As we've seen, the Mayan Calendar is a chart of the evolution of consciousness in the universe.

Each Cycle or Age has its own dominant paradigm or point of view. As you move up through the 9 Cycles, new perspectives and new ways of being arise.

This new perspective starts to show up in the world, but it isn't an immediate switch from the old way of doing things to the new way.

It takes time, and a process of transition, for a new understanding to gain prominence.

The quantum physics revolution is a perfect example. We've known since the 1950's that matter isn't solid, and reality is nothing like we've imagined. Yet for the most part, our world continues to go along believing in the old materialistic ways... "Reality" is what can be proven with the senses. Medicine sees the body as a machine with unconnected parts. The Earth is dead, and humans are the pinnacle of evolution. And so on...

Yet, as we progress, the old perspective becomes more and more marginalised. People begin to talk about things in a new way. Then people begin to act in a new way. Finally (we're not there yet), the tipping point is reached -- the old way is as disregarded as the once unshakeable "knowledge" that the Earth was flat.

And that process is what the 13 days and nights of the Mayan Calendar describe.

The "Days" are times when consciousness expands, new perspectives arise -- times of fresh beginnings.

The "Nights" are times when the new consciousness is applied, new procedures initiated, and old ways (usually forcefully) overthrown.

And each of these 13 periods is characterised by specific circumstances.

Here's a breakdown of each of the 13 Days And Nights of the Mayan Calendar, and the specific transformation that occurs in each.

The First Day

A period of illumination -- new perspectives arise. Beginnings. Seeds are planted; energy begins to flow in a new pattern or paradigm.

The First Night

A period of darkness, rest. Integration. The new pattern begins to germinate within the dark subconscious of mind.

The Second Day

The second period of illumination. Dual paradigms, the old and the new, overlap -- both can be seen. In history, a time of turmoil, as the old ways (status quo) try to repress the new.

(This is where we are as of April 20, 2011.)

The Second Night

The second period of darkness. Followers of the two different paradigms battle for supremacy. Historically, very violent eras.

The Third Day

The third period of illumination. The new paradigm begins to spread deep and wide, beginning to show up in the world as new methods of doing things, new ways of perception. The new pattern begins to overtake the old, as fables, falsehoods, and failures expose the weakness of the past system.

The Third Night

The third period of darkness. The fledgling perspective of the new paradigm is refined, and the earlier, simplistic aspects fall away. The old system is thrown over, usually by force.

The Fourth Day

The fourth period of illumination. The new pattern becomes stronger and goes deeper into consciousness. A period of expansion, as the new paradigm takes form in the world. New corollaries emerge, as the new perspective takes precedence.

The Fourth Night

The fourth period of darkness. Healing the pain of the transition and the death of the old ways. Rebuilding after the destruction of the old status quo systems. The new, more healthy paradigm is truly established now.

The Fifth Day

The fifth period of illumination, and point of greatest radiance in the Cycle. The new paradigm flourishes, sending information about wonderful new knowledge out into the world. The highest possibilities for this Cycle are attainable.

The Fifth Night

The fifth period of darkness, and the nadir of darkness. This is a time of major hardships, cultural collapse, horrific violence. However, it is also a little like gestation: within the dark, something new awaits. From the death, new life will arise.

The Sixth Day

The sixth period of illumination, a time of Enlightenment. The flowering of the paradigm into stunning new insights and newer perspectives... in fact, sowing the seeds for the new Cycle of evolution to follow.

The Sixth Night

The sixth period of darkness. The paradigm has reached its peak and begins to dry and wither, like wheat in autumn. Typically a time of war and violent conflict.

The Seventh Day

The seventh period of illumination. There is a sense of openness, of being ready for something new. The best of the paradigm has been harvested, and it's time for a new level of consciousness to arise.

From the Seventh Day of the Mayan Calendar, we proceed directly to the First Day... from Light to Light. This demonstrates that whole process, even though it contains much dismantling and death, is finally and entirely a process of Creation.

