INTERVIEW with SCOTT OLSON - The Lover of Dolphins and Mother Earth

Scott Olson has been swimming with the wild spinner dolphins for the past 21 years. He is a great supporter and spokesperson for keeping them wild, free and safe. I wanted to interview a person like him for quite some time and I was more than thrilled when he got in contact with me. Scott Olson also facilitates week long vacation retreats for people to have the opportunity to swim with the wild spinner dolphins off the west coast of the Big Island of Hawaii that way giving them an opportunity to experience dolphins’ preciousness and uniqueness. In addition, he has written and published a book MESSAGES FROM THE DOLPHINS, which is available to read as a free eBook.

You swim with wild dolphins?!.

Since 1994 I have been swimming with wild spinner dolphins off the west coast of the Big Island of Hawaii. These dolphins are called spinners, because they like to leap out of the water and spin around. Hundreds of spinner dolphins live along the coastline of all the Hawaiian Islands. They live together in groups called "pods" and there can be anywhere from fifteen to over a hundred dolphins in a pod. These pods are composed of mothers, fathers, babies, brothers, sisters, aunts and uncles of all ages living together. Their interaction with each other is similar to how humans relate. I have observed the mothers tenderly caring for their babies and the babies staying very close to their mother for protection and nurturing. Often there is another female with the mother and baby for support. The adult males swim alongside each other and interact with the females. The teenagers play chase twirling and zooming around each other.

During the day they spend their time resting, sleeping and playing in shallow bays. In the evening they swim 5-10 miles out from shore into the deeper water to feed on squid and small fish that come to the surface.

The dolphins come into the bays in the early morning. 7-10 am is the best time to swim with them as they are active and it is before they go into their sleep cycles. I wear a mask, snorkel, and fins. I swim a few hundred yards from shore where the water is from 30-100 feet deep and because the water is so clear I can always see the white sandy bottom. The dolphins will approach and swim within a few feet along side me. Sometimes they will be underneath and often I will dive down and they will join in a game of spin and twirl. They will usually interact for a few minutes and then move away for awhile to interact with other dolphins, then come back and initiate more interaction. This can go on for a few hours until I get tired and decide to return to shore or they move away and go into their sleep and resting cycle.

To be honest, I thought that dolphins do not sleep at all? I guess I’ve got the message wrong. Could you correct me please?

Dolphins do need to sleep, to rest and recharge, yet they do it differently than humans and other land based mammals. When we fall asleep our bodies automatically breathe. Dolphins have to be conscious of their breathing all the time, because they need to know when their blowhole is above water to take a breath. So they have developed a unique way of sleeping that was discovered by scientists that studied them in captivity. The February 5, 1998 Scientific American issue has an article that talks about this. The scientists attached rubber suction cups to the top of the dolphins heads, called the melon, where their brain is located. Electrodes monitored the brain EEG activity and they found that dolphins shut down one side of their brain while the other side continues to be alert. This makes it possible for them to breathe consciously while resting on the surface or swimming slowly under the water and surfacing for air when they need to take a breath. They also need to be alert all of the time to be aware of predators and maintain contact with their dolphin pod (group). They spend about 30 % of their time in a sleep state.

So those dolphins are wild. Aren’t they cautious of interacting with people?

The dolphins that I swim with in Hawaii are wild. I have been swimming with wild dolphins for 21 years and even since the first time I swam with them they approached me with interest and curiosity. From a distance they would slowly move towards me until they were a few feet away swimming beside me. I would interpret this as cautious behaviour, as they take their time to be near me probably observing whether my behaviour was friendly or aggressive. Now, the dolphins are used to people being in the water with them, and because we exhibit friendly behaviour, they actually initiate the interaction. I imagine that dolphins in other areas of the ocean, where they are being harmed, are much more cautious about approaching humans because their only interaction is to be captured or killed.

How did you come to this idea of swimming with the wild spinner dolphins? What event in life did influence you to take this significant step?

It wasn't my idea as I did not consciously one day decided that I was going to swim with the wild dolphins. Rather they came to me and showed me that I had another "purpose" in life. It was on my birthday in 1989 that I had what I call a close encounter of the "Dolphin Kind." I was living in Denver, Colorado working as a stockbroker. I wasn't thinking about dolphins, although I have always felt they were a beautiful species. I was driving to get a haircut from my barber and turned on the radio to a talk show. The host was talking with people who had cancer that had just returned from swimming with captive dolphins at the Dolphin Research Centre located in the Florida Keys. They all said that they personally experienced feeling better physically, emotionally or mentally after swimming with the dolphins. This made sense as dolphins emanate enthusiastic aliveness that could easily evoke more aliveness and energy in people. I do not believe that dolphins should be held captive and know that people can benefit from being with them in the wild yet this is how my initial introduction into the world of the dolphins happened.

