Here is the class schedule for September at the Humboldt Wellness Center. All classes are free thanks to Humboldt Patient Resource Center, a medical cannabis dispensary located in downtown Arcata. RSVP for all classes that are not fitness based either by voicemail at 822-2456 or humboldtwellnesscenter@gmail.com.

CLICK TO ENLARGE
Permalink:
http://manifestpositivity.blogspot.com/2010/08/september-schedule-humboldt-wellness.html

Labels: Health, Humboldt Patient Resource Center, Humboldt Wellness Center

Last night around 8pm there was what appeared to be a baby great white shark washed up at Samoa Beach (back home in Humboldt).


The fish was trying unsuccessfully to get back out into the ocean. I was there with a friend, and a few other random passersby who initially tried to help by flinging the roughly 40 pound shark by its tail and fin out into deeper water. These throws didn't go very far and the creature wasn't able to swim out, repeatedly washing back up at our feet.


The strangers we met gave up rather quickly, but my friend kept trying to get the shark further out into the water. Meanwhile, I got on the phone and tried to find some more qualified assistance. Nobody answered the studio phone when I called radio station KHUM. Next I called the private number for KGOE program director Tom Sebourn. He in turn left messages for a few other people he thought might be able to help (read his account here). But it was getting dark and we were having difficulty keeping the shark in view, especially when it started washing up 50 yards down shore rather than directly in front of us.


I called Eureka City Councilman Mike Jones to get his advice, which was to call 911 and/or the Samoa Fire Department. In consultation with Sebourn, we decided that given the response time of the Fire Department, along with our decreasing ability to keep tabs on the fish in the dark with the tide rising, it was just time to call off the rescue effort and know we'd done our best to help.

Ultimately it was up to Mother Nature to address the situation this time. But, we wondered, for future reference, what would be a better approach to this situation and what would be the appropriate community resources from which to seek assistance? Also, was this actually a baby great white shark or some other type of fish?


UPDATE 8/24 2PM: Based on my description of where we spotted the shark, Tamara McFarland visited Samoa Beach two days later and provided the following photos. The shark appears to be rapidly decomposing.





Permalink:
http://manifestpositivity.blogspot.com/2010/08/jump-starting-shark.html

Labels: Animals, Collaboration, Fish, KGOE, KHUM, Mike Jones, Tamara McFarland, Tom Sebourn

I've been in Chicago all week caregiving for my sister Robyn while she goes through an intense pain management outpatient program at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago. I've done some cooking and cleaning, but mostly I'm looking after her two dogs, shown below. Cady is on the left, and Harley on the right. Robyn and I have both taken great joy in the relationship I've formed with the dogs (my first time meeting either of them), resulting in this, yet another post expanding the application of the word compersion.


Compersion is a concept that originated in the polyamory community, primarily as the opposite of jealousy in relationships where people have agreed to accept their partner having other lovers. More broadly it is about being happy for the happiness experienced by others. At Manifest Positivity we have presented numerous non-sexual contexts for this, including Teresa Howell's beautiful thoughts on motherhood, as well as the good karma of celebrating other drivers finding parking while we continue driving around.

So back to the dogs. The rambunctious young Harley has been spending nights in a crate in Robyn's room lately. Five year old Cady may sleep wherever she likes. When I first arrived last Sunday, Robyn asked if I'd mind sleeping with the guest room door open so Cady really could choose any spot in the apartment. Two nights later Robyn commented how beautiful it is that Cady was choosing to sleep in the guest room, as the dog also did all last week when Mom was here. Admittedly, there can be many explanations for dog behavior. I'm not commenting on that. What I saw was Robyn experiencing compersion, expressing joy at the expressions of joy from the dog and me.

Permalink:
http://manifestpositivity.blogspot.com/2010/08/puppy-love.html

Labels: Animals, Compersion, Family, Love, Polyamory

My sister Robyn just inspired and encouraged a spontaneous road trip from Chicago to East Troy, WI for tonight's Phish show at Alpine Valley. I was amazed that tickets were still for sale. Even more righteous: the first person I called on Craigslist had both an extra ticket to sell me and would give me a ride to the show in about an hour. Plenty of time to shower, adjust the contents of my backpack, and take the dogs downstairs on a quick potty run.

Particular to this spontaneous road trip were the unanswered questions about where I'd sleep tonight, how I'd get back, and whether I'd be "stuck" there for tomorrow night's show too. It is important that I be back here at my sister's apartment early Monday morning. I'd have to work all that out when I got there, but not before. Staying focused, I was ready and waiting an hour later when the call came that both the ticket and ride were falling through.

