The Ride Home - A Documentary & Web Series

  When my brother Atma shared he would be an instrumental part of the team of film makers documenting THE RIDE HOME - my heart sprang open! Being born into a lineage of Native American people, we both have long felt the call to help bring healing to the wound that still cuts deep through the roots of North America. For this reason I am compelled to share this very special project and invite you to lend your support.

Ride Home Kickstarter Campaign

On firm request of the International Council of 13 Indigenous Grandmothers, a ground-breaking event is set to commence this June...

THE RIDE HOME resurrects the forgotten journey of this country's First Nation. Born from a vision received by Grandmother Margaret Behan (Arapahoe-Cheyenne); A mass healing for native and non-native people alike, will unfold in retracing the bittersweet steps of the Cheyenne Exodus of 1878.

On the back of Wild (rescued) Mustangs, riders from varied backgrounds will sew the path of forgiveness and closure, through invocation, ceremony, story-telling and personal reclamation.

This important passage of empowerment (for all-nations), will be documented by a small crew of film makers not only for historical purposes, but to educate on a global scale - the importance of releasing cultural grievances, embracing forgiveness as a means of transformation and returning to the root of peace.

PLEASE HELP MAKE THE DOCUMENTATION OF THIS JOURNEY POSSIBLE! Funding is needed to support this ride, the film crew, and production expenses. All support is appreciated - either financially or by helping share the Kickstarter Campaign or The Ride Home Facebook Page with your audience. Time is of essence.

Please follow this link to learn more about this historic event and donate what you can....  http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1834620749/the-ride-home-a-documentary-and-webseries 

Two Nice Angels And A Girl Standing In The Rain Trying Not to Die

Click Pic For Whole Show... © akka b

 

Even Thunder can't budge her. 

How is that possible? Thunder always budges her. 

No, she's unbudgeable. 

What about the Lightning she asked for and was so generously bequeathed? 

She liked it. 

You mean to say it didn't change her life like she expected it to? 

Well, she expected it to, but she didn't really want it to. 

Her reasoning please? 

She wasn't ready. 

And why, pray tell, wasn't she ready?

She said she lost something and wasn't willing to die before she found it. 

Does Thunder & Lightning make her die? 

Usually. 

And that's why she loves it so much? 

Agreed.

Except in this one instance when she wouldn't let it...?

Exactly. 

Because she lost something?

She called it "Purpose" but refused to offer a description. 

So, she didn't reeaally want to find it again. 

Well, she didn't want help finding it again. 

Maybe her "Purpose" got struck by lightning while she was standing in the rain trying not to die?

That seems sensible. Should we tell her?

nah. 

A Pomme for Steve Jobs...

The APPLE of the World's Eye ~ Good JOBS!! 

Thank you STEVE!!

You get the whole apple now. xo

TRUST IN LIFE'S COMPASSION

I was having a very strenuous time in my marriage and feeling directionless about life, when my daughter - barely 3 at the time, spoke words I can only surmise were channeled by angels. We were in the bathtub, (as we often were on freezing days in Eastern Canada) and in the middle of happily playing by herself - pretending to make beer mind you - she turns to me and says...

  

 

 "MOM, YOU DON'T TRUST. 

WELL... YOU DO TRUST, 

BUT YOU DON'T HAVE CONFIDENCE IN LIFE'S COMPASSION."

~ Raksha Boiteau

You wouldn't believe how fast I jumped out of the bathtub to write that down! Never had I heard my child use the words confidence or compassion, let alone in context or the same sentence. She of course went right back to making her beer as if the words were never uttered.

CONFIDENCE IN LIFE'S COMPASSION

Was my lesson that evening - and always. These words never fail to help me re-root my perspective in the bigger picture. Thank you daughter.

PS... Actual bathtub's design has been changed to reflect the poet's imagination.

DolphinFly

I had a dream...

Dolphin showed me how to fly 

deep down in water, then up to open sky. 

Fast and fearless. Again and again. 

But fireflies... are at their best in dark, 

when they can be the light. 

Don't expect to recognize firefly by day, 

soaked in ocean. 

Dolphins are for water-flying, 

Fireflies are for forest night.

Recognition

In the land of recognition (now)

How can I say? 

Watching faces

Remembering times

When first we met

And I don't mean recently

Connecting dots

and they are everywhere

Like stars

Moons 

Bright waves of remembering

It's good to know you

again

PROGRESS: What Happens When You Do It Anyway!

Life has been leaping off the pages the past couple months. In the summer I began writing about what it's like to leave a perfectly great job to pursue a life of poetry. Little did I know, poetry would begin pursuing me! Tracking this progress came to a halt, having gotten caught up, living progress. 

So it goes... 

Life is progress. Even if you don't know what you are doing, how you are going to go about doing it, or what it looks like when you get there. When you happen upon that thing that you know you must do and follow it, somehow life folds in to help. I won't rummage backwards through details, I'm absolutely exhausted and details at this late hour are getting tossed faster than flying stardust. Delusional is the best word. Yes.

