Sufi Meeting AD2

Thank you Robbyn for all of the assignments you have given us. They feel so value and significant to my life and I am reminded that a truly holistic approach to life is a recipe for success. What I mean is that it is good to be reminded that the things that I love to do, the ones that make me feel full and inspired such as dancing and going to spiritual meetings, must not be sacrificed in the name of accomplishment, whether that is in terms of school, work or relationships. It is so easy to let personal wellness be the first thing to sacrifice when time becomes short. ( a woman thing perhaps because I can now hear and see Stuart shaking his head ) I am inspired by that mentality and I am contemplating that it is possible to combine my nurturing practices with the productive ones, as you intended for us to do with these artist date assignments.

I went to the home of Shakina and Hadi Reinhertz, two Sufi representatives. They are not yet murshids ( or officially ordained teachers in the Sufi Order) but they ordained guides, which means that they have been deemed to have attained a certain degree of illumination and not pure enlightenment. Twice a month they open their home to anyone who is interested in a exploring the Sufi path even if one is not dedicated to the path. In fact the first time I went I was very impressed with the utter lack of initiatory conversation. It has never once come up yet they share the lovely philosophies of the Sufi masters, (poets and musicians mostly) share the practices and generosity of the tradition.

Our meeting on Monday began with a bit of chit chat, catching up on what's been going on, marveling over the fact that is has been a year since we last met, and the without any sense of guilt or shame for my having lagged in spiritual commitment. Only genuine welcoming and reassurance that I can join them any time with any amount of distance between visits. Pure acceptance.

Then Shakina led us through an element breath meditation. I resonated with this exercise more than I have in past experiences with them because of the close association between it and the art work I've been doing. In fact I learned this exercise from them, but then modified my own practice with some similar Chi Kung influence. I was surprised a bit too when she had us stand and move our bodies while breathing in a very similar manner to the one I developed on my own. My heart leaped a bit. It felt like an affirmation that though I haven't visited and practiced with the group, I can count on my own faith to guide me into appropriate practices.

We then listened to a summerized version of a lecture originally spoken by Hazrat Inayat Khan and later transcribed in to a series of books. The topic was perfection, limitation and an knowledge. The divine being Perfection and the manifest world as limitation. The message was generally that one can move toward perfection by attaining knowledge and wisdom but the manifest world in which we live is limited. That each answered question presents more questions is infinite. Being on a Sufi path involves moving toward the infinite perfection with no expectation of actually attaining all the answers or even of knowing all the questions. All that matters is the travel, the movement towards. I think I can apply this philosphy to all aspects of my life where achievment is concerned, academic, inter-personal, career, spiritual, other personal issues etc. Amen

We finished the official meeting portion with song and then a brief prayer of gratitude for life and a request that we be drawn to and draw to us a great degree of light.

Finally we were invited into the kitchen where Hadi served us his home made frozen yogurt and cookies with tea. At this point the conversation goes anywhere it may.

I feel a revived desire to find myself there more often and met another woman from Berkeley who goes often so we will connect and car-pool yea!! I am filled with gratitude and thank everyone and everything that brought me to this feeling!!!

I did a painting last year illustrating or inspired by a few poems from Sufi poet Hafiz. You can see it on my blog titled paintingsbykenna.blogspot.com You can get to it also by clicking the icon at the right where it says "view complete profile" for Alive in Fire then choose the appropriate blog.

BFA Group Show Card for Kenna

I created this card for the show and e-mailed to a few people, gave one to Robbyn and hung one at the Art Store on Shattuck. I called a few people as well.

Artist Date 2

For my second artist date I am going to go to a Sufi meeting in Vallejo. I used to go to them fairly regularly but lately have not prioritized it. Justifying that there are important things to do or that gas is too expensive. The meetings are every 1st and 3rd Monday and I haven't been for nearly a year. Wow that is way to long. I always come away feeling great. At the meeting there will be guided meditation, discussion, singing/chanting and generally tea and cookies afterward. And I really love the people. It is a nurturing and inspiring thing for me to do. The third Monday is the 19th. I'll write more about it afterwards.

Artist Interview 2

For my next interview I am seeking a tattoo artist to talk to. I posted an ad on ac-chat to see if anyone can recommend and artist for me to talk to. If I don't get any responses soon I'll just pop into a few places, look around and see if any connections happen naturally. I may also post on craigslist. I got pretty excited last quarter about the idea of going into body art as a trade. I have a few hesitations though and really know almost nothing about the business. It'll be really great for me to be able to talk to a professional. Off the top of my head, I'd want to ask about how one gets into the trade. Do they just invest in the equipment and practice on anyone who will let them? I've heard it said that one can practice on leather? Are there regulations regarding tattoo art, the business and practice in general? Working from home vs an establishment? Is there a lot of competition? Can one make a good living at it, and how much would one have to work? Most tattoo shops offer piercing as well, does piercing come along with the work or do other people specialize in that?

I'm sure more will come up before and during the interview.

Refresh Event at Sanctuary house meeting minutes

Minutes for May 3rd meeting 2008 3:30-4:30
1. Incentive for ticket sales
a. In-kind compensation: Full days event entry including a one-hour massage for 5 tickets sold. %20 off event ticket costs for every ticket sold
o In-kind is a term that refers to any form of compensation or donation that is a service or a product.
b. Monetary compensation: $10 per ticket sold
Consider
i. Tickets sales generated by the postcards get no commission
ii. unless we want to consider compensating the person or persons who do the foot work of distributing the cards and networking, talking it up with people who work in the locations we are dropping them and encouraging them to talk about it to their guests and clients. This job if done well can take many hours of driving (gas) and talking (personal energy)
c. This set up would mean that for us the monetary output is $40 to the therapist who does the massage for the person receiving in-kind compensation and it would mean $50 to someone who couldn’t make it to the event and chose cash compensation.
2. Compensation for additional massage therapists
a. $15 for each 20-minute massage
b. $40 for each additional 1-hour premium ticket massage
c. room rental fee $20 = $60 for an hour massage.
3. Flyer specifics
4. Profit Considerations
$100 income per premium ticket
a. $40 to massage therapist
b. $15 commission to whomever sells the ticket. I think this should include us.
c. = $45 gross profit (net profit is what’s left after all other expenses are factored in such as advertising etc.)
d. less unknown printing cost ratio
e. less unknown oils, sheets, tapestries, cost ratio
f. less unknown food cost ratio
g. less unknown coordinator fees
h. = X net profit to be determined after total expenses and total income are determined
for $50 ticket
a. $15 to massage therapist
b. $5 Commission for advance sales or %10 toward ticket cost
c. =$30 gross profit less unknown actual expense ratio

5. Workshops: Set hours and establish descriptions for text and verbal sales. Determine logistical needs for each workshop. Expenses, room set up and who will be on what task and when.
a. Kristen’s title time slot
b. Sarah’s title time slot
c. others
6. Compensation for day of event Assistants
a. $50 to day of event assistants? We’ll have Kristen there by 9:00am She’ll be working creativity stations until 1:30pm, then helping Sarah set up workshop room etc while Ruth and Kenna do food workshop, and then still helping during subsequent workshops. Then she’ll do her own workshop maybe last one of day at 5pm and is off duty after that. That’s a 9 hour day, we need to be sure she takes an hour for lunch and relaxation. We’ll want another helper for the evening shift and to help facilitate any further massage room needs if it is necessary, clean up etc. 4-10 pm maybe. And of course we will all be assisting her in preparation for her workshop and also hosting while she is presenting.
7. Workshop compensation : ? A percentage of net profit. To be established after income and expense totals have been determined