Meditation for Kids

I had the opportunity to visit with family this week. I am an active person and love to surround myself with projects that challenge me. This is not always easy when you are a guest in someone's home. I haven't owned or watched television since 2005 and the constant buzzing of this static noise is an irritant to say the least. As I observed this family of four in their natural environment I saw that the use of this droning device holds their minds in a trance like stupor. They might as well have been watching paint dry as the content of the programming was a waste of their time. Small children watching hostile police  arrests, supposed talent searches and survival game shows. No one seemed to question any of it - accepting all they viewed not as mere entertainment, but as fact. Scary.

I spoke to one of the children about meditation. She was extremely interested and open to the suggestion that you can "tune out" unnecessary noise. She sat wide eyed soaking up everything I shared. I told her she didn't need any special music, or any chanting just a comfortable position alone in her room. Knowing that it would only be for 15 mins., was perfect for this active 10 year old and after listening to my instructions - she was off to begin her first meditation. She even shooed away her puppy and closed her door as she wanted this time all to herself.

I spoke with her mom about meditation bringing increased awareness to ALL ages. The mother is not a reader and I had to just bring the information I know from firsthand knowledge. She then surprised me and asked if I could send her a book about it. Wow.

Three days later the child told me she was writing a story about children who are creating a contest to see who could come up with the best "save the earth" solutions. She listed turning off the tv at the top! I was stunned as she read me the story. Children concerned about saving the rainforest and conserving energy. Really?

I believe meditation for families could be the answer to so many of the world's problems. All my life I was taught education begins at home- well, yes of course it does, so why not include it as part of a family routine?

Last night I heard the father come home and he was a bit cranky. Dinner wasn't for at least an hour and homework needed to be done. Mom was trying to juggle homework, dinner and some other chores while dad did his best to not lose his cool. Suddenly a child jumped up grabbed her dad's hand and announced "Come with me."
He was not happy as he had just settled into his comfy tv chair and rolled his eyes following her into her room. The door shut and the next thing I heard was this...
"You need to learn about meditation dad. It will help you be less grumpy, because you don't even hear yourself when you speak to us in that nasty tone. You need to learn to turn off the tv and meditate. It will help you and it may even help the whole family!"
He began to argue with her and she shut him down. I worried that I would be rebuked for putting these ideas into her head. Luckily he came out of the room smiling... and switched on the tv.

Meditation plants seeds. It opens doors and it brings healing in so many ways. By teaching one member how to open their minds to new possibilities, it gives a bridge to this island of static noise that infiltrates their beautiful spirits. I will soon leave this loving family of mine, feeling as if I have given a gift this holiday season like none other. I truly can give PEACE this season and so can you.
To learn how you can meditate please read my book Sæ-sii Meditation: How to Find Your Bliss in 15 Minutes a Day

Messages of Artists Who Have Crossed Over Part 1

Cliff Sterret's work

For most of my life I have been a professional artist. I have worked with many clients. Some were local backyard mom and pop businesses, some were huge corporations. I am a freelance artist who has designed tv commercials, logos, billboards and graphics of every description. Let's just say I have enjoyed a very diverse career and now find myself embarking on a new twist. I have connected with artists from the other side of the veil.

I designed this cover

In the spring of 2009 I began working with archival newspaper cartoonists of the early 1900's. This was a time in our world when there was no tv, no internet, no ebooks, no iphones...it was a world of radio and newspapers. My work is in the restoration of this beautiful form of art and placing it into volumes of books that readers of today can view and learn from. The artists were masters of their craft, such as Cliff Sterret, (seen here) - using their raw talents of pen and ink without the benefit of cut and paste, undo or save. The source of my work is often found in dusty old attics as a generation fades away and the contents of their treasure chests are brought out into the light. Many people can only glimpse the work of these great artists, as collectors gobble them up on ebay or trade shows hording them away or selling them to the highest bidder. They are precious and some of the price tags on these gems reflect it. I, along with a team of others, scan them and make them into digital files. They are placed in a chronological order so the viewer can read them- just as they were meant to be seen after being picked up from front door stoops and opened every morning. I usually have to digitally clean them to bring them back to life. Often newspaper strips are faded and cracked and I smooth out the wrinkles and erase the dirt they have accumulated (some over 90 years). I have become an expert photo restorationist and my talents are put to good use as I am called upon to add old images of the artist into each book. These photos are collected from all over the world and many are personal images on loan from family members. Looking at these fantastic old family photos of the early teens gives depth to the artist and I somehow feel connected. I never knew just how connected that would become.

My meditations often bring me to a place where I am given messages. I have always journaled my messages and love looking at them months later. It was through this experience that I was given this realization and my gift.
Meditation message:  "Your work is therapuetic and healing to the soul. You were brought into alignment to be able to use your talents to bring forth the work of artists who no longer walk among us. "
This at first sounded like some flowery compliment, but I am beginning to understand that the artists of the books I am working on are watching me. I thought the theraputic and healing was for the many people here on earth who are enjoying reading these collections, but clearly they are truly for the spirits who view their work disintegrating into dust - I am bringing them joy. This has opened my heart to an understanding that they stand at my shoulder cheering me on.

Sterret's Polly and Her Pals ran 1912 - 1958

The newspaper will become a tool of the past, as we are witnessing. The age of the book is uncertain and no one knows where this will lead. Books stores are closing worldwide and libraries are having their budgets cut as I write. So, as you can see, recovering and restoring art from old newspapers is a type of rescue work. This is a new dimension of my career that I had never dreamed of.

In my next blog I will speak of the message I received from a wonderful cartoonist Alex Toth. Part 2 Artists Who Have Crossed Over

To learn how you can meditate read my book Sæ-sii Meditation: How to Find Your Bliss in 15 Minutes a Day