Melanie Lutz Writing. Love. Inspiration.

Mel talks Standing Naked at Mystic Journey Bookstore...

2012-03-03T16:57:00.000-08:00

Just before the end of last year I got a gift of Pablo Neruda Full Woman, Fleshly Apple. Hot Moon. selected poems. The cool thing about this selection is it had the original Spanish on one side and the English translation on the other. The book quickly opened to El Desnudo. I loved it. It vibrated with that intensity of recognition. In English it is quite simply Standing Naked. It sounds super sexy in Spanish El Desnudo. I love saying it. When it connected with my beginnings of wanting to become naked and unashamed in the garden of Eden to the truth of myself in the spaces of my heart in the arms of that which is divine. I said. Huh. Ok. I get it.

Sat, March 3rd 7pm
MEL TALKS STANDING NAKED
(True Love & Intimacy)
MYSTIC JOURNEY BOOKSTORE
1319 Abbot Kinney Blvd.
Venice, California 90291

No Regrets!

2012-02-22T02:22:00.000-08:00

Living with no regrets is stepping past what is in your field of vision into the faith of what you can’t see. It is having an intuition and following it. It is trying and succeeding and failing and having an experience of whether something works for you. It is not thinking about life it is participating in it.
That’s the way of the soul’s calling. This short poem asks you to think about what stops you from taking that action that you know will plug you into the true resonating beat of your heart in concert with your life.

Ask yourself — How do I want my life to be lived? In fear or in love?

How do I want to feel when I wake up? Full of dread or with a complete zest for life and with love bursting in my heart to share with others?

Destiny begins with that first step. Love guides the way.

Take it. Now.

Lovely Moon is an Amazon Kindle short fiction – available at the Beliefnet store and through Amazon.com starting 3/3.

It's Presidents Day.... I have one word.

2012-02-20T10:10:00.000-08:00

CHER.

Enjoy this tiny footnote from a past President's Day post...

http://alwaysalice.blogspot.com/2008/02/viva-presidents-day.html

Let's blow the doors off how we interact with life. Let's increase the healing energy that comes from honestly looking at a life with love, and let's deepen into a practice of being and extending Love.

Today and everyday.

Super Adore

2012-02-10T09:39:00.000-08:00

Using internet friendly cards a terrified of marriage young man asks the girl he loves to marry him set to Christina Perri's Thousand Years... All I can say is the world is a beautiful place and despite our fears the heart knows how to triumph over our resistance to taking a chance on love.

Meme Proposal | Tim * Audrey from Crazy Monkey Studio on Vimeo.

On Life.

2012-02-07T11:59:00.000-08:00

In her Peabody winning "Martha Graham in Performance" the legend, the dancer, the woman discusses the craft of Dance.

"There comes a moment when you look in the mirror and you realize that she is looking at you and recognizing you as herself. It is through you. Her love. her hope. Her fear. Her terror -- is all to be expressed, and there is a moment of fear on your own part. Dread. Sense of hazard feeling that perhaps you haven’t done quite enough work; perhaps you should have gone back to the studio and worked again. Because that which you do not want to do is to fail in either clarity or in passion. You give all your life to doing this one thing....There is one wonderful line of Saint John Purse and it expresses more clearly than anything any of us can say, the privilege of the instant but he says you have so little time to be born to the instant."

That is a life fully lived. In the power of now. Recognizing the truth of each action, facing the fear and sharing your self with love all the while dancing to the beat of your own rhythm.

On Writing.

2012-01-24T00:03:00.000-08:00

"Surrender your defenses and open your heart. It is okay. You are not alone. You are not alone in your feelings, You are not alone in your joy, You are connected in that space of my heart. In accepting your feelings as part of the wholeness of who you are, in saying "Yes!" to all of you. You are releasing any judgment taking the largest step into self love and release."

Sometimes I start somewhere like today, with the topic of acceptance and it provides a point of entry, a point of dropping into the wave of the movement that is necessary for the work to express itself on the page. It is a profound part of the writing process, those moments where the discipline of the hours and the gravity of the mechanism that has developed expresses its weight and density to bring forth realizations and truths. You can never predict what will happen, it is often a surprise but it is wholly known. When I was in full swing of the concept of Acceptance, everything necessary for this moment dropped forward and came through bringing with it a heart felt movement.

When I am in this surrender to the blank page, a space where everything is possible and I am totally free to go in a different direction and allow the feelings of the deeper waters to take hold to move the work forward I have the flow of creation working through me.

To be afforded insight into the human heart in this way and to be able to bare witness to the light bulb moments, reconnecting and resurrecting parts of yourself that had long lay dormant, detoxing from whatever weighs you down, is intense.

My understanding of the fact that this process is the way of this work and the feelings that flow onto the page nothing more than exercising of my humanity helps me stay in touch with who I am.

Have a beautiful day!

123 - Year of the Dragon

2012-01-23T15:50:00.001-08:00

2012 is lining up to be a fabulous energetic explosion of opportunities to remember how magnificent the universal symbols that surround us are to remind us of the great power that exists within us that is not of us that is ever ready to rise up and engage our humanity at a new level of collaboration.

Today we enter the year of the dragon. It is 1/23 and the numerology of a new beginning is fully engaged.

Because of this fortuitous opening -- starting 2/2/12 we will be kicking into a year of powerful numerological activity taking advantage of conscious Mel events with each successive number | month and day to build toward the best of all years, where life is fabulous, love is flourishing and each activity builds on the last in wonderful exponential terrific-ness.

02/02 Pyramid of Power - (Los Angeles, CA)

03/03 Mystical Saturday Night - Mystic Journey Bookstore (Venice, CA)

Mark your calendar, email info@alwaysalice.com for details and join me in raising our collective consciousness. Upcoming dates 04/04, 05/05, 06/06 etc.

Happy Chinese New Year!

Let Love Lead the Way

2012-01-22T20:41:00.000-08:00

Get Bare with Love Valentine's Package

“How many more times is (fill in the blank and it isn’t pretty) going to happen before I stand up for myself. Before I tell the truth. How many more times will a pattern repeat until I am ready to do things differently?” As Will Rogers said “don’t do the same thing and expect a different result. Do things differently. Get different results.”

In the midst of your life is a space of stillness. A space where you can hear everything that is in service to that beautiful garden of your being. Living from that space delivers a life to its purpose.

Order the Get Bare with Love package this February!! It is time to embrace this moment.

ORDER NOW.

Don't Shut Up

2012-01-18T00:01:00.000-08:00

When you know in your heart that something is not sitting right in your being. It is not a time to stay quiet. We are being called on so many levels to answer the call of our being and to do what we know is the responsible action.

Do not stay quiet. Do not silence your voice. Speak your truth.

Right now!

Look Out World!

2012-01-17T09:19:00.000-08:00

Get out there and be yourself!

Have a Dream

2012-01-16T00:10:00.000-08:00

No Limits.

"Imagine what America would be like if Martin Luther King Jr. never had a dream."

King often said "there is a power in our hearts more powerful than the power of bullets" ... and today in the land of the free and the home of the brave it's never been more important to remember.

Freedom is a commitment we make every day. A commitment to accepting everyone in all their glory and all their flaws, as brothers.

So today, open your heart and lean into its power, get comfortable with how it feels... because there is much to celebrate and much work ahead. There is no doubt as we move through what is necessary. WE SHALL OVERCOME!

In tribute and remembrance here's one of Martin Luther King's appearances, selected by the late, great Tim Russert, on Meet the Press... with a discussion about King and the current state of politics...It includes this response to a question about how many white people attended his Sunday congregation...

"It is one of the tragedies of our nation, one of the shameful tragedies, that 11 o'clock on Sunday morning is one of the most segregated hours, if not, the most segregated hour in Christian America."

(Rev. Liston Pope, Dean of Yale Divinity School)

Martin Luther King on "Meet The Press"

"The sermon he was going to deliver in the next Sunday were he to live, found in the effects after he was murdered was a sermon called "Why America May Go To Hell" that's the Martin Luther Jr. with which the broad swath of America is not familiar, and they don't understand...the articulation of a theological tradition that ... doesn't respond in hate, but it responds in prophetic anger, then ultimately Love, Love enough to speak justice to the nation...

Justice is what love sounds like when it speaks in public"

For the first time in a long time the imagination of this country is activated. We have the space to contribute our time and talents. A space once again to stretch into new possibilities.

A power has been unleashed, a power to move mountains, the power of belief.

BE INSPIRED. BE LOVING. BE YOU. REPEAT.

Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day!

Where we got it wrong. We're going to make a correction. And get it right.

Onward...

Coffee Shop Chic

2012-01-14T22:39:00.000-08:00

So many voices all so beautiful scattered throughout the world. Today is one of those days of pure beauty, pure love, all that is and all that wants to be expressing so lovingly in each and every way.

Meiko singing Reasons to Love You.

It has been quite a week.

I hope you are enjoying yourself and soaking up everything that you encounter in the most fabulous way!

Start Listening.

2012-01-02T13:41:00.000-08:00

When you step onto the path of uncovering your Soul's calling, you start hearing and articulating things you did not want to know, and it can be overwhelming. When you ask the universe Why am I Here? and it lets you know. Don't get thrown. The soul's siren song is always broadcasting and could care less about your thoughts, plans, etc. The soul doesn't make any distinctions between light and dark, doesn't care about pain or heartache, and absolutely doesn't want to hear what you think you should be doing. It worries not over failure, or success. It knows what it knows. It is a soul's calling. Your code. The reason you are here.

In listening to these quieter certain voices within we understand the process of faith in our intuition of who we can be. Who we are to become and allow us to embrace all that we are.

These first lines of a Pablo Narudo poem written near the end of his career looking back at his beginnings brings the feeling to life in the poetic language...

"Something ignited in my soul, fever or unremembered wings, and I went my own way deciphering that burning fire."

The heart and soul only cares that you do it your way.

"Something ignited in my soul"

Give this all the oxygen it needs.

"I went my own way deciphering that burning fire."

Listen to what is being called for.

Take the next step even though it is scary.

Listen to what you know you need to do and please do it. We are all at the point where we need to embrace all at we know and stand in that truth of who we are and what ignites our soul.

The reference for this post is from

LA POESIA by Pablo Neruda

...And something ignited my soul,
fever or unremembered wings,
and i went my own way,
deciphering
that burning fire
and i wrote the first bare line,
bare, without substance, pure
foolishness,
pure wisdom
of one who knows nothing,
and suddenly i saw
the heaven
unfastened
and open.

Enjoy.

I simply Love it.

Mel's "We Heart Giving" Foundation

2012-01-01T17:19:00.000-08:00

We believe in promoting a practice of humanity.
We believe that one person can make a difference.
We believe in everything that Love creates.

Giving is receiving and nothing gives us greater pleasure than giving.

Every year we support charities in our community, we support friends and families in their journeys and we support extending Love throughout the planet.

Join us in giving all you can...
Any questions email us -- info@alwaysalice.com.

