Issue 08 | Face the Current

Connection Edition

Issue 08

June 2017

fAce the current TRAVEL

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CULTURE

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MUSIC

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SPORTS & FITNESS

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HEALTH

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BUSINESS

Venture With chris burkard Into Remote Wild Landscapes And Under An Arctic Sky, Places That Foster Connection And Reveal Our Truths

Pro Athletes Cody Townsend + Paul Guschlbauer Epic Journeys & Fresh Perspectives

AFISHAL Brings Live Music Back to Life

+ Summer Music Festival Guide

Talks Sustainable Business Practices for a Better Future Global Yodel Inspires Travel From a Local’s Perspective

Charles Eisenstein, Buddy Wakefield + Torus Tech Groundbreaking Minds

...inspiring positive change in the world

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EDITORIAL

editorial

FtC

fAce the current Issue 08 · June 2017

Connect With Us... @facethecurrent @facethecurrent @facethecurrent

In the Beginning Face the Current was created with the intention to inspire positive change in the world and enhance lives by encouraging one another to relentlessly discover, explore, question and learn from current and emerging information and perspectives. Driven by a deeprooted love of learning, creative minds and a great appreciation for connection with other individuals who are passionate about what they do, Face the Current has quickly developed into a growing team and global community of incredible people who believe in living life to the fullest and discovering their true potential.

“I find it inspiring to connect with others who are following their flow, pursuing and exploring their passions. Their energy is vibrant & contagious and there is often a lot of incredible things to learn from their life experience and the perspectives they have gained.”

Sasha Frate Founder

sashafrate sasha@facethecurrent.com

Image Credits: Front Cover by Chris Burkard Back Cover by Bobby Breeden 2

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www.facethecurrent.com For advertisement and sponsor inquiries: David Aiello, Director of Marketing david@facethecurrent.com Clair Marie, Brand Engagement & Influencers clair@facethecurrent.com For writer and contributor inquiries: Sasha Frate, Founder & Co-Editor in Chief sasha@facethecurrent.com Eric Marley, Co-Editor in Chief eric@facethecurrent.com All Rights Reserved DISCLAIMER The information provided on this magazine is intended for your general knowledge only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice or treatment for specific medical conditions. You should not use this information to diagnose or treat a health problem or disease without consulting with a qualified healthcare provider.

Opinions and other statements expressed by the kind souls sharing their viewpoint, users and third parties are theirs alone, not opinions of Face the Current. Content created by third parties is the sole responsibility of the third parties and its accuracy and completeness are not endorsed or guaranteed. Face the Current Website and third parties may provide links to web pages, web sites, and various resources or locations on the web. Face the Current has no control over the information you access via such links, does not endorse that information, and shall not be responsible for it or for the consequences of your use of that information.

letter from the editor “…I felt like I’d stumbled onto one of the last quiet places. Somewhere that I had found a clarity and a connection with the world that I knew I would never find on a crowded beach.” – Chris Burkard There’s a lot of talk about Connection these days, but that does it mean? Why is it important? With whom or what are we to explore and encourage it?

If you were to ask existential author Charles Eisenstein, he’d tell you that anything that suggests that we’re anything but connected is an illusion. The media is full of anecdotal evidence that might suggest otherwise, but to dwell on them is not our style. Rather, we at Face the Current choose to ask what we can do to feel it; broader, deeper and with more consistency.

And there are about a million ideas on that.

For Chris Burkard, who decided to go surfing in Greenland during a really big storm, connection is found in the wild places. How wild? You wouldn’t believe us if we told you. Better go see his movie, “Under An Arctic Sky.” (After you read the article!)

For international spoken-word performance artist, Buddy Wakefield, connection might include meditation and the “instrument” of the spoken word. Haiku master and ontological teacher Jeb Barton would almost certainly speak of an experiential understanding of the nature of reality. Still others, such as health and meditation teacher Sima Cohen, might speak of the body/soul connection.

Global Yodel talks about connection with place from a local’s perspective - and we feature 5 travelers to hear their stories on one of the places they’ve visited to which they feel most connected.

We enjoyed talking to 71 year-old solo kayaker, Dave Scott, who would rather spend a night out in the cold than attend a professional baseball game. While it’s true that both he and RedBull athlete Paul Guschlbauer spend an inordinate amount of time on the water or sky, respectively, it would be accurate to suggest that both access their feelings of connection from time spent there.

And what about extreme skier, Cody Townsend? He’s a man whose life depends on staying focused moment-tomoment as he races at breakneck (…and back, and legs, and arms…) speed down impossibly steep mountains the world over. His photographers all say he’s great at connecting with people, too.

And if there’s any doubt in your mind that certain types of creativity are the result of close association with like-minded people, we invite you to read our interview with Michael Fish of Afishal, the next big thing in live music.

We’re big fans of Torus Tech’s Chris Almida, who is fusing rapidly expanding quantum theory with real world questions to produce a big bang of solutions from which we will all benefit. For him, certain types of connection will be much easier when we’re able to fuel our vehicles from the vacuum of space which is all around us. And according to him, that time is coming.

Connection: in the end, experiencing it may be the primary goal of humanity. In the following pages, you’ll find a few ways that some extraordinary people find it.

Enjoy!

Eric Marley Co-Editor in Chief www.facethecurrent.com

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Issue 08 · June 2017

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fAce the current

Sasha Frate

Eric “Aspen” Marley

is a perspective seeker, adventurer, and explorer. She received her Master’s Degree in Liberal Arts and continues to study a variety of subjects within and outside of the academic setting. Frate brings her personal moonshot approach to life to FtC, aiming to provide an experience for our global community where we inspire one another to stay curious, never stop exploring, and to live on-purpose and to potential.

Eric Marley is a writer, teacher and shamanic practitioner. His passion is creating community and consciousness through indigenous spirituality. He has three children and enjoys mountain biking, camping, surfing and exploring both the world of the psyche and our amazing planet.

David Aiello

Kathleen Johnson Antoñana

is an author, musician and photographer based in Portland, Oregon. He has worked with Fortune 50 companies to build their global brands but now applies his natural curiosity to exploring and documenting the world around him.

is a dual Master of Spanish Linguistics, Literature, and Culture as well as of Bilingual Special Education. A voracious student, teacher, writer, and paralegal, Ms. Johnson has dedicated her career to immigration law, translation, non-profit grant writing, and special education in Brooklyn, New York. Ms. Johnson is an avid traveler and linguist with a deep love of books, travel, and people.

Founder and Co-Editor in Chief

Director of Marketing

Sema Garay

Executive Designer Sema is the graphic designer behind the development of the image and magazine of Face the Current. He has developed a multitude of projects, including his previous job leading the Creative Department of BG Life Magazine, in Marbella, Spain.

Sema is passionate about all kinds of artistic expressions, especially music and architecture.

Co-Editor in Chief

Editor

Clair Marie

Brand Engagement & Influencers Also going by her alias “BASEgirl,” Clair is a BASE jumper, Skydiver, Mountain bike racer, Rock climber, Motivational Speaker, Keynote, and Model! She is a passionate vegan and a world traveler. Clair has made it her life goal to inspire others and help them accomplish or find their dreams and passions. After defying the odds and becoming one of the worlds youngest BASE jumpers at 16 years old she realized how important it is to always follow your dreams! And now she helps others find theirs.

JUNE

CREW We are a growing

Nick Cisik

is a graduate of New York University where he received his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. He has enjoyed performing as an actor and musician in New York City, Los Angeles, and Seattle.

Nick currently resides in northern California where he enjoys the peace and privacy of mountain life. It is here that he is free to read, write, and travel all the while reaping the benefits of clean living and moderate craft beer consumption.

team of Up-standers whose intention is

Jeb Barton has been a student and a teacher of selfactualization and Awakening for more than fifty years. He has a BS from the University of Memphis with majors in philosophy, psychology and physical chemistry. In 1997, he was awarded the Walker Book Award from the Haiku Society of America for the publication of his life’s work in the classical Zen writing of Haiku as a meditation art.

In 2001, he was honored by Roshi Jack Kornfield by being asked to write a commemorative book on Compassion for an event hosted by the Dali Lama. Jeb can be reached for events or coaching at jeb@ zengastudios.com.

to create positive change in the world, through networking, connecting, supporting and developing at an

David Ryan

David is a celebrity trainer in Los Angeles, California and creator of LIFTSTRONG Max Intensity Interval Training. You can get your own personalized HIIT program at www.DavidRyanFitness.com Instagram: @DavidRyanFitness

individual and global community level. We are passionate about building our network of experts and industry leaders to deliver cutting edge information to our global community. This month’s

Lisa Skube is a former US NorAM skier turned information advocate, carving up digital experience design & scaling press sustainability, a social change architect. She is the founder of JournalismAccelerator.com a trainer, coach and consultant unifying public good plus revenue @journaccel @lskube & beyond instagram @skube2U2

Sima Cohen

is a certified celebrity trainer, nutritionist, soon to be published author and life coach with over 20 years of experience with 30,000 hours of training and coaching. In her life journey she learned the important elements that govern and influence health and happiness. She perfected her method to help people from all walks of life discover the critical elements that pave the way for achieving sustainable health and happiness in life: Self, Sweat and Substance. www.simacohen.com

Team and Crew are based in the U.S.

Carin Cundey

Christopher McPherson

In more than three decades as an award-winning professional writer/journalist, Christopher has covered myriad subjects and interviewed thousands of people from the famous to the unknown. His work has appeared in daily newspapers, monthly magazines, extensively on radio and, on occasion, television. His newest book, “22: The Biography of a Gun,” has just been published. http://bit.ly/ChristopherMcPherson

Since 2004, Carin Cundey has worked with hundreds of women, guiding them into health.

Carin is a life-long learner with an insatiable thirst for knowledge and understanding. She is a Licensed Massage Therapist, Reiki Master, Yoga Teacher, Certified Emotion Code Practitioner and Certified Aromatherapist. Carin has also studied Western Astrology for the past 14 years and has earned her Ayurvedic Health Educator Certificate from the CA College of Ayurveda. She believes that these modalities are all tools that we may use to understand ourselves more clearly, to empower change and find joy. www.dharmatola.com

www.facethecurrent.com

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CONTENT Issue 08 · June 2017

COVER stories

VENTURE WITH CHRIS BURKARD 78

Into Remote Wild Landscapes And Under An Arctic Sky, Places That Foster Connection And Reveal Our Truths

GLOBAL YODEL 18

Travel From A Local´s On Nature As Our Biggest Playground Perspective

CODY TOWNSEND 10 PAUL GUSCHLBAUER 86 No Borders. No Limits.

prAna 114

Talks Sustainable Business Practices for a Better Future

AFISHAL 52

Bringing Live Music Back to Life 6

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JUNE CONTENT L

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10.

No Borders. No Limits. Travel To The Other Side of Fear With Big Mountain Pro

Freeskier Cody Townsend As He Traverses The Alps by Ski And Foot

18.

Global Yodel Showcases Travel From A Local Perspective To Inspire Your Next

Adventures 22.

FtC Travel Connection. Wanderlusters, Adventurers, Explorers, and Travel

Photographers

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SIC

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Buddy Wakefield On Living to Your Highest Excitement With Zero Expectations

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The Worldwide Slow Movement Gets You Downshifting to Connect to Life

42.

Charles Eisenstein: Upwelling In the Collective Consciousness

46.

Connections and Disconnects! What’s Cool Here Might Not Be There…

52.

Afishal: Bringing Live Music Back to Life

60.

Travel Themed Atlas Music Festival Launches in the U.K. & Guarantees Unparalleled

Experience 66.

2017 Summer Worldwide Music Festival Guide

78.

Venture With Chris Burkard Into Remote Wild Landscapes And Under An Arctic Sky,

Places That Foster Connection And Reveal Our Truths

86.

Red Bull X-Alps Competitor and Pro Paraglider Paul Guschlbauer On Nature As Our

Biggest Playground

92.

The Reality of Connection and the Return of Control: Dave Scott on the River of Life

98.

David Ryan Fitness: Medicine Ball Slam

102.

Ayurveda: Eating for Your Body Type

104.

5 Steps That Will Alter Your Relationship With Food

108.

The New “It” Green Dandelion Boasts Superfood Properties

114.

Prana Talks Sustainable Business Practices for a Better Future

118.

CEO Of Torus Tech Reveals New Approaching Reality For Sourcing The World’s Energy

That Leaves Nothing To Burn, Nothing To Consume, Nothing To Destroy

122.

The Business of Zen and the Zen of Business

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FtC fAce the current

TRAVEL

10. No Borders. No Limits. Travel To The Other

Side of Fear With Big Mountain Pro Freeskier

Cody Townsend As He Traverses The Alps

by Ski And Foot 18. Global Yodel Showcases Travel From A

Local Perspective To Inspire Your Next Adventures 22. FtC Travel Connection. Wanderlusters,

Adventurers, Explorers, and Travel

Photographers –‘Sharing Our Stories’ 8

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THE WORLD’S VESSELS AT YOUR FINGERTIPS Vercoe has been in business since 1989 serving the needs of boaters worldwide from our offices in Portland, Oregon and Maui, Hawaii. www.vercoeyachtsales.com

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FtC travel

No Borders. No Limits.

Travel To The Other Side of Fear With Big Mountain Pro Freeskier Cody Townsend As He Traverses The Alps by Ski And Foot Interview By Nick Cisik

Whether you have never been out of your native country or are running out of room for Customs and Immigration to stamp your passport book, you will have something to glean from Cody Townsend.

A professional big mountain freeskier, avid international traveler, and backcountry enthusiast who has won a host of awards including Line of the Year in 2014 for his descent down Alaska’s Tordrillos Mountain Range, Cody has channeled his early life’s passion for skiing into a fully realized journey that allows him to traverse the globe by foot and, more aptly, by ski. Like any life fueled by passion, his has not come without sacrifice, a singularity of vision, a questionable degree of solitude, and a facing of fear–but if you ask him, he wouldn’t change a thing.

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Photo: Credit_Blake Jorgenson. Red Bull Content Pool

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Have backpack will travel.

Nick Cisik: What do you feel makes for a good traveler?

Cody Townsend: A good traveler has definitely got to roll with the punches, I think that’s one of the biggest things. If you have a plan and that plan changes keep the motivation up and keep going, be stoked on the change of plans–that’s definitely the number one thing. It takes a certain amount of confidence. Otherwise, I think it’s motivation, too; to always be stoked to keep moving, to keep going. I’ve been on trips with people with low motivation and it’s infectious. And then, vice-versa is also true. If you’re with someone who’s motivated, it’ll bring you up and you just keep rolling.

NC: We have to talk about 2014.

I watched the video of you hitting that chute. (Alaska’s Tordrillos Mountain Range) and I almost had a heart attack just watching it. At the risk of sounding cliché, what’s going through your mind just before attempting something like that?

How do you prevent the adrenaline from dictating your behavior and how have you learned to let go of adrenaline in moments of undeniable risk?

CT: I find that confidence comes with capability and with essentially stepping your way up over time. It’s a process. If you know you have the capability then you become confident and you don’t become

scared. In that instance, I was as calm as I’ve ever been. I was in a very zen-like state before I dropped in on that for a multitude of reasons. For one, I’d skied “trainer versions” of that. There’s a line in Nevada that I’d skied that was the inspiration for it. I’ve done other couloirs that had similar characteristics; tight and steep like the one you saw. Maybe not quite as long, but they felt kind of the same. So, when I was standing on top, before I dropped in, one, I knew what it was going to feel like from previous experience. Second, it’d been in my brain for so many years, that I’d skied it a thousand times in my brain. So, when I was dropping in on that beforehand it was just like, “Yeah. I’ve got this.” There was no doubt in my mind that everything was going to go perfectly. It www.facethecurrent.com

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Photo: Credit_Blake Jorgenson. Red Bull Content Pool

would have had to have been something unforeseen, like a rock buried two inches under the snow for things to go poorly.

I had full confidence in myself. Yes, there were some variables that could maybe have given me some nerves like, the walls were so steep and the sun was hitting on the upper section of the walls, so the snow was starting to slough off. That was one of my biggest worries: if I dropped in, would the snow slough off and wipe me out while I was in there going like, 60 mph. Now, that would be bad. Those are variables you can’t control and you’re relying on a little bit of luck on that but, for the most part, because I’ve done it so many times in my brain beforehand, I was very calm. It was funny because the cameraman I was with, who’s a close friend of mine, Scott Gaffney… we’ve done a lot of trips together. It was the first time in my life I saw him nervous. I could hear it on the radio and I saw him being like, “Oh, my god. This is gnarly.” He made me kind of nervous! I was like, “Dude, what are you freakin’ out about? This is

fine – I got it!” So, I think the way to be sure that fear doesn’t dictate what you do is in the building up to the moment, in going through the process in your head so many times beforehand. And then really visualizing that this is what I’m going to do, and I know I can do this because I’ve done stuff similar to this and you work yourself up to it.

NC: It seems that preparation is critical.

CT: Yeah, if you’ve never skied a couloir in your life, you don’t just go ski one of the gnarliest ones in the world. You just don’t do that. That would be stupid.

NC: So, having said that...there’s a quote that I read of yours and I’m paraphrasing here – “as big mountain free-skiers we like to push the edge of what is possible.”

I feel like, inherent in that – correct me if I’m wrong – there’s some element of fear facing.

CT: Yes. NC: So, what is fear to you? Do you find a correlation between facing a fear, and personal or spiritual growth? And if so, what’s that relationship? How has it served you?

CT: I definitely think there’s no better feeling in the world than having a fear and overcoming it. There’s this challenging nature of it where everything in your body is just going, like, “What the hell is going on?” But then, you train yourself to use the more rational side of your thoughts to overcome that fear. In doing that… there’s no better feeling of accomplishment. I think this is pertinent to anything; a job interview, for a lot of people, for instance.

Say you’re real nervous and fearful but you go in and crush an interview and you get the job. You’re like, “Yeah! Stoked!”

There’s something inherently satisfying in that. I don’t know why, if it’s biological or what, but there’s something. But then, for me, I try to break down fear in two www.facethecurrent.com

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The growth that comes with overcoming fear is amazing. You get more confidence in yourself, what you can do in this life. If you start at a young age, stepping over those hurdles, there’s a point in your life where you feel like if you set your mind to it, you can do anything.

It’s a really cool feeling to have.

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different ways: “rational fear” and “emotional fear”. Emotional fear is usually sensory. It’s like looking down at something steep and freaking out. You kind of get this feeling that it’s kind of scary, but not necessarily life threatening. Rational fear is kind of like, when you break it down you figure out, “I have good reason to be scared of this. There’s actually a potential for death here, or serious injury.” Those are the kinds of things I try to break down. Because there are times when a line is very emotionally frightening – it just looks scary, but there’s actually nothing all that scary about it. There might be a blind rollover to a big cliff, but as long as you hit the cliff you’re not going to hit rocks and you might tumble a bit, but there’s nothing you’re going to tumble into so, what’s the worst that’s going to happen?

You’re just going to tumble. But you’re still scared; and that’s when you break it down and say, “no, I got this. This is totally fine.” Rational fear is when you’re figuring out, no, this has actual, legitimate danger.

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Then you figure out how to overcome the situation or circumvent it to see if it’s even possible. The growth that comes with overcoming fear is amazing. You get more confidence in yourself, what you can do in this life. If you start at a young age, stepping over those hurdles, there’s a point in your life where you feel like if you set your mind to it, you can do anything.

It’s a really cool feeling to have.

NC: From an outsider’s perspective, you have this fully realized life. It’s defined, it’s passionate… at this point, at this stage, what drives you to continue?

What do you seek to explore now, either geographically or spiritually?

CT: You know, for me I think I’m driven by the same thing that drove me when I was very young. Like, the first time you jump off a ten-foot cliff when you’re eleven years old; there’s this fear and this challenge that comes with it and you accomplish it–you’re like, wow that was amazing. So, you’re seeking these

Photo: Credit_Blake Jorgenson. Red Bull Content Pool

Photo: Credit_Blake Jorgenson. Red Bull Content Pool

new experiences from a very young age.

For me, that was really driven a lot by jumping cliffs, skiing big lines really fast and exploring the freeride element of skiing. But what I really find so beautiful about the sport of skiing is that it’s so incredibly varied. There’s like, a thousand different ways to do it. I find fun in jibbing a log at the local resort as much as I do jumping a 60-foot cliff. So, for me these days it’s a matter of finding those new experiences. I’ve spent so much time flying in helicopters skiing in a sort of way that

we define as “freeride,” you know? Big cliffs, gnarly lines, skiing super-fast… you’re eliminating a lot of variables so you can perform on this highest level of downhill skiing. For me now, at this point, I’m finding so much more joy in camping and climbing for my own lines. I’m spending more time in the mountains. It’s less about this quantity of cliffs you’re jumping and what tricks you’re doing and more about staying in a zone in the middle of nowhere for three weeks, sleeping in a tent, living in the mountains, feeling the mountains, figuring

your own way to get up them and then getting back down. There’s something mentally really challenging about it because you’re exposed in a certain way to even more risk because you’re on the face for, like, five hours as opposed to, if you just get dropped off by a helicopter and you’re just going down. So, you have to figure your own way up, including being in good enough physical shape to ascend it. And then you’re still, you know, getting down in a really fun way. I’m finding a lot of joy in earning my own turns and doing these www.facethecurrent.com

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The biggest sacrifice was missing out on the typical high school and college lifestyle that everyone perpetuates. The thing is, I don’t regret a second of it. I have a lot of friends that did that and it seemed like a good time and... now they’re accountants and I get to live here and ski for a living. I wouldn’t trade that for the world.

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trips that involve staying and living in the mountains. It’s a totally new experience for me and I think it’s the exact same spirit as when I was ten years old and jumped my first cliff. It’s just a little bit different now.

NC: What sacrifices do you feel you’ve had to make to pursue this lifestyle?

CT: I think that’s a really important question. I think a lot of people don’t realize that, in order to live the kind of life you want to live, you have to sacrifice certain things. For me, that happened during my school age – my high school and college years. I had this dream of being a skier. I didn’t know what kind, just that I wanted to be a skier my whole life. At first, I started with racing. And so, when I was ski racing in high school, I would drive up on the weekends from Santa Cruz where I was going to school and then train and race up here [Tahoe]. Then I would come back and go to school. I didn’t have this lifestyle that a lot of kids do, with parties and stuff. I was almost solitary; I had a couple close friends, but I was kind of on my own: not your typical high school life.

Then that developed even more in college.

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I lived at home and I worked 40 hours a week and went to classes and just stayed home. It was a way for me to save money for the winter so I could take six months off and just ski. It was also a way for me to really focus on my dream. So, I gave up the college lifestyle and I gave up a lot of the high school stuff so I could fulfill this dream of being a professional skier. So, that was probably the biggest sacrifice; missing out on the typical high school and college lifestyle that, you know, everyone perpetuates. The thing is, I don’t regret a second of it. I have a lot of friends that did that and it seemed like a good time and… now they’re accountants and I get to live

here and ski for a living. I wouldn’t trade that for the world.

NC:You’re obviously well-traveled and you’ve taken trips similar to this one through the Alps. If you could go on any trip again, which one would you take and why?