The Mayan Calendar is an illustration of this process.

That's what makes it so fascinating... How did the Mayans ascertain such detailed information, that accurately predicts the ancient past (of which they could have known nothing) to the far future (which they are scarcely more likely to know)?

We may never know the answer to this question. But at least we finally know enough to appreciate their wisdom at last.

And just in time!

With Bright Blessings,

Being a relatively visible public Witch, I get plenty of requests for spells, which I politely decline to do. I tell people two things: One is that it's best to create one's own spells rather than have someone else cast them. The other is a caution against performing any magic that would interfere with the free will of another. The exception to that would be a binding of someone else, making them unable to do further harm.

If you believe someone has put a negative spell on you (usually called a hex), here are a few things you can do to protect yourself, and possibly reverse the spell.

First, purify your person. Take a shower, or better yet, soak for a while in hot water containing sea salt, bath salts, or Epsom salts. Allow the salt and water to neutralize any negativity within yourself; think of this as you soak. Let any contamination be washed away with the water spiraling down the drain, out of your house and out of your life. Drink lots of water to wash out your insides. Wash your hair, brush your teeth, put on clean clothes. You may also wish to drink mint tea or another tea that you find refreshing.

Second, purify your dwelling. Dust, sweep, vacuum, tidy up, polish. Air out the rooms. Wash the windows with a mild solution of vinegar and water. This allows purifying sunlight and moonlight to illuminate the room as well as making the glass more reflective to deflect unwanted energies.[1]

Circulate through the rooms where you live with sage or other purifying incense, making sure to fumigate everywhere -- stairways, closets, underneath stairways, basement, attic, garage if attached. If your dwelling is one that you can circumnavigate, you may wish to walk all around the outside of the building wafting this smoke.

Then mix salt and water and sprinkle it around the house. As with the incense, do this around the outside of the home, too, if you can. Be sure to cense and sprinkle all openings to the outside -- doors and windows, of course, but also skylights, electrical outlets, heating vents, chimneys, ventilator hoods, toilets, and sink, tub and shower drains. Also do this to mirrors.

While you're doing these things, speak the words, "With Earth and Water I purify this space," and "with Fire and Air I consecrate this space," because that's exactly what you're doing.[2]

Third, ward your space. If you're the witchy sort, trace a protective pentacle with the salt water on all doors, windows and mirrors. Rosemary grows in abundance where I live, so I like to use a sprig of it to sprinkle the salt water. Then I like to leave rosemary sprigs on all the window sills.

When you've done all these things, take a step back, be very quiet, look around, listen and note how different your space feels to you now.

You may also wish to perform these acts at other places where you spend a lot of time, such as work, if you can.

One last thing you may want to do, although it's not as easy and practical as the rest. You may wish to hang little mirrors in the windows or on the outside of the building to reflect away negativity. The mirrors aren't really necessary; they're just extra insurance, if you will. You should be fine just doing the other things I've recommended.

Now envision yourself within a bubble. Project this bubble around you and around your home. Nothing can pass through the membrane that has not been invited by you. Anything unwelcome bounces off the bubble. Build a strong image of this bubble in your mind. If you have a small object, maybe a clear quartz crystal or a piece of rosemary, that reminds you of this visualization, carry it in your pocket or keep it someplace handy. You can't be expected to hold this image in your consciousness all the time. But if you have this object, then at times when the image has faded and you feel you need to reinforce your working, take it out and look at it and touch it to reawaken your sense of your protective bubble.

As with all magic spells, you needn't stick with the formula offered here. If other ingredients call to you or other actions spring from you, trust your intuition and go with them.

These are my recommendations. For another approach, here's a Lemon UncrossingSpell (to break a curse). I have never tried this so I can offer no assurance of its efficacy.

