Artists Fear Privitization Of City Parks

On March 24, 2010 The New York City Parks Department released a notice in The City Record announcing new regulations for artists and vendors who set up in public parks. The plan’s regulations, which will more than halve the number of artists and vendors that normally set up in the city’s parks, have many artists claiming the plan is a violation of their First Amendment Rights and an attempt by the city to privatize parks.

Parks says the new regulations will relieve some of the congestion created by vendor tables, making it easier and safer for the public to utilize park space.

"There are places where there are so many vendors that you can't get down the sidewalk," Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg said on his weekly WOR-AM radio show. Bloomberg added that he felt courts would be sympathetic towards the plan in parks where narrow pathways are an issue.

A lot of people feel that safety isn’t the motivating factor behind Parks proposed regulations.

"The Parks Department has been trying since 1994 to eliminate street artists,” said Robert Liderman president of the organization A.R.T.I.S.T (Artists' Response To Illegal State Tactics) . “I've been meeting and negotiating with the Parks Commissioners since 1994 on these issues,” Linderman said.

Robert Linderman and the members of A.R.T.I.S.T. have won more than once against the city in First Amendment Federal lawsuits. Linderman feels the new regulations are all about concessions, corporate promotions and privatization—he openly expressed this in the testimony he submitted to The Parks Department on April 23^rd’s Public Hearing.

The Parks Department earns $90 million a year from private concessions, revenue goes into the city’s general fund and is then redistributed after viewing the city’s budget. Private restaurants, The Green Market and The Holiday Bizarres all operate within the city’s parks at a fee. The city, however, makes no money off vendors.

On April 7, 2010 The New York Post reported that the Parks Department struck a deal with the Queens-based company Culinary Engineers, Inc. granting them a permit to operate a cupcake cart in front of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The deal will earn the Parks Department $108,000 for the company’s first year of operation.

“Almost a 100% of the people who opposed the artists on April 23^rd were members of Parks or business advocacy groups,” Geoffrey Croft of New York City Park Advocates said. New York City Park Advocates is a non-profit, non-partisan watchdog group dedicated to preserving the safety in parks and restoring public funding. “The public seems overwhelmingly against the move,” Croft said.

April 23^rd’s five hour public hearing held in a Chelsea gym brought hundreds of artists and public supporters who adamantly disapproved of the proposed regulations. Among the crowd of artists were several community board and neighborhood groups who felt the regulations would bring order to the city’s parks.

“Parks has been after the artists for awhile,” croft said referring to Robert Linderman’s numerous cases against the city. “ They’d make more money if they had their own vendors and concessions,” he said.

Under the Parks proposed plan the 300 artists that set-up in Union Square, The High Line, Central Park, Battery Park, around the Metropolitan Museum of Art and at Columbus circle will be reduced to 81 collectively, that’s a 75% decrease in vendor space. The way it has been proposed the plan will allow vendors to set-up daily on a first-come-first-serve basis.

"The city needs to find a better way to balance these interests," City Councilwoman Melissa Mark-Viverito (D-Manhattan), who is chairwoman of the committee that oversees the parks told The New York Times on April 23^rd.

The drastic 75% decrease in available vendor space has artists has many wondering how the city plans to enforce its regulations and define "artist."

“There’s a lot of crap that is sold—DVDs’, stock prints,” said Esteban Kremen, 37, a painter and self acclaimed “street artist” who has been selling his wares in Union Square for two years. “The city needs to draw the line, only those who are selling their own original pieces should be eligible for a spot,” Kremen said.

Based on lawsuits that Lenderman and ARTIST won in 1994, under the city’s laws paintings, photos and sculptures, defined as “expressive matter,” and protected by The First Amendment, can all be sold in parks without a vendor’s license. DVDs, CDs, VHS tapes, cassette tapes and books can also be sold without a vendor’s license.

As of the public hearing on Friday, April 23^rd, New York City Parks Department has made no public comment on the approval or dismissal of the proposed regulations.

“Parks will now review the testimony from the public hearings and make any adjustments its feels necessary to the original proposal,” Vickie Karp in the press department of Parks said on May 3rd. “The rules are about balanced and fair use of the park, not content. “

Eatin' Good in the Neighborhood

With the horror of films like “Fast Food Nation” and “Super Size Me,” in recent years more attention has gone into encouraging Americans to eat healthier. The rise of books like Michael Allen's In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto and the increase of farmers markets and stores like Whole Foods has brought a lot of awareness to what we eat--but even in the national push to be healthier many communities have been ignored. Low income and minority neighborhoods nation wide suffer higher obesity rates and more deaths from diabetes and heart disease than their wealthier and often whiter counter parts.

A 2006 study done by the New York City Department of Mental Health and Hygiene focusing on Bushwick and Bedford-Stuyvesant (two low-income, high minority populations) found that 8 out of 10 stores in both areas are bodegas. The problem with that is though bodegas have convenient locations and hours, they lack the majority of them lack the fresh food options that super-markets do and they often sell fresh food (if they have it) at higher prices. Milk at bodegas in Bed-stuy will cost you 79 cents more than milk at a supermarket ,in Bushwick it will cost you 19 cents more. Only 6% of bodegas in both neighborhoods carry leafy greens and 28% carry apples, oranges and bananas. Additionally,13% of the areas 168 restaurants are national fast-food chains. (Click here for the full release on the 2006 study).

