tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-62745830096224556822024-03-19T02:51:54.410-07:00Face Up Interactive by Dar FreelandThe Only True Power We Have, Is In How We Choose To See Things.Dar Freelandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18064713381809613901noreply@blogger.comBlogger35125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6274583009622455682.post-15508612211597948112012-10-27T07:47:00.004-07:002012-10-27T07:59:11.462-07:00Doodling the Dead<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: orange; font-size: xx-small;">Face Up * The Art of Recognition • "Doodling the Dead #9" by Dar Freeland"</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: orange; font-size: xx-small;">images & text © 2012 Dar Freeland | all rights reserved</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'trebuchet ms'; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;">In the passing of our loved ones, we eventually celebrate the life they had woven, the joy they had brought, and we dance in the memory of their humor, their love and even their failings. How is it that we wait until one is gone, before we learn to forgive? Is it easier without a body to relate to? Are we so afraid to lose their love in the relating, that we'd rather wait to find healing, until they are not there?</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'trebuchet ms'; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;">Does forgiveness know the difference? </span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;">Do we sit and talk to the departed, as if they are still there? Why didn't we say those things when they occupied their body? Because they had a mouth to talk back? Because they had an opinion that we don't think they have now - just without a voice that speaks out loud? </span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;">Sometimes the ONLY thing that remains after our loved ones have dropped their body, is their opinion.</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;">Likewise - in metaphor, what in our lives now are asking to be shed? Which old patterns, beliefs, ways of being, or points of view are presenting themselves to be released? Are our issues, dramas, perceived pains and inner stories really worth hanging onto? In doodling the dead...the "dead" could perhaps be our "departed loved one"..<i>.the old way of doing things</i>. </span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;">Sometimes shedding asks to happen, even when we don't like it.</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;">Forgiveness, acceptance and allowance and mostly integrity - are all the tools we need to engage with our loved ones while they are alive, in the most peaceful way. What if we cultivated these traits in order to share a more rich, juicy and loving relationship with those around us now, rather than playing it safe and waiting until they are gone?</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'trebuchet ms'; font-size: xx-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px;"><i>-- dar freeland</i></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000; font-family: 'trebuchet ms'; font-size: xx-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px;"><b>faceupstudio.com</b></span></span></div>
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Dar Freelandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18064713381809613901noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6274583009622455682.post-82486250059847672412012-04-12T13:41:00.005-07:002012-04-12T14:10:29.055-07:00Treasure<div><br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnH8jeQQX0h-pSBvEuJNuP3Y0E7Dhlsq1xdRr4wI2QoWtnT63lAiaVNiJaBW3YcZ7FTHOhOyJSLemIiQPdV8uGvk8VOhsoIAkPi-kTczzZaB46OOFQggSE1oiuBG6o2lCYM48f4Pzwmf_j/s1600/fu_Int_GoneBack_crop.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnH8jeQQX0h-pSBvEuJNuP3Y0E7Dhlsq1xdRr4wI2QoWtnT63lAiaVNiJaBW3YcZ7FTHOhOyJSLemIiQPdV8uGvk8VOhsoIAkPi-kTczzZaB46OOFQggSE1oiuBG6o2lCYM48f4Pzwmf_j/s320/fu_Int_GoneBack_crop.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5730621021954742642" /></a><br /><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 17px; font-family:Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:78%;"><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); text-align: center; font-family:Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 153, 0); ">Face Up • The Art of Recognition • "Gone Back Home" by Dar Freeland</span></span></span></div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); text-align: center; font-family:Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 153, 0); ">images & text © 1994 - 2012 dar freeland | all rights reserved</span></span></span></div></span></span></div><div><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:85%;"><br /></span></i></b></div><div><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:130%;color:#cc6600;">A treasure knows its true value, even when buried below the sand of the seabed floor.</span></i></b></div><div> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:130%;">A treasure’s value doesn’t ever diminish. To remember itself, it may still look up from beneath the sand and see beautiful coral groves and everything above – dancing within the current. It can see colored fish darting and bobbing, even though it is buried beneath the sand, and the enormous weight of water and years crush down upon it. It can still look up - and even beyond - the tangle of new growing coral, the enormous beauty of the color swept fish – discovering and exploring their own new world.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:130%;color:#cc6600;">Treasure knows it is still beautiful and valuable – even though obscured from the view of any onlooker.</span></i></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:130%;">The treasure can look even beyond the chaos and see sunlight piercing through the water - peering down at it with a nod. The rays remind of a life that once was, that waits again for the day that the treasure and the sun will one day meet again. A treasure’s value will be known again – if only in a different world, one that lives a different life above the waves, than what the treasure once knew.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:130%;color:#cc6600;">The silent weight of the sea brushes over the treasure. She weeps at its caress, knowing it seeks only to remind her she is still alive, still valuable – simply unseen for now.</span></i></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:130%;">The treasure notices that she sailed too soon, and she fell by God’s design in an angry sea – and sank to the depths. She learned no matter how much her value remained (value being an illusion in the grand design, a story made of nothing) that it alone could not lift her back to the surface to meet again with the sun.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:130%;color:#cc6600;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">Within her cloud of illusion, she forgot how to rise</i></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">.</i></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:130%;">No one came for her, and she was forgotten. So she spent her days peering through the sand, watching the beautiful colors of life swim by, and sending love to the world by winking at the sun through the rays that reach through the ocean. The Sun's love reminded. She will never again forget her value, or how her love sparkled to those who knew her above water – when she could touch the sky.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:130%;color:#cc6600;">As every true treasure knows – its value is in what it gives, in what it has given…a bell that cannot be un-rung.</span></i></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:130%;">A treasure is not any less valuable, because it rests, obscured, at the bottom of the sea. It does not give any less with an ocean sitting upon it. The gifts journey through more layers to reach the sun, but they are given none-the-less.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:130%;">Treasure is only obscured from the sight of those who would assign it a meaning. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:130%;color:#cc6600;"><b>Treasure becomes something to someone else, only when it is observed. Yet to itself, it is always itself, and knows it with absolute certainty.</b></span></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:130%;">There are days she will weep at her yearning to touch others, and give her value, what she truly holds inside of her. Even knowing her truth, she still has moments when not sharing and connecting will frustrate. Eventually she will observe her own weeping and yearning - once tired of it, and shrug.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:130%;color:#cc6600;"><b>She’ll be discovered again one day, and her love will sparkle in the warmth and connection with the sun. She will then recall, that she was never disconnected at all.</b></span></i></p></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 17px; font-family:Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:78%;"><div><div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family:'trebuchet ms', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px; "><i>--dar freeland</i></span></span></span></div></div></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:'trebuchet ms', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px; "><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0); ">faceupstudio.com</span></b></span></span></span></div></span></span></div>Dar Freelandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18064713381809613901noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6274583009622455682.post-59148222248146233472012-02-14T09:49:00.000-08:002012-02-14T11:23:07.868-08:00Ants and Cracks<div><br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpV39F0yQsQYUXCdwKeE97a88T9QksJsz1jJX-E-VSAbxiWBnALAKloblyjfK4zWAplwNlwfh6LqDtG-sACiq9sRRSgTZpmdvppmnXpbcMPH90O3X9P0OGMLuxHdzHW9RRnG2LCx9uktX5/s1600/fuI_AntsAndCracks021412.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 314px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpV39F0yQsQYUXCdwKeE97a88T9QksJsz1jJX-E-VSAbxiWBnALAKloblyjfK4zWAplwNlwfh6LqDtG-sACiq9sRRSgTZpmdvppmnXpbcMPH90O3X9P0OGMLuxHdzHW9RRnG2LCx9uktX5/s320/fuI_AntsAndCracks021412.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5709052106555324018" /></a><div> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:100%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 17px; font-family:Arial, sans-serif;font-size:9px;"></span></span></p><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); text-align: center; font-family:Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 153, 0); font-size:78%;">Face Up • The Art of Recognition • "Ants & Cracks" by Dar Freeland</span></span></span></div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); text-align: center; font-family:Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 153, 0); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:78%;">images & text © 1994 - 2012 dar freeland | all rights reserved</span></span></span></span></div><p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:130%;"><br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:130%;">When we walk through our house, (not yet our home) what is our focus? Is it the ants swarming our food, or the cracks in the walls that threaten in a whisper…”I will fall down around your head one day…” – is this our focus?</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:130%;">Today, on a day designated to celebrate love – can we focus instead on the beautiful blooms in the garden – the voice of spring itself bursting forth in the yard, despite dismal attempts at caretaking with impossible schedules to achieve? Can we look upon each other with loving eyes for the blessings of the things we admire and respect about one another – just as we look with loving anticipation at a pair of old ducks looking to roost in the pond?</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:130%;">Today, can we be as grateful for the roof over our heads, when looking out upon those without one.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Can we focus instead on the gift of freedom to choose our new destiny, when looking out upon those who do not have a choice? Can we remember why we fell in love in the first place, what brought us to share our lives together? Can we remember the bigness of who we are, instead of grasping at our smallness, and weakness – in our vain attempt to justify why we want to give up and have it be “easier”? <span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>A house takes tending, a heart takes tending, a love takes tending.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:130%;">The relating part of relationship isn’t always easy. For some, it is worth it.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:130%;">Can I see, that all of this is my story told to me by a house? Will we walk away from the ants and cracks? Will we make a house, our home?</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 17px; font-family:Arial, sans-serif;font-size:130%;"></span></p><div><div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family:'trebuchet ms', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px; font-size:100%;"><i>--dar freeland</i></span></span></span></div></div></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:'trebuchet ms', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px; "><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0); font-size:100%;">faceupstudio.com</span></b></span></span></span></div><p></p> <!