PoiPriestess » Flowology

Photos: Chronicles of GlitterGirl Vol. IV

PoiPriestess — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 06:28:42 +0000

Photos and links to the original blog entries for July 2006. Direct access to the articles is available using the archives link on the top of this page as well.

July 3, 2006

Photos: Chronicles of GlitterGirl Vol. V

PoiPriestess — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 05:03:53 +0000

Photos and links to the original blog entries for August 2006. Direct access to the articles is available using the archives link on the top of this page as well.

August 6, 2007: You done good, Ma!

PoiPriestess — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 16:56:00 +0000

You done good Ma. I’m changing the world, if only on a “small” scale right now (over 1030 students so far and growing). I have done the thing you and dad advised against — when I was young I wanted to be both an engineer and a teacher and unintentionally, I have become both. I combined that with self expression, artistry and meditation as well as entrepreneurialship and voila — here I am 5 years later, world renown, running the premier poi fire/flow dancing school that has been around the longest and, to the best of my knowledge, the only full time one around in the world today.

You undeniably made me who I am — in all the ways you encouraged and discouraged me. All the ways I fought you taught me; all the ways I listened to you taught me as well.

I feel grateful that you’re my Mother. You’re an amazing woman who is a ground breaking individual in her own right. I hope you know that is how I hold you in the world. You often inspire me.

I hope when you think of me you’re not too embarrassed by how weird/unusual I am. When I tell you that it is a gift in more people’s lives than you could count, I mean it. I have countless stories of how the mindset of and the school has changed people’s lives (have you ever read the Flowology Mindset?). One of my favorites is about how one of my students walked into her synchronized swim team meeting and one of her teammates who didn’t know about the Temple from her found the mindset on line and printed it out, asking the coach of the team to use it as a guideline for how they all played together. How cool is that to be putting it out on the internet and have some random person ask another person to use it as the official team philosophy?

I guess my point in all of this is that as I’ve written my will, I’ve reflected on all the times where we have not always seen eye to eye. Despite it all and in many ways because of it, I am who I am and where I am. Your clear and undeniable contribution to me being who I am spreads through the world as my work avails itself to more and more clients each day.

So I thank you for the gift it has been for me both in my own life and in the way I get to share it with other’s in their lives.

I imagine in the great ether of the universe we (the soul) may choose the parents whose lives we come into. I wonder why I choose (if in fact that happened) you and Dad sometimes — I often feel like my relationship with the family makes no sense.

But when I look at it through the eyes of the clarity of my work ethic, commitment to excellence, strength of will, leadership capabilities, brilliant mind, cognitive development, reasoning skills and the profound sense that it doesn’t matter what stands in my way I will make it happen, I’m clear much of that in me is a result of who and how you and Dad have been in my life.

So thanks. Which seems like such a small thing to say in response to all you’ve given to me. But sometimes appreciation, even this small, means something. And I wanted you to have that since hey, one never knows when the end will come.

Love love love!
The daughter (formerly known as) Lisa.

Life

PoiPriestess — Thu, 03 Aug 2006 01:27:00 +0000

The lushness of flowers blooming in the spring and summer reminds me of the gift of life and how amazing the spirit of growth is. It is especially powerful with fragrant flowers, like jasmine, freesia and stargazer lilies. I am particularly fond of the stargazer lily because lily’s last a long time from the date of purchase to the time of throwing them away, therefore maximizing the value of the experience.

Aaron bought me flowers some time ago, and not remembering what I had said I liked, made up a flower name — the Moonlight Iris — and brought that to me as a gift. It was a beautiful gift and now iris’ are my second favorite flower. I still prefer the intoxicating smells of the lily.

Of course, I also am growing increasingly appreciative of side split right anti-spin flowers and I even got a cool photo of that at the Palace of Fine arts taken by Charles Russo.

What is important about a Practice? Part II

PoiPriestess — Wed, 19 Jul 2006 10:08:00 +0000

I like how Goenka conveys this in his silent mediation retreats. I think I finally got it when I was a few days into the retreat, realizing that it is completely natural and okay for the mind to wander from the practice as long as we remember to always start again.