CT: Gosh…I like these trips like the one we just did in the Alps, where it’s less of a film trip where you’re trying to set up and there’s one story and they’re like, “stay in this one place and perform.” I like the ones that are more like, fly by the seat of your pants and there’s no guide. It’s

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I think if you really set your mind to it, you could spend two or three months there and do the entire 780 miles of the Alps by skis.

It’d be insane.

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Photo: Credit_Blake Jorgenson. Red Bull Content Pool

you and your friends doing stuff. It’s rad that social media exists and I love the fact that there’s so much more accessibility to good camera equipment and digital editing technology these days. It’s so user-friendly that we don’t have to rely on big film companies anymore. We essentially, with our iPhones and a GoPro’s, can go to the Alps and tell this whole story, DIY. Those kinds of things are really interesting to me.

There are more trips like that I want to do.

Like I said, I want to do the Alps again. We only did such a small portion to it. I think if you really set your mind to it, you could spend two or three months there and do the entire 780 miles of the Alps by skis. It’d be insane.

NC: What’s your diet like? Do you have a specific regimen, such as involving training and sleep? Do you stay away from anything like alcohol?

CT: There’s one thing, and it’s funny because everyone’s weirded-out because of it, but I’m gluten intolerant. I’ve read all these scientific studies and they say it’s made-up or fake. All I know is that about five years ago I went to Bali and stopped eating bread and my entire life changed. I

felt so much better. So, I’ve been that way.

I haven’t eaten gluten for five or six years now. It’s been life changing. I don’t have allergies, I’m not as sore anymore… even the beer I drink is gluten-free. That was the hardest thing for me because I like good beer. I pretty much stopped drinking for the first two years of it because there was no good gluten-free beer and you know, you have a good day skiing and what are you going to drink, a whiskey while your buddies are drinking beer? So, no, I just kind of stopped drinking. As far as diet, my wife and I try to eat mainly organic. I also stay away from red meat as much as possible, for more environmental reasons. But in general I just try to eat healthy. My biggest thing is natural food vs. processed food. Your body just doesn’t digest preservatives. They mess you up.

I’ve been in places like Japan, where all I eat is natural food, not processed, and I get home and have a bag of chips and my stomach is just dying afterwards. I just think that with natural foods, your body just processes them well and you get better energy out of them.

CT: It’s probably the same thing it’s always been: happiness. Being content with where you’re at and what you’re doing, and not doing anything that makes you dislike life.

We don’t have that long on this earth so, definitely that. And then, these days there are other things too. I have a wife and friends and keeping relationships strong is important, and then just being outside every day. I have to be outside doing something, whether it’s biking, running, climbing, skiing…something every day.

Otherwise I kind of go crazy. I think people can get stuck in their ways and then end up just sitting on their couch the whole time. It’s hard to get out of that because it feels like crap when you start moving again. I’m in the opposite boat. If I stop moving, I feel like crap. I don’t think it’s a personality trait though, I think it’s just people: if you go out there and start doing stuff all the time, it’s just natural that you’re going to want to keep doing that. Those are just good habits; they make you feel good.

NC: What are your top priorities at this stage in your life?

www.codytownsend.com Social Media: @codytownsend

yMore info:

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FtC travel

Global Yodel Showcases Travel From A Local Perspective To Inspire Your Next Adventures Interview By Sasha Frate Fueled by a passion for exploration, Jesse Weinberg created Global Yodel as a network and community for people to connect with one another to explore destination, place, culture and people around the world. Realizing that the typical sources for travel inspiration were always being shared from an outsider’s perspective, Weinberg developed his platform with a unique concept of a location being featured from a local perspective that “captures the essence of place, movement and time, making you feel as though you’re there too.” Global Yodel is also a showcase for creative artists around the world, and today citizens from around the world share their differences in geography and culture through their local lenses, and their similarities in appreciation of creativity, arts, travel, and humanity.

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FACE the CURRENT MAGAZINE Jesse Weinberg at Baker Lake

Joanna Lemanska - Paris

Sasha Frate: Global Yodel has a unique concept of showcasing travel compared to the typical perspective we encounter from the travel industry. Can you share what’s different about it, and why did you decide to go this route in creating Global Yodel?

SF: You have always been very passionate about exploration and seeing the world through a local lens, which was the basis for creating Global Yodel. Was there anyone, or any particular experience that inspired you to create your site with this concept?

Jesse Weinberg: Typically travel media looks at place from an outsider’s perspective. A travel magazine from, let’s say San Francisco, might send a writer to Paris to do a feature story. That writer would visit Paris for a week and report back as if they were an expert on the local culture, what to do, where to go, the great little places to eat, and that sort of thing.

We always are let down, or typically we’re let down by that type of content because it takes years to really get to know a place.

We feel like a visitor who is going there for a week doesn’t really have time to really understand that true essence and the local secrets of a place. So Global Yodel is basically a platform and pathway for locals around the world to share their little slivers of life and where other people who are interested to learn about it.

JW: Yeah I think there was a specific experience that kind of launched it for me.

I love to travel more than anything, and I love experiencing and seeing a place for the first time. I spent a lot of my twenties traveling, and when I wasn’t physically able to travel I would read about travel, like travel magazines, travel websites, and that’s when I noticed the way that travel media typically reports on place from an outsider’s perspective. I thought it would be really cool to have a platform out there and a publication where you could learn about specific places around the world from that local’s perspective. So that was sort of the catalyst to launch Global Yodel was the idea that there are so many amazing places and cultures and people doing cool things out there. I just thought it would be really cool to have a platform where everyone could share their story

and other people could learn about it.

SF: By now you must have seen hundreds of travel features come through your site. Based on all you’ve seen, and experienced yourself, what would you suggest for connecting and immersing with local culture and place?

JW: We’ve seen thousands of Yodels (travel features) come through our platform. I think pretty much anywhere and everywhere you can find perfect places to connect and immerse with local culture and place. Locals in every location around the world have an ingrained knowledge of their area and culture by default. By connecting with them you can tap into the essence of any place. It almost becomes an exercise in making friends. If you can make friends with locals you will have a much more unique travel experience compared with just doing the touristy or guidebook stuff.

SF: Do you think it is an important or valuable way to travel, to find that local connection and immerse ourselves in it? www.facethecurrent.com

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JW: It really depends how you value travel and what is important to you. If you are happy going on a vacation to an inclusive type of resort or experience, then that is great for you. That type of travel can be fun.

If you are seeking more of a cultural, educational, authentic experience I think it is incredibly valuable to seek and find that local connection. Most of my amazing travel experiences were created when totally tapped into a local community.

There is a great travel quote by James

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Michener that reads: “If you reject the food, ignore the customs, fear the religion and avoid the people, you might better stay at home.”

SF: How might you describe not playing tourist, but perhaps instead living like a local while visiting a place?

JW: By living like a local, you integrate into a new culture and lifestyle. Usually a lot will be different than what you are used to at home. The differences in food, the

smells, the temperatures, the rituals and social interactions are exhilarating.

SF: To gain insight on some of these local perspectives that might invite and incite us to visit, people around the world are contributing to your community of Yodelers with their depiction of place as a local, possibly even native to the area. What kind of contributors do you tend to see and feature?

Shunsuke Miyatake - Tokyo

SF: In addition to the mini local guides you call “yodels,” you also do a lot of feature stories. What kind of feature stories does Global Yodel offer?

JW: We create some in-house editorial content that is of interest to our community that includes photography tips, social media stuff, travel tips, cultural info, freelance info, cool breaking stories, etc.

We also own and operate Global Yodel Media Group, a content, influence and social marketing agency, so we publish some cool marketing content from time to time as well.

SF: The “Local Tip” is great for providing an opportunity to learn something about the local culture before visiting. What is your personal favorite aspect of what Global Yodel does or offers?

JW: We’ve received thousands of submissions so far, and I still get super excited every time one comes in because I think every place around the world has its own culture and its own specific interesting stuff about it- its own story.

So I think just the collection of seeing the differences and similarities of all these different places is what is most exciting.

Every place is pretty different, but at the same time humanity as a collective, at the core of it all, we all typically like the same things and it kind of comes back to that. I think seeing the differences and similarities is what is special about it.

JW: We have thousands of contributors around the globe so we see a little bit of everyone. For example, there are lots of photographers, filmmakers, travelers, designers, bloggers, travelers, marketers, etc.

SF: What else can one expect to find in a travel feature on your site?

What do the Icons and Local Lens indicate for example?

JW: Each Yodel typically has a Local Lens section that give a few practical examples of what someone can do. Best place to eat, best outdoor activity, local tips, etc. But our platform is as much experiential as it is practical.

SF: What if someone wants to contribute and become a Yodeler?!

How does it work?

JW: It’s really easy to contribute and we encourage anyone and everyone that wants to do so. Just go to www. globalyodel.com/contribute, also found on the website, and it will prompt you through the process. It allows you to upload some photos or a video and then we ask a series of local specific interview questions. Anyone can do it, and it’s also a really great way for someone to promote themselves, because we provide a link back at the bottom of each submission that we publish so you can link back to your website or your Instagram account and help drive traffic to those specific places.

We encourage you to contribute!

Global Yodel wants to learn about places of the world from you, the local expert. Share your place and the culture by creating a Yodel about it with your photos, video, design or story with local tips an outsider can learn from and get inspired.

Remember, your home is someone else’s destination. Share where you live, and your place in it, through your local lens.

yfind more info on Global Yodel: www.globalyodel.com Instagram: @globalyodel www.facethecurrent.com

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FtC travel

FtC Travel Connection Wanderlusters, Adventurers, Explorers, and Travel Photographers –‘Sharing Our Stories’ “Traveling – it leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller.” – Ibn Battuta

Travel tends to lend to fresh perspectives, adventures that inspire and rejuvenate us, and perhaps a deeper desire to better understand the world we live in and our place within it. There are places we may visit that somehow turn out like a bad blind date. We didn’t really know what we were getting ourselves into. More often however, we find some sense of connection to the places we visit and we want to return. Or, maybe even just stay a while.

This month we hear from five travelers who share their top pick on one place they’ve felt most connected to.

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ftc travel connection

Renee Hahnel. Iceland PLACE I Call Home: Australia/US INSTAGRAM: @reneeroaming www.reneeroaming.com

How to connect to the places we visit: Many outdoor gems and tourist attractions are getting busier each year.

Larger crowds can often result in dampened experiences and less connection with our surroundings. I personally chose to visit busy spots during the early or late hours of the day and often during off-peak months. Sitting down and watching the sunrise is one of my favorite ways to enjoy a beautiful location. In an attempt to be completely immersed in my surroundings, I will often shut my eyes and listen to the natural sounds of nature. Being a photographer, I personally enjoy capturing the moment, though visiting empty handed will likely positively add to the experience.

Renee Roaming - Iceland Glacier

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Renee Roaming - Iceland Seljalandsfoss

What’s one place you have felt most connected to, and why?

Iceland has stolen my heart. During my two visits to the magical island I have felt some of the strongest connections to nature, almost like a magnetic pull. The wild landscape is made up of waterfalls, hot springs, rugged coastlines, ancient glaciers and the captivating northern lights. It can be tough to avoid crowds (tourism has increased 40% in the last year!) but that shouldn’t deter you. Make the effort to find quieter spots and you won’t be disappointed.

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Renee Roaming - Iceland Glacier

Renee Roaming - Iceland Iceberg www.facethecurrent.com

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ftc travel connection

Christy Woodrow. nepal PLACE I Call Home: San Diego, CA Instagram: @OrdinaryTraveler www.ordinarytraveler.com

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How to connect with the places we visit: I’ve never been a country counter; travel has always felt deeper than that to me. The desire to connect with nature and other cultures is the reason I started traveling in the first place. Whether it be staying with a local and learning about their way of life or immersing ourselves in nature, I think it’s important to consider our intentions. What are you hoping to learn? Who or what are you hoping to connect with? With positive intentions, those experiences you crave will come to you and you’ll arrive home with a better understanding about not only yourself, but of other people who you may have initially perceived as different than you.

What’s one place that you’ve felt most connected to?

I had always felt a strong pull towards Nepal from a very young age and I wasn’t sure why. About 5 years ago, I finally visited this country and I had the opportunity to meet a number of locals living in tiny villages in the mountains. These interactions left a strong impression on me. I was continually moved by the kindness of these strangers and their willingness to open their hearts to foreigners. I think we can all learn from this type of compassion and kindness. To open our hearts to people who are different from us is one of the greatest things we can do for the world because fundamentally we are all the same. To quote Dalai Lama: “Physically, emotionally, and mentally, we are all equal.”

To this day, I still feel a strong connection with Nepal and its people. I know it’s a place I will return to again and again.

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ftc travel connection

Ali Briceland. PORTUGAL PLACE I Call Home: Cape Town, South Africa Instagram: @alibriceland lavivacite.co.za

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What is the one place you’ve visited that you felt so connected to, you stopped and stayed a while?

Porto, Portugal, captured my heart in the most unimaginable way. I was whisked away to Porto by family and boy was I in for a surprise. I had no idea what to expect, and imaged a tiny fishing village on a river, with Port as a side hobby.

But, no.

It’s a truly magical city – it’s old and has endless charm and bustling streets, but it’s gone through a marvelous makeover the past few years and has risen up as a culinary and architectural delight, with restaurants and buildings to keep you entertained for days.

Also, Majestic Café’s hot chocolate.

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ftc travel connection

Paul Hanis. alaska PLACE I Call Home: McCarthy, Alaska Instagram: @paulhanisart www.paulhanis.com

In 2002 I solo hiked and packrafted 160 miles across Alaska’s Wrangell St. Elias mountains.

The adversity and sublimity I encountered in that untamed wilderness made the experience on par with a true vision quest, fearing for my life and also virtually losing myself in joy. When I arrived in the tiny town of McCarthy, my destination, the profound power of those mountains resonated strongly within me and after spending a few days mingling with the local residents I knew I had connected with a place like never before. It’s been 15 years and I still haven’t left.

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ftc travel connection

Hung Thai. montenegro PLACE I Call Home: Seattle Instagram: @upupandabear upupandabear.com

Kotor, an ancient town in little Montenegro, mesmerized me with the glimmer of her emerald water, and, under this trance, she reached out her hands and pulled me into her embrace. She took me on a walk through weathered streets. She suddenly stopped and directed my gaze upon battle-hardened city walls snaking across the hill flanking the city center. A quick pace up her steps and there, as views of this wondrous land came before me, I fell in love with her. And though the journey has ended, she has stayed with me ever since.

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FtC fAce the current

culture

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Buddy Wakefield On Living to Your Highest Excitement With Zero Expectations The Worldwide Slow Movement Gets You Downshifting to Connect to Life Charles Eisenstein: Upwelling In the Collective Consciousness Connections and Disconnects!

What’s Cool Here Might Not Be There…

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JOIN T HE ACAD E MY b i t . l y/Con n ect 2 Reson an ce

click or scan

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FtC culture

Buddy Wakefield On Living to Your Highest Excitement With Zero Expectations

by Eric Marley The world of poetry ain’t what it used to be. Far from the likes of Frost, Poe, Hughes and Anjelou, the new poetry is likely to feature language you wouldn’t want your mother to hear and subjects that are liable to keep you awake at night.

It’s often gritty and raw, but at least it’s honest.

Buddy Wakefield has been a performance artist and traveling poetic minstrel for a couple decades now. In 2004, he won the Individual

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World Poetry Slam Finals (and two more World Spoken Word Finals after that), but don’t call him a “Slam Poet.” These days, he has bigger fish to fry, all orbiting a personal consciousness that embraces meditation, awareness and “living to his highest excitement.” But that doesn’t mean he’s likely to wax poetic about trees.The grittiness is still there, providing plenty of fodder for a man that is bent on bringing light to the world; not in spite of the grit, but in part, because of it.

Photo by Inti St. Clair

Photoshop by Bill Jonas • Photo by Inti St. Clair

Buddy Wakefield: On Living to Your Highest Excitement (With Zero Expectations) Interview by Eric Marley Eric Marley: In 2003, you sold or gave away almost everything you owned and “moved to the small town of Honda Civic.” How did the decision to live from your car affect your art and your success? What was a typical day like during that time?

Buddy Wakefield: Well, there was no “typical day.” As for how it affected what I do, there’s a formula that people are really becoming aware of globally and in the collective consciousness, which is to live to your highest excitement, but with zero expectations of the outcome – and I mean

zero expectations of the outcome. Instead, you’re just doing what’s most exciting and trusting that everything else will follow. I don’t know that I was entirely conscious of the actual formula, but that’s certainly what I was doing. I just understood that that was my highest excitement and I didn’t have any expectations of the outcome, really. I just knew that I was going to be on tour. I had announced on a forum called, “Poetry Slam, Incorporated” at the time that I was going to be on tour for three years. I had no idea how I was going to do it. I just set a date and booked a bunch of shows. Back then, it was easy to just book two months out. Now you have to do it at least six months in advance because there’s so many people doing it.

EM: So, you just booked a tour, basically, and went for it?

BW: Yeah, absolutely. And not in very smart ways, either (laughs). Starting with living in the Honda Civic, which isn’t the roomiest home. But I got the Honda Civic because I wasn’t confident in my mechanic work. I trusted Civic the most. I don’t mean to turn this into a Civic commercial.

I’m also writing a book tentatively called, “Don’t Fake Cry: A Reference Manual for Touring Artists.” This is a really loose title for now, but I intend to answer every question that every came in through Facebook or email about touring and how to do it because there’ve been a lot (laughs). And they come in in really awesome ways like, “Can you give me some advice on touring?” Which is like getting hit with a department store.

That’s… that’s so broad. I don’t even know where to start so I don’t even answer those emails. But I’m excited to www.facethecurrent.com

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Photo by Inti St. Clair

write the book on it and actually make it a fun experience, and a true experience and say what happened to me out there.

Because the grass is always greener. I think that “highest excitement” led to a most beautiful trajectory. Where I’m at now I’m in love with, but it’s a big price to pay.

EM: Who are your favorite poets and why? Who has inspired you the most?

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BW: It’s been different over the years; it switches up. I started out being really inspired by Annie Laganga. She lives in Austin now. And then I went to the first National Poetry Slam in ’99 and I saw Gayle Danley, Jason Carney and Roger Bonair-Agard. And it kept evolving over the years. There was Ragan Fox and Rachel McKibbens and George McKibbens.

And then it went to… I’m going to say a few more names and then I’ll say why.

There were so many, really. Regie Gibson was one, and Saul Williams would also really important to put on that list. And then fast forward into the latter years, I went on tour starting in 2007 with the revival and we just had a new moniker every year. The first year we were Solomon Sparrows Electric Whale Revival, then the Elephant Engine Highdive Revival, all these things you can see online. Then there was the Junkyard Ghost Revival

EM: So, what do you call what you do now?

BW: Just a “performance poet” or a “performance artist.” Poetry slam is a competition. I lot of people advertise that there’s a poetry slam coming to town, and it’s just not true. Poetry Slam is a gimmick to get people excited about poetry. It’s a competition with scorecards and judges and I haven’t, like I said, done that since ’08.

EM: So, back to the list of poets, what is it about them that inspires you?

BW: We’d have to go person-byperson. Over all, they’re just more of the instrument that I play. I get to not only read their work by watching them, I get to see exactly how they want it delivered.

And I know that they’re taking the time to edit – to give me exactly the information they want me to have. And that’s also how I’m able to tell who inspires me, and maybe who doesn’t? The difference is usually in the editing, in what they choose to give people. I mean… most poetry, most art forms… it’s really bad. It can be really embarrassing to watch. I get really uncomfortable, to some degree, with most of the poetry performances I’ve been to, for twenty years now. I think it’s because it’s just something people

“

There’s a formula that people are really

becoming aware of globally and in the collective consciousness, which is to live to your highest excitement, but with zero expectations of the outcome – and I mean zero expectations of the outcome. Instead, you’re just doing what’s most

“

and the Night Kite Revival. And so, in the Revival I found that I was touring with the people who really did inspire me the most. And they were my friends, too.

I found that I really did learn the most from them. Those were Derrick Brown, Anis Mojgani and Andrea Gibson – no relation to Regie. So, I was never a very well-read poet. It’s just not the instrument that I played. It’s not what I really loved to do (read poetry). What I really loved was being a singer-songwriter in college. And then I realized there was this event called a “poetry slam,” where I wouldn’t have to torture people with my guitar playing anymore (laughs). I mean, I really had a lot of confidence in my lyrics, my words, but not so much with the guitar playing or the singing. So I just dove all the way into poetry slam, which ended up leading to my future. People still refer to me as a ‘slam poet’. That’s probably because my bio still milks it. But I actually haven’t been involved in any substantial way with poetry slam since 2008.

exciting and trusting that everything else will follow.

pass through. I happen to have made a living from it; I’ve been in this location frequency a lot longer. It’s hard to watch, day in and day out, people really choosing, sometimes seemingly unconsciously, to put on the table for an audience – especially sometimes the wrong audience – their deepest, darkest stuff, often just for attention, without any intention of people getting something fruitful out of the presentation. It can be a really narcissistic thing to watch. Especially since, when my family and friends go to a poetry reading and then tell me about it, I get a lot of subtext, like, “wow… that was interesting,” or “that was neat,” or “that’s more your kind of thing.” I just want to say, “No, that’s not.” Even though I’ve been doing this for twenty-something years, it’s really not my kind of thing, most of the time. (laughs) In the end, it can be a collection of tragedyaddicts, trying to work their shit out publicly, because they’re anxious. If we’re talking about attachment-theory, which relationships are all about, I think children should learn this before any other subject, alongside meditation. Are you familiar with attachment theory?

EM:Vaguely. Please explain.

BW: It just breaks down relationships and how people fall into one of three

attachment styles: they’re either anxious, secure or avoidant. And in the poetry community, they’re largely an anxious, tragedy-addicted community. But it’s not limited to them, either. In fact, I took a meditation course in 2008 after a breakup.

My heart was really banged up; the worst I’d ever been at that point. And, through meditation, I realized I’d been raised by tragedy addicts. Then I started checking out who I surround myself with in the poetry world and I realized, “oh my gosh, what I do is entirely composed of tragedy addicts.” And then I looked around and I saw that every art world and saw that most art is like that. And from there, I realized that, “oh my gosh. This world that I’m in, we humans are masters of limitation, either anxiously, securely or avoidantly.” So, unlike the Avoidants we don’t hide our shit as well. We just go work it out publicly.

But there are also refreshing exceptions to the rule, the people who come in there and really tell a good story. They’re really balanced, fun and insightful. Those are the rarities, and that’s what we look for in the art world; the people who are painting more than the pretty flower or the dark, spooky picture just to express themselves as “goth,” or whatever. There’s also the entire other direction of focus the people who are making amazing things happen, contributing to the psychological www.facethecurrent.com

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evolution of humanity, affecting the way people participate in their existence, especially in this time when there’s really an incredible shift happening.

still fighting wars that are already over. So, presence is important to me in all regards, whether on stage or off stage.

EM: Let’s talk about meditation for a minute.

EM:You mentioned that, in ’08, you went through a really difficult time.

Did meditation start for you there?

Is it more of an increased focus in your work?

BW: So… how I got into it? Well, I think that people who are drawn to meditation are drawn to a better way of being and people who are drawn to a better way of being, typically aren’t living in an ideal way.

