Friday, June 06, 2008

Hillary - What Lies Ahead?

I can only imagine what must be going on in the Democratic circles of decision makers as to the future of Hillary Clinton. The way she conducted her campaign sure impressed me - it is as though we saw someone change and grow right before our eyes.

I would like to see her appointed Secretary Of State - she has more experience in this arena than most Washington politician and as former First Lady certainly has a commanding respect within the international community.

Barack Obama may need Hillary Clinton as Vice President if he wants to win the presidential election. I saw yesterday in a poll where he only leads John McCain by two points and Barack Obama did not win the big electoral states in the primary. Would Hillary, if offered, really take second place to Obama? Whatever happens,this is already a political event of enormous historical value.

Besides the Hillary question, I am also intrigued by the diversity of the younger voters and their use of the Internet as a grass roots organizer. I think the Clinton campaign failed to recognize soon enough that the Internet youth is the new power player on the block ... the invisible force which now seems to be invincible. This phenomenon is a political stronghold which is not controlled by the largely, white male bastion of Washington or the Multi-national Corporate Elite.

Maybe the United States has a democracy after all instead of a Republican Aristocracy - the people have spoken - now what will Hillary and Barack have to say back? What will the future be for the United States economically, socially, environmentally? I guess we will know soon. I am hoping for some great changes!

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

AMBER GOES GREEN


Dear Friends,
Today is Earth Day - this blog is part of my contribution. I just love that for the whole day we can all be focused on solutions which use creative methods to bring peaceful actions to save planet Earth. My review for Earth Day is five stars.

I personally am a vegetarian who uses organic products, promotes solar living and green energy, and wears natural fibers as often as possible. Part of my choices for conscious, healthy living is creating a new storefront called Amber Goes Green. Amber Goes Green is featured at the Cafe Press website where you can find wonderful wearables, home and office decor, greetings and much more.

You can also view this really special storefront with organic t-shirts,ceramic cups and cloth tote bags along with cloth messenger bags. All these great offerings come with photographs, images, and designs from and about nature. Included in the design images is DRAGONFLY BRIGHT which appears on this page. I invite you on Earth Day, April 22 and all month long to make yourself more aware of how you can get involved, make new choices, and live a green DESTINY BRIGHT LIFESTYLE.

I will have more news on this subject in the near future and if you have questions now, please email me at amber@ambersilverstar.com.
Love and Light,
Amber
Amber Goes Green and all featured designs, photographs and images are copyrighted by Amber Silverstar 2008

Monday, April 07, 2008

Celebrating National Poetry Month


My Own Reflections On
The Importance Of Poetry


Recently while working on a collection of poems, I began to realize how important poetry is in our lives even if we are among those who say: "I don't like poetry. I never read poetry. I can't write poetry. I don't understand poetry." In spite of these assertions, I see poetry coming into our lives right from the beginning and staying there, coming and going, until the very end.

At birth, we receive greetings and gifts mostly accompanied by little rhymes and poetic sayings from family and friends to celebrate our arrival. In addition, in our early years we are read to and sung to from a variety of poetry. Latter we experience poetry in children's movies and videos, coloring books, learning books, and sometimes even in games.

Then, as we enter the world of "school", poetry "gets to us" through music, street and play ground talk, games, notes from friends, comic books, exposure to Shakespeare, and even movies which use poetry to socialize and entertain. At this age we may also notice poetry on bus signs, billboards, birthday cards, in congratulations, in jokes. Just everywhere we are, especially today in the midst of pop culture, we are surrounded by a variety of rhyming rap music, lyrical commercials and streams of media which all weave poetic reflections in and out of our lives.

As we mature, there are poetic wedding vows, more songs, music, and movies. There are also the never ending speeches of politicians, talks by movie stars on talk shows and the influence of powerful executives who quote poetry as part of their desire to impress and to "win us over." At this stage in our life, we may go to plays, museums, poetry slams, operas, dances, yoga, street and art fairs, the mosque, the synagogue, and the church where with a little awareness we notice that all of these include poetic reflections, written verses, lyrical speeches and poetic music. This epic through poetry continues during our life even though as adults we may never pick up a book of poetry or write a poem or read the works of a famous poet. The poetry is always there working into our consciousness and staying in our bank of memories.

When the time comes for us to leave this world there is a very good chance that someone we love and someone who loves us will be there to read, quote, or sing in poetic verse the last words meant to honor our leaving this universe.