All I said was "OK, thanks anyway, have a great show," and the call was over in seconds. I didn't notice myself having an emotional reaction to this new information. Perhaps it was because I was using the two spare minutes I had leading up to the call to meditate, or maybe it's because I'd only had an hour to buildup any anticipation, or else my Vulcan impulses are just that strong. Instead of getting bummed, I immediately thought of two things. First was a wave of pronoia, remembering that the universe is conspiring on my behalf. And second was the lyric "The trick was to surrender to the flow," from the Phish song "The Lizards." In the video below you'll notice a big crowd response to this line. In this moment of presence, it occurred to me that's what I'd been doing through this whole story.


If you don't see the video, go here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4QwWj9XTbI
I think what I'll do next is go back and finish the other post I started about why I'm visiting Robyn in Chicago and making potty runs all day.

Permalink:
http://manifestpositivity.blogspot.com/2010/08/surrender-to-flow.html

Labels: Family, Music, Phish, Presence, Pronoia

Here is the class schedule for August at the Humboldt Wellness Center. All classes are free thanks to Humboldt Patient Resource Center, a medical cannabis dispensary located in downtown Arcata. RSVP for all classes that are not fitness based either by voicemail at 822-2456 or humboldtwellnesscenter@gmail.com.

Click to Enlarge

Permalink:
http://manifestpositivity.blogspot.com/2010/07/august-schedule-humboldt-wellness.html

Labels: Health, Humboldt Patient Resource Center, Humboldt Wellness Center

More than 150 performers and 100 volunteers will support The Ink People this Sunday for The Golden Road Art & Music Fair, starting at noon at 9th and L Streets in Arcata, CA. This is a major fundraiser for the 31 year-old art and culture institution of Humboldt County, which lost its home base in January's earthquake. More details in the press release and video below (see if you can spot my cameo). Look for me as the emcee on the Playhouse stage all afternoon.


If you don't see the video, go here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8PcffwxF5w

* * *
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

The Golden Road Art & Music Fair
Arcata - Sunday August 1st - The Ink People will present the Golden Road Art and Music Fair at the Old Creamery Building (9th and L Streets in Arcata) on August 1st from noon until midnight. The Fair is a benefit for the Ink People Center for the Arts' Earthquake Recovery Effort. There is no general admission charge.

The Fair will have a special creative area for children that will have live performances, hands on activities, games and The Knee High Puppet Company. There are more than 30 vendors, a ton of raffle items donated by local businesses such as Plaza Grill, Jessicurl, Wildwood Music, Redwood Frozen Yogurt, Rebellion Tattoo & Art Gallery, Spotlight Video, Rita's, and 20 other businesses. Last but certainly not least there will be lots of live entertainers. Three stages with be adorned with a continuous array of performers. There will be many individual musical performances, bands, storytellers, dancers, spoken word presentations and much more. Performances include Ali Nelson, The MARZ Project, DJ Smarty McFly, Vintage Soul, WeLikeLove, The Beat Vixens and so much more.

Tickets for the evening concert are available throughout the day for a $5 - $10 sliding scale donation. They will also be available at the door for $10 beginning at 7pm. The evening concert will be held at Redwood Raks World Dance Studio and will feature The Singing Nettles, The Fickle Hill Billies and The Miracle Show. Guests may come ready to compete in the Janis Joplin or Jerry Garcia Look-Alike Contests with great prizes donated by Schatzi's Hidden Treasures, Salon Eclipse, Humboldt Brews and more. Beer donated by Lost Coast Brewery and Arcata Pizza & Deli will be available at the Inky Fingers Beer Bar. Delectable Food by Cassaro's Catering will be on sale as well. The evening will end at midnight with a magnificent outdoor fire show by Nightshade Serenade.

Sponsors of this event include The Blue Lake Casino, the Art Center, Grace Chiropractic & Hands on Therapy, Eel River Hydroponics, The Arcata Eye, Indah Bali, Umpqua Bank, Nilsen Company, Lost Coast Communications, Humboldt Hydroponics, Brunch at Noon, Fingan & Thonson, Arney’s Tattoo & Body Piercing, Kelly & Thonson Printing, The Arcata Playhouse, Redwood Raks World Dance Studio, & New World Ballet. Donations have been made by many local restaurants and community members to help feed the 100 volunteers and 150 plus entertainers, including: Hey Juan's, Brio Bread Works, Arcata Liquors, Coffee Break Internet Café, Pepsi Bottling Company, China Café,

