I noticed a change in the tourist climate almost immediately as this week kicked off high season in the tropics. Last week we had the town to ourselves. The beach breaks were empty and the roads less tread made the potholes more predictable. Yesterday and today the tides washed in a significant number of pasty colored people out looking to do what I’ve been doing for 9 days. Glow.


Today was my last day after quite a lengthy run. Any longer in the sea and I would have developed gills. All aches aside, it was a solid visit with no major burns, cuts or bruises. Sadly, the borrowed blue “beloved” be-love surfboard was run-over today as I got caught inside of a merman’s late take-off. His fin tore through the deck at the back end punching a hole into its hollow core and flooding it with water. Luckily, my feet were nowhere near the tear. I can thank my sloppy frog-man duck-dive for that one. I’m manifesting an easy fix on the board like I manifested the guy with the water camera who will generously email me some clever shots.

I would’ve sent more surf reports along the way but the days ran together like chocolate sauce in a Trits Ice Cream Cookie. The waves were anywhere from waist high to overhead depending on the minute, the tide or the drift, and seldom were they sloppy, even in stormy Weather.


My schedule of events never varied more than Eat – Surf – Eat – Surf – Eat – Sleep – Rinse and Repeat. I did get a massage one day. And another time while picking up trash on the beach, I unearthed some rubber and harvested an entire tire. That was different. It occurred to me while digging in the dirt, that beach and river clean-ups are here to stay, forever. Even if we got every piece of garbage off the banks, there’s gonna be new bits washing up with every tide. Our water obviously wants to purge itself. Why else would the ocean be sucking down glaciers like Mountain Dew Slurpees?

Otherwise, when resting my bones I played lots of guitar on the veranda admiring pleasant jungle downpours and palm crawling monkey families with sandy melodies in my head drawing shadows from a waning gibbous moon.


To my own nutty delight I wrote a duet for a surfer dude and a merman who search for love on opposite sides of the glassy surface. One of them wants a surfer girl. The other craves fish obviously. I call it, Appetite for Mermaid.

My life continues to be a fantastically fast turning flipbook and I’m grateful for getting to shoot it in so many gorgeous locations with so many extraordinary cameo appearances (them’s being you.) In my movie, I portray a water bug with a moon-tan. My favorite part so far is being flung in front of a five-foot wave and finding my footing to surf it.


In a film, anything’s possible. It’s just a film after all. Every thing’s made up. So I hope you’re making up something saucy for your own scenes. Be a “I’m glad I did” instead of an “I wish I had.” Cause from what I’ve seen of it so far, the reviews are worth every bit of the rave.

May love be your wave,
-Jason

This week’s Water Conservation Tip:
Vote for Marriage Equality
How does that save water?
It just does.

From a remote beach in an undisclosed location I am happy to share this short film about the ocean and beach pollution.

A young filmmaker came up with an easy solution to how you can help. It's simple, Pick Up 3 and the difference you will see!



Last Sunday I had the pleasure of receiving the 2009 Missions in Music Award by the Environmental Media Association. Nervously I accepted the award from past Honoree Alanis Morissette and then played I'm Yours to the Hollywood crowd seated down two narrow city streets on the Paramount Lot. It’s an honor just to be acknowledged as an environmentally conscious person. In doing so, I’m created as so. Therefore, I get to be just that.

If there’s ANYTHING you wish to be, ask someone to acknowledge you as that, even if you’ve never done anything related to it yet. Just by hearing You as something new, you are introduced into a new context that you actually get to swim in.

Here’s a clip on the Green Carpet from The EMA Awards. I follow the dashing philanthropist, Sir Richard Branson.



I’m wearing one of my favorite tee’s from BlendApparel.Com, flip-flops made of recycled bike tires and sustainable hemp, while touting a water bottle with the word “Gratitude” emblazoned on it, courtesy of Spoken Glass.


With me on the green carpet is my constant friend, Tawney Bevacqua. A fun factoid about Tawney is how she appears in the original cut of the "Lucky" music video. Seen by only a handful of people, I had suggested to Colbie Caillat that the video end with us both dancing in the arms of another. I wanted to show that neither she nor I were singing to each other – instead, just being two grateful souls singing the same song of love. In the real end however, Colbie couldn’t get a guy in her shot as she filmed her scene in a spontaneous undercover operation, so seeing Tawney and I dancing made me look like a jerk, leaving Colbie unwanted, stranded on a desert isle. (More behind-the-scenes stories like this can be learned in the special features section of the upcoming Live Album/DVD, A Beautiful Mess - Live on Earth. Click here to order yours.

May your day be blessed with fresh and clean organics,
Jason

You are a child of earth – not of a building. When was the last time you thanked your mother? Activate and appreciate the naturalist in you and take your bathroom breaks outside.

The average toilet wastes 3 gallons of water per flush. Yikes.

Go put your coat on and begin adding your nitrogen enriched blend of liquid compost to the thirsty fertile soil. The earth will thank you for it.