This event sparked my aliveness because at that time I was depressed about my job and the way humans were always fighting with each other and harming other species and the environment. I wanted to do more with my life to help others and our world. My intelligence told me that the dolphins could be mediators to helping humans get along better with each other and could be a good example as a species that takes care of their environment. It is very difficult for humans to resolve their differences, but putting them all together in the water with wild dolphins might just do the trick. When you swim with a dolphin you forget about your narcissistic self absorbed life and realize that there is another consciously aware species that seems to be enjoying life and exhibiting friendly and loving behaviour towards you and other dolphins.

And this is what I experienced because within a few weeks I went to Florida with a group of people to swim with the captive dolphins at the Dolphin Research Centre and the wild dolphins off Key West. After being with the dolphins I felt more alive. I physically had more energy, was mentally at peace and felt emotionally happy. Yet, I was conflicted about the dolphins being in captivity. They seemed to be happy as they playfully interacted, but it did not make sense for them to be captive as they are a wild species. That is when I heard about people swimming with wild dolphins in Hawaii and ever since then I have only swam and interacted with wild dolphins.

Scott, what is the difference between wild dolphins and dolphins in captivity?

A dolphin in captivity was originally a wild dolphin or was born in captivity. Humans started capturing dolphins from the wild in the 1960's. The original reason was to film them in the American television show Flipper. Since then hundreds of many types of wild dolphins have been and are still being captured and placed in small cement enclosures at marine parks and swim with dolphin centres around the world for human entertainment. So the main difference is whether a dolphin is living in the wild or is held captive in a confined enclosure.

Now, there is a profound difference in how a wild dolphin lives and how a captive dolphin lives. Wild dolphins can live for 50-100 years whereas captive dolphins may live for 10-20 years. This is because a wild dolphin is just that...wild...free to roam the open ocean for food, to swim for miles for exercise and to socialize with other dolphins in a natural environment. They have evolved over millions of years in nature so they have developed natural rhythms of living. They know when to sleep and rest, when to be active and play with each other, when to feed, when to mate, when to give birth, how to interact with each other and how to raise their young.

Being captive, for a dolphin, and actually for all species is unnatural. They are not free to roam. They have to swim back and forth or in circles all day long in a very small enclosure. They are fed dead fish, often filled with antibiotics, on a human feeding schedule. Many are forced to perform tricks for human entertainment. The females usually are kept separate from the males, except to mate. They are not living the way nature intended them to live. Captured dolphins have a similar life to a human being living in a prison. One is confined often in solitary. Your movements are limited and controlled. You have to eat what is given to you and when it is given to you. You don't have much of a social life. Rarely do you get to be with a mate. Because there are no natural life rhythms, this creates a great deal of physical, mental and emotional stress for both humans and dolphins.

Many people say that the dolphins look happy in captivity because of the exuberant way they perform during shows, but the truth is that beneath the dolphins natural smile they are very stressed. This is why their life span in captivity is much shorter than wild dolphins. I am actually amazed that dolphins do as well as they do in captivity. If you were to put a human in a small prison cell away from family and friends and force them to do tricks for dolphins I think within a week they would suffer physical, mental and emotional trauma. I know they certainly would not be smiling.

Wow! Your insights are so powerful and true. Thank you for that. So as I am aware you have created special vacation retreats, where you take people with you to swim with the wild spinner dolphins? Could you expand on this please?

I facilitate week long vacation retreats for people to have the opportunity to swim with the wild spinner dolphins off the west coast of the Big Island of Hawaii. I usually have a summer and winter retreat. My summer retreat is May 21-28, 2011. I am in the process of setting the dates for next year's winter retreat. The retreats benefit both the people and the dolphins. Being with the dolphins is a life enhancing personal experience. And as people directly experience how special dolphins are, they become dolphin ambassadors in a sense, returning home and sharing their experiences and insights with other people about the dolphins’ preciousness.

We normally swim with the dolphins in the morning from around 7-10am as this is the best time to observe and interact with them. People wear a mask, snorkel, fins and a flotation device if needed. We swim from shore anywhere from a 100-500 meters and float on the surface. I have a staff of three other people that help oversee the swimmers for guidance and safety. Our swim follows the dolphins’ cycles. When they are resting, we rest and quietly observe them. When they are active and want to interact, we actively swim alongside them. We always wait for the dolphins to approach us to initiate the interaction.

The people in my groups have said swimming with the wild dolphins was one of the best life experiences that they have ever had. There is a sense of tremendous vitality and aliveness. There is a feeling of great joy and happiness. There is also a sweet tender fullness in one's heart. Something special occurs for each person when swimming only a few feet away and eye contact happens. One feels deep appreciation and love for the dolphins and the dolphins seem to feel happy and loving towards the swimmers. This personal contact with the wild dolphins evokes tears of joy and big smiles. When back on shore we take a few hours to rest, relax, have lunch and share our experiences of the swim with each other.

Then in the afternoon we take sightseeing tours to various places on the island like Volcano National Park or go for a snorkel at one of the many beautiful reefs to see the tropical fish and turtles. We also have free time for personal reflection and rest. My staff members prepare excellent gourmet meals appropriate for people's needs and taste, which we share together. After dinner we may get together for more sharing.

