'There are no unnatural or supernatural phenomena, only very large gaps in our knowledge of what is natural. We should strive to fill those gaps of ignorance. '
~ Edgar Mitchell
Apollo 14 Astronaut and
Founder of the Institute of Noetic Science
Thursday, May 1, 2008
Friday, April 18, 2008
Weird Kid on the Block
So, there I am, outside singing my prayers at 5am this morning - a practise that I have - (the singing and the prayers not the 5am) and clarity, just like the sun (poetic lisence because the sun was nowhere to be seen at 5am) begins to dawn. I realise that it's not enough to admit to being the weird kid on the block when asked, I have to tell people I am the weird kid on the block. This is not happy thought for me... you mean I have to risk being ostracized for good? Sure, says the voice singing back to me, because in actuality, introducing yourself to life and those in it as who you really are is the way to be included. The fear of being ostracized that leads you to hide your true self IS ostracizing you, is fostering the feeling of not being included. Hmmm... a Divine and risky paradox. I sigh. OK - so does that mean more blog? Well sure, that would be one way to admit to being who you are...
It appears then that I am to tell you all about my continuing work with essences and vibration. I'm not sure that I have enough time to bring you right up to date or record everything that has happened this past year but I guess I could give you snap shots? I will therefore endeavour to write regularly over the next few days. (Who knows, if I say it *out loud* it may happen.)
For today (as my son is now awake and says he needs to watch Stevie Nicks on youtube... well he is 3.5 and seems to know his own mind! - In truth I have lost my train of thought.):
It occurred to me, in light of my difficulty with heroic traditions of therapy and healing, that plant and nature essences do not work to treat the symptom of say, perfectionism, directly, they do not remove the need to fold underwear in neat triangles or iron shoelaces, this relationship with order and design is well established and probably at a mechanistic level (though I would have to put more time and thought into this - and I have niether right now) cannot be tinkered with, 'turned down' as it were. Rather the essences work to foster our relationship to the opposite which is what in this case? Chaos or spontaneity perhaps, and this is where the healing lies, in introducing us to the sacredness of disorder and randomness and holding our fears as we get acquainted. We have then a relationship to order and chaos which is more healing and whole than trying to have a relationship to order only. And more spacious too, how much more can exist in the 'distance' between these two things; the subtleties and permutations are infinite - just like the possible numbers between 1 and 2.
I think this work goes on, and has been going on, with our use of vibrational essences, it is not something I have now created that wasn't there before, but seeing it and understanding it is healing too. Part of the human malady is this desire we have to be all one thing, all the *good* things; to purify and be permanently pure. The heroic traditions can exacerbate this desire with the purging and cleansing and releasing...terminology, but not I think, reality (or the underlying 'mechanism'). So to view the use of essences as a way to allow all of me to exist, all parts and pieces to be given space and be included, is gentle and peaceful and probably more close to the truth of how we heal.
It appears then that I am to tell you all about my continuing work with essences and vibration. I'm not sure that I have enough time to bring you right up to date or record everything that has happened this past year but I guess I could give you snap shots? I will therefore endeavour to write regularly over the next few days. (Who knows, if I say it *out loud* it may happen.)
For today (as my son is now awake and says he needs to watch Stevie Nicks on youtube... well he is 3.5 and seems to know his own mind! - In truth I have lost my train of thought.):
It occurred to me, in light of my difficulty with heroic traditions of therapy and healing, that plant and nature essences do not work to treat the symptom of say, perfectionism, directly, they do not remove the need to fold underwear in neat triangles or iron shoelaces, this relationship with order and design is well established and probably at a mechanistic level (though I would have to put more time and thought into this - and I have niether right now) cannot be tinkered with, 'turned down' as it were. Rather the essences work to foster our relationship to the opposite which is what in this case? Chaos or spontaneity perhaps, and this is where the healing lies, in introducing us to the sacredness of disorder and randomness and holding our fears as we get acquainted. We have then a relationship to order and chaos which is more healing and whole than trying to have a relationship to order only. And more spacious too, how much more can exist in the 'distance' between these two things; the subtleties and permutations are infinite - just like the possible numbers between 1 and 2.
I think this work goes on, and has been going on, with our use of vibrational essences, it is not something I have now created that wasn't there before, but seeing it and understanding it is healing too. Part of the human malady is this desire we have to be all one thing, all the *good* things; to purify and be permanently pure. The heroic traditions can exacerbate this desire with the purging and cleansing and releasing...terminology, but not I think, reality (or the underlying 'mechanism'). So to view the use of essences as a way to allow all of me to exist, all parts and pieces to be given space and be included, is gentle and peaceful and probably more close to the truth of how we heal.
Sunday, February 3, 2008
A Traveler I Am
This is the first piece of meaning*full Altered Art I have finished, I have others in the works but they appear to be long projects of self exploration and gradual revelation.