--EndFragment--></div>Dar Freelandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18064713381809613901noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6274583009622455682.post-17696033457484885922012-01-26T14:39:00.000-08:002012-02-14T11:22:51.107-08:00Shedding<div><br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhetxMYu1mpnAP_IxXRioJsWaFtKkp8lboswk4UDyP8MeNky1fmVoKTvkYQMfSXhBKkxTmCAy6DXXbh5JkFmVeShNEfLeLUno_U3Rbp5atZKTokAmyYT9K1oWunuAY1S30-sA-UYmBEvW43/s1600/fuTakenBackCdarfreeland.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 236px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhetxMYu1mpnAP_IxXRioJsWaFtKkp8lboswk4UDyP8MeNky1fmVoKTvkYQMfSXhBKkxTmCAy6DXXbh5JkFmVeShNEfLeLUno_U3Rbp5atZKTokAmyYT9K1oWunuAY1S30-sA-UYmBEvW43/s320/fuTakenBackCdarfreeland.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5702080236251520578" /></a><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:78%;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 17px; font-family:Arial, sans-serif;font-size:78%;"><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); text-align: center; font-family:Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 153, 0); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ">Face Up • The Art of Recognition • "Taken Back" by Dar Freeland</span></span></span></div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); text-align: center; font-family:Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 153, 0); "><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span">images & text © 1994 - 2012 dar freeland | all rights reserved</span></span></span></span></div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); 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0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language:JA;} </style> <![endif]--> <!--StartFragment--> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;">Ever feel that sense of aggravation, stress or despair when you are struggling against a piece of clothing that simply will not come off?<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:arial;font-size:130%;">Has the life of the past taken on this meaning for you?</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:arial;font-size:130%;">For some, it feels like the old skin will never shed, despite the most dedicated efforts. A snake will hibernate, feel vulnerable, rub and writhe against immoveable objects to release his old skin. Is that what we are doing? The immoveable objects will help us in moving the old within us – if we use it properly.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:arial;font-size:130%;">Do we grasp old skin unconsciously not wanting to let go of the familiar? Even when it is painful, are the unknown possibilities standing before us bringing up more fear, followed by paralysis? Do we justify that it may be best to keep the old skin because at least we know what to expect?</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:arial;font-size:130%;">What beautiful new butterfly is inside of the chrysalis waiting to come forth?</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:arial;font-size:130%;">Whether a snake, a butterfly or an old turtleneck sweater – peeling off the old to allow the new to emerge is the task at hand, the path before us. We can choose to thank those objects that will not move, shift or transform – and move ahead anyway.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:arial;font-size:130%;">It is our blessing to leave the old skin behind. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;font-size:100%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 17px; font-family:Arial, sans-serif;font-size:11px;"></span></span></p><div><div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family:'trebuchet ms', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px; font-size:100%;"><i>--dar freeland</i></span></span></span></div></div></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px; "><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0); font-size:100%;">faceupstudio.com</span></b></span></span></span></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p> <!--EndFragment--></div>Dar Freelandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18064713381809613901noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6274583009622455682.post-40336252807393110722011-12-19T12:35:00.000-08:002012-01-26T14:54:18.161-08:00Time - Out<div><br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKCdnNpfuAWMUcYHzaRTe2enBxiErfRv6o-bpnMSTqD5HAI9XZymQdXv2k_8abRTxNHvDORSAYtSqOwI-QwN6iHGOQIa_qXQ44TU6zOKDX13N8tz94S4UWgDOa4B5RnsUVtyYqTYdKCjQA/s1600/%25C2%25A92000darfreeland_TimeOut.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 258px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKCdnNpfuAWMUcYHzaRTe2enBxiErfRv6o-bpnMSTqD5HAI9XZymQdXv2k_8abRTxNHvDORSAYtSqOwI-QwN6iHGOQIa_qXQ44TU6zOKDX13N8tz94S4UWgDOa4B5RnsUVtyYqTYdKCjQA/s320/%25C2%25A92000darfreeland_TimeOut.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5687943015443990850" /></a><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left; "><br /></div></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 17px; "><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); text-align: center; font-family:Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 153, 0); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:78%;">Face Up • The Art of Recognition • "Time - Out" by Dar Freeland</span></span></span></div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); text-align: center; font-family:Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 153, 0); "><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:78%;">images & text © 2006 - 2011 dar freeland | all rights reserved</span></span></span></span></div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); text-align: center; font-family:Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 153, 0); "><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:78%;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div><div style=" text-align: left; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family:Arial, sans-serif;font-size:-webkit-xxx-large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 153, 0); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:130%;"><br /></span></span></span></div></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 17px; font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:130%;"><i>When it's time for me to stay, nothing can make me go. When it's time for me to go, nothing can make me stay.</i></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 17px; font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:14px;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 17px; font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:100%;">- - Buddhist Saying</span></div>Dar Freelandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18064713381809613901noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6274583009622455682.post-60423786996997665112011-09-23T10:54:00.000-07:002011-09-23T11:03:13.164-07:00Fudge Days<div><br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeYpm_2LzfSUCbfCB8T0qslSRalFcPy2nFHbObyBMdczfOQT4ZJYFzjQHNpxViFSJdjlNmFPWVmFHpYA-KEkreT80Gf5Eb2bIlG7CNN_OQNcEdxQlZi0QuiOeukC7Rk9cmPIANsdavOEe-/s1600/%25C2%25A92006darfreeland_Fudge.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 207px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeYpm_2LzfSUCbfCB8T0qslSRalFcPy2nFHbObyBMdczfOQT4ZJYFzjQHNpxViFSJdjlNmFPWVmFHpYA-KEkreT80Gf5Eb2bIlG7CNN_OQNcEdxQlZi0QuiOeukC7Rk9cmPIANsdavOEe-/s320/%25C2%25A92006darfreeland_Fudge.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5655616126966604706" /></a><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:78%;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 17px; font-family:Arial, sans-serif;font-size:78%;"><div style="text-align: center; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 153, 0); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ">Face Up Blahg • "Who's Happier" by Dar Freeland</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 153, 0); "><span class="Apple-style-span">images & text © 2006 - 2011 dar freeland | all rights reserved</span></span></span></div></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:130%;">Some days are just fudge days. All of the tools we learn, the knowledge, the wisdom of the ages....doesn't help us cope with what unfolds before us. We handle what we are served with grace to the best of our ability, then review, consider and make adjustments so we evolve to another level of our creation the next time.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:130%;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:130%;">Surrender. Some days are just fudge days.</span></div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 17px; font-family:Arial, sans-serif;font-size:100%;" ><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(68, 68, 68); line-height: 19px; "><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">--dar freeland</span></i></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px; font-family:Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(153, 51, 0); ">faceupstudio.com</span></b></span></div></span></div>Dar Freelandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18064713381809613901noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6274583009622455682.post-69825813195589211302011-08-10T11:24:00.001-07:002011-08-10T11:58:14.068-07:00Battering Ram<div>
<br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDyi_NAQjadkKMBUh887VZpU9T5lXvRRptxlnxZ0XYeXFGQiG8NICX4MFn7-5ivo8JOrrU8KZsjWBhci7V5cQJfl2TsY1AeW0XnfRKPoOVXv4cc6AD5FiOiazRlo_E6SYe_eFFZyJszNRL/s1600/1994_2011darfreeland_AfterSoLong.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 241px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDyi_NAQjadkKMBUh887VZpU9T5lXvRRptxlnxZ0XYeXFGQiG8NICX4MFn7-5ivo8JOrrU8KZsjWBhci7V5cQJfl2TsY1AeW0XnfRKPoOVXv4cc6AD5FiOiazRlo_E6SYe_eFFZyJszNRL/s320/1994_2011darfreeland_AfterSoLong.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5639295067004861026" /></a><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:78%;color:#ff9900;">
<br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:78%;color:#ff9900;">"After Soooo Long" acrylic on canvas | by Dar Freeland</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:78%;color:#ff9900;">images and text © 2000 - 2011 dar freeland | all rights reserved</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:medium;">
<br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:100%;" >What could be possible if we approached our inter-relating from a totally accountable perspective - setting aside our justifications (victim stories), pride & finger pointing? It is counter-intuitive to the ego, but consider, what if instead of accusing one "out there" for our unhappiness and constructing a story we lay into cement to justify the blame imposed on another - what if we could see it differently?</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:100%;"> <p class="MsoNormal">Assuming the observer chose to turn his blame of another person off for a second, and look back at Self...is it possible that the observer himself has created the fertile soil for the other person to feel unsafe? It doesn't feel like a place to be emotionally present and loving. Don't we see this in all relating that is derailed with conflict?</p> <p class="MsoNormal">May the observer have been the one, blinded by his own pain (and human fallibility) that struck out destructively at another with such ferocity - that a person might never choose to approach the observer again with an open heart? So everyone acts numb. What right then would the observer have, to complain that another is not as warm or loving - when it is they who created the threatening environment?</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Could the other person who has been holding back, stop and honor the admission with respect?</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Is it possible the observer caused, with rage or destructive behavior the unstable ground the two now walk upon? Could the observer be the one who owes amends, and who needs to earn that person's trust again?</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Who is the observer, and who is the other person?</p> <p class="MsoNormal">And to make it juicier, how much power would the Self realize, if it chose to take responsibility for having helped to create an unsafe environment in the first place? Of course it takes two to create the dance of chaos while relating - but how empowered could we all really be once realizing that "if I helped to create it, I could take steps to amend it?" Victim story - vaporized.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">If true, how powerful may it be for the observer to ask forgiveness, say, “I’m sorry, work to earn back trust? Instead of weaving justifications created from the fabrication of a victim story... then could the observer admit to a loved one, that, "I am human, I messed up and I want to earn your trust back?"</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Nothing in this text suggests that a person tolerate abuse of any kind, verbal or otherwise, and that the utmost in self-care and personal responsibility is to cradle ourselves with love, and protect ourselves from those who would wish or cause us harm.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Stepping forward could the humility, coupled with the reclaiming of a sense of power in a situation - then be a foundation for building a new, more strengthened and empowered way of relating? Could another person then feel safe in being 100% open?</p> <p class="MsoNormal">If one would approach an impasse with self-love, expressed with integrity and personal responsibility towards a person who may just have built a wall around their heart to protect themselves, then how could our love and mutual respect grow from that perspective?</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Perhaps, even the other person's ego will step back, in the light of re-discovering the seductive yet accurate power of accountability, and would take the risk to admit how they too contributed to any breakdown or suppressed feelings of love.</p> <span style=" ">What re-invention is possible from this expressed and empowered blank slate?</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span style=" ;font-family:'Trebuchet MS';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:100%;">
