Inspirations

May 1, 2013

May Day

May Day is a celebration of the international labour movement. May 1 is a national holiday in more than 80 countries and celebrated unofficially in many other countries.

On May 1, 1886, Chicago unionists, reformers, socialists, anarchists, and ordinary workers combined to make the city the center of the national movement for an eight-hour day. Between April 25 and May 4, workers attended scores of meetings and paraded through the streets at least 19 times. On Saturday, May 1, 35,000 workers walked off their jobs. Tens of thousands more, both skilled and unskilled, joined them on May 3 and 4. Crowds traveled from workplace to workplace urging fellow workers to strike. Many now adopted the radical demand of eight hours' work for ten hours' pay. Police clashed with strikers at least a dozen times, three with shootings. (Read more: Encyclopedia of Chicago )

Still in our days the importance and the unity of this day remains the same. The posters below show these elements that make up the meaning of the day.

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2011

Apr 13, 2013

☮ Rainbow Gatherings

Rainbow Gatherings in pictures by Benoit Paille

Photograph by Ross McDermott, American Festivals Project

[via] Rainbow Gatherings are temporary intentional communities, typically held in outdoor settings, and espousing and practicing ideals of peace, love, harmony, freedom and community, as a consciously expressed alternative to mainstream popular culture, consumerism, capitalism and mass media.

Rainbow Gatherings and the Rainbow Family of Living Light (usually abbreviated to "Rainbow Family") are an expression of a Utopian impulse, combined with bohemianism, hipster and hippie culture, with roots clearly traceable to the counterculture of the 1960s.

The original Rainbow Gathering was in 1972, and has been held annually in the United States from July 1 through 7 every year on National Forest land. Throughout the year, regional and international gatherings are held in the United States and throughout the rest of the world respectively.

Canadian photographer Benoit Paille who was a member of these communities has taken some very artistic pictures which he generosity shares to show the beauty of the nature, the simpleness of living.

The portraits that the talented phorographer had taken are more than stunning, with amazing lights and colors. But any of these portraits will not be posted here as a move of respect for the artist's work. As he mentions at his site for this project:

I decided to photograph my family, my brothers and sisters. I have been going to rainbow gatherings for 7 years now, and I have taken pictures of it for the past 3 years. The pictures you see are very precious since photography is not usually allowed during the event, so please be respectful to my brothers and sisters

People are love,
are magic,
are beauty
these sister and brother are the people of the future.

Take a small taste of the Benoit Paille's Rainbow Gatherings below.

These pictures are more like paintings. Looking at them your mind would be cleared and your heart calmed down. Respect the force of nature and then you could feel the lightness of your being.