Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Location: Pincher Creek, Alberta

I thought I’d share what I’ve been up to project-wise. I’ve taken an almost complete hiatus from photography and film over the past few weeks. In that time, I’ve been reviewing all the digital photos I’ve taken along the road to date, about a thousand pictures.

It’s taken me a month of solid hours in front of this laptop to decide which pictures should go up in the www.windpathfilms.com image gallery and to crop and/or tweak those images accordingly. The moral of this part of the process has been to shoot less digital and focus more on FILM. From this point on, I’m going to try to only pull out the digital stills for the blog.

This is an ongoing major challenge on this road, selecting which camera to use and when.

Other than the photo work, I’ve been preparing a major website update document for my publicity/web crew out east at ProtonMedia. I sent this out today before I head back out to the Piikani Reservation. Hopefully these new site changes will be up soon for everyone in cyberspace to enjoy. ProtonMedia is also working on Podcasts/WebVideos for the site using the footage I’ve mailed home to date, when these PODcasts are done they’ll be installed on the site along with YouTube and other WebBroadcast locations. Finally there’s accounting… there’s always accounting to be done.

All this to say I’m always busy, while working from homelessness.

So that’s a quick work update. Now that my pics are all in order, I’ll be busting out my cameras once again. It feels really good to start fresh.

peace,
d

Power in our Hands
By Mark Lynas

For me the most memorable photos of the 2004 Asian tsunami were taken by two Canadian holidaymakers on the beach in Thailand.

Their first picture shows the receded tide: beach-goers are wandering around unconcernedly in their swimsuits. The third image already shows the horror that is about to unfold: a gigantic wave looms on the horizon. The eighth image – the last – shows the wall of water just metres away from the photographer. (Click Here for Photos)

It is difficult to understand why the two Canadians stood on the beach taking photos when they might have been running away. Both were killed, and their photos recovered from their camera later. Perhaps, having never experienced a tsunami before, the tourists had no way of making sense of the disaster they were witnessing. They simply didn’t understand what was going on.

In the same way, future generations will look back on us and feel baffled as to why we didn’t act sooner to curb the looming disaster of global warming. Like the tourists standing on the beach, we can see what is coming: scientific predictions about disappearing ice caps, rising sea levels, spreading deserts and stronger storms have been on the newspaper front pages for years. But somehow we still seem to be able to forget about the threat and go on with business as usual.

That’s like standing on a Thai beach at 8:31am in the morning of 26 December 2004, and saying: ‘it’s just a wave’. We don’t understand the sheer magnitude of this warming – it’ll catapult the planetary climate into a warmer state than it has been for tens of millions of years, long before humans appeared.

There’s a difference, of course. No power on Earth could have stopped the tsunami rolling in that dreadful day. But nothing about global warming is inevitable.

If greenhouse gas emissions are cut dramatically, we can still save the glaciers or the Himalayas, the tropical coral reefs, the hundreds of millions who will be driven from their homes by drought and rising seas. The choice is ours.

Recommended readings:

“Heat: How To Stop The Planet Burning”
by George Monbiot

“High Tide: The Truth About Our Climate” Crisis
by Mark Lynas

“The Carbon War: Global Warming and the End of the Oil Era”
by Jeremy K. Leggett

“The Weather Makers: The History and Future Impact of Climate Change”
by Tim Flannery

“Breach of Faith”
by Jed Horne

- Excerpt from CD Insert: Rhythms Del Mondo, Buena Vista Social Club’s Ibrahim Ferrer & Omara Portuondo

Saturday, January 20, 2007
Location: Piikani Reservation, Alberta

Here on the Little Wolf Ranch, I’ve spent some time helping prepare the sweat lodge for upcoming sweats. Yesterday I went and cut wood, built the fire, arranged the rocks, and swept out the lodge.











Image: Heating rocks for a sweat

This morning, when we were in the sweat, something came to me... I’m SO grateful. I’ve said that so many times over the past seven months, but what occurred to me during the sweat, was not how grateful I am, but rather, how ungrateful the rest of the western world often seems.

Now, now, it’s not about being holier than thou, or anything like that. It just struck me, how, in the west, most of the time, we take so much for granted.

Home.
Food.
Electricity.
Cheap Fuel.
Cars.
Jobs.
Computers.
Cell Phones.
Entertainment.
The list goes on…

When was the last time we found ourselves truly grateful for any of the above luxuries? When was the last time we sat and were just utterly thankful for our car, or that new technological gadget, or even something so simple as potatoe chips? I think often we may find ourselves content, excited, and joyful, but I wonder, are we grateful? How often do we express our gratitude?