<br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:85%;"><i>-- dar freeland</i></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:85%;color:#993300;"><b>faceupstudio.com</b></span></div>Dar Freelandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18064713381809613901noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6274583009622455682.post-43114599375159973372011-07-04T15:28:00.000-07:002011-07-04T15:51:30.225-07:00The Art of Ever-evolving Communication Skills<div><br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitBcFJGGeMI7K4ggtFhjbIGpQ_ycK5iwfpN76xazOGHlk1esngEbBBb4LKR416Ytq7gjwQxa63T5hcKuqvHfM9xF-MATa1pneBM2HAlnd6szGvgxnWBakwZLAEz6khzUwK2P3wU86VduBG/s1600/fu_%25C2%25A92000darfreeland_ToolBox.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitBcFJGGeMI7K4ggtFhjbIGpQ_ycK5iwfpN76xazOGHlk1esngEbBBb4LKR416Ytq7gjwQxa63T5hcKuqvHfM9xF-MATa1pneBM2HAlnd6szGvgxnWBakwZLAEz6khzUwK2P3wU86VduBG/s320/fu_%25C2%25A92000darfreeland_ToolBox.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5625632734540961842" /></a><div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'trebuchet ms'; color: rgb(255, 153, 0); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">"Toolbox" by Dar Freeland</span></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:medium;"><div style="text-align: center; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 153, 0); "><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">images & text © 2000 - 2011 dar freeland | all rights reserved</span></span></span></span></div></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">What do we do when a person close to us just doesn’t “get it”? This includes the self to others, not just a “victim” perspective of what “others are doing to me….” When conflict arises, do we immediately get angry, personalize, feel victimized by or fall into the cesspool of blame in order to gain back control or feel bulletproof from a perceived attack?</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">One question to ask the self: “Is this about me at all?”<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Might we consider that another’s pain one day, has nothing at all to do with us? Could it be, that it is just a challenging moment, between a person and the world however he sees it? If coming from love, can we see that the only necessary response may be “I understand, and just trust, it will get better…”</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Could we also consider that perhaps what one needs from a loved one, is a skill that he/she has not yet been taught? Perhaps, he/she hasn’t had the need to learn it before now. Maybe if they/or I, had the tool, had learned how to use it we’d be more than willing to use that tool with a loving intent to bring comfort to those painful moments, instead of grasping and waving around the only tools available to us in the toolbox….</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">To illustrate, how does one to expect to receive the compassion he needs from those close, when compassion is not one of the tools in their toolbox? The ability to have compassion simply isn’t there. How does one expect to have stresses met with calming and neutral reassurance, when emotions and drama were the lifeblood hook of prior relationships, and one has learned to respond with “shields up, load blame, fire….” If one has never been taught, or had the need to learn – how could one reach for that tool of reassurance and use it, when it isn’t even in the box?</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">And really, wouldn’t we use it if we had it and knew how? <o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Not possessing the tool or knowing how to use it does not excuse one from being civil, especially in those difficult moments. Basic human respect is built into us, and eroded away by years of self-protection in an uncivilized family, community, country, planet….still, it is our birthright to know how to respect another, and willful misconduct if we don’t. We are seeded to have choice for it to be different. </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Our potential to be kind first, will dictate how a person will react - even under the worst moments. That respect and yearning to give and receive true love is hard-wired into us, even though we may be out of practice due to environment, challenging childhoods, hateful adults, mindless behavior….<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">It is said that the true strength of a relationship is tested when things are challenging, not when things are fun or moving forward with ease. So we all have the personal responsibility to grow our toolbox…to fill it to overflowing with tools that empower, not break down – that say I’m sorry, not “you said…” We can stock our toolbox with tools that are driven by kindness first and join together to find solutions as team, not use the blunt force trauma of blame – and to replace hate, with love, love, love.</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Our truest wealth lives here, in this understanding. Time to clean out our toolbox.</span></span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 17px; font-family:Arial, sans-serif;font-size:11px;"></span></span></span></p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(68, 68, 68); line-height: 19px; "><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">--dar freeland</span></span></span></i></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px; font-family:Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(153, 51, 0); "><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">faceupstudio.com</span></span></span></b></span></div></span></span><p></p> <!--EndFragment--> </div>Dar Freelandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18064713381809613901noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6274583009622455682.post-78451135865746332002011-05-24T12:35:00.000-07:002011-05-24T12:57:56.925-07:00The Illusion of Illusions<div><br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWSyvf24TlCwGK6-OeOwtPM1rsMm3UVc8GYHH0FV41EkovpJoQRgJIowhj1zGY00deMHTNLtqnZBgIQ8Pb0o9mx5372kFqVuRT3JgBuTUzN1N8FoaPcQLMdXMQSy1nh3FLqVahZQ1p1ZiW/s1600/fu_%25C2%25A92004darfreeland_Boomerang.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 315px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWSyvf24TlCwGK6-OeOwtPM1rsMm3UVc8GYHH0FV41EkovpJoQRgJIowhj1zGY00deMHTNLtqnZBgIQ8Pb0o9mx5372kFqVuRT3JgBuTUzN1N8FoaPcQLMdXMQSy1nh3FLqVahZQ1p1ZiW/s320/fu_%25C2%25A92004darfreeland_Boomerang.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5610372298810711490" /></a><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF9900;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">"Boomerang" by Dar Freeland</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF9900;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">images & text © 2004 - 2011 dar freeland | all rights reserved</span></span></span></div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" color: rgb(68, 68, 68); line-height: 19px; font-family:Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">A devastating moment is here to do to itself what I think it is doing to me. It longs to be reborn to the positive truth it intended to be. </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" color: rgb(68, 68, 68); line-height: 19px; font-family:Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Love asks to be seen. We cloud its perfection with self-authored stories and illusions to support being right, winning or crippling a perceived attack we have decided is coming our way.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" color: rgb(68, 68, 68); line-height: 19px; font-family:Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" color: rgb(68, 68, 68); line-height: 19px; font-family:Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">I am the author of my own tragedies, comedies, dramas and decisions about "how it is" - and once I get that truth, no healing is out of my reach. I am what I say, what I think, what I declare, what I believe - these are all the tools to craft what is.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" color: rgb(68, 68, 68); line-height: 19px; font-family:Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" color: rgb(68, 68, 68); line-height: 19px; font-family:Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">What meaning do I assign to a thing, what role do I play in my own movie and how may I rewrite it now to better serve what I say I really want? </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" color: rgb(68, 68, 68); line-height: 19px; font-family:Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" color: rgb(68, 68, 68); line-height: 19px; font-family:Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">This is how it can be, to be truly free.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" color: rgb(68, 68, 68); line-height: 19px; font-family:Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif;font-size:15px;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" color: rgb(68, 68, 68); line-height: 19px; "><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">--dar freeland</span></span></i></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 19px; font-family:Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#993300;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">faceupstudio.com</span></span></b></span></div>Dar Freelandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18064713381809613901noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6274583009622455682.post-89329929461814673552011-05-13T14:03:00.000-07:002011-05-13T14:37:45.268-07:00Road Rage of Life<div><br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj51eCklpAZBYlmPH0l5TIHcP-JgV5jB8rRpSgsMWSvSTPBmLC_PA-jLvr0MM-397TXhZPcgC0EWjA5nfP3j5v_NDXlFTC19gByn7vDssGwNrh2SrjOZPAuvLijyo0buAm89eAthBhq2BZB/s1600/GetToKnoYou72.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 291px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj51eCklpAZBYlmPH0l5TIHcP-JgV5jB8rRpSgsMWSvSTPBmLC_PA-jLvr0MM-397TXhZPcgC0EWjA5nfP3j5v_NDXlFTC19gByn7vDssGwNrh2SrjOZPAuvLijyo0buAm89eAthBhq2BZB/s320/GetToKnoYou72.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5606311602560801074" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 153, 51); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">"Getting To Know You" by Dar Freeland</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CC9933;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">images & text © 2007-2011 dar freeland | all rights reserved</span></span></span></div></span><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';color:#333333;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; line-height: 18px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" border-collapse: collapse; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 18px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; font-family:'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Who is at the wheel fighting for control right now – is it my Highest Self or my Ego self? </span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" border-collapse: collapse; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 18px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; font-family:'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" border-collapse: collapse; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 18px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; font-family:'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">It is valuable to check in on this regularly. Resentment leaves clues, big obvious ones. It is usually bolstered by a firm story, and perpetuated by a string of negative emotions designed by the Ego to keep itself inflamed and justified to be in power. </span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" border-collapse: collapse; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 18px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; font-family:'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" border-collapse: collapse; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 18px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; font-family:'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">We can tell we're not in our Highest place, if we are treading in a pool of resentment, fear, anger or attack... </span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" border-collapse: collapse; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 18px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; font-family:'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" border-collapse: collapse; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 18px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; font-family:'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">We are all born with an Ego, and it’s our responsibility to feed and