Whatever You Need Mama Will Provide!

2012-01-01T11:22:00.000-08:00

It is amazing how often we find God when we are looking somewhere else.

Once on this Island is a beautifully rendered one act musical dealing with nature. The nature of the personal journey we all take and the effects of nature in full force.

"Oh...
Down the road, little girl
You may lose your way
All alone in a world
That may seem too wide
But sit on Mama's lap
And I will draw a map
And whatever
You need
Mama will
Provide"

Repeat to yourself often. Whatever you need Mama will provide.

And.

She does.

Have patience. Have joy in this moment and watch Mother Nature unfold beautifully.

Here's a Youtube clip from a the original cast album cut to what looks like CATS.

"Around this bend little friend
I'll be by your side.
That's what her mama's worth
to give her child the earth
And whatever you need
Mama Will Provide!"

Enjoy.

Love.

2011-12-29T23:47:00.000-08:00

The most fabulous Larry Gelbart wrote the classic Tootsie with some extremely talented help from his friends. The script that emerged directed by the inimitable Sydney Pollack showcases the best of the best, where everyone shines.

Every time I get notes from people about my work I remember Bill Murray in these moments from this film that I saw when I was a kid, and I absolutely smile.

"I wish I had a theater that was only open when it rains."

"What happened?"

Enjoy.

So True.

2011-12-25T20:33:00.001-08:00

Santa Love!

2011-12-24T16:10:00.000-08:00

Change Your Mind About the World

2011-12-05T18:52:00.000-08:00

Bring love to your fear and watch the beauty of the universe unfold.

When Love and Fearlessness meet you have the opportunity to bare witness to the revolution of your heart. The timeless intersection between these two allows as Socrates said for "the outer and inner man to be as one" striking your unique and perfect note. Setting right the world and its illusions.

In this space of pure love in the absence of fear is the vibrational signature of our human destiny where our perfect tone vibrates in harmony with our being and the entire universe rejoices animating the universal heavenly symphony, this sound of our celestial DNA to move as Wordsworth said "in one society" in service to our deepest most authentic self we understand and embody the wholeness pattern of the universe. This note makes manifest the destiny of your existence enabling you to be in concert with society as a whole.

As these individual notes join together the stirrings of our collective heart become a radiating social force bringing each of our inner struggles and personal journeys into the larger unfolding experience, giving context and allowing nature to enact its most beautiful elegant outflow beyond the gravity of our day to day. Delivering exactly what is necessary for your full experience of each moment at the highest possibility for your happiness.

It is time to help each other transcend our limiting beliefs and head into the field of pure possibility.

As always, I hope your soul's expression breaks through utilizing whatever language is necessary for a full rich radiant vibrance that fills your being. Listening to what speaks to you.

LOVE. MEL.

Good Morning Sunshine!!

2011-11-29T01:38:00.000-08:00

Even after all this time
The sun never says to the earth,

“You owe Me.”

Look what happens with
A love like that,
It lights the Whole Sky.

~Hafez ~ From: The Gift ~

Read more about Hafez here.

Get out there and shine for no reason!

I AM Feeling Good.

2011-11-27T11:11:00.000-08:00

“It’s a new dawn. It’s a new day and I am feeling good.”

For me, there is a soundtrack ever playing along to my life, I cherish the way it serves my soul and lightens my mood and feeds whatever is calling to be brought forward.

In these days after my most favorite holiday, it can be a great opportunity to recenter ourselves. It is absolutely a new day for each of us to rocket into the spirit of our ancestors and get into the birth of a new nation…

A nation where every child is fed — Where we take responsibility for what is ours to own; Where we express the same interest in a murder trial that we do in voting for our representatives; Where we go out of our way to be kind to someone we have never been kind to before; Where we remember we are human and as such make all the mistakes that we tend to point out and make fun of in others.
This just might be the day where everything changes and you experience the most magnificent version of yourself.

I hope so.

Life offers up so many moments of reflection, of thoughtfulness, and of sharing. I am grateful to be surrounded by a community of highly intuitive, loving and deeply connected souls.

Enjoy today and everyday.

lots of love,

Melanie

Cultivate Your Intuition

2011-11-25T16:37:00.000-08:00

The deepest most intense form of living and loving is listening to your intuition. Staying open in this field of possibility allows us to be used by universal purpose.

A way of being

A listening at the deepest level

Balance and Harmony

Love and Light

The way

To bare witness

To the truth

We all come to opening up to our still small inner voice that is always aware of the most loving interaction.

Intuition is the never ending waves and vibrations of divine inspiration. Always broadcasting. Tuning in keeps you connected to the moments of your life.

Intuition is the built in network the dynamic matrix, web, universe, whatever you like to call it.

I have a lot to say about intuition because when I ignored it I was ripped in two and when I embraced intuition it saved my life.
Intuition is built into the fabric of our being at a cellular level.

When we listen to our intuition we have the heavens at our command and when we forget it’s hit or miss whether we will end up in the hell of our thinking, purgatory or depending on your prejudice… New Jersey. The universe is designed for us to remember. To cue us when we’ve gone astray, and to eternally wait for the shift, the opening, the seeing, to wake up.

We have not even to risk the adventure alone, for the heroes of all time have gone before us – the labyrinth is thoroughly known. We have only to follow the thread of the hero path, and where we had thought to find an abomination, we shall find a god; where we had thought to slay another, we shall slay ourselves; where we had thought to travel outward, we shall come to the center of our own existence. And where we had thought to be alone, we shall be with all the world.

– Joseph Campbell’s The Hero With a Thousand Faces.

It is part of our work to decode the language.

Intuition empowers light, pushes away the darkness and gives endlessly offering never ending wisdom. It does not arrive in an absolute knowing. Often it is the exact opposite but it operates and is a language nonetheless. A language we learn through listening. Trusting. A language we can all learn. Living in its embrace takes practice and exercise. I like to think of it as awakening and energizing energy expanding outward from source. Intuition is the way the earth nourishes harmony. It allows us to move past feelings and into the space of our knowing. I am not sure when I started to aspire to full interaction with my intuition. But it was a practice of growing up that carried me through some scary situations. It made putting up, getting through the short term anxieties and traumas possible because I knew the long term goal was more important. The knowledge that I could pull myself up past the day in and day out lower vibrations and get into a place of possibility. That I could soar like an eagle above the chicken bigs and chicken littles.

Intuition reanimates the tingling being of the true essence.

Here’s a couple of tips to get you in touch with this elegant spirit of your intuition.

Start with making a decision to listen deeply. Start with owning your yes and no’s, and wrong directions and not stopping because of the wrong turns and mistakes. It starts with building ideas into energy, reading that energy and opening up to growing and flowing into the energies that present themselves and watching the bricks build into a foundation. Getting beyond the words, watching the symbols reveal meaning. Watching the unfolding in a witnessing state. It is assuming that what is, is meant to be, it’s putting your energy into the ingredients it is focusing on sowing the seeds within yourself. It is understanding, it is moment to moment taking care of the little things so the big things aren’t so exhausting.

When you need an answer practice asking within and listening… there is always a voice. The still small voice for God… that feels peaceful and feels anchored in your soul’s vocal chords played through the heart. When you don’t understand what it is saying I get support to clarify and ask again…. eventually you will be guided to what you need. Everything in its wake became part of a grand adventure. Each moment a work of art in its own right.

Keep this in mind. Struggle isn’t part of our intuitions reality it is a circumstance of anxiety. Our disconnectedness to intuition feeds the chaos of all the cosmos and craps on all the days of our lives.

There is an every changing ever adapting every evolving program with ever expanding levels of accelerating returns. Intuition is a state of ultimate grace. It is a state of forgiving freedom.

Let your body became a tuner.

“Is it an earthquake or merely a lark is it Granada I feel or only Asbury Park”

If you have an intuition that it is possible, the journey has already begun.

Get out of its way.

Take everything and put it up for consideration, listen and feel your way through. Are you constricting, probably not something that is going to work for your elegance, if you are expanding. If it feels warm it’s loving. Cold. You get it. Listen to your intuition.

Ingrid Bergman had it down “You must train your intuition – you must trust the small voice inside you which tells exactly what to say, what to decide.”

Ask within, wait for an answer and when you don’t understand get support to clarify and ask again…. eventually you will come to your peace of knowing.

When you’re courting your intuition everything is part of a grand adventure. Each idea a work of art in its own right.

Accepting all your emotions as indicators, learning Helen Keller style how to interpret the language of energy and spirit is huge. That “wow, this is water,” breakthrough. Accepting all my emotions as indicators, crack your code through understanding these language of. Energy, Feeling, Atmosphere, Biology. Once you make that connection you can utilize it as a connecting moment. Tapping into the ball of source… “This is water moment.” Decipher the up to now undecipherable. Take the corner stone moment, that key, and use it to create understanding. X = Y, that sensation in your body equals safe and with that you can decode everything.

If you’ve ever seen a toddler move into their language skills you know how quickly the one connection blossoms into everything necessary for communication. Intuition works in the same way. Allow it to flow through you. To illuminate what is necessary and to guide you toward the greatest expression of who you are.

It is our disconnectedness to intuition that feeds the chaos/hell all the cosmos and all the days of our lives. It is our connectedness to our intuition that brings us home/heaven.

You get to choose.

Imagine the Possibilities.

2011-11-21T19:34:00.000-08:00

"If we treat people as they are, we make them worse.

If we treat people as they ought to be, we help them

become what they are capable of becoming."

- Goethe, 1749-1832

Life has a way of becoming what we are thinking. People act to our expectations. In essence what we expect we get.

Make a shift into pure possibility.

Expect love. Expect grace. Expect peace. Let's expect more from our partners, friends and loved ones. Let's expect more from ourselves.

Let's remember to think with love and use our words and actions to demonstrate possibility in ourselves and for each other.

LOVE LAND TIP #129

Melanie Lutz is a screenwriter living in Los Angeles and has worked with many of the top names in the entertainment business. She is committed to a practice of loving thought in every situation and circumstance.

Be in Service!

2011-11-17T13:06:00.000-08:00

Take that next step toward your full expression and total destiny!

Walk through your fear. Tell the truth. Make the call. Open up to what you know you need to do. Stand up for what you need to stand up to. Rise into everything that awaits.

From West Indies Poet Audre Lord – “When I use my strength in the service of my vision, it becomes less and less important whether I am afraid.”

GO!

Lots of smiles and hugs.

The Return of Triumph!

2011-11-04T08:49:00.000-07:00

Be Willing To See Everything Differently

2011-10-27T10:41:00.000-07:00

Whatever is occurring in your life. Release the chronic thought. Take a step back and change your perception. Open your heart. Think with love. Take a deep breath, kick back your shoulders and drill deeper into the center of your being. Take another look.

LOVE LAND TIP #224

Check out Melanie Lutz's LOVE LAND ideas to open your heart with love.