Generally speaking, they may be suffering to a greater extent. They may be less privileged physically or emotionally. I think people who are deeply suffering are more drawn to it. The reason being obvious; people for whom the narrative is working aren’t necessarily magnetized to something different. I never really felt that I belonged to the narrative. I had dreams instilled in me for American pie, kids, wife and homes, but I actually wasn’t wired for any of it.

“

The big reveal that keeps

popping up over and over and over again is that it’s all story. It’s all a story we’ve been telling ourselves That’s more than a cliché’; it’s verifiable. We’re living these

“

BW: We can talk about meditation for hours.

narratives, these stories that are all self-imposed.

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The big reveal that keeps popping up over and over and over again is that it’s all story.

It’s all a story we’ve been telling ourselves That’s more than a cliché’; it’s verifiable.

We’re living these narratives, these stories that are all self-imposed. We’re the ones giving out the gold stars – we can do as much or as little as we want to. I’m just happy about the story I’m telling myself now, rather than the story I was living for other people.

EM:You mentioned other tools to cultivate presence as well. Do you care to mention any?

EM:You didn’t feel like you fit in?

BW: Yeah, so my original trajectory was a constant source of disappointment for myself. So, yeah, I was drawn to meditation because the current narrative, in few ways, was relevant for me in terms of how happiness was going to unfold for me. And then, to speak to the second part of your question about it being an increased focus, you know, if you’re not getting happier as you get older, you’re fucking up. That’s a direct quote from Ani DeFranco, off one of her recent albums. It may be a bit blunt, but it’s true. And so, I have continued with meditation all these years. I have a practice.

It’s indeed made me a more present man and more interested in ways of cultivating presence, and has given me the tools to exercise presence more consistently, which is clearly one of the most challenging things to do on the planet. It would seem to be the easiest. If people were actually present, they would know they’re safe, right now. We have everything we need right now. The world that we see through the lens of the media isn’t there. They’re

getting better at delivering the message - not just to people who have their eyes wide open in the light, but who are also living in the gritty underbelly of it, which is where I think I come in, if I were going to be audacious enough to speak to my own intention, and what I see as my own frequency and trajectory. At this time, I really love being tuned into these folks who are delivering really sincere, conscious messages, filled with so much light and joy.

I also know that if you walk into where I’m from, with all that light in front of an audience, you’re going to get a lot of middle fingers. (laughs) And so I like to bring that in such a way that people know it’s a gritty balance for most of us.

EM: Who’s helped you in your process?

BW: Eckhart Tolle was a really important part of my becoming more aware. His book, “A New Earth” is hands down the most influential book I’ve ever read.

Actually, Oprah Winfrey will tell you the same thing; that of all the books she’s ever promoted, that one was the most influential. There’s a lot of people helping with this shift now, that I’ve discovered since Eckhart Tolle. Oprah’s also a big fan of Esther Hicks, as am I. There’s also a guy from Bothell, Washington named Kyle Cease. He was a comedian for twenty years and then he just found that everything he was saying was more like transformational speaking. So now he’s like, half comedian, half transformational speaker. He’s trying to avoid the Tony Robbins rap by being funny about it all. I’m actually going to go see Kyle in September.

But people like him… there are so many out there now, and so many that are

BW: Vipassana meditation, specifically, was a foundation for me. And, having experienced that for the past twelve years, I look for frequent specific serendipity. I find that the more present I become, the more I understand about who I am and why I’m here. I can sense that it’s not all a big mystery and that there’s joy and a network of lives all around us. It’s all very exciting and I’m in a great place in LA to keep learning all about it, and to keep pursuing my highest excitement here, which has turned into acting and these projects that I’m working on, whether it be the book or the screenplay or the new CD or the new poetry book. There’s several lined up for 2018 and I’m excited about doing all of them, here in Los Angeles.

EM:You’re very complimentary about your mother. In your work, both written and on stage, you mention her with almost a sense of reverence. What is it about her, aside from the fact that she’s your

actually the person who told me about vipassana meditation, and then when I was going to move to LA she’s the one I called and she told me what area to go to so…she’s been pretty influential in my life.

Her name is Layne Stroud. The screenplay we’re working on is based on a poem I wrote, “Crowbirds At Mockingbars.”

The second one is… well, this month is dedicated to pilot pitches. I’m just learning to write them. I’ve had a lot of idea I’ve collected over the years so I’m spending this month in stillness with these pitches and getting as many as I can together.

So, I’m on lockdown for a month to get familiar with that world. And then, in the month of June 2017 I’ll spend that month writing a ten to thirteen episode season breakdown for another idea I have for a series. And then, I’ve got one last spoken word album in me, of material that hasn’t been released yet, tentatively entitled, “Acquired Honest Killers.”

EM: Only one more book of poetry?

Photoshop by Bill Jonas • Photo by Inti St. Clair

mother, that inspires you so deeply?

BW: “Loyalty” is the first thing that comes to mind because of a recognition of what she sacrificed for me to have a better life than we had at the point where we met each other. There are days, though, that she does not get my journey! She just (laughs)… you know, she has a keen awareness that I’m funny, but half the stuff that comes out of my mouth, I can see that she’s like, “What?” So, there’s a reverence for her in the loyalty and in my deep want for her to be as happy as possible. I want her to get the love that she gave to me. I just have her back - and she has mine.

EM: What’s next for you?

BW: I have a writing partner here in LA. We’re working on a feature-length screenplay. I thought we were done last week and then realized that… we’re not finished. I gave it to her and put the ball in her court and asked her to spend some creative time with it and make sure this is exactly what she wants before we put it all out there. I’d put in, largely, what I wanted.

And then, stepping away from it for a minute I realized that her voice needed to be cultivated more in the script, because it was a team project – also starting in 2008, which seems to have been a pivotal year for me.

EM: Seems like it.

BW: So, now we both live in LA. She was

BW: Well, I don’t put limitations on myself but I’m just more excited now about the screenplay and acting worlds, being here in LA and living this experience.

And then I will finish also the unreleased poetry stuff, finish one more book there.

And then in November I’m making a short film with Jamie DeWolf in Texas about my family. It’s called, “Farmly.” Jamie was NPR’s Performer of the Year last year or this year, I’m not sure. So, I’m looking forward to making that short film with him, and my family will actually be in it. And then, there’s the book, “Don’t Fake Cry,” the referential book on touring that’ll actually probably be like a novel. Finally, I also can’t wait to dive into a novel outside of touring, which I’m going to refrain from talking about just yet.

EM: Where is the best place to keep track of you, Buddy? Your website?

BW: I’m not too good about posting things until they actually happen, but as they do happen I’m pretty good about posting up in my journal on my website that I actually update pretty regularly. And then I’m on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram…

I use all of them.

ymore info: buddywakefield.com Social Media: @buddywakefield www.facethecurrent.com

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FtC culture

The Worldwide Slow Movement Gets You Downshifting

to Connect to Life

The Slow Movement There is now a movement that seeks to counter the tumultuous, impersonal nature of our modern lives. Called the Slow Movement, its main tenant states that by taking the time to truly experience the different parts of our life, we are able to find that which is truly satisfying and fulfilling.

This does not mean that you do things slowly. It is about finding the right balance with which to do something so that quality over quantity, long term benefits over short term gains, and the welfare of others are the driving factors.

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By David Aiello All of us deep down want to feel a connection. Connection comes in all forms. We want to connect to people, family, places, food, our community, ourselves, to life! But for many of us, the hectic stress-filled life we are leading is destroying human connection. We want to move from life in the fast lane to a more satisfying, healthier, more human connected lifestyle. But how?

The Slow Movement grew from the Slow Food effort which began in 1986 in Italy as a result of McDonald’s effort to place a franchise near the Piazza di Spagna in Rome. While protesting the “fast-food” chain, Carlo Petrini organized the Slow Food movement to promote the use of sustainably grown, local foods. The idea was to consume the food “slowly,” in the company of friends and family, counter to the fast food, fast life culture.

Followers soon realized that food was just one aspect of life that benefitted from slowing down. “Slow” became the mantra for a way of life that is now applied in many ways.

Here are a few examples.

Slow Travel Slow travel is about connecting to the place and the culture you are visiting. Forget about the frenetic tours, itineraries and the concierge. Slow Travel is about immersing yourself with the local culture. Slow travelers will stay in one place for several days and rent a house or cottage. They will live as they would at home but within their new community. The point is to live in, not just stay at your destination so you experience life there. You shop for your groceries, explore the neighborhood, and make new friends. The goal is to gain an understanding of the local inhabitant’s associations with, or feelings for their home.

Slow Money To many, slow money refers to a movement by some investors and donors to steer capital to small food enterprises, organic farms, and local food systems.

To others, Slow Money has a broader meaning. It goes beyond investment to supporting the overall economic sustainability of a community or geographic area. This can include supporting and promoting local merchants, working locally and growing some or all of your own food. If we attempt to keep our economic resources local, we will be a contributor and participant in the slow money movement. The Slow Movement has many more branches including Slow Exercise, Slow Work, Slow Sex, Slow Clothing, Slow Parenting, Slow Schooling, Slow Living, Slow Homes and Slow Cities.

Downshifting to Connect With Life To fully immerse themselves in the Slow Movement, many have taken to downshifting. Downshifters are those who seek a simple, slow, connected life. They’ve realized that for themselves, the pursuit of wealth comes with too great a cost to their own life and to the lives of their families. They opt to live with less money by working less to pursue passion, purpose, fulfilment and happiness. This can include seeking better connections with family, friends, co-workers, and anybody else they meet. Or simply by working to preserve a cultural heritage by employing traditional ways of preparing their meals.

Slowing is Growing It’s obvious that one thing that is not slow is the growth of this movement. It seems to have struck a nerve with people from around the world that want to focus on connecting to life instead of being swept away in a technologically complex 24/7 world. Maybe it’s time to jump onboard and slow down to see if we can reconnect with our true selves once again.

ymore info: www.slowmovement.com www.facethecurrent.com

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Charles Eisenstein Upwelling In the Collective Consciousness Interview By Eric Marley Existential author and philosopher Charles Eisenstein isn’t the typical preacher of the “Oneness of All Things.”

You’ll find no flowing robes, no ashrams, not even dedicated, specific practices. Far from attention-seeking, he prefers not to claim his work as his own, but sees it as built upon the work of those who came before him. A Yale graduate and serial seeker, he’s also a dedicated, private family man that just happens to have come to an understanding about the nature of the problems facing humanity: the illusion of separation, which affects everything from our economic and governmental systems to the way we treat the elderly to our addiction to distraction. His books, “Sacred Economics” and The More Beautiful World Our Hearts Know Is Possible,” flesh these out in detail. We briefly caught up with Charles fresh out of retreat in Portugal.

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Eric Marley:You mention on your website that you were a “very sensitive, intellectual and dreamy child.” After what appears to be decades of searching for answers about the nature of reality and the purpose of life, you were opened to your life’s work. How did your parents encourage or discourage you? What advice can you give to parents of such children?

Charles Eisenstein: They encouraged me as best they could I guess. Back in those days, it was unquestioned that a bright young man should go to college and join the system and become some kind of professional. The answers I wanted were supposed to be found in the canon of thought that was held by established institutions. My parents were troubled by my unhappiness and dissatisfaction in school, but in their Universe, there was no alternative.

I think that as the old narratives collapse, and with them the institutions that we grew up with, that we need to support young people if they reject those institutions and try to follow a different life path. Parents are willing to spend tens of thousands of dollars to send their children to university, but how often are they willing to spend that much to subsidize other kinds of exploration? We have to stop using our own fears to control our children. www.facethecurrent.com

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EM:You describe a time in your mid-30’s when, after a fair amount of wandering and even focus and success in several areas, you still didn’t know what you wanted to do career-wise, and you still had no answer about the origins of the “wrongness” in the world.Then, you say, ”…one day both questions were answered at once, when the answer to my question crystallized inside me.” What precipitated this shift? Is it fair to call it an awakening, although you are clear that you don’t consider yourself particularly awakened?

CE: The crystallization was the result of so many years of asking. If you hold a question in your mind long enough, an answer will surely come. The answer may not take the form you expect -- it might even invalidate the question -- but it will come nonetheless. For me it came in very ordinary circumstances. I was simply going for a walk in the neighborhood. It is just a matter of holding the question firmly, insistently, so that false answers won’t satisfy you. That way, God or whoever is listening will know that you are serious. This method will work for anyone. You don’t have to be especially awakened, you just have to sincerely want to know. Usually though, a sacrifice will be required, probably the sacrifice of something that you thought you knew but didn’t, and that was attached to personal identity.

EM: In this edition of Face the Current, we celebrate “Connection.” Of course, this implies a potential for “disconnection” which, if I understand your writing, is an illusion. Can you speak to the paradox that’s inherent in our language, as well as in our understanding of the concept of “other?”

CE: On one level, disconnection is obviously no illusion. For example, people in modern society are indisputably disconnected from the plants and animals and people around them. What I’m saying is that all these forms of disconnection are abetted by an ideology of separation, that holds us existentially

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separate from the world, from the body, and from other beings. That is where the illusion is.

EM: It’s clear that what you bring into the world is for all to share.

This is not unlike the manner of sharing that Elon Musk has embodied, refusing as he does to patent the technologies that his business entities produce. Why have you chosen this way of working? Would you encourage others to do the same?

What does that say about your views about our current economic system?

CE: I’m not sure what Elon Musk’s rationale for doing that is, but it is definitely aligned with the tide of the times, or at least the tide of the future. Patents are a means of enclosing the intellectual commons; as Lewis Mumford put it, “A patent is a device that enables one man to claim special financial rewards for being the last link in the complicated social process that produced the invention.”

I feel the same about the things I write about: they are not “my” ideas, but are upwelling in the collective consciousness.

If I didn’t write about them, sooner or later someone else would.

So, I don’t feel good about trying to claim them as my own, control them, and make people pay to access them. That’s one reason why I don’t do normal copyrights and encourage people to freely use and share “my” work. Although actually, that isn’t the real reason. The real reason is that I just don’t want to. I think our future society will reclaim the commons, so that no longer will anyone profit by merely

owning a thing that should belong to all.

Today, rents and royalties and licenses allow someone to profit merely because they have control over a resource, and not because they are skillfully managing it for the common wealth. A just system would disallow this kind of “economic rent” (as it is called in economics). You would profit

increasing in the world? What recharges you? Is there a practice or meditation that brings you back to equanimity?

CE: I have some practices, but when I’m feeling really overwhelmed sometimes I don’t even want to do those practices.

What really sustains me is the people who love me and hold me.

EM: It appears that there are many ways an interested person can learn more about the work to which you give voice. From podcasts to courses to a Facebook group to the books themselves, you’ve created a network of learning opportunities.To someone just starting to see that there must be better ways to live in the world, where would you suggest they start? Where would you point the teenaged Charles Eisenstein, as a beginning?

CE: I think the short films by Ian MacKenzie, and some of the other videos on the video page.

And then I would have them read certain essays, depending on who they were. For young people, maybe Mutiny of the Soul, The Woman Who Chose to Plant Corn, and The Election: Hate, Grief, and a New Story.

from using it only if you used it well. Elon Musk in perhaps anticipating such a future.

The technology is available to anyone -- the question is, who can apply it most effectively?

EM: Do you ever feel overwhelmed by the magnitude of change and strife that appears only to be

ymore info: charleseisenstein.net

www.facethecurrent.com

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FtC culture

Connections and Disconnects!

What’s Cool Here Might Not Be There…

By David Aiello Today technology and faster modes of transportation are helping our world become a little smaller. With our heightened ability to connect with the global community, I am fascinated to understand why some things are popular in some areas of the world yet overlooked or discounted in others. Here are some random thoughts on various disconnects from a North American perspective!

Follow the Bouncing Ball Soccer enjoys 265 million players actively involved around the world. The FIFA World Cup is the world’s most widely viewed sports event with the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil™, reaching a global in-home television audience of 3.2 billion people! That is almost half of the planet!

For comparison, Super Bowl 51 was watched by a paltry 172 million people worldwide.

Cricket is played by around 120 million people, making it the second most popular sport in the world. Even though it has been played in the United States since the 1860’s, cricket has not caught on despite being a sensation in Great Britain, Australia, New Zealand, India, Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, West Indies and Bangladesh.

So why are these gargantuan pursuits viewed as recreational activities in North America and not embraced within its sports culture?

For starters, I think the U.S. has always tried to distinguish itself as a unique country with a unique set of values and

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characteristics. In that sense it is only natural for the US to identify with a national sport divergent from that of Europe.

Then there are the little things such as why in soccer the clock that runs up instead of down?

That’s just counter intuitive to us! Or maybe Americans are apprehensive to do anything that does not involve their hands, which is why some say they invented basketball!

Perhaps, there is also a desire to see an outcome in an hour or two.

Cricket matches can go on for hours, even days! Who has that much time to devote to a game when we don’t even know what a square leg is?

A personal shower for your behind?

Bidets are an efficient and economical way to keep your behind clean. While the standard practice of cleaning up after using the bathroom (only a partially accurate name) varies around the globe, people in Asia, the Middle East, South America and parts of Europe, would be confused if they entered a washroom without a bidet. So what is America’s issue with the bidet?

American’s tend to be a bit uptight when discussing their hygienic preferences in the bathroom but their reluctance to adopt bidets is really unfounded.

Originating in France in the 18th century, the British rejected bidets because they suggested French “hedonism and sensuality.” That notion made its way to America where it was never really questioned.

Further, bidets did not win any fans in the U.S. when soldiers returning from Europe after WWII brought home stories of seeing bidets in French brothels, reinforcing the idea they were somehow immoral.

In reality, bidets are much better for you and the environment!

Think about it. If any part of your person was soiled, you would run for some soap and water. When using the commode, why do we settle for cleaning with just paper?

Further, according to the website, toiletpaperhistory.net, the average person uses 100 rolls of toilet paper per year. That equates to about 384 trees to make the toilet paper you would use within your lifetime.

Combined with reducing the use of paper, bidets only use an eighth of a gallon of water per use—creating an incredibly diminished environmental impact. (Mic dropped!)

Hopefully times are changing. As Americans rethink their bathroom configuration, the sale of bidets seats is rising. And why not! With features like a heated seat, adjustable water temperature, deodorizer and even heated air dryer, there is an option out there for every budget! www.facethecurrent.com

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All Aboard!

I’ve always been fascinated by trains and will ride them as often as I can, but others in the U.S. do not share my excitement!

The U.S. by far has the largest rail network in the world. But instead of passengers, America’s rail network concentrates on freight.

Recent figures state that American railroads accounted for 17.2 billion passenger-kilometers (rail ridership is

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measured in passenger-kilometers—one passenger-kilometer represents one passenger travelling one kilometer) while the European Union rolled up almost 400 billion!

So why aren’t more American’s getting onboard?

The reasons for the ridership differences are complex. In Europe, rail service tends to be faster, more comfortable, more convenient and cheaper than driving or flying. America is different. It’s a big place

and people here love their cars and low gas prices.

Getting the trains to run on time may also be a big reason. Most American passenger trains travel on tracks that are owned by freight companies. This means that freight trains have the right of way sometimes leading to unexpected and lengthy delays.

This is unsettling to potential riders who want to arrive on time. Also, traveling by air in America is usually convenient, cheap and dependable.

Madame President Queen Victoria’s reign began in 1837 and ended with her death in 1901. She was queen of the United Kingdom and ruler of the British Empire for 63 years, the longest of any British monarch. Her empire covered 14.2 million square miles across six continents and comprised more than 450 million subjects. Many consider her the most powerful woman in history.

Perhaps she broke the glass ceiling for future female leaders as it’s not surprising that Northern Europe, where countries often top lists for gender equality, is the region now responsible for the most female heads of government and state.

Female leadership also has a history in Asia, especially Southern Asia. Sri Lanka’s Sirimavo Bandaranaike became the first woman prime minister in 1960. Indira Gandhi served as India’s prime minister from 1966 – 1977 and then again from 1980 – 1984. Sheikh Hasina Wajed has

served as prime minister of Bangladesh since 2009.

So what are the barriers to a female President of the United States?

Historically, women in the U.S. have only been involved in politics for a short period of time. At the height of Queen Victoria’s power in 1887, the U.S. was only electing its first female to public office.

Susan Medora Salter was elected mayor of Argonia, Kansas—during a time when woman did not have the right to vote!

That wouldn’t come until 1920, with the passage of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Even today women make up roughly only 20 percent of the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate, and only 12 percent of U.S. governors. This makes for a smaller pool of potential female presidential candidates than in other countries.

In addition, I think the American presidency is still regarded as a masculine institution. Perhaps this is because the President of the U.S. is viewed as the guardian of the free world and some may still hold a gender bias as to what that leadership looks like. Overall, gender bias is heightened in countries with strong militaries. Historically, nuclear-armed states are less likely to have female as a leader.

Cheese wontons are not authentic!

Not too long ago, communicating with someone across the country, let alone someone on the other side of the world was not part of everyday life. As we connect and our global community evolves, I hope I can get answers to more pressing questions like why do people not cook with cheese in East Asia? And why was the water I was served at dinner in Barcelona lukewarm? I like lots of ice! It’s my hope however that the world does not become culturally homogenized. www.facethecurrent.com

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FtC fAce the current

MUSIC 52.

60.

66.

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Afishal: Bringing Live Music Back to Life New Travel Themed Atlas Music Festival Launches in the U.K. & Guarantees Unparalleled Experience 2017 Summer Worldwide Music Festival Guide

FACE the CURRENT MAGAZINE

www.facethecurrent.com

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Bringing Live Music Back to Life Interview by Sasha Frate AFISHAL is not your typical “press play” DJ. Just when people were wanting more from their live music experiences, Michael Fish, the founder of AFISHAL, has discovered a niche with his interactive, multi-sensory, percussion-based DJ performance that delivers more than sounds and visuals... it tremors. A musician since he was a mere six years old, AFISHAL has performed private parties for Beyoncé, Prince Harry and the Manchester United football team, in addition to his regular slate of festivals, international club shows and numerous side projects. Want to know what it’s like to live in a perpetual state of creation while travelling the world with your closest friends? Welcome to the world of AFISHAL!

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Sasha Frate: What is meant by “... the fall of live music” and “People don’t want that style of live music any more.” Why are people getting burnt out on live music performances?

Michael Fish: Back in the day before electronic music you’d go and watch a live band. Musician’s actually performing on stage. But now it’s more often a DJ. Not many people are saying, “I’m going to watch a live band” anymore. Instead, it’s a club or bar where you’d listen to a DJ spin tracks. It’s not performed live; it’s just a DJ pressing ‘play’ on something that’s been produced back in the studio. From being a musician from the age of six and working in orchestras, rock bands, swing bands, everything – it was a passion of mine to always perform music. When I started off in the nightclub industry ten or eleven years ago, I was just playing a set of bongos next to a DJ, adding that live element, and people really Responded to it. People vibed off the energy and watched. People seemed to find that more interesting than a DJ pressing play and putting their hands in the air. Obviously,

some DJ’s are way more talented than others, but the vast majority are just playing records one after the other. I noticed a potential niche for a more visual DJ performance. It developed from doing drumming in clubs to then thinking, “well, how can I take it even further? How can I take what DJs are doing and combine what I am currently doing and bring them together?” After having a bit of a lightbulb moment, it then took me 10 months to complete the first working prototype in my garage. Over the following years I developed the idea, adding lights and then graphics. So that all these different visual elements are controlled by the hit of a stick. Giving me the ability to drum with sound samples and perform a track, whilst triggering light explosions and matching graphics on my drums and the screens behind me, producing a live Visual DJ Show. When I first put a video up online back in 2013, it went down well, it seemed to be what people were looking for. I think that ones got about 15 million views now.

