Goooooddd Morrnninggg SuperForest!

Today I have stumbled upon this incredibly fun and entertaining video! Watch the grooves and the moves of this young buck, and become thoroughly entranced. After that put on a song and do some of your own dancing!

Pretty cool, huh? Go get your groove on SuperForest!

~ SuperForester Mathew

Good Morning, SuperForest!

I’ll be the first to admit I’ve never actually seen a Star Wars movie. But despite my ignorance, I do know enough about it to know that “Star Wars Yoga” is an absolute gem. Created by writer/designer Matthew Latkewicz, “Star Wars Yoga” goes where few geeks have gone before and creates “a bold fusion of two seemingly disparate cultural phenomenons” with mighty poses including “X-Wing”, “Downward Facing Wookie”, “TIE Fighter”, and “Speeder Bike”.

Looks pretty complicated? Not to worry. The fine folks at TIME have put together a nice instructional video!

Check out more of his poses on his blog!

(via the jailbreak!)

Hello SuperForesters! I’d like to share with you my very first D.I.Y. project! I have to admit that this is not a unique idea; you know what they say about there being “no original ideas”, however I didn’t let that stop me from doing the project! The first thing you will need is an abundance of corks. I amassed mine from my family’s passion for good wine, but you can also visit a local restaurant or wine bar and ask them to save the corks for you, they just might do it!

After you’ve collected many corks, get yourself a basic frame. I found mine at a craft store, but it would be even better if you could reclaim some wood and make your own frame.

Take some time and practice patience when arranging the corks within the frame. Because the corks are not all the same size and some may be slightly warped, it will take a calm, creative eye to arrange them so they all fit nicely.

When you are ready, pick the corks up two by two, and glue underneath them, gently pressing them into the glue as you put them back in place. This will keep your design together while you glue the corks down.

After all of the corks have been glued to the frame, place some heavy books on top to help the glue set and adhere the corks securely. Leave the books on overnight or for a few hours.

Ta-da! The frame is now complete and ready to hang on your wall! I am going to use mine as a “vision board” to keep myself mindful of my goals and intentions on a daily basis.

What do you think, SuperForesters? Should I leave my frame minimalist or should I paint it?

Yours in recycled crafting,

SuperForester Heather

SuperForester Jenni came from Canada for a visit to Zero One and she made this amazing movie about the trip!

Zero One: A SuperForest Adventure
Uploaded by jremps. – Exotic and entertaining travel videos.

Yayyyyyy Jenni!

Check out Jenni’s blog post about ZO.

Self-pride and self-love are distinct. I have at various points of my life mistaken the two. My project now is to defuse the former and infuse in myself the latter.

Pride is rejection. As we all take to believe, pride springs from the ego. Pride is a wall that separates ourselves from our insecurities, as well as other people.  We may hide behind or stand above it in order to feel content in who we are. Through the conveyance of pride, I make myself the other, safe in my tower. When I push away others I do the same to a part of me. That security is a fiction; we were never separate.

Self-love is an acceptance or embrace of what I am, and the universe suggests that acceptance is the right path. I seek to love every iteration of myself: before I was born, when I was an infant, when I was eight, when I was seventeen, when I was twenty, who I was last month, what I was last night, and, of course, that which I am today. I cannot deny any single instance of me; for if I have anything, I have myself.

Pressures from without and within, the lingering hurts of past days, tug at our hearts. We shrink away  from the hurt we felt then, and in doing so hide that part of ourselves. The key is to accept, even to love, that hurt. Without noticing, the pain evaporates.

To reject a part of our past is to lose a piece of our living flesh. We must gather up the many selves that we have been and love them, appreciate the beauty in them, rejoice in them. We find parts of our history banal and insignificant, but we must listen to the poets when they urge us to find equal beauty in a blazing sunset as in the hairs of our arms.

With this trust, we may bound into the future knowing that you and I will love whoever we become.

I have missed you SuperForest.

Since my last post I have:

-Moved to California

-Gone to an amazing concert: Crowed House

-Arrived at my new school, Claremont McKenna College.

-Met my new and amazing roommate, and so many other people.

-Gone surfing in Santa Barbara!

-Gotten involved in a massive water fight!