Read more : http://blog.beliefnet.com/flightofthesoul/2011/10/be-willing-to-see-it-differently.html#ixzz1c0NExvJi

Enduring Life Lessons

2011-10-25T10:20:00.000-07:00

"You Don't Ask You Don't Get"

This is such a treat and so much a part of the magic of Youtube... the closing moments of the TV Show Baryshnikov on Broadway - with Liza Minnelli from 1980 uploaded with German subtitles. Wow.

Using the spectacular finale number from the ever fabulous A Chorus Line the lesson "ask and ye shall receive" is punctuated with grace and elegance.

Be a Singular Sensation!

Today and everyday.

Meditating For LIfe

2011-10-24T10:40:00.000-07:00

There is no secret, getting a daily practice of meditation in place will keep you in conscious contact to the deepest stillness of your being creating the ability to return to your center with greater and greater ease as you move through your day, avoiding the pitfalls of triggers and stress. Meditation is the answer to your peace of mind and well being as you open to deeper presence in your work, life and relationships.

In this practice of connecting to yourself you prepare your body, mind and soul for the experience and presence of your life. There is no other way around it. No cheat to this process of slowing down, opening up and expanding the space between your thoughts.

Get in a daily routine. Create the moments in the fullness of yourself downloading whatever files, upgrades, information that needs to be integrated to your system.

In short. Meditate, meditate, meditate.

This is the most rebellious and radical approach to taming your ego and getting detached from your thinking, freeing you up to rise into your most grace filled self.

Spend a little time getting rebellious! Now and then over the coming Mondays I’ll offer up some different forms of meditation. Some practices you can experiment with and some people you can follow to jump start and guide you through until you find what works in your life.

Here’s some links to check out–

Wikipedia’s overview on Meditation

OSHO discussing the Book of Secrets on meditation how you find the technique that works for you…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oeEDKBxkNgM&feature=related

A morning mediation via a channel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nt1DZ-Nvb2A&feature=youtube_gdata

Meditations, Affirmations and Prayers from Debbie Ford
http://store.debbieford.com/pages.php?pID=59

Investigate, evaluate and find a process. Be curious. Let God do the work of delivering the perfect exercise for you. Just be willing.

Remember five minutes of mediation in the morning will guarantee you have a connection to yourself all day.

Have a glorious day!

Onward to Greatness

2011-10-23T13:32:00.000-07:00

In a twist of Apple fate I got an email that I AM A GREAT MAN was to be in the Apple store the day that Steve Jobs passed away.

The universe never ceases to amaze me. With all the work that I have created and sent into the world. It is an honor to have my first piece to enter into the Apple universe to be this tiny collection of works inspired by my brother's tireless pursuit of doing the right thing for his family. The picture on the cover is that of his son. My nephew. The sweetest, cutest, strongest, smartest brightest young man on the planet who will be celebrating his 4th birthday this coming weekend. It is even more curious that this work was written by me. It emerged after I wrote I AM A MAGNIFICENT WOMAN and you do have to let whatever needs to flow flow. I am honored to have birthed these I AM works.

Many people have purchased I AM A GREAT MAN and found its words to be beautiful and inspiring. It is a wonderful reminder that we are all here on the planet to help each other grow by showing up in our greatness.

There is no greater gift to the earth and no greater gift to give.

Check out I AM A GREAT MAN out on iTunes for your ipad, iphone, ieverything.

In memory of a man who inspired a generation and whose vision have only begun to take form understood the process of giving over to love in a practice of faith.

"Have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary." --Steve Jobs.

Always Love.

Melanie

Ferran Adria El Bulli - Cooking in Progress - It is Totally Getting Hot Up In Here

2011-10-21T09:18:00.000-07:00

Extraordinary creativity, soul full delights and everything that following your bliss means.

This delicious insight into the mind of master chef Ferran Adria El Bulli – Cooking in Progress gives you the insiders look as the process of endless invention under the mad and beautiful eye of this one of a kind chef artist at work.

“When they finish the meal the more bewilderment the better” flows from the mind of the master as he reviews the laboratory of concoctions making there way into being. It all represents priceless insights into what it takes to become the world’s best in the full blaze of inspiration utilizing a singular vision and the majesty of confidence. I love the beauty of the expression through food. It is quite simply art.

The Spanish Mr. Adrià referred to as “the leading inspiration for avant-garde cuisine worldwide, alternately referred to as a mad scientist or Salvador Dali of the kitchen” is a delight of intensity as he works at what New York Times called “the most influential restaurant in the world” two hours northeast of Barcelona in a town called Roses, Spain all captured with precision and grace by Gereon Wetzel

El Bulli has since closed its doors as a restaurant and now operates as a foundation and teaching academy.

Mr. Adria is happily cooking in his new taperia restaurant Tickets in Barcelona.

A treat for all the senses.

Bon Appetit I hope you enjoyed a little taste of El Bulli – Cooking in Progress.

For more information check out the films website.

Riposi in Pace Pete Rugolo Beloved Father, Beautiful Soul and Emmy-Winning Composer who Lived to 95

2011-10-20T22:46:00.000-07:00

Never the spirit was born; the spirit shall cease to be never;
Never was time it was not; End and Beginning are dreams!
Birthless and deathless and changeless remaineth the spirit for ever;
Death hath not touched it at all, dead though the house of it seems!
– Bhagavad-Gita Or Song Celestial

LOVE.

We all Belong to a Cult Called Culture

2011-10-19T10:18:00.000-07:00

This photography exhibit captures the eye and exposes hidden messages like great satire revealing more and more truth. The Beauty Culture continues at the Annenberg Space for Photography in Century City.

BEAUTY CULTURE provides a seminal examination of photography’s role in capturing and defining notions of modern female beauty and how these images profoundly influence our lives in both celebratory and disturbing ways.

A Revolution Takes Place in the Heart

2011-10-18T23:07:00.000-07:00

It mattered not if others understood
The deepening of his experience grew
To the point he knew
The ache was not meant to go away
It was a part of his essence
It was the ache of the mature open heart
Living with the hurts of the instant
Working beyond the threshold of gravity
Allowing the natural expression of love to flow through him
Fully at play
Free from any confinement

Stretching across time and space
So Far Away
His beloved felt all of it
Sitting on the shore of the lake
On which they had spent so much time together

She spoke into his dearest heart
The part he had gifted her
Even though she said “No” to his offer to join him

“What I am living
Here is very tough
for my soul… nothing nice to share and too much
negativity… so,
I don’t think about it. I don’t think about it. I don’t think about it…
but I have to accept
this part of me too.
This part of me that doesn’t think it deserves a life of its own
That doesn’t deserve anything
So, here I am”

Like the kiss of an Angel
The flutter of gallant beautiful wings bursting into air
The King Fisher emerging triumphantly
Rippling free from the Lake’s surface stillness
Shaking off the water from its latest dive
Breaking into a new day

Feeling the rush of air of her beloved warming her
She watched the King Fisher soar away into the blues

She knew
She had chosen without care for her own heart
No more
She was choosing again

“Your love is lifting me up, it is flowing into my wings…
caressing a little my feathers ..
I can feel the wind…and I start to fly

Every material density with a specific weight over the air cannot reach me…
It is so beautiful this experience to be a flying bird looking at the
Density of the world from my belly
..Such a fresh air l can breathe from here… l am keeping compact my
Feathers.. the hair is playing
With the wind. so light experience.”

Freedom
Offered

Tonight
Would be her last
In this place that was not her home

Love was beckoning
Calling her through the fire of her being

The shell of her existence cracking
With a fierceness of resolve
Expanding now without reserve

She asked
As she started her journey
To her beloved
Strengthen my wings
Bring me light
For my flight

A revolution takes place in the heart. It begins by saying enough. Enough of the behavior that keeps me stuck on the shore. There are so many ways that we hold ourselves back from the truest expression of love and joy flowing into and through our lives. Ask yourself to what end and release your soul to flourish and thrive. It is the most you can do for those you love and the planet as a whole.

Lots of Love,

Melanie

Excerpted from Melanie Lutz’s Lovely Moon available through Amazon

Melanie Lutz is a screenwriter living in Los Angeles

Comfort Those in Need

2011-10-17T19:48:00.000-07:00

I saw this quote in an office of a Social Worker who day in and day out faces those, who are at the end of their financial line, at the end of their hope in working to provide for their families, at the end of their faith that a different possibility was available to them, meeting each story and person with a smile in her heart.

Everyone can be great
Because everyone can serve
You don’t have to have a degree to serve
You don’t have to make your subject and your verb agree to serve
You only need a heart full of grace
A soul generated by love.

Words by Martin Luther King Jr. on a faded piece of copy paper hanging blue thumbtacked to the office cubicle wall permeate the day in and day out efforts that unfold as these Angels work within the boundaries of a system pushed to its limits stretching where they can and living in a practice of humanity where everyone is treated with respect. Where the difficulties of circumstance continue to grow but who never stop believing a kind word, a practice of service and an action of love can transform someone’s life.

These symbols that live and breathe around us provide a platform of remembrance within the tenant of our days to wake up to our “heart full of grace” and enact it with those we encounter attending to them as we would to our own needs. We are not in any of this alone and must be vigilant to operating in a full practice of doing the right thing because we know in our hearts it is what is necessary, it is what is just, it is what is correct in a given situation and not because we have been told, policed, regulated or bullied.

As Maya Angelou wrote “A bird doesn’t sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song.”

It is all of our job to sing our song with love and to provide an example of the purest grace of our being in giving birth in each moment to what wants to be born in ourselves and those we encounter.

This is the clearest example I could relate of what Flight of the Soul will be offering in the days and weeks to come. A little bit of love. A little bit of faith and a whole lot of inspiration.

We are all being called to action, to comfort those in need, to smile for no reason and to love beyond our current capability. Happily we have more than enough teachers, wisdom and beauty to carry us through.

Thank you in advance for your time and attention and energies in contributing to the spirit of our collective connection.

Wishing you a wonderful new day full of so much love and joy!

Read more: http://blog.beliefnet.com/flightofthesoul/#ixzz1b65Jinns

Flight of the Soul Takes Off

2011-10-17T02:57:00.000-07:00

Check Mel out on Beliefnet.com

Today's a New Day!

2011-10-10T11:52:00.000-07:00

Hey Yo--
To all my purposeful powerful sister and brother friends whose laughs, loves and lives beat into a wondrous future filled with limitless possibilities.

I celebrate you! Today and Everyday!

smiles,

Melanie

In September of 1912 W.B. YEATS wrote of Rabindranath Tagore -- like the Indian Civilization itself, has been content to discover the soul and surrender himself to its spontaneity.

2011-09-18T14:02:00.000-07:00

One hundred years later - Can we do any less?

"what I choose to see I will behold" ACIM

Gitanjali -- (song offerings)

The translations below are by Rabindranath Tagore from the original Bengali

shared here to provide inspiration, to set the stage for the blossoming of a new era of love and light.

This site exists to expand ideas and to offer seeds of thought as we continue to stand in the truth

of our most authentic self.