care for it with love. </span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" border-collapse: collapse; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 18px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; font-family:'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" border-collapse: collapse; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 18px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; font-family:'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">The Ego thinks its only function is to protect us, and it will take us to the mat trying to do so. </span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" border-collapse: collapse; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 18px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; font-family:'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" border-collapse: collapse; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 18px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; font-family:'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Our Higher Self however – knows better, creates stronger and naturally loves with more compassion and fervor than any illusion that Ego may portray. </span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" border-collapse: collapse; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 18px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; font-family:'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" border-collapse: collapse; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 18px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; font-family:'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">So, how to dethrone the Ego? It isn't with more anger...that is the Ego mirroring itself. We take back the wheel with love and compassionate action. We intercept ourselves, hold our tongues and look more closely to bust our own story. Then we move into trust and faith that our answers will come. </span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" border-collapse: collapse; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 18px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; font-family:'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" border-collapse: collapse; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 18px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; font-family:'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">The first step is to recognize or admit what is happening, who is driving? Then accept it is happening, because stuff happens. What we choose to do with it is our way to peaceful co-existence with the Ego. How we perceive and spin a thing in our head, tells us – through the blessing of our feelings – who is driving. </span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" border-collapse: collapse; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 18px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; font-family:'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" border-collapse: collapse; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 18px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; font-family:'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">It us up to us to empower and allow our Higher Self to take back the wheel. </span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" border-collapse: collapse; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 18px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; font-family:'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" border-collapse: collapse; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 18px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; font-family:'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Because life is a wheel. </span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" border-collapse: collapse; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 18px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; font-family:'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" border-collapse: collapse; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 18px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; font-family:'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">It will always come back to our starting point. </span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" border-collapse: collapse; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 18px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; font-family:'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></i></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" border-collapse: collapse; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 18px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; font-family:'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">--dar freeland</span></span></i></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; line-height: 18px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; font-family:'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"></span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><i></i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#990000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">faceupstudio.com</span></span></span></span></div>Dar Freelandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18064713381809613901noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6274583009622455682.post-25442415763427072132010-11-23T11:57:00.000-08:002010-11-23T14:50:01.761-08:00In The Spirit Of Gratitude<div><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVOOm3rAU5eSKTovg1wPv_818qtsKlYKgEkl8iDkBZiurtkaAvPGq-RmUSx3DPGqMugsVStKpMMs9mnjgTjXyXLOUxGA6zB-C6EjaeA7zwVquZ4evbueTEItVhyXNqV8yWW5KxEW8Pkdkx/s1600/fu_FamilyAlbum.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 230px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVOOm3rAU5eSKTovg1wPv_818qtsKlYKgEkl8iDkBZiurtkaAvPGq-RmUSx3DPGqMugsVStKpMMs9mnjgTjXyXLOUxGA6zB-C6EjaeA7zwVquZ4evbueTEItVhyXNqV8yWW5KxEW8Pkdkx/s320/fu_FamilyAlbum.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5542836885824026850" /></a><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 17px; font-family:Arial, sans-serif;font-size:11px;"><div style="text-align: center; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); line-height: normal; font-family:Georgia, serif;font-size:16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 17px; font-family:Arial, sans-serif;font-size:11px;"><div style="text-align: center; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 153, 51); "><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">"Family Album" by Dar Freeland</span></span></span></div></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" color: rgb(204, 153, 51); line-height: 17px; font-family:Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">images & text © 1997-2011 dar freeland | all rights reserved</span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); line-height: normal; font-family:Georgia, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); line-height: normal; font-family:Georgia, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" color: rgb(204, 153, 51); line-height: 17px; font-family:Arial, sans-serif;"></span>How does one sift out all of the extraneous dramas of the holidays and just get down to what is important - that love is bigger than all the smallness that we could muster up for a psychologically dramatic impact? Are we so habitually bored as a species that we can’t make it through one day without letting our whole life history mess up 24 hours together? Why do we so often find ourselves operating with our loved ones </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">before</span></span></i><span style="font-style:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> the meal, eating and/or spitting out all of our emotional leftovers?</span></span></span></span></div></span></div><div> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">How do we laser in our focus on what really matters, which is to honor and respect another person - even relatives? Oooooooo. Yes, we are different and that is what makes life juicy, exciting and an ever-evolving challenge. Our differences are our gifts and lessons - our Life School, so why do we choose to misbehave or ditch school entirely? We all know THAT isn’t going to work. Being truant from our relationships only puts distance between our bodies and our stuff - it doesn’t HEAL anything. The old saying still goes, wherever you go, there you are. Our history, feelings, and life stories are locked in our inner library so no matter what the location - they will emerge, with others posing as the mirrors of our family or **gasp** our family itself.</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">We may not love all the behavior around us - but aren’t we grown up enough now to allow “behavioral” moments to be just moments? Even a lifetime collection of words and deeds does not make a person fixed. The opportunity to become new each moment exists as a choice within us all, so no one can be assigned as “this is who you are….” That determination is for a person and their maker to decide, a private matter that is none of our business. Heal thyself. Is it possible that we focus so much on guarding our hearts, and consequently forget to open them?</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Is anyone up for charging ahead and being fearless about love?</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">So what kind of holiday would WE create, if we truly got it and believed that we were the one creating it? At the least, how will we participate and contribute to a meaningful, thankful, joyful, juicy, playful and empowering time together?</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Even in the face of no evidence, LOVE ANYWAY.</span></span></p></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">--dar freeland</span></i></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#990000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">faceupstudio.com</span></span></b></span></div>Dar Freelandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18064713381809613901noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6274583009622455682.post-34544383889875754622010-09-21T05:45:00.000-07:002010-11-23T15:27:51.795-08:00The Inner Mandala<div><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC0f77b3HBA5VLgKreHMR_7TGg0qN9n_ZQuifnj0GJp3ISk6MdHNebKup5E0ehWN8QVpY_PR4I0ipzCaleMGlfGZl7ltucEmdsTglfb13uT_qJJJ4Wg8zcOpB4wAw7g4FWywlUvkpd61Dk/s1600/%C2%A9darfreeland_Mandala1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC0f77b3HBA5VLgKreHMR_7TGg0qN9n_ZQuifnj0GJp3ISk6MdHNebKup5E0ehWN8QVpY_PR4I0ipzCaleMGlfGZl7ltucEmdsTglfb13uT_qJJJ4Wg8zcOpB4wAw7g4FWywlUvkpd61Dk/s320/%C2%A9darfreeland_Mandala1.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5519348393673564306" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 17px; font-family:Arial, sans-serif;font-size:11px;"><div style="text-align: center; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); line-height: normal; font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 17px; font-family:Arial, sans-serif;font-size:11px;"><div style="text-align: center; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 153, 51); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">"Mons Philosophorum" by Dar Freeland</span></span></div></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" color: rgb(204, 153, 51); line-height: 17px; font-family:Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">images & text © 1997-2011 dar freeland | all rights reserved</span></span></span></div></span></div></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:'trebuchet ms';"></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">A measure of one’s strength, is to know one can stand in the face of no evidence - and remain the observer despite a crazy environment. He can maintain calm in a sea of chaos - stay intact, when everything nearby is imploding. </span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">One can smile at the wonder of it all</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">When one refuses to collapse into those around him, he demonstrates an inner mandala, a self-righting machine. He notices and experiences a network of self unity, certainty and commitment. This inner-empowerment cradles a knowing heart through the deepest challenges and the darkest of nights the soul will face. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">And one will smile at the wonder of it.</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">A healthy person will deconstruct at his own pace - the things about himself that no longer serve him. Remaining at peace, and with grace - through a disciplined mind while letting go, is the greatest spiritual muscle one will ever test. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">And the Universe will smile at the wonder of it.</span></i> </span><div><span><span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">--dar freeland</span></i></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#990000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">faceupstudio.com</span></span></b></span><div><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"></span></i></span></p> <!