Ayurveda

A teacher I came across in San Francisco, Pratichi Mathur. I love her writings on her website, the Bio, Mission, and Ayurveda tabs are very inspiring and insightful. Here's a link to a picture of her in the SF Gate newspaper, offering water to the sun as part of her morning purifying practice outside her Mountain View home.

Pranayama

Rewiring the Brain: Inside the New Science of Neuroengineering via wired -thanks David

One of my friends, Nicolle, recently returned from a stay at Plum Village, a lovely monastery in France led by spiritual teacher Thich Nhat Hanh. The Mindfulness Practice Center of Fairfax teaches mindfulness in the tradition of Thich Nhat Hanh. The link to their website includes a schedule and directions to the center.

Saturn At Opposition: On March 8, Saturn is directly opposite the Sun and can be seen from sunset to sunrise. It is also at its closest point to Earth for the year. Saturn begins to exit the morning sky around March 8. Beginning around March 8, Saturn can be seen in the evening sky until late summer.

Go Green America Expo! March 28-29, 2009 at the Montgomery County Agricultural Center in Gaithersburg, MD. "A tradeshow focused on the sustainablility movement: promoting an environmentally responsible lifestyle for consumers and businesses throughout the country. It is our mission to showcase the services, products, technology, information, and educational resources available today which will enable us to create positive change."

Via Slate, The Green Lantern. "Illuminating answers to environmental questions." -thanks Travis

Official Website for the National Cherry Blossom Festival, March 28 - April 12, 2009

Raymond Kurzweil is an inventor and futurist. He has been a pioneer in the fields of optical character recognition (OCR), text-to-speech synthesis, speech recognition technology, and electronic keyboard instruments. He is the author of several books on health, artificial intelligence (AI), transhumanism, the technological singularity, and futurism. -thanks Trent

Wiki links of the day:
Pranayama (yogic breathing)
Holotropic Breathwork (psychotheraputic form of breathing)

Quote of the day (via Philosopher's Notes):
If anything is worth doing, do it with all your heart.” ~ Buddha from The Dhammapada

That makes it pretty simple.

If it’s worth doing (very important distinction) do it with all your heart (equally important distinction).

Decide what’s worth doing. (Seriously. Are you doin’ stuff that you shouldn’t even be doing? Because that’s the stuff you tend to do half-ass. Best solution? Stop doing it—either immediately or make a plan to stop doing it…)

Once you’ve decided to do it, give all your heart to it.

(Pretty, please.)

Mathematics

An excerpt from "Is God A Mathematician?" via the March Scientific American issue:

"The unreasonable effectiveness of mathematics creates many intriguing puzzles: Does mathematics have an existence that is entirely independent of the human mind? In other words, are we mereley discovering mathematical verities, just as astronomers discover previously unkown galaxies? Or, is mathematics nothing but a human invention? If mathematics indeed exists in some abstract fairyland, what is the relation between this mystical world and physical reality? How does the human brain, with its known limitations, gain access to such an immutable world, outside of space and time? On the other hand, if mathematics is merely a human invention and it has no existence outside our minds, how can we explain the fact that the invention of so many mathematical truths miraculously anticipated questions about the cosmos and human life not even posed until many centuries later?"

Electronics and Melatonin levels

From the GOOP newsletter link I posted earlier, but something I'm being more conscious of:

Have an “electronic sundown.” At around 10 pm, turn off your computer, charge your cell in the other room and turn off the TV. Scan your bedroom for blinking or glowing lights – the alarm clock, the charging indicator on your cell phone, the DVD clock and timer, etc. Turn these off or cover the lights. Each little bit of light can stop your melatonin levels from rising, which you need to induce sleep and to reach the deep restorative sleep your body requires. If you can’t darken your room, wear a sleep mask. This period of darkness will help reset your natural rhythm.

Planetary Consciousness

Open up to infinity and you become infinity.

No its not a mystery, its everything

We are experiencing a mass extinction, click to read/learn more. The current loss of species is overwhelming. Here's another video from Species Alliance, which is working to raise awareness of the extreme loss of biodiversity our planet is facing.
And, an Inspiring Obama Film -thanks Katherine

Check out the Art Whino Blog!

Crystal Couture in Crystal City, February 13-28, 2008, going on now!

Masala Bhangara, a dance/fitness activity that's been gaining recent popularity.