I rent an estate homestead that is right on the ocean next to one of the bays that the wild spinner dolphins swim in. It was built in the Balinese style with screened in open air rooms. There is a large main home with a living area, dining area, kitchen, yoga room and four bedrooms. There are seven separate sleeping cottages. The facility can accommodate sixteen people and four staff. Families, couples and singles have come as well as all age groups.

Most of us more or less are greatly concerned about our environment, especially when it comes to global warming, water and air pollution. What effect does it have on such creatures like dolphins?

I am very concerned about how the degradation of our environment is affecting dolphins worldwide. The wild dolphins around Hawaii appear to be in good health. I have observed them for many years now and they continue to follow their normal feeding, sleeping, resting and playing patterns. Their group size seems fairly constant and they exhibit lots of energy, which to me is a sign of good health, when playing with each other or the swimmers in my group. Hawaii is located in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, so it may take more time for them to be affected by the global pollution.

In other parts of the world scientists have tested blubber tissue from dolphins. They found very high levels of mercury, heavy metals, various pesticides and known harmful pollutants that were the result of eating fish and other food sources. Common sense tells me that this increased toxicity must be having an overall negative effect on the dolphins’ physical health. Noise is another environmental pollution that appears to be harming dolphins. Warships and submarines are now using Low Frequency Active Sonar. They produce a very loud sound that is sent for hundreds of miles through the ocean to detect other ships and submarines. This noise has been scientifically proven to cause brain haemorrhaging in dolphins which were in the area resulting in them beaching themselves on shore to die.

My heart breaks just reading this. What is being done about this in order to protect our oceans, wild life and soulful dolphins?

At this time the United States Navy has been ordered by federal courts to use the sonar in specific areas, where it is believed there are fewer dolphins, yet because wild dolphins roam freely they can be anywhere in the ocean. There are no outside agencies monitoring when and where the sonar is used, so we really do not know if they are complying. Also, the United States Navy is adamant that they are going to deploy this type of sonar in 80% of the world's oceans within the next decade. Even more troubling is that all of the other world superpowers are developing this type of sonar and there is no regulation about its use. There is a worldwide organization to address the need for a global approach to monitoring and limiting human generated noise. It is called the International Ocean Noise Coalition, a non governmental agency composed of over 150 members. Because it has only recently been formed, it will be many years before anything will be done to limit the worldwide military use of this harmful sonar. Meanwhile the dolphins continue to suffer.

Do you think talking about such kind of issues and making your voice heard brings the change?

Speaking out about the issues has raised human awareness about taking better care of dolphins, other species, and our earth yet the dolphins continue to suffer and the overall health of our earth and it's species continues to decline. At this time not enough people are changing the way they live their lives, stopping polluting and harming species, to have an overall positive impact on our environment. I have been an ambassador for the dolphin species for twenty one years and many other people are speaking out on their behalf as well. Humans are gradually waking up to their preciousness and yet many people still believe that it is ok to keep them captive, to capture more wild dolphins and to kill them for food. Because of my love for the dolphins and the fact that this is my life "purpose", I will continue to introduce people to their marvellous world as I know that it benefits both people and dolphins.

Have you noticed any positive change happening now in regards to looking after our oceans, wildlife, dolphins...?

It is very positive that more people, in their personal life and in business, are living sustainably, recycling, reducing pollution and taking better care of our oceans, wildlife and dolphins. They are good stewards. They are speaking out and educating others about the importance of taking care of our environment. Unfortunately, our world population is so large now that our environment continues to deteriorate. Developed countries continue to pollute and developing countries want all the modern conveniences that a modern society offers causing more pollution in an already toxic ocean. There aren't many fish left in the ocean, wildlife populations on land are shrinking and dolphins are continuing to be harmed and getting sicker. Just today 24 pilot whales stranded themselves in New Zealand and died.

What message do you wish to spread and bring to people from your side?

I wish to spread the universal message that we all depend on one another - people, wildlife, dolphins, plants and oceans. It is an eternal message, one that the dolphins have known about for millions of years. If we take care of our environment, our environment will take care of us. We all want to be happy and to feel that we belong in a loving family. The dolphins and wildlife that live in our oceans and upon our lands are our extended family. They have the purest of energy non-polluted by human dysfunction. They know we belong to each other. They want humans to know this too because then we will stop causing harm. They have so much more to share with us than their blubber on a dinner table or a few tricks in an aquarium show. They want to share their love, joy, peace and wisdom. I published a book in 2002 called ‘Messages From The Dolphins’. It is a combination of my own understanding and what I think the dolphins would say to humans on five subjects: true nature, communication, raising children, our environment and war. It is still timely and available to read as a free eBook.

Do you think we humans have hope or perhaps we are too late..?

There is always hope. But at this time it would take a major worldwide agreement to stop all pollution, wars, harming wildlife and dolphins now to prevent the extinction of many species and the deterioration of the health of wildlife and dolphins. I don't see an agreement on the horizon. It takes twenty years for what is done to the environment now to work its way through the Earth’s cleansing process. Corporate bylaws would have to be changed from maximizing profits at the expense of our environment to conducting their business with the health of the environment as their #1 priority. The majority of people would have to live sustainably and trade within their community. Warships and commercial ships would have to be taken out of the ocean, so it can become quiet again. Humans would need to stop harming all wild species and each other. I do not see this happening, so yes I do believe we are too late. Before the sun rises on the eastern horizon, it is the darkest before the light. Humanity is now in the darkest of nights. There may be very few people, wildlife and dolphins around to see the light of the sun rise once again.

