champagne celebration

thank you soul sister

for friendship + fun
and frivolous folly

for totem talk
and spirit songs

for sharing your heart
and baring your soul.

i treasure our friendship,
be we near or far.





copyright 2010 Alisa Barry

so simple

the secret to everything is to simply slow down.





copyright 2010 Alisa Barry

love list 2011

{my top 10 for the new year} :
1.  gotta get my house in order.       
physical. financial. spiritual. 

2.  Help from the he{ART}  


T for Tibet.
 a non-profit fund-raising opportunity to honor + preserve Tibetan culture. hand-stitched T-shirts to benefit a favorite philanthropy, Tibet House in NYC .

3.  everyday life as art. 

enso ink. pocket prayers. beautiful books. movement. music. 

4.   all seeing.  wisdom.  warrior. 

 intuition. confidence. faith.  practice.

5.   the art of entrepreneurial enlightenment   comes to life. 

6.      laughter, love + loveliness. 

7.   nourish + nurture:  begin THE BOOK   

{the devotion of delicious rituals in our daily life.}   

8.   travel. adventure. opportunity. 

manka's mystical fishing lodge.  PARIS.  la bella villa in umbria, Italia.  rumi's  sacred space in kona, turkey. artist friends in abiqui.


9.   www.  A L I S A  B A R R Y . com   
designs in the work by my favorite urban zen designer, coolgrayseven. 
looking forward to sharing what i love.

10.  monthly retreats at our sweet little northern california cottage. 

writing. cooking. loving. dreaming. r e la x i n g. working.  eating.  painting. gardening.   FERRY PLAZA FARMER'S MARKET.  italian lessons + bocce ball.

mantra  2011: 

{i give myself permission to do what i love. i give myself the responsibility to serve others with that love.}

copyright 2010 Alisa Barry

celebrate the feast of faith and joy

{Faith is based on genuineness, trusting in yourself and your vision. 
You are not faking anything, and you are not trying to impress anybody. 

Faith inspires discipline, which is not based on punishment or arbitrary 

rules and authority, but rather on becoming thoroughly gentle and 

genuine.   Discipline guides you and shows you how to live in the 

warrior?s world. With this unwavering discipline, the warrior takes joy 

in the journey and joy in working with others. This joy is like music, 

which celebrates its own rhythm and melody. The celebration is 

continuous, in spite of the ups and downs of life.}


* quote by chogyam trungpa rinpoche





copyright 2010 Alisa Barry

winter wonderland

gift from the heavens
 sticking to the ground.
going to bed hoping for sweet dreams and white covered sidewalks


merry christmas, my friends.

copyright 2010 Alisa Barry

a prayer for the winter solstice

{let go of this so you can become that} 





copyright 2010 Alisa Barry

forgiveness

that is all you need to let go.








copyright 2010 Alisa Barry

stepping out

of my comfort zone.
push me
lead me
to the ................         edge.






copyright 2010 Alisa Barry

experiment

2011.












copyright 2010 Alisa Barry

sing song, we all need a place to belong

in many shamanic societies, if you came to a shaman or medicine person complaining of being disheartened, dispirited, or depressed, they would ask one of four questions. 

• when did you stop dancing? 
• when did you stop singing? 
• when did you stop being enchanted by stories? 
• when did you stop finding comfort in the sweet territory of silence? 

where we have stopped dancing, singing, being enchanted by stories, or finding comfort in silence is where we have experience the loss of soul. dancing, singing, storytelling, and silence are the four universal healing salves.*  






* gabrielle roth

copyright 2010 Alisa Barry

believing in the stars + moon

fluffy white lemon meringue
pie in the sky.

heaven on earth
and tears of joy.

sparkles and hope
from a faraway land.

dreams do come true.


copyright 2010 Alisa Barry

assess, align, aspire

{assess} 


the year you have lived.


{align}


your priorities with your dreams


{aspire}


to follow the path with faith and devotion










copyright 2010 Alisa Barry

focus on the fundamentals first

I love Susan Piver.  She has the ability to write about the everyday ordinary. Not, as one might assume, the boring or mundane. This is about  things we can do daily that focus on the fundamentals:  our well-being + sanity. 

Think about it- when we feel a sense of order and purpose, we have the fuel and fire to go out into the world and explore greater possibilities with confidence and conviction....and sustainable, successful results. 

In one of her recent posts, she shares with her readers a few fundamentals her teacher, Sakyong mipham rinpoche, offers. 

1. Cleaning up your space.
2. Wearing nice clothes. (Not expensive, necessarily; clean, well-fitting, and so on)
3. Spending time with people who increase your energy.
4. Eating good (quality) food.
5.  Spending time in the natural world.

copyright 2010 Alisa Barry

dark morning dew

the drip of rain droplets falling off branches
settling into the cement
seeping into the earth.

wake up!

slowly.




copyright 2010 Alisa Barry

midnight mantra

{walk in balance + beauty.}

* quote from graham greene

copyright 2010 Alisa Barry

craving quiet

silence is soothing for the soul.











copyright 2010 Alisa Barry

in the midst of chaos

keep calm.
hold your ground.
stay centered.
find the stillpoint. 
enjoy the ride! 

{chaos is a friend of mine.}






*quote by bob dylan




copyright 2010 Alisa Barry

discipline as a practice of devotion

devotion to our art
devotion to our work
devotion to our family
devotion to our well-being

it's about faith that what we are doing is meaningful
it's about mindfulness in the practice of what we undertake
it's about showing up with ourselves as our offering.





copyright 2010 Alisa Barry

knowing uncertainty

fighting my way through the habits that have seeped deep in my bones, my psyche, my soul.

time to be the warrior now. 

shaking body, shaking up life. purging. cleansing. clarity. 

curiosity. 

uncertainty is my new mantra.  there is a deep knowing in the unknown. 

trust and faith.   having seen the divine at work.

I step aside to let the soul serve.

consciousness and cohesion.

copyright 2010 Alisa Barry