Cities are starting to take notice of the great divide between privileged and under-privileged populations in the availability of healthy foods. As a result new initiatives are being added to the budget to allow for fresh produce in neighborhoods that might not had the option before. In Baltimore a program in which customers order their food online, pay with cash, a card or food stamps and pick their purchases up at the public library has been added by the city. The Virtual Supermarket was launched last month by Baltimore's health department. Currently the program is offered at two library branches on opposite ends of the city, one is in a working class, predominantly African American community and the other is in a racially diversified and economically mixed community.

"These areas lack large, competitively priced supermarkets within walking distance -- sometimes called 'food deserts,'" NPR journalist Donna Marie Owens said in her article Check It Out: Get Your Groceries At The Library about the initiative. "Both communities have plenty of fast-food and corner stores, but many tend to offer less healthy fare," Owens explained.

After only a month, it is still too soon to tell rather The Virtual Supermarket is a success or not. Baltimore's mayor, Stephanie Rawlings-Blake feels the new program is an innovative solution that will provide better food options for the community until more supermarkets develop in the area. "I'm so proud that we have the use of technology to fill in that gap till development catches up," mayor Stephanie told Donna Marie Owens for the NPR story.

New York is dealing with this issue as well. In 2008 the city approved 1,000 Green Carts (fruit and vegetable stands, click here for more) the stands will be placed in areas around New York that have minimal fresh produce options. According to the New York Times article Customer's Prove There's A Market for Fresh Produce,written by Glenn Collins, June 10, 2009, as of June 2009, 200 of the 1,000 approved Green Carts had made it to street destinations. Under the 2008 initiative the 1000 approve Green Carts will break down like this: 50 permits for Brooklyn, 350 for the Bronx, 150 for Manhattan, 100 for Queens, and 50 for Staten Island.

When it comes to food, in a country like the United States, access shouldn't be an issue. It's good to see more initiative in providing healthy food options to communities who need and deserve them.

The Science of Spirituality

It’s not uncommon for you to meet someone who has had a near death experience or encountered something of the supernatural sort. Many people talk about seeing “the white light at the end of tunnel,” claim to have met their guardian angels or credit their spiritual meditation for their union with life or a higher power. With the exception of the creation story, science has really steered clear from dissecting the mind of a spiritual until now that is. NPR did a feature on the recent scientific findings done on the brain's response to spirituality (click here for the full NPR interactive story). "Is this your brain on God?" The collaboration (Maria Godoy, Brian Cordyack, Erin Killian and Barbara Bradley Hagerty of NPR) produced on May 22, 2010 explores the way the brains of those who claim spirituality (rather through meditation prayer or a supernatural encounter) respond when they feel closest to God.

The first section of the five part series titled "The God Chemical" explores the connection between substance and spirituality. A topic that has been on the minds of scientists since the 60's when acid trips and mushroom highs and a whole lot of exploring was done amongst the nation's people (think the hippie days). In 1962 Marsh Chapel, a professor at Boston University, did an experiment on 10 divinity students by administering LSD and observing its affects: he wanted to see if the drug would trigger any scared experience. The use of Psychedelic drugs as means to study the connection between substance and the divine was common in scientific research up until the 70's. As the article points out, the use of substance to connect with the scared is not new; the Navajos used Peyote to transcend into a scared state where they could do healings, the Egyptians and the Mayans had Water Lilies to aid in their rituals (click here for more on about the Water Lilies) and our modern day society has done its fair share of experimenting. In 1803 morphine was created. Nicknamed “God’s own medicine” by physicians because of its ability to ease and treat pain the drug’s overuse resulted in prescribed heroin as means to treat addiction amongst patients (click here for A Social History of America’s Most Popular Drugs).

Neuroscientist Solomon Snyder said in an interview with Barbra Bradley Hagerty for the NPR story "If we assume that the psychedelic, drug-induced state is very much like the mystical state, then if we find out the molecular mechanism of the action of the drug, then you could say that we have some insight into what's going on in the brains of mystics."

Snyder is cochairman at the Neuroscience Department at John Hopkins Medical Center in Baltimore. He has observed the research of neuroscientist Roland Griffiths (also at John Hopkins Medical Center) and along with other scientists believes that the major brain chemical that comes into play when an individual is experiencing a mystical experience is serotonin. Serotonin is the chemical messenger in the brain responsible for the regulation of moods and sleep.

Neuroscientist Solomon Snyder explains that drugs like Peyote, LSD and most psychedelics look a lot like serotonin in the brain and activate the same receptor. NPR correspondent and author of the book Fingerprints of God: The Search for the Science of Spirituality, Barbara Bradley Hagerty breaks the process down a bit.

“Think of that serotonin receptor as a bouncer at a nightclub. The party's a bit tame, and when the bouncer spots the fun chemical — the active ingredient in psilocybin — he lets Mr. Fun into the club. Suddenly, the party picks up and the brain chemicals are burning up the floor. Let the spiritual experience begin,” Hagerty explains.

Research done by neuroscientists such as Roland Griffiths and Solomon Snyder are helping fellow scientists explore how spirituality affects the brain. Many like Griffiths wonder if the brain is inherently set up for spirituality. “Why has the human organism been engineered, if you will, for this experience?" Griffiths asks his essential question and the question science is just beginning to consider.

Five things you should do instead of Facebook

Look, I like Facebook as much as the next person, but I can think of a ton of things that are five times more inspiring than looking at someone else’s pictures of how much they enjoyed themselves in Cancun and how much they want to go back. Yeah, now that you think about it, its not that exciting in the first place.

GET INFORMED:

Get a new perspective on the news. www.collateral.blip.tv is a site that covers news stories that don’t normally get big media coverage. The site has a wide range of perspectives on stories you might have heard but ups the bar with humor and animation. indymedia.org.uk is another site that focuses on those stories less covered. This site boasts a variety of “off the beaten path” news, a radio station and allows readers the opportunity to self publish.

