Have fun your way this summer

I’m a pretty firm believer that summer doesn’t actually begin until June 21 (I guess I’m a big equinox guy or something) and I think this year’s weather really bears me out, seeing as we didn’t really start having proper summer weather until June 19.

So, now that we’re actually into the most fun season of the year, it’s time for my quarterly roundup of great events to honor it properly.

Go to the World’s Fair with Molly Brown American history buffs know that the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair is one of the key cultural events of our history. It was a chance to showcase innovations like electricity, highlight the work of artists of all kinds and give visitors the chance to explore the rich history and exciting future of the world at large. The list of those visitors include Denver’s own Molly Brown and her family.

In celebration of the fair’s 130 th anniversary, the Molly Brown House Museum , 1340 Pennsylvania St. in Denver, is hosting “The World is Changing” exhibit through Sunday, Aug. 27. Visitors will be able to peruse unique original artifacts from the event, learn more about what fair attendees saw and how it changed the world.

In addition to the exhibit, there will be special events throughout its run, like an examination of the food that was served at the fair and see how people of color and women were represented there. All the event information can be found at https://mollybrown.org/ visit-us/exhibits/.

You’re going to need a bigger amphitheater for ‘Jaws’

You can make a solid case that Steven Spielberg’s “Jaws” is a perfect film. Even if you discard the mountains of money it made, the way it totally rejiggered filmmaking and the film industry, and how it announced one of the art form’s most important figures, everything about it just works — the score, the suspense, the

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Coming Attractions

characters, the shark (well, that might be the one caveat).

“Jaws” is going to be screened during the summer for as long as we have summers, but what a treat to see the film at Red Rocks , 18300 W. Alameda Parkway in Morrison, at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, July 6, as part of its Film on the Rocks lineup. Some films just work better with big crowds and “Jaws” definitely fits the bill. Get tickets at www.axs.com.

Celebrate 43 years at the KYGO Birthday Bash

Country music and rap don’t have a whole lot in common, but one thing they do share is that both sound best in the summer. With that in mind, why not attend KYGO’s annual Birthday Bash , which features a collection of some of the genre’s best artists — Brothers Osborne, Niko Moon, Kameron Marlowe, Hailey Whitters, Randall King and Double Wide.

The concert will be held from 4 to 11:30 p.m. on Saturday, July 1 at Fiddlers Green Amphitheatre , 6350 Greenwood Plaza Blvd in Greenwood Village. Many of the musicians are up-and-comers (Whitters is a particular favorite of mine), which makes for an exciting pairing with Brothers Osborne, who are blending country and rock in really fun ways.

Find tickets at www.ticketmaster.com.

Clarke’s Concert of the Week — Dead & Company at Folsom Field

What a long, strange trip indeed. I’m not sure what anybody expected when it was announced the Grateful Dead would be relaunching with many of the original members and pop/blues guitarist John Mayer. But since Dead & Company began touring in 2016, they’ve shown an admirable dedication to the original band’s ethos and have introduced new generations to the music in a live setting.

But all good things must come to an end and the group announced their 2023 tour would be their last, which means their performances at 7 p.m. on Saturday, July 1, Sunday, July 2 and Monday, July 3 at Folsom Field , 2400 Colorado Ave. in Boulder, will be your last opportunity to catch the group in-person.

Head over to www.ticketmaster. com for tickets to what will certainly be a historic run.

Go on a culinary journey at Taste of Arvada

Who doesn’t love a good meal to go with a beautiful summer evening? But what kind of cuisine to go with? Fortunately, you don’t have to decide at the annual Taste of Arvada , which will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. on Thursday, July 13 at the Apex Center , 13150 72 nd Ave. in Arvada. newspaper.

The ever-popular event features more than 50 metro area and Arvada restaurants, bakeries, breweries, wineries, distilleries and more, all highlighting their best tastes and flavors. In addition to all the things people can eat and drink, the event also features live music, art vendors and more.

Find all the details and purchase tickets at www.arvadachamber. org/taste.

Clarke Reader’s column on culture appears on a weekly basis. He can be reached at Clarke.Reader@ hotmail.com.

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BY LUKE ZARZECKI LZARZECKI@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

The brain is overrated, according to Kadam Lucy James at the Kadampa Meditation Center.

“Have you ever felt peaceful in your head?” she asked.

She put her hands over her heart and said that’s where the mind is, adding that while the brain has conceptual reality, the mind exists in the heart, where we feel peace, love, joy and wisdom.

“If we can get into our heart, we automatically start to feel more peaceful,” she said.

James is temporarily living in Arvada and teaches meditation at the Kadampa Meditation Center. She started practicing about 41 years ago after she saw a “very peaceful person” in college.

“He was a student meditating on the end of his bed and I asked him what he was doing, because this was back in 1981, and meditation, no one had heard of back then,” she said.

Ever since, she’s been practicing and has taught all around the world, including England, San Francisco, New York City and now Denver. She hopes to one day achieve enlightenment, or in nite happiness and peace.

It takes a lot of hard work, but she said it’s the only thing where the more she does it, the happier she is.

It’s because, with meditation, the mind becomes naturally peaceful. Each person has a natural source of peace and happiness inside them, she said, and instead of seeking it elsewhere — relationships, ful lling jobs or material things — it’s already inside the body waiting to be found. e evidence lies in the random moments of peace and happiness everyone feels. It could be a torrential downpour and the mind is peaceful, settled and calm. e rst step to unlocking that potential and happiness is to breathe.

“What those moments show is that our mind is ne. And then what unsettles the mind is actually all our uncontrolled thinking,” she said.

Coming from the teachings of the Buddha, she compared the mind to a vast ocean. e waves are turbulent while below them is a vast, in nite, calm place. Waves of anxiety and negative emotions distort the brain but below those waves rests an incredible sanity.

“When our mind is settled, when we can let go of our troubled thoughts, and our turbulent thoughts, uncontrolled thoughts, then we naturally feel good. We naturally feel peaceful and we start to get a sense of our potential and who we really are, which is this person who has limitless potential, limitless happiness,” James said.

Focus on the nostrils

Carol O’Dowd, a Trauma and Transition Psychotherapist and Spiritual Counselor assists her clients by meeting them where they are and o ering them acceptance through breathing.

“If you focus on your breath, you cannot simultaneously focus on all your internal dialogue. It cannot be done. e human brain is not wired that way,” O’Dowd said.

It creates a space between the thoughts. e stress and anxiety stored in the body don’t go away, but the practice of noticing the emotions and putting them on pause to breathe helps calm the body down.

Breathing is a function of the body that automatically happens all the time. Focusing on that breath, O’Dowd compared it to a spectrum. What happens when the body stops breathing — death — is one end and the other is when the body pays attention to the breath — peace.

“It can be as simple as just experiencing that ow of air, and in and out of your nostrils. If you can place your attention there, that’s giving yourself a mini vacation,” she said.

O’Dowd encourages her clients to practice treating uncontrolled thoughts like a salesperson trying to sell them. Instead of buying, make them sit in the corner and return to them in 20 minutes after taking time to check in with the body.

It can also let go of stress. Pain, like what the ngers feel after working at a computer all day, can be a physical manifestation of stress. Holding on to that stress can lead to other health conditions.

“It’s not rocket science,” she said.

Escape to reality

James said achieving enlightenment is extremely di cult, and while the teachings she studied laid out di erent steps and pathways, she simpli ed it down to three. e rst is focusing on the breath to relax. e second is identifying delusions.

A delusion can be jealousy, greed, competitiveness or other unpleasant thoughts. Most of the time, those thoughts aren’t controlled by the mind and enter the brain randomly. It’s the root