As October goes and we integrate our partners with Love this site will undergo a transformation.

We look forward to continuing to be a space of inspiration and faith in a time where both are necessary to see clearly with vision and heart sight for the work ahead. Please enjoy these selections.

Lots of Love,

Melanie

Mind Without Fear

Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high;

Where knowledge is free;

Where the world has not been broken up

into fragments by narrow domestic walls;

Where words come out from the depth of truth;

Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection;

Where the clear stream of reason

has not lost its way into the dreary desert sand of dead habit;

Where the mind is led forward by thee into ever-widening thought and action---

Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.

Little Flute

Thou hast made me endless, such is thy pleasure. This frail

vessel thou emptiest again and again, and fillest it ever with fresh life.

This little flute of a reed thou hast carried over hills and dales,

and hast breathed through it melodies eternally new.

At the immortal touch of thy hands my little heart loses its limits in

joy and gives birth to utterance ineffable.

Thy infinite gifts come to me only on these very small hands of mine.

Ages pass, and still thou pourest, and still there is room to fill.

Purity

Life of my life, I shall ever try to keep my body pure, knowing

that thy living touch is upon all my limbs.

I shall ever try to keep all untruths out from my thoughts, knowing

that thou art that truth which has kindled the light of reason in my mind.

I shall ever try to drive all evils away from my heart and keep my

love in flower, knowing that thou hast thy seat in the inmost shrine of my heart.

And it shall be my endeavour to reveal thee in my actions, knowing it

is thy power gives me strength to act.

Moment's Indulgence

I ask for a moment's indulgence to sit by thy side. The works

that I have in hand I will finish afterwards.

Away from the sight of thy face my heart knows no rest nor respite,

and my work becomes an endless toil in a shoreless sea of toil.

Today the summer has come at my window with its sighs and murmurs; and

the bees are plying their minstrelsy at the court of the flowering grove.

Now it is time to sit quite, face to face with thee, and to sing

dedication of life in this silent and overflowing leisure.

Flower

Pluck this little flower and take it, delay not! I fear lest it

droop and drop into the dust.

I may not find a place in thy garland, but honour it with a touch of

pain from thy hand and pluck it. I fear lest the day end before I am

aware, and the time of offering go by.

Though its colour be not deep and its smell be faint, use this flower

in thy service and pluck it while there is time.

Fool

O Fool, try to carry thyself upon thy own shoulders!

O beggar, to come beg at thy own door!

Leave all thy burdens on his hands who can bear all,

and never look behind in regret.

Thy desire at once puts out the light from the lamp it touches with its breath.

It is unholy---take not thy gifts through its unclean hands.

Accept only what is offered by sacred love.

Leave This

Leave this chanting and singing and telling of beads!

Whom dost thou worship in this lonely dark corner of a temple with doors all shut?

Open thine eyes and see thy God is not before thee!

He is there where the tiller is tilling the hard ground

and where the pathmaker is breaking stones.

He is with them in sun and in shower,

and his garment is covered with dust.

Put off thy holy mantle and even like him come down on the dusty soil!

Deliverance?

Where is this deliverance to be found?

Our master himself has joyfully taken upon him the bonds of creation;

he is bound with us all for ever.

Come out of thy meditations and leave aside thy flowers and incense!

What harm is there if thy clothes become tattered and stained?

Meet him and stand by him in toil and in sweat of thy brow.

Journey Home

The time that my journey takes is long and the way of it long.

I came out on the chariot of the first gleam of light, and pursued my

voyage through the wildernesses of worlds leaving my track on many a star and planet.

It is the most distant course that comes nearest to thyself,

and that training is the most intricate which leads to the utter simplicity of a tune.

The traveler has to knock at every alien door to come to his own,

and one has to wander through all the outer worlds to reach the innermost shrine at the end.

My eyes strayed far and wide before I shut them and said `Here art thou!'

The question and the cry `Oh, where?' melt into tears of a thousand

streams and deluge the world with the flood of the assurance `I am!'

Song Unsung

The song that I came to sing remains unsung to this day.

I have spent my days in stringing and in unstringing my instrument.

The time has not come true, the words have not been rightly set;

only there is the agony of wishing in my heart.

The blossom has not opened; only the wind is sighing by.

I have not seen his face, nor have I listened to his voice;

only I have heard his gentle footsteps from the road before my house.

The livelong day has passed in spreading his seat on the floor;

but the lamp has not been lit and I cannot ask him into my house.

I live in the hope of meeting with him; but this meeting is not yet.

Strong Mercy

My desires are many and my cry is pitiful,

but ever didst thou save me by hard refusals;

and this strong mercy has been wrought into my life through and through.

Day by day thou art making me worthy of the simple,

great gifts that thou gavest to me unasked---this sky and the light, this body and the

life and the mind---saving me from perils of overmuch desire.

There are times when I languidly linger

and times when I awaken and hurry in search of my goal;

but cruelly thou hidest thyself from before me.

Day by day thou art making me worthy of thy full acceptance by

refusing me ever and anon, saving me from perils of weak, uncertain desire.

Patience

If thou speakest not I will fill my heart with thy silence and endure it.

I will keep still and wait like the night with starry vigil

and its head bent low with patience.

The morning will surely come, the darkness will vanish,

and thy voice pour down in golden streams breaking through the sky.

Then thy words will take wing in songs from every one of my birds' nests,

and thy melodies will break forth in flowers in all my forest groves.

Lotus

On the day when the lotus bloomed, alas, my mind was straying,

and I knew it not. My basket was empty and the flower remained unheeded.

Only now and again a sadness fell upon me, and I started up from my

dream and felt a sweet trace of a strange fragrance in the south wind.

That vague sweetness made my heart ache with longing and it seemed to

me that is was the eager breath of the summer seeking for its completion.

I knew not then that it was so near, that it was mine, and that this

perfect sweetness had blossomed in the depth of my own heart.

Boat

I must launch out my boat.

The languid hours pass by on the

shore---Alas for me!

The spring has done its flowering and taken leave.

And now with the burden of faded futile flowers I wait and linger.

The waves have become clamorous, and upon the bank in the shady lane

the yellow leaves flutter and fall.

What emptiness do you gaze upon!

Do you not feel a thrill passing through the air

with the notes of the far-away song

floating from the other shore?

Friend

Art thou abroad on this stormy night

on thy journey of love, my friend?

The sky groans like one in despair.

I have no sleep tonight.

Ever and again I open my door and look out on

the darkness, my friend!

I can see nothing before me.

I wonder where lies thy path!

By what dim shore of the ink-black river,

by what far edge of the frowning forest,

through what mazy depth of gloom art thou threading

thy course to come to me, my friend?

When Day Is Done

If the day is done,

if birds sing no more,

if the wind has flagged tired,

then draw the veil of darkness thick upon me,

even as thou hast wrapt the earth with the coverlet of sleep

and tenderly closed the petals of the drooping lotus at dusk.

From the traveler,

whose sack of provisions is empty before the voyage is ended,

whose garment is torn and dust-laden,

whose strength is exhausted,

remove shame and poverty,

and renew his life like a flower under the cover of thy kindly night.

Sleep

In the night of weariness

let me give myself up to sleep without struggle,

resting my trust upon thee.

Let me not force my flagging spirit into a poor preparation for thy worship.

It is thou who drawest the veil of night upon the tired eyes of the day

to renew its sight in a fresher gladness of awakening.

Lamp of Love

Light, oh where is the light?

Kindle it with the burning fire of desire!

There is the lamp but never a flicker of a flame---is such thy fate, my heart?

Ah, death were better by far for thee!

Misery knocks at thy door,

and her message is that thy lord is wakeful,

and he calls thee to the love-tryst through the darkness of night.

The sky is overcast with clouds and the rain is ceaseless.

I know not what this is that stirs in me---I know not its meaning.

A moment's flash of lightning drags down a deeper gloom on my sight,

and my heart gropes for the path to where the music of the night calls me.

Light, oh where is the light!

Kindle it with the burning fire of desire!

It thunders and the wind rushes screaming through the void.

The night is black as a black stone.

Let not the hours pass by in the dark.

Kindle the lamp of love with thy life.

Dungeon

He whom I enclose with my name is weeping in this dungeon.

I am ever busy building this wall all around; and as this wall goes up into

the sky day by day I lose sight of my true being in its dark shadow.

I take pride in this great wall, and I plaster it with dust and sand

lest a least hole should be left in this name;

and for all the care I take I lose sight of my true being.

Who is This?

I came out alone on my way to my tryst.

But who is this that follows me in the silent dark?

I move aside to avoid his presence but I escape him not.

He makes the dust rise from the earth with his swagger;

he adds his loud voice to every word that I utter.

He is my own little self, my lord, he knows no shame;

but I am ashamed to come to thy door in his company.

Prisoner

`Prisoner, tell me, who was it that bound you?'

`It was my master,' said the prisoner.

`I thought I could outdo everybody in the world in wealth and power,

and I amassed in my own treasure-house the money due to my king.

When sleep overcame me I lay upon the bed that was for my lord,

and on waking up I found I was a prisoner in my own treasure-house.'

`Prisoner, tell me, who was it that wrought this unbreakable chain?'

`It was I,' said the prisoner, `who forged this chain very carefully.

I thought my invincible power would hold the world captive

leaving me in a freedom undisturbed.

Thus night and day I worked at the chain

with huge fires and cruel hard strokes.

When at last the work was done

and the links were complete and unbreakable,

I found that it held me in its grip.'

Free Love

By all means they try to hold me secure who love me in this world.

But it is otherwise with thy love which is greater than theirs,

and thou keepest me free.

Lest I forget them they never venture to leave me alone.

But day passes by after day and thou art not seen.

If I call not thee in my prayers, if I keep not thee in my heart,

thy love for me still waits for my love.

Little of Me

Let only that little be left of me

whereby I may name thee my all.

Let only that little be left of my will

whereby I may feel thee on every side,

and come to thee in everything,

and offer to thee my love every moment.

Let only that little be left of me

whereby I may never hide thee.

Let only that little of my fetters be left

whereby I am bound with thy will,

and thy purpose is carried out in my life---and that is the fetter of thy love.

Give Me Strength

This is my prayer to thee, my lord---strike,

strike at the root of penury in my heart.

Give me the strength lightly to bear my joys and sorrows.

Give me the strength to make my love fruitful in service.

Give me the strength never to disown the poor

or bend my knees before insolent might.

Give me the strength to raise my mind high above daily trifles.

And give me the strength to surrender my strength to thy will with love.

Closed Path

I thought that my voyage had come to its end

at the last limit of my power,---that the path before me was closed,

that provisions were exhausted

and the time come to take shelter in a silent obscurity.

But I find that thy will knows no end in me.

And when old words die out on the tongue,

new melodies break forth from the heart;

and where the old tracks are lost,

new country is revealed with its wonders.

Only Thee

That I want thee, only thee---let my heart repeat without end.

All desires that distract me, day and night,

are false and empty to the core.