WATCH SOMETHING ELSE: www.newday.com is a film cooperative with a focus on Social issues. The films are by independent filmmakers from around the world, and cover different issues. It even has titles Netflix can’t get its hands on.

GET INSPIRED: www.stumbleupon.com is well known, but It’s still a valid place to find some off the wall inspiration. www.43things.com is a good place to start personal aspiration lists and get support in doing them, and www.Flickr.com is an amazing place to glace at photography and find new perspective.

GO OUTSIDE: Remember being little? Even if you lived in the city you probably stuck your hands in the dirt and your feet in the mud at least once. Take a walk get some exercise, walk your dog, watch someone else watch their dog. Do some people watching… people are interesting and never fail to be entertaining-- approach a few. The world outside is far more responsive than the one at your fingertips.

GET SOME SLEEP: You always glance at your bedroom before you get on your computer anyway. Now here is your excuse, somebody, anybody is telling you do to it so go right ahead. Hell, its even good for you. Doctors say that as we get older our bodies require less and less sleep; however, it seems the other way around! Plus, maybe if you weren’t on facebook all the time you'd be able to keep your head up when you're trying to get your work done.

How and Why You Should Make a Practice of Doing Nothing

Doing nothing is a privilege these days and it’s almost impossible to do. With the ever-increasing advancement of ways to distract yourself (think stumbleupon.com, twitter, the iphone and Farmville on Facebook), it really can be impossible to step away from it all.

It may sound arbitrary and perhaps a bit pointless to you to make a practice of doing nothing on a regular basis…in fact you might be sitting there saying, “How am I supposed to get things done if I am doing nothing.” Valid question, but it has its benefits I assure you. A little “nothing time” is important because it helps us recharge, be present and check in with what’s really going on in our lives. Instead of signing onto facebook, flipping through a gossip mag or sitting in front of the tube watching the Kardashians-- turn your phone off, flip of that nonsense TV show, shut the computer down and step outside. You can walk to that place you always wanted to have coffee at, or that place with the menu that caught your eye or just keep walking until you find something that really interests you. Or use your nothing time to start a project (one of personal interest); do that one thing you’ve always wanted to do: paint, write, pick up your guitar again or pull out your favorite CDs.

It may seem a little self indulgent at first, but get used to using your “nothing time” to catch with your self, your passions and get away from your typical schedule. Do something spontaneous –make your “50 Things to do before I die” list and use this time to get a start on a few of them (click here for a personal list to get inspiration for your own, also here's site that might be helpful in really completing some of those goals). Practice doing nothing as means to improve what is required of you, as an excuse for a little “me time” and as a tool to improve your quality of life and be present (click here for a little artice on being present, because it has a lot with the practice fo doing nothing).

You might feel you already know how to do nothing so you may think a how-to-do-nothing guide is just complete BS, but this wiki how provides some perspective an few tips.

In today’s fast pace culture (especially in the big city) sprinting through life is simply the most common way of getting things done; but there's nothing scarier than the idea of running through life only to get to the finish line and realize that you’ve passed up the things that mean the most to you. So slow down, schedule some time in, put your feet up or down in the sand and breathe. Reflect, think, feel and recognize the present. Practice doing a little of nothing so you can reflect on those things that are really important to you…there really is enough time in the day.

Love thy Self

If you’ve watched TV lately you may have seen the Victoria Secret’s commercial in which a few of the world’s most toned bodies dance around in their bras and panties and individually proceed to tell you “ l love my body.” If you’re anything like me you’re immediate reaction is something along the lines of “And why wouldn’t you, you’re perfect. 5”10. Perfect abs, great skin. 34”- 25”- 36”. Stupid commercial.” But why wouldn’t the model look perfect on TV, isn’t her whole job based around looking that way? Even so, perfection always looks that way from afar. We all see flaws in ourselves the rest of the world may not even consider, and you never realize that “Perfect” has problems too.

Maybe the fatal flaw of humanity is that it can never find contentment in its own perfection. Humanity is too concerned with being bigger, better, more stylish, fabulous and always finding the next best thing. Terrible predicament really, the human race is quite a spectacular breed; we have fingers complete with thumbs, the ability to reason, and of course, YouTube.

On an individual level learning to love yourself and see your own perfection seems like one of life’s biggest lessons. There are so many ways in which we find reasons to put ourselves down: “I don’t make enough money. My job sucks, and I’m not doing shit. I need to lose weight. Everything would be better if I had a nicer car, bigger home and a better education. I can’t do it because...” And the list goes on.
Rarely does the average person tell him or herself: “Wow, you did amazing, you’re really making progress. You worked hard. You deserve a rest. It’s tough now but you’re really getting somewhere.”

Louise L. Hay, metaphysical lecturer, teacher and author of the book The Power is Within You says that loving yourself cures all problems. A cancer survivor herself, Hay links self-love to power, and believes strongly that the power of love can cure even the most deadly of diseases. I think that this idea can sound a little wacky at times, perhaps more so because in Western society modern medicine treats only the body and ignores a mind body relationship. If you ever pay close attention to your body when you’re angry you will notice that certain parts of your body tense up, I notice that my shoulders hike up and my stomach gets tight. It’s true: emotion does manifest itself on a physical level. A loving relationship with yourself means a healthy relationship with your thoughts and emotions—you are not a victim to negative thoughts or a slave to the intensity of your emotions—which means you can healthily let each negative thought pass and release each feeling. Your body is free from the deeply rooted thoughts that manifest feeling such as resentment, rage and even loneliness.

