enjoying a good life now, it has not always been so... In fact, his story of a hard childhood, many disadvantages and many life's challenges, made my eyes moist... I will not share here his story, but I will sum it up by saying that he started with nothing, married his College sweetheart, and together they went on to build a comfortable financial life. They have wonderful and talented children, and they enjoy good relationships with them. It just pains him to see that his friends, who should be happy for him, are envy instead. He asked me if I can offer any insights.... I fully understand his predicament.... If you are a person who

A wise philosopher once said: "A wise man should strive after a knowledge of the Self. For there is no knowledge that is higher, or that brings more satisfaction of power, than a knowledge of his own being. If a man knows his real SELF, he cannot do otherwise, than discover his latent possibilities, his concealed powers, his dormant faculties."

It is hard to believe that just yesterday we cycled outside wearing only light cycling outfits, enjoying the perfect sunny warm day, the breathtaking scenery of the mountains & rivers. Right now, outside my window, a serious snow storm is raging. Cycling would be totally out of the question. Our Buddhist diet of no dinners and alternate fast days, is going superb, and in just a few short days, we trade the mountains for the sea, and fly back to NZ... YEAH!

This story is all true. Everything I am describing here, truly happened. It is up to you to believe whatever you will... After a LONG battle with myself, which kept me from writing these events for many months.... I am finally putting it down in writing..... and out there in the Universe.... You exist on many planes of consciousness and on levels of existence. Levels of consciousness, are NOT simply ideas and beliefs held in the mind, but they DO take physical forms also. You are only aware of ONE level at the time, but you DO EXIST on all other levels, living in the same way that you are living in now, only with a whole different happy world around you, totally different and with much better circumstances. The healed world, is right here already, and "Heaven," is truly within You, and awaits your glad return. All it takes is a shift of perception, to enter a parallel reality, or a higher level of consciousness or a higher plane of perception...... Call it as you wish. Your e

Natural disasters, or personal crisis, bring people face to face, not just with the mortality of the body, but with many existential and philosophical questions. Our mind has the nature of a curious seeker, constantly inquiring to find the meaning of things. Peace of mind cannot be restored, until one comes to terms with a coherent explanation of events and their meaning. Admittedly, some will just shrug their shoulders with indifference that comes from helplessly not being able to figure out any explanation that fits into their belief system, and put it behind them as just another unexplained arbitrary suffering, out of many unexplained phenomenon, in this life. But I believe that nothing happen arbitrarily.....and.....(and here I hesitate to say this)....... There is no death. It is not easy to share my beliefs, when I know very clearly, how diverse and vast the array of world's views and beliefs, are out there. This is not because I am not feeling convinced or secure in my

It does not take a genius, to notice that much of the our state of unhappiness, comes from an obsession with our past pains, unfulfilled wishes, and a sense that much is wrong with the world today. We obsess about what is wrong, and rarely realize how it ends up shaping our PRESENT reality. In other words, our fears and our sorrows, our empathy, with the constant state of sufferings around the world, and all the time we spend being pissed off FOR GOOD CAUSES.... Is making us mentally UNWELL. I would like to propose here, that much is wrong with the WAY WE VIEW THE WORLD. Not actually with the world itself. Much is wrong with our focus and obsession with fixing the "wrong" and very little time is spent actually enjoying the joys of reality and of our life. The sad thing is...that as a society, we accept these negative views of the world as NORMAL, and we view those who live with a happy heart and a calm mind, as OPTIMISTIC or even naive. In fact, to state it honestly and very

Never be afraid to look and challenge the validity of your dark side. Dare to play with it, until it shows itself for the nothingness that it truly is. Salvador Dalí once staged a party in which guests were told to come disguised as characters from their nightmares.

You can forget the truth about who you really are, but you can never lose it!