The Ink People lost their headquarters due to the January 2010 Earthquake. Our home base was left with a exorbitant amount of damage, so much that it looks now as if they will never return to their home building. Thus, this festival will help with funding a new location for the Ink People and the 60 plus programs that are associated with the Ink People and that depend on them for guidance, support, and assistance. For the time being they are stationed on the third floor of The Carson Block Building thanks to the graciousness of the North Coast Indian Development Center (NCIDC.) Unfortunately, this building is also scheduled to undergo retrofitting some time this fall, at which point the Ink People hope to have a new permanent home that will accommodate their many classes, members, programs, workshops, events, gallery, youth programs, and of course their office.

For more information contact: Tanya Nordberg at 707-442-8413 tanya@inkpeople.org or visit us on the web at www.inkpeople.org or Tanya AtThe InkPeople on Facebook.

# # #

Permalink:
http://manifestpositivity.blogspot.com/2010/07/golden-road-art-music-fair-sunday-in.html

Labels: The Ink People

I've recently experienced a lot of hesitation about tasks and projects related to Manifest Positivity. Until yesterday afternoon I was perceiving it as stagnation and a lack of motivation. My view of this has shifted now and I see that there were things I thought I should be working on, but didn't feel like working on, and this was indicative that taking those actions would have brought me out of alignment.

Here I'm using alignment as I've encountered the word via Yaki Solis and the Vortex Meet-Up group that convenes every other Friday in Eureka. The general idea is that we can manifest what we want when we allow alignment, which occurs when we match our desires and expectations. This notion has emerged from what is commonly called Law of Attraction, though I understand now it goes far beyond that. I just borrowed Yaki's copy of The Vortex, the latest in a series of LoA books by Esther and Jerry Hicks. I plan to read it on a long backpacking trip in the Marble Mountains, starting later today through Monday.

During this recent period of seeming delay, the actions I did take show where my energy actually did flow to places of alignment. Here is a picture of me at the recent Oyster Festival in Arcata, doing at least three of my favorite things simultaneously (dancing barefoot on grass, dancing with my Free Hugs sign, and dancing while The Mother Hips are playing).

Photo by Tanya Hunt
I've also been reading a lot, particularly about the right brain. I'll say more about that soon. For now I'll note that just a few days after the Marbles I'll be visiting family and many old friends over 11 days in NY. Naturally, my first visit in nearly three years has taken some time and energy to plan. I've already got a book picked out for that trip too. I am excited that I just received Healing with Language: Your Key to Mind-Body Communication, a book about Neurolinguistic Programming (NLP) by Joel P. Bowman and Debra Basham.

I've had many intuitive hits suggesting I study NLP. From what I've seen so far it is very consistent with the orientation I took away from the Communication curriculum I studied at Cornell University. It also reinforces the premise of advocacy journalism as I've defined it (by presupposing that the meaning of a message is the response it elicits). NLP also holds the same promise as Law of Attraction: getting more of what you want in life and less of what you don't want. In fact, in conjunction with their book, Bowman and Basham offer online distance learning tools and a certification program (to which I have not committed). Their company website for Subtle Communication Systems also features my friend Meredith Bede Aldrich's two clever comic strips, NeLPverille and LoA.

Yesterday afternoon I attended an informational meeting at the North Coast Small Business Development Center, which is accepting applications for a new program:

This is an opportunity for local cinematographers, directors, screenwriters, editors, sound engineers, graphic arts/effects specialists and other film and digital media professionals to participate in a free, intensive business training, mentorship, and resource development program.

The application deadline is July 9 and media makers considering applying can learn more by attending another info meeting on Friday, July 2 at 5:30pm.

So with this kind of energy flowing how could I have felt stagnant and hesitating, and what has shifted this view? Early yesterday morning I woke up with the metaphor that I've felt like a car driving around with the emergency break on. I wasn't even sure if I should go to the SBDC meeting, and I attended with complete uncertainty whether the program would seem like a good match for Manifest Positivity (which is a non-profit under the umbrella of The Ink People). And then I was pleased to discover that with no hesitation, I had nearly completed the application before the meeting was over. I'll be submitting it today and hope to be interviewed for acceptance during the two days next week between the Marbles and NY. Clearly my energy has started to flow here too, as if the emergency brake has been released.