As the night keeps hidden in its gloom the petition for light,

even thus in the depth of my unconsciousness rings the cry

---`I want thee, only thee'.

As the storm still seeks its end in peace

when it strikes against peace with all its might,

even thus my rebellion strikes against thy love

and still its cry is

---`I want thee, only thee'.

Beggarly Heart

When the heart is hard and parched up,

come upon me with a shower of mercy.

When grace is lost from life,

come with a burst of song.

When tumultuous work raises its din on all sides shutting me out from

beyond, come to me, my lord of silence, with thy peace and rest.

When my beggarly heart sits crouched, shut up in a corner,

break open the door, my king, and come with the ceremony of a king.

When desire blinds the mind with delusion and dust, O thou holy one,

thou wakeful, come with thy light and thy thunder.

Sail Away

Early in the day it was whispered that we should sail in a boat,

only thou and I, and never a soul in the world would know of this our

pilgrimage to no country and to no end.

In that shoreless ocean,

at thy silently listening smile my songs would swell in melodies,

free as waves, free from all bondage of words.

Is the time not come yet?

Are there works still to do?

Lo, the evening has come down upon the shore

and in the fading light the seabirds come flying to their nests.

Who knows when the chains will be off,

and the boat, like the last glimmer of sunset,

vanish into the night?

Signet of Eternity

The day was when I did not keep myself in readiness for thee;

and entering my heart unbidden even as one of the common crowd,

unknown to me, my king, thou didst press the signet of eternity upon

many a fleeting moment of my life.

And today when by chance I light upon them and see thy signature,

I find they have lain scattered in the dust mixed with the memory of

joys and sorrows of my trivial days forgotten.

Thou didst not turn in contempt from my childish play among dust,

and the steps that I heard in my playroom

are the same that are echoing from star to star.

Where Shadow Chases Light

This is my delight,

thus to wait and watch at the wayside

where shadow chases light

and the rain comes in the wake of the summer.

Messengers, with tidings from unknown skies,

greet me and speed along the road.

My heart is glad within,

and the breath of the passing breeze is sweet.

From dawn till dusk I sit here before my door,

and I know that of a sudden

the happy moment will arrive when I shall see.

In the meanwhile I smile and I sing all alone.

In the meanwhile the air is filling with the perfume of promise.

Silent Steps

Have you not heard his silent steps?

He comes, comes, ever comes.

Every moment and every age,

every day and every night he comes, comes, ever comes.

Many a song have I sung in many a mood of mind,

but all their notes have always proclaimed,

`He comes, comes, ever comes.'

In the fragrant days of sunny April through the forest path he comes,

comes, ever comes.

In the rainy gloom of July nights on the thundering chariot of clouds

he comes, comes, ever comes.

In sorrow after sorrow it is his steps that press upon my heart,

and it is the golden touch of his feet that makes my joy to shine.

Distant Time

I know not from what distant time

thou art ever coming nearer to meet me.

Thy sun and stars can never keep thee hidden from me for aye.

In many a morning and eve thy footsteps have been heard

and thy messenger has come within my heart and called me in secret.

I know not only why today my life is all astir,

and a feeling of tremulous joy is passing through my heart.

It is as if the time were come to wind up my work,

and I feel in the air a faint smell of thy sweet presence.

The Journey

The morning sea of silence broke into ripples of bird songs;

and the flowers were all merry by the roadside;

and the wealth of gold was scattered through the rift of the clouds

while we busily went on our way and paid no heed.

We sang no glad songs nor played;

we went not to the village for barter;

we spoke not a word nor smiled;

we lingered not on the way.

We quickened our pace more and more as the time sped by.

The sun rose to the mid sky and doves cooed in the shade.

Withered leaves danced and whirled in the hot air of noon.

The shepherd boy drowsed and dreamed in the shadow of the banyan tree,

and I laid myself down by the water

and stretched my tired limbs on the grass.

My companions laughed at me in scorn;

they held their heads high and hurried on;

they never looked back nor rested;

they vanished in the distant blue haze.

They crossed many meadows and hills,

and passed through strange, far-away countries.

All honor to you, heroic host of the interminable path!

Mockery and reproach pricked me to rise,

but found no response in me.

I gave myself up for lost

in the depth of a glad humiliation

---in the shadow of a dim delight.

The repose of the sun-embroidered green gloom

slowly spread over my heart.

I forgot for what I had traveled,

and I surrendered my mind without struggle

to the maze of shadows and songs.

At last, when I woke from my slumber and opened my eyes,

I saw thee standing by me, flooding my sleep with thy smile.

How I had feared that the path was long and wearisome,

and the struggle to reach thee was hard!

Light

Light, my light, the world-filling light,

the eye-kissing light,

heart-sweetening light!

Ah, the light dances, my darling, at the center of my life;

the light strikes, my darling, the chords of my love;

the sky opens, the wind runs wild, laughter passes over the earth.

The butterflies spread their sails on the sea of light.

Lilies and jasmines surge up on the crest of the waves of light.

The light is shattered into gold on every cloud, my darling,

and it scatters gems in profusion.

Mirth spreads from leaf to leaf, my darling,

and gladness without measure.

The heaven's river has drowned its banks

and the flood of joy is abroad.

Passing Breeze

Yes, I know, this is nothing but thy love,

O beloved of my heart---this golden light that dances upon the leaves,

these idle clouds sailing across the sky,

this passing breeze leaving its coolness upon my forehead.

The morning light has flooded my eyes---this is thy message to my heart.

Thy face is bent from above, thy eyes look down on my eyes,

and my heart has touched thy feet.

Seashore

On the seashore of endless worlds children meet.

The infinite sky is motionless overhead

and the restless water is boisterous.

On the seashore of endless worlds

the children meet with shouts and dances.

They build their houses with sand

and they play with empty shells.

With withered leaves they weave their boats

and smilingly float them on the vast deep.

Children have their play on the seashore of worlds.

They know not how to swim, they know not how to cast nets.

Pearl fishers dive for pearls, merchants sail in their ships,

while children gather pebbles and scatter them again.

They seek not for hidden treasures, they know not how to cast nets.

The sea surges up with laughter

and pale gleams the smile of the sea beach.

Death-dealing waves sing meaningless ballads to the children,

even like a mother while rocking her baby's cradle.

The sea plays with children,

and pale gleams the smile of the sea beach.

On the seashore of endless worlds children meet.

Tempest roams in the pathless sky,

ships get wrecked in the trackless water,

death is abroad and children play.

On the seashore of endless worlds is the

great meeting of children.

Colored Toys

When I bring to you colored toys, my child,

I understand why there is such a play of colors on clouds, on water,

and why flowers are painted in tints

---when I give colored toys to you, my child.

When I sing to make you dance

I truly now why there is music in leaves,

and why waves send their chorus of voices to the heart of the listening earth

---when I sing to make you dance.

When I bring sweet things to your greedy hands

I know why there is honey in the cup of the flowers

and why fruits are secretly filled with sweet juice

---when I bring sweet things to your greedy hands.

When I kiss your face to make you smile, my darling,

I surely understand what pleasure streams from the sky in morning light,

and what delight that is that is which the summer breeze brings to my body

---when I kiss you to make you smile.

Old and New

Thou hast made me known to friends whom I knew not.

Thou hast given me seats in homes not my own.

Thou hast brought the distant near and made a brother of the stranger.

I am uneasy at heart when I have to leave my accustomed shelter;

I forget that there abides the old in the new,

and that there also thou abidest.

Through birth and death, in this world or in others,

wherever thou leadest me it is thou, the same,

the one companion of my endless life

who ever linkest my heart with bonds of joy to the unfamiliar.

When one knows thee, then alien there is none, then no door is shut.

Oh, grant me my prayer that I may never lose

the bliss of the touch of the one

in the play of many.

She

She who ever had remained in the depth of my being,

in the twilight of gleams and of glimpses;

she who never opened her veils in the morning light,

will be my last gift to thee, my God, folded in my final song.

Words have wooed yet failed to win her;

persuasion has stretched to her its eager arms in vain.

I have roamed from country to country keeping her in the core of my heart,

and around her have risen and fallen the growth and decay of my life.

Over my thoughts and actions, my slumbers and dreams,

she reigned yet dwelled alone and apart.

Many a man knocked at my door and asked for her

and turned away in despair.

There was none in the world who ever saw her face to face,

and she remained in her loneliness waiting for thy recognition.

Stream of Life

The same stream of life that runs through my veins night and day

runs through the world and dances in rhythmic measures.

It is the same life that shoots in joy through the dust of the earth

in numberless blades of grass

and breaks into tumultuous waves of leaves and flowers.

It is the same life that is rocked in the ocean-cradle of birth

and of death, in ebb and in flow.

I feel my limbs are made glorious by the touch of this world of life.

And my pride is from the life-throb of ages dancing in my blood this moment.

Maya

That I should make much of myself and turn it on all sides,

thus casting colored shadows on thy radiance

---such is thy Maya.

Thou settest a barrier in thine own being

and then callest thy severed self in myriad notes.

This thy self-separation has taken body in me.

The poignant song is echoed through all the sky in many-coloued tears

and smiles, alarms and hopes; waves rise up and sink again,

dreams break and form.

In me is thy own defeat of self.

This screen that thou hast raised is painted with innumerable figures

with the brush of the night and the day.

Behind it thy seat is woven in wondrous mysteries of curves,

casting away all barren lines of straightness.

The great pageant of thee and me has overspread the sky.

With the tune of thee and me all the air is vibrant,

and all ages pass with the hiding and seeking of thee and me.

Innermost One

He it is, the innermost one,

who awakens my being with his deep hidden touches.

He it is who puts his enchantment upon these eyes

and joyfully plays on the chords of my heart

in varied cadence of pleasure and pain.

He it is who weaves the web of this maya

in evanescent hues of gold and silver, blue and green,

and lets peep out through the folds his feet,

at whose touch I forget myself.

Days come and ages pass,

and it is ever he who moves my heart in many a name,

in many a guise, in many a rapture of joy and of sorrow.

Senses

Deliverance is not for me in renunciation.

I feel the embrace of freedom in a thousand bonds of delight.

Thou ever pourest for me the fresh draught of thy wine of various

colours and fragrance, filling this earthen vessel to the brim.

My world will light its hundred different lamps with thy flame

and place them before the altar of thy temple.

No, I will never shut the doors of my senses.

The delights of sight and hearing and touch will bear thy delight.

Yes, all my illusions will burn into illumination of joy,

and all my desires ripen into fruits of love.

Face to Face

Day after day, O lord of my life,

shall I stand before thee face to face.

With folded hands, O lord of all worlds,

shall I stand before thee face to face.

Under thy great sky in solitude and silence,

with humble heart shall I stand before thee face to face.

In this laborious world of thine, tumultuous with toil

and with struggle, among hurrying crowds

shall I stand before thee face to face.

And when my work shall be done in this world,

O King of kings, alone and speechless

shall I stand before thee face to face.

