Now in Bali

When in Bali an elusive time warp occurs, especially in Ubud. Love, laughter, song - takes place of the tick tack on the keyboard. Each day I try to hop on the blog to jot down my experiences and the unfolding of events BUT the words don't fit, my mind draws circles, and I loose the feeling I want so badly to hold onto. So I wait, I wait for the writing to come and sift through delicious life happenings so I can tell a story and induce giggles and smiles from others. More to come but until then here are some photos that will tell half my story.

Swimmers

Tonight I swam. First I dipped into a warm jacuzzi, with heat bubbling against the unusual Los Angeles April chill. We were on the marina, my friend and I, belly laughing under the stars and observing the docked boats twinkle. A bottle of wine illegaly sitting poolside, this was fun.

We cranked the sauna prior to dipping- always a brilliant idea. With one swim race won by me and numerous masterful dives by both, we kicked it. Conversation to laughter back to conversation to dares. Nothing compares to fun girlfriends. First off, friends are found in many corners yet the ones who win the prize must have something sparkly inside- something lively- right? Or is it the common readiness to be guardless, frontless, hilarious?

Days, hours, moments- all have become driven and twisted in daily life. To release the pressure feels like cotton candy on my tongue. I like it but I dont- the grittyness of time, plans and responsibility taste odd yet the sweetness of freedom, fun, and embracing the inner dork creates subtle bliss.

All this becase I swam? ;)
G'nite

The Learning Garden

Venice beach embodies creativity and cries individualism. Drum, circles, skateboards, vegetarian street shops, and bicycles galore! Here in lies the draw for many: Venice is a hippy haven. Anything, everything, nothing- do whatever you like here yet do it with a smile.

A small group did do what they like and created The Learning Garden- 60,000 ft of deep colored veggies and bright happy flowers grown in a land lot that used to contain tires, trash, drug dealing, and waste. Lo and behold this school Venice High School garden has become the one of the largest school gardens in the world. A project such as this never seizes to catch my fleeting attention.

Digging deeper into The Learning Garden, I discovered the founders partnerered with Venice High School in 2001 seeing an opportunity for community empowerment. City students partake in horticulture programs offering them a chance to dirty their hands and taste the sweetness of their labor.

Yo San University students work intimately with the garden studying natural herb remedies and UCLA runs their extension program here too! Volunteering is encouraged!
(310) 722-3656

More to come soon after I interview the founders...

Santa Monica Business License Marathon

Being of service to our communities sometimes proves to be complicated . Webs of permits, licenses, insurance, referrals, and certifications are now needed to ensure organization, verification, and qualification. This is fine and dandy, but, I believe loads of paperwork deters people who have something to teach from doing so. Much loved and needed community classes on health, meditation, fitness, self-defense, or even cooking are shrinking.

Today I had the pleasure of speaking with Ebba, Santa Monica's head honcho of community and cultural services. She's cool.
Together we worked to complete all my necessary paperwork, ensuring my entry into the Santa Monica community class instructor program:

1. Sole-proprietor Santa Monica City business license
2. City insurance,
3. General liability, fingerprints,
4. W9 taxpayer ID
5. Americans With Disabilities adherence
6. Fee schedule
7. Proposed compensation
8. Class specialty
9. Conviction information
10. References
11. Proforma
12. Customer service plan

WHEW! All to teach donation based community classes in the parks and recreational areas. Turns out donation based classes have become a take-away from the city's teachers so now teaching community classes in a no no if not in the city pay role .

I see how the system is meant to serve the community but... man, oh man.

Luckily, my determination to have fun with my community outdoors has carried me through the process and soon I will be teaching workshops and classes where ever I please.

Outdoors, stuffy studio personalities and the business of yoga do not apply. It's a fun gathering of new buddies, calm thinking, and cool pacific breeziness!

My schedule is soon to come so keep checking in!!

Eat, Pray, Love on Ted.com

Prior to my departing for Ubud, Bali and Italy, Elizabeth Gilbert's book, Eat Pray Love, found a resting spot in my hands. Timing - perfect. One's voice in writing contains the possibility to tip the readers courage over fear and inspiration over skepticism.

Ted.com, the world's most expansive coverage of creative thinkers, invited Gilbert to speak on her creative processes and the freakish success of Eat Pray Love. Elizabeth's raw, humorous, and intriguing explanation of the human creative process swelled me with overwhelming comfort. She gets it. From her wise tone of voice to her spot-on insights, she received a standing ovation from the 'Ted-sters.' Once in a while a speaker proves so captivating, everything else seizes to exist.

Wow.