Seriously. Do this. Visit Peeoutside.Org and join the millions who are volunteering to pee outside.

If it’s too cold to go outside and sprink, then that’s all the more reason to be grateful you live in a warm house. Many people don’t have that luxury.

If you live in a city and the cops catch you, let them know you’re up to big things, like re-creating the world - seeding AND watering it.

As you will with this Blog, spread your pee around. Don’t always go in the same spot. Urea, the organic compound found in the urine of mammals is one of the most widely used in fertilizers, favored by the soil for its savory qualities. So share it with every tree you see. Heck, you could might possibly potentially sell your pee! So why flush all that value down the toilet?

If you look near the base of this beautiful perennial, you might just see a rainbow.


Did you know that agriculture is quite possibly the number one cause of pollution on the planet, followed by the building industry, THEN, transportation? I mention this to remind you how crucial it is to support organic farming, the producing of goods without having to dump chemicals all over the earth.

Organic farming also creates jobs because it takes more farmers to tend to the weeds and the bugs; tasks that cheap chemicals can do quickly, but at a dangerous price.

So get going on. Create a space in your life for giving back to the planet. Set yourself free and go pee on a tree.

-J

“I thought about one of my favorite Sufi poems, which says that God long ago drew a circle in the sand exactly around the spot where you are standing right now. I was never not coming here. This was never not going to happen."
— Elizabeth Gilbert



I’ve never been lucky enough to find a four-leaf clover. I’ve been gifted plenty, but I never found one on my own accord down on my hands and knees. Then again, I’ve never committed to a long look. But I will admit that in all my years in this child body, whenever I found myself stooped in the grass, fingering between blades of green and those greener, I always hoped that that day’s first charmed discovery would be made by me.

In all of life, failure in the finding never got me down. The upset shows itself as a sign that that my luck would show up as something different, and perhaps a much larger version of itself. So, there was rarely a need to squander a precious moment and/or add a rare and mutant flower to the vision board.

I apply the same theory to never winning the lottery. I know I’m not supposed to get my millions for free. For this I am always eager to earn it.

There were plenty of jobs where I wasn’t hired, many of them in music and theatre. Rejection left me bouncing off of so many NO’s that I learned to be encouraged by the defeats. I found I had more talents to cultivate, more songs to write, more moxie to move. I was always complete in knowing I was moving in the right direction.


Yesterday I sprawled across an infinite patch of tropical clover on a near deserted stretch of one of Maui’s sacred shores, basking in a pink grapefruit sunrise. I warmed and awakened every sense and chakra taking sips of the new day, gulps of air and gasps of soul soothing ginger as tea. In my mind I harmonized with the crow of the cock and purred along with the hush and shush of the swaying palms in a Pakalani filled paradise. I pulled wild hairs from my eyes and allowed my body to dry itself of the sweat fostered a few minutes before in the steamy pre-dawn sauna.

Naked, I acknowledged the elements for granting me such a blessed life. With nothing to offer the world in that moment, my naked newborn self offered up love, laughter, and gratitude. From far out to sea, God, on a cruise ship perhaps, sighed as if to say “well done” and returned the love and gratitude in a breeze, and, on my behalf, cleverly kept the world as it is.

My gaze turned to the clover and I quietly remarked at how it wasn’t the traditional Irish Shamrock I usually familiar my eyes with. This tropical ground cover was so expansive you might miss it over its normalcy. Yet, what I noticed was how each and every little stem had only two pairs of pedals popping out of the sprout. The deeper I looked through the filter of appreciation, the more I realized I wasn’t just sitting on a grassy knoll, but resting rather, almost retired in the enlightenment, enveloped on a prairie in perfect company among thousands of 4-leaf clovers.

Luck is all around me.
Love is all there is.

May every situation be summed up in a smile.
-Jason

1.

howthesunrose : When are You-Jason your most authentic self???

Today in Yoga, Tricia led me thru a series of challenging balancing poses.

Tree to Dancing Tree. Half moon. Warrior Three with Airplane Arms. Reverse Half moon. Chaka Khan. Rinse and Repeat. I try my damndest to move through the flow without collapsing or dropping a leg, yet the pain in my ass sends thoughts to my brain with flashbacks of Susan Powter. Stop the Insanity! Muscles spaaazz and quiiiiver. Breathing becomes a moan and I throw it at my fearless leader, Love Flourishing Tricia who is balancing with ease, swimming in her own inner-bliss while still managing to lead my legs to oblivion. “Why is she doing this to me?” I question my skill level and whether or not she really knows me. What is her reasoning for choosing the poses, the order and the extended length? I begin to wonder if I really have time for class at all. My muscles gyrate more and more. The breath in my mouth is now visible frothy foam. For a few seconds I even hate Yoga. But therein this communication lie the yoga, the union with Self, and I realize I’m just resisting.