Let’s have Hope and continue working for the good of all, even if just one step at the time. Let’s give Hope a chance. I always greatly believed that Hope always dies the last. Scott, where and how your eBook could be found and how could you be contacted if someone wanted to have a further conversation with you?

I agree, we need to have hope as this is such a beautiful world that we live in. Every day I am thankful to be alive. I believe people naturally want to be happy and want to take care of their environment, wildlife and dolphins because they love life. Some have just lost their sense of balance.

For your readers that would like more information on my dolphin vacation retreats or would be interested in reading my eBook or would like to talk with me personally, they can go to my website www.dolphinsmile.org or my Facebook site DOLPHINSMILE.

What would be the Message from the Dolphins to us – humans?

The message from the dolphins is that they love humans unconditionally. That is a miracle in itself. With all the harm that we have caused them and the polluting of their environment, they still love us. And they want us to wake up now because we have very little time left, if any, to restore the health of our environment. They can open our hearts to the value of all life and help us realize we are connected to all life through love. This will help heal our wounded lonely hearts. All dolphins are waiting for us to be with them - the fathers, the mothers, their children and their babies. Please, please wake up now and come for a swim with them into the marvellously illuminating realm of the dolphins.

Copyright © Jolita Kelias, Jan 2011
All Rights Reserved

INTERVIEW with Artist ANNA SHULTZ

I find it fascinating to see how we all have different perceptions of the world. We all see the same picture differently: some see beauty and some see scary or dark side of whatever there stands in front of us.

Artist Anna Shultz tends to have very vivid nightmares from time to time and this is not something that she enjoys. For a long time it bothered her a lot. It scared her. It took her inner peace away. But one day she got this idea of transforming nightmares into something that could expose the darkness in its full form and bring the light in, instead. She began drawing them that way directly facing and disarming it on the spot.

I feel as if through her Art she says: "Life is too short to be denied. Let's face it as it is."

Why do you create your prints?

It is hard to pin point exactly why one is creating its art. I have the particular series, which are called 'Darker Than That". If we wanted to generalise and just discuss the outer shell, why is that I produce my pieces through drawing and etching, I would need to say that I chose those two media for the love of drawing. The passion that I hold for drawing spreads very smoothly onto printmaking. The methodology and resulting piece in print are the closest of the forms to the drawing. The linear quality of the printed image resembles drawn images, and I use it as an extension of my sketches and doodles.

I indulge in print. The technology itself creates a pool of possibilities for the artist, it offers amazing experience of creation where each and every print is unique, never the same - each time there is a new discovery. The process of printmaking can be tiresome, especially if things don't come out the way the artist hopes for, but if successful, then it can be extremely rewarding and satisfying.

It takes a long time to produce an image; it is a difficult method and takes time to master, but a wonderful one too. One could say the reason they create their pieces is behind the common idea of need or mean of expression and I could probably apply this statement in my case too. Much harder is to describe that there is 'something' inside yourself, 'something' that wants to come out and to make its appearance onto the paper, that your hands aches to draw, that it can actually make you feel a physical pain that is hard to explain.

These particluar sketches of yours are dark. Why is that?

The series, which is introduced in this interview, has been created based on collection on nightmares. I experience very vivid dreams, many of which are nightmares and dark in context.

Some time ago I saw a window of opportunity, where I thought why not to turn something negative (nightmares) into a positive energy product (art). The more I thought about this, the more it shaped the idea, and that is how the project came to life.

Breathing a new life into these often disturbing images and changing its context took away the scary aspect and I no longer was afraid to experience my own dreams. They became a well of inspiration and source of my creative thought. I used these night siluattes as actors on printmaking stage. They may have lost some of their spirit in this process, but in a sense that is how I wanted them to transform - from frightening thoughts into something much bigger and greater. The demons were gone and I was able to control them with my own hand; the balance was changed and I no longer had the night dreams chasing me.

This particular series is dark, but not all of my work is. They are based on nightmares. My dreams can be dark at times, but perhaps it is that I tend to remember the most disturbing dreams, the ones that made a greater impact on me. I am able to remember most of my dreams, and for some time I was even writing them down and created a collection that I call My dream library. This helped me to select the ones that I found most interesting and as the best printing material.

The darkness in dreaming can be brought by many different factors, it may have something to do with past experiences that still return via subconscious mind, it maybe that there are fears and worries underneath that get suppressed by conscious mind but linger around...

How do you see transforming a negative energy into positive? What does it make you think or believe that drawing a nightmare transforms it into a positive energy?

Nightmares can be unpleasant, and I think majority of us would agree with that statement. They bring out fear, worry, scary images and thoughts. Sometimes, after waking from a bad dream, I still carry the feelings (during the day) and I try to forget what I dreamt of.

