Samson is trying to win this Cutest Dog Competition in order to pay for his 13 year old brother's cataract surgery and donate money to PAWS.org! We appreciate your vote!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tqcBHwYmCHw

Absolutely amazing information. Gregg Braden presenting astounding and ground breaking facts, scientific observations, and spiritual philosophies.

Too Many Tears - a song written especially for the Australia Bushfire Appeal. I do hope you'll have a look and listen to the video which I also posted below,  it's really quite touching and beautiful :) I'm LillyAnn Lewsey in Second Life and am joined with my good friend RebelMum Slade in SL, (and all of my great friends from that area!) in the efforts supporting the Australia Bushfire Appeal.




A little history:

Experiment Rhode and Mari Upshaw are writing partners for Metaverse Music and write under the team name of "music desperados"; they are both musicians and passionate about Music; Ex is from Sydney Australia and Mari is from Houston, Texas.

Ex is 1/3 of the Australian band Somerset, Oh & Rhode who are making the transition from RL into SL;

Mari is also the curator of Angel Dorei Musuem in Second Life. The current Exhibition is the Art of Australia which opened on January 26, Australia Day showing the art of 15 artists from all over Australia...and then.. on the weekend of 7th/8th of February, Victoria Australia went up in flames...Mari and Ex are friends of Australian musician Brian Henderson Ward in SL Jackdog Snook, and heard Jack talk about the devastation around Melbourne at one of Jack's SL concerts. Mari asked Ex if he would like to write a song about the horrific fires and dedicated to the resilient spirit of Australians. So Ex and Mari wrote the lyrics to "Too Many Tears" and sent them on to Ex's band mate Brigth Oh. Bright was so excited about the possibility of the song and the lyrics, he started writing music and also contributed the "middle eight" lyrics. He sang the song and wrote and recorded the music.

The result is the song "Too Many Tears" which had its debut at the Bushfire Benefit held at Angel Dorei Museum on Sunday, February 15th. 125,000L was raised at the benefit with proceeds dedicated to RedCross Australia, with the support of 12 SL musicians who gave their time and talent toward the effort (Angel Dorei Benefit Musicians - Joaquin Gustav, Jubal Enyo, Mash Rhode, Russell Eponym, MichelleD Ecksol, Charles Somerset, Quinton Whitman, Senjata Witt, FrankLee Anatra, Cylindrian Rutabaga, Jessy Sommer and Jackdog Snook. Ex, Mari and Bright are hoping they can have "Too Many Tears" available for sale with all proceeds going to the Bushfire Appeal.

During the past week music events in the online world of SecondLife have raised over $3000US for the Australian Red Cross Bushfire appeal - or over 840,000 in game Linden dollars!

The only good that can come In the time of horrific tragedy that none of us can possibly understand, is the chance for those of us left behind to show the true spirit of compassion, courage and support..the bush fires that have recently devastated Victoria Australia have galvanized people all over the world to act and show support.. it is in that spirit that the song "Too Many Tears" was written and it is offered now to remember those whose lives were lost but also to celebrate the resilient spirit of Australia.

Too Many Tears - a song for the Australia Bushfire Appeal
by: written by David Llewellyn, Ian MacCarthy and Diane Myers

link to two many tears:
http://www.reverbnation.com/tunepak/1170008
http://www.box.net/shared/gfdq1v61t1

There is a lot of controversy and confusion in people's minds over Christmas and its meaning both in our personal lives and in the world. With the commercialization and secularization of Christmas, the true "reason for the season" has been lost for generations.

Christmas isn't just about capitalism and candy. It isn't just about singing and Santa and fattening foods and toys. Many people today are desperately searching for deeper meaning for this Holiday season. Now, more than ever, they recognize they need it, not just for themselves or those they love. They need it for the sake of the thousands of chairs that will sit empty on Christmas Day.

Some people feel it is an exclusively Christian holiday, holding no special meaning for them. Others believe it is nothing more than a feeding frenzy for the free market and an excuse to get people to open their wallets at every turn. Others take the viewpoint that it is a holy day that is cheapened and diminished by all the garish festivities. Yet few, if any, when really pressed, are willing to give up the Christmas holiday, in spite of their ambivalent feelings.

The reason for this is because of the real meaning behind the Christmas season. A meaning that we all somehow psychically feel even though our own intellect doesn't fully comprehend what all the fuss is about.

That hidden meaning is that Christmas is the festival of the human heart. It is a time of year when all the universe conspires to raise the vibratory level of consciousness on earth to one of peace and love toward ourselves and one another. This season resonates to the sweet, childlike innocence that resides in all of us. A time when the heavenly forces inspire us to shift our focus away from fear and toward one of joy, and healing.

The Christmas festival emphasizes this shift in two ways; one is the rebirth of the soul and the second is the return of the light to earth. Even before the rebirth of Christ which centers around our modern day Christmas festival, as far back as recorded history, in fact, these two themes of rebirth and light have emerged again and again during this time of year.

It is as if Divine Consciousness moves forward year after year, during the darkest season, to bring us back to light.

Yet even knowing the true meaning of the Christmas season is not enough to convince some people of its importance. "Peace! Goodwill! Humbug!" they cry just as Scrooge did in the famous Dickens fable. "These are nice ideas but no more than a fantasy. I feel no peace. No goodwill!"