In the realizing of the resistance, I get it – and I finally let go, smiling into the pain. I know exactly why she’s doing this to me. It’s Because:
A) I’m in the class.
B) She knows I’m capable of strength
C) I can stop anytime I choose - on my own volition

In Reality, SHE isn’t doing anything to me other than speaking from a few mats away, reminding me that my breathing will get me by. I continue to let it all go and allow the pain to become the teacher.

This was a huge lesson for me. There have been times when my manager has made requests for more travel, more concerts, surprising collaborations, etc that require a lot of time and energy. I’ve been crazy to think, “Why is he doing this to me? Why is he adding this stuff ? Does he not know me? Does he not like me? Is he trying to kill me or keep me from having a life?”

Now I get it. He makes those requests because:
A) I’m in the class.
B) He knows I’m capable and strong
C) I can stop anytime I choose - on my own volition

I do it to myself.

So to answer your question, I’m my most authentic self when I remember that I’m in the class, grateful to be learning something, gaining strength and compassion for my ever tightening and slightly swollen gluteus. I am my most authentic self in this now moment.

2.

tommylittlefoot : how did the SPARC theater help you with stage presence?

The Wife of Virginia Governor Tim Kaine, 1st Lady Anne Holton, recently said, “Not all kids are Jason Mraz.”

Is she saying your child’s talent probably won’t be cultivated and carried beyond into adulthood’s economic fulfillment? It makes me nervous to hear this kind of limiting and resigned dialog. I owe ALL of my stage presence and skills to the arts programs that the State of Virginia afforded me as a child. And furthermore, I owe my success to NEVER believing in statistical comments like, “Not all kids will grow up to do what they love for a living.”

I attended SPARC - The School of Performing Arts in the Richmond Community, a program that is very active in central Virginia, nurturing the fundamentals of performance art and people skills. I also participated in Chorus, Band, and Drama in the Hanover County Public School System, and attended a summer music program at the Governor’s School, funny enough. I would love to see the very same programs I benefited from flourish.

I vote for more/continued support for the arts from our State and Federal Governments. Schools have an opportunity to produce any kind of result they choose. They can essentially grow any kind of human they so desire. We should celebrate and encourage the expressive side of learning and living by having Art as a feature in the curriculum, not just as an exploratory.

I think humans are natural born creative artists. Every decision we make in life is a creative choice. All we do is Create! Yet it seems our system educates us away from our passions. Is it too bold to think that school may be killing creativity?

Check out this inspiring Ted-Talk by Sir Ken Robinson. I had the pleasure of chatting with this chap in Vancouver at last month’s World Peace Summit. In this talk he gives a wonderful 20 on this topic. You may want to share this with your family, teachers, school board, etc. And perhaps fwd it to the Governor’s Wife.


3.

diieannuhh : who do you think would win in a fight- a taco or a grilled cheese?

Gooey grill cheese got nothing on taco. Los Tacos son asombrosos.

4.

songgock: What significance does the number "12" have to you?

I never thought of this before today. But 12 does kind of play a recurring role in my life. I always elect to put 12 songs on a studio album. This is the 12th post of 12 questions game, which, incidentally was intended for post yesterday, October 12th. My Saturn is presently in the 12th house. I got braces put on when I was 12. And there are 12 letters in the name “Holmes The Cat.”

In numerology, you can add the two numbers together to create a single digit “birth number.” Here’s what it says about threes. Consider now that my albums are threes (because of the 12 song track listing).

Number Three – courtesy of CaféAstrology.com

Number Three is a sociable, friendly, and outgoing vibration. Kind, positive, and optimistic, Three's enjoy life and have a good sense of humor. Ruled by Jupiter.

Keywords: jovial, friendly, positive, adventurous, self-expressive. If expressed negatively: extravagant, scattered, superficial.

As lovers: Number Threes are fun, energetic, and willing to experiment. These lovers need space and contact with others in order to feel content. If they feel confined, they will be unhappy and restless. Allowed the freedom to socialize and scatter their energies, they are exciting and happy lovers.

5.

iheartjasonmraz: How many hats do you have now, have you added hats from fans to your collection?

In my personal collection I have only 5 or 6 varieties of the same hat from past touring seasons as well as a few flexfit lids from LifeRollsOn.Org.

And then there’s the hundred plus hats sent to me this past year from random clothing companies and many that were tossed onstage as gifts from generous audiences.

I’ve decided I’m going to autograph the excess hats and get them onto the cold heads of Chemo patients, young and old. My Rad Aunt Sharon is currently being treated for Lung Cancer and has inspired me to share my hats with those in need of snazzy headwear.



6.

vaqkiddo: what is your stand on legalizing marijuana?

Marijuana is already one of the largest cash crops in the United States – I would love to see Farmers thrive and not be jailed.

It would be beneficial for the whole to not spend millions each year incarcerating and rehabilitating growers and users. I think it would actually stimulate the economy to have another taxable good on the market, much like tobacco and alcohol are taxable.

