Solar Eclipse at Midnight

This shot was taken in Tromsø, Norway at midnight May 31 by Rhys Jones.

During the Arctic summer, the sun dips low on the horizon but never sets. That means a solar eclipse is theoretically possible at any time. But this week's eclipse was the first visible from Scandinavia since 2000, and the deepest since 1985. The next one won't be for another 73 years.

  - from Wired (via NPR)

Spirtual Turning Points

Coastviews Magazine Article
Victoria Marina-Tompkins: Guiding people through the major life transitions

by Whitney Merrill

Victoria Marina-Tompkins, photo courtesy of Paula Kirkland.

June 2011 — Victoria Marina-Tompkins has written and published a new book entitled Spiritual Turning Points: A Metaphysical Perspective of the Seven Life Transitions. A longtime Coastside resident known for her deep wisdom and compassionate nature, she has an active private practice at the Flight of the Hawk Center for Contemporary Shamanism in Half Moon Bay. She sat down with me recently in her El Granada home to share some of her personal story and her purpose for writing the book.

Marina-Tompkins was born and raised in the Bay Area where at the age of 8 she started her musical training on the violin, later majoring in music performance and psychology at Cal State East Bay in Hayward. She began her professional music career when she was 19, working at the Curran Theatre in San Francisco; her first show was Two Gentlemen of Verona: A Rock Musical. She went on to do a wide range of work, playing for commercials, movie soundtracks and the symphony — and with Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Sammy Davis Jr. and many others.

Marina-Tompkins said, “I loved making music in my 20s. I met my husband — a jazz sax musician — and was living the creative life.” During this time she had a son and studied Orff Music for Children at the University of California, Santa Cruz, which opened her eyes to tribal-based rhythms and drumming, improvisation, and world music. “People think that being a professional musician is glamorous, but it’s very repetitive,” she said. Orff Music “felt more rich, and I saw that all children are innately musical. You just have to give them the ability to express that.” In 1985 she created Tunes for Tots, a music school for children based on the Orff-Schulwerk method of teaching.

Alaska represents the mysterious passageway of death through which we all must pass. Photo courtesy of Victoria Marina-Tompkins.

During this time Marina-Tompkins also began her study of shamanism with Michael Harner and Angeles Arrien — and her study of women’s spirituality with Karen Vogel and Hallie Austen Iglehart. She said, “Growing up, I was interested in spiritual matters, and explored tarot as a teenager. I was always interested in what we can’t see but that we intuitively know is there.” She began to make a transition, changing her focus from music to spirituality. She said: “It was my experience as a musician that helped me to understand that there is something greater than yourself, higher than high. You get out of your little self, into your bigger self, connect to the Tao. Connecting with spirit seemed very natural.”

While Marina-Tompkins had taught music to children for years, the move to teaching shamanism was a critical turning point in her career. Linda Yule, her friend and a psychotherapist, suggested they conduct a class — and they did, and the students liked it. “At that time, no one was teaching shamanism on the coast,” Marina-Tompkins said.

The iris represents the True Self as it prepares to unfold after the internal work at mid-life. Photo courtesy of Victoria Marina-Tompkins.

That class led her to found the Flight of the Hawk Center for Contemporary Shamanism in Half Moon Bay where she taught programs in cross-cultural shamanism and developed a private practice in intuitive counseling. Marina-Tompkins describes her approach this way: “I like combining astrology, esoteric studies, and spirituality, grounded by shamanism that is very earthy.”
Through her years of working directly with people in her practice, she “saw that there were very natural transitional periods. Many times we react with fear when we come to a point like that and fall into resignation or depression. I learned that these were opportunities and that we live a lot of lives in one life. Part of my belief system is that we have the opportunity to choose from fear or from love. We may get stuck in old patterns but we always have the opportunity to choose every day. When you look at the little choices as practice … the big choices are easier.”

Marina-Tompkins’ book focuses on the seven major transitions of life, from birth to death, and provides specific guidance and examples of how to make these transitions in a positive way, to live a truly powerful life. Readers can learn about the 2 year old, realizing that the tantrum is the child trying to create self identity. Or that teenagers choose their self-defense mechanisms in response to expanding this identity, and that we address identity issues again in mid-life as we seek the emergence of the True Personality and engage in our


Life Tasks. And throughout, the book is filled with people’s stories.
Marina-Tompkins said: “I could not have written this book until I did. I needed 20-plus years of stories, otherwise the ideas are abstract.” She continued: “Illustrating the seven transitions through people’s lives makes the concepts more tangible. Storytelling is healing. We heal through sharing our stories and listening to the stories of others. We see the common threads that run through all of our lives.”
Marina-Tompkins said that she had three primary reasons for writing the book: “To bring together my life work, to give back what I learned, and to be of service … to help other people. Indigenous people say your only responsibility in life is to bring forward your gifts. … Maybe my contribution is the combination of all three.”

