Parade of Myths and Legends

Welcome to the Myths and Legends Parade 2018 (Medellin, December, 2018)
“Desfile de Mitos y Leyendas” December 8, 2018

People were packed tight in El Centro the night of the parade -super tight, like U.S.-football-stadium-when-the-game-is-over tight. And the paisas (people from Antioquia/Medellin area), and my group of ex-pats, were polite and noticeably not drunk (so completely unlike a U.S. football- stadium-when-the-game-is-over). 

Brass during the parade.

The paraders got right up in the faces of the watchers, shot water at us, and played all kinds of latin marching band music. The crowd went wild for all the action the parade brought. 

Dancing zombies at the Myths and Legends Parade in Medellin, Dec. 2018
The vampire dancers had their own band.
Sad Ghoul at the Myths and Legends parade in Medellin, El Centro
The Ghouls!

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Posted by Bedegee in Travels

Traditional Colombian Music

You’ll miss Cabana Del Recuerdo in Envigado if you’re not watching out for it. It’s one of many businesses in the neighborhood along Caldas-Envigado (Cl. 38 Sur).

A single step inside and whoa…..where are we again? Who are you guys?

Traditional musicians at Cabana Del Recuerdo in December 2018

Eight or nine musicians come in and out of the group, sometimes for a song or two (one time with a beautiful hand-made harp), sometimes for the duration. 

I heard songs are about love and saw friends together, people on dates and men having genuine non-sexual caring friendships. What the fork?  Hugs, not back slaps. It’s  going to take me a while to get used to seeing this flavor of humanity.

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Posted by Bedegee in Travels

Traditional Music in Envigado

You’ll miss Cabana Del Recuerdo in Envigado if you’re not watching out for it. It’s one of many businesses in the neighborhood and along Caldas-Envigado (Cl. 38 Sur).  

Once you’re in though, you’re in another place and time. 

Posted by Bedegee

A City of Lights

Envigado starts to give Christmas a full frontal embrace in November.

The commitment starts with lights like I’ve never seen. Streets are shut down for vendors. It’s all about the holidays from now until sometime in January.

the lights and colors in Envigado's Parque Principal in Early December 2018 are amazing

Envigado’s Parque Principal in Early December 2018

They shut down a street adjacent to the parque for holiday vendors: food, jewelry, bunuelos, candles: all your holiday needs.

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Posted by Bedegee in Travels

About

I’m creative and playful and find reward and satisfaction in producing effective visual communications. It’s especially fun to take complex financial data and turn it into something clean and intuitive. My degrees in Marketing (M.A. from Webster University) and Communications (B.A. Rockhurst University) have been useful, although my main tools now are Tableau, Photoshop, WordPress and Excel.

I’ve noticed that experiences and outcomes are due to the structures in which I operate. I created the structure below for myself.

 

 

Preserving plant material as a hobby had me grow as a person in ways I could not have expected.

Working with plant forms makes me see over and over how context changes everything. And it’s so clear that it’s what I bring, how open I can be, or am motivated to be affects the results.

Accidental discoveries remind me that the unplanned is sometimes way better than what I plan or even desperately want.

Although I’m a long term meditator, I’ve recently discovered an ancient form of Vipassana that has had a powerful impact on my self awareness and growth. I hope to be able to lead Vipassana to children someday. In addition, I lead Mindfulness sessions with non-profits based on Google’s Search Inside Yourself program and Applied Improved.

Posted by Bedegee

Mindfulness at The Grooming Project

The Mindfulness activities I organized at The Grooming Project ranged from listening to mindful, solitary writing and reflection.

We live in a world of rapid fire reactions and hurrying up to get to the next thing, and this group of mostly single parents was no exception, except that the pressure was even greater on them.

There were games as well as serious interactions.

Zip Zap Zop was hilarious and challenging. The mindful writing exercise was “What’s essential.” This is hard for everyone and an awesome challenge.

The most beneficial activity was the mindful listening and mindful sharing exercise (inspired by the Search Inside Yourself activity). Being able to be present to someone else’s concern is a practice. Our default is to focus on our own needs.

Getting what’s really important to your customer or manager has a strong and positive impact. Being heard is so unusual that it’s an instant win for the person who is doing the hearing.

 

 

Posted by Bedegee in Mindfulness and Creativity

Mindfulness and Creativity

I’m part of Strategically Playful, a group that occasionally creates experiences that activate creativity / innovation, agility, connection, listening and full engagement. 

Activities can be focused toward a purpose, such as team building/bonding, relieving stress, building creativity (and innovation), networking, and entertainment. While the activities are based on your group’s specifics, participants’ muscles are generally developed in communication, agility, creativity, risk taking, collaboration, and playfulness: all of which benefit participants in every  area of work and life (that we can think of).

Everything we do is orchestrated by trained professionals who love what they do and want to bring it to your group.

Sessions can be scheduled once, at regular intervals, at your location or arranged off-site.  Because they are muscle builders, it is useful to incorporate them into a regular schedule. They can be in one-on-one sessions, small, medium, and large sized groups.

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Posted by Bedegee in Mindfulness and Creativity

Projects

Website redesign elements for a Kansas City non-profit

The original price list for grooming services made it difficult to find the information that was needed.

I made happy, colorful lists with services organized by need, making it easy to find what the customer is looking for.

The original home page slider was challenging to read and the real message wasn't completely conveyed.

A picture of a student and her child, along with a few words, captured the intent of the original homepage slider.

Information and financial data designs

Information Design for Meditation Center (for Print)


 

Posted by Bedegee in Visualization Projects

Flower Mandalas

Flower mandalas are a botanical version of the ancient spiritual form that reminds us of the organization of the universe, and our connection to the infinite, within and without.

Buddhist priests make yearly trips to Kansas City to create exacting geometric mandalas in  sand. In a celebration of the importance of life,  the monks return the sand to the earth, destroying the image.

Through silence and guided meditation, participants in the Flower Mandala + Meditation workshop experienced a deeper connection with nature and themselves.

The meditation style was one of physical connection to the flowers held by each participant and gratitude and awareness of for their beauty, texture and scent. While breathing that fresh flower smell, the gratitude portion could have been endless. Sami Aaron led a guided mediation that raised awareness of the many, many senses that are activated while interacting with nature.

While the workshop could be hosted in many locations, Gardens of Delight was a perfect location for the spring  workshop.

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Posted by Bedegee in International Influences

Kava Head

kava root

Lateral kava roots, soon to be kava tea, are what you see in the picture above.

Kava is a plant-based intoxicant. Sometimes called the “drink of peace” or the “drink of the gods,”  it is deeply embedded in the cultures of the pacific islands.

It’s said you can’t be angry on kava.

No mental or physical abilities are diminished while consuming normal amounts of kava.

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Posted by Bedegee in International Influences
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