Osmosis

I use the word osmosis freely.   The concept intrigues my mind and seems to illustrate rightly the movement of human energy.   Osmosis, described basically- if a cell is put in a solution which is more concentrated than its own, then it will shrivel up, and if it is put in a solution less concentrated than its own, the cell will expand.
E.g. If a red balloon is filled with concentrated salt water then tied and placed under pure water, the pure water will want to slowly permeate through the balloon wall and join the concentrated salt solution, expanding the balloon until both solutions, inside and out, are equally concentrated.
Now, for the second part of my science experiment- a story to connect osmosis to human energy:  

She reflected on everything she wanted and everything she inspired to be. The control was in her hands. Somehow she understood that only through understanding and concentrating her surroundings- people, environment, colors, activity, weather- she would expand into endless possibility.

Lessons had been learned. People had drained life from her and so had her activities although all of it was unknowingly in her control. The outside world she had created for herself was far more concentrated than the inside world and she was empty.
Change brewed and glimpses of insight broke through a depleted mind, body and spirit. She began to shed all that appeared dark; all that felt draining. She built, as many before her did, a strong and concentrated inside world through grounding, fearlessness, freedom of expression, and exploration.

Slowly her external environment molded to shape her inner reflected truths, desires, and curiosities. Creative thinkers, mentors, laughers, and seekers replaced the old. Gardens, forests, sun lit rooms, terraces, soft music replaced the old. Still peace, comfortable silence, and conversation became unbearably beautiful. The beauty was her. Inner concentration had expanded attracting more of the like. All things externally good were born from her inner desire for them to be so. Osmosis.

What have you been thinking about today? ;)



-Emily Kuser

Radiantly Alive, Ubud, Bali

For no reason at all I feel like sharing this video of what I was up to in Ubud, Bali with Radiantly Alive... these are my fellow yogi buddies in the video. I'm on the sidelines rockin' out.

FLOATING BED

I sleep on a floating bed. It hangs from the ceiling in my new home's meditation room where Sanni, LA's notorious tribal clothing designer invited me to live. She will leave Wednesday for her homeland, Germany where she and her husband own acres of land, tepees, and wild horses. I will work with LA Yoga Magazine while caring for the home, welcoming worldly travelers who will rent rooms in this city haven for out-of-the-box thinkers and creative types alike.

Where am I you ask? LA. Yes LA. But not really because it's Venice beach, here again... 6 years later. Life is peculiar. Ask and you shall receive is a timeless virtue however, the delivery occurs in bizarre, ass backwards and tricky disguises. I begged for community. I begged for involvement with my interests. I think endlessly about teaching and inspiring and shaking the world.

Like a wave crashes, today for a moment I glimpsed at the perfectness, however bitter-sweet, my life has become. I was just gazing out the car window and I felt good. I felt good about it all. To let go of control and embrace fear burns at first yet is simply blissful in retrospect. Day to night, day to day, each tasting of it's own flavor, letting go of controlling the route life desires to take me on is difficult.

Traveling, moving, writing, reading, moving, moving, moving, driving, speaking, laughing, wine, inspiring, being inspired, city, town, village, beach, gypsies, folks, new life, old life, new challenge and old habits. I give in. Take me where you will. ;)

I Met The Walrus

According to me, I've just witnessed perfection of inspiration.

"In 1969, 14-year-old Beatles fan Jerry Levitan tracked his idol, John Lennon, from a Toronto airport to his room at the King Edward Hotel. Inside, he convinced Lennon to do an impromptu interview. Thirty-eight years later, Levitan teamed with director Josh Raskin to create and edit a five-minute short film entitled 'I Met the Walrus' based on the interview. Amazing, right?" (Paste Magazine)

More to come...

I Met The Walrus

Asa, music to live for

There are few who brave their ability to embrace liberty, expansion, and voice. Through the pseudo-hippy grapevine, I've had the privilege of being introduced to musical artists doing just that. A strong, raw, smooth voice flowing with experience and wisdom is enough to weaken the knees. Imagine Nina Simone, Talib Kweli, Bob Dylan, Ray Charles, Anjelique Kidjo, and Lauren Hill. The magic we feel immersing ourselves in their music is born from their unique ability as artists to separate magic from mundane.

A while back I was introduced to Asa, the Nigerian singer songwriter who was banned from choir because of her 'deep voice'. She secretly signed at Peter King's School Of Music and learned guitar in 6 months. Golden singers, Erika Badu and Lauren Hill influenced Asa's musical style towards perfection. She's a bad ass. Every stroke of a chord evokes some pain which bloomed to pleasure derived from growing up in Lagos. Inspiration is the seat of her soul and her lyrics paint a picture of healing ignorance and embracing knowledge and empowerment.

Africa may be her backdrop but the world is in her eyes. Asa's got it goin' on and we can learn a lot form her soulful messages. Elusive beauty in one voice being carried atop a smooth rhythm of instumentals... damn.

Her songs Jailer, and So Beautiful should be heard by everyone.

ASA - Jailer
by naiverecords