By memorising the nightmare, I face my fears and that way the nightmare loses its scary facade; it no longer controls me. It is little bit like taking its outer shell off, peeling it with my own hands and removing the 'bad seeds'; what’s left is only the image, but negative feelings are gone.

Act of creating an art piece is positive in itself. The idea with which I create my own prints is not to scare the viewer, but to awake a positive response, so that the viewer would experience positive feelings, appreciate the linear quality of the image, the technology used, the story line.

The image is positive, because it is only a visual representation that is flat and safe to look at. The scary context can only be the scariest to the dreamer, for everyone else it is just a drawn story.

How do you possibly see yourself awakening a positive response from the viewer through the dark images? Have you ever received a positive review on this topic?

There are different types of audience with various preferences and with interest in all sorts of qualities. The response to this particular series was one of the interest, curiosity and wanting to hear the story behind the image (that's in relation to visual context). Another group was more interested in the methods of printmaking that I have used to achieve the image, the linear quality of the piece and the drawing style. Some of the audience, which were interested in subject of dreaming and subconscious in general, found the idea of dream story behind it fascinating.

I have also come across a few people who preferred to make their own story based on what they imagined the print represented. Viewers often like to create their own interpretation of the artist's work and that is what makes creating art worthwhile. Overall feedback was very positive and constructive.

Do you as an Artist depend on other people’s opinions about your art? Would you change your way of creating art if negative opinions were more persistent than positive?

As an artist you are happy when your work receives recognition and brings interest to the audience. Naturally, as an artist and as a person positive feedback always feels good.

If the negative feedback came from an expert, who wanted to advise me on technique or show new tricks that I may not be aware off, if it was a constructive negative feedback from which I could learn, then I would take it on board.

I listen to any feedback from anyone and I am always open for opinions, especially some of which I might be able to find useful. However, no matter what I would not change my way of creating my prints based just on feedback, but I would consider learning new techniques to enhance them if one became known to me. There are always things that can be done better and it would be foolish not to take a good advice on.

Feedback is always useful, it gives something useful to think about, reflect on, practice and improve things, but needs to come from a person that knows the subject well with expertise. The criticism needs to be constructive and with purpose.

Please talk a bit about these three prints of yours, tell about their storyline.

Print 1

Not a pleasant dream. It is a representation of a very lonely and sad feeling. However, not all dreams I am prepared to discuss in detail and this is one of them. Some things from the past are better being left in the past. Chapter closed. Let the audience use their imagination. That is how I tell the story here.

Print 2

That was a weird one and it also went on for a long time. In fact there are two prints from that dream, which I have divided into two parts but decided to only show one, as I don't think I managed to 'catch' in the other print the essence of what I wanted to tell. I have a feeling that I will return to re-do that print (the 2nd scene) once I am ready.

Dark, lonely house. The main character was of a very pleasant disposition, very trusty and open hearted, who gets his trust abused, wounded and eventually losses (literally!) his head (but that's in the 2nd print). The creature in question was being very friendly at first, very loving and close, but turned nasty and horrid. That was a scary dream and very vivid.

Print 3

This was a happy sort of nightmare. The creatures appeared from nowhere or maybe people turned into them; the transition between scenes was not very clear. Wondering creatures that I call them, who don't know where they are going, but they are going forward and forward... What lies ahead? Will the ending of their journey be a happy one or will they perish? They don't know yet, but they still go forward, hoping for the former ending.

They are in the universe of possibilities and whatever the outcome, they are still going forward.

Is your art only about nightmares or do you create something totally opposite to that as well?

The nightmares series is the most recent, which is the fruit of my Postgraduate Research Degree. During my MA studies I focused my interest on dreams and the subject of beauty. I wanted to discover the 'other side' of beauty, the 'ugly beauty' and whether we can only admire the conventional model of what we perceive beautiful and pleasing for an eye.

My website is still work in progress, but I hope to present my other works soon and let the audience see the whole spectrum of my art.

Other series include subject of countryside and landscape (very romantic and classic images). I have researched works of Michelangelo and his drawing techniques, which produced series of drawings of body images and scenes from the Bible.

Other works include fairy tale schemes, humorous cartoonish scenes, as well as few abstract ones.

My printmaking journey, which began at the art college, took me through my BA Degree and into postgraduate studies that has resulted in broad array of interests and subjects. I hope all of that to continue at Ph.D. level.

You are an Artist. What is your goal? What is your vision for you for the future in your field of creativity?

My ultimate dream is to run my own art gallery and print studio. However that is all down to finances, which I am not in a position to negotiate at this moment in time. In more realistic terms I would like to establish my own printmaking studio from home, which I already started to put into place. I want to continue learning whatever can be learnt in the print field and continue making prints and exhibit them as often as I can.

I have been shortlisted for the Summer Show at the Royal Academy twice, and I am hoping that perhaps this year I will make it to the final. It would be great to be a part of the Summer Show. That would be an amazing opportunity to get my work known in wider audiences.

Have you ever had any exhibitions or displays of your art before?