Poets, as artist painting in words, have been known to change the world and because of their profound poetic thoughts, have been in some cases tortured, imprisoned, rejected, banned, even killed. It is also true that the power of rhymes, songs and stories are often catalyst for political, social, and religious revolutions. Poets in all cultures are praised, admired, cherished, and honored because their words haunt our psyche and touch the very core of our being with love, anger, fear, peace, joy, rage, happiness, pain and sorrow.

I hope you will take these few words as inspiration to find the poetic reflections in your own life. Give your words merit by recording them so others can see, read and remember ... in some way we are all the poets of our own destiny.
If you would like to share your poetry with me, just send an e-mail to amber@ambersilverstar.com. I look forward to hearing from you.


Love and Light,
Amber

The above photo is called MOON SHOT POETRY. It is the photography of Steven Olson and the poetry of Amber Silverstar, Copyright 2008, available on a variety of products by Cafe Press

Friday, March 21, 2008

Thank You

Dear Friends,

Thank you to everyone who sent prayers, flowers and kind greetings on the death of my father, Ernest David Smith and his recent funeral. I appreciate on behalf of my family and myself, your thoughts and love; it all helped more than you know.

Love and light,
Amber Silverstar

PS ... I plan to be back writing again soon.

Thursday, February 21, 2008

God Is Back and She Is Black

Dear Readers,

Several years ago I worked on the possibility of a musical I wanted to create called God Is Back and She Is Black. I basically come from a very white Catholic upbringing but my own ethnic heritage is quite diverse - Native American, English, Scotch-Irish, and French. If I met someone from New Orleans they would ask if I could be Creole because my skin has a dark rose tint and my eyes are green; that Cajun mixture of Native American and French. I guess I could have said, "Yes."

The story about this mixed race as told to me is about my grandfather who lived his life and was murdered for being a "half breed"; part white and part Cherokee. The K.K.K. (klu,klux,klan) didn't like the idea of a "half breed" being a sheriff, a property holder with a store and horses for trade. So someone arranged for a dispute and his death. My mother, only ten years old, saw this tragedy with her own eyes. The coroner called it an accident! Then my grandmother lost everything because she could neither read nor write and with ten children and two stepchildren to support was left penniless.

Because of this intense family background,this whole notion about being of a mixed race is a reality I grew up with but always thought of myself as white. In college my circle of friends looked like a mini meeting of the United Nations. I loved the experience of meeting so many different people with so many different backgrounds. As life unfolded, I became engaged to a "black" person, even though he had a white father and a black mother. He looked black and that was all it took to create a constant turmoil around our relationship. There were even discussions that if you had kinky hair then you had to be black. Since he was half white and half black, why wasn't he considered white? The whole thing seemed so racist. The relationship did not last. We did not want our kids to go through so much prejudice and our families were so against the marriage - we turned away from each other.

During this time, I began to wonder if God came back as Jesus and Jesus would be a she and she would be black, what kind of a reception would the Savior receive? I recently started thinking about the race issue again now that we have a person who is a woman as a person campaigning to be the President of the United States along with a person who is half white and half black. Everyone says he is "black" - are we back to the "kinky" hair as a symbolic proof of blackness? Why do we not see him as white, or Native American, or Hispanic, or Asian? Chances are just like the rest of us, the DNA would show a very diverse ethnicity. The whole thing about someone being a certain race based on the color of his or her skin, or the make of his or her hair, or the origins of parentage still seems racist to me.

Looks like we have a long way to go before we can accept one another as the individuals that we are without the labels forced on us by what is currently popular, or in vogue, or glamorous.

If God were back and she were black - could we go to church, vote, eat, play, and work together or would we first have to rethink the whole issue of race plus gender? If we are going to choose someone because of race and/or gender, then maybe we should get a DNA breakdown just which race a person is and also how many male or female traits a person has ... it gets so complicated. And, what would happen with a gypsy like me with so many mixtures and mutations ... some predictions are that in the future the whole earth population will be coffee colored. What will we do then for labels, classify everyone as a "star buck?"

Taking all of the above into consideration, I intend to pick my president, my spiritual reflections, and my circle of friends because I think the choices are appropriate for me not because of race, gender, creed or righteousness. What do you intend?

Amber Silverstar
http://www.ambersilverstar.com

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Election Elightenment - Karma Crazy

Dear Friends,
Comments seem appropriate now, considering that the election frenzy happens everyday. I watch Bill Clinton talk and I wonder what karma he is paying off while the former first lady argues her points that she is best qualified for the presidency. I see Mr. Clinton yelling at reporters, hugging Hillary, falling asleep on the podium during a Martin Luther King Day ceremony. William Jefferson Clinton, former president, walks through the crowds, shaking hands, patting people on the back. It is a confusing picture for me. I still see Monica in her black tam, smilling up at Bill. I still see Hillary Clinton on the morning TV shows trying to support her husband who said, "I did not have sexual relations with that woman."

