Santa Fe, NM (PRWEB) September 25, 2014

Artist Robbi Firestone divulged stepping stones to entrepreneurial success, selling her first oil portrait, conscious business, and inspirational business strategies in a recent interview with mind, body, spirit marketing extraordinaire Kimberly Maska.

Kimberly Maska recently launched a new podcast (available on iTunes), called Mindfully Marketing, focusing on marketing strategies for today's mind, body, spirit thought leaders. Maska says, It is always so incredible to see someone turn their passion into a thriving business. I want to be able to share knowledge and experience with my listeners.

Firestone, who admits to struggling in New York City advertising at a young age, is a likely candidate for mindful marketing. As a fine artist, creativity retreat facilitator, workshop instructor, and creator of SantaFeArtClasses.com, Firestone openly admits the struggles in accepting that money is not at odds with spirituality.

Firestones lifelong curiosity with ancient wisdom and new thought prompted her current project, Twelve Global Visionaries. Don Miguel Ruiz, best selling author of The Four Agreements, and Dr. Michael Bernard Beckwith, Founder of Agape International Spiritual Center and contributor to global best selling book and film, The Secret, have personally met with Firestone for their portraits. Twelve Global Visionaries promises to be a distinctive body of work infusing each sitters teachings into audiences where they might not normally be found: politics and art.

Somehow we are taught to see money as if its some evil thing. That is a true disadvantage for those of us who focus on spirituality... I am committed to being a distribution point for good. Success and money are powerful tools for healing, states Firestone.

Maska began her spiritual journey several years ago. During the sudden illness and death of her mother, Martha, she understood the lessons she learned from the great spiritual leaders like Deepak Chopra, Eckhart Tolle and Rumi, to name a few. She has made it her mission to help Mind Body Spirit Thought Leaders reach as many people as possible with their beautiful and life changing messages.

Firestone was deeply inspired by T. Harv Ekers, Secrets of the Millionaire Mind and considers it incredible schooling for mind, body, spirit entrepreneurs. One of the biggest takeaways is to rarely watch television until you are financially free. Instead, Firestone uses this time to reading, studying investing and marketing, and keeping her spiritual practices in check. Maska says the same lesson applies to social media and computer time.

Firestone says its been a long journey to accepting her passion and following her lifes journey. Advice for others itching to unleash creativity? Go and spend the next 10,000 hours toward what you love, because youre inevitably going to either choose that passion at some point in your life, or die exhausted because you never did.

Robbi Firestone is a Licensed Spiritual Practitioner (RScP), fine artist, speaker, and coach. Firestone addresses Fortune 500 CEOs, Young Presidents Organization, and cultural creativesfrom intimate meetings to audiences reaching 2000. Firestones prized oil portraits, known as "Spirit Capture" oil portrait commissions, reflect her subjects' inner selves, hopes, and dreams, as well as the faces they show to the world. Learn more about Spirit Capture Oil Portrait Commissions and Robbi Firestone's work at http://www.RobbiFirestone.com.

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Santa Fe/Seattle fine artist Robbi Firestone and mindful marketer Kimberly Maska discuss spiritual entrepreneurship on ...

Indian scientists are significantly more religious than United Kingdom scientists, according to the first cross-national study of religion and spirituality among scientists.

The U.K. and India results from Religion Among Scientists in International Context (RASIC) study were presented at the Policies and Perspectives: Implications From the Religion Among Scientists in International Context Study conference held today in London. Rice's Religion and Public Life Program and Baker Institute for Public Policy sponsored the conference. The U.K. results were also presented at the Uses and Abuses of Biology conference Sept. 22 at Cambridge University's Faraday Institute in Cambridge, England.

The surveys and in-depth interviews with scientists revealed that while 65 percent of U.K. scientists identify as nonreligious, only 6 percent of Indian scientists identify as nonreligious. In addition, while only 12 percent of scientists in the U.K. attend religious services on a regular basis -- once a month or more -- 32 percent of scientists in India do.

Elaine Howard Ecklund, Rice's Autrey Professor of Sociology and the study's principal investigator, said the U.K. and India data are being released simultaneously because of the history between the U.K. and India. She noted that their differences are quite interesting to compare.

"India and the U.K. are at the same time deeply intertwined historically while deeply different religiously," Ecklund said. "There is a vastly different character of religion among scientists in the U.K. than in India -- potentially overturning the view that scientists are universal carriers of secularization."

Despite the number of U.K. scientists identifying themselves as nonreligious, 49 percent of U.K. survey respondents acknowledged that there are basic truths in many religions. In addition, 11 percent of U.K. survey respondents said they do believe in God without any doubt, and another 8 percent said they believe in a higher power of some kind.

Ecklund noted that although the U.K. is known for its secularism, scientists in particular are significantly more likely to identify as not belonging to a religion than members of the general population.

"According to available data, only 50 percent of the general U.K. population responded that they did not belong to a religion, compared with 65 percent of U.K. scientists in the survey," Ecklund said. "In addition, 47 percent of the U.K. population report never attending religious services compared with 68 percent of scientists."

According to the India survey, 73 percent of scientists responded that there are basic truths in many religions, 27 percent said they believe in God and 38 percent expressed belief in a higher power of some kind. However, while only 4 percent of the general Indian population said they never attend religious services, 19 percent of Indian scientists said they never attend.

"Despite the high level of religiosity evident among Indian scientists when it comes to religious affiliation, we can see here that when we look at religious practices, Indian scientists are significantly more likely than the Indian general population to never participate in a religious service or ritual, even at home," Ecklund said.