Before I fall entirely off the internet for the night, I want to share a couple pictures of progress. Last Friday I hosted a Poetry Event at the famous indoor/outdoor used bookstore in Ojai, California. Bart's Books is an incredible venue for such gatherings. The plein-air atmosphere and a community of warm hearts lit the evening on fire! The question was posed, "So, what do YOU DO when it rains?" to which Ojai poets, and poets who sent in poems from around the world replied. Such a fun night with willing everyday-people sharing their hearts and perspective. A JOY!

 For more great pics CLICK HERE: 

 To read a GREAT REVIEW on the event CLICK HERE: 

 

© Nathalie Raijmakers Photography 2010

How To Make A Poem (meets) Love Angeles

GUESS WHAT!!! 

 MY VIDEO:

  HOW TO MAKE A POEM

 Has been featured at the popular Los Angeles based blog:

  LOVE ANGELES

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Check out the video then stay and browse around this uplifting news and entertainment source! 

Forrest Kolb, the Love Angeles founder and editor, has been up to great things!

I MUST BE

I must be.

This way.  

With a big laugh and unfailing smile 

I must be. 
The steps that carry when the rest have fallen tired

And the ladies worry their hems are too long, or not long

And men practice the bedding dance  

I must be. 
The one to hold hands with relics unseen

Beings that help keep us here

When we need that

And help us let go

When we need that too 

I must be. 
More than I expected to be. 

More than my capacity. 

More complete than kindness

a. willingness

Definition of a Drunk Love Heart #1: as told by akka b.

 Photo by Asha Tyska Mclaughlin

My own heart walks toward me... my very own heart.

Sprawled across decades. My decades. 

How can I explain

The enormity of these encounters...
And what it feels like to watch your own heart walk toward you?

Imagine the moon comes to join you for a midday lunch.

Imagine the sun meets your eye as you cross in a hall. 

AWAKE.
Like when a tree falls outside your bedroom window;

The breaking sound - the way the house shakes.

When summer sky gives birth to
Thunderstorm... that all over feeling.

A sense of transparency - someone knowing you too well. 

You can't look at them, but you can't look away. 

How can I explain?

What happens when the universe falls all over you.

The Whole Universe.

To describe it like a plane landing in your front yard would be weird, right?

How can I explain

What it's like to see your whole heart outside your body and walking toward you?

And realize it.

Realize what can't be explained.

Voyeur

Subtle 

Angel Light

The warm inner light has angel wings.

It's grown angel wings, I swear.

The warm inside light, has me seeing things.

Inside things

Out there.

the mountain mamma angel

Some angels are really MASSIVE
Big as a MOUNTAIN and sometimes bigger.
They can actually talk the sky into letting the sun shine longer,
and trick roads into sleeping for a day (or well, maybe napping for a couple hours).

Did you know Mountain Angels have swollen bellies?
It's true.
Because they have to hold the whole Universe inside.
I bet you never looked at a Mountain Angel and thought about their swollen belly before?
Okay, well, maybe you did.
But had you taken into account the reason?

(nod to A.D.)

the angel of perfect timing

she walked in
without blinking
you may have blinked
but she did not

she walked in
to smile for you
when it rained around
and you felt apprehensive

she walked in
because she knew you
and you knew her
even though you didn't know you knew each other

she walked in
and found you there
with a song in your palm
rain in your eyes

rain in your way
but not in the way

that you thought


(nod to K.M:)

some angels make me laugh nearly every time

It's what happens every time you open an email from that one person.
Or get a phone message.
Or look at their picture - a little bit sideways.
It's what happens when life seems funnier than it really is,
so funny that it actually ends up becoming funny,
and therefore it ends up being okay to just call it funny in the first place.

It's what happens when you have to look at things upside down,
in order to see them right side up.
Now that's funny!

And then there's the person who makes you smile even when they are being really serious.
Like REALLY serious.

Oh...and also there's that bit about life turning out exactly how you thought it wouldn't be.
HA! HA! HA!
(Did I already say that?)

How about when you trip...when trying to act cool?
Or when you get a hug for your dry sense of humor.
Or when you walk through the life of a person who radiates heart-beams
and you just can't help beaming right back.
Oh gosh that's good.
Really Good.

I believe all these things and moments and people are angels.

yes I do.


(nod to N.S. and A.K.)

angel of joyful oblivion

people whisper about ones who drink too much
indulging their own mirth
spilling laughter, breaking rules
untied shoes,
messy hair,
booming voices
peculiar choices

echos
replace footsteps
upon entering a room
because they've got no feet
no regret
nor thought
or possession

just love

and uninhibited Self Expression

Kindred Spirits

They call each other angels.
They call each other meant to be.
They call on each other.

I think that's how they found each other.

*

(Click the pic to see flowers laughing)

WE ARE THE ANGELS SERIES

I've noticed a theme.
ANGELS are everywhere.
Their season is all the time.
Their reason is everything.
and they don't always wear giant white feathery wings.

This is an introduction actually...

WE ARE THE ANGELS SERIES
- is a private collection of thoughts hinged on blessings, protections, awakenings and reminders.

During the next couple weeks I will honor the ones who have come before, the ones who will come again, the ones who are now - seen and unseen. And I'll do it in my own way and I'll call them ANGELS - all of them.

YOU. ME. WE.
-all of them.

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Let's talk about it...
Feel free to share your personal experiences in the comment section below or on the Facebook Fan Page.