Washington Post's Going out Guide

Music I've been checking out lately:
Royksopp Happy Up Here
Kid Cudi
Flying Lotus
Acid crunk genre

David Wolfe's Beauty through Mineralization I haven't gotten any emails back after I signed up, and I haven't had time to look into it further yet, but: "You’ll learn the exact minerals your body needs, PLUS the exact sources you can get these minerals from. We even give you checklists to ensure you get the mineralization you need to achieve the results you desire. Minerals are the foundation of our body’s health and longevity. And unfortunately, you won’t get all the minerals you need just by consuming a raw or superfood diet."

IMEEM: what's on your playlist?

Melissa Harris will be coming to Sacred Circle on Sunday May 3. In her own words, here is what she will be offering:

Have you ever wondered what aspects of your being would reveal themselves to a psychic or "intuitive" and what these qualities would look like in a painting?

I am now happy to combine my background as a clairvoyant with my artistic abilities to create your own spirit essence portrait. I will tune into you and do a 7" x 10" watercolor painting of your unique essence as it appears to me in a semi-trance state. I combine the elements of what I find into your painting in a way that will be helpful for you in your path of development. For example, this might include reminders of issues you are working on, aspects of yourself that you may want to honor, patterns of behavior that you are working on changing, etc. I never know. These are just some examples. The session takes 60 minutes and you receive the double benefit of learning what I "see" as well as owning a Melissa Harris original painting.

9am Sunday Morning: Yoga for Athletes at Radiance Yoga in Old Town. A little tidbit about Radiance Yoga from this month's email:

Some of you may have noticed a wooden box on top of the fridge with a sign above it that reads, "God Box," and you might be wondering what it is and why we have it.

I learned about the God Box from Julia Cameron's book, "The Artist's Way." She describes the God Box as a place to put your fears, your resentments, your hopes, your dreams, and your worries. The God Box is a reminder that "God's got it," so you can stop worrying.

I use a God Box at home because I feel lighter and more relaxed after I write down my worries and drop them in the box. This simple ritual reinforces my belief that I'm supported by a greater energy and allows me to focus on happy thoughts.

I wanted to share this tool with all of you and welcome you to use our God Box at the studio. Next time you're in for a class, take a few minutes to write down your worries, drop them in the box, and give yourself permission to release and relax. When the box is full I'll take it home, say a few prayers, and burn the contents to release the energy.

Quotes of the day:
"Enjoy the trip!!! And remember, there is no such thing as a wrong decision..." -Melissa Harris

"Returning to the source is stillness, which is the way of nature.
The way of nature is unchanging.
Knowing constancy is insight." - Lao Tzu

"I honor the place in you - where the whole universe resides. I honor the place in you of love, light, peace and truth. I honor the place in you - where if you are in that place in you and I am in that place in me, there is only one of us."

Book of the day: The Tree of Yoga by B.K.S. Iyengar

Question of the day: What images lead you to parallel realities?

Meditation Retreat Warrenton, VA

I just got back from a lovely overnight retreat with the Earth Sangha. There was a small group of us, and I really hope to carry the positive momentum and energy from the mediation retreat with me into daily practice. This morning we did 108 "prostrations" which consisted of kneeling and bowing; the number reminded me of being in Raleigh for the Winter Solstice this past year, and the yoga studio/school I visited was doing 108 sun salutations on the solstice. There is power in the number:) Below is the sutra that we chanted after each sitting. It was beautiful to be in a country house for the night, with fresh air, open spaces, and a long and winding driveway. The property was about 100 acres, with a large meadow and walking trail through a forest. It was absolutely lovely :)

The Maha Prajnaparamita Hridaya Sutra

The Bodhisattva of Great Compassion from the deep practice of Prajnaparamita perceived the emptiness of all five skandas and delivered all beings from their suffering.

O Sariputra, form is no other than emptiness,
emptiness no other than form.
Form is emptiness, emptiness form.
The same is true of feeling, thought, impulse and consciousness.

O Sariputra, all dharmas are empty. They are not born or annihilated. They are not defiled nor immaculate. They do not increase nor decrease. So in emptiness no form, no feeling, no thought, no impulse, no consciousness.

No eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, mind; no form, sound, smell, taste, touch, or objects of mind, no realm of sight, no realm of consciousness.
No ignorance, nor extinction of ignorance, no old age and death, nor extinction of them.

No suffering, no cause of suffering, no cease from suffering, no path to lead out of suffering,
no knowledge, no attainment, no realization,
for there is nothing to attain.