Her book can be found on the Coastside at Ocean Books on Main Street and at Harbor Books in the Shoppes at Harbor Village. It is also available online through Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and iBooks for Apple. Formats are hardcover, paperback, and e-book. She is currently teaching workshops, performing radio interviews, and continuing her private practice with clients worldwide.

Coastviews Magazine Article Link

14

It has been several weeks since I have posted to this BLOG as I took on a new and expanded position at work that kept me very busy, as well as traveling a bit overseas.  Where I had intended a small break from writing, it became more pronounced where a Next Step taken led to more, and more, and more, etc.  Like waves of sand blown by the wind I found myself stepping from crest to crest with little if any breaks in between.

Recently I want to see a friend & advisor to reconnect and ground.  After sharing some of my new experiences as well as my challenges of not finding enough time and space for rest/rejuvenation during this expansive period, she reminded me of the practice of listening to the spaces in between.  We sat and listened to the birds outside the window, concentrating on the silence between each chirp. What became very clear to me after just a few minutes was that it is this silence in between that actually turns the sounds into birdsong.  As with musical notes played one after the other, there is no melody without the pauses in between each note.

Upon further reflection I noted to myself that without proper timing and spacing and proportion, notes played sound cacophonous and grating.  For it is the art & craft of arranging the silence and notes that can create a masterpiece, just as light and color in a building space will make us say "Whoa!".

Barcelona Cathedral

With this in mind, I took some extra time for myself to walk in nature and listen for and watch all of the spaces that naturally occur in nature.  In the redwood grove near my home I noticed not just the tall trees that have stood for hundreds of years but the spaces on the forest floor that hold ferns and pockets of light and air.  When my son and I planted some new flowers in the planters on our patio for Mother's day we were mindful of creating spaces in the soil between so that each could breathe and grow.  And yesterday morning when I took my solitary early run out on the beach there were 14 pelicans flying just overhead - I saw the space between each and noticed that they split into two groups of 7 as they passed.

It is my practice to interpret that which is presented to me in the world around me, and to notice when there is a message.  For me this was just such a message, reminding me that for every note played there is another note that will follow, as well as for every octave there is another as well.  I reflected that the note being played for me right now was my new job and that this was actually my 7th job since I graduated from college, denoting a specific position in the octave of my professional/corporate career.  Just as there will be a job after this one (eventually), there will also likely be a new octave as this one appears to me to have the resonances of the musical note G.  Or if you prefer The Sound of Music - "Tea, a drink with jam and bread... that will bring us back to Doe, a deer..."

And from this I come back to the spaces in between for when signing the notes and moving up an octave, there are breaths in between as well.  It is these breaths and space that I am refocusing on again.  Enjoying more time with my wife and son, scheduling events & outings with friends and re-grounding my connections to nature and personal time.

And then I will be off again, taking my next trip for work and another step along my Path.  However, this time, I plan on 'singing' more of the notes and paying more attention to the magical spaces in between. :)  I encourage you all to do the same.

All the Best,

Whitney

© 2011 All rights reserved, Whitney Merrill

"Doe - a deer, a female deer,
Ray - a drop of golden sun.
Me - a name I call myself,
Far - a long long way to run,
Sew - a needle pulling thread,
La - a note to follow so.
Tea-  a drink with jam and bread,
That will bring us back to Doe oh oh oh."

 - The Sound of Music (Do-Re-Mi)

Perigee Moon

Apogee and Perigee of the Moon

Apogee and perigee refer to the distance from the Earth to the moon. Apogee is the furthest point from the earth. Perigee is the closest point to the earth and it is in this stage that the moon appears larger. Looking at the moon in the sky without anything to compare it to, you wouldn't notice any size difference. But the difference in size can in fact be quite significant.

If you were to photograph a full moon at apogee and perigee (using the same lens), here's how the two sizes would compare:

Astronomers have formulas for computing the exact distance at any point in time, but the average distance from Earth is 237,700 miles (382,500 km).

Effects of Apogee and Perigee

The apogee and perigee of the moon have an affect on the tides here on Earth. When the moon is at apogee, the furthest distance from the Earth, it has less gravitational pull which, along with other factors that influence the tides, can contribute to lower tides or lower variation in the high/low tide level. When the moon is at perigee, closer to the Earth, there is much more gravitational pull which contributes to the opposite effect: higher tides or greater variation in the high and low tide.

 - Source: MoonConnection

Chatter

The waves are still coming in to the beaches in Half Moon Bay filled with the energy being released on the other side of the ocean (Japan).  With those waves of the ocean there are also waves of chatter spreading throughout the world right now.  While sometimes useful, engaging and informational, I have seen that listening to this chatter has an unsettling effect on many.  