I like Hillary. I like Bill. Call me "karma crazy" but I just wonder if the Clintons are back in the White House again what and how many boomerangs will they have to catch, or drop or hold onto. It seems to me there is enough to do in being the President of the United States of America without this mired past hanging around in the shadows of the Oval Office. Maybe we should have short memories, maybe we need to forgive and forget, maybe we could realize we are just human beings with virtues, flaws and imperfect choices.

This is going to be a difficult decision for me this year. Hillary Clinton gives lots of answers I like but she has tons of political and personal history of conflict and confrontation. Edwards is gone; the person I would like to have voted for in this year's election. Mr. McCain is Republican but my husband says we don't have enough money to vote for him. Obama's track record is pretty short - so I might just have to go "karma crazy" again and vote for the Clintons. It might be this is their time to have one more chance at paying off their dues and as Hillary said, "Clean up after the Bushes" again. At least there are a few more months to think about it; in the meantime I better get enlightened and go register to vote!

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Book Review - What's Your Dosha Baby?



Dear Friends,

What's Your Dosha Baby by Lissa Marie Coffey is this great little book about lots of wonderful information to help you balance your life, know love and live in harmony with your environment.

This is a large task but Ms. Coffey gives you this amazing test so you can find out your dosha. Dosha, as a part of Ayurveda, is the ancient way from India which looks at the elements in your personality and tells you what personality type you are based on the traits in your dosha. You can be either a Pitta, a Vata, or a Kapha or a combination of all three. Each type has a particular way of loving, eating, and responding to likes and dislikes. The closer you create a lifestyle true to your dosha the more harmonious, healthy, and loving your personality will be.

Ms. Coffey says: "Ayurveda is India’s 5,000 year old “Science of Life” and it is the art of living in harmony with nature. Your dosha is your Ayurveda mind & body type. There are three doshas in Ayurveda: Vata, Pitta, and Kapha. We each have all three of the doshas in our physiology, just in different proportions, so your dosha is unique and personal; it is like your fingerprint."

My husband Steven and I read What's Your Dosha Baby and took the test. We laughed so hard when we realized our doshas matched the personality models in the book like a carbon copy. With this realization, we were better able to understand our compatibilities along with our challenges. It is like looking at our lives in a very fun way even though it might require some serious insights. When I finished the book and the test, I knew I had just finished "a layered cake" of life changing knowledge that could easily be digested.

Go buy this book for yourself and your friends. It is available on http://www.amazon.com/ and on Lissa Coffey's web site, http://www.coffeytalk.com/. Ms. Coffey is a relationship expert and a lifestyle designer who appears frequently on major television shows. She also has several other books published plus another two I would recommend called Getting There with Grace and Dosha Yoga with C.D. When you read this book, let me know what you think! Write to me at
amber@ambersilverstar.com

Friday, December 28, 2007

Amber Comments On Movie Juno


Hello Everyone,
Happy New Year

This is a quick review I just posted on BlogCritics.com
The review is for the movie Juno from Fox Searchlight Pictures, written by Diablo Cody with stars Ellen Page, Michael Cera, Jason Bateman, Jennifer Garner and directed by Jason Reitman.

I saw Juno yesterday on the recommendation of a friend who helps make movies at a major motion picture studio. She should be right about a good movie and she was right. The movie had the best dialogue I have heard in a long time - trendy, edgy, lyrical - reminded me of Janet Fitch's White Oleander. The cinemaphotograpy is sometimes dream like and collage infused.

The movie Juno deals with old, old subjects - the teenage pregnancy,coming-of-age, girl meets boy, girl looses boy, girl gets boy back, men who don't want to grow up, abandonment, step-mothers, barren women, being the odd one out, well ... there is just a lot going on in this film but in a very simple way - sort of middle class life in mundane boredom being rescued by chance, love, and making life-changing decisions.

Anyway, go see this movie; the acting is perfect, the story tightly woven, the drama interesting and magical. I loved it. The only thing I did not like is the ending - like it had been done for Hollywood where everybody gets what they want and everyone goes singing down the yellow, brick road, clicking their red heels and ending up back in Kansas.

Even so, I would see this movie again - gave me new insights into a world I am surrounded with everyday, "The poet never says anything new, just finds a new way to say it."

Juno, the movie is poetry in film and worth a very special look.