Hay says that “self-love is the most important gift we can give ourselves, because when we love who we are we will not hurt ourselves,” I know this sounds kind of obvious but the thing that surprises me about really obvious things is that people still don’t do them. The part of loving my self to the fullest I struggle with is all the negative bs I tell myself. Like most people, I am my toughest critic, and on days when I feel like I didn’t do my best I really have a way of beating myself up. I let negative thoughts take over like lakes that flow into oceans, and sometimes I get so muddled under the mess of negativity that I forget I control my thoughts they don’t control me.

“In order to consciously create our lives we must first become aware of our unconscious thought patterns. Our minds chatter incessantly, all day long judging ourselves and everything we come into contact with,” author and artist Lalania Simone says. The thing about negative thoughts, and the majority of thoughts you may have on day-to-day basis is they’re not new. A meditation practice will show you that you think in patterns, often bringing up the same garbage, you turn worries around in your mind like it’s a power source but the energy you use to do so leaves you feeling depleted. SARK, author of the book Make Your Creative Dreams Real: A Plan for Procrastinators, Busy People, and People Who Would Really Rather Sleep All Day says instead of just letting negative thoughts run wild you can “learn to dialogue with them, give them new jobs, turn them into allies or you can dismantle or exterminate them.”

There truly is a lot of power that comes with self-love. When you love yourself fully you’re a step ahead of the game, you can stop finding reasons to make yourself miserable and start actively pursuing your interests, you dreams and your bliss.

Here is a starter list to developing a loving relationship with yourself, feel free to add more and change what doesn’t apply to you:

1. Power is always in the present moment. If you’re not willing to love and respect yourself now, you may never be ready to.

2. You must first belief it is possible to be the person you picture and love everything you are even in progress.

3. You must be prepared to release old thought patterns and face your own negativity.

4. Be persistent, negative thoughts are persistent. But for all the negative thoughts you have accepted you have dismissed a positive one…it is possible.

Like Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “make the most of yourself, because that is all there is of you.”

East West Café Makes Move to Accommodate Recession .3

New York City, Union Square; East West Living, one of Manhattan’s few holistic health supply and spiritual bookstores has made a move to downsize the expense of its café to increase revenue storewide and battle the effects of the economy.

“We are moving away from preparing our own food to reduce overhead costs” said Ronn Goodmen, East west’s IT Manger. Goodmen has been an employee for six months and oversees store operations. “It works out more cost effective to have the food prepared by an outside location than in the store,” Goodmen said. The transition from preparation-based-food made on the premises to snack food imported from other business has resulted in the lay-off of the chef and cut hours for the café’s four employees. The flow of customers was inconsistent, which meant that fully prepared food would often go to waste and extra employees would work shifts with little to no customer interaction, Goodmen explained.

East West Living has called Fifth Avenue home for over 25 years. The store closed its doors five years ago to remodel and obtain the proper documentation needed to run a kitchen. East West has always specialized in carrying spiritual, metaphysical and holistic health books and supplies, as well as been a place to sponsor events for the area’s yogic and spiritual community. The café portion of the business has been up and running for three years.

“In running any business the major challenges are with making sure your staff, clients and customers are happy. During this time in the economy its the struggle of balancing the two,” Khadijah Farmer, the Café Operations Manager said. Farmer, 30, a New York native has worked at East West Living as the Café Manager for the past three years. The main concern with the café in relation to the store as a whole was that the café wasn’t bringing in much of a profit. $1000 was being spent weekly to supply the café with the necessities to prepare a full selection of vegan and vegetarian meal options.

The New York Department of Labor on March 10, 2010 issued a press release that shows the unemployment rate in New York state is at it’s highest since 1992, having reached it’s peak (8.4%) in 2009. In Manhattan the unemployment rate (10.2%) is slightly higher than the state average (8.8%), but as a whole New York State is still below that national average (9.7%). New York Department of Labor Liberal Market Analyst, Jim Brown, explains that Manhattan is the place of Business Services mainly accountants, lawyers and consulting firms; the industry of Business Services has been hit hardest by the economy, which is why Manhattan has the highest unemployment rate in New York.

“Customers have been walking in for hot food and then walking away,” café employee Tyler St. Clair said. St. Clair, 19, has worked at the café since July. Since the new transition St. Clair’s hours have been cut and his tips have diminished. He says he thought about getting another job because the café is no longer financially supportive, but if he were to leave now the café would suffer immensely. “We don’t have the man power to train another person at this point, “ St. Clair said. St. Clair says he feels like the transition in the café has been a cause for lost business. “ I think it’s been a loss for the community,“ St. Clair said.

There are 249 bookstores in Manhattan, over 100 Starbucks and 43 Dunkin’ Doughnuts. “Being an independent coffee shop in Manhattan with the slugfest of Starbucks and Dukin’ Doughnuts is tough,” Market Analyst Jim Brown said. According to the Small Business Association small businesses pay 44% of the United States private payroll and have provided 64% of new jobs over the past 15 years.

East West brings in the majority (80%) of profit through the store portion of the business, with the café bringing in the remaining 20% of profits, Goodmen said. “One of the main reasons for the change is to focus more on a business-meeting cafe with evening events and not so much a food service cafe. We are always looking at the overall health of the whole business and making changes as we discover things that need improvement, “ Goodmen said.

“Restaurants are a tricky business because of service demands and restrictions and the trend for bookstores is tough with inventions like Kindle and books on the Internet,” Brown said. Despite the difficulty of the Business Services industry and the Retail industry the Restaurant industry is on a steady rise. “Manhattan is a big place for profit and business in general, there’s a lot of wealth there,” Brown said, explaining that a small business like East West has potential for a large amount of customers in Manhattan but the café/bookstore trend is a tough one in today’s market place.

