Video: How to be Alone

Everyone moves through their days alone, but a lot of people don’t allow themselves to experience the freedom of being alone without feeling lonely. Togetherness is a subjective feeling we make in ourselves. Everyone has a separate consciousness that we inhabit all our lives. I think if you embrace that separation and continue to seek connection you end up interacting in the world in a much healthier, more satisfied manner. I love being alone as much as I love being a part of society. There is no difference, and I believe the more a person is able to embrace that idea the more he or she can have positive and truly authentic relationships with others.

Vox Populi's avatarVox Populi

A video by fiimmaker Andrea Dorfman and poet/singer/songwriter Tanya Davis.

Davis wrote the poem and performed in the video which Dorfman directed, shot, animated by hand and edited. The video was shot in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

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— Tanya Davis

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Tom Waits and Bukowski/ Nirvana

Waits’ voice and Bukowski’s words make poetry to the second power.

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Floating Mountains

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When I lived on Lummi Island, my children were children, and I rose early to take the ferry to work everyday. I would look out the wall of window and see Mt. Baker and the Sisters dark against the sunrise. And then in the evening I would see them floating above the mist in the fading light.

Posted in Art in Nature, capturing light, mountains, my life, On the Salish Sea, personal history | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Living in Limbo on Lummi Island: Walking, Working, and Waiting

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I am in work limbo and living with a good friend on Lummi Island while I wait for paperwork to start my new job in Lacey. I am working temporarily with my lovely friends big and little at Generations, my favorite teaching job ever. If I could do physical therapy here I would just stay in Bellingham, but still no jobs for new PTA’s here.

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Lummi Island is a perfect place to walk even on a blustery day with dashes of rain.

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This is church beach looking out at the San Juan Islands. It is made of rocks of diverse sizes, colors, shapes and textures. I spent a while arranging them in a pile. I lose all sense of time and pressure in activities like this. It connects with all my senses, being on the beach with sound of waves washing up and back, the feel of balancing the stones, and rich random patterns and textures.

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The ferry is a barrier. I have to time my departures and arrivals or wait for the boat. I don’t mind most of the time. It makes me slow down a little and take time to think. I listen to my audio book, or just use the time to feel the space of my life. I am waiting anyway in the larger picture of my life for a permanent residence and work. Waiting for the ferry seems so much more concrete and connected to the present. I spend the time to bring myself back into the present, which is a beautiful place rich with sounds, sights, smells and feelings.

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All of this and the clouds are amazing in this part of the world in the fall.

Posted in All part of the process, autumn, capturing light, my life, On the Salish Sea, paying attention, personal history, Walking, working world | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Video: The Power of Empathy — a quick animated clip that can make you a better person

The distinction between empathetic and sympathetic is so important to building relationships that accumulate into strong interactive communities that work to make the individuals in those communities stronger. Sympathy is only valuable in a general way. Like charity, it has its place, but it can’t drive sustainable change in human relationships.

Vox Populi's avatarVox Populi

This animated clip features Dr. Brené Brown, a research professor at the University of Houston Graduate College of Social Work, providing some quick insights into the difference between sympathy and empathy, and explaining why empathy is much more meaningful.

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