DJ have certainly started bringing the live element back to clubs with a variety of innovative ideas, and all pretty successfully it seems. This is just a different way that I

felt would be the most fun for me. And I think thats a big part of it, people vibe off of a DJ’s energy on stage, and when they’re genuinely having fun, the crowd responds to that!

SF:You kind of touched on and described your performance... Can you flesh it out further?

MF: We call it a Visual DJ Show. It tries to combine all the different elements that are available; all controlled by one person in an obvious, visual way. So, every sound, lighting effect and all the graphics are all being triggered live and performed just by me on stage using this rig I built.

All with the purpose of emphasising my movements and the sounds I’m playing.

The visual DJ rig is called the “Tremor.” The vision was to give me the ability to control sound, lights and graphics with the hit of a stick, and now lasers are a new addition!

Every sound, so not just pressing play, but having the bass and snare on my left, the vocal samples chopped up and loaded into the pads on the right, then the synth melody on the TREMOR pads in front of me, So, I hit a drum and it plays a soundwww.facethecurrent.com

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let’s say it’s an explosion sound: lights will explode across the rig, graphics will explode across the screen behind me, and lasers will rise up from the floor to the ceiling. With a short sound, a synth stab for example, you’ll get the same thing: but a short flash of light across the screens and a quick shot of light through the air. It all works together. So, everything I’m doing is amplified. You not only hear it in the music, but you can also see it in the light show, the graphics, and the lights on the drums themselves (the TREMOR). It all originates from “AFISHAL”. We’re basically just amplifying what a DJ can do, you know?

We can also make it different every time.

It’s got that “live” element. It varies every time. (The best thing about live music is just going with the flow, so that’s what I’ve tried to implement: bringing the live, visual and DJ elements together.

SF: How did you come up with the name, “Tremor” for your visual DJ “rig” you created in partnership with Roland?

MF: The first version I built myself. They were just called, “The AFISHAL DJ Drums.”

Check them out on YouTube. They were just tubes with LED strip lighting inside. I created the whole thing from scratch. The

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plastics I moulded and drilled by hand, the electronics inside were all made from scratch. The pads themselves were made from foam from a baby mattressI cut into circles and spray painted black. It was very DIY. Then Roland came along and said, “We love what you’re made. Let’s do something together, give you our pads and the like.” So, my project sort of merged with theirs. Now we don’t use baby mattresses any more, we use a proper pads. But it was a start and it worked! We toured with that rig for a couple years. It was surprising that it didn’t fall apart. Then we moved on to create one that would travel better, that was stronger. With all this unexpected touring, things were getting broken, so we needed to up our game. We made it more robust, made it look cooler and do more. The name, “Tremor” came about as we were putting it together. In some of our early plastic models, the front 4 drums were shaped like a “T.” We researched some words to fit it and we came across, “Tremor.” It means, “an involuntary, somewhat rhythmic muscle contraction ... producing twitching movements of the body parts.” To us, that described dancing to music, in a way?

Involuntary muscle contractions – you can’t help it, you have to dance. It gets you moving. I thought the name fit quite well!

SF: It kind of speaks to the concept of a vibration, a tremor in the water, a vibration...

MF: Exactly! It’s what happens when you’re feeling the bass. I hit this drum and you feel it, you don’t just hear it. Everything shakes throughout the whole venue. I think the most impressive part of playing the Tremor is the amount of control I have in everything I do, everything we hit is not just controlling a snare drum or a tom-tom, we’ve got a whole track at our fingertips. Every sub drop, synth and cymbal It’s really good fun to play with- to make a whole venue light up and vibrate, to tremor, just by hitting one of the Tremor pads.

SF: Sounds amazing. So now, what’s the difference between your six different drum shows?

MF: It’s been an evolution for me, really. 8 years ago I first developed some light up LED bongos that I could strap around my waist. To stand out in a dark club and so I could be an interactive bongo player. Just dancing around on the dance floor and vibe’ing with the crowd. Also with those, I was able to do boat parties out in Ibiza.

Those are hard to do with a normal static

“

Everything is controlled by the hit of a stick now. The lights, the graphics, the music, and the whole visual side of things…

It seems to go down well with people, and it seems to be what they were looking for.

“

The TREMOR - AFISHAL’s Visual DJ Rig

percussion rig, with the boat rocking all over the place. From the Walkabout LED Bongos, I created a full LED drum rig. I was lucky, it just happened that my best friends Dad owned Maxilux, an LED lighting company. When I was working alongside them banging bongos in their barn trying to figure out a way to be more visual in a dark club. They said: “well, we should put our LED strips inside your drums!” I didn’t know it at the time, but that was So, then people really took to my first big step towards creating the TREMOR. After building the fun LED drum rig I went on the create an LED water drumming show that was based on the Blue Man Group’s paint drumming show, but not as messy (laughs). And then we thought, “well, let’s light the sticks on fire,” so now we have a fire-drumming show. And then we thought we might combine other musicians, so we got an LED sax player, an LED keyboard player and an LED violinist to make a group, so we did that. It’s called, “The Live Elements.” And the final one was the visual DJ show, “The Tremor.”

Early on, it was a concept I had in my head that I was wondering if it would actually work, and then, five years later, to see it working and touring the world...we’re still taken aback that it’s taken off and been so well received. At first, we’d show it to

people and they’d be like, “no, that’s stupid.” A lot of people did – we got knocked a lot those first few years. It didn’t take off that quick for us. We just kept believing there could be a market for it and kept at it and now, people get it. We proved the haters wrong.

SF: Do you have a favourite of the elements that you’ve worked with?

Fire, water...? What’s your favourite type of show?

MF: The walkabout bongos are cool because you can get into the crowd. A lot of visual DJ shows you’re very separate.

You have crowd barriers, security, you know... you don’t have a chance to get out there. But with the Walkabout LED Bongos you get right in the middle, you’re in the middle of the dance floor, people are surrounding you, it’s a lot of fun. The fire drums are great as well because no one expects it, really. Everyone gets their phones out to film instantly as soon as they see fire and that we’re drumming with it. So that’s nice to see. And the water is just brilliant because it’s just very animalistic. I put a lot of energy into that. I get absolutely drenched. It’s quite refreshing, (laughs). The ‘Live Elements’ are awesome because I get to work with

my friends. I love working with other musicians, having other performers on stage and working in a group, too. So that’s another perk, for sure. The LED acoustic percussion is very similar to the water drums; very raw; you can put a lot of energy into it. And that’s been around for a long time. That’s what I first started doing, the acoustic percussion, so that’s my old favourite, you know? That’ll never get old. But nothing can compete with the visual DJ show to be honest. The reaction you get, how much fun it is to play, the reward you get. I mean, it takes us six weeks to make a thirty-minute show; there’s so much learning, so much practice there, there’s so much involved. So, when it’s going well it’s very satisfying because more effort goes into that than in any other show. When it goes well and people are loving it, it’s incredible, very rewarding.

SF: About how long does it take you to learn the drum set when you apply new sounds like your Red Bull “Crush” Music video or “Beatboxers Remixed”?

MF: The learning process all comes down to programming, you’re learning it as you program it into the TREMOR. The BeatBox video... I was on that for eight months! I really idolize those guys; I’ve been a fan of DUKE for years and years. So, when we started working on a collaboration, it had to be good. At first it just wasn’t up to standard so I kept trying again and again. It was a long process. I had so many beatbox samples to work with, there was no end of samples to chop up and program. It was like the game, “Bop-It.” You ever play, “Bop-It?” It was like, “twist it, turn it, bop it...”. When it comes to earning it, the more you’re doing it, you’re rogramming it andteaching yourself it as you’re going. So, if it takes a day to www.facethecurrent.com

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SF: What’s your favorite description from a fan of how your shows are experienced?

MF: A couple have stood out. I get people on social media just tweeting or showing my videos that have made my day. Those things put a smile on my face, every time.

To have made somebody’s day to the effect that it puts them in a good mood, just making somebody happy - I love that.

If somebody’s down and they listen to our music and it puts them in a much better place, then that’s amazing, too. In the end, that’s what we create: happiness. One girl said that she loved it so much that she ended up doing it for her class project so it completely influenced one of her terms.

She decided to completely scrap what she was doing and do a project about what I’d created. Just for me as a person, that was awesome. Just things like that, where people see it, like it and they get inspired to reach out to me and say, “you’ve done this to me,” or “things have changed for me this way,” or, a few people have said they’ve completely changed their career path. They say, “I want to do exactly what you’re doing. I want to do this. I want to make this.” People wanting to do what we’re doing is just a big compliment.

SF: Inspiring the creative process in somebody, empowering that in them, is pretty cool.

MF: Yeah, that’s exactly what it is. It’s one of my favorite things about doing what we do. SF: You’ve had some unique performances, from private parties for Beyoncé and the Manchester United football team to festivals and TV shows.

What has been one of your most unforgettable performances to date? MF: That’s a very good question. They’re all good, but for different reasons. I’m very

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lucky in that we get to do some great jobs with some perk to them in diverse ways.

Most recently we were in the Bahamas.

Last week, we did two shows out there. I got to go out with Mike, one of my best mates, and play with him on every gig. But for the Bahamas, it was a really big show so we flew out with a DJ, a singer, a sax player... and all these guys were at my wedding. To travel to an amazing place like that with a close group of friends is simply awesome. Not only that, my wife came with us (too?), so we were doing this huge show out there together. She’s the event manager and produced the whole show from start to finish. So, I was surrounded by amazing people, my friends and my wife. It was so rewarding! I took a step back and realized I was in an amazing place, doing a job that was once my hobby, surrounded by my friends and my wife.

It was brilliant!

“

To have made somebody’s

day to the effect that it puts them in a good mood, just making somebody happy - I love that. If somebody’s down and they listen to our music and it puts them in a much better place, then that’s

“

rogram a new three-minute track, in that day you’re learning it at the same time and then towards the end of the day you just sort of polish it off and perfect it. Then, the following day, you have to go over it again to make sure you remember it. It’s like writing a sentence down; you don’t remember it until you write it down. It’s the process of drilling it into your muscle memory. So, I’d say to do a three-minute track takes, I’d say, three days in total to memorize it.

amazing, too. In the end, that’s what we create: happiness.

SF:Your wife also does related work with her event management and performances. So, you had lined that up and made that part of your show?

MF: Yeah, it was part of the main show.

My wife runs Evolve Entertainment, a London- based entertainment company.

She started that at about the same time I started into my music. We’ve been together about six years ago. So, we’ve known each other from our early days, trying to get established. Over the years it made increasing sense for us to come together because she puts together and manages shows, choreographs the dancers, the whole production. We deal with the music and the graphics; the two things work very well together. To this point, we’ve done a lot of big events. We did one in Cape Verde where she flew out 33 performers and we had five musicians over there and she was running the whole event. Not only that, she created a show to go around our visual DJ show, so... it just amplifies what we do. We’ve been to festivals in the UK where she’s managing fifty dancers and stilt- walkers. The fact that our jobs are compatible makes my life very easy because whenever I travel, when I tour, there’s never any issues. Just support and her being proud of me. That’s the biggest thing for me – just knowing that my wife has my back. When we can, we come together. We’re in (soon to be working in) Monaco coming up and we’ll be together then. The more we take on, the more our clients like the relationship between our two companies. Quite often they’re looking for entertainers and event managers. So, between our two companies we offer all that, so... it’s working perfectly. I couldn’t be happier.

SF:You also offer Bespoke Productions. Who are these geared towards?

MF: A good example of this part of our operation is when we did a track for a Monaco client, a family that wanted a track created especially for them, with sounds from their everyday lives. So, we flew out a month ago to produce a customized track for them, a soundtrack for their lives. For instance, the kids (THE CHILDREN ?)are into football, so we filmed the kids out kicking a ball and a part of that became the bass drum for the track. And the husband has a few 0cars, so we sampled sounds from all his favorite cars; engine noises, doors closing. And they’ve got a little dog, so we sampled the dog barking and his pitch shifted up and

“

I took a step back and

realized I was in an amazing place, doing a job that was once my hobby, surrounded

“

by my friends and my wife. It was brilliant!

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“

“

It’s important not to take what you’re doing now for granted as you chase that distant place.

Evovle Entertainment And AFISHAL Music Fire And Fire Drums

down so we made a melody out of that.

They also have a chef – so we sampled the chef chopping on a chopping board and sharpening the knife. We put all these sounds together and created a track specifically for them. So, this is Bespoke Productions. It ranges from things to do with families to sports teams to big events, like the World Bicycling Championships.

We shoot videos, record sound and create a track personalized for the client. For our Monaco client that I was telling you about, when we were done, we took it out and performed it for them. They went crazy for it! Not only was it a song for them, but it was made from sounds from their lives.

And then we made it so there was a video clip on the screen at the same time. It all came together very nicely. That’s the aim for Bespoke Productions. That’s the sort of thing we’re working on. And, I have to say again, I absolutely love it.

SF: Most bands create an album, and it may generate a hit song. If so, they have to perform it on tour

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until it’s time for the next album.

But with Afishal, this isn’t the case. One of the exciting aspects about what you’re doing is that you’re constantly creating and implementing so much variety into your shows. Every performance is different.That must be as exciting for you as a performer as it is for the audience!

MF: Yeah, you’re right. I mean, one thing that’s triggering me at the moment is finding time to get these ideas out to release these new tracks we’ve been working on. That’s the hardest thing. I mean, it’s great that we’ve taken off and we’ve gone viral a couple times and we’re touring now, but we’ve got to find that balance between touring, performing, birthing innovative ideas and releasing them. Because yeah, people are waiting for new things with new ideas. We’re trying to expand, to get more people to work alongside us so we can get things finished and get things out quicker. It is exciting and

there’s so much I want to do but we need to make sure we are doing it efficiently to make sure we’re ot too one-track-minded.

It’s no longer just me as a musician. We’ve turned into a company and we’re creating shows for people, videos for people. The old drumming shows are being followed by new drumming shows. We’re doing management for events and the whole production from start to finish. I want to make sure I can do all these things, but not let anything else suffer at the same time because I’m enjoying every part of it. I don’t’ know what we’ll be doing in a year, and I don’t know if it’ll (continue to) grow as quickly as it has. All we can do is keep enjoying every day and don’t take it for granted. SF: Sounds like the motto for life! MF: (Laughs) Yeah, pretty much!

Enjoy the process, right? There are things I want to do and I think, “it’d be nice to get over there,” but if I don’t, it doesn’t really matter because I love what I’m doing now. It’s important not to take what you’re doing now for granted as you chase that distant place. We’ve always enjoyed every step of

the way.

SF: What are the top three YouTube videos if they’ve never seen you before? Where’s a good place to start?

MF: I think a good place to start would be, “The rummer Creates a Visual Way to DJ.” I think there are 18 million views across Facebook and YouTube, so that seems to be the one people take to. It’s fun and quick. We had a lot of fun making it – and that comes across in the video as well. The biggest one on YouTube was one from 2013 and the first video I ever put out. I’d finished making my first set of DJ drums, the first visual DJ rig, that afternoon. I was so giddy, I thought, “I’ve gotta make a video now!” That one’s at about 13 million. It’s a very basic version of the show we have now. But I think it’s good to see it at its most basic, what it started off as. There were no graphics back then, no video wall, no Tremor... it’s just, “I have a drum and it flashes and plays a

sound.” And then, because we talked about other companies and all the things we do, there’s actually a Bespoke Productions video that explains who we are, what we do and shows we’ve done, all on a video, basically, it shows different performances, different clients, how it works – the ins and outs. Some people like to know how it all comes together, how it’s made. So, there’s that video as well.

SF: How do you feel about pioneering a new kind of live DJ performance experience, and is there somewhere different and farther still that you want to take it?

MF: Yes, definitely further. A lot further, there’s a lot more we can do. I want every movement, everything to be amplified. The whole thing about it is a “visual DJ show.”

So, I want to make it even more visual. I mean, what if there’s a suit the DJ can put on, and every move he makes puts an animated version of himself on the screen?

I want everything to be bigger, so it can be

seen from 200 meters away. It’s all about making the movements of the DJ amplified on the screen. I’m in the process now of developing every single aspect of our performance on a much bigger scale. It’s an intricate process, but I think we can control every aspect within a venue; the lighting, everything. If you can do that, you wouldn’t need a light jockey trying to follow the music. I want it to be so I completely control it; the lights, the music, everything. I want to make it as fun to watch as possible. That’s the main thing. We want it to be fun, entertaining, enjoyable. Amplifying our production in new and exciting ways is what we’re going for. It’s its own reward!

ymore info: www.afishalmusic.com www.facebook.com/AFISHAL www.facethecurrent.com

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New Travel Themed Atlas Music Festival Launches in the U.K. & Guarantees Unparalleled Experience

By Nick Cisik With the music festival season upon us there might be a few of you out there who have yet to purchase your passes for what will be your summer music festival experience. With so many of them to choose from, some of you might be avoiding the pressure of having to decide which one to attend. Enter Lindsay Atkinson and her team at Floor 3 Events, who have created a new and exciting take on the more mainstream festival experience.They are calling it Atlas Festival and it guarantees an experience more personal and unique than any other festival out there. Its main theme is travel, but it infuses this with motivational and spiritual workshops, an array of international cuisine, an outdoor adventure center, a shopping area based on the Moroccan Souk, and, most importantly, top notch music acts. Below, we talk with Ms. Atkinson and get all the details on Atlas and what inspired her to create what will assuredly be an unparalleled experience for any and all live music lovers.

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different parts of the festival has never felt like a chore at all, however, I would say perhaps I underestimated the difficulty of trying to persuade people to attend a new event. People are naturally cautious of new festivals and the hardest part so far has been to convince them that they will have a brilliant time at Atlas. However I have seen that when my passion for travel comes through then customers do get on board, and seeing the travel community unite together has spurred me on to achieve the united goals of the festival.

Nick Cisik: Where was the first place you traveled outside of your native country and what inspired the trip?

Lindsay Atkinson: I’ve been incredibly fortunate in that my parents took me to some incredible places when I was very young. My first trip out of the U.K. was a 3 week road trip across Canada from Winnipeg to Vancouver to visit family. I was only 7 but even now I remember all the beautiful scenery and the crazy places we stayed–from a real working ranch with no electricity to sleeping inside our freezing car next to a glacier when all the hotels were booked within a 100 mile radius (due to a special event we had no idea about)! Driving through the Rockies was something I’ll never forget and I think that was when my love of travelling and exploring the world came to be.

of the people we came across, the nights spent sleeping in a tent in the middle of the Serengeti–it was all incredibly inspiring to see such an amazing part of the world that doesn’t feel like it’s succumbed to the pressures of tourism yet, and definitely made me want to see more.

NC: Out of all the destinations you have reached which one(s) have you found to be the most inspirational and why?

LA: Again, I’ve been very lucky in that I’ve had the time and money (through working extremely hard) to be able to visit some of the most inspirational places on Earth. It’s really hard to pick one! If I had to choose, my one-month overland trip from Nairobi through to Johannesburg. The countries we visited, the extraordinary scenery we encountered, the way of life

NC: What have been the major challenges in the creation of Atlas Festival and how would you say your love of travel and adventure has helped you overcome those obstacles?

LA: I come from an organising background so pulling together the

NC: How does Atlas Festival make for a more personalized experience as opposed to the diluted corporate sponsored events?

LA: Oh I could waffle on forever about how you get a much more special experience from independent festivals but we’d be here all day! I think some larger and more corporate festivals get so bogged down in competing with each other on musical lineups and how much money they can throw at an event that sometimes they forget about the individuals that make their festivals so special. I never had the budget to compete with those big businesses and so I wanted to make the personalisation a real selling point. You can see this in the little touches–the ‘boarding passes’ have all been designed and handcrafted by myself, the Atlas passports that are a special keepsake and also can allow you to collect stamps and prizes, the freedom of the site to allow travellers to explore, the eclectic musical choices and activities that allow people to create their own day rather than be guided by certain acts, the beautiful bell tents that are named after my favourite countries, clean and ample toilets, hand selected catering outlets and so much more. My email address is posted everywhere and I actively encourage people to email me and ask questions or make suggestions, after all it’s their event!

NC: What makes this year’s selection of musical acts special?

LA: Atlas is based on the experiences and emotions you get whilst travelling, www.facethecurrent.com

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and I believe that the music you hear around you is not only a huge part of that but can also create memories and evoke them when you hear that music again.

Bearing that in mind, the musical choices for the festival were carefully selected to represent the best of travelling. Along with household names we have Scottish bagpipe players, a traditional Polish acapella group, American hip-hop, Berber inspired jazz, Bhangra fusion, Belgian sax, world class Ibiza dance DJs, plus loads more. A lot of festivals focus on one genre of music, but I love everything from cheese to rock, dance and world music, so I guess I was a little selfish in choosing music I’d enjoy!

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NC: Who are some of this year’s inspirational speakers and how did you go about selecting them?

LA: Ray Mears was a natural choice for the festival; he’s patient, an expert in his field and a great believer in what he does.

He’s an inspiration to children and adults alike with his bushcraft knowledge and was someone I really wanted at Atlas right from the start. Justin Miles has a great story to tell, from being brain damaged in a car accident to becoming a prolific explorer and championing education for all children. He really impressed me with his drive and the selflessness of what he does–that’s why he was also a great choice as an inspirational speaker. Vicky FlipFlop is

one of the U.K.’s top travel bloggers and she’s hosting classes on how to backpack on a budget through her years of experience, which is fantastic for those that perhaps might have thought that travel was out of their grasp. Her tips and tricks will definitely save a few quid and might mean the difference between someone staying at home or seeing a new country, and that would be fantastic!

NC: Is Atlas Festival kid friendly?

LA: Yes, it is. Although Atlas is designed for those who are at the stage of travelling or those who love to explore, it is also suitable for children. Whilst we don’t have a specific children’s area this year, all our classes, workshops and activities are kid friendly and most of our musical acts are great for youngsters.

NC: Why Yorkshire?

LA: It’s beautiful, it really is. I had such strict criteria for my vision of Atlas– stunning scenery, water features, flexibility, lots of space, trees, etc. and it was difficult

to find a site that encompasses all of that.

I stumbled across Scampston Hall and the team there really pulled it out of the bag with everything I needed. Yorkshire is known in the U.K. as ‘God’s Own County’ and regularly wins tourism awards, so where better to host ‘the World in a Weekend’!

NC: Which festival workshops and classes are you looking forward to attending?

LA: If I’m able to sneak off then it will be Ray Mears’ bushcraft for me, I love him!

NC: What are the specific outdoor activities that guests will be able to take advantage of and why did you decide to incorporate them?

LA: In the Adventure Park we’ve got rock climbing, a surf simulator, stand-up paddle boarding, yoga classes and martial arts. I wanted to have a broad range of activities that everyone could get involved in, and perhaps take themselves out of their comfort zone. Travelling seems to bring out the courage in people and that’s when you take a risk, and I wanted to build on that feeling. Also, it’s something fun and different to try rather than the same old extras you get at most festivals.

