Reflection and projection

So it is that time of the year, when reflection of the year that was and projecting of what may come is front of mind.

Thank you to all who have jumped into Shiftazine throughout 2016.

Heres to new possibilities that are positive, constructive and empathic to all things in our world. We have only got the one, so let's care for it.
See you  on the other side. Peace.

The lightness of life

The joy of that soft Summer light that fills a room early in the morning or late in the afternoon.

The glow that is absorbed within.

A small gift from Shiftazine to you at this time of year...Sydney light.

Broken but beautiful

The Japanese practice of repairing a broken object, referred to as kintsugi, is solid shiftazine thinking. 

Something that is chipped, or broken into pieces, or cracked should be, if possible, glued together. It should be kept.

How many times have you reluctantly thrown out that beautiful cup because of a chip, or that bowl because of a crack?

It is the flaws that give it a history, a personality, a sense of unique. 

Like all things in life, nothing is perfect. 

As a philosophy, kintsugi can be seen to have similarities to the Japanese philosophy of wabi-sabi, an embracing of the flawed or imperfect. 

Japanese aesthetics values marks of wear by the use of an object. 

This can be seen as a rationale for keeping an object around even after it has broken and as a justification of kintsugi itself,
 highlighting the cracks and repairs as simply an event in the life of an object
rather than allowing its service to end at the time of its damage or breakage.

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Issue No.21: YELLOW

Ruffle my raffia @ Carriageworks

A performance that filled a huge space with colour, and raffia, and beating drums, and movement and dancers and delighted persons of a diverse age range occurred at the Carriageworks a few weeks ago.
Why there was this performance, I do not know.

Who was this Nick Cave from the US of A? As the Nick Cave I know of is Australian and somewhat morose in general.

Anyway, the event was great! Exciting, stimulating.
It was art, and it was there for all of us for free, which made it even better.

Just love the Carriageworks, Redfern, Sydney, Australia.

A big thank you!

Its JoyDay again!

It is JoyDay again.
This is the 7th year that it has been celebrated.

There are many things that bring shiftazine joy...many things, but on reflection it is being loved and having the opportunity to love that brings the greatest Joy.

So with that in mind, it was truly appropriate to celebrate my dear bark-angel Jack.
The great bringer of Joy and love.

This post is six years old but the inspiration for it and the contents in it have not a fade, even a tiny bit.

Celebrate the things, even the tiny ones, that bring you Joy, the 25th November.

Street. Find. Colour

This beautiful palette was found in a back street of Limassol, Cyprus.

The tiles were adorning an old store front, which had clearly been closed up, shut, for a long time.
A sad sight in general, but the wall tiles glowed, radiating a positivity which pulled me across the road.
There are colour conversations all around us, it is just there for us to see, hear, feel, and learn from.
Colour is a key part of our lives. It signals danger or a find. It triggers emotion and reaction. It is the stuff of life. 

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A beginning...

“Let every dawn of morning be to you as the beginning of life, and every setting sun be to you as its close.”

 John Ruskin, The Two Paths

There is something about early morning light that delights every time one is in it. That time of the day is still, and empty, but at the same time full of possibilities.

Early morning walk in Spring. Redfern Oval, Redfern, Sydney, Australia.

ChalkTalk = Play

Chalktalk: is the evidence of play. 
And play equates to inventiveness, idea generation, amusing oneself, being involved, enjoyment, creativity, solution creation, messing around, enjoying oneself.

Basically all things positive.
Go buy some chalk and draw something that does not make sense to anyone but yourself. 

JoyDay_The essentials we pack into our lives

A friend of mine, now gone to heaven, once said to me “you pack your issues in your suitcase”. I guess that is why they call it “baggage”. 

Our baggage can be filled with issues of a negative tilt, but it can also be full of the things that bring us joy.
The things that have define us from a positive aspect: the love, and comfort, and connection and memories that we have accumulated over our time travelling
through life on this moral coil.

A word association I played with for this article went like this.
SUITCASE: bag, travel, clothes, heavy, leather, wheels, lock, airport, school books, travel tag, full, movement, set, combination, open up, ownership, stuff (personal),
needed, required, useful, all I need, caring, pulling, holding, keep close, essentials.

CHERISHED: toys, pets, soft, old, comfort, attached, kisses, hugs, needed, all I need, keep close,
full of love, full, holding, carrying, essentials.

So it seems to me that the key word is 'essential'. 

Reflect on what is essential to you and you will find that its the things that bring you JOY.
JoyDay, every 25th November, every year...

A colour of harmony

A ubiquitous colour in interior design and home wares of the 1960s, orange is a colour that

divides the world, ironically as it is the symbolic colour of unity and harmony.

You can find all things orange at your local op shop or market.

Invite orange into your every day. You will be happier for it.

Dark light

There is something about a chandelier hanging above one’s head, filling the space or a room with a statement of “I am here.” 

Usually crystal, they were first designed to maximise the candle light that flicker and brighten the extraordinary rooms and spaces of the privileged. 

They still posses that notion of ‘de lux’, which is interesting as the word ‘lux’ is Latin for light.

There in a darkened room full of chandeliers that glowed green, they did not emit any light or golden glow. 

It was the UV light engaged that generated this strange, otherworldly effect. 

The feeling was that they almost sucked what little light there was into themselves.

There was and is something challenging and beautiful about this moment.

Bees are vanishing

Bees are vanishing.

These industrious creatures that bring us almost one out of every three bites of our food are collapsing in a rain of toxic pesticides.

We need bees for the stability of our food supply.

Bees are responsible for pollinating 70 out of the world’s top 100 food crops.

The EU has already banned neonicotinoids because of their danger to bees. 

In high doses neonicotinoids cause swift death by paralysis.

But multiple peer-reviewed studies show that exposure to a low dose can harm bees’ critical navigation, memory and motor functions.

The EPA of Australia and America must act wisely and suspend these dangerous chemicals being used entirely.

Don’t just wring your hands, shake your head and say “There is nothing I can do about this.”

There is something...write to the EPA.

Tell them how worried you are about this terrible situation. How insanely short-sighted the drug companies are being in developing these toxic sprays.

Use your voice and express your concerns. Exercise your right to make a statement about this.

The only way for evil to succeed is for good people to do nothing. Do something because it is the eleventh hour for our dear bees.

The Colours of Athens: No.3 Wine and Basil

A staircase leading down into a swirl of sounds and smells is too intriguing to walk past.
The sweet and unmistakable scent of basil is the first of many aromas to wash over the diner as they enter into a world almost completely gone from the streets and neighbourhoods of Athens.
The basement space is filled with very old large wooden wine barrels full of white wine (lefko), tables, chairs, diners, plates of honest, old school Greek food,
and metal karafes which are placed on small disks of ice to help the wine cool down.

The colours of terracotta and green, are popping out of this whitewashed space which only sees a suggestion of direct sunlight. It is a blissful situation.

Wallism_Athenian Phoenix

Beautiful homes and buildings in inner city Athens are crumbling due to neglect and hard times. But this sad situation is the bringer of an opportunity by giving young artists a strong visual presence.  

These buildings are being reinvented and turned into canvases upon which wonderful, playful imagery is placed. 

A statement of renaissance and defiance driven by the artists of Athens which ensures this eternal city maintains contemporary relevance.