--EndFragment--> </div></div></div></div>Dar Freelandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18064713381809613901noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6274583009622455682.post-55817634466952500692010-09-16T12:10:00.000-07:002010-11-23T15:31:15.701-08:00The Bottom Line<div><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0y9BJ708b0l3HtcOnb8y5BcAWyCGbIr1d9vWORQVMGz43cintQ0A2fNs9_TdHSxgWR9EG8DivPMZTIZmr2-ADh46WLFj0LVNXb07RA6uMZXrmOG-9rnnwTq9p7bEqGx57ficPQ5ytHr0x/s1600/06Blah0109c.gif" style="text-decoration: none;"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 237px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0y9BJ708b0l3HtcOnb8y5BcAWyCGbIr1d9vWORQVMGz43cintQ0A2fNs9_TdHSxgWR9EG8DivPMZTIZmr2-ADh46WLFj0LVNXb07RA6uMZXrmOG-9rnnwTq9p7bEqGx57ficPQ5ytHr0x/s320/06Blah0109c.gif" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5517592726716257442" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family:'trebuchet ms', serif;"></span></a><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Georgia, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms', serif;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0y9BJ708b0l3HtcOnb8y5BcAWyCGbIr1d9vWORQVMGz43cintQ0A2fNs9_TdHSxgWR9EG8DivPMZTIZmr2-ADh46WLFj0LVNXb07RA6uMZXrmOG-9rnnwTq9p7bEqGx57ficPQ5ytHr0x/s1600/06Blah0109c.gif" style="text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CC9933;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">image</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CC9933;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"> & text </span></span></span></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0y9BJ708b0l3HtcOnb8y5BcAWyCGbIr1d9vWORQVMGz43cintQ0A2fNs9_TdHSxgWR9EG8DivPMZTIZmr2-ADh46WLFj0LVNXb07RA6uMZXrmOG-9rnnwTq9p7bEqGx57ficPQ5ytHr0x/s1600/06Blah0109c.gif" style="text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CC9933;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">© 2000 Dar Freeland | all rights reserved</span></span></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CC9933;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">www.faceupstudio.com/blahg</span></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><div><br /></div>When distilled down to it's most finite, all anyone wants, is to know they are loved.</span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Free. Easy.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Simple.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">--dar freeland</span></i></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#990000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">faceupstudio.com</span></span></b></span></div>Dar Freelandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18064713381809613901noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6274583009622455682.post-32287630244200052662010-08-29T15:27:00.000-07:002010-11-24T00:09:51.519-08:00Unmasked<div><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJykWRYnOqHzHU8fB7JUwNL7nKYTWWRHG4tiOGUypfa17BZYxldC613BPK9pj3pe5sUsdOOI4McfSegbBCAaKk1S0Fj03EYWMidnW2IbXneBJyuCIq6b2xfu_cXujiA1U_9_M38K8M1fA_/s1600/fu_%C2%A92000darfreeland_MirrorMirror.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJykWRYnOqHzHU8fB7JUwNL7nKYTWWRHG4tiOGUypfa17BZYxldC613BPK9pj3pe5sUsdOOI4McfSegbBCAaKk1S0Fj03EYWMidnW2IbXneBJyuCIq6b2xfu_cXujiA1U_9_M38K8M1fA_/s320/fu_%C2%A92000darfreeland_MirrorMirror.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5510964224604260242" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 17px; font-family:Arial, sans-serif;font-size:11px;"><div style="text-align: center; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 153, 51); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">"Mirror Mirror" by Dar Freeland</span></span></div></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" color: rgb(204, 153, 51); line-height: 17px; font-family:Arial, sans-serif;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">images & text © 1997-2011 Dar Freeland | all rights reserved</span></div></span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"></span></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">How much of our perceptions of the world, our inner thinking, beliefs and self-proclaimed truisms are evident - available for us to see - outside of ourselves? How many of us pay attention to the synchronicities and metaphors presented to us in the gallery of life? </span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">If the Universe had a canvas, (which it does) like an artist (which it is) - would it draw each of us a personal painting of what it sees? (it does every minute). </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#666666;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Would we buy it?</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">What if we removed ourselves from our cyclical thinking, our patterned behavior, and our “that’s just the way it is” way of seeing things? What possibilities may be served up for us to learn? Can we give up our need to be in charge for long enough to learn anything? Are we all so wounded from the control of our historical baggage - that we will spend the remainder of our lives in the illusion that we can “avoid being controlled” - and therefore remain in a state of habitual calculation? </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#666666;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Do we truly believe that calculating anything, gives us any sort of real power? </span></span></i></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">We are “controlled” by nothing other than our own willingness to comply - our own giving up of our personal freedoms, diminishing our own muscle we call choice. Are we so convinced that because the world tries to tell us what to do (from its position of perceived superiority) and how it is (from it’s limited self-serving perspective) - that something “out there” is so much clearer about our own truth and inner strength than are we are? How much absolute and genuine control over our own destiny could we realize we have, simply by engaging fully with our own power - through the actions of becoming habitually conscious, discerning, open to exploration and utilizing the infinite resources available to us in a field of unlimited possibilities? </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#666666;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Who is really driving our destiny?</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">True power comes from surrender…and no, that doesn’t mean “giving up” - it means “letting go”. It means learning how to flow in the waters of life, sometimes the within rapids and if we are blessed and choose to create it as such - bobbing along the adventure in the joyous “brand new every moment” discovery of what is next…the inner tube on the lazy river. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Sometimes we get to lay in the stillness of no movement at all, and look up at the sky, a perfect opportunity for gratitude. Sometimes it rains, and we protect ourselves. Sometimes the sun drizzles its golden rays upon us and tickles our spine until we laugh out loud. This life becomes an adventure within which to invent, explore, create, savor and share. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#666666;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">If we didn’t control life, could we still love it?</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Would we really choose to live our entire lives in the literal, mundane, “this is how life demonstrates itself therefore, that’s how I will roll” sort of thinking? How boring would life become if we were convinced that our “my way or the highway” decision about how it will turn out was the exact way it is and will be? If we were aware of it, how much precious life energy would we devote to an endless existence of reruns, the same commercial over and over, one step after the next predictable step. What if we are in charge of this too? Is this what we would choose, if we knew we had a choice? </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#666666;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">The soul cringes.</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">On the other hand, a life lived fearless, without judgment or shoulds - discovered, explored and allowed to unfold…the gift that it beholds could be greater than anything we may have calculated for ourselves. What makes us believe we are so much smarter than the gifts the Universe would compose for us? What if we lived our own personal myth - exactly as it unfolds - if we embraced the metaphors and saw our own truths beneath? How powerful a tool would a metaphor be if we unmasked it? </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#666666;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">What would we see…if we were fearless enough to look?</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">So do we choose the opportunity to decipher the metaphors presented to us at each moment, to look into the mirror at our own personal work on this canvas called life? It is our opportunity to choose between living with our historical self (hauling around our baggage) or live each moment anew.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Can we take our (metaphoric) hints and giggle in the mirror while we create our own personal works of art called “self” - our lives from the pallet of infinite possibility? Do we want to live in baggage claim at the airport, or do we choose to live in the gallery of life?</span></i></span></div><div><span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">--dar freeland</span></i></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#990000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">faceupstudio.com</span></span></b></span><div><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms', serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#990000;"></span></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p> <!--EndFragment--> </div></div>Dar Freelandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18064713381809613901noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6274583009622455682.post-323080153203452262010-08-17T17:26:00.000-07:002010-11-23T15:46:38.632-08:00Overload<div><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioINUgJdM5SzMGK9QqAa6JUxCuXyLJ24harDtytcdQ5z3l0bARZcbREDUAGdJ7pFWZukIGI6KnKlKeechKht83kg9573D8GII3RoyuIkMC21FyJ4EoQab06p7CS6psMYPCHYcPLHDptjRB/s1600/%C2%A9DarFreeland_Need2Play.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 288px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioINUgJdM5SzMGK9QqAa6JUxCuXyLJ24harDtytcdQ5z3l0bARZcbREDUAGdJ7pFWZukIGI6KnKlKeechKht83kg9573D8GII3RoyuIkMC21FyJ4EoQab06p7CS6psMYPCHYcPLHDptjRB/s320/%C2%A9DarFreeland_Need2Play.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5506540412505864930" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 17px; font-family:Arial, sans-serif;font-size:11px;"><div style="text-align: center; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CC9933;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;">"Blahg_Somebody Needs to Play" by Dar Freeland</span></span></div><div style="text-align: center; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CC9933;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;">images & text © 2000 Dar Freeland | all rights reserved</span></span></div></span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">I need a recess. I'm pretty sure that is all I need to write on the subject.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">NEXT.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">--dar freeland</span></i></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#990000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">faceupstudio.com</span></span></b></span></div>Dar Freelandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18064713381809613901noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6274583009622455682.post-6163377965288120772010-08-13T10:58:00.000-07:002010-11-24T00:11:47.201-08:00Stains<div><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn6IgfKDvk7yiZMeaks59kRcqRuUTMF9MbL4gpnEY6Ap_za6-BSf4obGbEHdf2ry6v74Lqp10lAfLctdXsGs_J_Ousf-ZmGxkubUVVWIwd5kguk97vKsLjuTENigUf7rJPPvmXaGE2nIZa/s1600/fu_%C2%A91994darfreelandBrewHaHa.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 258px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn6IgfKDvk7yiZMeaks59kRcqRuUTMF9MbL4gpnEY6Ap_za6-BSf4obGbEHdf2ry6v74Lqp10lAfLctdXsGs_J_Ousf-ZmGxkubUVVWIwd5kguk97vKsLjuTENigUf7rJPPvmXaGE2nIZa/s320/fu_%C2%A91994darfreelandBrewHaHa.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5504966400590691154" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 17px; font-family:Arial, sans-serif;font-size:11px;"><div style="text-align: center; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); line-height: normal; font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 17px; font-family:Arial, sans-serif;font-size:11px;"><div style="text-align: center; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 153, 51); "><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">"Brew Ha Ha" by Dar Freeland</span></span></span></div></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" color: rgb(204, 153, 51); line-height: 17px; font-family:Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">images & text © 1997-2011 dar freeland | all rights reserved</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-size:x-small;"><br /></span></div></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><div>Relating can be such a challenge this moment in time. Discussions seem fiery and combative, our moods are curt and our stability in the storms around us seem rickety at best. It all feels like a good balancing act is required to keep things mindful and at peace.