The transition from full service café to snacks and beverages began only three week ago. No additions to events have been made to the events calendar, and while it may be too soon to tell what effect the move has had on profit and revenue in recent weeks there have been notably less customers in the café around lunch time.

Fly Free With Your Creativity

Fuck nine-to-fives, sleepless nights and work-to-work routines. Last night I sat down waiting for my boyfriend’s plane to land at the Newark Airport and doodled for 45 minutes and then I wrote for my own enjoyment. The time is too sparse where I actually sit down and do something creative for my own benefit. Perhaps this isn’t the case for art students, but even so, sometimes it is just nice to doodle and dabble a little something creative that you don’t have to turn in for a grade. In my research I’ve come to find that there are a shit ton of reasons to support your creative projects, doodles, dabbles and what have you. Five reasons to follow your creative self:

1. Doodling boosts concentration and memory. You should doodle your way through that lecture you can’t stand because studies show that it will keep your from daydreaming you’re way though it. (Check out this article about the doodling study by Discover Magazine)

2. Indulging in your creativity gives you time to spend with yourself, experiment with your mind and really reap the benefits of your own labor

3. You might create cool shit and surprise yourself (check review this book Ignore everybody, for humor please, and maybe an idea or two)

4. You can paint, write, sing, dance and create your way into a better mood (I personally have turned to these books to get my creative juices going: How To Be An Explorer Of The World,The Artists Way,Make Your Creative Dreams Real, these links are meant to give you what the books are about)

5. Creative people are the most interesting (this blogger add less judgmental, curious, optimistic, better at confronting challenges and have flexible imaginations, click here for his reasoning).

The way I look at it, there aren't to many reasons you should not be creative, so get going.

Stack Your Resources

When I think “resource” I think money, connections and those of the natural kind. I don’t generally think of self support and how it is one’s truly constant resource. It’s funny for me to gloss over “self support” because I do believe it to be absolutely essential to one’s personal success. I’ve come to believe in that old idea “you must love yourself before you can love anyone else” (click here for an article that explores and attempts to explain this idea on a spiritual level), but more than learning to love yourself I think you must learn how to be self supportive and find the type of support that works for you. I dare say that being self supportive is a bit more than earning your own doe; I believe it includes knowing who to turn to, what inspires you and how to get yourself out of a bad day or turn what may seem like “a major fuck up” into a learning experience.

In her article “How Do You Support Yourself” life Coach and author Claudette Rowley says that a support system is“a collection of friends, family, colleagues and acquaintances who show a keen interest in listening, discussing and guiding – without judgment.” I would argue that a support system is much more than that, I’d say knowing how to support yourself includes giving yourself credit, setting boundaries, knowing how and when to say “no,” as well as creating time for yourself to relax and digest life.

The website EssentialLifeSkills.net offers some tips on how to build a support system, I like a few of the ideas, one of them being that "giving support is as important as receiving it." I feel that in the act of being supportive towards others you may find ways to be self supportive. Another good one is "create a quiet place or sanctuary for yourself," by all means do. I think having a space for yourself that you see as special and separate from the rest of your day is important because it allows you to indulge in a completely separate part of your routine. Maybe it'll be a place where you can finally separate yourself from your job, your stress and whatever when on throughout the day. There is also a tip about having a variety of interests which I feel is slightly obvious and not necessarily a problem today. A better tip would be set aside at least 30 minutes to indulge in an activity that makes you happy (click here for the full article and rest of the tips).

When it really comes down to it there is not a person on the planet who knows you like you know yourself, so acknowledge that you don't need to look elsewhere to feel supported. You already posses the tools to get what you need so listen to yourself and what it is you really desire and then get up, get out there and go get it.

Meditation For Freedom From Thought

What I would do for a good night’s sleep, less to worry about and a day off. A little peace of mind maybe, really what I think I need is peace from my mind. I can’t help but think sometimes that the ability to shut my thoughts off, or slow them down a little would make my world a better place. I observe a lot of my friends and realize they too are often consumed by their thoughts and led in circles by their worries.

“What do I have to do tomorrow? How am I going to get there? Well I have enough time? Did I finish that assignment? Do I have clean socks? Shit. I need to do laundry. No really what I need are new jeans, and shorts. Yeah, shorts it’s almost summer. Damn, when the hell does school end? Wait isn’t my midterm next week? I need to go to sleep. But I can’t sleep. I need to stop drinking black tea late at night. No I need to go to bed earlier. SHIT. REALLY I NEED TO JUST GO TO SLEEP RIGHT NOW…It’s 4am I have to get up in two hours, I’m so sick of doing this to myself.”

Sound remotely familiar? This is my thought process on any given night and I know that the act of digging one’s self into a hole and perpetuating worries via endless thinking is not uncommon amongst the “common person.” Mindless thinking is why people can’t leave their work at their jobs and their “baggage” at home. Constant worry perpetuated by constant thinking is the reason you’re thinking about when to schedule your next bikini wax or hair cut when you really want to be present spending time with Grandma.

“There's confusion and fixation on all kinds of things which don't really help us to be productive. The speed and scattered quality of our own state of mind actually creates discomfort, suffering and anxiety for us. We can't even have a cup of tea and appreciate and enjoy it because our mind is so distracted,” David Nichtern, Senior Shambhala Buddhist Teacher writes in his article “Why Meditate?—Words Do Not Cook Rice” for the Huffington Post.