I have been actively exhibiting for the last six years. My work has been shown here in UK as well as in Japan.

What makes an Artist, Anna?

There are many different types and styles of art. In my own words it would be that Artist is a person that is more sensitive in how we perceive and talk about the world. Someone who has got the ability to 'see' things and then using their own style to express what he/she saw. Personally, I believe in more classical approach, an 'old school' that one would call, where drawing skills were essential.

Nowadays many great skills are no longer appreciated as they used to be, and I accept that times have moved on and the audience has also changed, however in my heart I remain committed to the traditional studio and its methods.

An Artist has wonderful skills of seeing things in multi-dimensional way - both the physical and beyond the visible.

Website: http://www.krop.com/anna-sabine-shultz/

Copyright © Jolita Kelias, Jan 2011

All Rights Reserved

NEW YEAR'S SPECIAL INTERVIEW with AUTHOR/ WRITER SILVIA MICK

She is honest, bold, outspoken, unapologetic and free...  She is 100% Italian and her name is SILVIA MICK. She is the Author of book "I Am - Absolute Freedom".

She daringly Invites and Encourages people to follow their personal agenda whether that would be certain goals or dreams or just being and staying true to themselves. Her daring Invitation is based on her own painful life experience, deep observations and her personal example in being able to break free and BE Free as a Soulful Human Being.

When I opened your website, in front of my eyes popped out the cover of your book I am – Absolute Freedom, and then these words came out: ‘I am silviamick, I am a self-published author, and here’s my project: let’s get together to create a global movement of whole and unapologetic people united by a common slogan This world needs a Revolution. You & I are the chosen ones’. How did you come up with this idea? Why unapologetic people? What do you mean by that?

Dreamers with a project - that’s what the world needs right now and what society’s Program should be scared of - Unapologetic people with a practical dream. People who are not afraid to be who they really are and who are ready to stand up for what they believe-in in the most peaceful and respectful way. In other words, to start a global Revolution opposing hypocrisy, phoniness, falsity, injustice, brainwashing, globalization which just means to make us all the same reducing us to a percentage, a number, destroying our uniqueness. To teach people by example and show that the arrogant and the richest aren’t always right and cannot easily get away with anything they do. To make clear that Equality and Tolerance are possible, and Non-Violence too.

 
Based on your own experience, is it easy to be an unapologetic person?

 

No, it is not easy to be unapologetically yourself. You have to dive into yourself, dig into the dirt, accept all the bad stuff you'll find there, all the dark spots, all the so-called ‘unacceptable’ ones and start exactly from what you see, the real You, your Core, and then fall in love with yourself, all of yourself, without judgment.

 
I found that what I have inside me is the most precious and special present I can ever give to myself and others. I learned not to be ashamed of who I am. I fight to be alive, to be free, to be finally able to say I AM without any kind of attachment to follow. Just I AM. That's all I have. That's all I need. Because no matter what some people may say, a falling tree makes some noise even if there's nobody around to hear it. Otherwise we'll always have to wait for somebody to acknowledge us to have proof that we are real.
 
Now it is time for a change.
 

Do you think people really know how to be absolutely free? How do you see an Absolute Freedom, Silvia?
 
No, I don’t think so. I think that FREEDOM is one of the most abused words nowadays. It’s everywhere, uttered by anyone. Freedom became a commodity. Turn on your TV and you’ll have people selling you their perfect recipe to be free. But I don’t think that people actually know how to be free, nor that they really want this Freedom everyone is talking about.
 

 
To me, Absolute Freedom is the path to make your life the masterpiece you were born for, but it can be a harsh and lonesome journey. No boundaries. No one to hold on to. No protective walls. No gentle words to soothe you or cheer you up. It's just you and the void around and within. The Life, your Life around and within, ready to be created and moulded the way you want it to be.
 
It is all about being who you really are, no matter of your surroundings. In order to do that, you have to Know and Accept of who you really are, and that is the most difficult part of it. It can be a very painful and liberating journey of self-discovery, and most people don’t like to be alone looking inside of themselves. Society and its brilliant Program don’t help you either.
 
What Program are you talking about, Silvia?
 
The Program is how we are supposed to live according to standards and rules, it’s the “perfect solution” for all our problems, it is how we SHOULD be according to somebody else's idea of perfection. And...everybody has a perfect Program for me and you to follow. The Program is what’s crushing your inner child, your potential to be who you are because it is so STRONG and SPIDER-WEB LIKE that it just penetrates very deeply inside of our core and it’s very difficult to eradicate. First of all, because you have to realize you are a part of it and that’s very hard since you see seven billion people around you following it and trying, for the most part, to convince themselves that they’re perfectly fine and nothing is missing in their life.
 
We’re just submerged every single second of every day by people and ads and political and religious leaders telling us how to live and it’s certainly easier to follow somebody else’s ready-to-wear idea than to work on your own. And the Program is so convincing that we end up believing that we DO REALLY WANT what we are told that we should want and that we are the way we’re told we should be.
 

That’s Fear...
 