I also enjoyed playing with the sparkling circle theme on my shirt and matching it on my face. The picture doesn’t convey the color shifts with nearly the vibrance you could appreciate in person. In another photo that Charles Russo took, it almost looks like sweat. This picture is of me fire dancing with a hoop.

A Picture Says…

PoiPriestess — Mon, 17 Jul 2006 08:40:00 +0000

…it all.

Some things are worth Repeating

PoiPriestess — Wed, 12 Jul 2006 08:23:00 +0000

Like the Flowology Mindset(TM) summed up here in this comic book page.

Even cooler is the amazing photo by Charles Russo who came by to take a photo for the Guardian. I hope this means all the positive vibes from my students after my email about a Best of the Bay Reader’s Choice award might lead to a Best of the Bay award!

The Power of Possibility

PoiPriestess — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 01:09:00 +0000

When we’re teaching classes at the Temple, part of our instruction includes helping students remain patient in their practice, understanding that learning a move happens through time, not all in a single instant. We often suggest to students who say, “I can’t do this!” that they might find it easier to learn the moves if they allow for the possibility of learning through the use of powerful language — in this case, by adding the word “yet” to the sentence. I can’t do this yet is a far more powerful approach. In class last night, Stephanie and Silvia reminded me of the word and its application.

I was also super inspired today to create a more dramatic painting because I acquired the blue and green face paint at Kryolan. When I was in the store, the beautiful woman behind the counter (whose name I don’t recall at present) and I were talking about my makeup portfolio — the one I started because Tamale (a really cool student of mine from Chicago who is a comedian and makeup artist) suggested I should. I thought it might be fun to have the words have pictures too.

WWJD?

PoiPriestess — Fri, 26 May 2006 05:28:00 +0000

I first saw a WWJD button on the playa in 2003 and I had no idea what it meant. Someone more educated than I informed me it was asking the question, “What would Jesus do?” I believe Jesus was a bodhitsattva which I understand to be an enlightened individual who chooses to postpone entry into the Buddhist equivalent of Heaven (nirvana) — despite their deserving it — and instead choosing to serve here on Earth to help all others find similar enlightenment.

I often consider the story of Jesus being hit in the face and turning the other cheek to the person who hit him. When I first considered that I thought, “That’s stupid! Why would you let someone hit you?” Through time I’ve considered this story and come to think of how compassionate Jesus must have been to offer his cheek to this individual. I imagine how someone would come to the place of striking Jesus on the face and consider that was the best they were capable of communicating in the moment.

Then I imagine what Jesus was experiencing. I think Jesus must have been enlightened enough to understand he was not the body that was being hit (just as I am not my hair) and in that moment, by offering the person his other cheek, he was truly offering love to the person who hit him.

I do not think this means one should always turn the other cheek. But the idea that one can be enlightened enough to serve another from a place of compassion — the idea that someone can be capable of offering themselves freely from a place of choice inspires me to embody compassion more fully each day.

Flowology™

PoiPriestess — Sun, 21 May 2006 20:28:00 +0000

I emailed my good friend Mark Lewis the pictures of the makeup from the Fire Arts Exposition from yesterday and we got into a great discussion about using this experience as a way to market my ideas. He asked me to consider how I might represent my work in symbols on my head.

At the same time I’ve been working on a portfolio of makeup I’ve done for myself because Tamale suggested I start tracking that. In addition, I’ve been looking for a new non-flowtoy related creative activity to play around with. Top that all off with Mark’s other suggestion for me to consider journaling, and voila! This blog was born.

While this first image on my head doesn’t show up particularly well in the makeup style that I used here — lip crayon with light glitter on top — it was a learning experience (information for course correction, as it were) from which I have moved forward to create more visible art on my head. The word itself — Flowology™ — has to be credited to my former coach and dear friend, Jason McClain who said it one day when I was describing what I do with my students which is far more powerful than the actual moves we teach at Temple of Poi.