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NC: Will meditation workshops be offered?

LA: Yes, they are. Before I really discovered how beneficial meditation was in everyday life, I mistakenly dismissed it as a sort of hippy way of jumping on the ‘healing’ bandwagon. Once I realised how powerful meditation can be for the stressed worker, or the one who can’t stop their thoughts at night, I understood.

Not everyone understands, so this is a way of sharing the love.

NC: What types of food will be available?

LA: We’re still finalising the catering however all the food is hand selected

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to give everyone a real taste of the flavours of the world, and most dietary requirements will be met. Let’s just say everyone will be coming home with full and happy bellies!

NC: If traveling by mode of public transportation, how would you suggest reaching the festival grounds?

LA: The best way via public transport is to take one of our pre-booked coaches from York to the festival site. York is easily accessible from most places in the UK, and the coaches will pick you up and drop you off right at the festival’s doorstep. As an added bonus, you get to relax and watch the beautiful countryside whizz past on your journey.

NC: It is so great that Atlas Festival infuses music with travel, adventure, outdoor activity and education.

So much of these involve the act of “letting go.” What are your thoughts on this concept and how do you see Atlas Festival facilitating this?

LA: Oh I love that concept! I’ve never really thought about it but I guess that’s what I’m trying to achieve with my vision of Atlas. Let go and enjoy the moment, go watch the band you want to hear, climb the wall, explore, chill out, do whatever you want and don’t worry! I think the areas and events available at Atlas will really encourage that idea of letting go and living for now.

NC:There was a Eudora Welty quote at the bottom of the Atlas Festival website that was so poignant. It is amazing how “stepping out” brings you to an even deeper place within. Is it safe to say that this process lies at the core of Floor 3 Events’s mission statement and how do you envision Atlas Festival promoting this type of personal growth?

LA: I’ve always been a firm believer of stepping out of your comfort zone, and travel certainly does this. I’ve even led by my own example by leaving my secure and comfortable job of 11 years to start up my own company, and this ethos has definitely crept into Floor 3 Events. Atlas offers people the chance for personal growth in various guises because stepping out could mean many things to different people. I want people to come and lose their inhibitions and try something new.

Going back to the earlier mentioning of pushing yourself, travel really does this to you and offers you so many ways to grow.

I hope to see the woman that’s scared of heights trying out rock climbing, and the young lad that struggles in social situations belting out a song proudly at the singing workshop!

NC: Finally, as our world becomes increasingly automated and as we become more and more attached to our devices, is it a hope of yours that Atlas Festival might combat this abstraction of human connectedness? If so, how, specifically, do you feel Atlas Festival will accomplish this?

LA: I really hope so. There is nothing in this world that brings people together more than the connection of going through an experience together. Atlas is

designed for you to explore and get lost in, with minimal signage and a lack of online interaction, replicating that feeling you get when experiencing a new place for the first time. This is where stories are born, and our many relaxation areas encourage conversations with fellow travellers. The Atlas Backpackers is one of the main features designed to connect people face-to-face, with board games, real dorm beds and a very chilled atmosphere. This coupled with interactive workshops and classes all makes for jolly good fun and I hope that Atlas travellers come home with many new friends and special tales to tell... and I can’t wait to hear them!

ymore info: www.atlasfestival.co.uk www.facethecurrent.com

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2017 Summer Worldwide

Music Festival Guide

BY SEMA GARAY Music festivals have come a long way.They’ve always been great for cultivating the gathering of people, coming together to share in some of humanity’s most basic desires to feel good, be happy, and find connection. While this continues into present day and the growing value for experiences over owning things, the popularity of music festivals has steadily been on the rise, and with this they’ve become evermore innovative. Now with elaborate themes, visuals, and supplemental activities, music festivals are somewhat of a travel destination in and of themselves.Tomorrowland has really set the stage with its “Vibrant City” called DreamVille where they recommend a five-night stay, the DreamVille Marketplace, and promise of new friendships and global connection. “Not just a campground. Create friendships, share experiences. In addition to being a festival camping ground, DreamVille is primarily a place to forge friendships, share experiences and recharge your batteries. In short, it’s an experience and location that the whole world comes home to.”

It is true, memorable festivals have been celebrated for decades in different places of the world, but today the love for these experiences and the excitement to explore new awe-inspiring festivals like Tomorrowland is spread faster and farther through internet and social networks and facilitating the creation of more festivals than ever in the past. With the variety of genres that have been added to your more typical rock lineups of the past, from electronic music to indie, there is now a music festival for everyone.To help you discover what most appeals to you, we’ve shared this guide to a sampling of summer festivals worldwide.

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tomorroWland some headliners: Deadmau5, NICKY ROMERO, AFROJACK where: boom (belgium) dates: june 21st - 30th In an international poll, Tomorrowland might be selected as the most famous electronic music festival in the world. Originating in Belgium, it currently has franchises in the USA and Brazil, but it’s Europe where it reaches its maximum impact.

Tomorrowland boasts of top-shelf EDM DJs for young ravers from around the world. And with more than 20 stages, there are opportunities to experience other, more underground, genres.

These factors, combined with the fantasy dreamworld décor, are among the reasons why more than 400,000 people will be gathering there this summer. www.tomorrowland.com

Nicky Romero at Tomorrowland

www.facethecurrent.com

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Jean Michelle Jarre. Photo by Ariel Martini

SÓNAR some headliners: New Order, Fatboy Slim, ANOHNI where: barcelona (spain) dates: june 15th - 17th Sonar is truly a vanguard festival. Since its foundation in 1994, Sonar has integrated experimental music, art, audiovisuals, technology and multimedia creations. Not just a festival, it also offers dedicated spaces for congress, expositions, and other activities.

The vibe from the wonderful music and dedicated spaces for performances transcend the “official” zone and out into the rest of the city as well. During the festival, in the beautiful city of Barcelona, you can find the spirit of the festival extending to parties or meetings in bars and clubs, on rooftops and on the beach!

sonar.es

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Richie Hawtin. Photo by Ariel Martini FACE the CURRENT MAGAZINE

awakenings some headliners: Sven Väth, Loco Dice, Adam Beyer where: Spaarnwoude (netherlands) dates: june 24th - 25th Possibly the most acclaimed festival on the European techno scene! Eight areas will entertain more than 70,000 fans of this genre in just two days. Efficiency rules as shows start as early as noon, when more than 100 techno-DJs begin a rigorous schedule that will take ravers well into the night. Some of the biggest names in EDM will grace the

stages, including the likes of Sven Vath, Loco Dice, Adam Beyer, Joris Voorn, Tale of Us, and Ricardo Villalobos. Festival attendees can also discover deeply talented, emerging DJs as well. www.awakenings.com

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LOLLAPALOOZA some headliners: MUSE, BLINK 182, WIZ KHALIFA, LORDE where: CHICAGO (USA) dates: august 3RD - 6th This lineup features more than 170 bands from and a big range of styles. Attendees of the festival will enjoy international artists in genres ranging from indie to rock, hip-hop to electronica…and this is just one part of the party. Take your time touring the art market, a mini festival for kids and a big food court called “Chow Food.” Here you can eat delicious, local meals from established restaurants in the city. Being environmentally sustainable is important for organizers as well, as they invite to people to recycle with smart initiatives such as “rock and recycle.”

www.lollapalooza.com

FUJI ROCK some headliners: BJÖRK, GORILLAZ, MAJOR LAZER, APHEX TWIN where: Niigata Prefecture (Japan) dates: JULY 28TH - 30TH Like your edges to be of the cutting variety? Check this whetstone-induced lineup! Bjork, Gorillaz, Major Lazer and Aphex Twin, to name a few. This is one of the most reputed festivals in Asia, due to its brilliant line ups and its celebrated anti- contamination policy. Fuji Rock aims to be the ‘cleanest festival in the world.’ Musically, they always offer big artist from styles between rock, indie and electronic.

fujirock-eng.com

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rock in rio some headliners: aerosmith, bon jovi, guns’n’roses, the who where: rio de janeiro (brazil) dates: september 15th - 24th Rock in Rio is back home again, showcasing it’s headbanging best! Merging classic bands with contemporary stars and rock with electronic or even African music, there’s more variety than you might think from the title alone. Want proof? Here are a few of the heavyweights who’ll be turning the volume to 11: Aerosmith, Guns’n’Roses, the RedHot Chili Peppers, Justin Timberlake, Bon Jovi, The Who, Lady Gaga, Maroon 5, The Offspring, Alicia Keys, Fergie, and electronic music artists like Eric Morillo, Luciano, The Black Madonna or Maja Jane Coles.

rockinrio.com SECRET SOLSTI CE some headliners: FOO FIGHTERS, THE PRODIGY, RICK ROSS where: Reykjavik (ICELAND) dates: JUNE 15TH - 18TH Aptly named, this event gets kudos for celebrating great music with the Summer Solstice. Their lineup focuses on rock and electronic music artists. But what makes it truly special is the glacier cave stage.

With a capacity for a mere 125 people (and at the princely price of $425), these lucky celebrants will attend a party hosted by Ministry of Sound.

Held literally in a glacier cave, tech-house DJ Dusky will crank tunes for the cave dwellers (or is it rave dwellers?) fortunate enough to attend. secretsolstice.is

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GLASTONBURY some headliners: RADIOHEAD, FOO FIGHTERS, ED SHERAAN where: SOmerset (UK) dates: JULY 28TH - 30TH By far the most “veteran” festival in our list, the first edition, under the name of Festival of Pilton, was celebrated in 1970. Nowadays it attracts over 150,000 people annually. The quality and quantity of bands and artists are the main reason why this is one of the most widely acclaimed festivals in the world.

Other activities like dancing, theater, comedy, scenic arts - or simply beautiful UK weather- complete the offer. glastonburyfestivals.co.uk

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OREGON ECLIPSE

FLOAT FEST

Where: Oregon (USA) dates: JUNE 15TH - 18TH

headliners: zeed, weezer, cage the elephant Where: PHOENIX (USA) dates: JULY 22ND - 23RD

If you like the mix between nature, music and astronomy, this is definitely your festival. With seven stages, hundreds of acts and that whole “sun hiding behind the shadow” thing, this may be the “can’t miss” festival of the year! Enjoy the incomparable beauty of the desert and forest that surround a truly amazing lineup.

Live music, DJs, floating, tubing or camping are the main factors this festival offers to attract a mostly young public. A weekend full of fun for groups of friends in the “country’s largest water park music festival.”

oregoneclipse2017.com

floatfest.net

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Venture With Chris Burkard Into Remote Wild Landscapes And Under An Arctic Sky, Places That Foster Connection And Reveal Our Truths Red Bull X-Alps Competitor and Pro Paraglider Paul Guschlbauer On Nature As Our Biggest Playground The Reality of Connection and the Return of Control: Dave Scott on the River of Life Medicine Ball Slam

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Venture With Chris Burkard Into Remote Wild Landscapes And Under An Arctic Sky, Places That Foster Connection And Reveal Our Truths Interview By Sasha Frate At thirty-one years young, Chris Burkard is already an accomplished explorer, photographer, creative director, speaker, author and father of two. He is not sent- he seeks assignments to some of the coldest, harshest locations in the world.There he creates stories that motivate readers to re-examine their relationship with nature, while his vast, primordial landscapes reinforce the uniqueness of his narrative. Above all his work is dedicated to promoting the preservation of untamed environments across the globe.

Burkard has recently produced Under an Arctic Sky, his most ambitious project to date. His love affair with Iceland and surfing culminated in an epic film that tested his endurance and resolve.To catch some

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images chris burkard waves under the Northern Lights involved embracing uncertainty as they headed into the perfect storm.

Burkard’s perseverance paid off in ways he had not anticipated, as he later reflects that it was “amidst those harsh conditions, I felt like I’d stumbled onto one of the last quiet places. Somewhere that I had found a clarity and a connection with the world that I knew I would never find on a crowded beach.” An enthusiastic and motivating speaker who values a more traditional style of storytelling, Burkard examines what was learned during his latest triumph, shares his passion for travel and the value of relationships forged in these remote and wild places, and even offers advice for the up and coming photographer!

Sasha Frate: You have been on so many adventures, film and photo shoot projects- Why did decide to make the Iceland journey into a bigger film project to produce Under An Arctic Sky? Chris Burkard: That’s a good question.

Essentially, I started to go to Iceland purely for editorial projects years ago. That was the first reason I ever went there and I think it was, like, eight or nine years ago.

I was going there for a magazine and I guess as soon as I got there I felt that the location and the people, the stories and the sagas, everything about it was really visceral to me. I kind of realized at that point in my life that I was traveling to a lot of new places and they were all really exciting and different, but I wasn’t really putting down roots or receiving what I had hoped to receive. So that was a really big part of it. I just started to go back there.

27 trips to Iceland later, I started to realize there were these places I wanted to explore there. This remote national park was one of them. So, I began to research this place and ultimately, what ended up happening was that three years of planning kind of led myself to basically look for this one location that we wanted to surf. We knew that the setups were world-class, but we had to find a captain that was willing to take us there on his boat. So, we found the captain that was kind of our key to everything. And luckily, we got on his boat and went out there. Then you kind of see what ended up happening in the film; you see how that all evolved. But I guess it was just a love affair with the place and the desire to just go and explore this location and really give everything to it; that’s really what drew me in.

SF: When you set out for the most remote corner of Iceland in the middle of winter, did you know that they were expecting the worst storm in twenty-five years that basically shut down the country?

CB: We had no idea. We knew there was going to be a big swell, and we knew there was going to be a storm – I mean, every time you go to Iceland there’s some kind of storm – but the reality is that we had no idea how big it was. So that was kind of the most overwhelming part of it. We just had no clue. And as soon as we got

off that boat and we had to basically drive through the storm, that was the scariest, most stressful thing I’ve ever done in my life. I mean, it was wild.

SF: Did this just add an element of challenge and determination for you? Did you ever have an afterthought on the journey, like “what was I thinking?!”

CB: Yeah, we were ready to go home.

We had no clue. We’d invested so much time and money and energy and we were so absolutely beat down - we were just not prepared for that. And the reality is that as juvenile and as fun as this all seems, the scary thing was that we were also not prepared to, you know, have to come back empty-handed to editors and everything, and things of that nature. So that was really stressful for us as well. As you know, with freelance, you have expectations to meet. You don’t want to let people down. www.facethecurrent.com

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SF: In your film, as a sailboat breaks through ice to head out to its destination in Iceland, a man is quoted saying “You have to realize that you are never really in chargethat nature is really in charge.”

What does this mean for you? Is it a powerful force that you aim to align with, feel challenged by?

Something different?

CB: Some of these things allude to lessons learned during the project, but

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essentially, yeah, these were the words of Captain Ziggy. We were just shooting a documentary, so none of these things were scripted. These were just interviews that he had given us about being an Icelandic sea captain and how raw this environment was. When he told us that, it was the most important lesson. We realized that the reality is that Mother Nature is the one in charge and that no matter how much we would plan or predict what was going to happen or figure out our next step, we had to

totally submit ourselves to the landscape.

Only when we did that did we actually come through with what we were hoping for. That was kind of the reality. What came through was that this film was a lot about uncertainty. Yet, in our lives, so much of what we do is certain and has a reasonably dependable outcome. We realized that we had to let go of all that and allow ourselves to be subjected to this place. And, as soon as we did that, then things started to come to life.

CB: (Laughs) I think that the greatest highlight for me was the fact that we came there with a story in mind and that story really evolved before our eyes. Ultimately, our plan was to tell the story about the captain, but that really didn’t work out.

Essentially what became the story was the relationships that we forged in this wild place. When I was at my lowest with myself and the other surfers were at their lowest, (the guys we had made a lot of these promises to and kind of let them down in many ways) that’s when they came and said, “We’re going to see this through. Let’s make this happen.” So, the story of the film kind of changed before our eyes. We never set out there to surf under the Northern lights or to do anything like that, but that’s sort of what transpired.

I think to really get an appreciation for it, and the full value, you kind of just have to come out and see the film for yourself.

I so badly want to be able to share this with people in person. That’s the most important part for me. Because, the reality is that, of course, we could just go throw it into theaters and let people see it, but what good does that really do? I want people to hear it with my own words, with my own perspective and all understand the reasons why we’d even go out to these places; to understand what sort of draw is there. That’s kind of the beauty of that old-school storytelling method.

SF: Do you have anything that you’ve come away with from one of your other expeditions or journeys that has really stuck with you?

CB: I think that through work and through traveling, you hope to set out and find these experiences. You hope to become a different person, right? At least, it is for me. When I was pretty young I went to Vladivostok, Russia- this really interesting town in the Far East. There was still a lot of anti-Semitism and it was not the friendliest place towards foreigners. I had visa issues and ended up getting thrown in jail for 24 hours. Then I was deported to Korea, all because I had one day off on my visa entry date, even though everybody else with me had the right one. It was totally

not my fault; it was the fault of the agency that prepared our visas. That was a really hard thing to swallow. I was really angry, but I realized that there was nobody to blame but myself. At a certain point, I had gotten so eager to travel to more remote and wild places to kind of get away from the Wi-Fi and fine dining and the catered experience that a lot of the places in the tropics were offering. So, I started to seek out these places. What I realized was that I couldn’t just force my way through. It took time, energy, and effort, and I had to slow down and be patient with these places.

That was the reality. You know the process of becoming a different person I spoke about earlier; it starts before you even leave the front door. It doesn’t just happen suddenly when you’re out there, you know? So that was a big part of it for me.

For a lot of locations that I travel to, the planning process takes years sometimes to make sure you do it correctly.

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At a certain point, I had gotten so eager to travel to more remote and wild places to kind of get away from the Wi-Fi and fine dining and the catered experience that a lot of the places in the tropics were offering. So, I started to seek out these places.

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SF: Awesome. What was a highlight for you from the Iceland film project?

SF:That’s a cool perspective. So, if you’re able to tell this story without giving too much away, what happened with one of your crew getting sliced up by one of the drones in Iceland?

CB:Yes, that happened to Renan Ozturk, a really talented cinematographer. He’d made an amazing film called Meru, which is about climbing Mt. Meru, one of the most challenging Himalayan peaks ever.

He almost died on it. I knew he was a really badass cinematographer. We were so psyched to have him on this trip. Part of the reason he was there was to man the drone and help with the aerial photography. We’d dubbed his job as “the one who was managing the flying chainsaw.” I mean, it was an octocopter- an eight-blade drone that had a hundred thousand-dollar payload: a big, red camera on it. Basically, in order to turn this thing on, Renan had to reach down and turn on the camera, but he had to put his head right by the blades.

Somehow, he’d managed to do this really, really specific code on the controller – up, down, up, down, left, right or something – inadvertently while the controller was in his jacket. He basically lifted up the thing and flipped it over when it suddenly started to spin and lift off into the air.

All we see is this big puff of goose down everywhere, and we look over and he’d started stumbling around. We put him in the back of the car and he has these three big “Wolverine” stripes across his legs; just these big, huge gashes like he’d just been attacked. He was bleeding everywhere, and we ended up taking him to a hospital where he got about 18 stitches in his leg. It’s just one of those things where we were lucky that we weren’t further away from a town, somewhere even more remote, because throughout this entire trip we had been in the middle of nowhere. We called the doctor and he came out in his pajamas and stitched him up. And this is just one instance. If you see the film you’ll get a chance to hear some of the behind-the-scene stories about the process of making this and how everyone, in their own way, was suffering. Everyone gave a lot of themselves to this project, and that was one of the beautiful things about it. We’d have sessions where we’d go out in the water for an hour and a half, shoot in the water and then walk back a half-mile with a camera and housing, and then we’d use just one second of footage from that session.

I can’t even describe to you how cold it was. It would take ten minutes to get into a wetsuit, and twenty minutes to build out this camera to then hike through an icy www.facethecurrent.com

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it’s a matter of having an insatiable curiosity and making sure that you’re fostering that. The thing is, the world tells us to basically put those things aside, but I think it is super important to always consider and evaluate our place in the world around us.

SF:Yeah, I was wondering if the wetsuits could really bring you up to temperature. I mean, it looks really cold…

CB: Yeah, it’s pretty brutal.

SF:Your journey for Under the Arctic Sky barely scratches the surface of what you’ve explored and accomplished. Do you have any ideas or stats that you keep count on?

CB: (Laughs) I lost count a few years ago.

Just too many trips, too many expeditions, too many things that have gone on. I think that, for every successful trip, there are also five or six that are not successful.

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field from your car, go into the water, and then getting back… It was an eye-opening experience to see how much effort went into all of this.

People are always asking, “Do you think Iceland’s going to get crowded or populated after this? Do you think people are going to come surf this wave?” I’ve been to this spot 27 times and I’ve seen it break once. I often tell folks that you have to find that is a greater driving force than just collecting a paycheck or getting your passport stamped if you want to make a career of this. You have to be fulfilled in some greater way.

SF: So what is generally your approach for seeking out that next adventure? Do you have a list of criteria, such as a level of uncertainty involved, for example?

CB: I think uncertainty comes with the territory. It’s not something we seek out but it just happens inadvertently. A big part of it is the crew. Each person has to be someone I would want to be with, whether we were surfing there or not.

Meaning, if we were stuck in a cabin for two weeks, I just want to be with guys that appreciate each day for what it is. Also, for me, the landscape has to be incredibly inspiring. That’s first and foremost for me.

I know that I’m going to be giving a lot of myself to this place and I want to make sure that I’m doing it justice and I’m not just out there kind of gallavanting. Those things are usually a recipe for success. If you can have all those elements, then it’ll be worth your while.

SF: Do you think you could explain why you have a seemingly insatiable desire for unknown places, or talk about where this desire comes from?

CB: A lot of folks ask me, mostly beginning photographers, “What is the one piece of advice you can give me?”

Ultimately, I tell them, if you have a mission statement or mantra or thesis www.facethecurrent.com

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for your work then it’s really easy to be guided in some capacity. I hear a lot of kids say they want to work for National Geographic but they don’t even know National Geographic’s mission statement, which is to inspire people to care about the planet. So how can you align with something you don’t know or you don’t understand? For me, I grew up in a small town. I didn’t have a passport. I’d never traveled with my family internationally anywhere, my parents haven’t left the country… so when I picked up a camera, it was with a desire to see the world and understand a complicated world from a perspective that wasn’t on the 6 o’clock news- that wasn’t from my parent’s dinner table. I wanted to know this for me. That’s still the reason that I love to travel today

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and, after a couple years of travel myself, I realized that I really wanted to share this with others, to share the journey, the experience with other people with the hope that they would seek out the same things for themselves. Sometimes it seems like it makes sense. Sometimes it doesn’t, at all. (Laughs) SF: Now, you’ve asked the question, “Is doing things we did as a kid childish? Exactly what should we be doing?” Do you feel incredibly blessed or fortunate to go out and play every day- like an eternal recess from school for a kid, or from the typical 9-5 for adults? What do you think we should be doing?

CB: For me, it’s a matter of having an insatiable curiosity and making sure that you’re fostering that. The thing is, the world tells us to basically put those things aside, but I think it is super important to always consider and evaluate our place in the world around us. That’s something that kids do all the time. They try to define their role, their place – they really try to understand it. We don’t need to be told what we’re here to do. As a father and as someone who cares deeply for my children, I guess the one great sort of goal that I have is to not pass on some inherent fear of the unknown.