The Bodhisattva holds on to nothing but Prajnaparamita therefore the mind is clear of any delusive hindrance.Without hindrance there is no fear, away from all perceived views one reaches final nirvana.

All Buddhas of past, present and future through faith in Prajnaparamita attain to the highest perfect enlightenment.
Know then the Prajnaparamita is the great dharani,
the radiant peerless mantram, the utmost supreme mantram,
which is capable of allaying all pain.
This is true beyond all doubt.

Proclaim now the highest wisdom, the Prajnaparamita.

Gate, Gate Paragate Parasamgate Bodhi, Svaha!

Currently listening to this awesome mix by Nature Rage

I've begun subscribing to the GOOP newsletter, I particularly liked this week's, click here to read. Dr. Frank Lipman has a theory about why we are all so tired, exhausted, "spent", most of the time as he calls it. He references the DNA we have from our ancestors, chronobiology, and viewing each human as a microcosm of the macrocosm, all topics I have been interested in the past few years. He basically writes a book about becoming in tune with nature's rhythms again, which is one of the main views of Taoism and Chinese Medicine. I feel like if I had put my thoughts together, I could have written everything that he said! But maybe I will one day. And he has done a good job of explaining it, in the newsletter, I think.

Empty yourself of everything.
Let the mind become still.
The ten thousand things rise and fall while the Self watches their return.
They grow and flourish and then return to the source.
-Lao Tzu

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Early Valentine's Day! I'll be in Blacksburg this weekend so I probably will be detoxing from the computer and won't be posting.
Keep your celebration green with organic and fair trade gifts and chocolate, homemade cards, and candlelight! :)

Quote of the Day: The feeling many call love is the sensation caused by two minds and bodies linking. You can fall in love with anybody if you stand next to them long enough. - Scott T. Mallory, Jr.

A new, safe water bottle

Here's a safe water bottle alternative that does NOT contain Bisphenol_A (BPA).

It's beautifully designed, durable and dishwasher safe. Click here

National Sustainable Design Expo P3: "The Fifth Annual National Sustainable Design Expo is scheduled to be held April 18-20, 2009 on the National Mall in Washington, DC. We will have over 40 P3 teams and over 40 non-profit and government exhibitors demonstrating their sustainable designs for alternative energy sources, agricultural applications, green chemistry, green buildings, sustainable water use, and many more sustainable technologies."

Wiki-of-the-day: Rapini

Quote of the day:
"We think that success is only measured by your money
But money never lasts
In fact its only last on the list of impactful things we can ask for" - Wale, the Perfect Plan

Yummy Recipe :)

Did you know that along with its wealth of vitamins and minerals, cauliflower, like the other cruciferous vegetables, contains powerful sulfur compounds that have repeatedly been found to help prevent cancer? These include sulforaphane and isothyiocyanates, two compounds that help the liver to neutralize potentially harmful cancer causing compounds and to suppress tumor cell growth and the movement of cancer to other parts of the body (metastasis).

I like this recipe, via the "World's Healthiest Foods" weekly email.

5-Minute Cauliflower

Enjoy the extra flavor and health benefits from combining cauliflower with turmeric for this easy-to-prepare great tasting side dish that will complement almost any meal. Turmeric has long been recognized as a powerful anti-inflammatory in both Chinese and Indian systems of medicine and modern scientific research continues to reinforce the benefits of this tasty spice. One serving of this dish also provides 181% of the daily value (DV) for vitamin C, 46% DV for vitamin, and 33% DV for folate. Enjoy!

Prep and Cook Time: 5 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 lb cauliflower
• 5 TBS low sodium chicken or vegetable broth
• 1 tsp turmeric
• Mediterranean Dressing
• 1 TBS extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tsp lemon juice
• 2 medium cloves garlic
• sea salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Cut cauliflower florets into quarters and let sit for 5 minutes to bring out their hidden health benefits.
2. Press or chop garlic and let for 5 minutes.
3. Heat 5 TBS broth in a stainless steel skillet on medium heat.
4. When broth begins to steam, add cauliflower and turmeric and cover. For al dente cauliflower, cook for no more than 5 minutes.
5. Transfer to a bowl. For more flavor toss cauliflower with the remaining ingredients while it is still hot. (Mediterranean Dressing does not need to be made separately.) Research shows that carotenoids found in foods are best absorbed when consumed with oils.
6. Sprinkle with chopped cilantro.

