So my book is officially up on Amazon.com (yay!) with the correct spelling and changes. Also at a discounted price and free shipping is available if you buy another product from the site 
Good times. So look up the title or either my dad’s or my name and it’ll pop up! I’ve been so immersed in the production of my second book that I haven’t really had a chance to reflect on the production of this first one. I can’t believe it’s finally out in the world! My dad used to joke that (and I kind of feel guilty saying it, but know he would be laughing) his work wouldn’t become well-known and “out there” in the world until he was dead. “It’ll be worth more when I’m dead” he used to laugh. Such a morbid joke, I know, but that’s Dad. He made jokes out of everything. Now that we’ve got him published and on Amazon I hope he is proud of his work. If you haven’t seen it, it’s beautiful!
Our book party has OFFICIALLY been relocated to Hellada (yay!). I love that place! =D Saturday, Sept 18 at 6ish. Hope you can make it! Details under “Events 2010″ on my site: www.DancingTehani.com Sweet! Very excited about it! A couple other things to look forward to: 1) Dec 18 I’m having a book signing at Fern’s Garden on 2nd Street 2) October I’ll have my books at the presentation I’m doing on traditional dance as cultural identity and social dissent for SBIFA (sweet!). Really looking forward to the presentation itself, too!
Other book stuff coming up, but you know me, I don’t talk about things until they can stand on their own and have been confirmed, you know? It’s one of the manifestation rules I stick with. Which reminds me, as a Reiki Master I should probably schedule more workshops soon… Hmm…
Moving along…
Also, about my book, I am very touched and grateful that a sweet friend of mine had told me (without telling me, really) that the purpose of my book has been achieved. The writing in the book, supplemented with photography, as stated in my introduction, was an effort to reach people at the ground level of human experience – our emotions, our experiences, the worlds we all carry… I wanted to create the book I’ve always wanted to read. A book that really connected me with the author – a book that told me I wasn’t alone in my convictions and idealism… a book that brought me catharsis when I couldn’t extract it from myself. A book about the soul. A book about art and love, our common humanity, Mother Earth. Obviously, given my interests, this is a Tehani book, but I have read other books (which you can imagine have become my favorites) that have unearthed pieces of myself I have long buried, suppressed or both. These books were healing and therapeutic. Well, this friend of mine is going through a tough time, and he says he goes to my book for comfort. Going through a tough experience, in his words, he says my book is “the real shit”. Take it for what it is, it was one of the highest compliments I’ve ever been given! Yes, real shit, that made me happy. It told me I was able to extract an authentic truth from my experience and reach out to someone beyond the page. That meant a lot to me. Like the books I love, I want to connect with others.
Sure, I could educate people about other more “worldly” things, spoon-feed information, spread some bull dogma about our existence…but that would be in-genuine. I want to encourage people to find their own personal truths, their own paths, their own lives! Nothing sticks if it isn’t a conscious, personal choice anyway. And if we want to talk real-life, nothing external has lasting or permanent effects if the transformation is not made within. Simple enough, no? Simplicity is so difficult in a complicated world. May I one day live with the simplicity of my father’s wisdom. I believe the most profound wisdom is simple. All great genius philosophies and approaches to life (disclaimer: in my opinion and experience!) can be boiled down to simple truth. The truth is simple. It’s when we complicate it with our worldly bull-kaka that our worlds become complicated, stuck, mundane and stagnant… And as I’ve written in this book, “we only find true death in stagnation”. Movement is the way! Movement is my Lila!! <3
Lila is one of my favorite pieces. I read it to remind myself of things I know I know, but too :::fill in the blank here::: to listen to the core of my being. The book helps me. Being the writer, I can go back to my own truth and remind myself of my journey when I stagger or stumble on the road (dancers ARE after all, some of the clumsiest people in the universe!) hahaha. We need reminders sometimes, and seeing my dad’s photography while reading truths -many which have been inspired by being in his presence and around his energy- brings me back to a place of grounding, peace and bliss. Good times!