SF: As a father with two kids, how do you manage the fact this is your job and it requires you to be

when I picked up a camera, it was with a desire to see the world and understand a complicated world from a perspective that wasn’t on the 6 o’clock news- that wasn’t from my parent’s dinner table. I wanted to know this for me.

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on the road and in remote places that aren’t exactly ‘take your kid to work’ kind of destinations?

CB: It’s super hard. The place that I want to be is with my family at home.

That’s what I thrive on the most. You’re absolutely right – the places where I go aren’t really places I can travel with a family. I’m either on a cruise shooting a big commercial job or on a bus somewhere in the Arctic, so it’s really challenging. I always make an effort to make sure that my family knows where I am and what I’m doing through videos and phone calls.

The key for me is to make them feel like they’re a part of it. Also, I do live in a kind of remote part of California, so I’m cut off from people grabbing at me and asking questions all the time and coming by. I try to be present when I’m home, so I’m kind of cut off. That’s been really important.

SF: Something that has been important to you is learning about life beyond what’s taught to us within our country’s borders or the average news feed. What have you’ve learned and found valuable from going into the wild, traveling in other countries, and among different cultures that never could have been learned staying “home?”

CB: In general that people are kinder and more accepting than you think. On my first trip to the Middle East I was met with so much kindness, and people went out of their way to help us. At the same time, my parents were losing it because I was traveling there. I think overall it has taught me to judge less.

SF: What is it that makes you feel most connected to a place when you visit that later evokes a strong desire to return?

CB: Mostly the people. Connection to landscape is critical, but what’s more important for me to come back are the people. I have to feel a connection to them, and that is often what makes me excited to come back to a place.

SF:You have a unique approach to sharing you story and bringing to life, not only on screen, but also with your traditional style storytelling and slideshow of images with the crowd on your film tour. What gave you the idea to include this more traditional live storytelling, and why is this element so important to you in sharing?

CB: I think we have way too much FaceTime and not enough face-to-face time these days. We want to hide behind screens instead of meet real people. I guess I only got on this platform to actually connect and share, which always felt like a stepping-stone to actually meeting someone. I guess that is what has always excited me about it.

SF: Aside from your film tour, is there anywhere people can attend your live storytelling?

CB: They can always cruise by the studio gallery in Pismo, watch the film, or take my online class. For the ultimate experience, a workshop is best.

ymore info: www.chrisburkard.com www.underanarcticsky.com Instagram: @chrisburkard

@burkgnar Twitter: @chrisburkard Facebook: @chrisburkardphotography

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FtC sports

Red Bull X-Alps Competitor and Pro Paraglider Paul Guschlbauer On Nature As Our Biggest Playground

By Eric Marley Paul Guschlbauer’s philosophy succinctly articulates his life, “I’ll be going as fast as I can all the time, on foot or in the air.” According to the 33 year old Austrian, his body was made to move, so he pursued his passion for playing in the biggest sandbox of all, nature. Following his instinctive need for adventure and exploration, Paul excels as a paraglider but also dedicates time to run, ski, climb mountains and mountain bike. In 2014 Paul and a colleague completed a 1,100 mile journey across six countries and three mountain ranges, finishing with a paramotor flight across the Adriatic Sea. As a precursor to his sister’s wedding in Venezuela, Paul successfully executed the first-ever hike and fly of Angel Falls—the world’s largest uninterrupted waterfall. Paul now sounds off on his scariest moments as an athlete, how he prepares for his extreme activities and even what it is like to experience the world from the seat of a paraglider.

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Photo: Ken MacDonald

Eric Marley:You got into competitive sports at an early age, winning your first mountain biking competitions as a teenager. What was it about your first experiences that got you hooked on outdoor adventure?

Paul Guschlbauer: My father used to own a little mountain cabin where we spent a lot of time when I was young, mostly playing and hiking outside on the hills and in the forests.

According to the photos I see now from that time, I must have spent the same amount of time outside when I was a baby as I do now (and that’s quite a lot.). I think that’s what showed me that nature is the biggest playground, and outside you can experience everything you need to be happy! So, I think it’s a lot about what your parents show you when you are young. But on the other hand, it’s also that my body is somehow made to move a lot. I was always quite strong and my endurance was better than that of my friends, even with less training…so why should I not take the easy path and do what I can do best?!

EM: “It’s all about the wings you’ve got…” and you’ve got variety, between piloting private aircraft and paragliding.

How do your “wings” and flights compare?

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It’s all about being in the air and the feeling of freedom in general, and the freedom of choice more specifically.

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PG: It’s all about being in the air and the feeling of freedom in general, and the freedom of choice more specifically. Of course, there are rules to be followed when you fly your aircraft; close to airports, for example.

But in general, it’s very different to driving on roads. You can turn in whatever direction whenever you want, not when the road makes a turn. Besides that, it’s committing; once you decide to take off, you can’t just stop and say, “I don’t want to fly anymore.” You have to deal

www.facethecurrent.com 85 Photo: Philip Platzer. Red Bull Content Pool

Photo: Paul Guschlbauer

with it until you safely land, and that usually brings some challenges. Those things are what remains the same for whatever aircraft you fly.

EM:You have paraglided over numerous incredible, yet risky stretches of landscape, from the Alps and pyramids, to unexplored Alaskan wilderness and the 1,100 mile Odyssey. Is it even possible to describe the views and feeling you get while gliding over these landscapes?

PG: I think it is possible to describe, but for those who don’t fly themselves, probably only with this comparison:

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wherever you go during holidays or sightseeing, you usually find a lookout somewhere. The feeling that you get there when you are looking at things from a different perspective, or just to get a better overview of the area, is what I experience all the time, just with a lot more flexibility. But of course, if, after looking at something for a while it gets boring and you need to be able to change the position, you might consider flying! But it’s not only that- it’s also about what you can appreciate. For instance, the clouds look different every day and the colors of the grass and trees change constantly as well- this never gets boring.

For me, the more spectacular and different the area that I’m flying, the more exciting it gets. Although it was just a 15-minute flight, I will never forget what I saw while gliding down next to Angel Falls in Venezuela!

EM: Red Bull claims that you “ditched the wheels for wings,” but that’s not entirely true, is it?

Aside from being a pilot, and pro paraglider, you’re also climber and mountaineer and champion adventure racer.

PG: It’s only partially true… I love to run, ski and climb mountains at least as much as I love to fly! That’s also the

reason I’m good at races like the Red Bull X-Alps, for example.

EM: Does your training in preparation for events such as the Red Bull X-Alps ever involve anything other than hiking, flying, and mountain biking?

PG: During winter, I spend most of my time backcountry skiing. I take part at ski-mountaineering races as well. During summer, I spend time slacklining, running and climbing. From the perspective of sport, Red Bull X-Alps is a very versatile race. Only those who are ‘athletes’ in general can be at the top, I think. Besides all the athletic preparation, a huge amount of time goes into route planning and team organization!

Photo: Bobby Breeden

EM: How would compare your hobby of “speedriding” to traditional gliding/riding, and what’s to love about it?

PG: Speedriding or Speedflying is just a different form of paragliding, where you use smaller wings that are more agile and faster. This is a lot of fun and a great way to descend a mountain fast after a climb. It’s a very different kind of flying as well. It doesn’t include as much knowledge of the air and how it flows around the mountains and through the valleys. Instead, it requires faster reactions and produces more adrenaline.

EM: Can you share one of most sketchy moments/scenarios you’ve ever been in and how you got through it?

PG: Most of the sketchy situations I’ve experienced flying include strong wind. A paraglider has a very limited speed range (safely flying up to only around 25-30mph close to the ground) which means that if the wind gets too strong, you fly backward pretty quickly. I’ve experienced a lot of those situations. Most important to www.facethecurrent.com

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Photo: Pico de Orizaba

Photo: David Robinson http.davidrobinsonphoto.com

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We mainly have to overcome our laziness and get up and out! Once we do that, we experience something positive and beautiful.

me is to constantly check the options at hand and ascertain how critical the situation really is. If I can stay cool until I’ve safely landed, I know I’ll be safe.

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Photo: Paul Guschlbauer

activities that need a constant level of awareness and that bring me into some kind of flow.

EM: A lot of what you do has a component of speed to it. How do these adrenaline pumping sports compare with the more ‘chill’ climbing, mountaineering, and trekking for you?

EM:You’ve said, “nature hides presents for us every day; we just need to go out and find them.” Can you share one of your favorite memories of unanticipated discovery of these hidden ‘gems’ in nature?

PG: I don’t know that I agree with the question, actually. Paragliding and even flying my Supercub are relatively slow flying activities and are very comparable to meditative ones. I don’t like adrenaline so much, but I love

PG: We mainly have to overcome our laziness and get up and out! Once we do that, we experience something positive and beautiful. Countless times the weather wasn’t great and I had a hard time getting myself to climb a

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Photo: David Robinson http.davidrobinsonphoto.com

mountain, but once I do, I’m always rewarded with the sky opening up for me and the sun coming through the clouds, or just a general feeling of happiness that comes when I start moving outdoors.

EM:You successfully executed the first-ever hike and fly of Angel Falls, the “world’s largest uninterrupted waterfall, dropping about 3,212 feet into the Venezuelan treetops from atop a massive plateau in the middle of the jungle.”

(RedBull) What were some of the highlights and challenges of your 5-day hike in and 15-minute

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I love activities that need a constant level of awareness and that bring me into some kind of flow.

Photo: Mirja Geh. Red Bull Content Pool

flight?

PG: The beauty of this adventure came from a lot of aspects. I was in Mexico at a competition a year before and met a Venezuelan athlete there who works as a guide for those table mountains in Venezuela. Then, my sister decided to marry a Venezuelan man in Venezuela, so the whole family was planning a trip. I’d always thought about doing a hike & fly around Angel Falls. This seemed to be the perfect coincidence of knowing the right people and having to go there, anyway. Still, we had to obtain official permission from the park to make this happen. They made us get hand

written permission from the natives of the area. We ended up giving them a laptop computer to write the next permission with! It was just another highlight, part of the adventure.

Other than that, the trip was quickly planned and perfectly executed by my Venezuelan friend. It was a highlight by itself that this all worked out so well.

We had one week planned to climb to the top and over the whole mountain to reach the Falls, and then three days to get back home on the river by boat.

Right after that, I was supposed to be at the wedding, so walking back down was not an option. I had to fly, and it worked! After a few hours of waiting for the clouds to open, we had a

window of 30 minutes to take off and fly along the world’s highest waterfall.

Another highlight!

Many times during this trip I thought it will not work out, but I kept on going with a very positive attitude. I can now say it was worth every single step!

ymore info: www.paulguschlbauer.at Instagram: @paulguschlbauer RedBull Athlete Page www.facethecurrent.com

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FtC sports

The Reality of Connection and the Return of Control:

Dave Scott on the River of Life Interview By Eric Marley Dave Scott is not your stereotypical septuagenarian. Sure, he sits around all day, but generally speaking, his seat is in a kayak that he’s paddling solo on any number of rivers. Whether it’s the Missouri, the Mississippi, the Yellowstone or, soon, the Yukon, Mr. Scott is in love with freedom, exploration and as much control as he can find. And for good reason: for the bulk of his life, he felt out of control. He was fifty years old - and had received nine DUIs (Driving Under the Influence) - before he was able to overcome his addiction to alcohol. As a 71-year old man, he now celebrates life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness from the water as he solo-explores rivers and lakes the world over, including Lake Baikal in Russia next year. Control, freedom and being the person your mother always knew you could be…

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Eric Marley: You’ve shared on your website how your experience in Vietnam shaped you. What was it about Vietnam that was so important to you then, and what habits did you take from that experience that inform your life today – especially regarding your recent extensive explorations?

Dave Scott: Well, I just finished a narrative about my Vietnam experience.

There’s no question that that 26 months shaped my life immensely. When you fast forward from then to where I am today, I think it’s the desire to be in 100% control and being aware that has kind of led me to do what I do. I certainly have no problems being alone, either.

EM: Being in control of your environment sounds like it’s kind of important to you.

DS: I feel more in control of my life, both emotionally and physically when I’m out on the water on these trips I do, whether they’re short-lived or longer. I’ve always been a control freak. It’s why I’ve always

run my own businesses and why – when I did work for somebody - it didn’t last very long. It’s why I don’t like driving in traffic; I don’t feel in control. I don’t even enjoy flying anymore. The minute you sit down and snap that seatbelt on, you’ve relinquished control. So, that’s kind of a wide view of how I see control. When you do what I do – and I’m about to do five more days of it at Shasta Lake – it takes me to a place where I’m in control of my environment. As much as I can be, anyway.

EM:You talk a lot on your website about your “independent streak.”

Is your sense of wanting to control your environment tied to your independence?

DS: No question about it. If you were to read this narrative about my experiences in Vietnam, you’d see that right off the bat, I picked up on how to more or less be in a bit of control in the Army by being in a leadership position. There’s always somebody above you, but there’s also somebody below you. I picked up on that really quick. Even when I got to Vietnam, when I was assigned to my

company and platoon, I always felt the element of my personality where I was unafraid to put my foot forward, or my foot down. That carried right into my role as a father, husband, and businessman. The whole thing. We all get shaped by our experiences. Very few of us change as we get into adulthood. We’re pretty much on a path. Very few fall through the cracks and land on their feet.

EM: Do you have a special relationship to water? Why not mountain climbing or some other solitary pursuit?

DS: I really can’t answer that. I’ve never really even been a swimmer! I’ll go swimming, but I’m not a big water person as far as immersion in the water. I tried scuba diving, but I was maybe a little claustrophobic. I do like fishing - I like to be on boats - but I’ve never been a boat owner. So, I’m not real sure. My first boy drowned at 18 months old, but I don’t think that has anything to do with what I do now. I have a healthy respect for water because I know the ramifications if you don’t. But on the other hand, I have www.facethecurrent.com

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no respect for drinking and driving. After nine DUI’s you would have thought, that’s enough. And it was, thank God. I don’t know. I don’t think it’s as much the water; I do a lot of river rafting and I don’t really like the challenge of whitewater. I mean, I’ve don’t mind Class Threes, and I’ve done a few Class Fours, but I don’t go whitewater rafting like the guys do and hit the Fives with the little kayaks and the extreme stuff. I think it’s more the feeling of connection to the birds, and the fish jumping and the beaver. I love the eagles flying, particularly in the spring when they’re talking to their young. The list of what I get out of it is endless.

EM: It sounds like that feeling of connection becomes pretty important to you?

DS: Immensely. It’s not the water itself, it’s what I get by being on the water, on these expeditions. If you read the (online) journal about my float of the Yellowstone, the first part of it, you’ll see that I’m continually mentioning the birds; the

“

Being free has nothing to do with having a lot of money.

“

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number of songbirds and just the constant chorus, day and night, of the birds. It was mind-boggling to me; I never got tired of it. It’s the connection that I get when I’m off the water that’s so impressive. Now, there is some challenge. If you’d been with me the last three days at Pyramid Lake you’d thought I was crazy… at any age! I had to work very hard to retain control.

It’s about the hardest I’ve ever worked at retaining control and staying safe. That said, I watch people and I wonder what they do to stay connected because you gotta be connected to something. You should be. But most of them aren’t; they’re connected to the TV, social media, the phone…even to chaos. I know people who can’t function without chaos: the traffic and the noise, you know.

EM:You have a book coming out about how to get free.

DS: Yes, “free” is the word.

EM: What’s been the key to your freedom, more than anything?

DS: Well, I can tell you this. Being free has nothing to do with having a lot of money. I’ve made a lot of money and lost a lot. I’ve never zeroed in on the value of a dollar. I always made money as a challenge. I never really had a game plan to end up with a lot of money, although we might have said, “let’s do this, we’ll make a million bucks.” We made a million bucks, sometimes much more, but we never kept it. I was a great entrepreneur, but I was a terrible businessman. I either ran it into the ground or drank it into the ground or just closed it. These days, I lead a real simple life. I didn’t use to because I was in business, I was challenged, I was in the thick of it. I thought I was creating financial and self-worth – but in the end, most of it was a waste of time. When I stopped drinking, that’s when I was on a path to get free. I didn’t know it at the time, but that was what happened. I stopped drinking, I stopped business, I stopped my marriage at the time. I stopped everything. I stopped to get sober.

EM: How did you live? How do you live?

DS: Well, it took work, but I got out of the business mentality. I went to work on the Strip in Las Vegas and joined the Union at 50 years old. I worked twelve hours a day, seven days a week for something like 163 days straight. It was incredible. I made good money and within a year I was back on my feet…and I was sober. So, all I did was to get up, go to work and go to AA meetings. And then in April and May, the guys would lay me off and I would go to a small piece of property my brothers and I own at East Lake in Oregon. I did that for 9 years straight. I would draw unemployment, and my wife would work.

I went to East Lake to get sober; not just to quit drinking, but to work on character development. I looked back on my life and I asked, “where was I the happiest?” It was always when I was on top of the mountain, metaphorically speaking. It was when I was living in a tent by the ocean at Cardiff for six months. It was when I was in Alaska and we were out for a couple weeks.

The question was, “where did I ‘get it’?” It

“

was in those environments. My Dad was a Scoutmaster so, growing up we spent a lot of time camping in the winters, hiking, and fishing. You know, he was just a big outdoors person. I picked up on that. So, that’s where I got it. I realized I was having to step out of that environment to go back to work. So, I began to refuse to get sucked back in. I sat that whole building boom out in Las Vegas, where people were making money hand over fist. It was really hard because I knew that all I had to do was to step out that door and I could be doing a million a month again. But I didn’t. I had enough control – because I was sober. I was still working on myself and that was more important. My priority in life was to become the person my mother always knew I could be. I spent two and a half years in a cabin and a tipi at East Lake, figuring it out. That’s when I started to grasp this “free” thing. That’s when I started to see it. I asked myself, “Man… can it get any better than being free?” And “free” doesn’t mean you have a million bucks in the bank, or ten, twenty or a hundred million and you can fly around in a jet anytime you want. That’s not the

kind of “free” I’m talking about. I’m talking about free in your soul. You know who you are, where you’re grounded and centered and what makes you tick.

EM: So, that happened for you, basically in solitude on the banks of East Lake, living in a tipi in the winter? Isn’t East Lake one of the highest lakes in Oregon?

DS: It is, yeah. The experience itself was so overwhelming, I would sit out and get tears in my eyes because it was so real.

In other words, the big car, the big house; everything that we’re bombarded with these days – now more than ever, it seems like – that’s not it. Not for me. There’s nothing wrong with all that, but it’s not my style.

EM:That feels like bondage to you in some way?

DS: That’s right, that’s right. And that’s why I don’t watch TV. The reason I don’t is that I think that habit has an element of control over people. I’m not being goofy here. I

My priority in life was to become the person my mother always knew I could be. I spent two and a half years in a cabin and a tipi at East Lake, figuring it out. That’s when I started to grasp this “free” thing. That’s when I started to see it. I asked myself, “Man… can it get any better than being free?”

“

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think habitual TV watchers lose sight of reality. There’s an element of propaganda, but it’s more that, it’s just a waste of life.

EM: What’s your favorite story from your kayaking adventures?

DS: I don’t know if there’s a favorite. I’ve had a couple close calls but that was only because of poor judgment (laughs). I got out of both of them; I was very lucky, and they won’t happen again. Not to say something else won’t happen, though.

For instance, the Paiute tribe at Pyramid lake had changed their usage rules for the lake. They’d had some vandalism done to some of their ancient sites in 2010, so in 2011 they decided to close two-thirds of the shoreline of the lake. I didn’t know that. So, you can’t camp around most of it.

When I kayak a lake, I like to do the whole shoreline. But if the wind is wrong and you can’t pull out, it’s going to be tough.

So, I figured I could do the biggest part of the lake that I’ve never been able to do because of the wind. I was somewhat prepared to spend the night, just in case.

But I didn’t have an extra pair of shoes. As it turned out, the wind was contrary and

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I almost didn’t get to the bank. I ended up having to spend the night precisely where I wasn’t supposed to and I had to sleep in the rocks because I obviously didn’t take my tent. But I did take my sleeping bag and my pad and I stayed up there from about 5:30pm until about 4 am when it started sprinkling and I made the choice to just get out of there. And I still had a hell of a time getting back to camp. The point is that I had a pair of boat shoes that I’d had for a while – the kind you just pull on. They completely fell apart. If I had to walk out, there was no way I was going to be able to do so. And I’m always prepared to walk out. I always have extra food, extra water, all that. This was a good lesson for me. I will never go on that kayak again without an extra pair of shoes. Bottom line: I always have a plan. It’s part of my plan to live without fear, and being prepared helps me do that.

Vancouver Island, a tandem Expedition. I think they closed down a few months ago.

It has enough room for my dog and all my gear, to keep me comfortable on the bank. This is really important. I mean, I only spend 6-8 hours in the boat, the rest of the time I’m on shore. So, I have a really good camp set up, no question about it.

When I do this – and I do it alone, with the exception of some river trips – the priority is safety first, comfort second, fun third. So, I am always safety focused.

Whether it’s my life jacket, the kayak itself, my paddle… I’m constantly refining my gear, going through it. Number one, to get rid of any excess stuff I don’t need. But also, to maintain the gear that I have for one reason: to save my ass if necessary.

The kayak itself is amazing. It’s a “knockdown” type. It’s almost impossible to turn it over, it handles the waves and the wind.

It’s an incredible work of art. Those guys did a great job.

EM: What kind of equipment is critical to you? What kind of boat do you use?

EM: How do you prepare physically and mentally for your big trips?

DS: I use a FeatherCraft. That manufacturer was in business on

DS: I can tell you that the biggest part of preparation for my upcoming trip on the

Yukon is logistics. It’s the ferry ride, the finding a place to park your van for four months, the bus ride from Whitehorse.

Once I’m on the water, that’s the easy part.

I’ve met guys that ask me, “where’s your GPS?” I just ask them, “Why do I need a GPS?” “Well, to know where you are.” I just say, “My friend, I’m on the Mississippi River and that’s all I care about!” Because I know if I keep going downriver I’m gonna hit the ocean. So, I don’t care where I am!

The longitude / latitude part of it makes no difference. The logistical part of it is getting back, getting things broke down, getting to the airport. I’ve found that once you meet people, particularly the locals, and they understand what you’ve just done – especially at the end of your trip – you have no trouble getting help. And anybody in between A and B, anybody you meet during that process that you might need answers from, or a ride to get supplies or whatever, I never have any problems getting help. Most people will say, “My God, I’ve lived on this river for sixty years and I’ve never gone more than ten miles on it. Most of them are very, very enamored with me because they no sense of even thinking about doing it. They can’t imagine it.

EM: Have the past few years of adventure changed how you view people?

DS: Well, I’m baffled as to why people spend so much time earning what they earn and then giving it away to someone else at the end of the month. If it’s done anything at all, it’s made me realize I do very well by myself. I understand that I need the guy at the service station to open so I can get my gas. I understand I need to go get some help with some things on my laptop. I get that. But my friend told me the other day that she and a friend were going to a San Francisco Giants game. I just said I can’t fathom why you’d want to go to a Giants game, with all those people, all that traffic, and all the noise…you know, I just can’t fathom it. I could not go for any reason. Couldn’t do it. So, I have a real respect for individualism.