Serves 2

Healthy Cooking Tips:

To mellow the flavor of garlic, add garlic to cauliflower for the last 2 minutes of sautéing. You may need to add a little more liquid to keep garlic from sticking to the pan.

The Virtue of Surrender

My meditation group on Tuesday was extremely enlightening, focusing on the virtue of surrender, to the universal force, in which you trust that everything that is happening is exactly what is supposed to be happening. Its such a great feeling to surrender to this force, so that your desires are perfectly aligned with it.

A great article from the Earth Policy Institute, on Planting Trees and Managing Soils to Sequester Carbon.

Things going on around DC:

Ice Skating in the Sculpture Garden (although maybe not this weekend, its supposed to be gorgeous!)
Earth Sangha fieldwork on Sunday at Canterbury Woods Park in Farifax from 10am-1pm
Meditation at Mindful Hands, 211 King St. Sunday morning at 10 am with Palyul Changchub Dargyeling.
The Bellydance Superstars are coming to DC on March 3rd.
Heart Art at the Torpedo Factory in Old Town Alexandria on February 12th, from 6-9 pm will feature live music, open studios and galleries, and refreshments. A bonus: The first 300 guests will be given a flower. This is a part of their monthly second Thursday art nights.
DC Wine&Food Festival, February 14-15th.
Washington DC Winter Restaurant Week, February 16th-22nd.

The National Capital Astronomers is a non-profit, membership supported, volunteer run, public service corporation dedicated to advancing space technology, astronomy, and related sciences through information, participation, and inspiration, via research, lectures and presentations, publications, expeditions, tours, public interpretation, and education.

Random thought: I would like to hike the Appalachian Trail one day, and also to pick coriander seeds.
Currently researching/looking into the health benefits of cod liver oil.

My friend Marcus got a research paper published: Nicotine pre-exposure does not potentiate the locomotor or rewarding effects of Δ-9-tetrahydrocannabinol in rats.

Saw this DJ at the Phillips Collection last night, thought his tunes were excellent: Adrian Loving.

Wiki link-of-the-day: Synchronicity

Quote of the day: "Sit down, shut up and ask yourself, "What's true?" until you know." - Jed McKenna

February

An excerpt from local yoga studio's monthly email:

Yogic texts remind us that our life circumstances are partly karmic and partly up to our own will. The choice is yours to engage this energy that’s moving us forward. times are changing and shifting to greater horizons and as with any shift, it’s time to let your fears go and have faith. know that you can co-create your reality no matter what the external environment is like and flow with the momentum of change for the better.

Also from the pure prana email, MC Yogi.

Yoga with Rodney Yee, a sample. Recommended by a lovely soul, thanks Jen.

DC This Week, a blog I came across...the "Everyday Reads" list is pretty intense.

EPA and the U.S. Botanic Garden produced an on-line video, “Reduce Runoff: Slow It Down, Spread It Out, Soak It In,” that highlights green techniques such as rain gardens, green roofs and rain barrels to help manage stormwater runoff. The video highlights green techniques on display in 2008 at the U.S. Botanic Garden’s “One Planet – Ours!” Exhibit" and at the EPA in Washington, D.C., including recently completed cisterns.

To watch the video click here, and then click on the link on the right hand side of the page.

Chill out to this (excellent music)
and
Bay to LA :D so excited about moving to Cali. Just waiting on a start date from the office out there, and if it doesn't work, I'm going to set a date to move and job search when I arrive.

Books on my list to read:
Pale Blue Dot, Carl Sagan
Ultra Prevention, Mark Hyman
Release your Brilliance, Simon T. Bradley

Also I think that some of my earliest posts were some of my best for links and info..I would recommend checking out some of the earlier months of this blog too if you're a new reader.

More to come on this post..

Follow the Calmness

I have posted documents of quotes/summaries of two Michael Pollan books I have read, Second Nature and In Defense of Food. Click here to check them out. :)

Quote of the day: It could take a thousand years, it could happen in a night.

Quotes from The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success, by Deepak Chopra.

All actions are karmic episodes. Action generates memory, and memory has the ability or the potentiality to generate desire. And desire generates action again. Your soul is a bundle of consciousness that has the seeds of karma, memory, and desire. By becoming conscious of these seeds of manifestation, you become a conscious generator of reality. By becoming a conscious choice maker, you begin to generate actions that are evolutionary for you and for everyone. And that's all you need to do.