[1] For a super-duper heavy cleansing of a home, say if you're just moving in after someone else has been living there, and if you have the time, get some dragon's blood incense and burn it on a piece of charcoal in a container left in the bathtub or shower. As soon as you light it, leave and let it fumigate the entire house. You don't want to breathe much of this stuff. Then return a few hours later and open all the windows to let out the dragon's blood fumes.

[2] Some additional things you can do to cleanse a new or dirty home: Walk throughout the rooms with noisemakers, rattles, a drum to frighten off unwanted spirits. Do this before censing and sprinkling. After censing and sprinkling, ring a little bell at the windows and mirrors.

REVIEW – When you live in a somewhat secluded wooded area like I do, you want to be able to monitor your property when you’re home and away from home. I’ve had multiple security cameras around my house for years, but only in the past year have I “graduated” to PoE cameras, and I love […]

Every Canadian of my generation knows the line, “I told him, Julie, don’t go!” It was said by Sylvia Lennick, the mother of my dear friend, the great Canadian filmmaker and special-effects expert Michael Lennick. Michael passed away ten years ago today, on November 7, 2014, at just 61 years of age. He’d been admitted […]

The famous Distance Challenge fridge magnets

It's been a few months, but I finally have some time to sit down and blog my having completed the Austin Distance Challenge (long course), sponsored by the Austin Runners Club.  I'd done most of the events before, but decided to do the challenge itself (six races, culminating in the Austin Marathon), because I wanted to put more structure into my training for the marathon. I'd done several in the 90s, but this was my second of the century and I wanted to do better than my last one (2013).

The first race was the Run Free Texas 80s 8k (for those who don't think in metric, that's about five miles) up in Cedar Park.  Naturally enough, there were a couple of DeLoreans, each outfitted with a flux capacitor.  Time travel being what it is, they were obviously the same car but from different time periods. :-).  The course was through residential neighborhoods and parks and had some rolling hills -- nice for a beginning of the season race.

Back to the Future!

The second race of the Challenge was the Run for the Water Ten Miler.  The course was along Lady Bird Lake and up through Tarrytown and then back downtown, There were some great hills on this course and let me know I needed more hill work...And, ironically enough, it was raining. :-)

Rain and hills

Race three was the Decker Challenge, a half marathon in early December with a course around Decker Lake.  It's notorious for hills and really bad weather.  (The last time I ran it, it was in the 40s and pouring rain).  If anything, last year, it was a bit too warm.  The hills were pretty brutal, though. 

My face when attacking the hills

But Santa was there!
After that, we had a month break until the Rogue Distance Festival 30k (about 18.6 miles) in early January.  This one was fairly cold and probably my least favorite of the events.  It was up in Cedar Park again and ran through residential neighborhoods which was fine.  There was an issue with marking the course, though, so most of us got off track, which meant the mile markers were out of order so it was impossible to figure out a pace. (I think at some point, we were going in circles -- and ended up going about a mile farther than we should've.).  Still, it was my longest run before the marathon and I was kind of glad it happened that way. 

Yay!  I'm done! :-)

With four events done, it was all downhill from there.  Literally.  The 3M Half Marathon starts up in the Great Hills area and runs a straight line down to downtown. It also has a swag bag filled with useful (and not so useful) 3M products.:-)

Leo checks out the swag bag

This one also started out pretty cold and way too early :-). 

Before dawn, in the warm car before the cold race.

I really enjoyed this one, though, and it was a nice preview of many of the neighborhoods on the marathon route.

Finisher!

The piece de resistance, of course, was the Austin Marathon in mid-February.  I like the course, but the first time I ran the Austin Marathon, it was all downhill, starting up north and snaking its way downtown.  Now, there's a good bit of uphill until around mile 18.  I still like the course, though, and it's not like the hills from the Decker Challenge or the Run for the Water races.

I was pretty happy with my time -- my second fastest of the century!  I did it in under 4 hours, which had been my goal.  Next year, I'll work more on speed, but this time, I just wanted to not have my quads seize up in the last two miles :-).

Running through UT campus

Made it! Best time of the century!