I have a respect for people who tow the line, who tell themselves, “I’m going to get up at 5:30 in the morning,” and they’re up at quarter after 5. I call that self-loyalty.

If you don’t have that, then you’re telling people all day long that you’re going to do something that never gets done. When you tell me you’re going to do something and you don’t, then I know you’re

wobbling in life. You’re out of center. You’re ungrounded, and you have a problem. And that’s through your whole life. If you can’t tell yourself you’re going to do something, and do it, then you have no respect for somebody else. Getting on top of your own game is a reward on its own – but it helps all those around you, too.

EM: In the end, why do you do this?

DS: I do this because it fulfills me. I realize there are guys that just shake their heads and wonder how a guy that’s 71 years old can be out doing this? Well, he is. There are probably a few others, and I hope I get the chance to meet them. But the fact of the matter is, and this is what’s great about what I do: I do it for me. I am absolutely convinced I am going to die sober. For a guy like me, who’s had nine DUI’s and drank until he was 50… that’s huge. It means that everything I do, I am aware of. Every decision that’s made in my life comes from a point of view of sobriety, accepting responsibility, and dealing with reality. Facing the consequences and the rewards. And these days, for me, there are very few consequences. Life itself is the reward.

“

I have a real respect for individualism. I have a respect for people who tow the line, who tell themselves, “I’m going to get up at 5:30 in the morning,” and they’re up at quarter after 5. I call that self-loyalty.

“

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FtC fitness

Medicine Ball Slam BY

David Ryan Fitness

One of the few exercises and pieces of equipment that has stood the test of time is the medicine ball.

Hippocrates, often called the father of Western medicine, is said to have stuffed animal skins to create weighted, round balls. He would encourage his patients to toss the balls to help rehab from injury and stay in good health. Thus, the term “medicine ball” came about.

One of the most basic uses for the med ball is also the most beneficial. Why? Because they simply work.

One reason they work is because they are incredibly simple and hard to screw up, which makes them perfect for inexperienced trainees as well.

Secondly, it’s an explosive full body movement with a major emphasis on bracing your core. Want abs? Start with these.

Third, they’re fun. The best exercise is one that you’ll do. There’s something about repeatedly slamming a heavy ball that makes this exercise therapeutic and fun.

CAUTION: Use a soft medicine ball designed to be slammed. Do not use the hard plastic ones sitting in the corner rack at the gym. Those will bounce back in your face faster than you can say Hippocrates.

How to perform the med ball slam: Choose a ball around 10 lbs to start.

Start with your feet hip width apart, raise it high over your head, going up in your toes, and slam the ball in front of your feet. Scoop the ball back up on the bounce and slam it again.

4 sets of 10 slams or make it a HIIT round 20 work 20 rest 4 times.

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4 Rounds 20 seconds of work 20 seconds rest

o t e ib r c s b u s ! e u s is n don’t Miss A , h t n o M h c A e y p o c r u o to receive y . x o b in r u o y o t t h ig r delivered

NOT JUST A MAGAZINE “FUEL FOR AN INSPIRED LIFE. BE YOUR POTENTIAL.” Visit us at facethecurrent.com/shop/magazine to get your monthly subscription!

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HEALTH 102. Ayurveda: Eating for Your Body Type 104. 5 Steps That Will Alter Your Relationship

With Food 108. The New “It” Green:

Dandelion Boasts Superfood Properties

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Ayurveda

Eating for Your Body Type

By Carin Cundey Here is an all too common and painful scenario: You have been on a particular diet for 2 months. You are eating all the “right” foods. You are watching how much you eat, and you are taking out the things that you have been told can cause digestive issues.

You are diary free, gluten free and eating organic, but you still don’t feel well, you don’t have energy and you are feeling discouraged.

What to eat and how to eat can be two of the most confusing things that you can encounter when trying to figure out what is best for you. There is so much information out there: gluten free, paleo, raw, vegan, vegetarian, small meals often, big meals less often … it goes on and on. How do you know if the way you are eating is supporting you? How do you know if what you are putting into your body and your digestive system is the best thing for you to eat?

What is important to realize, but is not talked about very often, is that every human body varies greatly in terms of nutritional needs. And these may be based as variables such as body type, environment and stage of life. The bottom line is, just because you are eating healthy food, it does not mean it is the right food for YOU and your digestion.

Whoa. That is big, so I will say it again: Just because you are eating healthy food, it does not mean it is the right food for you and your digestion.

So, what do you do? How do you know what IS the right food for you and your digestion? The Science of Ayurveda has been around for 5,000 years and offers guidance in this area.

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Chakras Elements Ayurveda is a 5-elemental theory (earth, water, fire, air and ether), which holds the belief that we, and everything around us, are all made up of these elements. The exact combination of these elements within us is unique. In fact, there are as many combinations as there are humans walking on this earth! As we live our lives and take these elements “in” through our five senses, through everything we see,

taste, touch, smell and hear, we may bring in too much or too little of our own “perfect” combination of these elements, and thus throw ourselves out of balance.

Understanding our unique blend of the elements, and where we have too much of one (or more), we can create a plan to use our five senses, and everything around us, to intentionally bring ourselves back into our unique balance.

Ayurveda believes that all disease ultimately stems from the digestion system.

Therefore, by using the sense of taste and by paying attention to how and what we eat, we can create balance within ourselves. We can thereby digest more easily, sleep more fully, be rested, calmer, happier and more joyful.

I have a client, “Anna,” who had terrible digestive disorders. She decided to eat “clean,” took allergens out of her diet and moved into a completely raw diet. On the raw diet of whole fresh organic foods, her symptoms did not alleviate. In fact, she became even more constipated and gassy. She found that she couldn’t sleep through the night, awakening with crazy dreams. Her skin became dry and flaky and she lost too much weight for her frame.

She came to me, completely frustrated because she thought she was doing everything “right” but her symptoms were getting worse.

After an evaluation of Anna using the principles and practices of Ayurveda, I was able to explain to her that what she personally needed was cooked, heavy, moist foods, rather than the cold, dry light foods that comprise a raw diet. A raw diet is a healthy way to eat, for some body types. But not for Anna’s.

Once she understood herself and what she needed, she was able to shift the diet to match her type, and she was successful in controlling her symptoms of discomfort.

In fact, she was able to eat with ease.

How do you know whether the way you are currently eating is the best way for you in this moment?

First, step away from all the materials and people around you that are telling you about “the right way to eat.” It is so easy to get caught up in all the diet fads and trends that are being spoken of these days. You see someone’s “before and after” pictures and hear their story, and you think, “if it worked for them, it should work for me.” However, what they need may be vastly different than what you and your body require.

superfoods

Second, take a deep breath, come to center and intend to listen to the signs your body is giving to you. How do you do this? By becoming clear on how you feel.

Third, become clear on how you feel by asking yourself the following questions: What is my energy level? How is my sleep? Am I eliminating regularly and easily? How do I feel after I eat?

If you are tired, not sleeping well, your elimination is not happening every morning on its own and you have gas, bloating, indigestion or heaviness after you eat, then your body is very clearly speaking (dare I say, screaming?) at you that something needs to change. Right now.

Regardless of how this particular way of eating has worked for others, there is something about it that is not supporting your particular needs.

Your body speaks to you. If you can take a moment to step back and listen, it will give you all the information you need. If you aren’t feeling well, sleeping well and feeling full of energy, the food you are consuming and the way you are getting this food are most likely are the causes. Understanding this is the first step in discovering what you can change so that you can start eating in the way that feeds YOUR particular body and needs.

warming cooling

ymore info:

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5 Steps That Will Alter Your

Relationship With Food

By Sima Cohen

Nothing is more draining in life than for a woman to be obsessed with food, to be in a war with food, to worry about food or to have her life consumed by food. On the contrary, nothing is more satisfying in life than for a woman to be at peace with, and to have a healthy relationship with food, having the freedom to eat what she wants without harboring guilt.

This is easier said than done.

Let me share my story about how I completely altered my relationship with food.Transforming this relationship has helped me speed up my metabolism, get in the best shape of my life and has inspired me to create a national weight loss program that has already helped countless of individuals to have a love affair with food.Thankfully, this journey has even led me to a book deal with a national publisher for my upcoming book, Healthy Indulgence: 100 Revamped, Guilt-Free Recipes to Transform Your Life, which is scheduled to be released in November 2017.

Here is my story.

At the age of 20, Los Angeles became my new home. I found myself attracted to the powerful vibe of the city and its fixation on physical attraction. Every billboard, every advertisement, TV show, music video, live performance, and movie showcased a fascination with perfect bodies and physical form. Crazy diets, extreme plastic surgeries, and intense exercise programs were what everyone craved and what was normal to see. I wanted it too. At the time, I was young, naïve, and very impressionable in my new home and I got caught up in the craze. Obsessed with body image and trying to fit in in this new city, I tried starvation diets and extreme exercise programs that led me to think food was a curse. Eating became a forbidden and guilty activity. “Being good” was synonymous with eating nothing, and eating anything was synonymous with

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feeling guilty – a complete switch from my experience with the love of food during my childhood in Israel.

At that time, I had already professionally started coaching clients on weight loss and nutrition, yet I was very stressed out about my own body image and obsession with unnecessary dieting and insane exercising routines. While I have never been obese or overweight, I still continued to struggle with my diet and body image. It was only after trying every diet on the planet, trying every new trend and after spending thousands of dollars on over promised, under delivered diets that I found 5 ways to alter my relationship with food forever.

I would love nothing more than to share it with you. This has not only proven successful with myself, but with my clients.

“

Eating became a forbidden and guilty activity. “Being good” was synonymous with eating nothing, and eating anything was synonymous with feeling guilty – a complete switch from my experience with the love of food during my childhood in Israel.

“

The Five Steps: Meditation is the most important step to take in order to alter your relationship with food. Surprisingly, it does not start in the kitchen or the gym, but with the mind. It is always available to you 365 days a year, 24/ 7, and does not cost a dime. How can meditation help you with your unhealthy relationship with food, you ask? Let me break it down for you: Meditation is an amazing way to create a strong connection with your body.

When we meditate, we bring attention to our breathing, which brings us to a more centered state of being. Meditation teaches us to stop obsessing over the past, or worrying about what’s to come.

Rather, it forces us to stay in the present moment. It clears up the “fog” and all of the unnecessary chatter and chaos that are created when the mind rules. It teaches us to have the mind here and now. This synchronicity fosters a strong, healthy relationship with our bodies, making us more aware of physical hunger, satiety or the physical manifestations of strong emotions.

It is important to note that, most of the time when we eat, we are hungry for anything but food. Rather, we are in search of love, attention, security or peace. We eat when we are happy, when we are sad, when we are scared and even when we are excited. We just eat.

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reasons, and that the real peace and love that we are looking for can only come from within. It comes from the deepest place inside, where self-love and respect dwell - never from external sources.

When appetite arises, listen to your body by asking, “what am I really hungry for?”

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If the answer is, “I’m so hurt from this relationship, nothing good is happening in my life, I can’t do anything because I can never win” - or any other negative thought like these - then please, stop thinking negatively.

Instead, bring yourself to your center, take a deep breath and ask yourself what you are really hungry for.

After you recognize the underlying causes for your appetite, write them down. If you truly care about altering your relationship with food, I suggest that you take this task seriously, listen to your answers and make a plan to act differently, in a more positive and healthy way, when these impulses

come.

control blood sugar

Don’t reward yourself with food.

Food is here to give you fuel, to give you energy and to allow your body to function at maximum performance every day. Food is not here to reward or punish us. Whenever you feel an unnecessary and unhealthy craving coming your way, remember that food is to be used for fuel, not for punishment or reward.

Learn how to stabilize your blood sugar with food to avoid cravings and binge eating. I’ve designed something called a “PCF combo.” This acronym stands for “Power Proteins, Complex Carbs, and Friendly Fats.” It was designed to stabilize blood sugar by combining foods in healthy combinations. Follow my PCF combination

Guilt free chocolate

for every meal (except for dinner where you substitute carbs for vegetables) and you will stabilize your blood sugar, activate your body’s natural fat burning power, and be on the road to the healthiest you’ve ever been. The PCF food plan has benefits of regulating metabolism, blood sugar levels, and hormonal balance. Protein is vital to the satisfaction of your body after you eat, and for the restoration and building of your body’s cells, tissues, and organs. Carbohydrates are necessary for your body in a different but equally crucial way. They can be broken down into simple and complex carbs. The former can provide your body with quick bursts of energy (e.g. orange juice), while the latter will provide your body with long-lasting energy (e.g. sweet potato). Friendly fats give your body the type of fat it needs.

The key is to find ingredients that have the friendly fat, Leptin (e.g. fish, coconut, coconut oil, avocados, extra virgin olive oil, and nuts). By combining carbs, proteins, and friendly fats, you will fuel your body optimally, achieve your weight loss goals and keep up an energy level that sustains you for long periods of time.

Never say never. For instance, don’t tell yourself, “I’m never eating bread or chocolate.” The more you tell your brain that you can’t have something, the more you will want it and you will go to great lengths to get it. Just remember you can eat your cravings with substitutions or in moderation. Mind over matter, self-control, and a consistent meditation practice will help you get through it.

In conclusion, apply these 5 steps to

your lifestyle and I promise you that your relationship with food will transform forever. Nothing is more satisfying than having peace with food, having peace with your body and having peace within your soul. Remember you have a free will to make the decision right now to make healthy choices.

I dare you to transform yourself.

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The New “It” Green Dandelion Boasts Superfood Properties

By Sasha Frate Dandelion is a common weed that has gotten a bad reputation for invading gardens and farms, but has more recently gained its well-deserved recognition for being a nutrient rich plant that also possesses medicinal properties. So much so in fact, that its superfood properties are making it the new “it” green. Dandelion greens can be eaten raw in salads or smoothies, steamed or sautéed, infused for a tea (fresh roots should be chopped & decocted if used for tea for optimal nutrient release), and even made into wine or the roots into a caffeine-free alternative to coffee. The following are some of its astonishing range of health properties, fun facts and recipes.

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Taraxacum officinale Description · The name dandelion is derived from French dent de lion meaning lion’s tooth and referring to the leaves of the plant.

Taraxacum derives from Greek taraxos and axos, meaning disorder and remedy. · The French call dandelion piss en lit, meaning piss in the bed, and referring to the plant’s strong diuretic properties. · A hardy perennial, dandelion can grow to 12 inches in height, and edible parts commonly used are leaves, flowers, and roots. · There are hundreds of species of dandelion that can be found growing as an “invasive” weed throughout Europe, Asia, and North America. It can be found growing in the wild, along roadsides, in gardens, and yards. The growing recognition and popularity of this wild edible now has it showing up in some markets as well! · Historically, dandelion has been used extensively in traditional Chinese Medicine, by Native Americans, and in Europe for medicinal practices.

Medicinal Actions · Dandelion leaf is a potassium sparing powerful diuretic. It is also hepatic, choleretic, anti-inflammatory, laxative, tonic, nutritive, bitter. · Dandelion root is cholagogue, choleretic, tonic, antirheumatic, alterative, bitter, depuritive.

Medicinal Uses · The root is stimulating on the digestive system, especially the liver and gallbladder. · Dandelion benefits the stomach and intestines, aiding assimilation of nutrients from food. · Eases chronic sluggish bowel. · Dandelion is a blood cleanser that is particularly useful for treating congestive skin problems. · The root is alterative for chronic toxic conditions that manifest as eczema, acne, arthritis, and enteritis. · Dandelion root is indicated for the following: jaundice, autointoxication, rheumatism, blood disorders, chronic skin eruptions, chronic gastritis, and aphthous ulcers.

Dandelion Root

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Dandelion as a nutritive

Dandelion in Food & Beverage

Dandelion is one of the best natural sources of potassium. Its leaves are high in iron and zinc as well and vitamins A, B, C, and D. Its vitamin A content is higher than in carrots: 14,000 IU/100g of raw leaves It’s high inulin content aids pancreatic function.

The entire dandelion plant (flowers, leaves, and roots) can be consumed in a wide variety of ways! Here are a few examples. Both dandelion leaves and flowers can be eaten raw in salads and on sandwiches. The leaves can also be sautéed or steamed, and used in casseroles. Flowers can be battered up as fritters!

Dried dandelion roots have also now become a common caffeine free substitute for that morning- or afternoon cup coffee and provide an extensive list of health benefits. Leaves can be infused and drunken as a tea, and roots can be simmered (decocted). On hot summer days, try using dandelion leaves to blend into your next green smoothie. Or, if you’re looking to unwind with a glass of wine, try making your own from the flowers!

dandelion

Dandelion 6.89

Spinach 0.89

dandelion salad

Red Leaf 0.23 Romaine 0.21 Iceber lettuce 0.17

Amount of antioxidants measured per 100gr of fresh weight

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Dandelion TISSANE

Dandelion Recipes Dandelion leaves are bitter, and in our advancement as humans we have almost entirely forgotten about bitter tastes. Taste aside, bitter flavors help to stimulate our body’s digestive juices and greatly aid the digestive process. One trick to the senses is to mix bitters with sweet or with fats to make them more tolerable. You can get creative and adjust any recipe!

Try Out These Recipes From Sergei Boutenko Dandi--Strawberry Peach 1/2 cup freshly harvested dandelion greens 3–4 beet leaves 3 large peaches, halved and pitted 1–1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen strawberries 1/2–1 cup water Blend all ingredients in a blender until smooth.

Serves 2 Dandelion and Sun--Dried Tomato Pesto 1 bunch freshly harvested dandelions (as big or as little as you like) 1 cup pine nuts 1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes, soaked in water for 15 minutes to reconstitute 4-5 cloves garlic 2 tablespoons olive oil 2 tablespoons lemon juice 1 teaspoon salt (or to taste) Blend all ingredients in food processor until thoroughly mixed.

Serve with crackers, breads, pasta, veggies, and so forth. Store extra pesto in refrigerator or freezer.

Green Smoothie

Pesto

Find more recipes like these at www.sergeiboutenko.com

Toxicity & Pharmacy Toxicity: Taraxacum officinale is considered a safe herb Pharmacy dosages: Root decoction 2-8g/day. Leaf infusion 1 cup boiling water over 1-2 Tablespoons of dried leaf (infused 10-15 minutes) & drink 3x/day. Tincture (root) 2.5-5ml/day, (leaf) 5-10ml 3x/day. Juiced leaves 5-10ml 2x/day.

Precautions It is recommended to consult a doctor prior to eating dandelion if an individual has kidney or gallbladder problems or gallstones.

There is potential for dandelion to cause an allergic reaction for individuals who are sensitive to plants in the Asteraceae family. If allergic to ragweed, chrysanthemums, marigold, chamomile, yarrow, daisies, or iodine, then dandelion should be avoided.

According to University of Maryland Medical Center, due to its diuretic action, it is possible that dandelion could interact with medications that are broken down by the liver.

Potential interactions with medications include: antacids, blood thinning medications, diuretics, lithium, Ciproflaxin, and diabetic medication.

Dandelion tincture

References: Ehrlich, S. (2015, June 22). Dandelion [University of Maryland Medical Center].

Retrieved 15 October 2015, from https://umm.edu/health/medical/altmed/herb/dandelion Hoffmann, D. (2003). Medical Herbalism:The Science and Practice of Herbal Medicine. United States: Healing Arts Press.

Marciano, M., & sarahearm. (2011, October 21).The Naturopathic Herbalist on WordPress.com. Retrieved 15 October 2015, from http://thenaturopathicherbalist.com//?s=dandelion Phytochemicals. (n.d.). Retrieved 15 October 2015, from http://www.phytochemicals.info/plants/dandelion.php

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Sustainable Business Practices for a Better Future: Prana Releases New Limited Edition Summer Collection CEO Of Torus Tech Reveals New Approaching Reality For Sourcing The World’s Energy That Leaves Nothing To Burn, Nothing To Consume, Nothing To Destroy The Business of Zen and the Zen of Business

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Let’s Start A Movement of Kindness

Every Act of Kindness Creates a Ripple Effect That Spreads From Person To Person With No End In Sight.

LEA RN MORE bit.ly/ FtC Kindness

click or scan

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Sustainable Business Practices

for a Better Future Releases New Limited Edition Summer Collection Interview By Sasha Frate For some, “sustainability” is just a buzz word to be thrown around to make them sound cool; but, to others, it’s a way of life, the way they do business. At prAna, it’s central to their brand’s DNA and their corporate culture.

Their business practices, such as the Traceability Program are helping them make a real difference in the apparel industry. But they are dedicated to so much more. Here we discuss some of the initiatives that keep prAna focused on sustainability above all else.

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Sasha Frate: What are some of the lesser common sustainability factors that can be seen with prAna’s practices and products?

SF: prAna has partnered with bluesign® systems since 2012. Can you explain the technology and principles of this system?

Brianna Kilcullen: We make every effort to look at sustainability holistically.

At prAna, we take into consideration not only the impact of the product but also the impact on people and planet. This is not only a brand differentiator for us but also allows us to push the boundaries on optimum social and environmental impact. We use prAna as the business platform for change and we believe in transparency around our processes as well as communicating the why to the customer. And there are a lot of awesome initiatives we do that you might not know about because we are committed to sustainability above all else. This isn’t merely a campaign, this commitment is part of the brand’s DNA.

BK: prAna’s relationship with bluesign® ensures that we are not using restricted substances in the process of dyeing our fabrics and that we are buying fabrics and trims from factories and dye-houses that are held to the highest industry environmental standards regarding disposal of wastewater and usage of water and energy.

Fun fact: We were the first North American apparel brand to launch Fair Trade Apparel!

Stay tuned for more from prAna and bluesign® as we continue to measure the impact of our partnership.

SF: prAna’s traceability is remarkable, not only tracing those materials that have certifications associated with them, but also looking at the forest practices that source tree fibers such as rayon and viscose. Can you share a bit about this process?

BK: When our founders first made the decision to switch from conventional to organic cotton they wanted to ensure that we were able to show consumers where their materials were coming from, and our Traceability Program was born.

Our Traceability Program has been around for nearly a decade and we are one of the only brands in the industry currently running this kind of program. It has been a steep learning curve but we have helped sculpt the standards that we trace to through our partnership with Textile Exchange. Tracing to TE’s standards allow us to map where our organic cotton is coming from (VIDEO), our recycled content, our down and the Lenzing fibers we use in lieu of rayon, modal, viscose.

Why Organic Cotton Matters | Sustainable Clothing Movement www.facethecurrent.com

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SF: ‘Fair’ and ‘responsible’ are not always necessarily factored with sustainability, but these appear to be of equal importance at prAna. From Fair Labor to Responsible Down and Responsible Forest Materials, how has prAna turned this collective/holistic effort into a movement?

BK: We bucket our sustainability efforts around material, people, and processes and that holistic effort allows us to ensure we are not putting our energy into improving one piece of the puzzle without taking into consideration the other pieces that have equal weight. For example, our work with Chetna in India ensures that we are not only using organic cotton to preserve the environment and planet, but also ensures that people are not exposed to insecticides and pesticides during the farming process. We even take it one step further by microfinancing the farmers directly so they do not have to take out bank loans with high interest to purchase the seed for production each year. I truly believe this innovative business model that we are partnering with Chetna on is the future of transparency and traceability in supply chain and is a beautiful example of a holistic approach to sustainability in business.