I’ve been studying under the Shambhala practice of Buddhist Meditation for the past two months. Working with my mind and acknowledging my thought patterns has been a challenge and at times painful experience but the reward in doing so is a better understanding of how I “work” and a stronger ability to acknowledge that a thought is simply a thought and let it go.

Meditation, in its many forms has been recognized as a powerful practice amongst the many cultures of the world for centuries, tracing its origins back to ancient India. Though meditation can be linked to certain religions and spiritual practices, today it is also recognized as a tool to relieve stress and tune in with one’s self, requiring no faith following just a desire to explore and a dedication to constant effort.

The world of science gives meditation its credit too. In an article written in Psychology Today, Colin Allen explains why meditation is effective in managing stress and fear: “Neuroscientists have found that meditators shift their brain activity to different areas of the cortex - brain waves in the stress-prone right frontal cortex move to the calmer left frontal cortex. This mental shift decreases the negative effects of stress, mild depression and anxiety. There is also less activity in the amygdala, where the brain processes fear.”

Among its many benefits, meditation, if you stick with it will help to eliminate those pointless thought patterns that keep you up at night, help you find clarity and peace in the present and can help you be a little less critical of yourself and a little more loving towards everyone else. Let me not glitter and glitz meditation to the point of no return and make you think that you’re going to meditate as a mere mortal and come out of the practice with the gifts of a god. Meditation in no quick fix, if you’re dedicated to it, you’ll find that working with the muscle that is your mind will surprise you in it’s challenges. I find this point illustrated accurately in One City, a book written by Ethan Nichtern, my meditation teacher and founder of the Interdependence Project (a non-profit organization that does community organizing in the circles of art, ecology and activism with a Buddha-minded focus). Ethan says “to practice anything- whether it’s meditation, art, or politics-means to keeping relinquishing the plan and to continually return to what’s unfolding now” (58).

Creating a meditation practice may be a great way to find your present if you find yourself always dwelling on the past or always worried about the future. It could be a simple addition to your morning routine that helps set a positive tone to the rest of your day. Hey, don’t knok it tell you’ve tried it, but if you try it give yourself sometime to work with the challenges of your own thinking. And when the going gets tough “so slowly breathe and smile” (Thich Nhat Hanh).

East West Café Makes Move to Accommodate Recession, Café employees suffer .2

New York City, Union Square; East West Living, one of Manhattan’s few spiritual bookstores has made efforts to downsize the expense of its cafe as to increase revenue storewide and battle the effects of the economy. A move from a full kitchen to snack and beverage options has resulted in cut hours and lay-offs for café employees.

“We are moving away from preparing our own food to reduce overhead costs. It works out more cost effective to have the food prepared by an outside location then in the store, “ Ronn Goodmen, East west’s “IT Manger,” has been an employee for six months and oversees store operations. The transition from preparation-based- food made on the premises to snack food imported from other business has resulted in the lay-off of the chef and cut hours for the café’s four employees.

“In running any business the major challenges are with making sure your staff, clients and customers are happy. During this time in the economy its the struggle of balancing the two,” Khadijah Farmer, the Café Operations Manager said. Farmer, 30, a New York native has worked at East West Living as the Café Manager for the past three years. The main concern with the café in relation to the store as a whole was that the café wasn’t bringing in much of a profit. $1000 was being spent weekly to supply the café with the necessities to prepare a full selection of vegan and vegetarian meal options. The flow of customers was inconsistent, which meant that fully prepared food would often go to waste and extra employees would work shifts with little to no customer interaction.

“Customers have been walking in for hot food and then walking away,” café employee Tyler St. Clair said. St. Clair, 19, has worked at the café since July. Since the new transition St. Clair hours have been cut and his tips have diminished. He says he thought about getting another job because the café is no longer supportive but if he were to leave now the café would suffer immensely. “We don’t have the man power to train another person at this point, “ St. Clair said. St. Clair says he feels like the transition in the café has been a cause for lost business. “ I think it’s been a loss for the community,“ St. Clair said.

The New York Department of Labor on March 10, 2010 released data that reveals that the unemployment rate in New York state is at it’s highest since 1992, having reached it’s peak at 8.4% in 2009. With the rise of small business closures and bankruptcies nationwide the struggle for employment is tough and the fight to keep business afloat is rough let alone maintain profit. According to the Small Business Association small businesses pay 44% of the United States private payroll and have provided 64% of new jobs over the past 15 years.

Goodmen said that in the majority of profit at East West was brought in by the store portion of the business, with the ratio of café to store profit being 1-5. While Goodmen said he didn’t feel the changes in the café were a direct response to the state of the economy, he did admit that the economy might have influenced initiative. “One of the main reasons for the change is to focus more on a business-meeting cafe with evening events and not so much a food service cafe. We are always looking at the overall health of the whole business and making changes as we discover things that need improvement, “ Goodmen said.

“There have been many stores along 14th Street going out of business and while last year was a difficult year for everyone nationwide we were able to keep our heads above water. East West is lucky to be a special interest store that is nearly one of a kind in New York City making the competition slim to none,” Khadijah Farmer the Café Manager at East West said. Despite apprehension about the challenges of current economy Farmer said she thought business had been surprisingly well.

East West Living has called Fifth Avenue home for over 25 years. The store closed its door about 5 years ago to remodel and obtain the proper documentation needed to run a kitchen. East West has always specialized in carrying spiritual, metaphysical and holistic health books and supplies, as well as been a place to sponsor events for the area’s yogic and spiritual community. The café portion of the business has been up and running for three years.

The transition from full service café to snacks and beverages has only been in route for about three weeks. No additions to events have been made to the events calendar, and while it may be too soon to tell what effect it has had on profit and revenue one can see that there are notably less customers in the café area around lunch.