That’s fear. We are so scared of Absolute Freedom that we build perfect cages all around us and then we curse life because that cage we have built is not the solution we thought it would be and just makes us feel trapped.
 
But Freedom doesn’t just happen. You have to work on it, on your very own version of it and also respect other people’s version. You have to overcome all of your limits, always remembering that the self-imposed ones are the most difficult to eradicate. You have to be ready to face all the vicious consequences that will come when you don’t follow that magical Program somebody else has devised for you, the perfect-way-to-happiness that is just the path to that normality, which should be your greatest ambition according to many.
 
Is it possible to reach an Absolute Freedom right now and right here in these times? How far one must go for it?
 
Of course it is possible, but you have to work on it (and yourself) to make it happen.
 
The discovery of yourself, of your own Freedom is a lifelong journey and not a stage you reach and you’re done. People will always be there to remind you that your path will take you nowhere just because billions of people before you opted for the mainstream one. They’ll try to scare the hell out of you by making you feel that you are on the wrong path, that you’ll find yourself alone if you keep walking on it. But your own path is everything you need to live and be alive and most of the times others are just trying to break your wings to have another proof that it’s impossible to fly.

Who are those people, those They?

Anyone you feel limited by, anyone you feel it's imposing their views/ ideas/ judgments/ perfect-way-to-be on you, but remember, you are the one who is in charge. Other people will never stop selling you their recipe to a perfect life, but you need no advice but your guts’ advice. Believe me. Stop asking everyone what you should do, you perfectly know it. You’re just looking for somebody to tell you that what you’re doing is right. But that’s risky, because if you don’t find anybody supporting your idea, you can lose the biggest opportunity of your life just because you haven’t found anybody who believes in that as you do.

YOU have to believe in what you do. You won’t find anywhere else what you can’t find in you. Once you understand this point, you’ll stop looking for what you need outside of yourself. Do things for you, you have nothing to prove. And there’s also another shade to this point. Once you stop needing other people’s praising for whatever you do, you’ll stop hating them because they don’t give it to you. People have a right to criticize you. They have a right to dislike you. You have a right to ignore them and walk on your shiny path.

Never forget that self-imposed limits are the hardest ones to eradicate. So smash those walls you have built for yourself and no chains will be able to hold you down.

You sound very enlightening. What have you done yourself to experience this kind of insight and determination?

I strive to live my life every single day according to my own rules and principles. To follow my own heart and dreams, to never go for second best and always shoot right for the SKY, because that’s what we all deserve and have a right to: The life of our dreams!

I am not the perfect one who always knows what to say or do or how to dress and be smart and funny. I do not always get what I want, no matter how hard I try or the blood I spit.

I am just learning on the go. How to be myself day after day, no matter what and who is around and I only know the road to un-perfection.

Un-perfection?

Yes, un-perfection. I cannot ever reach perfection but in this very moment I am perfect just the way I am, which, in turn, doesn’t mean that I cannot get better and improve every day working on myself.

The easiest path is just an illusion. Freedom lies in the hardest ways. You can never imagine the discipline it takes to be yourself and stay true to the core of your being when everybody wants you to live according to their idea of perfection.

I don't hold the truth. I am learning on the go. I am a spiritual roamer. Never stopping on surface, nor accepting the most common view or opinion.

I know the next step on my evolution path, of my way to Freedom, and I am working on it right now: I have to be up front and put myself at risk leaving my comfort zone as much as possible. I have to stop avoiding things and people pretending that I don't need anyone because I know that I am doing that just out of the fear of being vulnerable and hurt, always remembering that I can never reach perfection, but that in this very moment I Am Perfect.

As I say in one of my poems, “I am a woman perfect in my imperfections...that’s me”...

I don’t want to teach anything to anyone. I would just love to tell people that we all have a right to our dreams and that life is in my and your hands right now, and we can mould it the way we feel better for ourselves. It’s never too late to do that. That’s what it’s all about.

Your personal path and evolution can never end. We have everything inside of us, all we need is already there.

Sadly, most of the times some of us just let our potential rot inside of us, we waste opportunities just because of the fear of not being good enough, because we are looking for an external confirmation that may or may not come and we just spend our life in an open cage, unable to spread those wings and fly so high, to lead by example, to inspire and help other people do the same, supporting their very personal way to their Absolute Freedom.

What brought you to this project you call Absolute Freedom?

I always wanted to write this book. I remember having the very first inspiration for it when I was 12 or 13 years old, and I imagined it exactly like it is now, but it took me a very long time to actually sit down and do it. When I was a teenager, all I had was frustration, rage; I felt I had no direction. I felt I was an outcast, who did not fit anywhere, so I had to solve a lot of issues to actually make any sense of the furious and dark turmoil I had inside of me. And life somehow helped me do it in the most traumatic way you can imagine.

At one point in my life I made a decision that makes my heart ache to this day. I aborted a baby due to one night stand. It happened over 12 years ago, but memories are still there, the pain and regret are still there. This used to be and sometimes still is so painful that sometimes I have to look back at it like if I was watching a movie about somebody else’s life, just to detach myself.

