Monday, February 9, 2015

Washington DC Photography by: Lyssa Quallio


"I got God on my side
And I'm just trying to survive
What if what you do to survive
Kills the things you love
Fear's a powerful thing, baby
It can turn your heart black you can trust
It'll take your God filled soul
And fill it with devils and dust"


-Bruce Springsteen 'Devils & Dust'

World War II Museum Hallway of pictured Jewish Vicitimes

Anne Frank Display World War II Museum

Who Shall Live And Who Shall Die [World War II Museum]

Washington DC

Chinatown Washington DC

Subway Tunnel Washington DC

Friday, January 30, 2015

Meditation F O L L O W Up

Hey Followers!


I know I promised that I'd share my meditation experience along the way, but as I continued doing the exercise I began to realize that it is an experience I should really consider making personal. 


It doesn't mean that I can't share with all of you after I've completed it, or at least gotten to a point of comfortability with it. I don't think it's healthy for me to put added pressure on myself to portray each experience into words every session, you wouldn't believe how hard it is to even explain!

 I know that my blog is a little bit sporadic but, I feel like I'm officially finalizing exactly what I am trying to achieve with my writing.


It all goes hand in hand



M U S I C

A R T 

P H O T O G R A P H Y

J O U N A L I S M

I N S P I R A T I O N

P E A C E OF M I N D


These are my passions and these are the things I am choosing to share with the world through my blog.

There probably won't be any serious consistency as to exactly what I am posting every day but it'll range between those different things and you'll start to realize, just as I did...



that they are all C O N N E C T E D


Thursday, December 4, 2014

Day ONE Of My Awakening Prologue Meditation Experience


For the passed six months I have begun to learn about the early stages of
  Meditation and Astro projection.

 I've made the decision to dip into this world , for my own inner p e a c e.

There are a lot of things that I've continued to hold on to in my life. 
Things that I can't seem to shake from my past.

 Einstein says, the only way to make a change in yourself; is to change what you're doing.

I know a lot of what I've been doing; is building myself as a person, but spiritually I've felt lost.

I feel like as a writer, it's natural for you to have to open up deeper parts of yourself through an expression of w o r d s. So I'm going to get a little deep for a moment and talk about some inner anger I've held on to in my life.

My [M O T H E R] although I feel using that term isn't appropriate for what she ACTUALLY is to me.

I used to hide in my closet from her at night, I'd pray to God that some how the age of 18 would come magically fast, or maybe she'd finally just let me go live with my Dad.

I think about it a lot, why it is she kept me.

 I don't think it was ever for the right reasons.

She put me down whenever I would begin to shine.
She went from being really happy and excited, to all of a sudden angry and aggressive.

The odd part is, a lot of people with a similar story seem to have something to blame it on. Whether their parent had a problem with alcohol or maybe it drugs that caused them to be a certain way.

 But my Mother was her mistakes were solely by c h o i c e.

Do you want to know what TRULY scared me the most about her???

It wasn't her random acts of pure violence...

Or her hateful word...

Or her ability to always act like she is the victim in any situation..

No, it was none of those things.


What I was truly afraid of was the possibility of ever becoming ANYTHING like her.

Time and time again I forgive my Mother for her hateful outbursts she unleashes on me.
 But I can't shake this feeling that I could actually take on any of her characteristics'.



So I made a choice.


The only way to avoid ever becoming like her..

was to find p e a c e.

This means that I need to let go of all of the things that have happened to me and all of the mistakes that I have made that have effected other people.

By me holding on to all of those things, it really just sets me up in becoming the type of person I'm trying to avoid.


Back to what I said earlier, the only way to make a change in myself is to change what I am doing.

So after doing research and learning more about this experience, as well receiving this kit from a vert special person... I've begun to do a 30 day Meditation challenge.

I'm beginning this by listening to the F I R S T track for Thirty minutes a day for 14 days
Afterward, I will start the S E C O N D track and increase it to 1 hour for another 30 days.

The beauty of this structure is that by using these specific headphones, the beats coming through on the track actually adjust brain waves almost forcing me to get into this state of relaxation and begin to actually mediate.

So people with my problem...what we call { A D D } that  have a tough time with this because they cannot seem to slow their brain down, get a positive experience from this.