Morning madness, a conversation on waking up better

6:30am Hit snooze
6:45am Get out of bed, think about meditating
6:45 hot water in microwave for tea, toast, maybe?
6:50-7:30 bathroom, wash face, makeup, clothes (whatever I can find)
eat toast, drink tea, vitamins on a good day. Out the door, get to elevator, turn around.

My morning routine is the pits. I always run out the door only to come to the elevator and realize that I have forgotten something, generally a vital item needed for the rest of my day (ex. cellphone or commonly the toast I made). I think I suffer from lack of routine really. The whole procedure is a mad rush to get out the door by 7:30 and get to class on time. I long for something a little more peaceful, pulled together and an alternative to toast.

I know I'm not alone in pursuit of my prefect morning routine, there sure is plenty of conversation about it. Check this guy on zenhabits.net. He's willing to get up at 4:30 to drink water, fix lunch for his kids, exercise and have extra time to meditate on what his most important goals are for the day, then wake his wife and kids at 6:30. I applaud his dedication and understand the need for solitude but I gotta' wonder what time he has to go to bed to get up at 4:30am and there's nothing in there about getting dressed for work. I get the impression he doesn't have to leave the house.

Michael Agger in his blog post "The Quest for the Perfect Morning Routine" seems to place some importance on finding inspiration in the morning. He likes the idea of the "daily read," all those sites and blogs you look to for your news and interests in one convenient Morning Coffee mug icon on your Firefox browser. Agger has this concept that people really have two morning routines : "getting out of the house and settling down at work." This is true, at this point in my life though I feel I have more control over the routine that starts at home. I want to work on improving the wake-up and get-up portion of my day so the transition to sit-down and get shit done is a smoother one.

Prepping the night before is a reoccurring theme in my research. In the article "Reboot your Morning routine the night before" it is suggested that you pack a lunch, lay out your clothes, clean up any mess in your environment and write yourself any reminders that may slip your mind in the dawn of a new day. I can get down with laying out an outfit I'm proud of and preparing my eats a day ahead. Writing down to-dos sounds more like creating worries, maybe if I wrote down a reward for myself at the end of the list the process would be more appeasing.

As far as inspiration goes I've got a twist on Agger's Morning Coffee icon, the NY Times, NPR and Google are all apps on my iphone. I admit, I need some more blogs to gaze over, I completely open to suggestions. Louise L. Hay also holds a place in the mix providing me with daily affirmations and messages of self belief with the I Can Do It 2010 Calender app on my phone.

This is what I am working towards:
6:30 wake up, use bathroom, put teapot on, meditate for 5-12 minutes or journal
6:45 wash face etc. put on makeup, get dressed (in an outfit I have picked out the night before)
7:00 Eat real food (maybe a smoothie and toast, or rice porridge, yum!) Read a poem or something inspiring while eating
7:30/35 Out the door, everything in hand.

Progress to you in your quest for a better morning. You'll always be given the opportunity to go to bed and try again the next day.

Sleep: It's the best thing since lunch

Sleep. From the necessity standpoint it’s right up there with water; if you’re anything like me you’re not getting enough of either. Lets talk honestly about sleep for a second though, and spare me the hypocrisy of writing this at 2am.

U.S. society neglects the possibility of catching up with missed sleep during the day; you either get your eight hours or you don’t. If you ask me we “Americans” have got it all screwed up; the siesta is the best intuitive thought since lunch (here for more on the siesta). In many Central American Countries a Siesta, or nap, for those of you who took French and not Spanish, follows lunch. Lunch is also the biggest meal of the day not dinner. Just think, if we reframed the timing of meals and way our society approaches sleep we might respond to both a little better; waking up more refreshed and going to bed free of indigestion.

You may as will blame Thomas Edison for his invention of the light bulb, according to the 2002 Sleep in America poll, today Americans (those from the U.S.) sleep and average of 6.9 hours a night and 7.5 hours per night on weekends. Still not cutting the 8-hour rule. Before the light bulb people slept an average or 10 hours a night, changes in sleep occurred with changes in seasons and rising of the sun.

Of course today we have many more distractions among them: the iphone, facebook, stumbleupon.com, magazines, TV and alarm clocks. In fact in studies done by the National Sleep Research Project, experts say that 24-hour accessibility to the internet is amongst the most alluring of sleep distractions (click here to find out other sleep facts that'll make you want to got back to bed). Makes you want to stop stocking that cute guy or girl on facebook or stop stumbling doesn’t it?

Studies show that of all Americans women get the least amount of sleep, linking lack of sleep to deepression it is also suggested that this is a contributing factor in why there are more women battling depression then men. In light of this situation the Huffpost in partnership with Glamour is challenging women to get more sleep, with their "Sleep Challenge 2010: Women, It's Time to Sleep Our Way to the Top. Literally." Click here for more on women's sleep issues and to check out what the challenge is all about.

Get some shut eye folks, chances are it'll be better for your tomorrow then whatever you're staying up to do tonight. Sweet dreams!

I affirm that today is a good day, damn it!

“Reality TV” has a strong way of making me feel like I’ve got my shit together. I can watch something like “The Jersey Shore," "For the Love of RayJ” or "Tough Love” and think “well shit, at least I’m not that ridiculous” or “well, thank god my life isn’t on TV.” This can be a refreshing break because all to often in our media crazed society we are struck with stick thin figures in magazine ads or multimillionaires under 24 who appear to have it already made. Think “Gossip Girl.” Daily our lives are polluted with images, stories, tweets and posts that lead us to believe our happiness, success and worth lie somewhere outside ourselves. Perhaps in our next purchase, next paycheck or the day we lose 20lbs. I personally have become increasingly dissatisfied in the rat-race that is placing my happiness on the obtainment of the next best thing and my sanity on reaching the next day off. You must admit that the general public would be a happier if everyone could learn how to create satisfaction in the now even if they are working for a better tomorrow.

