Burning man

Hey kids. So, I am going to Burning Man. I am not ready and my living room has exploded with a million things I need to pack and/or still make. I hear I am right on schedule with my panic.

Being an artist and getting ready for shows has prepared me for this feeling, as my pieces are usually left to the last minute and still drying as I hang them on the gallery wall, so this should be a familiar feeling for me.

If you don't know what burning man is here is the wiki definition:

Burning Man is a week-long annual event held in the Black Rock Desert in northern Nevada, in the United States. The event begins on the last Monday in August, and ends on the first Monday in September, which coincides with the American Labor Day holiday. The 2012 Burning Man Festival is August 27 to September 3. It takes its name from the ritual burning of a large wooden effigy on Saturday evening. The event is described by many participants as an experiment in community, art, radical self-expression, and radical self-reliance.

I have heard many stories from friends on what it is like, but the most common reply when asked what it is like is "you have to experience it for yourself." And kids, that's what I intend to do!

The only things I am really worried about are the elements and the dust getting in my camera. I have a feeling there will be little to no documentation of my time there! I am building a plastic cover for my camera, but if the wind is as bad as reports off the playa this week, I do not want to take it out to risk ruining it. That is a hard thing for me to say and it will be an extremely hard thing to do as I basically live life through my camera! I have often heard that you shouldn't live your burning man experience through the lens, so maybe this is the universe forcing me to participate instead of staying on the sidelines. Very clever universe!

(2011 temple at sunset via Creative Gap)

I am so excited to see the different art installations, art cars and costumes. I haven't had a lot of time to make my own costumes though, which is a big bummer. I have a few 'outfits' that I have bought, but I really wish I had more time to have planned it out better. I thought with my new job I would have more time, but in actuality I had less...boo-urns, poor me...at least I have a job!

Sooooooooo, I won't be updating my blog until I get back, so hang tight and I will update you on my crazy adventure! On the way back from burning man I am going to Oregon to visit some friends and then to go to a vegetarian / vegan spa retreat (YIPPEE!) so you wont get an update from me until the second week of Sept! Hope you have a great two weeks! I know mine will be nut bar. hmmm...nut bar.



Natalie Portman and Benjamin Millepied's vegan wedding

I had to post this! If..I mean WHEN I get married I want a 100% vegan wedding (baring of course on WHO I am marrying) I have often thought of my meat eating family and how they would react, but you know what? It would be my day, so suck it up!

Natalie Portman and Benjamin Millepied's vegan wedding

Natural make-up remover

I haven't found anything natural that removes my make-up quite like this! It's simple and cost effective to boot!

I use a travel shampoo container and it seems to work great!

1/2 part Witch hazel
1/2 part olive oil

Shake before using and I would recommend to do a quick wipe of the face with a wet facecloth after to remove some of the access oil.We don't want to bake/fry ourselves if we go out into the sun, now do we?

Oil and witch hazel will be separated until you shake.

What it should look like after you shake.

Fun fact about witch hazel from wiki - The bark and leaves are astringent; the extract, also referred to as witch hazel, is used medicinally. Extracts from its bark and leaves are used in aftershave lotions and lotions for treating bruises and insect bites. Witch-hazel helps to shrink and contract blood vessels back to normal size, hence its use as the active ingredient in many hemorrhoid medications. The seeds contain an edible oil. In addition, Witch-hazel is sometimes found as an ingredient in eye drops.

Stress, anxiety and pain - EFT and Tapping

Does your job demand a lot from you? Does your family need you more than you can give? What about socially, do you have time for your friends needs as well as your own? Is this stressing you out?

Is it hard for you to lose any weight? How does this make you feel?

Do you have some aches and pains in your body that just seem to linger? When did they start? Did they appear after an event of some kind?

Your body takes in your life events. If you have had a traumatic experience, your body remembers it and slowly starts to reveal the pain in different ways. From an actual accident to someone verbally abusing you, right down to not dealing with a stressful situation.

Let me give you an example:

Christmas time four years ago my boyfriend at the time and I drove to spend the holidays with my family. The roads were horrible.We ended up hitting black ice and the car spun, fishtailed and we ended up in a ditch about 30 yards away. As we slammed into the ditch I was shoved into the door sideways, very similar to how a hockey player would be shoved into the boards. Since I was tense and sore for about a week after, I didn't notice that I had actually popped out 3 of my ribs in my back. And once my muscles healed, they settled in that position over my popped out ribs. 

Flash forward to few months later. I woke up one morning in crazy pain. I couldn't lift my left arm. I went to my doctor, who examined me and then sent me to physio. LONG story short it took a few months to convince my muscles around the ribs to stop being assholes and let the ribs lie like they were supposed to.

My boyfriend and I broke up two years later and whenever I was least expecting it, the pain in my back would come and usually one or two ribs would pop out. I found this happened when I missed him the most. I was hanging on to that story and I was almost willing the pain back. I was hanging on to something...anything that involved him. My heart was in pain and my body followed. 

This is one example of physical and emotional pain. Your body may heal its wounds, but if you do not address the emotions that surround the situation, the pain can fester and manifest in different ways. 

When you have an event, specific feelings may come up around it. If someone tells you that you screwed something up, you may think you are a failure. If an accident happens, you may think it was your fault. Your body takes that in and the pain starts. Headaches, chronic pain, digestive problems, weight gain, and even rashes..the list goes on and on.

The way I healed my back and actually currently deal with any stressful situation is through EFT. EFT is an abbreviation of 'emotional freedom techniques'. I used tapping to to bring my pain from a level of 8 out of 10 (10 being unbearable) to a 2. I was so astonished! It was AMAZING. From that moment on, I have told anyone who has any kind of pain about it.

Tapping is a lot like acupuncture where you are lightly tapping the acupoints in your body and releasing/changing your energy while saying a set-up statement and follow-up statements. Don't worry too much about the follow-up statements, they will come in time. The main thing you should remember is the set up statement - "Even though I (insert problem), I completely love and accept myself".

I know it may sound hokey, but it works...just try it :) Here is an introduction to the tapping points on your body and some set-up and follow-up statement examples:

Here is another:

Kris Carr is amazing, here is an interview on EFT:

I've started the research ball rolling for you, but there are so many resources on the internet for this. Pick and choose the best for you. Let me know if you try it and how it helped you! I would love to hear your stories!