Lost Star

When the creation was new and all the stars shone in their first

splendor, the gods held their assembly in the sky and sang

`Oh, the picture of perfection! the joy unalloyed!'

But one cried of a sudden

---`It seems that somewhere there is a break in the chain of light

and one of the stars has been lost.'

The golden string of their harp snapped,

their song stopped, and they cried in dismay

---`Yes, that lost star was the best,

she was the glory of all heavens!'

From that day the search is unceasing for her,

and the cry goes on from one to the other

that in her the world has lost its one joy!

Only in the deepest silence of night the stars smile

and whisper among themselves

---`Vain is this seeking! unbroken perfection is over all!'

Let Me Not Forget

If it is not my portion to meet thee in this life

then let me ever feel that I have missed thy sight

---let me not forget for a moment,

let me carry the pangs of this sorrow in my dreams

and in my wakeful hours.

As my days pass in the crowded market of this world

and my hands grow full with the daily profits,

let me ever feel that I have gained nothing

---let me not forget for a moment,

let me carry the pangs of this sorrow in my dreams

and in my wakeful hours.

When I sit by the roadside, tired and panting,

when I spread my bed low in the dust,

let me ever feel that the long journey is still before me

---let me not forget a moment,

let me carry the pangs of this sorrow in my dreams

and in my wakeful hours.

When my rooms have been decked out and the flutes sound

and the laughter there is loud,

let me ever feel that I have not invited thee to my house

---let me not forget for a moment,

let me carry the pangs of this sorrow in my dreams

and in my wakeful hours.

Roaming Cloud

I am like a remnant of a cloud of autumn

uselessly roaming in the sky, O my sun ever-glorious!

Thy touch has not yet melted my vapor,

making me one with thy light,

and thus I count months and years separated from thee.

If this be thy wish and if this be thy play,

then take this fleeting emptiness of mine,

paint it with colors, gild it with gold,

float it on the wanton wind and spread it in varied wonders.

And again when it shall be thy wish to end this play at night,

I shall melt and vanish away in the dark,

or it may be in a smile of the white morning,

in a coolness of purity transparent.

Lost Time

On many an idle day have I grieved over lost time.

But it is never lost, my lord.

Thou hast taken every moment of my life in thine own hands.

Hidden in the heart of things thou art nourishing seeds into sprouts,

buds into blossoms, and ripening flowers into fruitfulness.

I was tired and sleeping on my idle bed

and imagined all work had ceased.

In the morning I woke up

and found my garden full with wonders of flowers.

Endless Time

Time is endless in thy hands, my lord.

There is none to count thy minutes.

Days and nights pass and ages bloom and fade like flowers.

Thou knowest how to wait.

Thy centuries follow each other perfecting a small wild flower.

We have no time to lose,

and having no time we must scramble for a chance.

We are too poor to be late.

And thus it is that time goes by

while I give it to every querulous man who claims it,

and thine altar is empty of all offerings to the last.

At the end of the day I hasten in fear lest thy gate be shut;

but I find that yet there is time.

Chain of Pearls

Mother, I shall weave a chain of pearls for thy neck

with my tears of sorrow.

The stars have wrought their anklets of light to deck thy feet,

but mine will hang upon thy breast.

Wealth and fame come from thee

and it is for thee to give or to withhold them.

But this my sorrow is absolutely mine own,

and when I bring it to thee as my offering

thou rewardest me with thy grace.

Brink of Eternity

In desperate hope I go and search for her

in all the corners of my room;

I find her not.

My house is small

and what once has gone from it can never be regained.

But infinite is thy mansion, my lord,

and seeking her I have to come to thy door.

I stand under the golden canopy of thine evening sky

and I lift my eager eyes to thy face.

I have come to the brink of eternity from which nothing can vanish

---no hope, no happiness, no vision of a face seen through tears.

Oh, dip my emptied life into that ocean,

plunge it into the deepest fullness.

Let me for once feel that lost sweet touch

in the allness of the universe.

Untimely Leave

No more noisy, loud words from me---such is my master's will.

Henceforth I deal in whispers.

The speech of my heart will be carried on in murmurings of a song.

Men hasten to the King's market. All the buyers and sellers are there.

But I have my untimely leave in the middle of the day, in the thick of work.

Let then the flowers come out in my garden, though it is not their time;

and let the midday bees strike up their lazy hum.

Full many an hour have I spent in the strife of the good and the evil,

but now it is the pleasure of my playmate of the empty days to draw my heart on to him;

and I know not why is this sudden call to what useless inconsequence!

Death

O thou the last fulfilment of life,

Death, my death, come and whisper to me!

Day after day I have kept watch for thee;

for thee have I borne the joys and pangs of life.

All that I am, that I have, that I hope and all my love

have ever flowed towards thee in depth of secrecy.

One final glance from thine eyes

and my life will be ever thine own.

The flowers have been woven

and the garland is ready for the bridegroom.

After the wedding the bride shall leave her home

and meet her lord alone in the solitude of night.

Last Curtain

I know that the day will come

when my sight of this earth shall be lost,

and life will take its leave in silence,

drawing the last curtain over my eyes.

Yet stars will watch at night,

and morning rise as before,

and hours heave like sea waves casting up pleasures and pains.

When I think of this end of my moments,

the barrier of the moments breaks

and I see by the light of death

thy world with its careless treasures.

Rare is its lowliest seat,

rare is its meanest of lives.

Things that I longed for in vain

and things that I got

---let them pass.

Let me but truly possess

the things that I ever spurned

and overlooked.

Farewell

I have got my leave. Bid me farewell, my brothers!

I bow to you all and take my departure.

Here I give back the keys of my door

---and I give up all claims to my house.

I only ask for last kind words from you.

We were neighbors for long,

but I received more than I could give.

Now the day has dawned

and the lamp that lit my dark corner is out.

A summons has come and I am ready for my journey.

Threshold

I was not aware of the moment

when I first crossed the threshold of this life.

What was the power that made me open out into this vast mystery

like a bud in the forest at midnight!

When in the morning I looked upon the light

I felt in a moment that I was no stranger in this world,

that the inscrutable without name and form

had taken me in its arms in the form of my own mother.

Even so, in death the same unknown will appear as ever known to me.

And because I love this life,

I know I shall love death as well.

The child cries out

when from the right breast the mother takes it away,

in the very next moment to find in the left one its consolation.

Parting Words

When I go from hence

let this be my parting word,

that what I have seen is unsurpassable.

I have tasted of the hidden honey of this lotus

that expands on the ocean of light,

and thus am I blessed

---let this be my parting word.

In this playhouse of infinite forms

I have had my play

and here have I caught sight of him that is formless.

My whole body and my limbs

have thrilled with his touch who is beyond touch;

and if the end comes here, let it come

---let this be my parting word.

Still Heart

When I give up the helm

I know that the time has come for thee to take it.

What there is to do will be instantly done.

Vain is this struggle.

Then take away your hands

and silently put up with your defeat, my heart,

and think it your good fortune to sit perfectly still

where you are placed.

These my lamps are blown out at every little puff of wind,

and trying to light them I forget all else again and again.

But I shall be wise this time and wait in the dark,

spreading my mat on the floor;

and whenever it is thy pleasure, my lord,

come silently and take thy seat here.

Ocean of Forms

I dive down into the depth of the ocean of forms,

hoping to gain the perfect pearl of the formless.

No more sailing from harbor to harbor with this my weather-beaten boat.

The days are long passed when my sport was to be tossed on waves.

And now I am eager to die into the deathless.

Into the audience hall by the fathomless abyss

where swells up the music of toneless strings

I shall take this harp of my life.

I shall tune it to the notes of forever,

and when it has sobbed out its last utterance,

lay down my silent harp at the feet of the silent.

Sit Smiling

I boasted among men that I had known you.

They see your pictures in all works of mine.

They come and ask me, `Who is he?'

I know not how to answer them. I say, `Indeed, I cannot tell.'

They blame me and they go away in scorn.

And you sit there smiling.

I put my tales of you into lasting songs.

The secret gushes out from my heart.

They come and ask me, `Tell me all your meanings.'

I know not how to answer them.

I say, `Ah, who knows what they mean!'

They smile and go away in utter scorn.

And you sit there smiling.

Salutation

In one salutation to thee, my God,

let all my senses spread out and touch this world at thy feet.

Like a rain-cloud of July

hung low with its burden of unshed showers

let all my mind bend down at thy door in one salutation to thee.

Let all my songs gather together their diverse strains into a single current

and flow to a sea of silence in one salutation to thee.

Like a flock of homesick cranes flying night and day

back to their mountain nests

let all my life take its voyage to its eternal home

in one salutation to thee.

LOVE is in the AIR!

2011-09-17T22:25:00.000-07:00

40 Days of uplifting, inspiring, loving thought.

Sign up below or email info@alwaysalice.com

New Mel Campaign

2011-09-17T12:07:00.000-07:00

I AM in progress...

Join us. Sunday, December 4th -- Los Angeles.

Check out the books that started the whole I AM - ness.... as part of AMP EXPERIENCE.

Tear in the Eye.

2011-09-11T20:21:00.000-07:00

I LOVE NY.

Be Willing.

2011-09-06T12:45:00.000-07:00

"Change is the essence of life. Be willing to surrender what you are for what you could become. " -Unknown

And. Don't forget to Dance into the new you!

A belief is an idea born from the mind so ingrained into consciousness as to be believed without question.

2011-09-05T11:41:00.000-07:00

Cultivate a practice of faith beyond the lies that live in your beliefs.

Melanie Lutz presents Love Land Tip #11

Happy September 1st!!

2011-09-01T23:23:00.000-07:00

What a day it has been!

Being in Love is one of the most enriching ways to look at life.

Growing up, James Taylor was an inspiration and a source of deeply connected resonating truth about the places and experiences that flooded my childhood. Here he is singing a song from the musical Brigadoon written by Alan J. Lerner and Frederick Lowe...

The beauty of a classic song, crafted with the perfection of purpose is that any artist can perform it and radiate their soulfulness.

Intimacy is not of the body. It is the expanding energy of joining with another in remembering the truth.

2011-08-31T23:37:00.000-07:00


Mel at a recent AMP EXPERIENCE event

LOVE LAND TIP #333

2011-08-31T17:35:00.000-07:00

Love facilitates the authentic self. It provides the most direct route to growing up into who we really are with a buoyancy and verve exuding elegance. Since Love lives and breathes beyond what separates us, beyond nationality, beyond male or female, beyond you and me, beyond sexuality it is truly an all encompassing meeting place.

Melanie Lutz presents LOVE LAND

Myself When I am Above the Clouds -- O'Keefe in New Mexico

2011-08-27T23:33:00.000-07:00

May I enjoy the fullness of possibility celebrating all the wonders spread before me flying like an eagle above the fray of life giving myself a Google Earth view.

A Teeny Tiny Prayer

May I remember the principles of freedom and inspiration laid forth and rise into
faith and openness.

May I feel connected, comforted and full of peace
Today. Now. Always.

