The Composition of a Happy New Year

As we approach the beginning of a new year, I am grateful for the myriad ways I witness the process of those moving through the hopes and concerns regarding creative ability.  It is truly a gift to see it unfold as a new way of seeing is revealed.

The foundation of any work of art is its composition.  It doesn’t matter if the work is figurative or abstract, visual, music, theatre, dance or literature. If the composition is good, the work will perform. Composition is the relatedness of the elements the work contains. Composition is the feng shui of creative expression.

On one level, we learn to see how the energy of the work moves through geometric and mathematical configurations often layered and interlocking.  At the same time, we see the true composition of a work of art is not between the elements presented, but within the observer.

From the first note, stoke of paint, letter that is laid down, step taken, or word spoken, nothing exists but the vision of the artist and this continues throughout the composition of the work.  How an artist looks at the work is what makes it apparent, but there is something even more powerful than this.  As the artist views the work, the composition of the entire creative experience is formed.

We are all artists, and our lives are our greatest creative expressions.  Thank you for sharing yours with me.  May we all be true to our creative nature in 2010.

Bird's Nest Blessings

There is a German legend which states that a bird's nest in the Christmas tree will bring good health and prosperity in the coming year. Today I found this nest in a bush as I was passing. Seeing the nest was empty I was reminded of the Hindu dharma to go empty of all thoughts, attachments, and desires that one may effortlessly soar in the awareness of limitlessly brilliant consciousness. The two ideas merged in my heart as a reminder that just as the smallest birds are naturally provided all they need to prosper and grow, so too are we. In a season where the perfect gift is often sought, may we remember there is nothing, simply nothing to do in order to freely live life to the fullest. May we go empty and fully enjoy the blessing of nothing but being in the moment where the simple gifts of the bird's nest in all its seasons may be found.

Peacefully,

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Keeping it Simple

The holidays have arrived and with them the hopes and dreams of millions of men, women and children. There is opportunity for making memories and unearthing them, a prospect that can be full of wonder and sometimes worry. Whether your holidays or life in general are filled with joy or drama depends on the formulas we use to calculate these outcomes.

Drama is a state of confusion brought about by the calculating complexities of expectations. There are two equations for creating drama: 1) I am the result of your expectations and 2) you and everything else are the result of my expectations. The latter gives the appearance that we can know one another and how this world ticks. However, all we know through this formula is the cumulative experience of met or unmet expectations. We cannot know ourselves at all via the first calculation, but it is by living up to and abiding by expectations that we are conditioned, and learn to live in this world as children.

Expectations are desires that constitute the veil that keeps the world appearance and all drama in place. If someone is disappointed or hurt or angered, this suffering can always be traced to one’s expectations of some person or circumstances. Whether someone should or should not have expected something they or someone else did or didn’t do, say, feel, is the equation that is sure to produce some level of drama as it validates and initiates the expected reactions. In recognition of this fact, one may attempt to alter expectations and expect only the best from everyone. But everyone may not agree.

It is not the expectation, but the fulfillment of it or the lack thereof that brings about drama. So it is better to have no expectations at all. When this is the only expectation that can be disappointed or fulfilled, the responsibility for our physical, mental, emotional and spiritual condition rests squarely on our own shoulders and though it may not be comfortable to find ourselves raising expectations, it is a load we can bare or let go as we choose.

‘Tis a gift to be simple. Put another way -- want not, waste not…. a single moment of your precious life. Happy Holidays!

Not That

When you take away everything, all the perceived problems, deficits, hardships, faults, slights, abuse, attachments, core issues, analysis, charity, loss, lack, limitation and abundance, love, hate, reasons for war, peace, anger, jealousy, avarice, devotion, desire, need, philanthropy, politics, religion, sunrise, sunset, the oceans, beaches, weather, trees, all animals, insects, fish, birds, humans of course; when you see these are but notions and as such unreal, and suspend the notion that they are necessary, inevitable, important, and most importantly part of the whole, then you will know the truth.

To Thine Own Self Be True

The masks we wear are determined by why we think we wear them. We may have different masks at home, school, work, only when we see certain people, or under certain circumstances. Masks, as collections of agreements that condition and limit self-expression, seem to be a pretty handy tool for getting around in the world and some would say masks are an unavoidable necessity. Then again, if we search through this process we will see that masks are based on what, how, why and when we think. The "self" that is conditioned and limited is not the personal "I", but that from which the personal "I" is shaped. My "I" is an artist, a daughter, sister, friend, co-worker, ex, in a relationship, a teacher, and more. "I" is lost, won, accomplished, failed, inventive, worried, forgetful and remembering. "I" is not and "I" is, but if any of these were true, they would not change and they always do. "To thine own self be true", is to detach from the limits and conditions we have enabled. Rather than seek to replace old masks with something we think is better, we can just be and see through the eyes of the limitlessly, unconditional, omnipotent, omnipresent self. That, we truly are.

Photo courtesy of exfordy at flickr.com

Who do you think you are?

Why? A wise teacher once recommended I not ask the question why. Why? Because. That's right, because -- a story that explains the perceived cause behind the perceived effect. Perceptions are not reality, they are the filters made up of thoughts. We think we are, we think we see, we think we know, and we think we'll be safer doing so. That brings up another "W" word...wrong. But hang in there for "W" word number three and don't worry, it's a good wrong to realize. Thankfully I'm not who I think I am, things aren't the way I sometimes think they are, and there's no such thing as safe let alone a need for it. Those precious moments when I'm not about the complicated business of thinking I'm living by thinking; I'm being, it's effortless, and that is beautiful. So ask not why, nor think who you are. Enjoy who you be when you don't think.

Reflection from a Polarized Filter courtesy of stephend9 at flickr.com