A Traveler I Am was a foray into the same territory however it fell onto my work bench in hours. The green background is the colour of a dress I wore in an insightful dream, the objects were all collected, mostly over the past year, but some from several years ago (the snail shells). Together they give a glimpse of my undeniable urge to know my Soul and an apsect of my Soul showing itself to me. I was delighted by the way the clock face held the (real) butterfly wings in place and how they still seemed to have life and flight as they curl up from the page.
This piece also illuminated my creative process and how I tend to have a set look in mind and often what I build falls short... I am working to let the pieces build themselves and inform me of my inner landscape as I let them unfold but it is not easy or comfortable. And I have found that this process of letting go and allowing the art to form before my eyes is shaking loose some powerful and tenacious constructs I have about how life should look and behave.
As Tagore said, 'Evidently the only way to find the path is to set fire to my own life.'
A Traveler I Am was a foray into the same territory however it fell onto my work bench in hours. The green background is the colour of a dress I wore in an insightful dream, the objects were all collected, mostly over the past year, but some from several years ago (the snail shells). Together they give a glimpse of my undeniable urge to know my Soul and an apsect of my Soul showing itself to me. I was delighted by the way the clock face held the (real) butterfly wings in place and how they still seemed to have life and flight as they curl up from the page.
This piece also illuminated my creative process and how I tend to have a set look in mind and often what I build falls short... I am working to let the pieces build themselves and inform me of my inner landscape as I let them unfold but it is not easy or comfortable. And I have found that this process of letting go and allowing the art to form before my eyes is shaking loose some powerful and tenacious constructs I have about how life should look and behave.
As Tagore said, 'Evidently the only way to find the path is to set fire to my own life.'
Sunday, January 20, 2008
2008: Altered Self ~ Altered Art
So, straight in, without any preliminaries, I mean its only been a year - well not quite - since I posted. Where does the time go?
A summary of the second half of 2007 might look like this; I continue to work with Plant Spirit Essences, currently in a more personal way, though I am still offering them to the 'world at large'. My focus is on experiencing their influence and learning more about how they can be effective, alone and in combination with each other. I am still only on the tip of that iceberg, yet it is fascinating.
I completed my certification as a Doula through DONA International. Having done my training before my son was born but not completed the requirements, I managed to attend the births and submit all the paperwork (essays, resource lists, birth 'stories') within a few weeks. I now have post nominals!
I graduated year one of IKH school, and am now into my second year. The transformation progresses, I continue to discover and reveal territory within me that I had not previously been aware of. This has resulted in a need to move and dance often, explore music and sing, and most recently, convert half my dining room into an art studio. It seems I need to 'see myself', and so I am creating mirrors in which to do just that.
The format for my art is still unfolding, I am frustrated by my conflict at needing to create and then needing the creations to be perfect or look a certain way. How holographic! Yet as I keep going back to my studio (ooh, la-dee-da) I am learning to just create and see what happens rather than have an end result in mind. Both the creating and the creation are informative. How exciting!
So ATC and Altered Art? Well I decided to choose a format and focus. The realm of ATC seems so free and all encompassing to me, like free dance, where I can't really do it wrong and most things 'work'. Mixed media is where it is at for me - then I get to ask why that colour? Why that trinket? Why that meduim? The end result seems to be much more a representation of my humanity and being; complex, multifaceted, dark, light, messy, beautiful and when seen as a whole, enchanting, captivating, perfect.
There are some great blogs and sites out there on the subject.
Check these out:
artist-trading-cards.ch
atcards.com
atcquarterly.com
OK thats it for now.
A summary of the second half of 2007 might look like this; I continue to work with Plant Spirit Essences, currently in a more personal way, though I am still offering them to the 'world at large'. My focus is on experiencing their influence and learning more about how they can be effective, alone and in combination with each other. I am still only on the tip of that iceberg, yet it is fascinating.
I completed my certification as a Doula through DONA International. Having done my training before my son was born but not completed the requirements, I managed to attend the births and submit all the paperwork (essays, resource lists, birth 'stories') within a few weeks. I now have post nominals!
I graduated year one of IKH school, and am now into my second year. The transformation progresses, I continue to discover and reveal territory within me that I had not previously been aware of. This has resulted in a need to move and dance often, explore music and sing, and most recently, convert half my dining room into an art studio. It seems I need to 'see myself', and so I am creating mirrors in which to do just that.
The format for my art is still unfolding, I am frustrated by my conflict at needing to create and then needing the creations to be perfect or look a certain way. How holographic! Yet as I keep going back to my studio (ooh, la-dee-da) I am learning to just create and see what happens rather than have an end result in mind. Both the creating and the creation are informative. How exciting!
So ATC and Altered Art? Well I decided to choose a format and focus. The realm of ATC seems so free and all encompassing to me, like free dance, where I can't really do it wrong and most things 'work'. Mixed media is where it is at for me - then I get to ask why that colour? Why that trinket? Why that meduim? The end result seems to be much more a representation of my humanity and being; complex, multifaceted, dark, light, messy, beautiful and when seen as a whole, enchanting, captivating, perfect.
There are some great blogs and sites out there on the subject.
Check these out:
artist-trading-cards.ch
atcards.com
atcquarterly.com
OK thats it for now.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