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Indian scientists significantly more religious than UK scientists

The eye has become a focal point for biologists, ophthalmologists, physicists and many other branches of science ever since. So when the Spanish neuroscientist Santiago Ramn y Cajal made the first anatomical diagrams of neurons and the retina in 1900, it stoked a century of biologists attempting to unlock the eyes secrets.

And there have been several discoveries. Unlike our ears and nose, for example, which never stop growing our entire lives, our eyes remain the same size from birth. Then theres the complicated process of irrigation, lubrication, cleaning and protection that happens every time we blink an average of 4,200,000 times a year.

Dr Yoshiki Sasai, the late Japanese biologist who was building a human eye in his lab (Dimitri Vervitsiotis/Getty)

And there are other astonishing inbuilt systems too. Take, for example, a little trick called the Vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR). In short, its our own personal Steadicam an inbuilt muscular response that stabilises everything we see, by making tiny imperceptible eye movements in the opposite direction to where our head is moving. Without VOR, any attempts at walking, running even the minuscule head tremors you make while you read these words would make our vision blurred, scattered and impossible to comprehend.

But while the inner workings of the eye continue to surprise scientists, the last decade has seen an unprecedented confluence of biology, technology and ophthalmic innovation. An international scientific endeavour that is not only finally unlocking the eyes true potential but also how to counter, and ultimately cure, its biggest weaknesses.

One scientist leading the charge is Professor Chris Hammond, the Frost Chair of Ophthalmology at Kings College London. Ive been working in ophthalmology for nearly 25 years, he says. And I think were at a key moment. The pace of our genetic understanding, cell-based therapies and artificial devices for the treatment of eye disease is advancing faster than ever.

His personal crusade treating common conditions such as myopia, cataracts and glaucoma, as well as eye diseases is, he says, slowly becoming possible. For example, were finally starting to understand some of the mechanism of these diseases how genetic and environmental risk factors, and not ageing, might be significant. And with some of the rarer diseases, were starting to look at actual cures.

We are also understanding more and more about the processing that is already being done within the retina, before signals are sent to the brain. And with the amazing abilities we have today for imaging, the emerging technologies are exciting too.

With much fanfare, the first bionic eye debuted last year. Developed by Second Sight Medical Products, the Argus II Retinal Prosthesis System consists of 60 electrodes implanted in the retina, and glasses fitted with a special mini-camera. Costing 73,000 (58,000) to install, it then sends images albeit very low-resolution shapes to the users brain. Which means people with degenerative diseases such as retinitis pigmentosa can differentiate between light and dark, or make out basic shapes such as doorways.

In terms of devices like these, we are still at the very crude technology stage, says Prof Hammond. Theyre only really of use to people who are completely blind. But the thing about technology is that it evolves with amazing speed.

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Does the human eye prove that God exists?

Local film enthusiasts should be happy to know that our city will be hosting events next week that will proudly celebrate current independent cinema. The newly titled IF Film festival (formerly Flyover) will showcase a variety of works, some from from Sundance, Tribeca and SXSW, with a focus on Kentucky films and filmmakers. The festivals poster by Kevin Lippy and Rankin Mapother featuring a fingerprint and directors chair says a lot with its Saul Bassinspired simplicity.

In Louisvilles Nulu district, the festivals board members, sponsors and guests, including Mayor Greg Fisher, gathered at Decca Restaurant last week for wine, brandy, savory snacks and a sampling of what can be expected from the upcoming engagements.

Festival director Soozie Eastman found this partys location to be one of personal relevance. Her 2006 documentary, By the Wayside about homelessness in America, was partially shot in Deccas building when it used to be part of Wayside Christian Mission. The last time I was going up these stairs I was moving equipment, Eastman said, referring to a time she when was setting up to shoot an interview. It was nine years ago when I was coming up to someones room who had just fled her husband, and now this time Im looking to see where well be serving the Brandy. Its amazing how things change.

Eastmans enthusiasm for this event is clearly driven by her experience in the medium of filmmaking and hopes that the festival can offer a non-competitive atmosphere for artists to grow. I love watching different types of films because even if a film is not a wonderful film, I still learn from it, she said. I learn techniques that I dont want to emulate. In the same vein, I learn new tricks of the trade for telling my stories that do work, that I might never have thought of.

Filmmaker, producer and IF Film board member Stu Pollard has a history with festivals and a good connection with how Louisville runs them. This is the sixth iteration of the film festival that Louisville Film Society puts on and Ive been with them since the beginning, he said.

Before playing a demo reel for the festivals variety of films, the fests chairman, George Parker Jr., addressed the room with a little history of his organization. We started in 2007 and realized that of all the amazing arts organizations in the city, there wasnt anything that was supporting the cinematic arts. It was kind of a blossoming thing. What was happening was a lot of transient filmmakers coming back from L.A. and New York. We really felt that we needed arts organizations that supported bringing independent films here, providing opportunities for Kentucky filmmakers to have a venue for showing there films and also creating really cool experiences around town so that people could experience films different ways.

The Louisville Film Society have found unusual venues for presentation: A downtown rooftop, Bernheim Forest, and even beneath the Second Street Bridge a location-appropriate choice to project the comedy classic Stripes. While the Flyover Film Festival has brought interesting films to our city over the years, the new collaboration with IdeaFestival invites new possibilities.

We rebranded it IF Film, Parker said. IdeaFest has been one of the key festivals in our city. After the success of Flyover, Mayor Fisher proposed merging the two festivals with Parker and IdeaFestival founder Kris Kimmel.

It was kind of a win-win because running a festival is incredibly difficult, Pollard said. (Theres) a lot of people working on it both for pay and from a volunteer standpoint and a lot of outreach required. Hopefully what it means for the film festival, specifically, is a transition for us to get better in terms of larger audiences.

A scene from Produce.

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IF Film Fest: Where Great Cinema Thrives