</div><div><br /></div>How much do we absorb the negativity around us? The first response I hear most often - is that "I don't listen to that stuff or let it affect me...". I believe this to be a thought, versus an actual experience that is conscious. No one really wants to see the level of unhappy that is surrounding humanity right now - yet to deny it exists, makes us part of the problem instead of the source of the solution. "Down" thinking is pervasive at every turn right now - and we need to start looking up, fast. It doesn't mean that to acknowledge our reactions - we are somehow giving up our power or admitting defeat; we are not even taking responsibility - only saying, "ya know, I did feel a little lower after that exchange...maybe I should change things up a bit". If we admit that a thing is negative, even if it is someone or something we love, we aren't betraying it - we are finding a solution to the pain of it, and this is the first necessary step. We absorb, and we don't even know it. For your "evidence", watch a child - they absorb EVERYTHING. The only change that happens with age, is we become capable of spinning our perceptions and words into denial and reasons. We are still absorbing.</span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">For example...the white lace doily from my departed Grandmother's kitchen - it didn't ASK or INTEND to absorb the spilled coffee that made its way into the fabric, and is there now FOR LIFE. It didn't ask or consciously choose, but because of its position and proximity to the spilled coffee, it did what it does without thought or intention, it absorbed the spilled coffee. It is in fact the doily's nature to do so, since it absorbs as a general rule. </span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">We are no different. We absorb what is in our proximity, whether or not we think we do. Our ego will tell us, "hey, got a handle on that" - but it simply does not. Our ego's job is to protect us - and it will tell us everything is under control so we feel secure, but it cannot stop a doily from doily-ing. We are absorption machines, and other people's opinions, silent or spoken judgments and criticisms, praises, put-downs, and general doomsday rhetoric - all makes it into the weave of our psyche and has an impact and eventual consequence. If we are mindful, and watch the results (carrying on a yelling tone with others ie.) - link them properly with their sources, then we have the understanding and power to consciously choose what we want or don't want to absorb.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">The world is a toxic place right now, and we need to make clear that our focus, is on removing our precious selves from that toxicity - before we are in fact stained for good. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">We can still love coffee, without spilling it down our shirt.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">--dar freeland</span></i></span></div></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#990000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">faceupstudio.com</span></span></b></span></div>Dar Freelandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18064713381809613901noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6274583009622455682.post-34113099778219567312010-07-30T09:59:00.000-07:002010-11-23T15:49:51.130-08:00Three Kisses<div><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEGZ3OKrYDz1RLEAPh0s-GUh8C5Jeo8oiCy61O9KviMr9LrLiC86YI8762XpAhCicDcj2AoxFIGTqD5qvL1SBZWH_wWgvWwLKzGZs9j3AUHA5jMVXaX3keyb16SJBizl6udFPOkC2CU5Id/s1600/3Kisses_%C2%A9DarFreeland.jpg" style="text-decoration: none;"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 307px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEGZ3OKrYDz1RLEAPh0s-GUh8C5Jeo8oiCy61O9KviMr9LrLiC86YI8762XpAhCicDcj2AoxFIGTqD5qvL1SBZWH_wWgvWwLKzGZs9j3AUHA5jMVXaX3keyb16SJBizl6udFPOkC2CU5Id/s320/3Kisses_%C2%A9DarFreeland.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5499752870733737746" /></a><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;"></span></span></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 17px; font-family:Arial, sans-serif;font-size:11px;"><div style="text-align: center; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); line-height: normal; font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 17px; font-family:Arial, sans-serif;font-size:11px;"><div style="text-align: center; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 153, 51); "><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">"Three Kisses" by Dar Freeland</span></span></span></div></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" color: rgb(204, 153, 51); line-height: 17px; font-family:Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">images & text © 1997-2011 Dar Freeland | all rights reserved</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-size:x-small;"><br /></span></div></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">True Friends love you when they see you hurting. They kiss you when you have a tear in your eye. They keep you warm with a blanket. They say "I love you" over and over until you GET it. They stand as the light while your vision is blocked by your own shadow. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">If God gave us everything, then everything we need is here. It is our opportunity and choice to reach out and use what was given. We lack nothing. It is our purpose, to hand to others what we now know. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">True Friends. Simple love. No strings.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Thank you Friends.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms', serif;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms', serif;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">--dar freeland</span></i></span></div></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms', serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#990000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">faceupstudio.com</span></span></b></span></div>Dar Freelandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18064713381809613901noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6274583009622455682.post-17438505154328510402010-07-29T11:40:00.000-07:002010-11-23T15:51:24.566-08:00Empty Nest<div><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXUsEJ4u2jiQpoWVNG0qtzpQoSSSS-HQM_5apx5BsWW9itpq31BT_1YKjUYcJaSEWtJuSwyWa0IAlSt3JiaMhNo65ihZsLR3OSvs3qZxJRYjrKLbci2_GUBCmgr4sBo5ihQ13zzWafiZ7j/s1600/Meta_%C2%A92000DarFreeland.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXUsEJ4u2jiQpoWVNG0qtzpQoSSSS-HQM_5apx5BsWW9itpq31BT_1YKjUYcJaSEWtJuSwyWa0IAlSt3JiaMhNo65ihZsLR3OSvs3qZxJRYjrKLbci2_GUBCmgr4sBo5ihQ13zzWafiZ7j/s320/Meta_%C2%A92000DarFreeland.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5499404816645118946" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 17px; font-family:Arial, sans-serif;font-size:11px;"><div style="text-align: center; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 153, 51); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">"Meta" by Dar Freeland</span></span></div></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" color: rgb(204, 153, 51); line-height: 17px; font-family:Arial, sans-serif;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">images & text © 1997-2011 Dar Freeland | all rights reserved</span></div></span></span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms', serif;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">RE-cognition.</span></span></div><div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Identify my beliefs about a thing, identify its function and value in my life. What is driving my feelings and behavior? Check. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Ac-KNOW-ledge.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Admit that some negativity or story is there, and is running me. Do I feel out of control? I must be close to the truth. Check.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">ACCEPTance</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Admit that it has been here, it served its purpose. Allow the truth to "be". There is no proving, no conflict. Just "now". Check.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">RELEASE.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Stop grasping, stop holding onto illusions, throw old beliefs into the air and watch them float away. Surrender all to healing, with wisdom, open heart and grace. Check.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">There is nothing to fear about the "empty nest" syndrome devoid of all my dramas and stories that lived in my head. The silence is bliss. It only makes more room for love, light, new synapses, inspiration, creativity, quantum healing, fun and fierce ideas for making more joy. How bad is that really?</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms', serif;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">--dar freeland</span></i></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms', serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#990000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">faceupstudio.com</span></span></b></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CC9933;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">About the Art: Original acrylic on raised board by Dar Freeland. 4 piece original for sale at </span></i></span><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CC9933;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">faceupstudio</span></i></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CC9933;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">.com in the "four dot" show section of the art directory or single prints available-contact faceupstudio@aol.com.</span></i></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CC9933;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></i></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CC9933;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">If you "jack" my art, please give me credit at www.faceupstudio.com. Not stealing is better though.</span></i></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span></div></div></div>Dar Freelandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18064713381809613901noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6274583009622455682.post-48957276899809939502010-06-19T16:32:00.000-07:002010-11-24T00:13:09.419-08:00The "WE"<div><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgJEeOjBfIP5LcDQpv-qzBQy05C8rMiYYenLQapY8fpKwOLFiaLs2b5ee5KH6xvuqZMo4tP2D5ZDzOgxFOtI-yVDyf8cPpgUL2aQ4kHbI4sdg24k9B92eOtIEVA37P4Y-xWo7kpWMz9B0c/s1600/fu_Interactive_ProvingGround.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 176px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgJEeOjBfIP5LcDQpv-qzBQy05C8rMiYYenLQapY8fpKwOLFiaLs2b5ee5KH6xvuqZMo4tP2D5ZDzOgxFOtI-yVDyf8cPpgUL2aQ4kHbI4sdg24k9B92eOtIEVA37P4Y-xWo7kpWMz9B0c/s320/fu_Interactive_ProvingGround.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5542842767002896642" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Georgia, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 17px; font-family:Arial, sans-serif;font-size:11px;"><div style="text-align: center; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 153, 51); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">"Proving Ground" by Dar Freeland</span></span></div></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" color: rgb(204, 153, 51); line-height: 17px; font-family:Arial, sans-serif;font-size:x-small;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">images & text © 1997-2011 Dar Freeland | all rights reserved</span></div></span></span></span><div><br /></div>Can one who is suffering, hear and feel compassion? Can one who is hurting, feel anything unless they receive exactly the help they are asking for? </span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">Today, the mind is bruised with the pain of angry egos and needs unheard.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">Today, the heart is blinded by scolding silence and complete abandonment.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">Today, the soul gives back to the Father, the sweetest gift ever received. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">No time-outs left. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">Who wins?</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">A gentle wind is weeping.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">The hawks are silent in the trees above the house. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">I think they know too.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">On Father's Day. How perfect.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">--dar freeland</span></i></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#990000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">faceupstudio.com</span></span></b></span></div>Dar Freelandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18064713381809613901noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6274583009622455682.post-25268401836684789142010-06-18T08:57:00.000-07:002010-11-24T00:14:40.905-08:00The Hamster Wheel<div><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh6M1NjAXneTOs5Ea02muaVBL6U-GDdYTvxs5eJzv6zqgO54Uumu1WWhAX4TmdBqGQQN3lkuWEtuqwx6ynPBbyeSr6awPUbBCnYBG1NbK88w8cULsIRYO4KacjpLzxNSNpEKJTM-F3Dcff/s1600/fu_Interactive_TheWheel.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh6M1NjAXneTOs5Ea02muaVBL6U-GDdYTvxs5eJzv6zqgO54Uumu1WWhAX4TmdBqGQQN3lkuWEtuqwx6ynPBbyeSr6awPUbBCnYBG1NbK88w8cULsIRYO4KacjpLzxNSNpEKJTM-F3Dcff/s320/fu_Interactive_TheWheel.