In many ways I feel we’ve built a society of entitlement, where we just expect to have most everything at our fingertips. (I think I'm mostly talking about my generation and those coming up behind us.) And again, I know it’s not black and white, we still have to work hard, and there are still haves and have-nots, but for most, life is pretty great.* (or is it?)

What I wonder is, as we build a reality where almost everyone just HAS as a birthright, what values then become the norm? As we find ourselves far up the hierarchy ladder of needs, what then makes us feel grateful?

Are we losing touch with gratitude? I wonder.

peace,
d

*I’m wondering, maybe life isn’t all that great. Maybe we’re all so tied up and trapped in this rat-maze-reality that we are actually quite very sad, with little to feel truly grateful for. Maybe we’re surface rich, but depth poor. Maybe we feel entitled as part of the sedation process; filling our world with ‘things’ to distract us from the difficult choices that may lead to our true happiness.

Either way I think the answer is to get back in touch with gratitude. If you don’t feel grateful, it may be time to reflect upon the reality you've built for yourself.

Friday, January 19, 2007
Location: Piikani Reservation, Alberta

Last night I dreamt I had a young horse. All of a sudden, I decided we should go to Disneyland. Zzzz, and we were there. It wasn’t Disneyland per se, no giant mouse, no castle, no fairytale America, but instead, it was simply the land where dreams come true.

Or maybe it was trying to tell me. It's in the land, where dreams come true.

In past blogs, I’ve written about how we are all co-creators of our reality, and when we offer solid intention, we can manifest our reality. Over the course of my life, I’ve learned the act of creating often takes time, but if you believe and persist, you soon do find yourself in a land where dreams come true.

I tell you this because, a long time ago, I asked to be here.

... now, if I could only get comfortable with this reoccurring sense of deja vu.

peace,
d

[IF]

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you
But make allowance for their doubting too,
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream--and not make dreams your master,
If you can think--and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it all on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings--nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much,
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And--which is more--you'll be a Man, my son!

--Rudyard Kipling

'It is the mind that is vast, not the world. The knower is ever greater than the known, and the seer is greater than the seen. That which is known is contained within the knower, and that which is seen is in the seer; the vast expanse of the sky is in the mind, not outside, because the mind is everywhere and there is no outside to it'.
- Sri Ramana Maharshi,
Excerpt from book The Yoga of Time Travel, by Fred Alan Wolf

Friday, January 12, 2007
Location: Piikani Reservation, Alberta

I’m disconnected, at this time, from technology, while becoming, more connected, to my self.

I’ve been out here on the Piikani Reserve, staying with the Little Wolf family, since the beginning of this week. A month ago, when I came out here for my first sweat lodge, I felt unsure and unsteady, somewhat lost; my spirit misplaced.

After that first sweat, I came a few more times to visit. Each time out here, my dog Moses, had an extremely difficult time getting along with the ranch dogs. They drove him away, they tore into his food, and he spent his time hiding under vehicles, unsure and unsteady.

My dog has become a vital guide for me on this road as I travel south. When I first picked him up, someone in Yellowknife told me I had made a mistake, a dog needs constant stability, and my dog would limit my ability to connect with people. I’ve since learned that’s a huge load of B.S! All a dog truly needs… is constant love, and when it comes to people, Moses both facilitates relationships while also filtering certain people out. He’s a true guide dog. And, when I saw he was having a hard time, I became very concerned for the both of us.

In trusting the process, and in leaving much of my journey to faith, I depend greatly upon these ethereal signposts. Moses having a difficult time was one such signpost, my only problem: I was having a hard time understanding the message. So I called for help.

The response I received was as follows,

“He’s having a hard time, he’s unsure and unsteady, as soon as he spends some time and becomes more comfortable he’ll be fine.”

Hmmm, sounds familiar.

I’ve now been here a week, and I’ve come to understand that, what I originally interpreted as an issue with Moses was simply a reflection of myself in my companion. As I’ve established my footing and come to terms with where my path has traveled, I’ve also come to understand, that, in the here and now, I belong. In me simply being, my dog Moses, has also found his way.

The signpost wasn’t saying ‘watch out’ or ‘move on’… the signpost was saying, Pay Attention, Look, and Listen.