To extend the car metaphor, the internal resistance I've recently encountered (created) for working on certain things can be seen as an appropriately applied internal protective measure, like the instinct that wins out and keeps me at a red light in the middle of the night when there are no other cars around in any direction. It simply hasn't become time yet to do the things I've been hesitant to do, just as it isn't time yet to go until the light turns green. Plus, the emergency brake prevents a car from rolling backwards when stopped on a hill. Stick shift drivers know a good trick when starting from this position is to put the emergency brake on, then get in gear, and then release the brake.

Permalink:
http://manifestpositivity.blogspot.com/2010/06/releasing-emergency-brake.html

Labels: Cornell University, Debra Basham, Free Hugs, Joel P. Bowman, Law of Attraction, Meredith Bede Aldrich, Mother Hips, NLP, North Coast Small Business Development Center, Tanya Hunt, The Ink People, Yaki Solis

Here is the class schedule for July at the Humboldt Wellness Center. All classes are free thanks to Humboldt Patient Resource Center, a medical cannabis dispensary located in downtown Arcata. RSVP for all classes that are not fitness based either by voicemail at 822-2456 or humboldtwellnesscenter@gmail.com.

I attended nine yoga classes and one laughter yoga group in June. Much thanks to HWC and HPRC!

Click to enlarge

Permalink:
http://manifestpositivity.blogspot.com/2010/06/july-schedule-humboldt-wellness-center.html

Labels: Health, Humboldt Patient Resource Center, Humboldt Wellness Center

Submitted by William Jeff Karr

The cherries have ripened and the figs are on the way, the raspberries, too will brighten your day. Come out and join us this weekend for the Cherry Festival at Incopah Retreat and Wellness Center in Willow Creek, CA.

This event will also be an opportunity for our community volunteers to further the vision of Incopah: To establish healing space and sustainable living through health and wellness programs designed to bring balance back to our environment and our community. We will begin Saturday morning and continue through Sunday afternoon working in the following areas:

Trail and campsite improvements
Trash removal
Sorting scrap steel
Building deck platforms
Brush clearing
Irrigation lines
Highway Cleanup

Saturday evening, we will have a barbecue with KARR'Z Sunset Sauce followed by a drum circle, fire pit and an Incopah community building meeting where we will discuss the Incopah project, our mission and goals, where we are, where we are going, how we will get there and how we can all help make it happen. This will include other volunteer opportunities and to become involved in the various committees of Incopah as well as the board of directors. We will then join in the music, fun, story telling and history that is living and breathing at Incopah.

So bring your drum, your inner child, your imagination and your heritage to the Cherry Festival at Incopah, this weekend June 26 and 27. As space is limited, please RSVP to incopah@yahoo.com or call 707-834-3554 by Friday night.


If you can't make this one there are four more volunteer work weekends scheduled this year:

July 24 and 25
August 21 and 22
September 18 and 18
October 23 and 24

We look forward to seeing you here. A few things to remember:

Incopah is in the Trinity River National Forest nestled in the Willow Creek Watershed (easily found on Hwy 299, just 2.3 miles west of Willow Creek). There are typical forest critters about Incopah including but not limited to scorpions, rattle snakes, mountain lions, and bear. Equally harmful but less obvious are the ticks, poison oak and the mosquitoes.

In order to protect yourself it is recommended that you bring long pants, long sleeve shirt, hat, sunscreen, gloves, bug repellent and a friend. If you are staying overnight, bring your tent, sleeping bag, and warm clothes. The barbecue Saturday evening will include both vegan and non-vegan options.

For the remainder of the meals, please bring your own food along with a little more to share with others and be sure to take care of your own dietary requirements. If you have any allergies, please advise an Incopah Staff Volunteer. We also need to know the number of people in your party when you RSVP.

Incopah is a program of The Ink People Center for the Arts, a 501(c)3 organization.

Thank You

William Jeff Karr
Executive Director
Incopah Retreat and Wellness Center
37020 State Highway 299
Willow Creek, CA 95573
707-834-3554
www.incopah.com

DISCLOSURE: Manifest Positivity is also a program of The Ink People Center for the Arts.

Permalink:
http://manifestpositivity.blogspot.com/2010/06/cherry-festival-this-weekend-at-incopah.html

Labels: Incopah, Jeff Karr, The Ink People

I'm thrilled to be part of the CSA this year at DeepSeeded Community Farm in Arcata, CA. In this video, farm owner Eddie Tanner talks about how the program works.


If you don't see the video, go here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQ1WX8-jlFM
Permalink:
http://manifestpositivity.blogspot.com/2010/06/community-supported-agriculture-csa-at.html

Labels: CSA, DeepSeeded Community Farm, Eddie Tanner, Food