July has now passed and I have had time to rest and reflect on my experiences at Solstice. It is now camp season here in the UK.. Children’s holidays are on and camps are held all over the UK for our youth. I love August! We have South Birmingham camp next week and another camp in West Brom the week after. Then we also have another camp for the 16+ at the end of August! It is a challenging time if you’re running the camp but there’s a quiet satisfaction which comes from being with such compassionate people who will take time out to spend at these events and also from the kids who go away having had a great experience every time. Alot of planning and effort goes into it but everything happens with the grace of God. I plan to take my camera with me this time and try to find the time between running around like a headless chicken to take photos. I can’t wait to see what I’ll be able to capture!
My only prayer is that I can lead and act through the Grace of God.
Satnam
Well we’re back from Summer Solstice 2009! As per usual, it was amazing!! So many people there from different backgrounds. 32 countries I think it was.. All there unite with themselves and their extended spiritual family. I felt like I came back home. As soon as I was there I was in relax mode with slippers on, walking around the place, saying satnam to people I hadn’t seen for a year.. So many things took place, I don’t think I’ll be able to mention everything but it was all good! With the years running up to the change to the Aquairan Age, they have contributed each year to an element. Last year was earth, this year was water.. and boy did the universe provide water for us. It’s a hot climate out there with desert like terrains and it’s unlikely, actually never known to have rained for a whole day straight! That’s the magic of summer solstice. There-after, it rained a little everyday which was thankful because it was hot during the daytime. Next year the element is fire!! The suggestion was we place a candle in a box next year throughout summer solstice so the universe feel like it has to provide us with fire! I had the opportunity to do photography this year and I have so many nice photos to show, above is just a taste of what we got up to.
There were lots of weddings this time, some pictures shown above of Tejinder Kaur’s and Sri Chand’s wedding. The girl is an absolute angel, she is so strong and is full of grace. Sri Chand is equally empowered and walks like a Sikh warrior. The wedding was the best I had ever been to, you could really feel their love for each other and their Guru. Many blessings to them and their family.
There are some pictures of the view at solstice as it’s on a mountain. Every morning you woke up with such beautiful surroundings and you get lost in time. Every morning at 3am, we were serenaded awake with a group of people with a guitar led by Guru Singh (another amazingly radiant soul) who sang “Rise up rise up sweet family..”. He has done it every year, what a great service to wake people up for morning meditations. Everyone there was so beautiful from the inside-out. By the end of solstice, everyone glowed. And with this same energy we radiate out to the four corners of the universe to help those who need help, to radiate peace and love for all, to help people find God within themselves.. It’s a blessing to be there, and you could be there next year too!
Santam!
It’s now June. You know, June never held any special meaning for me, but now it does. From 18th June to 27th June, I will be in New Mexico. That’s in America, not Mexico.. (the amount of times I’ve been asked that). What will I be doing there, I hear? There is a yoga camp held there every year up in Jemez mountains, previously owned by an ancient spiritual red indian tribe called the Hopis. It’s now called Ram Das Puri and is absolutely breath-takingly beautiful. Last year was my first time, and up to 2000 people came and got up every morning at 3am to do meditation!! I’ve never seen anything like it. I went there for the first time and it felt like home. Everyone who attends comes there for one reason, to uplift themselves and others around them. Even if you don’t believe in God, it’s a beautiful place to be. Mr Singh and I didn’t take a camera last time because we wanted to totally immerse ourselves into the experience. This time however, I am taking by brand spanking new nikon D90, with which I will thoroughly enjoy experimenting with. I’m going to try to move out of comfort zone (zoom lens) and experiment with some landscape shots. You could just never go wrong, the land is so beautiful. There have been some shots captured by Gurmustak Singh who is a great photographer, some of which can be seen on Flickr. So watch this space… hopefully next time you visit, you will see some great pictures from 3HO Summer Solstice Camp 2009! With the grace of the Divine.
Vaheguru Jee Ka Khalsa, Vaheguru Jee Kee Fateh
Here are some pictures of our beloved Akaal Kaur the doggy woggy:
Akaal is a wonderful dog. We got her in October ‘08 when she was 2 months old. Akita puppies are so cute! (You can see some pictures in the sample gallery) And then she blew up. In the pictures above she’s only 9 months old! I think she’s a very spiritual dog, you might think I’m balmy! She’s very quiet relative to other dogs. She only barks when people come to the house, other than that we never hear a squeak from her. She’s very protective of me when I take her for walks, very loyal. She still plays like a child and doesn’t realize her own strength. We had to re-do our fence because she ripped it apart while we were away and we’d always find her in the neighbour’s garden! The poor little terrier from next door wouldn’t dare come out 
. She looks like a vicious dog but she’s a sweety really, only to the nice ones though, so burglars watch out!
Satnaam
some sample galleries for you to view.
General Sample KaurArt.com/p/sample
Just a general collection from over a couple of years. Including the session done by Chardikala Jatha at Leamington Spa last year and the wonderful Snatam Kaur. These photos were taken from the start of photography interest. Hopefully if time allows, I will post pictures as I develop, with God’s Grace.
Satnaam,
Have a look at my Flickr photostream:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sikhphotos/