May I fly free
Allowing the landscape to illuminate
in brilliant bursts of light.

With Infinite Love and Gratitude.

And so it is.

Opening up beyond the constraints and rules of our thoughts gives us the opportunity to hear our soul’s truth in all its majesty.

2011-08-23T11:43:00.000-07:00

Love this new video and song from Florence and the Machine - What the water gave me~!

Mel's Getting to Be a Habit

2011-08-22T14:22:00.000-07:00

Book a speaking engagement

HAVE MEL COME TO YOUR GROUP, YOUR OFFICE, YOUR SCHOOL, YOUR EVENT

Her programs entertain, enlighten and uplift.

Love Who You Are

Falling in Love Again

Waking Up. Getting Bare.

I AM

Fall in love with yourself, your body, your career, your life, and all of those around you.

“This program offers a gift to anyone who has ever felt unworthy, fearful or broken hearted (and who hasn't?!) Melanie's representation of her authentic journey towards growth and self realization is relevant, comforting and truly magical.”

-- Yvonne Huffman, Vice President, Business Development Officer, First Bank

email us to hire Mel.

Everyone you are supposed to meet you meet. There is no avoiding it.

2011-08-22T00:38:00.000-07:00

That chance encounter in the elevator that leads to lunch. That smile at the club that leads everywhere. The look in the eyes that brings eternity into the present.

People are with us for as long as maximum learning is possible between the chemistry of the two. Which means people can be with us for an hour for a moment for months or a lifetime. We don’t get to choose. We merely stay open to the flow of the teaching and the learning in touch with our own inner tuning device. The intuition of our being.

"That driving force of God that plunges through me is what I live for."

2011-08-16T00:18:00.000-07:00

That is the kind of statement I can get behind. Martha Graham performed because she had to. She pushed herself to achieve against all odds and in her expression new worlds of connection emerged. From her Peabody Award winning filmed discussion - A Dancer's World.

"Dance is communication and the great desire is to speak clearly and beautifully and with inevitability. And this is true of all of us."

Do more. Be more. Check out a clip

“There comes a moment when she looks at you in the mirror and you realize that she is looking at you and recognizing you as herself. It is through you. Her love. Her hope. Her fear. Her terror is to be expressed and there is a moment of fear on your own part. Dread. Sense of hazard feeling that perhaps you haven’t done quite enough work; perhaps you should have gone back to the studio and worked again. Because that which you do not want to do is to fail in either clarity or in passion. You give all your life to doing this one thing… it sounds grim… it sounds frightening. It isn’t."

Prayer for the Week. Inspiration.

2011-08-14T20:46:00.000-07:00

Dear God, Spirit, Divine Mother,

On this day I ask you to grant this request -
May I know who I am and what I am,
every moment of every day.
May I be a catalyst for light and love
and bring inspiration to those whose eyes I meet.
May I have the strength to stand tall in the face of conflict
and the courage to speak my voice, even when I'm scared.
May I have the humility to follow my heart
and the passion to live my Soul's desires.
May I seek to know the highest truth
and dismiss the gravitational pull of my lower self.
May I embrace and love the totality of myself -
my darkness as well as my light.
And may I be brave enough to hear my heart -
to let it soften so that I may gracefully choose faith over fear.
Today is my day to surrender anything that stands between
the sacredness of my humanity and my divinity.
May I be drenched in my holiness.
And engulfed by God.
May all else melt away.
And so it is.

Written By Debbie Ford.

Two Thousand Sublime and Beatiful Thoughts

2011-08-12T10:03:00.000-07:00

A storehouse of memorable utterances by memorable minds --
"that many may find consolation, comfort, guidance, or inspiration from the thoughts within, in time of need is the sincere desire of the compiler." -- James Clarence Harvey

Published in 1897

"Eternal form shall still divide
The eternal soul from all beside'
And I shall know him when we meet.
--Tennyson, In Memoriam, XLVII

"For when the power of imparting joy
is equal to the will, the human soul
Requires no other heaven."
--Shelley. Queen Mab, II.

"A word to the wise is enough."
-- Benjamin Franklin. Poor Richard's Almanac

"Through the sunset of hope,
Like the shapes of a dream,
What paradise islands of glory gleam!
-- Shelley

"Friends, if we be honest with ourselves,
We shall be honest with each other."
--MacDonald

"Nature never did betray
The heart that loved her."
--William Wordsworth

"Music cleanses the understanding, inspires it, and lifts it into a realm which it would not reach if it were left to itself."
--Henry Ward Beecher

"Music is nothing else but wild sounds civilized
into time and tune. Such the extensiveness
thereof, that it stoopeth so low as brute beast, yet
mounteth as high as angels. For horses will do
more for a whistle than for a whip, and be hearing
their bells jingle away their weariness.
--Fuller

MONEY IN THE BANK WEEK

2011-08-08T13:48:00.000-07:00

When you meet someone that has been brought into your space at the perfect moment designed to walk a bit of your path together to learn something through interpersonal interaction many aspects of yourself are revealed. Things that you love about yourself and things that you find tense and gripping to engage with.

You may do all kinds of things to avoid the inevitability of these discoveries and deal with them but make no mistake this is an inevitable interaction and the truest gift of The Other. A learning opportunity that will revisit you until you embody the truth of who you are and make acceptance part of your daily routine. The Other is the ultimate opener to your self love and lives and breaths within the decisions you make around how this person's statements and actions will either open a gateway deeper into the truth of who you are or wedge a block in the flow of your being that closes the connection to that which is most important for your growth and development.

Bring Love to every encounter. See how things go. Make adjustments when necessary and have fun out there. Life is meant to be enjoyed, cherished and full of Love.

Melanie Lutz presents LOVE LAND Tip #402

Two Words. Be Bold.

2011-08-07T00:44:00.000-07:00

Bold character practices strength in vulnerability, pushes the boundaries of the everyday and cherishes experimentation. Live that way today.

Colbert goes RAW.

2011-08-04T13:47:00.000-07:00

No words.... SC reacts to FDA raid on Rawsome in Venics, CA--

The Colbert Report
Get More: Colbert Report Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,Video Archive

(Maybe one word -- hilarious!)

Men. Men. Men. Men.

2011-08-03T14:22:00.000-07:00

Technology consciousness in 21 years.... Transcendent Man: The life and ideas of Ray Kurzweil

You go guy!

Make this the day where everything changes and you experience the most magnificent version of yourself.

2011-08-02T23:32:00.000-07:00

Open your heart (not just because Rise of the Planet of the Apes opens this weekend) but because it is the super star way to go!

"Significant progress will require fundamental and comprehensive change."

2011-08-02T23:17:00.000-07:00

You don't need a study commissioned by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to understand what we already know... "Quite simply, the finance and governance system is broken and requires fundamental reform not tinkering around the edges."

How does this reform come about? What is a sister to do?

Get informed. Get involved. Email info@alwaysalice.com

Download the California Education report here.
http://www.stanford.edu/group/irepp/documents/GDF/GDF-Overview-Paper.pdf

Soluv Magazine and Always Alice announce the “Create your own LOVE LAND” Campaign

2011-08-02T00:08:00.000-07:00

Los Angeles, CA, October 3, 2011: Always Alice (www.alwaysalice.com) a leading inspirational media company in partnership with Soluv Magazine (http://soluvmagazine.com/) announced today its first cycle of Love You (for life) – “40 days of Love” to launch online Monday, February 6, 2012.

“We are asking people to make a commitment to Love for 40 days to realign their thinking with the first of a series of 40 day cycles to create a practice of amplifying the experience of love in their lives. It is time to get serious about being loving. A large portion of the population has fallen into a stasis. It is time to wake people up.” says writer and Love visionary Melanie Lutz “This 40 day cycle is part of a larger Love Land movement designed to turn up the self-love in our communities and around the planet!”

Soluv Magazine and Always Alice plan to run additional 40 day cycles of Loving You (for life) throughout 2012. ”With care and work we are going to get active about sharing a message heart to heart to make a change in our communities.” Editor in Chief Aldeana Frazell adds.

Participants like Enrietta Lee are grateful, “This is a much needed loving jolt to the system, these 40 days of Love reminds you to embrace each day with love from the inside out uplifting your thinking and helps create a new joy filled experience with life.”

This 40 day. All Love. process gives people an opportunity to have a moment in the morning where they can remember the truth about themselves and head into the day with Love on the agenda.

For additional information and to get involved with the 40 Day All Love movement in your community please check out Soluv Magazine’s website http://soluvmagazine.com/.

Make the commitment to remember the truth of who you are and show up fully for yourself. Wake up today with love in your heart and have an answer ready for whatever comes up, and we all know it will be something and say “I am going to meet this situation with love.”

It matters that we get it right.

-End-

ALWAYS ALICE

Always Alice is a production company dedicated to creating inspiring and uplifting media filled with passion and purpose for global audiences. Always Alice embraces remembering and recovering what unites us, and celebrates our evolution into the future: A future rich in possibilities, where art meets commerce and courage in story telling flourishes. www.alwaysalice.com

SOLUV MAGAZINE

Supporting the Truth that all women are beautiful

Soluv Magazine is a quarterly online magazine dedicated to supporting the truth that all women are beautiful. This publication trail blazes a new refreshing option, by focusing on the restorative messages required for finding a healthy balance of mind and body. Soluv Magazine presents an honest an in-depth direction for ambitious women of all ages who are willing to tap into the power of knowing that life is about strength of soul, of character, of rejoicing in our femininity, and loving ourselves, so we can love and be loved by others. www.soluvmagazine.com

MELANIE LUTZ

An emerging voice in the movement of peace and love on the planet Melanie is committed to love as a social force.

ALDEANA FRAZELL

Executive Editor and Creator of Soluv Magazine. Aldeana has put her life into making a positive change in the world by uniting the power of women

2011-08-01T20:42:00.000-07:00

Artwork by Karen Phelps...

Super. Love it.

2011-07-31T10:03:00.000-07:00

Toby Keith's Made in America is a slice of poetic genius...

"Won't buy nothing that he can't fix with WD-40 and a Craftsman wrench."

Every day is Independence Day in America!

Soul Force. Rudolf's Steiner's Calendar of the Soul.

2011-07-30T12:45:00.000-07:00

In getting beyond the language of words and into the soul of the matter Rudolf Steiner broke so much ground in the arts and perception and learning as it related to the spiritual expression of that mystical space. In taking a look at his tiny work relating the 52 weeks of the year and their interaction with the soul of man Steiner had fun breaking into the realm beyond the ever interesting reality with a little "r."

There are so many different translations of the original German from which Steiner created his work. I thought I would offer up three for your review to see what comes up for you when you look into the heart of the words.