Sunday, December 23, 2007

Review Of The Holidays

A SEASONAL SHIFT IN ATTITUDES
Dear Friends
I cannot think of a more appropriate time to shift attitudes about our emotions than the Holiday Seasons. I often see myself and others struggling during this awesome time trying to "come to terms" with their emotional selves. The emotional ghosts of Holidays past have a way of coming out at Halloween and staying around until after the New Year; sometime lagging on until Valentine's Day. That puts everyone into a "heap of feelings" for nearly four months.
Emotional roller coasters can often show their challenging rides just when there are demands to be so together, upbeat, generous, loving, and peaceful. This is especially difficult if the Season is also the anniversary of the death of a loved one, a breakup of a relationship or marriage, the loss of a job, or maybe memories of physical or sexual abuse which statistically increases dramatically during the Holidays.
Charles Dickens's immortal Christmas Carol (of which there are countless renditions) really shows graphically how deeply intense the emotional and spiritual expressions are while we are being pressured to grip the reality of past, present, and future scenarios of unresolved feelings.
Not wanting to sound myself like "Scrooge", I would say this is why the Holidays are a wonderful time for a shift in attitudes which then allows you and I to begin creating new emotions, new realities and new memories.
I do this by making a list of all the beautiful aspects about Christmas and New Years (it is also my birthday) that I love. For me, this includes the music, the color, the decorating, giving and receiving gifts, recognizing the traditions and the legends of the birth of Jesus Christ, the outpouring of charity, surprises from friends and family, plays and concerts, the Nutcracker ballet, lights everywhere, Christmas movies, Angels ( both heavenly and earthly), great food and treats, the Rose Bowl Parade ( a block from our home), winter flowers with pine tress and the smell of snow.
This time of year is just so full of sensory abundance and the opportunity to share, that I take my list and everyday of the season, I find one thing from this list that I can do and that I can enjoy. With this action, I create a new memory for my future Holidays. It is like this bank I now can draw on when the Holidays come again.
So this is my Holiday Review: My shift in attitude to go from regrets, loss, sadness and rejection to one of love, beauty, peace, joy, and hope for all this goodness to reach out and touch everyone in my world. I hope this helps and if you need someone to talk to, you can call me at 1-626-796-8605. I wish you all blessings of a happy heart and a Destiny Bright for the New Year of 2008.
Much love,
Amber

Wednesday, December 05, 2007

Great Web Site - Coffey Talk and Dosha Ready with Lissa Coffey


Dear Readers,
I like to see anything done really well - and several months ago I came across a web site, an on-line magazine, that I am so impressed with - the web site is called Coffey Talk "ancient wisdom - modern style" done by a Life Style Designer and Relationship Expert, Lissa Coffey. Ms. Coffey is also an author with several books published about the dosha and Ayurvedic experience.

Ms. Coffey says: "Ayurveda is India’s 5,000 year old “Science of Life” and it is the art of living in harmony with nature. Your dosha is your Ayurveda mind & body type. There are three doshas in Ayurveda: Vata, Pitta, and Kapha. We each have all three of the doshas in our physiology, just in different proportions, so your dosha is unique and personal; it is like your fingerprint."

The web site graciously features several choices; finding your dosha by taking certain test, consultations available with Lissa Coffey, newsletter sign ups, videos with Ms. Coffey giving relationship advice on major television networks, shopping for positive products, inspirational videos, the books and much more.

The Coffey Talk web site is very informative and very attractive. It is easy to navigate and a wonderful space to find trendy fashions for apparel and home and important information for family. Coffey Talk also connects you to a large community of like-minded and spiritually-aware people. I give this site ***** five stars. To have a "look-see" for yourself, check out Lissa Coffey and all she has to offer at http://www.coffeytalk.com/ and let me know what you think.

I plan to read her newest book, What's Your Dosha Baby? Discover the Vedic Way for Compatibility in Life and Love, in the near future and review it here. The book is available on her web site and on Amazon.com.

Coffey Talk
is also a current link on http://www.ambersilverstar.com

Love and light to everyone,
Amber Silverstar
Additional information about Amber Silverstar and Destiny Bright
http://destinybright.blogspot.com/
http://www.destinybydesigncom.com/
http://www.cafepress.com/ambersilverstar
For a free DESTINY BRIGHT CONSULTATION
email ambersilverstar11@yahoo.com with the code word destiny.





***** Coffey Talk is a registered trade mark and is used here with permission of the creator and owner, Lissa Coffey. Any further use is prohibited unless permission is again given by Lissa Coffey.