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5542844329980912674" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 17px; font-family:Arial, sans-serif;font-size:11px;"><div style="text-align: center; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); line-height: normal; font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 17px; font-family:Arial, sans-serif;font-size:11px;"><div style="text-align: center; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 153, 51); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">"The Wheel" by Dar Freeland</span></span></div></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" color: rgb(204, 153, 51); line-height: 17px; font-family:Arial, sans-serif;font-size:x-small;"><div style="text-align: center; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">images & text © 1997-2011 Dar Freeland | all rights reserved</span></div></span></span></div></span></div><div><br /></div><div>Guilt, shame, blame, repeat. Don't skip any steps.</div></span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">What happens when the human hamster wheel we are running on while at our weakest level of consciousness becomes exposed? Our hidden self screams out with anger. Why would we choose something that provides volatility, rage and finally the systematic disintegration of all we've worked to build that is peaceful?...because that is what we do... </span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Why would we choose to be on this wheel to begin with? Most of the time, we don't know we are on it. But little untruths that emerge are our first clue. We feel we must hide something or be judged for it. Guilt is a huge waste of energy and resources within. But we are taught to feel it to our core, and the challenge to love self beyond <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">another's</span> opinion runs deep. When exposed, many feel anger about not having the strength or resources to remain hidden - so we strike out...and usually the what or who we love is standing too close to our volcano.</span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">We feel guilt about something, then we feel shame, then we blame. Once the arrow of blame has been cast, we feel guilt about it. Then shame. Then we blame some more. We run so fast on the wheel that our egos become extraordinary athletes at it, or fall to the side in exhaustion. Then we feel some more guilt at what we are not. Some jump back on the wheel and push it into rotation again. Some jump OFF. Those are the lucky ones.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">When we are always in the truth about ourselves, what we think, feel and do - even if it is unpleasant - we are finally FREE. We are human and imperfect...yet we never need to feel that we have to hide in order to survive or not be beaten down more - a potentially systemic condition. We CAN be imperfect because our imperfection is as impermanent as we are. It is a small moment in time. We know we can make adjustments and do it again until whatever it is - however we want to live and be, is in resonance with who we really know we are. We can say "I don't know" and be at peace with that until we find the solution.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">We are already perfect - even and especially with those things we judge as imperfect. Not believing this (from years of conditioning) or trying to prove that we are someone different is what makes us jump on the wheel in the first place. The wheel goes nowhere. Only and always back to itself, until we are exhausted and fall, then we do it some more.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Jump.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">--</span><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">dar</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">freeland</span></span></span></span></i></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#990000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">faceupstudio.com</span></span></b></span></span></span></div><div><br /></div></div></div>Dar Freelandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18064713381809613901noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6274583009622455682.post-46429923907779275912010-05-26T20:38:00.000-07:002010-11-23T16:04:55.663-08:00The Path of the One Heart<div><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXWOZzN1ERPUWFAXeXaAxtftgm4MxBVOgUfp4Htc58KE9ITOq_ShgMthUxOHRjgdpod9TEQG5ZBcLywlBriE-uq_9KxtwXaZ3f2rjkyiGOLSM8CvZIjP2gPUnsL45i9KJnvG3Y4lCW-wnC/s1600/fu_%C2%A91997_darfreeland.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 319px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXWOZzN1ERPUWFAXeXaAxtftgm4MxBVOgUfp4Htc58KE9ITOq_ShgMthUxOHRjgdpod9TEQG5ZBcLywlBriE-uq_9KxtwXaZ3f2rjkyiGOLSM8CvZIjP2gPUnsL45i9KJnvG3Y4lCW-wnC/s320/fu_%C2%A91997_darfreeland.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5519351173445638354" /></a><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXWOZzN1ERPUWFAXeXaAxtftgm4MxBVOgUfp4Htc58KE9ITOq_ShgMthUxOHRjgdpod9TEQG5ZBcLywlBriE-uq_9KxtwXaZ3f2rjkyiGOLSM8CvZIjP2gPUnsL45i9KJnvG3Y4lCW-wnC/s1600/fu_%C2%A91997_darfreeland.jpg"></a><div style="text-align: center; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CC9933;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 17px; font-family:Arial, sans-serif;font-size:11px;"><div style="text-align: center; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 153, 51); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">"Conversations" by Dar Freeland</span></span></div></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" color: rgb(204, 153, 51); line-height: 17px; font-family:Arial, sans-serif;font-size:x-small;"><div style="text-align: center; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">images & text © 1997-2011 Dar Freeland | all rights reserved</span></div></span></span></span></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:'trebuchet ms', serif;"></span></p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Dramas, addictions, illusions, desires, stories - could perhaps be considered the product of a mind unfocused and without discipline. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">A person does not need to have things be hard or dramatic - the goal is more to engage in a soft ease of living peacefully with excitement and pleasure. The cherry on top is being able to give to others with absolute abandon. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#999999;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">First, to clear the road, the baggage needs to be removed.</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">I found that giving up relationship with destructive emotions (other’s projections of shame and blame that I myself have bought into) … this toxicity could finally be released by the four step process I refer to as “Meta”: </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">1. </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Recognize</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> (Identify what is the problem - what is it that does not feel like it fits or resonates with me?) </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">2. </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Acknowledge</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> (See it is here and allow it to be exposed to self and others) </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">3. </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Accept</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> (Embrace the truths discovered - understand its source and consequence-without trying to push it away) </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">4. </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Release</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> (I stop grasping for it, buying into the addiction of it, feeling the illusion of its allure, let go) </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Once we've taken the issue, and applied the above; the movie shown on the screen of relationship (another person’s actions and reactions) no longer needs to be present in life - and therefore does vanish. Once we see it, the projection has served its purpose and is no longer necessary. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">One action that cannot be escaped - is to be accountable for my actions, take personal responsibility. Say I am sorry where it is appropriate. Make amends. This is particularly healing, and speeds the process. It is non-negotiable, because any attempt at healing that involves only blame, will repeat as an unrelenting reminder that the work is not complete and/or in full integrity. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">We need to distinguish illusion, self-talk, rationalization, ego - all from what is truly living inside of self. Once we see it for real, we can let it go and open the heart fully. This new space now becomes a place to receive what we say we truly want, instead of a place to store the baggage. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#666666;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">How I choose to fill this void now, is up to me.</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">In this new moment, if one chooses, any relationship can stay intact. With note of the adjustments needed for healthy self care, and the pain having been addressed - the issues can now transform into empty space, providing the opportunity to fill that space with something more useful, such as love or peace.</span></span></div><div><span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">--dar freeland</span></i></span></span></span></div><div><span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#990000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">faceupstudio.com</span></span></b></span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#990000;"></span></b></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span><o:p></o:p></p> <!--EndFragment--></div>Dar Freelandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18064713381809613901noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6274583009622455682.post-9507771049349379072010-05-14T21:47:00.000-07:002010-11-24T00:16:52.337-08:00The Bleating Egos<div><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgftxcSO_2bcDL4BKBSU41Z6dNSMFeFpr9PQHYIJp5XMKPmWoY91L67ouY8fHl0m-hts5DggO2cRyZ0wfaN6C6Yc_BoKGe_QCufZnbiJmaxt4WN7yo0tiINABNfVU6qGP6c1Bhynrf9HA5s/s1600/fu_Interactive_OneTwoPunch.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 235px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgftxcSO_2bcDL4BKBSU41Z6dNSMFeFpr9PQHYIJp5XMKPmWoY91L67ouY8fHl0m-hts5DggO2cRyZ0wfaN6C6Yc_BoKGe_QCufZnbiJmaxt4WN7yo0tiINABNfVU6qGP6c1Bhynrf9HA5s/s320/fu_Interactive_OneTwoPunch.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5542854057751488738" /></a><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 17px; font-family:Arial, sans-serif;"><div style="text-align: center; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 153, 51); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">"One Two Punch" by Dar Freeland</span></span></div></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" color: rgb(204, 153, 51); line-height: 17px; font-family:Arial, sans-serif;font-size:x-small;"><div style="text-align: center; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">images & text © 1997-2011 Dar Freeland | all rights reserved</span></div></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms', serif;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Anger and pain only last a moment, just drama that blurts forth in its self indulgent way. Comes then goes...and we can be the observer, or the catcher. It only stays if we grasp at it then hold on tight. When we make a fist, some stuff may get caught in there, then it is ours forever. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#666666;">Unless we let go.</span></i></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Blame and shame at our own emotions...the intolerance demonstrated against our own selves for being human, for losing our way, for being less than perfect - like throwing gas on a fire. True for ALL parties. It never is about anyone "out there" - other people are the screens onto which we project our movie. Can anyone other than anger's author even distinguish between "attack" and "accuracy" - and doesn't the receiver have his own movie playing simultaneously - governed by his own script? Are we so small that a bleating ego can crush a true and infinite love?</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#666666;">So what, now what?</span></i></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">"I'm sorry" is only the starting gun to the race - a sprint to the solution. If we can't hear the gun, we don't even know the race has begun. Perhaps we'd rather lose ourselves in the anesthesia of all that feels nothing, or what we think will feel "good" and will ultimately have us feel more shame...leaving us only to think, think, think.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Stuck on our hamster wheel of thought, our hearts wither and cry themselves to sleep.</span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">I knew someone once. When my life was hurting, he asked permission, then tenderly kissed my eye. Ever since then, I've seen life differently. What magic his kiss.</span></span></div><div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">I wish I had his power, I could just as tenderly kiss HIS eye - so he could see things differently.</span></span></div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms', sans-serif;color:#333333;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">--dar freeland</span></i></span></span></div></div></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#990000;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">faceupstudio.com</span></b></span></span></span></div>Dar Freelandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18064713381809613901noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6274583009622455682.post-75879531110376166472010-04-14T10:11:00.000-07:002010-11-24T00:18:17.106-08:00"What The World Needs Now..."