Italian Translation

diciassettesima settimana (28 luglio- 3 agosto)

Dice la parola dei mondi
Che attraverso le porte dei sensi
Mi e stato permesso di condurre nelle profondita dell' anima
Riempi le profondita del tuo spirito
Con le mie ampiezze dei mondi
Per trovare un giorna me in te

Mel's English translation

Seventeenth Week (July 28-August 3)

He says the keyword of the Worlds
Through the doors of the senses
I was allowed to carry into the depths of 'soul
Filling the depths of spirit
With my amplitudes of the Worlds
To one day find myself in you

English translation John Salter

Seventeenth Week

Through the gateway of the senses
I may lead into my inmost soul
The word of worlds who speaks
Fill thy spirits depth
With my world expanse
To find hereafter me in thee

Check out Rudolf Steiner's Calendar of the Soul here.

As always, I hope your soul's expression breaks through utilizing whatever language is necessary for a full rich radiant vibrance that fills your being. Listening to what speaks to you.

Some Rudolf Steiner highlights from Wikipedia --

Steiner developed a new spiritual movement tied to the transcendental movement - Anthroposophy a philosophy that heralded the existence of an objective, intellectually comprehensible spiritual world accessible to direct experience through inner development. With an aim to develop faculties of perceptive imagination, inspiration and intuition through cultivating a form of thinking independent of sensory experience.

His early work lead to the publication of the Philosophy of Freedom (also translated as The Philosophy of Spiritual Activity and Intuitive Thinking as a Spiritual Path). This is where Steiner developed a concept of free will based on inner experiences, especially those that occur in the creative activity of independent thought.

This is my first Rudolf Steiner post. I am sure it won't be my last. I am fascinated by the way he synthesized the connection between science and mysticism giving it roots and a grounding practice in interaction with the mystical third.

smiles,

Melanie

“All you give is all you get” so always give it your all.

2011-07-26T17:12:00.000-07:00

If you think you've given enough -- Give more. Be within each moment wholeheartedly offering all of yourself and cherish how it feels to know you left it all on the field holding nothing back.

Melanie Lutz presents LOVE LAND tip #8

Report in.

Big Bang Machine located in Geneva, Switzerland and ...

2011-07-26T16:14:00.000-07:00

Illinois. Makes me laugh every time I hear it.

Two groups of super intelligent nutty (in the best way) professors in deep underground chambers banging atoms to find the secrets of the divine searching for the God particle.

Check out this clip and get a tiny bit of insight into how God put together the universe.

People figuring out G O D with our friend -- Physics...

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

AMP EXPERIENCE I AM INSPIRED TEA - SUNDAY, AUGUST 14th

2011-07-25T17:00:00.000-07:00

SUNDAY, AUG 14th

AMP EXPERIENCE - I AM INSPIRED TEA

11:00 AM

www.ampexperience.com

Inspire Tea event -- MBird Studio Culver City

In truth we must look at ourselves not as the author of our actions but as a compliant instrument through which they are accomplished.

2011-07-16T15:27:00.000-07:00

In Oprah terms -- the open faucet which the water of creation flows through.

Melanie Lutz presents Love Land - tip#117

Start Where You Are.

2011-07-16T14:18:00.000-07:00

If the most successful, brightest, and iconic people on the planet feel a sense of "I'm not good enough" it is absolutely something that is common to the human condition.

Just by hearing this statement come up you know you are in the presence of the best welcome invitation you will ever receive to join the "I'm human" party. Don't use this voice to separate you out. This voice is merely a conditioning virus, don't let this thought become a belief. Start conditioning yourself to say "I hear you. It's not true" and take action through the falsehood into the other side of the thought. The effort into full connection with the larger body of energy that is loving is in hearing that human expression of doubt that comes up, acknowledging it and then showcasing the discipline to take the most loving action possible, just that next step in your knowing that whatever it is that is necessary to be done on your behalf... you will do. You will merely take the step and see what happens.

Each step will bring you more information. Will remind you that "I'm not good enough" is not the truth. It will provide an insight beyond the doubt, and you can say "Hey, I'm ready for the next step" or "alright that wasn't quite it" and begin again. Knowing the truth, you are enough and in the next breath you will start over exactly where you are. Reborn into the next moment ready for whatever the next step might be. Enjoying the process. Loving exactly how it is.

Nothing more.

Have Fun!

In their own words.

"I Have my moments when I feel like I'm going to collapse... and I'm failing at everything, like you're kind of good at a bunch of stuff but not really good at anything."
--Reese Witherspoon

“I still sometimes feel like a loser kid in high school”
-- Lady Gaga

The Power of a Great Director to Bring It Home.

2011-07-12T13:39:00.000-07:00

The haunting title song from Otto Preminger’s film Bonjour Tristesse (goodbye/hello sorrow/sadness) and its line ‘I’ve lost me. That is all.’ sung by French singer Juliette Gréco brings to full bear the genius of a director to synthesize the emotions, expressions and diverse elements in bringing forward an emotionally effecting conduction of disparate energies and allowing them to shine through the characters and events on display, projecting before our eyes, moving into our own emotions and deeply connecting to our universal heart.

We need not be on a dance floor in Europe bored out of our minds to absolutely relate to this particular sequence. It highlights the beauty of the artistic expression across a wide canvass of influences.

Enjoy this clip as an introduction to the film. Definitely a must watch for any Netflix lover of classic beautifully done works by a top Director.

[The title comes from the first lines in a short poem, À peine défigurée, by French poet Paul Éluard [1895-1952], first published in a book of poems by Éluard titled La Vie immédiate (1932). The poem begins Adieu tristesse/ Bonjour tristesse... (Goodbye sadness/ Hello sadness). The original poem can be read at the end of the post. --From Wikipedia] This poem provided the inspiration for the book (which I have not read) authored by Francoise Sagan that sold more than two million copies worldwide and was written in six weeks while she was a student at the Sorbonne in Paris. The screen adaptation is by one of my favorite writers from that era, the super fabulous Aurthur Laurents.

Inspiration strikes in many different ways. I love the full exercise of that first intuition and spark of words on a page becoming something visually magnificent!

Enjoy the poem that sparked the journey toward this beautiful movie.

Barely Disfigured by Paul Éluard

Adieu Tristesse

Bonjour Tristesse

Farewell Sadness

Hello Sadness

You are inscribed in the lines on the ceiling

You are inscribed in the eyes that I love

You are not poverty absolutely

Since the poorest of lips denounce you

Ah with a smile

Bonjour Tristesse

Love of kind bodies

Power of love

From which kindness rises

Like a bodiless monster

Unattached head

Sadness beautiful face.

So simple, a few words on a page, and yet it opened every door necessary for the players and performers to take the stage and show up offering every piece of their talents to the overall production that would follow.

Bravo!

Love, compassion and concern for others are real sources of happiness. HHTDL

2011-07-10T22:53:00.000-07:00

A Talk for World Peace

Webcast of His Holiness the Dalai Lama's public talk given at the West Lawn of the US Capitol in Washington DC on July 9, 2011....(hosted by Whoopi Goldberg)

Dalai Lama audio and video | The Office of His Holiness The Dalai Lama

 Have confidence in your 

"Be confident in who you are!"

Give Yourself Roses

2011-07-08T00:43:00.000-07:00

In the last months of her life speaking to her love of gardens Audrey Hepburn said "Few things are more dear to me than a full blown rose when it opens its heart.”

I am compelled to add - few things are more beautiful.

Roses have been described as enchanted, expressive, elementally elegant, unfaltering, unforgiving, devastatingly sophisticated, a symbol for strength and eternal charm. The rose is a powerful symbol. There is a deep meditative practice of imagining all of your strife, and troubles into the heart of a Rose; the energies being absorbed into its heart center dissipating into the Rose's eternal charm.

Give it all over.

Melanie Lutz presents LOVE LAND tip #332

Destiny is a Destination of Truth.

2011-07-06T13:04:00.000-07:00

When Love and Fearlessness meet you bare witness to the revolution of your heart. The timeless intersection between these two allows as Socrates said for "the outer and inner man to be as one" striking your unique and perfect note.

In this space of human destiny where our perfect tone vibrates in harmony with our being the entire universe rejoices animating the universal heavenly symphony, this sound of our celestial DNA to move as Wordsworth said in one society in service to our deepest most authentic self.

When these notes join together the stirrings of our collective heart become a radiating social force bringing each of our inner struggles and personal journeys into the larger unfolding experience, giving context and allowing nature to enact its most beautiful elegant outflow beyond the gravity of our day to day.

As Rumi put it---

Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and right doing,
There is a field. I will meet you there.

When the soul lies down in that grass,
The world is too full to talk about
Language, ideas, even the phrase each other
Doesn’t make any sense.

It is time to help each other transcend these rings of our personal fire's and head into the field of possibility.

Join Me. Mel. In a 2012 bid to form a new state of our collective mind... MEL-AWARE.

Our goal is to raise consciousness while acting in a practice of Love, joining together in that sacred space where the principles of peace and freedom flourish and the natural human harmonies are singing.

Email info@alwaysalice.com for more information... and join us August 14th at 11:00 am for an inspiring gathering of Tea and conversation.

Meet me there!

"If Music be the Food of Love, Play On...

2011-07-05T19:43:00.000-07:00

... Give me excess of it; that, surfeiting, the appetite may sicken, and die."

Shakespeare delivering the best and the worst of it. For me, there is a soundtrack ever playing along to my life, I cherish the way it serves my soul and lightens my mood and feeds whatever is calling to be brought forward.

"Each day is a blessing; each day is an opportunity for us to realize miracles and be the miracle workers God created us to be. Each surrendered thought helps us to find the answers to all our questions in the perfect peace of God." -- Marianne Williamson - -

As we move into the second half of the year, on the day after my most favorite holiday, it can be a great opportunity to recenter ourselves. It is absolutely a new day for each of us to rocket into the spirit of our ancestors and get into the birth of a new nation...

A nation where every child is fed -- Where we take responsibility for what is ours to own; Where we express the same interest in a murder trial that we do in voting for our representatives; Where we go out of our way to be kind to someone we have never been kind to before; Where we remember we are human and as such make all the mistakes that we tend to point out and make fun of in others.

This just might be the day where everything changes and you experience the most magnificent version of yourself.

I hope so.

Enjoy today and everyday.

lots of love,

Melanie

I Love Independence Day!!

2011-07-04T00:16:00.000-07:00

Growing up in Pennsylvania you can't help but have Patriotism fever. The 4th of July is the day we revisit first principles.

Let's get out there and do what we do best on July 4th!

Enjoy our loved ones, celebrate our freedom and most importantly bless the beautiful birth of democracy with honor and respect.

One of my favorite depictions of the birth of the declaration of independence is (no surprise) a musical written by Sherman Edwards and a Tony winner for best musical 1776 .

I pulled a scene from the movie version directed by Peter Hunt in 1972. It's quite a charmer!

Check out past 4th of July posts on the Mel site...

Today I feel like the Luckiest....

Let freedom Ring!

May the Miraculous Thrill of Discovery Always Live and Breathe in Your Heart!

2011-07-01T09:10:00.000-07:00

#321 Melanie Lutz presents LOVE LAND

My friend's dog Disco never fails to delight!