Anyway, thanks to everyone involved in putting on the races and the challenge itself: organizers, volunteers, emergency personnel, and all the rest!  You keep Austin running!

This past year, I signed up for the Austin Distance Challenge again, because it was intrinsically fun, but also to ensure that I would get enough running in for the Austin Marathon. The Distance Challenge, sponsored by the Austin Runners Club, involved five races: The Run Free 8k, the Run for the Water 10 miler, the Decker Challenge half marathon, the 3M Half Marathon, and the Austin Marathon.

The Run Free 8K is out in Cedar Park, a considerable distance from downtown.  It leaves from one of the high school football stadiums and winds through residential neighborhoods before returning to the starting line. It's a nice start to the fall training season.

The first piece of the puzzle

Run for the Water goes through downtown and along the lakefront. It's one of the prettiest routes in the challenge and much of it is along routes I train on.

Starting line on Cesar Chavez

The drum group at the finish line

A friend got this shot of me at the starting line.

After that came the Decker Challenge -- a hilly route just east of Austin in Decker, and notorious for terrible weather.  This year, it wasn't bad --- a bit misty with a steady drizzle. By the finish line, my glasses were so fogged up I had to take them off to see anything at all. Which made it difficult to see things like potholes...

Glasses fogging up as I climb the hills

Blindly crossing the finish line

 Not on the Challenge, but still an Austin staple was the Turkey Trot!  One of the more fun races, it usually features a good number of costumes and a large helping of whimsy.



After the holidays, the next race was the 3M Half Marathon. It's almost the exact opposite to the Decker Challenge, because it's all downhill. It starts up in the Great Hills area and winds its way downtown. This year it was a particularly fast run because there was an incredible wind out of the north. Several folks, including myself, were nearly blown over as we ran past the UT football stadium.

A selfie at the starting line

the 3M photographer got a shot of me taking my selfie

After the finish in sight of the Capitol

And the last race was the Austin Marathon!

But. About three weeks before the race, in the middle of the night, I slipped and came down on the edge of my entertainment console and tile floors. Result? A nice set of bruised ribs and a strangely linear scar on my right side.

By race day, I could still feel it a bit but had gone on short runs with only minor discomfort, so I decided to go for it.  The first half went pretty well, but the second was less pleasant.  But I'm still glad I did it...

Looking all chipper and optimistic before the race starts

Vulcan salute for the photographer

Gritting it out with a hundred yards to go

Finished!

So my time for the marathon ended up being a personal worst, although I did make it under five hours :-).

Anyway, thanks to all the organizers, volunteers, emergency personnel, and everyone else involved in putting on these races! You keep Austin running!
Next up? The Capital of Texas Triathlon! Hopefully there won't be rain...

Een maand niet klaarkomen, is dat écht gezond: uroloog over de ‘No Nut November’-challenge  Provinciale Zeeuwse CourantHele verhaal bekijken via Google Nieuws

Matteo Simoni over geschrapte naaktscènes in ‘Callboys’: “Jan Eelen pakte mijn ‘jos’ en zwierde hem weg”  Het Laatste Nieuws

“Absurde toestanden” bij verplichting zonnepanelen voor grote verbruikers: “Zelfs bedrijf dat niets meer produceert, moet er leggen”  Het Laatste Nieuws

San Francisco 49ers cornerback Deommodore Lenoir has agreed to a five-year, $92 million extension to stay with the team instead of testing the free agent market next offseason

We’ve all seen the quotes from Wells Fargo’s CEO in a June memo in which he blamed the bank’s failure in reaching diversity goals on a lack of qualified minority talent. “While it might sound like an excuse, the unfortunate reality is that there is a very limited pool of black talent to recruit from,” […]

The post What employers can learn from Wells Fargo’s failure to recruit and retain Black talent appeared first on DiversityJobs.com.

