Arcade Fire Unites my Life
I’ve just watched the live stream of the new Arcade Fire album – Reflektor. In a weird way, it unites the loose ends of my life: Arcade Fire hails from Montreal, where I… Continue reading
Inspire Someone
Recently, I made a month-long trip back to North America to see friends and family. In many ways it was an inspiring voyage into my past, present and future at the same time.… Continue reading
Cultivating a Garden for the Elusive Extraordinary
I recently dropped by someone’s house where I encountered something very special. From the exterior, the house was typical for the area: fresh paint, nice lawn. On the inside all was in order,… Continue reading
We Were Horses
Today Sanan and I went to watch the horses of l’Academie Equestre de Versailles have their morning workout. Their show “WE WERE HORSES” is featured at Parc de la Villette. Horses are such… Continue reading
Creativity and the Everyday Brain
Allow me to suggest an interesting National Public Radio interview with Rex Jung, who does research on the interplay between intelligence, creativity and personality in the brain. http://www.onbeing.org/program/creativity-and-everyday-brain/1879 “How do we prime our… Continue reading
Easter Labyrinths in Amsterdam
For the second year in a row, my wife and I accepted the invitation of our Dutch friend, Willimijn to come to Amsterdam for the Easter weekend. This time, however, she gave us… Continue reading
The bells, Esmeralda, the bells!
Quasimodo will finally have new bells to ring. The Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris is getting a fresh new set of bells for its 850 birthday (read about them in detail here). They… Continue reading
A Complete Disaster…
…is what I would call the exhibit we went to on Sunday….that’s because the name of it was: Disaster: The End of Days…our first visit to the amazing new Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac in… Continue reading
The Music of Laura Llorens
About 6 months ago, I was having just another coffee with Laura Llorens at a café parisien typique, when she unloaded some pretty exciting news: that she was going to record a new… Continue reading
The Land Art of Andy Goldsworthy
I really, really enjoy the “land art” of Andy Goldsworthy. He has a way of looking at nature differently and rearranging it in subtle but fascinating ways. It’s natural. It’s temporal. It’s simple.… Continue reading
The Cry of Body and Soul
from day one in this world we eat we poop we sleep we cry there are no lessons involved no training needed we just do it as adults we have learned to harness… Continue reading
Guerrilla Beauty Update
Back in June I bought some ivy for this little nook in the entry way of our apartment building. (read about it here) I called it guerrilla beauty. I put the ivy there… Continue reading
A Cache-Cache* Moment
A very good friend just texted me from Barcelona while visiting Gaudi church: Sagrada Familia. She says, “Holà, …La Sagrada Familia is so meaningful, so Jesus centered that I can not help the… Continue reading
Pray Like a Gourmet!
As part of my on-going passion to fuse together the creative and the spiritual…to encourage those who are creative toward deeper spirituality and those who are spiritual toward heightened creativity…I have created a… Continue reading
Edward Hopper @ Paris
Finally made it to the Hopper Expo @ le Grand Palais…Paris after hearing about it from friends only stood in line for an hour and a half with Dutch friend Willemijn cold and… Continue reading
Art is Frightening
Art is frightening. Art isn’t pretty. Art isn’t painting. Art isn’t something you hang on the wall. Art is what we do when we’re truly alive. If you’ve already decided that you’re not… Continue reading
Waterfall of Creativity
An interesting thing happened the other night. I had been asleep only about an hour when I suddenly woke up. I had left NPR radio streaming on my iphone beside my bed…I naturally… Continue reading
Happiness
Allow me to suggest a BBC podcast on HAPPINESS: What makes us smile? The radio programme “The Forum” brings together 3 “happiness researchers” from 3 countries: American positive psychologist Todd Kashdan believes that… Continue reading
The Art of Lament
There are times in life when you need to allow yourself to be sad….when it is very appropriate….when your soul cries out to mourn. In the wake of such a massacre of innocence… Continue reading
Collaborative Vision
This week I had another cool, first-time-ever art experience….I went with my friend Zoé Motte to a large office building situated between l’Arc de Triomphe and La Défense. She led an art workshop… Continue reading
For Fools and Dreamers
Some inspiring words from Karlie Allaway of the U.K. – via Jonny Baker Yes we are still fools Yes we are still dreamers Who else would keep looking at desolation and in the… Continue reading