UP is Up

Up is a photo project I've been working on and I'm intrigued by the results. I've been taking shots with the camera parallel to the ground, making sure not to look at the viewfinder beforehand, and paying minimal attention to what's above me. The extent to which I'm paying attention to it is really limited to making sure I'm not standing under a bridge, heavy tree cover, tall buildings, etc. For the most part it's sky. It started one day when I was in the passenger seat in Mary's car and the sky was incredible, so I stuck the camera out the window, held it straight up and shot. And I liked what I saw. I also liked the randomness of it. So I took a few more. And when they were in the camera they kind of looked the same. Then I got them into iPhoto, looked at them together and it was amazing how different they all were. Not only because some had little snippets of buildings or wires, the blues themselves were so different, and beautiful. So, here it is, in its infancy, UP. I'll keep shooting these and figure out something to do with them later. Click the photo above or visit my Flickr set of the project.

Long Week

Been away from this blog all week. I had started to build up some momentum, and then got derailed a bit. The tibetans fell off, my morning programme of meditation got either sacrificed or massively condensed, it was not great. I felt really tired in the mornings, and was falling back to sleep when I woke up. Trying not to go into any judgment about it.

Anyway, good to be back. I had a busy few days of meetings in my somewhat new post as West Coast Creative Director for Vis-A-Vis. Spending two days at a conference table where you're not really ever the center of attention is a discipline. It was great to meet all the people from the client, and very interesting to see what's being done. I always find that I have an explosion of ideas for a client when I imerse myself in them that way.

Then it was back to 300FeetOut for Thursday and now home on Friday. Next week will be a little more normal. Though I'm going back to a four day work wee to see if that will work better for Nina. I need to see how it will work for me. Always a balance.

Meditation is going really well. The intro at our home on Monday was amazing and seems to have moved a number of people towards attending the Seminar. I feel so ful of love for all the people in my life, and I'm finding that the more I can get out of the way, the more I can serve them, give to them, be in service of God and love. And that's what I want, more and more in my life. Is to be of service.

What I'm coming into is an age where my work, my creative output and endeavors, are no longer the thing that defines me. I love them, and I will continue to be engaged in that work as it earns my family an income and stimulates me in a way that I fing very powerful. And, what I'm really learning how to lean into is making my spiritual life truly first. I thought I had started to do that in the past, and now I'm really learning what it feels like. It's quite something to be letting go of that part of my ego that is so attached to 'who I am' as defined by that work, those thoughts, that persona. When I'm actually none of that. I mena, I'm all of that, and none of it at the same time. All I am, all any of us are, is light and love, when you get right down to it. And we're in this material existence, and we're hopefully doing some great things while we're here, and we're not what our material existence displays of us. We're so much more.

Finally, a few words of gratitude for the people I have come to be surrrounded by. Some are doing amazing work in the world, others are doing amazing work simply by being themselves. I am starting to see so much more clearly what a gift each relationship is, what amazing teachings they all hold for each and every one of us, and how much I can learn.

In love.

A Reminder

This post is dedicated to the weight I've lost, gained back, subsequently lost again, and now continue to pay attention to. Mary and I spent a good 10 minutes howling on the couch last night when we came across this gem from a weekend we spent down in L.A. with our dear friends Tina, J and Will and then Jake, Lisa and Zane. Olivia hadn't been born yet. I was probably close to my peak weight then, and a man in that condition should avoid sitting in a kiddie pool, with his clothes on no less, at all costs. I can't believe how much better I look in even the shots taken moments before I got into the thing. In any case, this has kicked off an idea about humility and sharing unflattering images of ourselves. More on that when I have time to develop the thoughts. For now, let this be a reminder to me, and to all those I share it with, how easy it is to expand, and contract. Let my current expansion continue internally, spiritually, devotionally, and in my heart rather than my gut.

Day of Distraction

Found it hard to get down to some real work today. It was a good start, Tibetans, the sitting and journaling. Mostly good times with Fiona and Mary before we left. Then a good ride with Ben, good connection with someone from school, where I spoke from a place of real depth, and once we reached the City it was really hard to get focused. There were the wireless issues, couldn't deal with email, then when I was finally getting service and I was online I had a few things to handle for the part time gig, and some emails to respond to. It felt like I never ended up with a solid block of time in which to actually get anything done. Do you ever feel like that?

Meanwhile, I'm taking a photograph each day, not so good with the uploading to Flickr as frequently. Trying to post here every day, which is definitely giving me insight into how it would be to be writing a business blog. I'm now thinking weekly or twice weekly updates will have to be plenty. Maybe a daily photo. My Twitter feed will be up there so there'll be constant content. The meatier stuff will need to be consolidated.

