The Self-Portrait
January 29, 2012Branching Together
February 23, 2012Loving, being with the now, what IS, is my biggest challenge. Worry walks along side of me daily. It rarely leaves my side. As I get older though, I find that it lags behind more, and sometimes it even forgets to accompany me. Those moments when I embrace what is, what is now, are often the everyday things–like the scat during a morning hike, the little extra sugar in my morning coffee or a chance play of a favorite song on the radio. I love these grounding, IS moments.
Making, creating something–whether it is art, food, a poem, an experience for someone, a new project for my classes, this also gets me into the now, the IS. And these are the things that then may kindle the IS in someone else. So not only does it get me into the now, it often gives someone else something to ponder, to consider, to love.
John Dewey has a few things to say about this too:
The function of art has always been to break through the crust of the conventionalized and routine consciousness. Common things, a flower, a gleam of moonlight, the song of a bird, not things rare and remote, are means with which the deeper levels of life are touched so that they spring up as desire and thought. This process is art. Poetry, the drama, the novel are proofs that the problem of presentation is not insoluble. ARTISTS HAVE ALWAYS BEEN THE REAL PURVEYORS OF NEWS, for it is not the outward happening in itself which is new, but the kindling by it of emotion, perception and appreciation.And we are all artists. Everyone of us creates. We create stories, meals, love, poems, little doodles, and so many other things. We get inspired by common things, chance encounters, random moments. Loving these moments, embracing the IS, often feels in itself a creative act. Embrace your now, your IS. Be creative. Be love. Be you.