I’m doing just that, and am grateful.

peace,
d

A continuation of thoughts on language and reality.

Click HERE for this video about Robert Anton Wilson.

peace,
d

Since my time at Chris and Janet's bison ranch I've found myself often wandering around grocery stores wondering if there is really anything in them I shoudl actually be eating. As I wander I read labels and almost all items are packed with preservatives and the ever-present Glucose-Fructose... SUGAR! Now although none of this makes me happy about what we are eating, what really bothers me is what is not on the label. My friend Jason recently dropped me an email on this subject, a book he suggests we all read THE END OF FOOD and a film we should all take the time to watch, THE FUTURE OF FOOD

I thought my reader may also be interested in his suggestions.

here is another email from Jason that I thought I'd share with his permission.

peace,
d

I was just catching up on your blogs and noticed reference and discussion to a lot of information I've been reading and connecting with.. progress traps, the grip of technology, etc.. Maybe you're aware of it.. Maybe you just got it right.. Probably both.. Nonetheless here are a few mind tweakers..

Reading about your trip to Head-smashed-In, I recalled that I mentioned a great book the last time we met, called 'A Short History of Progress' http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Short_History_of_Progres) it explains exactly that… how much we've taken and how much we've lost as a result of this fixation on human progress… I've read a lot of works trying to understand our addiction to progress, whether technological, economic, or whatever… but what does progress mean? Ever since the agricultural evolution and the shift from hunter/gatherer to farmer/domestication we've been fixated at keeping ourselves busy with all this new found free time, so we invented and created to keep us busy.. Thinking it will make our lives easier, more comfortable, etc.. But in a big way, it has removed us from this cycle of being part of our environment, keeping us grounded and dependent on working with the earth, not against it like now.. We've become out of touch with this sacred balance.. It's also an ego thing, we as humans see ourselves now as a separate part from the world, not as an integral part of it… so we use the earth to further ourselves, create and invent things to supposedly simplify our lives, but really they make things more complicated.. We become reliant on our inventions… instead of using the things we create as a tool to expand our well being and happiness as we originally thought, we become dependent on them for our well being and happiness… man doesn't control technology anymore, technology controls man.. I'f you've read anything by Aldous Huxley (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aldous_Huxley), perhaps the book 'Brave New World', he talks a lot about this grip of technology and progress on man..and as I just recently found out that a good friend of his was Alan Watts (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Watts), an amazing man of eastern/western religion and philosophy who focused many writings on personal identity, the true nature of reality, consciousness and the pursuit of happiness… he does a lot of exploring of the human ego, and why we behave and act the way we do.. amazing author and I recommend you read some of his writings...

We've created a monster, a progress trap.. The digital world, nuclear weapons, bio-engineering, etc.. This is progress…? I think it's a progression away from the natural balance, away from family, away from spirituality, and far away from Humanity.. Where or when does it end? It's endless if you get the notion that we will never be happy with just being, just relaxing our big brain, and letting go of everything.. I think you're right in saying we'll have to hit the wall and take the plunge before we become humble again and accept that we cannot control everything.. We cannot play god… And is it worth the price we are paying by loosing our past and even our future for it?

Everyone has bought into this, I struggle with dealing with it everyday here.. epically the mass consumerism over Christmas.. Woowie..

I've also seen a lot of good documentaries the past while I'd like to sometime turn you on to, Inconvenient Truth, Black Gold, Future of Food (A Must for You!!), and a few more I'll mention at a later time..

Check out this YouTube video. Forbes emailed it to me.. I found it interesting.. so I'm posting it.

Click HERE.

peace
d

I wanted to add something to this earlier posting. I was recently speaking with my friend Ken regarding some experiences I had when I was younger. I mentioned to him that these experiences were "beyond words" his reply, once spoken to him by a mentor, "Don't blame words."

This is how, on some level, I feel about this You Tube video.. Don't blame words! This new language of Depletist vs. Activist again sets up the dichotomy between good and bad.. when if you really think about it.. I'm sure almost 98% of us can be labeled as either depletists or activists, depending on the given situation. So I would say, rather than using language to create divisions between the good, the bad, and the ugly, we should be using language to create harmony and understanding, build compassion and truly move forwards.

I dunno, maybe it's beyond words afterall.

Just a single pic taken by my friend Ken Williams. A misty afternoon out at Beauvais Lake just West of Pincher Creek.

Man I wish I had my HDV... sadly only 8mm in tow.

peace,
d