<div><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVO1Sjd2ExZe4WjXZW72HVwwdfc-9qm72GO-D2k9ZQ_jalzZm38td5b5VpoyVwrnTOkA7647XdjE9KEpUy8D3XKqm5W9kNUPj_PleMrODcm7R150ZmCVvTEZ5W7mzyc2z2FCc9uQqWXFCt/s1600/fu_Interactive_ExpChess.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 271px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVO1Sjd2ExZe4WjXZW72HVwwdfc-9qm72GO-D2k9ZQ_jalzZm38td5b5VpoyVwrnTOkA7647XdjE9KEpUy8D3XKqm5W9kNUPj_PleMrODcm7R150ZmCVvTEZ5W7mzyc2z2FCc9uQqWXFCt/s320/fu_Interactive_ExpChess.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5542858447242054242" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 17px; font-family:Arial, sans-serif;"><div style="text-align: center; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CC9933;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); line-height: normal; font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 17px; font-family:Arial, sans-serif;"><div style="text-align: center; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 153, 51); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">"Expedition Chess" by Dar Freeland</span></span></div></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" color: rgb(204, 153, 51); line-height: 17px; font-family:Arial, sans-serif;font-size:x-small;"><div style="text-align: center; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">images & text © 1997-2011 Dar Freeland | all rights reserved</span></div></span></span></span></div></span></div><div><br /></div>This morning I've considered many things regarding how we have been interacting with one another. I am speaking of humanity - the World community. America is polarized politically, families are arguing about money and behaviors, people are judging others relentlessly. This is also true among the people of the World collectively. Who is happy?</span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">The Arts, which used to be a sanctuary or respite from so called "literal life"....it is becoming trampled with greed and invalidation - stolen for profit by those who do not create it, to advance their own purposes and shunned by those who would judge it as anything other than the mirror that it is. Art is a beautiful statement of our inside life, the one we don't allow anyone else to see. It is that recognition on whatever medium that gives art its immense value. We see ourselves in it.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms', fantasy;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">One simple statement on that - Art is your MIRROR, world. It is a simple regurgitation of what its creator sees around him. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms', fantasy;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Art allows us to look in the mirror, and decide again. It allows us to think about life. It allows us to consider, recognize and make adjustments in our paths - because we are the CREATORS of our own lives. If we don't look at our lives, act on what we see, take part in our own evolution, we are just taking up space. Is that the life we want to live? I do not. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">To those who would think that yelling is key - all yelling creates, is more yelling and a closing off of people to one another. Person to person, family to family, country to country and beyond. It does NOT provide any sort of SOLUTION. To become informed and educated is important, but not a solution unto itself. It allows one to yell with more articulation, yet the solution remains up to US to implement.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms', fantasy;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">To those who would judge a musical artist like Sting (a prolific humanitarian) or any other artist/musician/creative who chooses to PRACTICE and DEMONSTRATE PEACE instead of going with the "norm" and engaging in an endless stream of bickering, political judgement and isolation - I say think again. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms', fantasy;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">And guess what else...to judge a creative for "taking money" because of the </span><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">payor's</span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> actions in life is </span><span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">ludicrous</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">. If ANY business person assessed/judged and sentenced the actions of the buyer before selling to him - capitalism would cease to exist. A person has to sleep only with himself at night, and taking a stand is an individual right and responsibility - not up for discussion with world opinion. In other words, a personal choice and </span><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">nobody's</span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> business. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms', fantasy;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">All </span><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">creatives</span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> are ENTITLED to make an income from their art. It is called WORK. He is NOT here solely for the world's entertainment. That went out with the Fool who performed for Kings. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms', fantasy;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Compassion and tolerance is the only key that will set us free from the polarization that is literally tearing the world apart. Assuming that the current trend of World "Scolding" and political name-calling rants on TV or any other place, is going to produce a USEFUL or </span><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">TRANSFORMATIVE</span></span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> result...I say to all think again. Look in the mirror. What we see is our own ugliness looking back at us and we don't like it. Wake up everyone - we have the power to see things differently. No one else can see things from inside of our own heads...that is up to us.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Why are there so many prominent people leaving the planet? Why are planes falling out of the sky and wiping the entire "chessboard" clean? Why are there so many earthquakes right now? Powerful, jolting, destructive quakes? Is the earth asking, demanding that we wake up from our illusions? Is the movement of the earth its (metaphorical) art - showing us our own inner earthquakes, the devastation to our minds and souls? Is the earth demonstrating that in the face of our refusal to do so on our own, it will INSIST we unite - if not through our own evolution and wisdom, then through its powerful mandate? Let's face it - no matter the worst offenses of man...the earth herself will win.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Maybe if people used the Arts, used their power of discernment and thought...maybe if people stopped yelling and judging, pointing fingers, blaming and name calling - just maybe we could move beyond all of the apparent inconsolable unhappiness around us that we are all contributing to and in so doing - helping to create more of...a World Tantrum.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Maybe we could open a door - demonstrate and welcome some love, tolerance and peace into our own homes - one thought, one sentence, one person, one family member, one topic, one community, country and one world at a time. Jump with me off the anger wagon, choose again. There is absolutely nothing useful about acting or feeling this way. It is a useless waste of energy, effort, resources, choice and our own lives. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms', fantasy;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms', -webkit-fantasy;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">When was the last time we felt real, sincere, deeply rooted, </span><span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">immovable</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> JOY? How about today?</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms', fantasy;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms', sans-serif;color:#333333;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">--dar freeland</span></i></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#990000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">faceupstudio.com</span></span></b></span></span></div>Dar Freelandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18064713381809613901noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6274583009622455682.post-56660991692973545382010-03-08T01:23:00.000-08:002010-11-24T00:19:36.821-08:00Sunshine or Salt?<div><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbpPQhxVyRpfWazbRpb7KbSiaJVwZngGxUtudZZnjOtZbM9L-iVSbKXucgarhgYKt9k-MZtHM-65pRHPchfMLC9evwIzalg0PuZegQUY4KE3R8frLNRa1eQnLJRWhnAKA9ZuiFzVIQYKTe/s1600/fu_Interactive_LoveneverLost.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 256px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbpPQhxVyRpfWazbRpb7KbSiaJVwZngGxUtudZZnjOtZbM9L-iVSbKXucgarhgYKt9k-MZtHM-65pRHPchfMLC9evwIzalg0PuZegQUY4KE3R8frLNRa1eQnLJRWhnAKA9ZuiFzVIQYKTe/s320/fu_Interactive_LoveneverLost.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5542860120821316818" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 17px; font-family:Arial, sans-serif;font-size:11px;"><div style="text-align: center; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 153, 51); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">"Love Never Lost" by Dar Freeland</span></span></div></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" color: rgb(204, 153, 51); line-height: 17px; font-family:Arial, sans-serif;font-size:x-small;"><div style="text-align: center; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">images & text © 1997-2011 Dar Freeland | all rights reserved</span></div></span></div><div><br /></div>When we are in the presence of someone hurting, do we see outside ourselves to their feelings, or do we interrupt our natural response of compassion? If a child were hurting, would we just shake our head and pass by, yelling "hey! suck it up!" or would we stop and with empathy, love the little one until it feels safe and out of pain? What do we do with the children of the mind? In an adult body, or a shorter young body - makes no matter the size. It is a child's pain in an older frame.</span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">So, when faced with a wound - of our loved one, or our own - are we sunshine that heals, or salt that stings?</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms', serif;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms', sans-serif;color:#333333;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">--dar freeland</span></i></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#990000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">faceupstudio.com</span></span></b></span></span></div>Dar Freelandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18064713381809613901noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6274583009622455682.post-39485264474860877582010-03-08T01:18:00.000-08:002010-11-23T23:57:44.509-08:00Human Detours<div><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimg_vGMP39zvdT1GUs390iZDudEUSeYIzKriPtTOxRTfrDEHr4JO3_nVNOaT_KSrK_Z5y-FkIpweTmseHgTEi3da0dgZFziBICo5fMH2ohKY9w2-MG_uIJV32FpD10TBMb65WBeZgG4Ohe/s1600/fu_Interactive_FearDays.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 239px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimg_vGMP39zvdT1GUs390iZDudEUSeYIzKriPtTOxRTfrDEHr4JO3_nVNOaT_KSrK_Z5y-FkIpweTmseHgTEi3da0dgZFziBICo5fMH2ohKY9w2-MG_uIJV32FpD10TBMb65WBeZgG4Ohe/s320/fu_Interactive_FearDays.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5542863394929607090" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 17px; font-family:Arial, sans-serif;"><div style="text-align: center; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 153, 51); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">"Fear Days" by Dar Freeland</span></span></div></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" color: rgb(204, 153, 51); line-height: 17px; font-family:Arial, sans-serif;font-size:x-small;"><div style="text-align: center; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">images & text © 1997-2011 Dar Freeland | all rights reserved</span></div></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></div>Nothing feels more frustrating than to watch a loved one struggle needlessly with their own thoughts. A learning process perhaps - but habitual arguing, defeatist attitudes, self sabotage, literally standing on the freeway of one's own mind....how do we love them off the highway of self destruction? How do we ask; "please, don't allow yourself to be your own orange cone today..."</span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms', serif;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms', sans-serif;color:#333333;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">--dar freeland</span></i></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#990000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">faceupstudio.com</span></span></b></span></span></div>Dar Freelandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18064713381809613901noreply@blogger.com0