Yet there is a way to feel this vibratory shift. There is a way in which your own heart can experience the love and light pouring into the earth's vibration from Divine Source. That way is to participate in the rituals of the season.

No matter who you are, your heart cannot resist the beauty of an ornamented Christmas tree or the glow of a mysterious menorah. Cynicism gives way to the celebration when carefully preparing holiday sweets or stringing colorful lights around the entrance to your home. Any heart warms to a rousing rendition of "Joy to The World" or the sensuous smell of roasting chestnuts on a crisp winter's eve.

Sadness leaves when carefully choosing gifts to delight and surprise those you love. The heart feels rich and fulfilled as you wrap them in beautiful paper and bows. For just a while, through partaking of the whim and richness of the season, life takes on an extraordinary hue, one of sweetness and safety. Something psychic and healing happens to our hearts as we enjoy layer upon layer of these sensual seasonal delights. These rituals open the heart chakra and allow us to feel and express the innocence and beauty of being a child of the universe.

Each occasion we create to feel the vibrations of Christmas helps raise the consciousness of the planet and return it to balance. For every person creating joy, there is one less person in pain.

These are the ways to experience the vibrational shift toward light that occurs during this season. But there is one more thing you can do to amplify this experience a thousandfold.

That is to enter the season of Christmas with the intention of being a personal messenger of light and love, and celebrate in the name of service to Divine Consciousness.

Nothing transforms the ordinary into the extraordinary more directly than the intention to do what ever you are doing with the desire to serve Higher Power.

When we celebrate the season with such an intention and desire, we not only experience Christmas we actually become Christmas: an agent of rebirth of the soul and the bringer of light.

Therefore, if the best gift you can give to yourself and the world during this holiday season is the gift of self love, So be it.

The lovable is easy to love. Cute puppies, beautiful people, awesome sunsets, whatever brings an easy smile to the face and a warm glow to the heart, we love to love these things.

Loving the unlovable is a whole other ball of thorns. But it might be just as necessary as loving the lovable, maybe even more so. As Carl Jung has pointed out, it's those unlovable parts that we tend to deny in ourselves and project onto others that have done so much damage in the world. Jungian author Paul Levy,
("The Madness of George Bush") suggests that the collective denied shadow of otherwise "good" people is what keeps evil in place. In any case, given how well the world seems to be doing, perhaps it's time we tried something different. Like "loving" the unlovable.

There is a meditation practice the Buddhists call tonglen -- Tibetan for "taking and giving" -- that offers us a way to internally "digest" the toxins of the world, and use these to feed our own sense of peace. The practice involves visualizing taking in the suffering of others, and releasing into the world one's own peace, love and happiness. We call this "supply-side spirituality," and it reminds us, "We're not here to earn God's love, we're here to spend it!"

Perhaps the most healing thing we can do is spend that love on something unlovable. Sometimes this is called forgiveness. My friend Perry Kimmelman came up with the following Valentine's Day practice, and I pass it onto you:

On Valentine's Day we usually send those most special to us a symbol of our love and affection. A card or flowers express that deep loving connection with our loved ones.

If you are feeling in that loving state on the 14th of February (and even if you aren't) perhaps consider experimenting how the "power" in your heart may help transform our world.

While you're sitting down at your desk, going to work or just having that 1st cup of coffee take a moment to reflect. Think of the person you love the most in this world.

When you start getting that warm" fuzzy", switch gears and think of an individual who has deeply hurt you

Send them some love. ( just for a moment )

Congratulations!!! You just made the world a better place.


Remember, forgiveness doesn't excuse or condone a hateful, violent act. Rather, it releases us from what has been done to us, and frees our emotional energy to move life forward. This seemingly "selfless" act is actually quite selfish, only on a higher level.

Maybe, then, "higher selfishness" is the way of the future ;)

No matter what has gone wrong, our eyes can rejoice in the new day's rising sun, our hearts in the burbling of our babies, in the victories of the heart and spirit in every way they come to us. Everything is needed in the healing of the self and of the world: singing, weeping, caring for our friends and even strangers, writing to our Congresspeople, meditating and praying, the making of powerful art, making casseroles, bringing medicine and support to our wounded brothers and sisters.

 

Rejoice. Sing. Pray. Hold each other closely and send messages of hope in every way possible. Claim the sweetness that will not melt. Name it. Send it into every space around you and listen for its homecoming.

 

And vote.

Gratitude is something I practice daily. Here's why ...

http://www.pulitzer.org/year/2007/feature-photography/works/byer01_jpg.html

Grace is the energy required to produce miracles. And it is gratitude which begets grace. Be ever thankful for every blessing, no matter how small.

Have we become so bored and our lives so empty that we need to mind other people's business? Not only do we mind other people's affairs, but we are unkind to them on top of it. Are we so unhappy that we can only derive our happiness from the misery of others?

Land of the Free, Home of the Brave. This is a new year folks ... how about we remember what our country used to stand for ... Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. Let us have a great New Year and concentrate on our lives and ourselves and do unto others as we would have them do unto us.

wondering to self: Has anyone besides myself noticed, lately, that Britney Spears ( no matter her troubles) is about to be overcome (and possibly killed like Princess Diana--read the news!) because of the Paparazzi and the American public's obsession with her every move?

p.s. Though a 'drama queen', I agree with Chris Crocker ... Leave Britney alone!