-And I am sure I forgetting lots of stuff…

During that time I had little to no internet access, and now for the first time, in what feels like years, I have been able to sit down and read my dearest friend’s words and comments in my favourite place. Being away from SuperForest this time was unique. I have taken breaks from writing before, but I always kept reading. This time I couldn’t even read, and that sensation was very strange. I missed you! So, I write this after catching up on all the posts and comments I had missed out on! Reading the wonderful words of my fellow Team SuperForesters has brought me so much joy, excitement, contentedness, and gratitude. Thank you Team for being you, and for doing what you do. So, now that I have said that more about what I have been up to.

My first night in L.A. led me to being invited to a Crowed House concert, which was simply amazing! Check out this great video I got the chance to record!

After that I moved to my new home for the next four years! I quickly ended up leaving for an orientation trip: Surfing in Santa Barbara! This was my first time surfing, and what an experience it was. The waves hitting you as you waited for that perfect swell, only to be disappointed one second, and then be thrilled the next. Then all of a sudden to be thrown into the ocean by the wonderful forces of nature, only to pop up panting with excitement! I loved it!! I also got the chance to meet, and get to know 20 or so of my future classmates, along with three older students! Soon after that…

I came back to CMC to officially move in! I met my room mate, Donald. And let me tell you, we hit it off immediately! This is going to be an amazing year! I have met so many incredible people, and gotten a taste for so many amazing things to come. I am drooling at the thought of starting classes (Tuesday), and then delving into my major…which is SuperForest (at least hopefully): Economics, Environment, and Politics! A totally amazing and incredible interdisciplinary major that I am so excited for. There is so much on the horizon to be excited for!

All of that brings me to two ideas, thoughts, and/or emotions that have been popping up, especially as I have read up on my SuperForest: Love & Gratitude. There is so much love to be given in the world. Everyday and every second, and if you ever doubt whether you should hold back or go full out in love, choose the latter. Which ties in perfectly with gratitude. My next four years are going to be amazing, shared with amazing people. The opportunity was given to me because of soooo many amazing and inspiration people, most namely my parents. Thank you Mom & Dad!

I am bursting with possibilities, ideas, and so much else right now. I am now on a mission to share SuperForest, Sun Shines On, Simply Smiles, Blend Apparel, Matt Wadleigh LoVE Foundation, and everything else I am tied to with my new amazing community. SuperForest is going to take the Claremont Colleges by storm! With the help of SuperForester Chris of course, who is going to Pitzer, my neighbour school (literally down the street from my dorm). I am on a new slate with new chances and opportunities, and I can’t wait to share it with you all!

More to come soon, but in the mean time keep doing what you do best SuperForest, I love you very much! It is now time for me to pull on my Blend shirt, head over the Pitzer campus, and have a little luau with the other Claremont Colleges’ freshman! What an exciting journey life is, and how wonderful it is to share it with you! Stay safe, smile, be LoVE, and take care SuperForest!

Much, much LoVE,

Mathew

Good Afternoon, SuperForest!

Several months ago, I posted a picture of an “elephant sweater” on my tumblr. There was no denying its adorable qualities, and even at a glance, it always made me smile. But like most things we find on the internet, we eventually forget about it. Such was the case with sweet “elephant sweater”. Little did I know, it would come blasting back into my consciousness when I least expected it.

I was eating an In-N-Out burger while parked at a lovely spot overlooking the ocean (the only way to properly eat an In-N-Out burger) and all of a sudden, my phone started buzzing with alerts. One after the other, emails marched into my inbox and continued on through the night. Dozens and dozens of people were “reblogging” and “liking” the elephant sweater I’d long forgotten and before I knew it, that post had 640 “notes” (pretty much tumblr’s closest equivalent to “comments” on a regular blog). I was, and still am, stunned. To experience the internet’s domino effect, first hand, is something that fills you with wonder and empowerment. And after getting past the initial shock, my thoughts naturally shifted toward SuperForest. I began to ask myself whether us SuperForesters would be capable of creating a similar torrent with something that was actually meaningful or having the potential to create lasting change.

Days later, that opportunity came.

Located in Oceanside, California, The TERI (Training, Education & Research Institute) Learning Academy has been serving individuals with autism and other learning disabilities (and their families) for the past thirty years.

Most recently, I was informed by a family friend that this school has been in the running for the Kohl’s Cares Contest to win a donation of $500,000. Twenty schools in this competition will be receiving a grand total of ten million dollars! Crazy, right? What’s even crazier is that TERI school is currently ranked at number 87, which is already a huge achievement considering the school serves only 600 clients annually in what is already an underserved and underrepresented part of our community. But maybe with our help, we can give them that extra boost they need to receive the donation and give this “little engine that could” story the fairy tale ending it deserves.