The question that I would like to offer up for today is this: "What is the chatter really telling you?"  And even more importantly - "What is the chatter telling you about yourself?"  

For myself, I have found that the chatter has me seeking out nature and special places ever more.  There is a different chatter in nature, as with these two birds looking for food on the reef amidst the waves and turbulence - being a part of it all and still being in communication.  I watched as they stayed close to each other for quite a while, even though the waves would often wash over their bit of reef and then recede back repeatedly.  Calling to each other here and there with their 'cheep, cheep, cheep' - the chatter of nature amidst the waves.

As I do not speak sea-bird, all that I could discern is that there must be something really good about that section of reef.  It had me look down at my section of sand on the Half Moon Bay beach where I had been standing and think to myself - "Yes, this is a really nice section of beach... and place to live... right now."  And then I went home to my wife and son for some 1-on-1 family chatter at the dinner table. :)

All the Best,

Whitney

© 2011 All rights reserved, Whitney Merrill

'He who knows does not speak, He who speaks does not know.'

 - Lao-Tzu

LOA for Today: Focus on the Desire

"It's not necessary for you to exacerbate your contrast with struggle in order to get it into a higher place. It is not necessary to suffer in order to give birth to desire. But when you have suffered and you have given birth to desire, so what? You've got a desire. Turn your attention to the desire. Think about where you're going and never mind where you've been. Don't spend any more time justifying any of that stuff."

--- Abraham
exerpted from a Workshop based on the Book Law of Attraction

Digital Natives

Digital Natives on the San Mateo County Coast: Technology in the classroom

by Whitney Merrill

Teacher Deborah Cowden, in classroom C-109. Photos: Whitney Merrill.

In classroom C-109 at Cunha Intermediate School in Half Moon Bay, each of the eight science tables has a stack of textbooks and a laptop on it. As part of the 2010 BookServer and the Digital Classroom project, Deborah Cowden has been using technology in both her science and English language development classes for the past year to transform the way her students learn and how she teaches.

Cowden says the 2009 Big Ideas Fest at the Ritz-Carlton in Half Moon Bay provided the genesis of the Cunha Laptop Project. That’s where she met Brewster Kahle, founder of the Internet Archive. Through the efforts of the Archive, located in San Francisco, and the Institute for the Study of Knowledge Management in Education, based in Princeton-by-the-Sea, she had a commitment for 24 laptops to be delivered to her classroom in March 2010.

Cowden with books and laptop.

Then the real collaborative work began — working on agreements between the principal, the school information technology organization, parents and students. There were questions about security, access and permission — and questions about how students would use the technology. A sixth-grader heard the news about the new laptops and said, “That is really cool!” Cowden asked, “Why it is so great? We all have laptops at home.” The student replied, “This is the way we do things; this is the way we learn.”

Cowden uses terms coined by Marc Prensky, saying: “These children are called digital natives; they were born into this society with technology. We 20th-century teachers … the best we’ll be are digital immigrants.”

“Technology in the classroom changes my role. I’m a facilitator, they’re the learners,” Cowden says. In her role as facilitator, she builds online courses that students can access in class or at home. This allows for repetition and review at each student’s individual pace — and if students are out sick or on vacation, they can still access the courses. The technology also provides a collaborative environment, with discussion threads and access to the Internet for ongoing research and investigation.

Flip camera.

In science class the students are working on an over-arching question about air pressure through a student-directed project: How does air pressure affect weather? Cowden has student teams collaborating on pieces of the project and pulling research from various sources, including websites — some that she provides and some that the students find on their own. Cowden helps them develop information literacy — finding reliable sources and fact checking what they read. She is also working with Len Erickson and Coastside STEM — Science Techology Engineering and Mathematics — on a robotics class that enables her students to have ongoing access to a professional working in the field.

For their final projects, students produce multimedia presentations using video, PowerPoint presentations and music. Cowden shows me a few and I am amazed at the work being created by eighth-graders; many people working at technology firms in Silicon Valley would be hard pressed to create such a presentation or video in support of their own work.

Cowden's earth science learning objectives.

Cowden says that when students are given the opportunity to learn online, more of them are engaged — and more of them pass tests and complete assignments. In her eighth-grade technology class, the percentage of students successfully completing projects went from 25 percent to 75 percent. “Technology supports student-directed learning and it puts the responsibility of learning into students’ hands,” she says.

Cowden’s wish list for the upcoming year includes continuing the program, and expanding further into multimedia with additional Flip camcorders as well as keyboards and midis. She would also like for all teachers who want to use technology in their classrooms to be able to do so.

Science books and Wi-Fi connected netbook.

Even with all of the emphasis on technology, it is clear that her true passion is for her students and how they are learning. She says, “They’re making connections that I didn’t make until junior year in college. I get thrilled with who they are.”