The Spanish government will propose to the European Commission to amend the post-COVID reconstruction plan to redirect unused EU funds to the 'reconstruction and revitalisation' of the areas most affected by the recent torrential rains and floods. ‘We are going to present an addendum to the…

So this week, we decided to make a pretty Valentine's canvas for their playroom, that can stay up all year. My kids really love looking at art that they've created and declaring, "I'm the artist! I made that!"

The post Valentine Canvas – Easy Art Project for Kids appeared first on Joyful Abode.

How to make folded paper window hearts. This is a step by step tutorial that will have your windows looking full of love in just a few minutes.

The post Paper Window Hearts – DIY Valentine Crafts appeared first on Joyful Abode.

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Rapport is something we all seek, even if we don’t think about it every day. It’s that sense of connection, of feeling understood, and of moving smoothly with others in sync. Whether in our professional lives or at home, rapport matters—and it matters a lot more than we might realize. In today’s fast-paced, digital world, ... Read more

The post Mastering Rapport: Overcoming Challenges in Digital and In-Person Communication appeared first on LifeHack.

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The topic of domestic violence is an emotive one conjuring visions of child abuse by parents or carers, or marital violence, in general abuse by men of their wives or partners. According to published police statistics in Scotland for the years of 2012 – 13 male violence of women accounted for 80% of all domestic abuse, and in 2014 over 2,600 children in Scotland were identified as needing protection from abuse. This is particularly concerning since the NSPCC suggests that, for every child who has been identified, there are 8 other children who are at risk but who are ‘under the radar’. These statistics, highlighting the underlying nature of inter-family abuse relationships, i.e. the abuse of less powerful and more vulnerable family members by more powerful adults, undoubtedly account for the majority of the abuse situations within family homes. However this is, sadly, not the whole story. Understanding abuse within a family means recognising the impact of sibling aggression on every family member. It also needs to encompass the growing recognition of child to parent aggression and it is this latter aspect of inter-family relationships with which this article is primarily concerned.

Photo by NASA Natural disasters don’t just ravage landscapes—they also expose and deepen systemic inequalities. Recent hurricanes, Milton and Helene, tore through Florida, Georgia, and the Carolinas, destroying homes, businesses, and the lives built across generations. While governments rush to repair infrastructure and restore housing, they often overlook the people most impacted in the long term—especially […]

The post Natural Disasters Aren’t Gender Neutral – Hurricanes Milton and Helene Prove It appeared first on Feminist Majority Foundation.

Flagstaff, Arizona draws outdoorsy folks and is known as one of Arizona’s more progressive and laidback towns — which bodes well for vegans. I spent a few days in Flagstaff and didn’t run out of delicious, plant-based places to eat. It’s an attractive town to visit in its own right, though many people find themselves here on their way to the Grand Canyon, which is an hour and a half away. Here are some of the top places for vegans to get a good meal.[...]

In this episode I'm joined by Andrew Allen to chat about the Premier League fixtures which were released during the week, before we do some 'statements' that he has to either Strongly Agree, Agree, Disagree, or Strongly Disagree with. Topics covered include summer signings, summer sales, Gabriel Martinelli, next season's top four, multi-club ownership, how we might start next season, a goalkeeper departure, and lots more

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Cybersecurity researchers have discovered a new version of a well-known Android malware family dubbed FakeCall that employs voice phishing (aka vishing) techniques to trick users into parting with their personal information. "FakeCall is an extremely sophisticated Vishing attack that leverages malware to take almost complete control of the mobile device, including the interception of incoming

Over 1,500 Android devices have been infected by a new strain of Android banking malware called ToxicPanda that allows threat actors to conduct fraudulent banking transactions. "ToxicPanda's main goal is to initiate money transfers from compromised devices via account takeover (ATO) using a well-known technique called on-device fraud (ODF)," Cleafy researchers Michele Roviello, Alessandro Strino

Posts shared on Facebook make an unfounded claim of racially motivated threats of violence in Gwinnett County, Georgia, "from now until the Inauguration." The county sheriff's office said it had "not received any information indicating threats to any group(s) on or after election day."