Written by Rhonda Byrne The Secret came out and 2006 made Oprah’s Book Club and got a pretty big spotlight in the attention of the media. The book has some pretty big supporters and contributors, all who are well known in the circles of whatever it is they have dedicated their lives to, which in someway or another is linked to personal fulfillment and spiritual happiness. The Secret, which I find a little overbearing at times, bases its premise on the law of attraction. Or the idea we attract and create everything that is in our lives through our thinking. This concept can be overbearing because it forces you to look at any of the negative things in your life and think, “Why would I create that?” Then for people like me, who are super critical of their own thoughts and actions it proposes a really big challenge: “How am I supposed to create positivity in my life if I am always stuck on all the little mistakes I’ve made and how everything could’ve gone better.” While it is groundbreaking in helping you recognize that you have the power to make your life anything you’d like it to be The Secret, isn’t the most helpful in letting you know how or where to start, because we all know that changing our thinking isn’t as easy as 1.2.3.

Affirmations are a way of directly creating positivity in your life by banishing negative self-beliefs, denial and fear. They are a way of recognizing your own power and changing the way you think about yourself and your life, as well as affirming what it is that’s already working. An affirmation is any sentence you choose to be spoken that represents whatever it is you want to create in your life or anything you want to change. Louise L. Hay who is author of the books The Power Is Within You and You Can Heal Your Life says that “the most powerful way to do affirmations is to look in a mirror and say them out loud.” The mirror shows us any resistance we may have by reflecting back to us the way that we react when we say our affirmations. Hay says that the best place to start in creating affirmation is by being aware of the negative things you say to yourself and others as will as your thoughts.

Thinking about how what I say and think affect my feelings about myself and my satisfaction with life, I am starting at “how does what you say affect your day?” I am one to get up curse my alarm clock and grumble in pursuit of five more minutes. I also have a tendency to think about something I didn’t like about the previous day and let my mind sit on how I don’t want to deal with it today. I’m already shooting myself in the foot just by waking up and thinking about how shitty it is to get out my bed so early.

I’ve decided to practice patience with the following.

To start my days off better: “Today is a new day and I have to power to make it more positive then yesterday.”

To be a little nicer and less critical of myself: “In this moment I am doing the best I can with what I’ve got. All I can to do is keeping doing my best.”

To deal with my roommates and crazy coworker: “ I don’t have to accept everything that people throw at me I can choose to let go of it.”

Granted it takes a lot of effort to change the way we think, affirming that we have the power to be happy in and with our own lives is a powerful place to start. A happy morning to you! Getting up and trying to be better is a challenging process no matter how much sleep you get.

New School Students Fail To See The Future Of 65 Fifth Avenue

The Theresa Lang Community and Student Center of Arnoald Hall opened its doors for students, faculty and members of the community to view the building plans for the 65 Fifth Avenue last Thursday from 3:30 to 6:30pm. Despite last year’s protests at which students expressed frustration over a lack of designated student space and resources, the majority of New School students failed to make an appearance to view plans for the new student center Thursday night.

“I wish there were more students here, but that’s a wish. I think the students are narcissistic, lazy and not committed to their school,” Ben Dornbush, a junior at Lang and former NYU student said with a smile.

In spring 2009 the University Facilities Committee comprised of faculty, administrative leadership facilities staff and students was created. Its role was to provide support in the programming and design of the campus, including the university center at 65 Fifth Avenue. Of the five students that were involved in the planning process there were no undergraduates and no one representing Lang, Parsons, Jazz, Mannes or The New School for Drama.

“It was like trying to steer the Titanic, and you are turning the wheel but Lia Gartner and James Murtha are holding the rudder,” said Heather Contant, the only student member of the University Facilities Committee present. Contant, who is a Lang alum currently pursuing her graduate degree at the New School for General studies said that being involved in the planning of 65 Fifth Avenue was a frustrating experience where she felt she had no input in the process. She admitted she was relieved the project had come to an end. “ I now understand how these things really work from start to finish” she said.

Last year’s protests which were aimed primarily at New School President Bob Kerry, also targeted Executive Vice President James Murtha who was heavily involved in the planning process of 65 Fifth Avenue.

“It’s strange that students who are willing to be maced by police in the name of school resources are unable to attend a meeting about the new student resource center,” Julie Rhodes, a freshmen at Lang, said.

When asked about the poor student turn out, Constant said she wasn’t surprised. Between 5pm and 6:30 there were four students total. Vocos and Dornbush who had been there the length of the event on behalf of the New School Radio said they had seen two other students earlier in the evening; making student attendance six total.

The Current plans for 65 Fitth Avenue include an auditorium that changes to fit the needs of performances including audience size, a student center, library, as will as classrooms, a meal hall and student housing. The building will provide about 600 students with dorm accommodations. At this point there has been no timeline given for the construction of the new building and its completion. The surrounding community Watchdog Groups seem to be more responsive in calling the current building an “eyesore” then the New School students have in acknowledging the building’s current state of affairs.

“There is a lack of organization, lack of people leading and a lot or red tape,” Aundrea Vocos, a Lang Student and New School Radio personality said about the lack of student participation university wide. She said she felt that the open house was poorly advertised but even so the student body is standoffish when it comes to any sort of involvement.