Marijuana is an awesome herbal remedy for most ailments and should be taken very seriously. Its recreational purposes should not be abused and those committed should clear the space for it, just as you would if you were going to have a 5-hour massage or take LSD. In every case, I think it needs to have an intention for use; a time and place, for spiritual and healing purposes.

In my opinion, marijuana is NOT a gateway drug. Most people experience this euphoria through alcohol first.

One in 25 deaths around the world is caused by alcohol consumption, and booze is now as damaging to global health as tobacco was a decade ago, according to a new study in the British medical journal the Lancet. – June 29th, TIME.com

7.

rosequartz21 What are you grateful for today?

I woke up this morning and this was the first text on my phone: “Hey Dood. Thank you again. Your fans are the best. They are a good crowd to play to as an opener. You are a great and generous headliner. You rule. Can’t wait to play/write with you again.” – Brett Dennen.

THANK YOU BRETT DENNEN.

I am grateful for that acknowledgment. Brett is someone I look up to. His music, his being, his actions - all good – every bit of it true. It was my pleasure to share this past weekend with him and his righteous music as we welcomed almost 50,000 people over the course of 3 days. If you haven’t checked out Brett Dennen, do so now.

www.brettdennen.net

8.

paw00paw: if you could break a record which would it be?

Free diving. At most I can hold my breath for maybe a minute and that’s if I’m okay with panic’s underwater disco. The current record for holding one’s breath underwater is 11 minutes and 35 seconds. That’s nutty.

9.

brandibomb: what is your favorite thing about Oceanside?

This.

10.

zainybrain: What would you say is your greatest flaw?

This is a tricky question, because I don’t want to create for myself that something is wrong or out of whack. I love whole Me as I am. But there are many people I admire for their wit and comedy and quickness to make light of a situation. Sometimes I find that I am very “matter-of-fact.” This makes it difficult to act or pretend I am someone else, which would be fun from time to time. I guess my flaw is that sometimes I can be too self-aware.

11.

J. Thomas Mraz: What is all this?

I’m not attempting to change the world in one blog or with one song. I’m just trying to keep the conversation moving along. My voice is just a small contribution to the big ongoing conversation that helped man live past his 40s. It’s the same conversation that overcame apartheid and is the same conversation that is establishing equality for all. It’ll be this conversation that will eventually lead to marriage equality and the end of all wars. I trust it is this kind of open dialogue that will bring a few more people up in the world with love and happiness as something they use in life to the point that they can pass it along to their kids. This is age old vernacular and its all been said before by many a hippy and scholar alike. I’m just one man’s view of life. And I enjoy my freedom and realizations in the telling of it. This is the era of the seeker; those redesigning their lives for sustainability and those redefining the God Myth for the one love and fair treatment of all of Earth’s inhabitants. I think this is an important time to be alive and I am grateful to be in action. You reading this means you are in action too. Welcome to our renaissance.

12.

nadiette: Besides your music, what do wish to be remembered for?

I hope the Eulogy goes:

He lived poetically,
He loved romantically,
He laughed authentically,
And he cried unapologetically.

The Farmers’ Market in my neighborhood kicks off every Thursday. There I get to interact with my local farmers, most of them cultivating some extraordinary organics like heirloom tomatoes, giant Hubbard squash, figs and persimmons, every green and bean imaginable, houseplants and landscape additions, honey & bee pollen, hippy clothes and folk arts and a plethora of pretty ladies getting their sunshiney shoppin’ on.

Today I picked up some Oat Grass for my cats, some super fresh bee pollen (and I’m talking mere hours from the hive,) and a few pumpkin tamales to snack on - a sweet and savory companion for today’s journaling.

Avoid the squareness of the grocery store and be a part of the “good food movement.” Support your local farmer’s market. If you don’t think you have one on your area, try the Farmer’s Market search on localharvest.org

Dude in Orange totally eyein' that pumpkin as an accessory.

And - in my continued efforts to raise awareness about water conservation,
I am supporting the ban of the plastic water bottle. If there’s anything that boils my blood, it’s bearing witness to the unseen amounts of wasted water and unwanted plastic. I see it as arrogance really, to buy a small quantity of water and then toss the plastic immediately. One use and then it becomes waste. That’s a lot of trash in the wake of our thirst. (My argument against soda is the same – only I’ll add that you shouldn’t drink that garbage to begin with.)

Here’s what people in our community are sharing!

“I was shocked and saddened when I read that in order to cut by half the 22 million deaths per year caused by a lack of clean water/ proper sanitation we would need $11.3 billion. Then I read that the global bottled water industry is worth $22 billion. From this point forward I pledge to never buy another plastic water bottle and donate the money I would've spent.”

- the girl with kaleidoscope eyes

“The conclusion is that a bottle of ’spring’ water costs 2000 times as much energy as a bottle of tap water. In other words: the energy it takes to produce one bottle of spring water can be used to fill two thousand bottles with tap water.”