I'm told that by the end of this challenge, I will understand exactly who I am as a person.
 I will feel inner peace and have a much more fulfilled happy life.


Naturally as a writer, I feel I should share my experience.

 Here G O E S ....




Day ONE

*{Awakening Prologue}*

I sat down in the upright position in my chair in a silent room
 I put on my Skull Candy Slasher large-set head phones 
I closed my eyes. 

At first, I had a hard time not thinking about 20938298 different things.
But slowly I began to notice the way my thoughts would divert into a specific sound that I could hear on this track

I started to feel euphoria

 I started to be able to feel all of these different senses in my body.
 My hands and feet started to tingle and I felt really calm..


Those thirty minutes went by very quickly and I finished with a heightened sense of what I was feeling

So far... so good.






I'll keep documenting







Monday, November 24, 2014

Above & Beyond feat. Zoƫ Johnston - "We're All We Need"





Above & Beyond has a rep for making incredibly inspiring but also very relatable music videos.



....A few weeks ago they officially released this new track/video in Timesquare just one night prior to their sold out ABGT100 show taking place at Madison Square Garden.



I personally attended the show, as an attendee (not press) and it was an epic performance to say the least!







This music video truly shows the meaning behind the track..... without a single doubt..



CHECK IT OUT


















We're all we need <3

Tuesday, November 18, 2014

My "Welcome to New York," Taylor Swift Just GETS It




Yeah, yeah, yeah I'm sure a lot of you are seeing the title of this blog post & thinking, "Please, not another thing about T Swift." But I am a true believer that music is an art and we should learn to treat it that way, with real open mindedness.



That being said, I have followed Swifts journey since the very beginning. She's the same age as me so a lot of the stages in her life she sings about are very relatable to me. All the way from the track "Tim McGraw" to "22" and even "I Knew You Were Trouble."! I even grew to enjoy finding mix tracks with her collaborations on them like "mean planes" with Wiz Khalifa. It's inspiring to see someone of our generation become such an icon, yet continues to remain so classy and alluring regardless.



It's amazing because I generally never purchase hard albums copies, I usually always buy through ITunes or Mp3 million. But it's become a tradition in my life to always physically purchase her album in stores right around the time it comes out..



When I met Landon, one of the things that he told me.. made him fall in love with me was the fact that I had the newest RHCP album on my phone...... before he did...



One of the things I fell in love with about Landon.... was the fact that he had a PLAY LIST entitled

 "T-Swift Favs."



... that's right, my skateboarder, surfer, skier, 27 year old husband..... who's favorite artists are Red Hot Chili Peppers, Jimmy Buffett and Paul McCartney... actually loves Taylor Swift.

That truly shows the large audience she really does have...



So.....



......my newly-wed husband has kept up my tradition in buying hard copies of her albums by surprising me the day its released....with it next to our bed! Naturally,  her newest album 1989 is apart of my hard-copy collection...... I almost don't even remember how to download a CD into my ITunes anymore ;) hahaha jk.



ANYWAYS all I have to say about this album is....



 WOW!!!...



....Not to  mention what a crazy coincidence it is that this Boise, Idaho girl is a new resident of NYC currently.... so "Welcome To New York" is amazingly appropriate.



I've decided to make a flipagram video to portray my "Welcome to New York" experience thus far...



THANKS T-SWIFT for always being such a motivation to me and all of your other fans!










Monday, November 3, 2014

Video of the week for all you couples out there!!





I think this video describes young love so beautifully, the song is also an array of original beats mixed together with the alluring male vocals





HAPPY 1ST WEEK OF NOVEMBER!!!





-L

Saturday, October 25, 2014

Fall Out Boy - Save Rock And Roll ft. Elton John VID OF THE WEEK





... Okay so I know I said this would be a Thursday thing, but this week I've had some unfortunate technical difficulties...


I thought choosing Apple was always the best decision. But my goodness lately.. I'm not so sure!



Anyway back to the topic at hand, I did some digging for a video...



IN the spirit of Halloween.. lets just talk about the

                                               

                                               Fall Out Boy: 'Save Rock & Roll' music video..



OHHH HEYY ELTON JOHN... still continuing to be bad ass, as per usual!


& WOAAAHH what a twisted video!


.. But in the best way of course.




CHEERS!


"You are what you love, not who loves you"



-L