The post Posts Spread Unfounded Claim of Race-Based Threat of Violence in Georgia appeared first on FactCheck.org.

The post “Tower of Bable” Set to Fire in Nikola-Lenivets appeared first on English Russia.

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1. Wir produzieren keine Eiscreme (journalist.de, Jacob Goldmann (Pseudonym)) In seinem Essay “Wir produzieren keine Eiscreme” beschreibt Jacob Goldmann, ein Pseudonym eines Lokaljournalisten, wie wirtschaftliche Interessen zunehmend redaktionelle Entscheidungen beeinflussen. Als ein Beispiel nennt er die Berichterstattung über die Nosferatu-Spinne, die aufgrund der hohen Klickzahlen zu einer Überflutung des Nachrichtenangebots geführt habe. Goldmann argumentiert, dass […]

Princeton University will present the honors at Alumni Day, scheduled for Feb. 22, 2025.

To be honest with you, the past two months (Oct. and Nov.) have been miserable for me because of the election campaign and results. Now, finally, the cloak of despair, the fog of depression, is lifting a little.

One evening, as I noticed the challenge kit from the La Conner Quilt Museum on top of my quilting to-do pile, a flicker of an idea passed through my brain. Then, as I awoke the next morning, the flicker became a small flame, which in turn lead me to accept an invitation to spend an afternoon quilting with some friends, which (in order to have something to work on) got me rooting through my fabric stash.

Now, quilters, beaders, and artists of all types, will recognize the phenomenon caused by physically touching your materials, supplies, and tools. Suddenly your wearisome thoughts of the election (or whatever else got you down) are gone! You fondle your stuff lovingly, and with great anticipation, you make the first cuts, fanning the flame, turning it into a nice warm fire. Ah, saved from the chilly fog, at last!

My journey out of the fog began with this vintage block from a quilt that someone, somewhere, started long ago, but never finished. It, along with many others, was donated to the La Conner Quilt Museum. The Curator, Kathleen Kok, not knowing what she would do with all the vintage blocks donated over the years, just kept them in a corner waiting for an idea to form. And form it did!

Every year the Museum has a challenge as a fundraiser, showcasing the entries at the annual Quilt Festival. For 2017, the challenge theme is "Time" and the material provided in the kit is one of the vintage blocks from their collection. The block above is the one I picked. It is just so cheerful... how could I resist? Hand pieced, it wasn't perfectly sewn, but still I fell instantly in love with it. Mine for a $10 contribution!

Of course, it was just the block. In the photo above, I have already layered it with backing and batting, and then hand quilted it.

My idea is two-fold. (1) Since the "time" theme can be portrayed by a transition from these early fabrics to modern fabrics, I decided to repeat the block using Kaffe Fassett fabric scraps left over from my shimmer quilt. (2) Feeling powerless in the face of impending doom after the election, I had to find some ways to assert my beliefs, and this quilt was to be one of them. I've long been concerned about the ever-increasing world population, about all the small, yet constant ways overpopulation is damaging and destroying the natural systems of the planet. So the title will be: Under the Quilts, Time Flies, and Population GROWS. My idea is to illustrate this concept using both color and beads. You'll see.

First though, a few words about making the modern block. At first I tried to make a pattern for the "flower/star" by tracing one of the triangles from the back side. I hand-stitched the required 16 pieces together FOUR different times, varying the seam allowances each time, trying to get it to lie down flat. Obviously, I did not correctly copy the original, because when I finally sewed it so it was nice and flat, it was also too small. Grrr.

A smart quilt friend (thanks Tori) suggested I trace a section from the right side of the block and add 1/4 inch seam allowances all around. Good idea, but there were small differences between the sections... which one to trace? Trying to answer that question, looking at the block, I finally saw how the pattern was derived! (Light bulb!!!)

