(or “You Are What You Read” )

My introduction to David Deida was through Integral Naked, where he is a frequent contributor on the unity of intimacy and spirituality. I was facinated by his talks on “yogic sexuality and intimate communion” and have wanted to incorporate some of his teachings into my Integral Life Practice for months. I imagine Deida either completely intimidates or completely inspires everyone introduced to him, but I have been deeply inspired.
Reading The Way of the Superior Man: A Spiritual Guide to Mastering the Challenges of Woman, Work, and Sexual Desire was my first real step into practicing a sexual yoga in any structured way, and it was deeply affirming of many things I had been intuiting and utterly shattering for a lot of my follies. I haven’t been this inspired by a new author since I first read The Atman Project.
A focus of the book was the value of sexual polarities, that most of us (roughly 90%) have primarily a masculine or feminine identity and are most drawn to and happiest with someone living the opposite. Deida writes of the challenge and unending reward of stepping into a masculine, authentic and transparent identity, ultimately expressing the spiritual drive. As a book for masculine people (and those in intimate relationships with them), it presents a comprehensive, practical and resonant way of fostering lives of value and happiness.
His assertion of the need for embodiment of the two primary masculine and feminine traits of agape (communion and care) and eros (drive and mission) was exciting. He urges us to break out of the crippling notion that we must take part in compromises of our deepest motivations.

Not only is the compromise personally distasteful, but it must also be a turn off for anyone watching her partner stagnate.
In addition to many suggestions for more transparent behaviour, some techniques are introduced for more fulfilling sex. Muscle, breathing and meditation exercises were very accessable and have been easy to adopt, and I appreciate the presentation in such a direct manner.
The Way of the Superior Man stirred up so much motivation for me and gave me the techniques and foundation to practice beyond any expectations I had. The challenge and promise offered leads through sexuality and straight into the timeless divine, and there we find limitless purpose, limitless love and ultimately our Self.

The watch strap I mentioned last week has arrived, and it feels nice and solid on my wrist. It’ll take some time for me to getused to having a timepiece on my arm again, but I think I’ll enjoy it. Thanks to PixelGirlShop!

I battled a cold this week and have managed to exorcize it. It always feels great to be on the other side of an illness, even a short-lived one.

Threadless is one of my favourite places to get new shirts, but the folks who vote on the designs frustrate me often. The stellar designs often don’t make the cut when it comes to shoppers’ votes, and I’m left looking back at some wonderful shirts that will not be made. I’ve found some real gems, though, and look forward to each week’s new releases. I’m holding hope these two will be made.

If I ever doubted my status as a geek, I can be sure now. I’ve been mentioned over at comic blog Newsarama because of my Demo suitcase.

I may be drained from the drudge of being at work for a 16.5 hour shift, but I have a head swarming with fantastic words! During my breaks I finished up Saul Williams‘ The Dead Emcee Scrolls and I’m still resonating. Wow! There went any lingering doubt that Saul’s the greatest living poet we have.
The book is a collection of poems and journal entries related to a find of scrolls tucked into an empty spray can by some time-lost graf artist, and are holy channelings of hip hop. Saul’s words are mesmerizingly full of fluidity, interplay and exquisite beauty. But there’s no denying the gritty realness of many of the passages; it’s rarely gentle. Saul’s steeped in hip hop and something utterly timeless; he’s a mystic of the sort Rumi was.

There is no finer source of media on the internet than I-I‘s Integral Naked.

How to make love with all three bodies! No, we aren’t talking about a threeway (though that’s not necessarily out of the question…) Here Ken Wilber talks about what it means to fuck with your physical body (Life) your subtle body (Light) and your causal body (Emptiness). So pour yourself a glass of wine, throw on some Barry White, and enjoy

Intregral Naked is now available on YouTube, with 26 wonderful videos for you to freely enjoy before you sign up as a member. I’m overjoyed that IN’s content is now more accessable than ever and hope this will help spread the seeds of an integral future, however light the breeze.