- SuperForester Julius’ post on SuperForest.Org

If possible, ban the plastic bottle. And pick up a permanent one.
Rise up your concern about where water comes from and how precious it really is.

Don't think a nationwide ban is possible? Check out this article about the Australian town that HAS managed to ban the plastic water bottle altogether!

Consider a personal canteen on the list of things to get people this holiday season. In this day in age, more stuff doesn’t amount to much, so gift practically.

IMPORTANT - A recent release from the SIGG bottle company admits to using a harmful chemical agent (BPA) in the spray lining of their bottles. If you purchased a SIGG last year, it may be time to recycle it and purchase something new.

1.
Billium42o: What is your favorite thing to look out at through your telescope? (in outer space lol)

“You can see the rings of Saturn with this baby,” smugged the salesman in the telescope and lens store while slapping the side of the 8” orange Celestron tube like it was a used car. I was just browsing, curious about the curious, as usual. But I bought his pitch. What I really heard was, “and this one will get you laid.” I’ll take two.

Sure enough, on one of my first evenings as stargazer, I dialed in my location, focused on the brightest spot in the sky, and amazed myself. I just couldn’t figure out why my first point wasn’t coming into focus. I soon realized it was because the shape wasn’t a sphere and that I was looking at Saturn and it’s stellar ring system. I’ve been in love with that magnificent tube of magnification ever since. Thank you, Mr Telescope Salesman for introducing us.

2.
Jaime_u : how many kinds would you like to have? :D

I think the world would rather me adopt a pet.

I hope my mother isn’t disturbed by this answer. Yet, here I am at 32 and the dream of hosting children on the planet still doesn’t strike a chord in me. The more I grow socially and environmentally active, the more sympathetic I become about our exploding population.

This doesn’t mean I won’t be a good uncle or a positive influence on future generations. It merely suggests that I enjoy a cat-quiet house.

3.
PattyZc: what is the meaning of all ur tattoos?

To me, tattoo’s are all about intention. In the ceremony of the etching, the pain is vital to your adopting the new philosophy. It’s mind over matter and what better to occupy your mind than lightness; light that inspired you to get the tat in the first place. While receiving a tattoo is a lesson in realizing self worth, it can also be a practice of letting go. I bet it’s like what the medieval medical practice of bloodletting was - bleeding the patient to cure or prevent disease.

Here are some tats you may have never seen.

This happy cat located just below my fat hairless knee is Gmork, the bounty hunting Wolf from The Never Ending Story. I hope to have the entire cast of that classic film emblazoned around my legs so that I might stand as grounded as Morla the giant turtle, be as agile as Atreyu, or have the ability to fly like Falkor. I also have the words “Sebastian, Call my Name” scrawled across my butt cheeks.



This next Tattoo is called, Lady in the Water, and it’s based on the 2006 thriller/fantasy film written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan. Of course, I got this tattoo after I had only seen the trailer. Turns out the film wasn’t as good in the long form.



This tattoo I did myself. Not bad for mirror work eh? I chose a dinosaur to express the sentiment, “I love you. You Love me. We’re a happy family.” The crown is a replica of an air freshener I used to have in the rear window of my first car. I thought it added charm and “freshness” to the prehistoric figure. This design is also intended to be the mascot/logo for my official blog, FreshnessFactorFiveThousand.Blogspot.Com being as dinosaurs are like, 5000 years old.

4.
brilligitsbel: What do you think makes your soul grow?

My answer to this question is: Bring something to life.

Nothing moves, nurtures, and expands the soul like watching something else grow.

Maybe this is what having kids feels like. I only know the feeling from planting trees, raising tomatoes, picking avocados, and writing songs.

If you’re one of millions of people wondering what to do with your life, try farming. Join a community garden, volunteer at a greenhouse, or go hang out at the local farmers’ market and get to know who’s growing what and how. Most farmers will be delighted to have you visit and/or lend a hand. Turning over some soil will turn over your life. I promise. Go to FarmAid.Org to learn more about you can get involved.

Farmers Kick Ass.

5.
Teddster: If you where Waldo, where would you hide?

Behind the Camera.

6.
EmmaSive: What kind of camera do you use to take the pictures you post on your blog?

I rock a Nikon D60 with a 10.5mm DX ED Fisheye mostly.

This is a tight shot of Bushwalla's Backing Band, Two Left Shoes. I took this just before they hit the stage in Calgary.



And this is a view 120 feet directly above stage in Vancouver at GM Place before 12,000 people showed up.



I also enjoy the new Polaroid Pogo instant/digital camera. I gotta stay true to my roots, y’know.

7.
chinker : Do you fly commercial?

Due to the demand of our show this year, flying private is sometimes the only way to make the distances possible. Take getting to Farm Aid for instance. We took a bow in Edmiddleofnowhereton Canada around 11pm and were sound asleep in a hotel in St Louis by 4am.