Here’s all we have to do. If you have a facebook account, click on the button below. Once the Kohl’s Cares application is running, you are given a total of twenty votes to give to any schools of your choice (but are given a limit of five votes per school). Vote for TERI five times (or however many times you prefer) and you’re done, the school will be a tiny bit closer at climbing the list. It takes seconds, it’s for a great cause, and it will give us SuperForesters a chance to flex our community strengthening muscles.

Voting ends on September 3rd.

What do you say? Getting people to create lasting and positive change by spreading the word via the web can’t be that difficult, right? Should be a cinch.
I mean, if “elephant sweater” can do it…

My biggest thank you’s go out to anyone that votes, I have 15 votes left, if you have a school you’d like me to vote for, please drop their name in the comments section below and I’ll gladly vote for them, as well.

Love!

C

Every month SuperForester Jordan “rediscovers” a literary gem from the vast treasure trove of an art form that, in our technological age, has become largely under-appreciated and “lost”.

This week’s poem was found by SuperForester Heather, who discovered it by way of youtube where an adorable 3 year old graces us with a memorized reading (impressive!).  I don’t think I’ve found a more popular youtube video about poetry.  I recommend starting the video and then reading along with the poem, written by the always funny and fantastic Billy Collins, who I’ve posted about before.

Litany

You are the bread and the knife,

The crystal goblet and the wine…

-Jacques Crickillon

You are the bread and the knife,

the crystal goblet and the wine.

You are the dew on the morning grass

and the burning wheel of the sun.

You are the white apron of the baker,

and the marsh birds suddenly in flight.

However, you are not the wind in the orchard,

the plums on the counter,

or the house of cards.

And you are certainly not the pine-scented air.

There is just no way that you are the pine-scented air.

It is possible that you are the fish under the bridge,

maybe even the pigeon on the general’s head,

but you are not even close

to being the field of cornflowers at dusk.

And a quick look in the mirror will show

that you are neither the boots in the corner

nor the boat asleep in its boathouse.

It might interest you to know,

speaking of the plentiful imagery of the world,

that I am the sound of rain on the roof.

I also happen to be the shooting star,

the evening paper blowing down an alley

and the basket of chestnuts on the kitchen table.

I am also the moon in the trees

and the blind woman’s tea cup.

But don’t worry, I’m not the bread and the knife.

You are still the bread and the knife.

You will always be the bread and the knife,

not to mention the crystal goblet and–somehow–the wine. dd

Billy Collins

The Genius of Billy Collins is the way he plays with the conventions and history of poetry, the way he reinvents the traditions and art that has come before him and then twists them to both pay honor to his predecessors while also creating his own original work.  This poem for instance is a sent up to Shakeaspeare’s most famous Sonnet: “My mistresses eyes are nothing like the sun”, and the entire tradition of Litany (that is romantic worship) Poetry.  But Billy can tell you all of this better in person:

I’m taking The 100 Thing Challenge, wherein I slowly and thoughtfully whittle my belongings down to 100 Things in an effort to simplify my life, become a more conscious consumer, gain a little clarity, loose some clutter, save some money, and find some peace. Want to join me? Here’s the introduction.

I spent some time last weekend making a list of everything I own. Well, correction: making a list of some of the things I own. After the first 500 things or so it got to be a little tedious and I stopped, because the list-making served it’s purpose: to show me that I have way to many unnecessary Things.

A sampling: 45 t-shirts (definitely don’t need that many), 3 pairs of sunglasses (2 that haven’t been worn in over a year), 7 scarves (I wear 3), 2 copies of When Harry Met Sally (…), 17 pairs of shoes (I wear 4, maybe 5)… you get the idea.

I don’t need 45 t-shirts, or 17 pairs of shoes, or 2 copies of When Harry Met Sally. Duh.

This realization gave me the kick-start I needed to begin the whittling process. Over the last week I’ve gone through my closet and a few drawers, making gut decisions on what to keep and what to pass on. Later, I will go back through more thoughtfully, but for now, this was a good start, and good practice.