The third way to deal with karma is to transcend it. This, of course, is done through meditation.

Ishmael Quotes

"Say, didn't we make for the garden a certain tree whose fruit is the knowledge of good and evil?"

"But it's not going to be this easy for the Takers. It's going to be hard as hell for them to give it up, because what they're doing is right, and they have to go on doing it even if it means destroying the world and mankind with it...It would mean spitting out the fruit of that tree and giving the rule of the world back to the gods."

"When Adam accepted the fruit of that tree, he succumbed to the temptation to live without limit...Whenever a Taker couple talk about how wonderful it would be to have a big family...why stop at four kids or six? we can have fifteen if we like. All we have to do is plow under another few hundred acres of rain forest--and who cares if a dozen other species disappear as a result?"

"Man was innocent until he discovered the difference between good and evil. When he was no longer innocent of that knowledge, he became a fallen creature."

"People can't just give up a story. That's what the kids tried to do in the sixties and seventies. They tried to stop living like Takers, but there was no other way for them to live. They failed because you can't just stop being in a story, you have to have another story to be in."
"And what do you suppose this story is about?"
"Well, you should at least know that it's about the meaning of the world, about divine intentions in the world, and about the destiny of man."

"They need a vision of the world and of themselves that inspires them."
"Yes. Definitely. Stopping pollution is not inspiring. Sorting your trash is not inspiring. Cutting down on fluorocarbons is not inspiring. But this...thinking of ourselves in a new way, thinking of the world in a new way...This..." I let it go. What the hell, he knew what I was trying to say.

"What I've been at pains to give you is a new paradigm of human history. The Leaver life is not an antiquated thing that is 'back there' somewhere. Your task is not to reach back but to reach forward."
"But to what?"
"You're an inventive people, aren't you? You pride yourselves on that, don't you?"
"Yes."
"Then invent."

"White or black, male or female, what the people of this culture want is to have as much wealth and power in the Taker prison as they can get. They don't give a damn that it's a prison and they don't give a damn that it's destroying the world."

"In my experience, you never really know how you're going to handle a problem until you actually have it."


Link of the day: The Eight Extraordinary Meridians

You are eternal

Sunset

Sunrise

Nyingma Instiute Garden

Enlightenment Stupa

Buddha statue in the Japanese Tea Garden, Golden Gate Park

Japanese Tea Garden

View from Strawberry Hill in Golden Gate Park

Ocean Beach

California

I'm currently in my cousin's beautiful apartment in Emeryville, CA. My time so far in the Bay Area has been wonderful for the most part, even though Mercury is in retrograde and with traveling you should be extra cautious and aware. When I arrived yesterday I was greeted by a lovely soul, my friend Katherine, who hosted me for Saturday night in her home in the hills of Orinda. The air was fresh and the views were stunning and gorgeous (pictures to come). We ate delicious split pea soup and salmon. Then on Saturday evening we went to the Niroga Center in Berkeley for a youth sangha meditation sitting and discussion, which was enlightening, even though I was pretty exhausted from traveling. We discussed the question "Is there suffering?" and defining the ego, among other things. Because we are all part of the collective consciousness, since we are all one, every single action we take leaves an imprint on the collective consciousness, and therefore affects everyone. I'm really glad this was brought to the forefront of my thinking again because I had kind of put it on the back burner for a while, it was getting muddled with so many other thoughts. But now I'm definitely going to be more conscious of each action I take, and just how it will affect others. When you do things that are good for yourself, positive things, you are doing good for everyone.
This morning we visited the Nyingma Institute, also in Berkeley, for some morning Tibetan Yoga, after a nutritious breakfast of amaranth with wheatgrass green powder, agave, flax oil, and bee pollen. I had never done any Tibetan Yoga before, but I enjoyed it, this session was like a mix of kundalini yoga and tai chi, as well as a good amount of guided meditation. We worked on opening the heart chakra for most of the class and I really was able to feel the shift in my energetics. I also liked when we were standing and did an exercise in which to "sway like a water plant" which was a pretty neat analogy, to pretend to be a water plant for a minute. :) After class we walked around the bookstore at the institute, and the garden, which was lovely.
Before I parted ways with Katherine we ate lunch at Cafe Gratitude, which was awesome because when she was describing it to me, I remembered that earlier this summer I had read a very inspiring article in Ode magazine about this same restaurant! (Everything is connected).
It's an excellent vegan/raw foods restaurant in Berkeley with positive vibes and wonderful energy. I really liked the artwork and the taoist quotes on the walls.