Flying private doesn’t happen often and it can be uber-expensive and I thank Warner Music/Atlantic for making such a generous contribution to this year’s Farm Aid concert. We wouldn’t have made it on time using commercial air transport.


There are many great things about private aviation though. For example, there is no “threat level orange” to be cautious of. And you don’t have to remove your shoes for security screening because there is no security screening. The bus usually pulls up a few feet from the steps of the plane and off you go. If ever you felt compelled to join the mile high club, this would certainly be the most comfortable route to go.

I think of an airplane as a third-environment. It’s where I work without interruption and where I sleep the best, enjoying the most vivid of dreams. Today I’m flying on American Airlines Flight 387 from St Louis to San Diego. I’m in seat 4F if you care to stop by for a drink.

8.
peace_love_kim: If you had a time machine, where would you go and explore?

Time machines are depressing because they don’t exist.

Considering the light years of existence that earth has seen, everything is essentially behind us. We are standing in the future. This is a place where hindsight is 20/20. Knowing what I know I might go back to when plastics were introduced and suggest we not use it for one-time use items. Things like plastic bags and plastic bottles are used and refused only moments after purchase. Every piece of plastic that has ever been created is STILL here on earth and it’s a huge disaster that doesn’t seem to be slowing down.

A Being Love Tip: Keep some re-usable bags in your car at all times for all shopping purposes. Demonstrate mindfulness and show other shoppers how easy and how free you are from the dependency of plastics.

Having a time machine would be beneficial in the climate crisis to assess the real situation ahead of us. Will the earth freeze before it heats? Will the seas rise in dramatic levels? Will California finally become it’s own island as a result? Some science seems to suggest that by the year 2050 we will be out of resources. If we keep consuming the way we do, dependant on oil for EVERYTHING, the planet will fix the imbalance itself and no longer support human life.

9.
krystimayers : What are some 'spirit words' you use to fill in the blanks? I'm just starting out with 'Plenty of Time' and need some examples

The Absolute, Almighty, All That Is
Being. Brahman. Buddha.
The Energy. The Essence. The Eternal.
God. Goddess. Gaia.
The Magic. The Mana. The Mother.
Infinite – Love – Light
The Self – The Spirit – The Sugar Daddy

Get to know YOU as any and all of these names listed, for it is THAT that is having a krystimayers experience. Be grateful IT has chosen to be you for a while.

10.
Mirnaa @jason_mraz what's the most inspiring song you've ever heard? :)

I live in the moment.

11.
sidewinderxx : How can I transform frustration and anger into patience and compassion?

I get angry when I see plastic water bottles in the trash. I loathe plastic water bottles. I mean I really, really despise them. But, if I am a compassionate man, I still offer up my love to the companies who make them and the people who stock them and sell them, and the fools who buy them. Love All.

Transformation is my favorite game and in my experience, anger and frustration are the result of you not being authentic somewhere in your life or with someone in your life. Being fake about anything creates a block inside of you. Life can’t work for you if you don’t show up as you. It’ll weigh heavy in your stomach when you sense something isn’t being said. It eventually turns itself into stress, which unattended explodes in the form of anger. Many people ignore themselves in a situation and look for other people and circumstances to blame, but anger and frustration form within. Your thoughts, speech, beliefs, actions and attitudes create the picture of your life. Draw it well.

Frustration and Love can’t exist in the same place at the same time, so get real and start doing what you would rather be doing in life. Love your life. All of it. Even the heavy shit that happened to you when you were 8. All of it was and IS perfect.

12.
neillee2008 : what's next?

I’m gonna go brush my teeth.

Kelly, age 6 - “This is a picture of an octopus. It has eight testicles.”


Jerry, age 6 – “Oysters' balls are called pearls.”


Wayne, age 7 – “If you are surrounded by ocean you are an Island. If you don't have ocean all round you, you are incontinent.


Kylie, age 6 – “Sharks are ugly and mean, and have big teeth, just like Emily Richardson. She's not my friend any more.”


Billy, age 8 – “A dolphin breaths through an asshole on the top of its head.”


Millie, age 6 – “My uncle goes out in his boat with 2 other men, a woman and some pots and comes back with crabs.”


William, age 7 – “When ships had sails, they used to use the trade winds to cross the ocean. Sometimes when the wind didn't blow the sailors would whistle to make the wind come. My brother said they would have been better off eating beans.”


Helen, age 6 – “Mermaids live in the ocean. I like mermaids. They are beautiful and I like their shiny tails, but how on earth do mermaids get pregnant? Like, really?”


Amy, age 6 – “I'm not going to write about the ocean. My baby brother is always crying, my Dad keeps yelling at my Mom, and my big sister has just got pregnant, so I can't think what to write.”


Christopher, age 7 – “Some fish are dangerous. Jellyfish can sting. Electric eels can give you a shock. They have to live in caves under the sea where I think they have to plug themselves into chargers at night.”


