Friday, April 27, 2012

Connect to Mother Earth...

The Catskills                                                                                                                                                               B Upton


Connect to mother earth 

to breathe more deeply

Breathe more deeply

to connect with beauty

Connect to beauty

to open to gratitude

Open to gratitude

to focus on what is working

Focus on what is working

to draw more of it to you


Draw more of it to you


to follow your heart 

Follow your heart 

to live your soul's purpose

Live you soul's purpose

to be you. 

A synopsis of the Seven Steps to Inner Peace

Wishing you a day of ease, deep breathing, gratitude and love!

Sunday, April 22, 2012

Happy Earth Day!

Dandelion                                                                                                                                                                   B Upton
Viola 1                                                                                                                                                                           B Upton


I enjoy finding delight and wonder in the very small, the often overlooked and sometimes even in the maligned.- like the "lowly" dandelion photographed above. I find that when I look closely- at  anything in nature, I see divine handiwork of the most delicate and inspiring beauty. For instance, in the dandelion, I see a flower radiating like a sun, bursting with tendrils of golden light, like little solar flares looping into space...I notice their curved tips and how they mimic the curve of the insect's antennae...in the tiny viola, I see dark blue, bare branched "trees" with the hint of a rising sun...I see the harbinger of spring- a contented looking robin paying a visit to the goddess altar I am assembling with stone, pansies and bird bath. The robin laid there for about a half hour as though blessing the space. I will post pictures of my little goddess altar soon. I discovered the stones spell out a word- one I did not consciously create.

Today is Earth Day and it has NEVER been so important for all people of good will to come forward to pledge to be the guardians and protectors our beautiful earth so needs- to honor, cherish and love her and for all of our words and deeds be expressions of that love. I hope my little observations rekindle your awe and reverence for our one jewel of a home and may they always remind you that the sacredness that is all around you, is also in you and is you.

On this Earth Day, I hope you can reconnect to the limitless reservoir of vast healing and nurturing energy that is always at your disposal. It is the very ground beneath your feet! Even though our planet is facing environmental perils, it still contains amazingly powerful energy. Most of us have cut ourselves off from this life force energy and then we wonder why we feel sick and tired. But the good news is, we can tap into this renewing energy anytime. It is available to each of us in the same abundant and nourishing way!

Robin 1                                                                    B Up

Mini Earth Meditation

Take a few deep, slow breaths- inhaling peace and exhaling tension, allowing your body and mind to relax and slow down.

Bring your attention to the earth- to its beauty, power and sacredness. Imagine you have "roots" extending down from the base of your spine, or the bottom of your feet and going deep down into the nourishing, dark soil of mother earth. Now imagine your roots branching out laterally and connecting with the roots of the plants and trees nearest to you. See your roots and theirs intertwining and together sinking deeper into the earth. With time, you can extend your roots to connect with all the rooted ones on the earth (it can happen in an instant!) and together you can journey to the center of the earth- to the place of transformative healing.

As you inhale imagine a beautiful golden light entering your roots and the roots of all you have connected to- bringing healing, calm and strength.  As you go deeper you will be able to feel more and more relaxed and a pleasant warmth may flow through you. It can feel like you are nearing a healing fire and it may even have a sensuous quality to it as your roots go deeper and grow warmer. Each time you inhale, the golden light grows brighter and fills you and all you have connected with- bringing vitality to every cell of your body and to all of the grasses, bushes, flowers and trees.

With each exhalation you can give mother earth all your worries, all your fears, all of your heartache- she can recycle it all into nourishing energy. With every in-breath, fill with peaceful, golden light and feel your wholeness and oneness with the earth and all life on it. Radiate love, honor and protection to the earth and imagine it glowing brighter from your loving connection.

Know that every time you do this little exercise, you are grounding and strengthening yourself, the earth and all its life! Reconnect to the earth to be your highest, healthiest and happiest self.

Happy Earth Day, Happy Spring....over the next few days, may beauty reveal itself to you serendipitously when you least expect it! May you feel your very real connection to the earth and be strengthened and renewed by it.

May everyday be Earth Day!

Robin on the Goddess Altar                                                                 B Upton




Robin 2                                    B Upton








The world is full of magic things,
patiently waiting
for our senses to grow sharper.
~W.B. Yeats












Viola 2                                                                        B Upton

Thursday, April 19, 2012

Clear Stream Media: Tax the 1% Rally, Kingston NY Video!

Clear Stream Media: Tax the 1% Rally, Kingston NY Video!: As you can see, the Tax the 1% Rally held at the Kingston PO was a lively affair. Thank you to all who came, who shared their stories, ble...

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

The 99% Spring

Unmanipulated Sunset                                                                                                                                                    B Upton

Sunset 2                                                                                              B Upton
Took these coming home from a training I co-hosted with a few others on non-violent direct action as part of the 99% Spring. Our group of about 100 was part of a nationwide movement of over 100,000. We came together in community centers, churches, campuses and public places to say "enough is enough". Time for the 1% to pay their share. Time for corporations with record profits in the billions to pay taxes, rather than get refunds! The percent of revenue from the 1% is at its lowest in decades. We are all sacrificing- why aren't they even doing their fair share? Read more here.

Time to rise up!
We Are Struggling with...                                                                                                B Upton
If you are local - join us tomorrow on the steps of the Kingston Post Office- 90 Cornell St, Kingston, NY- 12 to 1PM- for a Tax the 1% Rally! We will be (literally) blowing the whistle on the system rigged to benefit the 1% at the expense of the rest of us.

Friday, April 6, 2012

Goddess Power!

    Trinity of Self - The Mother, the Daughter and the Holy Spirit                                                 watercolors by B Upton                          

I painted these little goddesses for a show I curated in 2001 called, "The Magical Feminine: Celebrating Woman, Her Bliss and Her Erotic Healing Power"! Here is what I wrote then and samples of the many affirmations I wrote for each goddess. The affirmations were wound up like little red roses in three gold boxes that hung under each painting and people were invited to see what the goddess wanted to tell them. Perhaps one of them below, is what you need to hear today too!

The Trinity of Self: The Mother, The Daughter and 

The Holy Spirit


The Father, The Son and The Holy Ghost; what impact has this pantheon of maleness had on the developing female psyche? What has been the result of living in a world that has failed to honor the sacredness of the earth, women and female sexuality?  We have been taught a spiritual language that is not our native tongue and which has little resonance with the deepest parts of our feminine selves.

It is my intention that The Trinity of Self: the Mother, The Daughter and the Holy Spirit will speak to your soul. May the silent messages of these Goddesses echo through your days; “Embrace yourself more compassionately. Honor your body and sexuality more lovingly. Trust yourself more completely.”

The Trinity of Self: The Mother
Erotic fire and the power of creation burn at your core. Give life to your most passionate self and to your beloved dreams. Discover your vast starry essence through physical ecstasy. 

Affirmations:  
I am a strong, whole and worthy woman. I value my strengths and accept and learn from my weaknesses.
My love and nurturing ways make this world a better place.




 The Trinity of Self: The Daughter
Nature is our loving teacher. Surrender to the earth and connect  with your strong, instinctual self and natural goodness. 
Affirmations:  
I rest in the natural world and know I belong. Nature revitalizes and strengthens me.
I respect, protect and revere the earth. 




The Trinity of Self: The Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit weds heaven and earth and the spiritual and the sexual into one blissful whole. Allow it to enter you and make peace with your body, mind and emotions. It is time to be the  unedited, uninhibited, natural force of healing for self and others you were meant to be!
Affirmations: 
I have awakened to my female power, unique voice and creative life force energy.
I can now forgive the past and be open to the ecstatic moment.