This Mindful Life

© Greg Vassie All rights reserved One of my photos was...

Sun, 18 Jul 2010 10:09:00 -0400

One of my photos was the BlogTO photo of the day for July 15th.

"Instead of criticizing, find out how to help."

Mon, 05 Jul 2010 14:07:09 -0400

“Instead of criticizing, find out how to help.”

- Shunryu Suzuki Roshi

Recently returned from a 10 day retreat at Shambhala Mountain...

Thu, 01 Jul 2010 18:31:06 -0400

Recently returned from a 10 day retreat at Shambhala Mountain Center in Colorado.

currentwork

Fri, 04 Jun 2010 07:45:00 -0400

currentwork:

A few of my street photos were published in a new magazine of contemporary artwork and photography called currentwork.

Photo

Fri, 09 Apr 2010 13:33:36 -0400

Discovered Work of Vivian Maier

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 11:17:00 -0500

John Maloof purchased roughly 30-40,000 negatives by a French nanny named Vivian Maier of street photography she shot in Chicago from the 1950s to the 1970s and set up a blog to share these photos. An incredibly stunning collection, well worth checking out.

6 Changes update

Fri, 05 Feb 2010 07:59:00 -0500

Just passed the halfway point on the first of my six changes for 2010, and so far I’ve been taking a camera with me every time I leave the house, although I have not yet taken photos every day. Will be working on shooting more often over the next four weeks.

"The vanquished know the essence of war—death. They grasp that war is necrophilia. They see that war..."

Mon, 25 Jan 2010 07:55:25 -0500

“The vanquished know the essence of war—death. They grasp that war is necrophilia. They see that war is a state of almost pure sin with its goals of hatred and destruction. They know how war fosters alienation, leads inevitably to nihilism, and is a turning away from the sanctity and preservation of life.”

- Chris Hedges

For the past two weeks I’ve been rediscovering my love of...

Wed, 20 Jan 2010 13:31:00 -0500

For the past two weeks I’ve been rediscovering my love of photography. I purchased a Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF1 with a 20mm f1.7 lens that’s been getting rave reviews and have really enjoyed shooting this camera. For a number of years I travelled around with 10-20 lbs. of SLR gear hanging off my shoulder, but got tired of lugging it around. Tried a few digital cameras, but they were always too slow to focus and shoot and ended up in a box in a closet after a couple of months. Until now.

The GF1 focuses incredibly fast and takes the shot as soon as I depress the shutter. It feels like I’m using a high quality film camera and that makes all the difference. Feel free to check out some photos on my photoblog or flickr account.

"People crave the most lavish food and alcohol, and kill their fellow sentient beings to fulfill..."

Sun, 17 Jan 2010 17:45:30 -0500

“People crave the most lavish food and alcohol, and kill their fellow sentient beings to fulfill their desire for meat, even though, in the end, it all just turns to excrement.”

- Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

"In a real sense nonviolence seeks to redeem the spiritual and moral lag that I spoke of earlier as..."

Fri, 15 Jan 2010 12:54:36 -0500

“In a real sense nonviolence seeks to redeem the spiritual and moral lag that I spoke of earlier as the chief dilemma of modern man. It seeks to secure moral ends through moral means. Nonviolence is a powerful and just weapon. Indeed, it is a weapon unique in history, which cuts without wounding and ennobles the man who wields it.”

- Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Nobel Lecture, December 11, 1964

Google Stands Up for Human Rights in China

Tue, 12 Jan 2010 20:22:52 -0500

Google Stands Up for Human Rights in China:

We have decided we are no longer willing to continue censoring our results on Google.cn, and so over the next few weeks we will be discussing with the Chinese government the basis on which we could operate an unfiltered search engine within the law, if at all. We recognize that this may well mean having to shut down Google.cn, and potentially our offices in China.

The One Week Digital Cleanse

Wed, 06 Jan 2010 11:52:21 -0500

The One Week Digital Cleanse:

Decided to turn this idea into a four week digital cleanse, which started on Monday.

6 Changes for 2010

Fri, 01 Jan 2010 17:20:28 -0500

Being a fan of Leo Babauta’s Zenhabits and ‘The Power of Less’ I’m intrigued by his latest project, 6 changes. In a nutshell, the idea is to cultivate 6 new habits over the course of a year working on each habit for two months. Having successfully utilized Leo’s suggestions to establish habits in the past, I’ve decided to give the 6 changes method a shot in 2010. The six changes I’m doing this year are:

Shooting photos every day and taking a camera everywhere.
Go for a walk every day.
Write more.
Increase my savings rate.
Read more classics.
Keep the apartment ‘visitor ready.’

Have ordered a new camera and as soon as it arrives I’m going to start working on the first habit.

How about you?

Happy New Year!

Fri, 01 Jan 2010 00:00:00 -0500

Wishing you a wonderful 2010.

Reflections on a Decade in Canada

Tue, 29 Dec 2009 19:31:00 -0500

At the end of August 1999 I moved from Brooklyn to Toronto to get married and start a new life. Change, that one constant in life, conspired to keep things fresh and interesting over the past decade. Here are a few choices which have improved life in both obvious and unexpected ways:

Because we reside downtown, my wife doesn’t drive, I work from home and my experiences dealing with parking in New York city, we have not owned a car for more than 10 years.
A chance conversation with a close friend at a time when some stressful events were happening led me to seriously pursue a long term interest in meditation and Buddhism. A few years later I now have a strong daily practice, study with a wonderful sangha and go on an annual meditation retreat.
Realizing that debt was a major source of stress I paid off all outstanding loans and credit card bills and have been debt free for five years.
For both financial and practical reasons we downsized from a two bedroom to a one bedroom apartment.
This fall we noticed that it had been months since we last turned on the television and decided to cancel our cable service and give away our TV. We watch DVDs on our computers and my wife subscribes to mlb.tv for her Yankees fix.

Don’t keep calm and carry on. (via moleitau)

Sun, 27 Dec 2009 23:37:00 -0500

Don’t keep calm and carry on. (via moleitau)

Walled Word via td-architects.eu

Sun, 27 Dec 2009 19:25:30 -0500

Walled Word via td-architects.eu

"There are different species of laziness: Eastern and Western. The Eastern style is like the one..."

Sat, 26 Dec 2009 12:52:07 -0500

“There are different species of laziness: Eastern and Western. The Eastern style is like the one practised in India. It consists of hanging out all day in the sun, doing nothing, avoiding any kind of work or useful activity, drinking cups of tea, listening to Hindi film music blaring on the radio, and gossiping with friends. Western laziness is quite different. It consists of cramming our lives with compulsive activity, so there is no time at all to confront the real issues. This form of laziness lies in our failure to choose worthwhile applications for our energy.”

- Sogyal Rinpoche

"Manifest plainness, Embrace simplicity, Reduce selfishness, Have few desires."

Fri, 25 Dec 2009 18:46:21 -0500

“Manifest plainness,
Embrace simplicity,
Reduce selfishness,
Have few desires.”

- Lao Tzu