Kevin, age 6 – “When you go swimming in the ocean, it is very cold, and it makes my willy small.”


Becky, age 8 – “Divers have to be safe when they go under the water. Divers can't go down alone, so they have to go down on each other.”


Julie, age 7 – “On vacation my Mom went water skiing. She fell off when she was going very fast. She says she won't do it again because water fired right up her big fat ass.”


Bobby, age 6 – “The ocean is made up of water and fish. Why the fish don't drown I don't know.”


James, age 7 – “My dad was a sailor on the ocean. He knows all about the ocean. What he doesn't know is why he quit being a sailor and married my mom.”

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If you haven’t guessed, this week’s water conservation tip is “teach your children well.”

Click here to learn more about literacy. It is safe to say that someone who knows how to read will make better choices about their welfare, healthcare, and how they interact with the world.

And what could be more beneficial to the well being of our planet and her oceans than educating our next generation of mothers? No matter what city, country or village you live in, your mom is going to have her way with you first. So let’s empower the women to ensure their kids grow up socially and environmentally conscious.

Go literacy, at Literacy.Org

See also: The National Center for Family Literacy

and: National Institute for Literacy

It's kinda funny, but the more I look at the word literacy, the less it looks like a word. Why is that?

1.
Wingnut_3: why do we ignore the ones who admire us and admire the ones who ignore us?

No matter who you are, what people want the most is to be admired. That’s one of the highest feelings there is. So it’s safe to say we’re constantly looking to feed that admirable fix. It won’t always happen in the presence of those who already admire us. We’re too used them. We see it so much we don’t see it anymore. We want to earn the admiration of strangers and the envy of enemies past. It is through them that we would experience a higher sense of accomplishment (at least, on a superficial level.)

If you learn to admire everyone for always doing their best, even in their failures and in times of their most confused moments, you will quickly find the whole world admiring you for your compassion. There will be no need to pick and choose whom you ignore and whom you chase after. You will awaken to all the rare beauty and skill that everyone has to offer.

2.
trulytrayce: do you dream in color?

I do! Lately I’ve been falling asleep to surf films. They keep me warm and happy when I’m on a bus from Rapid City, South Dakota to Bozeman, Montana – far from the reaches of the beaches. Surf movies tend inspire surf dreams. Go figure. Luckily I’ve been dreaming of surf on a slightly more difficult level. The waves are bigger and I’m riding backside, which is something I’m not very graceful at. The dream often begins on the take off, in time to bend down and grab the rail, turn left and start driving. What never happens in my dreams nor reality is the part where I’m received on the beach by my surf crush, The Eloquently Expressive Kassia Meador. That would make a more interesting dream sequence. See Kass and a sea of soul surfers in The Present, a new film by the fabulous Thomas Campbell.

3.
cassmraz: .. I'm currently unemployed, not in college & looking for my purpose in life!! how'd you KNOW music was your calling?!

I was just thinking about this recently. Just a few nights ago I was laying in bed, a low lying sunken cradle of a mattress that vibrates over the rear wheels of the bus, a place I frequently trip-out, practicing gratitude to the max after a long day in any given arena. On this occasion I was remarking typically about how crazy this life has turned out to be.

I always knew that music and entertainment was where I was at my best, fully expressed, really alive, (but I never anticipated the scale I’d get to play on.) I knew 14 years ago while in college that original music was what I wanted to focus on. I knew in high school that music is what I would do in college. I knew in middle school that I wanted to be in the choir in high school. I knew in elementary school that I loved to entertain.

My oldest memory finds me in my primary-colored-scary-clown themed bedroom communicating with the night skies through open blinds. I was somewhere between 3 and 5 and I was confident in my praying, introduced then to a voice that would speak to me for all my days. That dialogue between mystic and toddler is the very same conversation I continue today in my songwriting. It even guides me here in these blogs. So to answer your question, I think I was born to do this.

To you, my fun-employed friend, I encourage you to sit for only a few minutes and listen to the voice inside of you. It knows exactly what it wants to do. YOU just have to stop getting in its way. Forget how difficult your dreams may seem to achieve. Ignore the idea that your family and friends will think you’re weird. Drop all your doubts about financial concerns and just start living your life according to your purpose. The only thing that has to be in place for you to BE IT now is your attitude. Your life is your movie. Be your own hero and make it your favorite film to watch.

4.
SillyCee: with all the travelling you do for tours and pleasure, what does your passport look like?

SillyCee, I’m super bummed, sort of. I just recently had to retire my passport after 10 years of loyal service. I was so proud of that handy document, mainly because I didn’t lose it ever, but I had also acquired more than 120 stamps, had numerous visa’s and folds and creases in it, from Hong Kong to Macchu Picchu, and I had as many pages added as you are allowed. It was my little blue almanac, bruised and battered. I got to keep it as a souvenir after the feds punched a few holes in it to secure its invalidation.