SF: A brand can only do so much, right? It’s also “The Not Impossible Mission of the Conscious Consumer…”

For someone aiming to be a more conscious consumer, what would you suggest as impactful selections to look for?

BK: I would say – greenwashing is real! One of the biggest misses in the industry is lack of customer education and awareness to be able to benchmark one brand against another and understand the impact of the customer’s purchasing power. The Sustainable Apparel Coalition (of which prAna is a member) is currently working on external facing tools to bring awareness to the product sustainability, which we have been huge supporters of and are currently providing feedback as the tool is rolled out. But for now, I would say – ask questions! Does a brand have a code of conduct?

Do they know where their production is made and publish those factories on their website (we are currently in the process of doing this). If they are using cotton are they using organic. If they are using synthetics are they using recycled or virgin? What kind of chemicals and dyes are being used to get that snazzy performance feature that could be harmful to the planet and the people who made it and even the customer wearing it? Do they have takeback programs and a commitment to ensuring the life cycle of their garments? (VIDEO) The more questions people ask about who made their clothes and how they were made, the more the industry will pivot from looking at sustainability as a nice to have and rather as a core business value.

prAna - Renewal Workshop

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SF: “Something has got to give,” but quality is not one of them.

If anything, quality is actually enhanced, and prAna’s use of hemp as a textile is a great example of this. What are the challenges or limitations you encounter as an apparel company aiming to be 100% sustainable in all you do?

BK: We do not implement anything at prAna that compromises quality and cost, which means we are usually leading our supply chain partners to convert fabrics to organic or recycled while still ensuring performance. For example, we are currently in the process of looking to switch our virgin nylon to recycled nylon and found out that there is no difference in quality. On the other hand, when switching from virgin polyester to recycled polyester you have to be more careful because of quality concerns. We are also excited about converting more prAna factories to Fair Trade. China and Vietnam are new opportunities but there are concerns about implementing freedom of association in countries that legally do not allow it.

SF: Are there other practices prAna is working toward incorporating or would like to incorporate in the future?

BK: Let me say that we are definitely not perfect… but across the company we are genuinely pasionate about doing less damage while raising the bar for ourselves and the apparel industry.

We continue to update our website to better convey important information but in the meantime – here are just a few of the topics that we are interested in: Materials: Natural Fibers: Organic Cotton: Hemp: Lenzing Fibers: Responsible Down Standard: Synthetic Fibers: Recycled Content: (Polyester, Wool, Nylon): bluesign® (Natural & Synthetic): PFCFree.

People: Fair Trade Factory: Fair Trade Certified.

Processes: Polybag Program We also have internal teams that focus on sustainable innovation as it relates to our product(s) and to our owned facilities. We strive to be zero waste and are constantly working to be more sustainable by looking at the amount of energy, water, paper and chemicals used and improving our

recycling and composting initiatives.

We strive to do many small things that make a big difference. Efforts you can visibly see, and that touch employee’s lives at the office, but also inspire us to make similar adjustments at home and in our daily lives.

SF: prAna has recently released its Limited Edition Sustainable Summer Collection. Can you tell us what is different about this collection, and why you’ve decided to make it a Limited Edition?

BK: Our Limited Edition Summer Collection represents a culmination of companywide efforts to further elevate the performance of our product, increase the sustainable features, and push the design to meet the latest trends in activewear. We are very proud of our exclusive Active Lounge Collection and look forward to creating more like it in the near future.

ymore info: www.prana.com www.facethecurrent.com

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CEO Of Torus Tech Reveals New

Approaching Reality For Sourcing

The World’s Energy That Leaves

Nothing To Burn, Nothing To Consume, Nothing To Destroy Interview by Sasha Frate Chris Almida, CEO of Torus Tech is thinking big. Big in the sense that his ideas might not only change our

planet, but mankind itself. Almida believes he has the technology to mine the energy from the empty space around, well... everything! With his “vacuum energy,” there are no dependencies on vast infrastructures, geo-political issues or pollution. Imagine a world where everyone will have all their energy needs met–from transportation to food production, allowing us all to live to our full potential. With this ability, mankind could easily slip the bonds of this planet to begin exploring the universe in whole new ways. As you can imagine, the stakes are very high when proposing an idea with such profound sociological and political implications. Almida is ready though. He now explains his amazing concept and his plan to see it to completion, despite some formidable obstacles.

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Sasha Frate:You are leading a very dynamic and technologically progressive company. What are some aspects of your education and career path that prepared you to head up a company with the vision of Torus Tech?

Chris Almida: In many ways Nassim and I have travelled similar paths; we are both largely self-taught and self-studied. My career path is quite diverse beginning with the military, then steel erection and then into information technology, management and executive leadership. I have had the opportunity to step into leadership positions often which gave me some very valuable experience in managing organizations, resources and, most critically, some very direct experience with inventor led start-ups.

I have a very good understanding of the dynamics and frustrations involved from both the inventor and the investor perspective. These experiences shape how I advocate in our business to meet the needs of both parties across all aspects of operations, financing, organizational structure and management.

I also have 8 years as a senior program manager at Microsoft which gave me a tremendous amount of experience in scale, project management and organizational best practices – it’s been a fantastic influence on how I approach problem solving both as an individual contributor and as a leader.

SF:The Torus Tech “Resonator” extracts energy directly from “the vacuum,” meaning the empty space around everything. There is “nothing to burn, nothing to consume, nothing to destroy. No fumes, no toxins, no limitations.

Nothing short of a paradigm shift, which will alter the course of human kind forever.” Can you explain the nature of the paradigm shift that you expect this technology to deliver?

CA: It’s easy for us today to imagine clean energy technologies that are nonpolluting and sustainable. However, when you dig deeply into almost all current clean energy technologies, you quickly discover that they, too, have drawbacks, limitations and are not necessarily as clean as they are promoted www.facethecurrent.com

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to be. Solar and wind, for instance, are notable examples of seemingly sustainable and clean energies solutions – yet solar manufacturing involves hazardous chemicals and solar panels have a relatively short life span and are not fully recyclable.

Wind generation also has drawbacks with significant operating variable inefficiencies and high maintenance costs.

In contrast, vacuum energy is literally all around us – its 100% ubiquitous. There are no dependencies on location, time of day and no geo-political issues involved.

The dynamics at play here are literally the dynamics involved in the creation and continuation of our reality itself. You don’t need to “store” vacuum energy - you simply access it on demand, as needed.

You can scale your technology to the need – large scale devices for communities and small-scale devices for disconnected point of use applications.

Imagine devices that don’t need to be plugged in to charge. Imagine vehicles that never need to be refueled or homes that are completely independent of the grid.

SF: What impact will the work in which Torus Tech is engaged have on the planet? How close are you to this vision – and what stands in the way?

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CA: This kind of paradigm change will catalyze major political and sociological shifts. Everyone will have ALL their energy needs met – for living, transportation, food production, everything today that requires fossil fuels. This will also significantly reduce our environmental impact on this planet by significantly reducing and even potentially eliminating carbon emissions.

This isn’t just a change to our planet – this is an evolutionary change for our species.

This will enable us to go beyond our planet and explore and expand humanity into the galaxy.

The trick of course in all of this as you have asked - is “how” and “when.”

Theoretically we have the “how” worked out. Nassim and the research staff have proven the models – we understand the dynamics and what is required to interact with them. Practically speaking, we are quite far along with the technology as well and we are building iterative devices that demonstrate the principals - and we are getting results.

The biggest impediment we face is the complex dynamics of funding and its relationship to the established science, academics and existing oligarchy. In a perfect world, ALL research propositions would be equally funded – let the proof lie fully in the results. After all, it either

works or it doesn’t, right? Unfortunately, that isn’t the case – billions of dollars are poured into development of technologies and research that aren’t really providing the results promised. This creates an environment where those who are committed to existing solutions are essentially incentivized to suppress or discredit opposing ideas and projects. It’s a major issue for unconventional research and development efforts like what we are doing.

SF: Regarding the Resonator and the ARK crystal, how do these technologies interact? What are the goals you hope to achieve with the ARK crystal once the technology is fully developed? What will it mean for humanity?

CA: The ARK or Advanced Resonance Kinetics crystal is a bridge technology. It demonstrates the principal of vacuum energy resonance and its ability to affect a biological component (in this case water) at a molecular level. A charged crystal in proximity to water will influence the water molecule to take on a highly coherent structure. This has a significant positive effect on the biology that utilize this water – plants for example, and we have literally

thousands of hours of experimental data to support this, grow exponentially larger and more vibrant than plants that receive untreated water. Pathological resistance is also affected, with exposed plants demonstrating significant wellbeing and health in comparison to their untreated neighbors suffering pathogens and pests.

As humans are largely water based, we can make some obvious correlations between what we see in plants to what human being may experience by being in contact with this technology. Highly coherent water will be more bioavailable and will reduce dehydration which, at a cellular level, is critical to health and reproduction.

This resonance coherence affect will have numerous other benefits on the human psyche and state of wellbeing. Like the benefits provided by meditation, yoga, conscious breathing etc. all simply by wearing an ARK crystal on your body.

Our vision is to get this technology out to the masses and create coherence among humanity in all manners possible. This is why we have strived not to just make it technologically sound but also to make the ARK crystal technology beautiful, functional and modular so it can be easily used in daily life.

SF: Realistically, how close are we to using this technology as a new energy source?

experts in electronics fabrication, metal injection molding and many other fields that are necessary to our technology.

CA: Vacuum energy technologies already exist – so we know it can be done. Our technologies are very near – I expect Torus Tech to bring proven technology to fruition in the next 3- 5 years or sooner.

SF: Nassim Haramein’s research at the Resonance Science Foundation has obviously been an important part of your life. How did you become acquainted with it? What was initially attractive about it to you?

SF: What about Torus Tech’s mission is most inspiring and exciting to you?

CA: The idea that this technology can be a critical catalyst to move humanity from striving to survive to a place where ALL can thrive.

SF: How important is it that you have industrial partners that share your vision?

CA: Partners are critical. While we do a lot of our work internally and often have to engineer solutions independently, we can’t and don’t want to do everything in house. It simply isn’t practical or pragmatic from a business or manufacturing perspective. Our core talent lies in rapid engineering and development. Without partners, we would need to become

CA: Nassim and I were friends before I came to work at the Foundation. Our children played together on Kauai and our partners introduced us. We bonded quickly as we both shared a love of surfing. This friendship evolved and the Foundation opportunity came up at the perfect time for me to make a change from Microsoft. I have never looked back and it has been a privilege and a great pleasure to lead these organizations.

ymore info: www.torustech.com resonance.is www.facethecurrent.com

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The Business of Zen

and the Zen of Business

By Jeb Barton

More and more people are tuning into to the idea that we are all connected on some level. We’ve likely all experienced this sense of oneness in connection with others when it comes to family intimacy, meditation or ceremony. But what does it look like for business?

Jeb Barton has been teaching self-actualization and Awakening for over half a century. He uses esoteric concepts such as “Being,” fulfillment, and aliveness as a map for conscious business practices. It seems to be working. His company, Nomadics Tipi Makers, is approaching its fiftieth year in business and creates an environmentally responsible product in a socially responsible way, while also being profitable. Just as meditation itself is not confined to the sitting cushion but extends to every breath, it is incumbent upon socially responsible businesspeople to foster a business environment that reflects the core values of Being. But what are they? Take a minute to get in touch with some concepts that reflect our own deep, inner “knowing” and learn how to access it to benefit not only ourselves, but the world around us.

Connection: The Doorway to Intimacy

backwards to the micro-perspective of the persona – the ego – and the self.

In a world of “alternative facts,” vested interests and a reality model based on the psychology of the self, it is virtually impossible to reach any real clarity on anything. With the possible exception of transpersonal psychology, all of our Western, institutionalized approaches to expanding our personal consciousness are hopelessly mired in the defense of their own psychological and theological investments.

This is necessary because we must have a clear, unequivocal point of reference that is absolute and offers unchallengable omnipotence; something about which we can have absolute omnicompetence. As Buddha said 2500 years ago, “We must seek that which cannot be undermined.”

Actually, that would be great, wouldn’t it?

In the midst of, as the Daoist (400BC) would say, “The confusion of the tenthousand things,” wouldn’t it be a welcome, if not a wonderful relief if there were really some something - some insights – some jewels of enlightenment, that could bring complete and absolute clarity in the midst of all this competing psychological, sociological and theological craziness with which we are all currently surrounded and inundated?

There is however, a very practical and tangible way to cut through all of this – or, as The Doors put it, “…to break on through to the other side.” To begin with, let’s shift the playing field 180 degrees.

Instead of the usual chronology of starting at the start and journeying to the end, let’s start at the journeys end and start looking backward to the place where we began. That is, we are going to start this experience from the biggest possible point of reference that exists and descend

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As it turns out, there is exactly that.

This has been the personal realization of every human being who has ever achieved enlightenment, or as I prefer

to say, Awakening. I am not referring to the usual stratified descriptions of emotional bliss, or to the appeal of the vast, silence of Emptiness. We are going to a different territory within the ‘Dynamic of Awareness.’

So, get comfortable and get ready for something strangely and surprisingly familiar and, on a personal level, indispensably valuable.

As I said, we are going to start this succinct little traverse across the summit of Mt. Awareness from the “top” of the mountain, so to speak. That means we are going to begin our jaunt in the hallowed halls of “Being” itself. At first you may think this is too vague, too “ontological,” too spiritually controversial, or simply too unknowable. Turns out that not only is that not the case, but that a practical, utilitarian clarity of this “Domain of Being” is actually very straightforward.

Why is this so? Because you are already aware of what you need to know.

In fact, you are sitting in the very middle of it right now. We are in it all the time, as it turns out. In fact, if we were not, we would not even exist because we would have no awareness whatsoever. We are grounded in Being. As the Bhagavad Gita (circa 500BC) states, “That from whence all things arise That by which, when existent they live That into which, at their death, they reenter.”

Reincarnations come and go. Personalities and stories come and go. Experiences come and go. But your Being remains with seamless continuity the whole time.

It is Eternal, and your Self-Awareness is Eternal. And herein lies the key to our journey, because not only does Being, your Being and you as Being remain undaunted by anything that happens in your experience, but your “Being” itself actually has “characteristics;” characteristics that are attributes of its ‘Nature,’ to the Nature of Being. Those characteristics are absolute and Eternal whether you are aware of this, or not. Were it not for these core, unconditional characteristics, we could make no sense out of our existence, much less of our efforts to be a human type, or expression of Being - i.e., a ‘human’ being. So, you can take this to the bank: there are characteristics that you have as an expression of Being that you can count on absolutely. They will never desert you.

They will always be there ‘with’ you. You cannot lose them. They are there in every present moment of every lifetime in which you will ever live, and it does not matter what type of, or layer of, reality you are in.

These characteristics are with you always because you are not only grounded in Being, you are the dynamic itself. It is not where you come from. It is what you are.

So, what exactly are we talking about here, and what can you do with these insights?

The Zen Master, Hakuin Ekaku (16851768), is famous for asking his students a version of this same question: What is all this?

How did it get here?

And what am I supposed to do with it?

This is more than we are going to take on right here, but we will make some significant traverses into Hakuin’s territory.

OK. It goes like this. I am going to point out things that you already know. (This, by the way, is core to all mystical perspectives, the fact that you already know.You just need to “reacquaint” your ‘self ’ with your “Self.”) So, for the next few minutes, I just ask that you loosen your grip on all of your certainties that you hold about the story of your ‘self.’ Just let all that go for the moment.

Throughout your entire life, you have

noticed that there are thousands of moments when you have “pretended” to be enjoying some activity or someone else’s company. You knew very well inside yourself that what you showed to the outside world was not what you really felt in your inside world. And have you also noticed that whenever you were pretending to the outside world that you always “knew” that you were pretending?

That you always knew, even to the extent that you could never not know when you were pretending? Well, who is it that always knows whether you were pretending or not? Often enough, the people in your outside world frequently don’t pick up on the fact that you’re really not enjoying their company. And if we pretend well enough, then no one ever knows – except us. www.facethecurrent.com

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“

The phrase to focus on is this: always choose towards aliveness.

Whatever you feel, in any given situation, that would bring you the most aliveness, go there.

“

We always know.

That is the presence of your Being. You can never lie to your Being. Your Being always knows what’s true of you – what you really feel about something. You can fool the outside world, but you can never fool the inside world. If you could fool your own Being, this reality would be madness – but you can’t, and this reality is not madness.

So, when we are pretending to be enjoying something or someone, what is it about this outside experience that we know? So, here is the first of the two major insights that I want to illuminate with you.

We always know whether or not what we are experiencing at any given moment is FULFILLING, or is not. Fulfillment is key.

Fulfillment is a very big deal, because the desire for fulfillment is a core characteristic of Being – of your Being – of your presence “as” Being.

Bank deposit number one, then: Being seeks fulfillment. Period.

The ‘self ’ that is in the story will always settle for varying degrees of the superficial, but our Being will always know the difference, and will never settle for anything but complete fulfillment of an experience. This is sheer reverie because it is telling you that you have Being at your side at every moment of your life. Your

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personal access to complete fulfillment in your life will never abandon you. Your Being will always let you know what choice “feels like” it would be the most fulfilling in any situation; in relationships, in life’s work, in health issues, in anything / everything.

Sometimes it may take ‘the two of you’ a few hours, weeks or even years to decide exactly what experience would be the most fulfilling. But if you can get over the addiction to your own story and “feel” the quiet whispers of your Being, then life’s choices will not only always result in fulfillment, but they will be effortless and they will be empowering.

So, we always feel/know what would be the most fulfilling experience for us in any given situation. If we are not really clear at the moment, it doesn’t take long to get in touch with it because at the level of your Being you always know, and your Being is always present with you. So, the practice here is to just take a few minutes to “feel” your way into your Being. This means simply imagining what would be the most fulfilling. Just let yourself imagine the feeling of fulfillment. This is not abandoning the self. This is utilizing the self to become aware of your own deeper sense of things.

And here is a key: FULFILLMENT is always intimately linked to ALIVENESS. Whatever makes you feel profoundly alive will always lead you to fulfillment.

So now we have a clear and distinct process. Any time and every time you are

in a “choice situation,” which, as it turns out, is every second of every day, simply ask yourself: which of the choices that I have right now would make me feel the most alive?

So, this is what I call The Art of Choice, and this is indeed an art form.The phrase to focus on is this: always choose towards aliveness.

Whatever you feel, in any given situation, that would bring you the most aliveness, go there.

This is not self-centeredness. This is actualizing your deep, inner essence and creating your own most vital presence – and that is exhilaratingly fulfilling.

There have been many medical and psychological research studies on this ‘state of consciousness’ or ‘state of Being,’ and the results are astounding. Without exception, this state of Aliveness creates an enormous cascade of biological and neurological well-being that translates into exceptional bio-cellular function.

The link between the feeling of vitality and aliveness is of profound importance here, because of the sudden flood of new neuro-cerebral activation, both quanitatively and qualitatively. What is happening to you, literally, is that the memorized self of the story is being inundated with brand new feelings from the dynamic of Being itself. A download of entirely new thoughts, period.

Now here is the important thing to know.

You cannot create anything that you cannot imagine. It does not matter how much funding you have or how many PhD’s you possess. If you can’t imagine it, you can’t create it. So, imagination is sine qua non, to the expansion of consciousness and to the evolution of mankind. This applies absolutely to every aspect of your personal and public life – if you can’t imagine it, you can’t create it. And if you can’t create it, you can’t experience it and life is nothing but experience. Life is experience, and experience is life; and you will only experience what you create, and you will only create what you can imagine.

So, you see your best friend at work and ask, “Hey, what did you do this weekend?”

And they say, “You’re not going to believe this, but I went bungee-jumping on Saturday!”

“You did what?”

“I went bungee-jumping!” they repeat.

story steps in the way of this process, then the possibility for fulfillment ends right then and there. So, two things are now required here: trust and courage. Trust that your felt sense for what would be the most fulfilling is accurate – and having the courage to disregard the habit of your fears; your fears that this is new and unfamiliar territory that might get you into trouble. This is a whole training in itself, and is really the key to the whole process.

Unfortunately, most people never get past this point in their whole lives. Oh, maybe for a few brief “risky” moments, but they by no means live their lives in this state of fulfillment.

“

We all seek intimacy. Not only in personal relationships with others, but with life and with reality. The intimacy that a musician has with their instrument. That dancers have with one another. That a naturalist like John Muir has with nature. That a ‘horsewhisperer’ has with horses.

We seek this because it is a core characteristic of our own Being.

“

This is the neuro-cerebral equivalent of the quantum collapse model in quantum physics. The “field” that collapses in the quantum model is, literally, the dynamic action of Being itself. The “field” is made up of “waves” which, in the quantum model, collapse into particles when observed. But, in the ontological model of consciousness the field is “Being.” And the waves are thought forms that have arisen from new feelings. Aliveness stirs the field, which is the essence of Being, and The Essence of Being is Imagination. This is your intimate dialogue with your deep inner Being.

“Wow!” you say. “I can’t imagine doing that!”

And that is why your friend had the experience, and you did not. You couldn’t imagine it.

You may remember the book, “Anatomy of an Illness,” by Norman Cousins, in which he literally laughed himself from the death bed of a paralyzing disease with the aliveness of laughter. So, I encourage you to cultivate the Art of Choice by always choosing towards aliveness.

Now, there is one caveat here. If your

Now, on to insight number two: Being seeks Intimacy.

This is the second core characteristic that we will mention here. (And there are others.) Have you noticed in your life that you really, really enjoy intimacy? I am not just talking about sexual intimacy, which is rarely really intimate. Intimacy involves a disappearing into the other. It involves “within-ness.” It involves ‘blending.’ We all seek intimacy. Not only in personal relationships with others, but with life and

with reality. The intimacy that a musician has with their instrument. That dancers have with one another. That a naturalist like John Muir has with nature. That a ‘horse-whisperer’ has with horses. We seek this because it is a core characteristic of our own Being. And there is something very interesting about this. It is this experience of Intimacy that gives us our experience of Oneness.

You will not find this experience of oneness in most spiritual practice or ritual, because the ‘self ’ is still present.

The ‘self ’ remains separate by virtue of its own presence, its own perspective.

But when the self has disappeared into Being by going through the doorway of fulfillment, then the intimacy of oneness is experienced. And the oneness of intimacy rests in the center of its own Being.

So, the oneness that we associate with Enlightenment is dependent upon one’s ability to cultivate intimacy – and intimacy is achieved by being aware of what is fulfilling to you – to you, the self that is in the story.

This is an art that must be learned. It is an art to know how to stay in constant touch with the experiences that will be the most fulfilling to you. You must learn to turn down the volume on your own story. This is an art in itself, also; particularly in this materialistic and sensation-driven world that we now live in.

It is this communion then, between the self of the story and the ground of your Being that embraces that story, that must be cultivated first. No meaningful or lasting connection can be made with the outside world until you have made this deep interconnection with your own Being.

So, get quiet and get in touch – in touch with what would really feel fulfilling to you.

If you can cultivate this as your personal meditation practice then it will always lead you to the deep richness of your unique self and to the resplendent intimacy with the Essence of Life itself.

ymore info: jeb@zengastudios.com www.facethecurrent.com

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