Do you think you are feeling guilty because of certain imposed belief norms by society or because it flows freely through you? Is it really fine to feel guilty about something that at that time you felt was the best decision you could possibly make? Why do you keep tormenting yourself for so long?

Guilt and pain are never easy to heal, and again, you have to work on that like on a scar on your body. It takes time, as much as it is needed: healing is a very personal process, it depends on the way you are, your feelings, your capacity to look into yourself, to accept and love that scar no matter what, it depends on the depth of that scar, how you deal with it, how you react to what happened to you. Scars heal only after having bled for as long as it takes for them to heal.

I know that now this stage of healing of the shame and the guilt also has to pass through sharing this painful experience to tell people that no matter how HARD life hits on you, you can rise above of it all and be happy again and live the life of your dreams.

Absolute Freedom is a lifelong process; you can never stop evolving and becoming more ‘free’, more yourself and more ‘unapologetic’. Looking at it in perspective, after 12 years, I know that it was the best decision and somehow it was necessary, because it really started my Personal Evolution and Revolution, which brought me to be the person I am today – free, outspoken, unapologetic and honest with myself and others.

What is Your Dream?

To have no regrets. Ever. To always be able to see with a clear mind what my REAL desires are and have the strength and the courage to go for my dreams and turn them into reality.

That's the reason why I am here, still alive: I am here to be myself always and completely, in good and bad, and to follow the flow of life. I am here to try every possible experience, to live every emotion, to die and be born again and again as a new person, forever. I am here to overcome all of my limits, especially the self-imposed ones, the worst of all, the others are way simpler to eradicate. I am here to smash the walls that I have built for myself and to tell everybody it IS possible to do that. To say to everyone that the one and major difference between someone who makes it and someone who doesn't is very simple: the former gives it a try. More success, less success - that's not the point. The point is doing what you love to do, living your dream, no matter what it is or how many people share your ideas. The point is being yourself, following your guts, dreaming the impossible dream and working on it to make it real, walking the path you are meant to walk on, your very personal Hall of Fame.

That’s what I wish to all of you for 2011: make it YOUR year - your No-Regrets Year.

What makes you proud of yourself?

The way I have evolved and changed throughout my life makes me feel proud of myself for having always been able to pick myself up from the ground and walk on. I am proud to be who I have become.

My inner strength makes me proud of myself.

My being grateful and always in touch with the Big Above or Great Beyond or Universe or God or anyway you call it, makes me proud and happy.

Having lost more than 50 pounds through the years makes me really proud.

And to keep being proud of myself I know that I have to keep on following my guts, working to make my dreams come true and live with no regrets, working my way to my very own brand of Absolute Freedom.

Website:  www.silviamick.com

Book can be ordered only via her website.

Direct Link: http://www.silviamick.it/public/store/

Copyright © Jolita Kelias, Jan 2011

All Rights Reserved

IF I KNEW, I WOULD... by Jerose Y Bautista

If God, for a second, forgot what I have become, and granted me a little bit more of life,

I would use it to the best of my ability,

I would possibly, say everything, that is in my mind, but I would be more thoughtful of all I say,

I would give merit to things not for what they are worth, but for what they mean to express,

I would sleep little,

I would dream more, because I know for that, every minute that we close our eyes, we waste 60 seconds of light,

I would walk while others stop, I would awake while others sleep.

If God would give me a little bit of life...

I would dress in a simple manner,

I would place myself in front of sun, leaving not only my body but my soul naked at its mercy.

To all men I would say how mistaken they are when they think that they stop falling in love when they grow old without knowing that they grow old when they stop loving.

I would give wings to children, but I would leave it to them to learn how to fly by themselves.

To old people I would say Death does not arrive when they grow old but with Forgetfulness.

I have learned so much with you, I have learned that everybody wants to live on top of the mountain without knowing that true happiness is obtained in the journey taken and the form used to reach the top of the hill.

I have learned that when a new born baby holds with his little hand his fathers finger, it has trapped him for the rest of his life.

I have learned that a man has the right and obligation to look down at another man only when man needs help to get up from the ground.

Say always what you feel, not what you think.

If I knew that today is the last time that I am going to see you asleep,

I would hug you with all my strength and I would pray to the Lord let me be the Guardian Angel of your Soul.

If I knew these are the last moments to see you, I would say 'I Love You'.

There is always tomorrow, and life gives us another opportunity to do things right, but in case I am wrong and today is all that is left to me, I would love to tell you how much I Love You and that I will never forget you.

Tomorrow is never guaranteed to anyone - young and old.

Today could be the last time to see your loved ones, which is you musn't wait, do it today in case tomorrow never arrives.

I am sure you will be sorry you wasted the opportunity today to give a smile, a hug, a kiss, and that you were too busy to grant them their last wish...

Keep your loved ones near you, tell them in their ears and to their face how much you need them and treat them well.

Take your time to tell them 'I am sorry', 'Forgive me', 'Please', 'Thank you', and all those loving words you know.

Nobody will know you for your secret thoughts and the LORD for wisdom and strength to keep them.

~Jerose Y Bautista