It's two overlapping squares of the same size, one on point and one not. All it took was to measure the sides of the squares on the original block (which averaged 8.5 inches), cut them out of paper, fold the diagonals and sides, put a pin through the centers to join them, rotate the top one until the folds lined up, tape the two together, and draw along the fold lines. Voila! Now, all I had to do was cut out one of the half-points, add my quarter-inch seam allowances, and there was the perfect pattern for my new block. The rest went quite quickly, and below you can see the quilted result. (Note: I added quarter-inch seam allowances to each of the pattern pieces shown above to get the final cutting pattern.)


You might be wondering why I've layered and quilted these blocks. How will they be joined to form the quilt? The answer is they won't be joined! Instead, they will be bound as separate little quilts (each 11 inches square), and then appliqued to a separate "background quilt."

Here is how they look with the binding.


Notice that the over-all color of the modern block is darker. This matches my concern about over-population of the planet. Time flies, and the population GROWS, making the world a darker place for me, as many species become stressed and obsolete, as the desert lands grow and the forests shrink, as potable water becomes polluted and scarce, as crowded people war with each other. You know. If you watch the documentaries and contribute to various environmental causes, you know. Darker.

Thus, the quilt also becomes darker as the eye travels from top to bottom. Here is how it looks with the two blocks on the background quilt, the transitioning colors from light to dark, representing about 70 years in time passing (estimating the date of the fabrics in the vintage block at approximately 1946). This is an extremely tiny period of world history, but one in which world population sky-rocketed from 2.3 billion to 7.4 billion.

You can probably see the little heart beads, but if you click to enlarge the photo, you'll see them more clearly. The pair at the top represents a couple. They dive under the quilt, have some fun, and produce four lovely children (between the two blocks). These four pair up, dive under the quilt, resulting in 16 children. Under the quilts, time flies, and the population GROWS. That's m' story, and I'm sticking to it.

Now, here's a question for you loyal readers who have come so far with me on this thing.  The quilt looks really pretty the way it is. But originally, I had planned to do more beading on it.  I planned to bead several vines circling the outer border of the quilt (not the binding). Across the top of the quilt, the vines would be light green, with many green leaves, bright-colored flowers, and some critter beads/charms (bees, birds, bears, fish). As the vines trailed down the sides, they would become darker, until at the bottom they would be beaded with dark brown, black, and darkest greens, with no critters, and only a few dark flowers. The visual message (I hope) would be, "this is what happens when we overpopulate the world." What do you think... leave it like it is now or bead the borders?

Global Population Information

Think of it this way. Every single month increasing world population adds another Los Angeles AND another Chicago to the planet. That's 24 gigantic cities worth of people added EVERY year; more than 240 giant cities every 10 years. Imagine how many cities full of people will be added in your life time. Crunch the numbers and see what you think.

Evidence of heavy population demand on resources is all around us. Global aquifers are being pumped 3.5 times faster than rainfall can naturally recharge them. Eventually they will run dry, perhaps as soon as 75 years. Topsoil is being lost 10-40 times faster than it is formed.  Feeding all 7+ billion of us is increasingly difficult, impossible actually.

There is no technology solution to accommodate the increasing demand of uncontrolled global population growth. The only solution is voluntary one child per couple for a couple of generations, on a Global participation level. If all countries followed the lead of countries with the lowest birth rates (Taiwan, Spain, Portugal, South Korea, and Poland), we could reach a more sustainable Global population of 3 billion by 2100!

Please, talk about this with your child-bearing-aged kids, grand kids, students, etc. We teach environmentally sound practices in most schools, write books and make documentary films about issues like clean water, over-fishing, fracking, etc. But rarely does the topic center on overpopulation. Be proactive. Make it happen.

If you are willing to read (or listen to an audio book) to learn more about Global population, Count Down is an excellent read.

Here is a link to the previous bead embroidery pieces (and poems) I've made concerning population growth.Thank you for reading all the way to the end, and for anything you can do to help people understand what we need to do.

The new producing artistic director of the theater and music theater season at the arts center sat for an interview for our ‘What I think’ series.