Often times spiritual teachers go soft on readers and students, with an obviously limiting green flavouring. Last night I read Andrew Cohen‘s Freedom Has No History: A Call to Awaken, and was thrilled to find a no-holds-barred presentation of the path of enlightenment. If you want genuine and absolute Freedom, you need genuine and absolute dedication to the tremendous surrender involved in discovering it, and Andrew pulls no punches in sharing his insights. Putting responsibility for evolution and enlightenment directly in our hands is so refreshing; as much as outside factors may influence us, we can not unfold with swiftness and grace without true, unwavering commitment to evolution.
The presentation of the book is a bit dry, especially compared with his recent blog entries, but what it lacks in style it more than makes up for in content and directness. For more on Andrew’s improved communication, check out ~C4Chaos‘ “Andrew Cohen On Enlightenment“.

Andrew Cohen is also the editor of my favourite magazine, What is Enlightenment, author of numerous books and a frequent contributor to Integral Naked.

I’m slowly but surely putting together an efficient and stylish set of wear and devices that will allow me to be ready for nomading. A beautiful suitcase may be the most noticable (BTW, Brian Wood, writer of Demo, made a blog entry about my suitcase), but I’ve also added some other things to the array recently.

One cheap (I found some for $15), but terribly useful gadget I picked up was a set of Skullcandy Link headphones. The headphones plug into both a cell phone and any MP3 or CD player, giving control over volume and answering calls through the headset. I often enjoy walks with music, binaural beats, or dialogs, and it’s nice to have the option of hearing any incoming call and answering the call without having to search my pockets or bag for my phone. The earbuds I got sound quite good and are stylishly adorned with skulls.

On the topic of phones, I recently switched to a Virgin and a Samsung a640, a smooth, slim and efficient phone. It’s definitely a step up from what I had with Telus, and there’ll be no looking back for me.

For a long while now I haven’t worn a watch, mostly because I didn’t have a strap for my ElfQuest Now watch. Feeling I really should have a watch sometimes, I finally ordered a replacement from PixelGirlShop, a leather and metal band from Marty Flint to go with my wide cuff and photo cuff.
I’m reminded I need to fill my photo cuff with shots from a photo shoot some months ago.

What’s in the future for what I’ll have on me? I have plans to create a travel blanket made from old t-shirts, a laptop sleeve from an old pair of jeans and a hollow book. I’m waiting for a fantastic piece of outerwear based on a sci-fi classic to go on sale.

I’ve been keeping my ears to the ground, anticipating a march of exciting music. It paid off, as recently I’ve become reacquainted with some old favourites of mine and discovered artists that left me very enthusiastic about what’s to come.

Tom Cochrane has been one of my favourite artists and a humanitarian hero of mine for years now and I’ve been looking forward to a new album since 1998′s X-Ray Sierra. No Stranger delivers some of his finest songs to date, with powerful performances and lyrics that give evidence of much reflection undertaken and wisdom gained in the time Tom hasn’t been gracing us with new albums. Already I’m sure this will be an album to take me through the coming winter.

Buck 65 has been releasing songs from his Dirty Work E.P. for download on his MySpace page for over a month now, and the songs are just as we’d expect from him. “Indestructable Sam” is a highlight, a folk song about a grave digger.

I’m looking forward to seeing how these end up being in the live shows, especially “Indestructable Sam”, alongside classics like “Roses and Bluejays” and “Craftsmanship”.

I was deeply impressed by The Sleepless Nights when I saw them live this month and haven’t been able to stop listening to their Hang Up E.P. The five songs on it are exquisite, with overflowing humour and beauty. This band may be my new favourite to emerge from Halifax and I’m looking forward to their future work so very much.

I’m not usually one for over-the-top music, but Meat Loaf has been an exception for years. Bat Out of Hell III is the pinnacle of his work for me, wonderfully arranged, emotively performed and executed in such a dramatic and moving fashion. The presence of Marion Raven is a pleasant surprise, as she’s in top form on the lead single.

How have I forgotten to mention my love for Malta Corona? If there’s one drink I never get sick of it’s this. I fell in love with it when I tried it at the European Pantry across the street; it goes well with baklava and tyropitas. I’ve had two bottles so far tonight and four more wait for me in my fridge. My tongue will be happy tonight.

My vacation has flown by and now that the last day of it has come to a close I’m wishing it would last longer. I completed the suitcase project, spent a lot of time with wonderful people, read plenty, went to a great concert, and generally had a refreshing and rewarding break from work.