In celebration of the crispy new edition that won’t expire until 2019, I put extra effort into my reflection on picture day. Here’s what I’ll look like for the next 10 years of travel.



5.
ompurnamidam: Do you have a personal astrologer - and do you have your chart done regularly?

I’m surprised I’ve never been asked this before. Yes, I do have a personal astrologer. For the past 7 years, I’ve frequently checked-in to see what might be going on in the cosmos that could affect certain mood-swings, ailments, relationships, and “natural” disasters. It’s all quite fascinating really.

At the exact moment you were born, all the planets, moons and stars were in a specific place in the sky. This is a specific picture an astrologer uses known as your birth chart. The month you were born (as its related to the sun) determines your sun sign, which is the basic horoscope you read in the paper. An astrologer goes deeper and reads into the entire scene, gathering data from all the space dramas out there, revealing possible events that have happened or will happen at certain ages based on the path the planets will take throughout your lifetime.

Each planet has its gravitation hold on you as well as profound energies that instigate thoughts and actions, even stress. Then there are wonderful and sometimes lethal combos of planets in transit, where two or more great gods team up on you to praise you or teach you something new.

If you think its craziness, just zoom out a little until you’re outside of our solar system and respect the overall size of things. And, on a cellular level, we, like quartz crystal, are made of silicon dioxide, a mineral that attracts energy and fuels communication. So in essence, everything’s cosmic. Humans are merely another miraculous being that evolved to communicate. Who’s to say something else isn’t feeding that energy and pulling the strings on occasion? What gave birth to the human after all other than the big bang and the natural elements?

Lets take an aside and see how the power of positive or progressive thought could actually heal a situation. If “love” or life-energy could be measured, it would change humanity for good. Western thought and medicine works only to dull symptoms and ease pain. Ancient and “alternative” medicine uses natural ingredients from Earth, herbs and stones, meditation and prayer to purify the soul, which in turn corrects the imbalance itself. At heart, we are natural beings that thrive on nature. Unfortunately we spend most of our time and resources starving ourselves of natural resources. Astrology is as vital a tool in conscious living as it aids to live in harmony with the flux of all the energies pushing and pulling.

And, fear not, astrology is still just data. By your own volition you decide whether or not to go left or right. You get to add your own instincts to the equation. You are cosmic after all.

6.
maaja: what smell does you nose love?

Salty Air. About halfway to the beach from my house, I can catch a trace scent of the California coast. The air becomes thick and like the rim of a margarita, I can taste it on my lips. For some strange reason, the hint usually triggers the need to take a dump. I don’t know.

7.
ms_abinal: Do you have any advice for Obama?

Sure. Forgive all the nations for whatever they did that’s keeping our missiles, tanks and soldiers armed and in combat. Lead the world into a new direction of peace by demonstrating a powerful example of compassion. Apologize to all those invested in oil and nuclear power and invite them to join in the building of a new efficient clean earth. Build more schools, increase the number of Arts programs, and pay the teachers anything they want. Also, Keep the Internet free, put a kitten on the US Flag, and make everyday “Casual Friday.“

8.
oddlybuoyant: you've travelled all over - what place/landscape makes you feel most connected to your higher purpose? or just amazed? Why

To date, I’ve been most amazed on the Incan Trail en route to Macchu Picchu. You get so deep in the mountains that you come to life with spirit and vitality. 4 days walking in prayer helps of course, but the landscape is stunning and the energy in the Andres is unlike anything I’ve ever felt. The Himalayas is next on my list of places to be elevated by every sense of the word.



9.
ahneedscoffee: QOT. How old would u be if u didn't know how old u are?

I’d like to say 23, but my foot falling asleep as I type with my legs crossed makes me feel older, more aware of an aging body. Plus, there’s no way my memories from the past three years could convince me I’m younger than 30. Life shows up for me just as it is, therefore the unlimited truth celebrates my being 32 – which, incidentally, is the inverse of 23.

10.
onedancinblonde: what's your musical guilty pleasure?

I fancy the Yacht Rock. This is specific era of music that was recorded and released from the late-70’s to the mid-80’s. Artists such as Loggin’s and Messina, Christopher Cross, and the Doobie Brothers were at the literal helm and had all at some point managed to have an album cover or video featuring them on a sailboat. Itunes has a great Yacht Rock playlist to get you started on the sea of smooth. Also, there’s a hilarious series on YouTube aptly titled, Yacht Rock, which gives a dramatization of the events that took place that in turn inspired the heart rock hits. Heads up for the backhand of Hall & Oates.

The usual Wednesday Conservation about water will resume on Thursday. Or shall I say, Thirst-Day. and with only 2 weeks left in the tour, I am committing to two more rounds of “12 questions,” thus completing the series in 12 parts.

And thanks are due to everyone for asking great questions, and those patiently reading and taking interest in this community. I am humbled by your listening. - Jm