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Havana Bikes: A Short Film

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Since President Obama announced that the American policy towards Cuba was changing, most of us in the United States are in favor of it, according to a new poll.

Both Cubans and Americans seem to be gearing up for travel. Airbnb tweeted out some new listings of places to stay in Cuba.

A short film that I found online called Havana Bikes by Kauri Multimedia shows the ways that Cubans have preserved old bikes and made new modes of transportation from them. Not necessarily because of love for old bikes, but out of necessity in order to get around.

As business opportunities and trading grows between the United States and Cuba, these old bikes may soon be a thing of the past.

Havana Bikes has a great soundtrack and shows some of the bicycle creations that have developed over the years. It’s a glimpse into a particular place at a particular time that is drawing from the past and present, but may look so very different in the future.

Mindfulness & Fidelity of the Breath

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Since I started meditating on a regular basis a few years ago, I’ve become more mindful and aware of the present. Also more focused and calm. It feels like I’m in flow with the universe. Whether you believe in that or not I don’t know, but I feel like the timing of things is often quite right. More than before at least.

When I took a mini-mindfulness retreat a couple of years ago, I learned about the fidelity of the breath and blogged about it soon after. Here’s an excerpt below.

While everything in life changes, one thing we can always count on is our breath to be with us. It’s the one thing that we have had since the moment of our birth and we can count on until the moment we die. We will always have our breath and we can use it. Sit with it and learn to appreciate the present.

This short video “Just Breathe” is quite moving. Children are so often underestimated and spoken down to in our society. But here, several kindergarteners speak quite eloquently about how they feel when they are experiencing anger and how mindfulness meditation helps them to get control of their emotions and calm down. These kids really get it.

If you’re interesting in exploring this topic a bit further, click over here and Bill Murray, yes the comedian Bill Murray, will take you through a short mindfulness exercise like only he can. It’s worth a listen.

Have a great day! Namaste!

On Family: Tradition, Obligation & Gender

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part of the family from film

If you have about 12 minutes to spare, this film, Houshi Ryokan is worth taking the time to watch. Houshi Ryokan is a hotel that was founded in the Hokuriku region of Japan and is one of the oldest family businesses in the world. It was founded in 718 and close to 50 generations have kept it going for its 1,300 years.

The film profiles the family — an elderly couple and their unmarried daughter. The mother had an arranged marriage and wants something different for her adult child.

The daughter is seeking a life for herself, but she loves her parents and is feeling torn. Her brother died unexpectedly and the family is figuring out how to go forward.

Even though this family is so far away from me in terms of distance, language and culture, their story transcends all that. I feel for all of them.

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Image: Screenshot via Vimeo

One Year in 2 Minutes

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This time lapse video by Eirik Solheim is pretty amazing. While I’m all about mindful meditation and appreciating the present, this video has me ready to dive into just over a minute.

All that green looks good! It’s nice to imagine a time when there will be no snow on the ground.

If you have a couple of minutes to enjoy views of the four seasons, I hope you’ll take a look!