Quote of the day (from Cafe Gratitude): By letting go it all gets done. The world is won by those who let it go. But when you try and try and try, the world is beyond winning. -Lao Tzu

Currently reading:
Mindfulness, Bliss, and Beyond, by Ajahn Brahm
The Tao of Health, Sex, and Longevity by Daniel Reid
Traditional Foods are your Best Medicine, by Ronald Schmid
The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success, Deepak Chopra
and catching up on my Scientific American issues:)

What I've been listening to:

Wale, a rapper from DC
Duffy, a singer from the U.K.
Lady Gaga, acoustic version of Poker Face.
Amorphous androgynous, I especially love their website's design.
The Best Hip Hop albums of 2008 - thanks Bloom

This link is a great resource for lots of excellent books on various topics, especially spiritually minded topics, the Gaia "Our Favorite Books" page. My favorite book is also the favorite of the Gaia community, The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho.

What I'm currently working on, becoming LEED Accredited.

Secrets of Super-Healthy People, from WebMD.

Astronomical update: The winter sky has some of the brightest stars visible from Earth. Of the twelve brightest stars, seven shine in winter: Sirius, Capella, Rigel, Procyon, Betelgeuse, Aldebaran, and Pollux.

Quote for the new year:
"The koan can do a miracle, although it is just a device. The question is with what urgency, with what totality you make your whole mind concerned with only the koan, twenty-four hours. It is not something you do for one hour and forget about it." ~Osho

Strengthening the Heart Chakra

Astronomical Updates:
The Geminid meteor shower is expected to peak on December 13 at 18:00 UT. The bright moon will interfere with viewing.

This Full Moon will be one of the brightest of the year, since it coincides with the annual perigee (the Moon's closest point to Earth for the year) on December 12.

I would like to include a "Yoga Pose of the Day" on this site, but I'm still learning the ins and outs of the most basic poses so I think I need to practice and learn more before I can add this info. :)

Rediscovering John Muir's Botanical Legacy - In Nature's Beloved Son John Muir's botanic samples are brought to life with compelling historical accounts and expert photography. This link includes a slideshow of images of restored botanical samples.

Links to a few interesting kinds of tea I was previously unaware of: Yiwu Green Beencha Pu-erh Tea and Matcha Tea. -thanks Marcus

Wine wands by Philip Stein. I'm not sure about the validity of these but I thought it was an interesting concept to possibly look into further. The wine wand claims to give more flavor to red wine by using natural energy to aerate the wine in minutes rather than hours. I came across this because I am considering getting a Philip Stein watch because the watches use frequency-based technologies which claim to "restore and improve the natural flow of evergy in our bodies which is disrupted by many of the pressures, stresses and disturbances present in our modern society and environment. By including technologies in the watches that replicate the Earth's natural frequency, as well as other natural beneficial frequencies, many wearers report positive benefits and an overall improvement in their well-being." I am curious about the actual effects of wearing the watch.

I love documentaries, and I am interested in seeing this one: Flow: For the Love of Water, which was recommended to me by Maya. The documentary investigates the world water crisis. Also, I came across this link which I thought was great, a "Geoscientists Without Borders" project by Clemson students working to solve the water crisis in rural India.


Quote of the day (to put all the other quotes in perspective) from "Real Advice Hurts":

A tip is like…what? A little scrap of a map. Not only is it not the actual destination, but the part you can hold in your hand will only make sense when you understand its place in a much bigger picture.

So, sure, you might get a kick out of gazing at the pretty colors and reading the funny names to your cat, and, heck, once you’ve collected enough little maps, you may even start fancying yourself a gifted cartographer.

But, never for a minute start fantasizing that being a map collector means you’ve visited all the locations on those pieces of paper. If you ever decided to attempt them, your actual travels would very much benefit from a competent (and whole) map of where you’re heading, but it necessarily requires movement, change, and enduring potentially long stretches in which you’ll have to find your own bearings in three tip-free dimensions.

At their best, “tips” are a fine way to incrementally improve a process that you’re already dedicated to practicing on a regular basis. And, in that context, tips work.

Photo: The Pleiades Star Cluster, also known as the Seven Sisters and M45.