Obey My Blog

In case you’re a regular reader o’ mine and you were wondering, hmmm, what did Robin learn at SXSWi about blogging?

The answer is – not much! I learned about how other bloggers write – or don’t write. One blogger hadn’t updated his personal blog in over a month. But that was because he was guest blogging.

Guest blogging. It was like a mantra spoken at every blogging panel I attended. And at the sound of it, I froze in my seat and looked back at the panelists like a deer in headlights.

I’ve been thinking about it a lot, but the thought of it terrifies me. Why? Because whenever I’m under pressure to express myself I become paralyzed. It’s like stage-fright, except I get word-fright.

This past weekend, the Austin Zen Center held a Jukai ceremony for four of its members. This is where a person receives the Precepts.

I have a very palpable uneasiness with formal ceremonies, but this time my curiosity out-won my fear. I wanted to see what is was like. I wanted to know what was involved. What does everyone say? What do they do?

The place was packed! And everyone seemed to be in good spirits and smiling, even if they were new and didn’t understand what was going on. Heck, I’ve been going to the Zen Center for almost a year and I wasn’t sure what was going on!

As the ceremony began, my initial uneasiness was replaced with surprise. In between bells and clacks, the words that were spoken from teacher to initiate were kind, warm and filled with unconditional love. I’ve never witnessed a ceremony quite like it. I was overcome by the rarity of such a thing. How often does a person experience unconditional love and kindness like that in our society? Not very often. At least in my experience.

Afterward, we all got together to enjoy the sunshine and feast on some delicious food. As I was munching down on a chard tart, my Zen teacher walked up and I offered him a chair. He sat down and while happily chewing away on some kind of rice dish, he asked with a sly grin if I was going to be next. I smiled and said maybe, maybe not. I wasn’t sure.

Though most likely I will some day.

But don’t tell him that. I want to keep him guessing.

South By Southwest is here! Woohoo!

What does this have to do with Tai Chi?

Nothing!

Other than the fact that, since I am not attending on the company’s dollar this year, I can attend any panel I choose. And in order to create a better blog for you, my dear readers, I choose to attend A LOT of panels. On blogging! Yay!

On that note, if you have any feedback regarding this blog, please feel free to send me a message via my Contact Form. I welcome constructive criticism, as well as, nice thoughts.

Just try not to be mean, if you can. An irate man tailgated me halfway home from a morning sit at the Zen Center a few Saturdays ago. I laughed. Likewise, if you are mean, I may very well laugh at you, too.

So I’ll be getting my geek on starting this weekend, but NEXT weekend I am attending a workshop with Grand Master Chen Qing Zhou.

This guy is going to kick. my. ass. And I’m very much looking forward to it.

Chen Qing Zhou apparently began teaching within a year of learning Lao Jia Li Yu – the Old Form. The form that I am learning right now.

I have just learned the 34th form, Double Jump Kick (Ti Er Qi).

How am I EVER going to make it to the 75th? I think I’m going to have to wake up a lot earlier in the mornings…

I think back to when I first started learning Tai Chi and I shake my head. There is NO WAY I would have been able to teach back then! I don’t think I could teach now! Well, okay, I could probably, maybe teach some Silk Reeling, but there is so much more that I don’t know…

Over lunch this past weekend, I described to a friend of mine how I started off doing Tai Chi to help me deal with stress. Then I mentioned how I went to an (awesome) acupuncturist for a year, also because of stress. And then of course, I got into Zen. Also, in a way, to help me deal with stress (and for other reasons too, but it has definitely helped me deal with stress, that’s for sure).

Hmmm…so apparently – and this may have been obvious to everyone but me – I’ve been one stressed out chica!

(to my former roommates back in Virginia…I’m so, so sorry…)

And now for a riveting video from the Grand Master himself. Who makes these videos? I need to have a talk with them about music selection…

I’ve been taking Qigong now for seven weeks. But this isn’t just any Qigong – this is Sheng Zhen Qigong – Qigong of Unconditional Love. To get an idea of what I’ve been learning, here is a video of Master Li’s daughter doing the exact movements I’ve been learning (although admittedly with much more agility and grace than I have at the moment).

There is no mysterious force behind the movements. It is a practice. But that does not mean it is without intent or without heart. It is all about heart actually. And to practice without intent is well…a bit pointless.

In my spare time (ha!), I’ve also been participating in the AIR Interactive. What is that, you say? It is the Accessible Internet Rally which occurs every spring. Teams come together and compete against one another to build a website for a non-profit that is completely accessible. Then, we attend SXSW Interactive and find out who wins! So, a worthy non-profit gets a brand new redesigned website for free and another website on the world wide web is made accessible. Not to mention, web developers get to learn how to make their sites more accessible on a day to day basis.

Our team is in the design phase now. I decided to try my hand at designing from scratch and luckily the designer on our team humored me. Ultimately though, when I saw her design I immediately knew it was the better one. I am humbled, but also inspired. It is my wish to become more creative in what I do every day, so I’ll keep plugging away…

It occurred to me today that I need to register for the SXSW Interactive. I missed it last year, but I am determined to attend this year, damnit! I’m looking forward to immersing myself in UX and Interactive Design – woohoo! The only thing I would like to avoid is the social media. I know, I know – how could I say that?? I’m just burned out on it I tell ya. It’s awesome, yes indeed, but I need a break man.

As an Anthropology student many years ago, I was pretty sure my advisor thought I was nuts for wanting to minor in Photography. How awesome and strange that I have somehow managed to combine my love of art and technology with my interest in helping people (through my job at Convio). I always thought I had to choose between the two.

Speaking of Photography, I finally got all the old black and white photographs I took in my classes back from my Dad. I couldn’t believe my eyes – they were – hideous! How is it that time distorts our memories so well? I knew that the second portfolio I put together was hideous when I did it. My heart wasn’t in it and it definitely shows. But all of my other photographs I cherished and thought exuded real talent. Well, they don’t. Not really. There are actually a few good ones, but most are overexposed, underexposed or just plain uninteresting. But that’s okay. I learned a lot from those classes and it’s still all here in the ol noodle. Just today I was eyeing a shiny new Nikon digital SLR. The D90. Oh yeah… a nice little diddy in my price range. Sort of…