I gave one dress (never worn) to my roommate, who wore it last week. I shipped another dress (worn twice in 5 years) and a pair of shoes (ditto) to an old roommate (extra bonus: surprising an old friend with something nice!). The rest is in a pile in my living room, waiting to be taken to Goodwill.

This part of the challenge has felt good, but it hasn’t gotten hard yet. I’m also nowhere near 100 yet. I’m just sort of taking it piece by piece right now, slowly cleaning out drawers and cupboards and boxes. It’s been nice uncovering old Things, that I’ve loved, and it’s been refreshing to say goodbye to other Things, that I don’t love.

How about you?

“It is not how much we do, but how much love we put in the doing.  It is not how much we give, but how much love we put in the giving.” -Mother Teresa

August 26, 1910 Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu was born in a small town in Albania.  19 years later, as a young novice nun, Agnes arrived to India as a missionary, and very quickly dedicated her time to working among the sick, dying and destitute.  In 1931, she took her full vows as a catholic nun, adopting the name Teresa after Thérèse de Lisieux, the patron saint of missionaries.  For 15 years she lived in the convent, a devout disciple of her spiritual calling.  But in 1946 she experienced the “call within the call”:  she was to leave the convent and help the poor… while living among them.

Thus was Mother Teresa born — the iconic women of charity, who’s lifelong labor of love has spread in a million ripples, inspiring multitudes around the world.  Everybody knows Mother Teresa, her name is as ubiquitous  as Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr.  The very mention of her triggers sensations of kindness and hope.

Today marks Mother Teresa’s Centenary birth, a day of much celebration and praise around the world; and especially in the 610 orphanages and and schools which she built in the poorest slums in 123 countries through her Missionaries of Charity.  And while most focus on the impact Mother Teresa has had in the world, the sheer number of children she has lifted from the black well of poverty, the depth of her religious and moral devotion; the international fame of her 1979 Nobel Peace Prize, and the resulting saintly status she has achieved,… I want to focus the microscope, to take a more intimate look at the quiet spirit of a woman who gave her entire heart to nurture happiness in others.

Spread love everywhere you go. Let no one ever come to you without leaving happier.

What I find so incredibly inspiring about Mother Teresa is not the tremendous impact her actions have ignited (though these are of course great sources of inspiration), but rather the humble origins — the small intimate sacrifices of her actions.  You have to remember that before Mother Teresa became the wise, wizened old women of contemporary symbolic stature… she was just a ordinary teenage girl, who left her small town in Albania to travel to the remote, exotic world of India.  Think about that for a second.  Consider the inner strength and courage it takes to leave behind the comforts of family and home at the age of nineteen, never to see your parents again.  To then throw yourself into the dirtiest, poorest, and dangerous slums on earth, on your own as a gori- a foriegn white woman, with nothing to offer but  some food, a smile, a hug.

Everytime you smile at someone, it is an action of love, a gift to that person, a beautiful thing

The miracle of Mother Teresa stems from the humility of her gestures.  She never set out to change the world, just to help the person in front of her.  And as such, she selflessly put herself always in the place of most need.  In her own words: “My mission is to care for the hungry, the naked, the homeless, the crippled, the blind, the lepers, all those people who feel unwanted, unloved, uncared for throughout society, people that have become a burden to the society and are shunned by everyone.” Little by little, one life at a time, she worked to spread joy and shine just a little candle flicker of light.

Even in the face of overwhelming and infinite poverty, fighting a war that can’t be won, she never gave up.  Even in the depths of a personal spiritual crisis, in the dark cellars of despair, she never stopped.  This is a woman who gave her life in service to church, to God, to the meek and the voiceless.  Who stood tall against crippling waves of loneliness.  Who offered a haven of peace (in 1946) even as violent civil war broke between Muslims and Hindus. Or stepped in at the height of the Siege of Beirut (1982– at the age of 72) to rescue 37 children trapped in a hospital between Israeli and Palestinian lines.  This is a woman who assisted radiation victims at Chernobyl, earthquake victims in Armenia, and starving orphans in Ethiopia.  Who lent her hand, person to person, and never let her beacon-light waver, even when it seemed she was all alone in the darkness.

We ourselves feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. But the ocean would be less because of that missing drop.

Today then, on her 100th birthday, we honor Mother Teresa not just for the impact she has made, but also the example she has set.  Inch by inch she has raised the bar of humanity to a height for which we should all aspire.  And she did it largely, amazingly, all on her own.

And for that we are eternally grateful.