by Gina Marie
I see you walking, talking, looking at your phone not wanting to be alone. You’re never alone: so many places, spaces, people to see. We’re in NYC. Let’s take a selfie.
Categories: America, Brooklyn, New York, New York City, Nikon, NYC, Photo Essay, Photo Journal, Photography, Travel, Urban • Tags: Brooklyn, Candid, Manhattan, Mickey Mouse, New York, New York City, Photography, Urban
by Gina Marie
Categories: America, Art, Betty Boop, Book Excerpts, Boston, Brooklyn, Chögyam Trungpa, Collage, Color, Compassion, Consumerism, Divination, Earth, Friendship, Gratitude, Healing, Health, Humor, Journal, Life, Light, Love, Meditation, Minneapolis, Minnesota, Mixed Media, Mural, Mythology, Nature, New Jersey, New York, New York City, Philadelphia, Photo Essay, Photography, Poetry, Pop Art, Pop Culture, Psychology, Rainbows, Random, Recovery, Spirituality, Surrealism, Thoughts for the Day, True Confessions, Writing
by Gina Marie
Not all who wander are lost. I’ve lived in Brooklyn a full two months, and I’ve finally started to explore the city. My first month in this area consisted of mainly unpacking, figuring out all the minute details of life in this new region (selling my car, getting familiar with the subway, finding my way around, job-hunting), and also recovering from a summer cold that hit me hard. I found a few yoga studios that I like, although I haven’t started teaching since I’ve been here. It may be […]
Categories: America, Art, Brooklyn, Mural, New York, New York City, Nikon, Photo Journal, Photography, Urban • Tags: Brooklyn, Bushwick, Green Point, Murals, New York, New York City, Photography, Urban
by Gina Marie
“Gravity is an interaction. The Earth pulls on you, you pull on the Earth. You fall to the Earth, the Earth falls to you.” (Found at: http://srjcstaff.santarosa.edu/~lwillia2/p10/p10ch4.pdf) For 16 years, since my darling BFF Katy and I first visited New York together in August 2001 as a post-college-graduation-treat, I have fallen towards New York. According to the above logic, she must have been falling towards me, too. From time to time, while living in Boston in my early 20’s, I […]
Categories: America, Art, Earth, Friendship, Mural, New York, New York City, Photo Essay, Photo Journal, Photography, Travel, Urban • Tags: Architecture, Art, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Murals, New York, New York City, Travel
by Gina Marie
It’s official. Jeff and I will soon be New York transplants, as he recently took a job in Brooklyn. We began the apartment search last Sunday. On our drive to the first apartment viewing, we passed this curious-looking dwelling. I snapped a photo and upon returning home, noticed I captured but not one but two orbs in the photo, one at each window. Coincidence, flare effect, or evidence of spiritual activity? You decide.
Categories: Architecture, Ghosts, New York, New York City, NYC, Photography, Spooky, Superstition • Tags: Brooklyn, Ghosts, New York, Orbs, Photography, Spooky
by Gina Marie
Before we delve into the New York pics, let’s start with this: “Always maintain only a joyful mind.” This is one of the 59 Lojong slogans taught to students on a path of meditation in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition. These slogans are traditionally used to help meditation students tame the mind. Even in the face of distractions and suffering, the idea here is to maintain a sense of joy that you are on a path of awakening. That being said, […]
Categories: America, Meditation, New Jersey, New York, New York City, Nikon, NYC, Photo Essay, Photo Journal, Photography, Recovery, Spooky, Travel, Winter • Tags: Lojong Slogans, New York, New York City, Recovery, Travel, Urban
by Gina Marie
On a wintry afternoon, Ilona and I took New Jersey transit on a slow (under the snowy conditions) train trek into New York. It was so cold that I wore my pajamas underneath my clothes, plus several hoodies and my black puffer jacket with the goofy faux fur hood. The city was magical under a blanket of fallen snow. “Biggie Smalls is from here,” I observed as we trudged through the snowy sidewalks of Brooklyn. “I saw him in concert the year before […]
Categories: America, Biggie Smalls, New York, New York City, Notorious B.I.G., NYC, Photo Journal, Travel, Urban, Winter • Tags: Biggie Smalls, Brooklyn, iPhoneography, Manhattan, New York, New York City, Notorious B.I.G., Travel, Urban
by Gina Marie
Four teenagers unroll yoga mats in the common area of the East Coast drug rehabilitation center they currently call home. They’re ready for their Sunday afternoon vinyasa flow. Today, they seem tired. One of the teens, Vicki (name changed to preserve confidentiality), requests a gentle practice. She emphasizes: “No downward dogs!” I tell them I’ll happily oblige. Working with recovering addicts, you quickly learn to meet them where they’re at. They can be cooperative on some days and challenging, if not downright defiant, on others. Patience is tested. […]
Categories: Addiction, Compassion, Life, Meditation, Recovery, Spirituality, Yoga
by Gina Marie
While undergoing an intensive yoga training in Minneapolis over the summer, I learned the Sanskrit term svadyaya, or “self-study.” Much to my surprise, I discovered that reading Tarot cards or other types of divination decks (something I’ve been doing since high school) falls under the svadyaya category. Rather than seeing this activity as “occult,” one can simply see it as a method of getting acquainted with oneself in a deep and meaningful manner. During the training, we would often be invited […]
Categories: Divination, Minneapolis, Photography, The Artistic Process, Yoga • Tags: Divination, Minneapolis, The Artistic Process, Yoga