Well, I can go on on this Mind-Wander forever, but I’d like to share a glimpse of my book (I wish I could share the photography on here too, but as I am unable and unwilling to figure out how to do that on a blog, I suppose you’ll have to buy it for that, love). Here is one of my favorites. It’s titled “Lila”. Plus it’s light and airy, nothing heavy so you can leave with levity instead of some of the heavy deep stuff to carry on to wherever you’re journeying next in “cyberspace” bum bum bum! Hahaha =p
I’ll add the Spanish translation under too (feel free to let me know if my translation is off – necesito mejorar mi espanol!)
**I femininized (did I just make up a word?) juego which means game, to juega because I wanted emphasize Lila being a playful feminine energy… I know juega probably isn’t correct, but it just felt wrong calling it Lila: El Juego Divino, you know? And “play” itself takes on many different forms in the English version, as there are varying definitions of the word in English… I know a phucked (thanks Greg for cleaning up my profanity! haha) up the Spanish at least a little bit with the varying definitions of “play,” but I tried… and the English version can take on different meanings, so it was challenging for me – but a fun challenge nonetheless 
Bueno, so as I said earlier, let me know if there’s something funky in my translation – anything helps! My Spanish needs a tune-up sometimes (more often than not)!
Enjoy!
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[the copy-paste won't allow the spaces between stanzas -- sorry guys!]
Lila (from SARREAL VISIONS: Reflections & Journeys)
Lila: The Divine Play –
A play that leaves us running
Through sprinklers on a summer day.
A play in which our dialogue
And memorization have gone astray.
A Divine Chaos that keeps us
Childlike in every single way.
That is Lila.
For to play is to abandon,
And to abandon is to trust
In the song of life around us
That says to live we must
Have the courage to accept
The mystery that is in all
And in everything that we know,
For to fly is also to fall.
Leap backward into the unknown.
Embrace and meet the child within:
A fearless youth that’s always known
The flight of creative elation.
Limiting the great mystery
By explaining it all away
Is to give parameters to infinite
That holds a much better way.
Just play.
Have faith in spontaneity alone.
Lila never disappoints a companion.
When we see anew in every moment,
Artistic abandon is fueled with passion.
The cycle of play is continuous.
Each thought becomes the first and the last.
Samsara spins, Spider eats her web,
Shiva dances, Phoenix glows from ashes past.
Live with Lila in your life.
It is to honor the highest You –
A play of love unconditional,
For God is synonymous with love too.
——-
Lila
Lila: La Juega Divina
La juega que nos deja corriendo
Por las rociaderas en dias veranos.
La obra en que nuestro dialogo
Y memorizacion se han extraviado
El Caos Divino que nos mantiene
Juvenil en cada manera.
Esa es Lila.
Por jugar es abandonar,
Y abandoner es confiazar
En la cancion de la vida alrededor
Que dice: a vivir, debemos
Tener el valor para aceptar
El misterio que esta en todo
Y en todo que sabemos,
Por volar es caer tambien.
Salta atras en el desconocido.
Embraza y conozca el nino adentro:
Un joven audaz que siempre sabia
El vuelo de regocijarse creativo.
A limitar el misterio grande
De explicando que todo se vaya
Es a dar limites para Infinidad
Que tiene caminos muchos mejores.
Solo juega.
Tenga confianza en espontaneidad solamente.
Nunca Lila decepciona un companero.
Cuando vemos de nuevo en cada momento,
Abandono artistico esta alimentado con pasion.
El ciclo de la juega es continuoso.
Cada pensamiento va estar el primero y el ultimo.
Samsara hace girar, Arana come su telarana,
Shiva baila, Fenix lumina de las cenizas del pasado.
Viva con Lila en su vida.
Es para honrar el Usted exitoso –
Un juega del amor incondicional ,
Por Dios es sinonimo con amor tambien.