Speaking of meat, I've also been vegetarian since the first. Feeling really good about that choice. And I think it's helping me feel lighter and better about what I'm eating when I eat during the shake days of the cleanse. Feeling like I'm going to stick to it.

Another Fine Day

Starting off another fine day with more Tibetans. Today I'll bike into the City and work at the M-Line offices, then bike over to the Fell Street house for an afternoon with those peeps. I hope to complete a few documents for the Center before I go over. This is the second day of fasting on this cleanse I'm doing. I think I'll use that to make today a second 'Buy Nothing' day, except for the $2 I'll spend on the bike shuttle. I don't know where this is going, and I'm attempting to get into the discipline of blogging first by forcing myself to post whatever I've got. Not that anyone's reading right now. My vision for this is that this blog remain a personal area for musings on my spiritual path, what I'm learning and how I'm transforming. I'll share it with some. Then the lovejoycreative site wil become the home of Benjamin Lovejoy Creative Person where I'll write about business, art, being a freelancer and consultant. ALso show work, experiment, art, photography, etc. Time to wake up the bean. Of course, this will also include schtuff abut being a daddy, though I think I want both to include some of the other. So the personal one might mention something about work, the work one might include some mentions about being a dad and spiritual seeker.

A New Year Ahead

Started off today with 5 Tibetans, then 10 minutes of sitting and then journaling. Today is also the first actual cleanse day of my post-holiday season cleanse (meaning basically fasting, Cleanse for Life drink and lots of water). Today is also the first official "Buy Nothing" day for me, and partially our community. We haven't started as a community yet, and it's going to start slowly with each of us doing what we can individually. I will not be buying anything today, save the parking I paid for a minute ago. Made a last minute decision not to ride the bike in the 50º rain. I won't buy gas or anything else though. Feeling optimistic about this year, and looking forward to all it holds for us.

The Apple Post

About a year and a half ago I switched from Windows to Mac. For a long time I had been a small business owner in the Design/Advertising industry and when I got started the price point for a Mac was simply out of reach (or so I told myself). Then a year and a half ago I took a job, and of course the studio is on the Mac platform, and so I was in.

I've been very pleased with my Mac (17" MBP hereafter referred to as Oslo after the city in Norway where my godfather lived) and the experience has made a convert out of me for sure. A few months ago my work situation changed (the company I was working for and I decided to have me be freelance) and it was time for me to own a computer of my own again. Without a second thought I knew I was going to buy another MBP. Then, on the 14 October, the day I decided it would be the (sort of) 'new' "17 MacBook Pro, I almost got doored by a cab fare on Mission street, fell, and Oslo got some case damage. Performance was fine, there was no damage to the machine other than the case. Oh, and I was fine too. So now I need to get that MBP Sadly, my insurance I have would only have covered the repair if I had actually been struck by the vehicle. Mixed bag that one.

So I head over the the Apple store in Emeryville. I wait a while, and then my Genius calls my name. She's awesome. Great attitude, funny, really interested in what's up. I go over the whole situation with her, she's not happy. She thinks my employer should pay for the repairs since I'm returning the laptop. I explain that I'm not going that way. They're great, it happened on my watch, and they're broke. I wouldn't feel that I was in integrity if I was to return it damaged and say 'tough luck'. She looks at me a little sideways, and then admits that she understands. In fact, she's now saying she can really see what a bind that is. I shouldn't have to pay for it, the cab driver split, the actual owner of the laptop, my former emplyer shoudln't have to pay for it, and then she really surprises me. She goes in the back for a few minutes, comes out, and announces that Apple is going to pay for it. In fact, not only are they going to pay for the repair, they're going to do a complete case replacement, and all I'm paying is the shipping. Apple in this case, wins. I mean, that's what I call service. Good to Great style, Lovecat service. And nothing, in my opinion, can win brand loyalty the way service like that can.

So here it is. The obligatory 'Apple Post'. At that moment I became one of the Mac faithful. I'm sure Apple has lots of failures, and stories of people getting less that stellar service, and in my experience, on that day, Apple totally came through. They chose to hire that Genius. Someone above her in the management of the store made a call to approve a +$1000 service to my machine at no cost to me, and they did it because it was the 'right' thing to do. Not even because of some pity warranty or something. They did it because they could afford it more than me. And they knew, or someone knew, that 'making my day' was worth more in brand loyalty than the cost of the repairs.

Bravo Apple. Get well Steve.