I enjoyed my trip to New Brunswick over the weekend, spending time with my parents and cousins. I hadn’t seen Frank and Melanie, their kids Kailey, Shane, Victoria and Colton, or my aunt Lucille in a couple years, so I had been looking forward to seeing them all again. It’s a bit strange to know that Kailey will graduate from high school in a couple months and that all the others have grown up so much. It was fun to be climbed over by a couple rugrats during the day and spend an evening drinking margaritas.
I discovered an odd drink while in Fredericton; in a mall there was a stand selling Smoochies, which were a combination of bubble tea and slushies. The drink was good, actually, enough so that I’d get it again, but I do prefer real bubble tea.
I think the best moment of the trip was when my mom asked me, “So, will you be buying Christmas presents for all the women in your life?”
I looked over at her and said, “Jesus, Mom, I’m not that rich!”
I got a funny look for that, and I know she meant my roommates and Gwen, but 99% of my friends happen to be female, so I couldn’t help but respond in that way.

This time away from work has renewed my commitment to find ways to have more time and resources to pursue projects and interests I have outside of conventional work. Central to that is creating a location-independent income source, which would allow me to stretch my nomadic wings some. I’m working on it diligently.

During my yard sale adventures in September I bought a suitcase for $1 in order to collage it, much like my room mate April had done to her own suitcase, and refurbish it inside. During the past few days I finally found time and worked on various pieces of the project.
I decided to use two issues of one of my favourite comic series, Demo, going with a black and white scheme. The two issues were the most touching of the stories told in Demo for me, so they had special resonance. The lighter side is from “Mix Tape,” which tells of a girl who committed suicide and left a farewell mix tape for her boyfriend. The darker side is from “Mon Dernier Jour Avec Toi,” the story of two lovers’ last night together. They’re both visually and narratively superb, and I wanted to preserve some of that in my collaging.
Inside the suitcase I replaced the bland light blue with the pleather of one of the curtains I had at my old apartment. This was the most challenging part of the project, taking three different glues and a fair amount of frustration. Other than some minor fixes, I’m pleased with the results, however.
I’d consider the project a big success. I always have my perfectionist tendencies flare up and focus on flaws when I create anything, but I’m rather surprised this turned out so nicely. I feel like a much classier nomad with a properly expressive suitcase. I’ll actually be taking it with me tomorrow morning when I head out of the province to New Brunswick.

Thursday morning I walked Gwen to work and then headed toward home. I entered Camp Hill Cemetery, as I usually do when returning from downtown, and found it shrouded in fog. It felt surreal to be among the gravestones and trees, so beautiful and serene. As I walked around and around I snapped some photos before hearing someone call my name. I was surprised to see my aunt Marrie standing on the other side of the fence. She was in the city to see her daughter in one hospital, another of my aunts in another hospital, and it turned out yet another aunt of mine was coming in later that day.
That evening I went on a long anticipated post-Hallowe’en candy spree with April, Jana and Pam. I have a terrible sweet tooth, so I couldn’t resist cheap candy, whether peanut butter cups or Tootsie Roll Pops. We still have some left, but it’s going fast.

Friday I went walking in Point Pleasant Park for several hours. It’s always an odd mix of present calm, a chaos of memories and mystery when I spend time in that park. There is no place in Halifax that has held so much meaning to me. Both strangers and dear friends have lit my mind there and I’m ever thankful for that, often wide-eyed in wonder at it all.

Saturday night I went to the Attic with Nathan and, for a while, April to see The Sleepless Nights perform. The first opener, All of Green, were not so exciting and put us all to sleep, so I can’t say much for them. The Fussy Part, however, were a really cool act that was wonderfully entertaining, nuanced and melodious. The Sleepless Nights were absolutely fantastic, engaging and enlivening throughout their set.

I spent the early evening Sunday with Gwen, who was feeling ill. After watching a film and having dinner, she began to feel worse. Her heart began racing, she began shaking and was hurting a great deal, so I called an ambulance. We spent much of the night in the emergency room waiting for her to be seen, eventually opting to return home so she could sleep in her bed instead of a waiting room. It’s always heartwrenching to see her in pain.

This morning she was feeling well enough to go to work, surprisingly. Soon after she left I returned home and have been working away at my website’s new design. It has some adjustments to be made, but it’s now live at Frozen Truth . com. I’m still trying to come up with a proper blurb for the sidebar section about me.

So far my time off has been less productive than I’d hoped, but certainly not uneventful. I’m hoping to get into the flow I intended to starting in the morning.