Mining the Vines of the Mind

Surveying the landscape in our immediate mind’s eye vicinity we can tabulate the terrain. One result is to unearth long-standing debris.

Innocently enough we gently tugging at the surface brush, until the realization washes over us that we are deep within our subconscious yanking at the vine attached roots. We are suddenly on what seems a mining expedition, an excavation project that burrows years, even decades.

Trolley

We visit versions and subversion of ourselves, some scared, others hiding, most of them long forgotten. We remember they are still parts of us and need tending. Just because they are grown over doesn’t mean they’ve grown up with us.

After we clear and tend the soil of our history we can replant a simple and useful garden that is free to grow and flourish or wither and die; all we need is to pay close attention.

I picked up this piece of art at the Los Angeles « Renegade Craft Fair sponsored by Etsy. Trolley draws her inspiration from vintage fashion and pop artist Andy Warhol. The image of Bianca Jagger immediately drew me in and is symbolic because she is well known for her days at Studio 54 however, she is now a social and human rights advocate involved in causes all over the world. An amazing woman who has not let her history dictate her present.

The Renegde Craft Fair is on its way to San Franscico, I highly recommend!

Stare Love

Mike Saijo

Ripped through the sands of time to the place where true love lives one can clearly see there are no lies there. It’s a happy place cluttered with lessons on the floor waiting to be swept up and taken out with the debris of lost hope and dreams forgotten.

True love is tricky because it defies time and space. It is omnipresent if we can see that it exists in every breath that we take, in all of the actions we make in life. The illusion is that love is fleeting and gone never to be seen again or regained. The truth is love is all around us if we dare to stare it in the face.

Come see Mike Saijo‘s One Piece opening tonight, June 19th 6-9pm at BLEICHER/GOLIGHTLY in Santa Monica.

Potential Accountable

Squished down, smudged out, puckered up, hidden away, silenced in. So many of us lay unaccounted for; our potential like soldiers slain on a battle field. We dull ourselves down into versions that seem more appropriate for our job, the circumstance, our relationship or whatever is in front of us at the moment. What we don’t realize about our potential is that people notice.

Julia Schwartz - Fool on the Hill

People see our ghost version impersonator wafting along, pretending to be us. Some will acknowledge the real us slain on the ground, glance between the two and sigh, others will engage the ghost with lust and verve and never care. A  small few will grab hold and point to the slain you and yell, “wake up!”

Potential is patient, non-judgy, and true. Holding oneself accountable is something only you can do. It’s a dirty process, painful, and count on coming unglued. There is no end, but the journey is what keeps you alive.

Julia Schwartz is an amazing artist/psychoanalyst represented by Bleicher/Golightly in Santa Monica.

Snarky Awakening

Jeff Danford

I’ve been feeling a bit snarky lately. Not less inspired, but more sarcastic and fun; irony always runs parallel. I think this is just who I am and it comes out more when I’m actually enjoying my life. There’s something to be said for waking up in the morning and looking forward to the day ahead. Not because you have nothing to do in particular, but because the things you have to do, you will enjoy. Setting up life so that most of the things that you have to do are the things that you want to do is a start.

I paused and gave thanks for the sarcasm in my life today and Jeff Danford, the artist featured here, made me smile.

Resent Block

Resentment can stand in our way like a road block. We can take detours to get where we want to go, but we eventually run into these “resent blocks” again, because we have no idea what’s causing them in the first place. Our resentment only stand to hold us back until we take ownership of them.

resentment – noun – the feeling of displeasure or indignation at some act, remark, person, etc., regarded as causing injury or insult. ~ synonyms: dudgeon, pique, irritation, envy, jealousy.

Acting indignant and feeling hurt only mask envy and jealousy, these emotions reveal a little bit of us in them; or that we want a little bit of them in us. Funny how when we look at others as part of ourselves it’s easier to let go and move on. Once we realize and own the resentment in life it’s easier to strike out in any direction; unfettered.

Seamus Conley

Pray Art

Pray for consciousness, presence, and acceptance. Focus on what is and not what should be or could have been. All we have is this moment, not the last or the next. Our blessing is this moment, and the more present we are in it the greater pleasure life holds.

Fear of loss and change are part of our present experience. We do a disservice to ourselves when we try to skip past these moments in search of the next happier less scary ones. There is grace, joy, and peace in all of what we experience if we allow ourselves to just be.

I ask that everyone send a pray for my grandmother who is going into surgery next week. She and my grandfather are blessed with 68 years of marriage. We are scared, but we have faith all will be as it will be.

The featured photographer is Mehmet Turgut.

Life Play

Ching Ching Cheng

We’re not all actors, not because we’re not beautiful or tall or funny. We simply don’t have the skill. It takes work, it’s a job and a serious business. So to assume we can play roles in our daily lives and get away with it without falling flat is delusional. Just as insane as expecting to win an Oscar never having appeared on screen.

We shouldn’t attempt predictable, scripted roles in our daily lives because when we get exactly what we think we want and eventual find we’re unhappy. Reading a script in real life, instead of listening to our inner voice will make us dull and sad. We compound discontent with the feeling that we can’t possibly share this with anyone because the we’ve set the scene, the lights are bright and we look so good hitting our marks.

The answer is simple. We can just start doing the things we want and stop doing the things we don’t. We spend so much of our time doing what we think others want us to do so we’ll be a good friend, spouse, parent, colleague, or customer. We say “yes” to things we’d rather not do only because we don’t want to seem inappropriate or mean. Our time and our life is our own and we ought to live it the way we want. Make decisions and stick to them, others will see we are resolute and ultimately have respect for us.

Start small.

If you’d rather stay home and wash your hair instead of going to dinner with a friend then say, “some other time.” Take a bath and soak up the time to yourself. So “no” more often to small things and replace the activities with little rewards for yourself; instead of guilt ridden thoughts of what other people think of you. Move on to the big stuff when you get comfy with the small.

Don’t play the roles in life just be yourself in every situation. Lights, camera, action!

Today I visited the Arts Rental and Sales Gallery Winter Exhibit at LACMA and fell in love with Ching Ching Cheng. His work seems autobiographical and I can’t wait to meet him in person. I’m planning on attending the opening of the new exhibit March 26th which will feature Chris Trueman, Raul De la Torres, and Peter Holden.

Post Control

Powerless Structures, Fig. 11 (1997)

Surrendering control is a precarious act. If handled incorrectly we perceive it as a sign of weakness in ourselves and others. In fact, this is the greatest place of power.

Inhabiting a mindset that we have no control over our lives is simply accepting that there is a greater plan for our lives. We are empty to all possibilities instead of approaching opportunities filled with answers.

Our intelligence keeps us in control of situations but separates us from optimal possibilities. Curbing the urge to battle and adopting an attitude of acceptance is the difference between a graceful dive and a fatal fall.

360 Degree Life

Oliver Marsden

Squarely planted in the center of it all it’s easy to take in the three hundred and sixty degree view. Disorienting at first, this crystal clear perspective on situations unchanged opens space for new approaches. Operating from this vantage point, less achieves more and silence is welcome. People are not other and goals are not external or distant.

Indulgence in activities that nurture and energize are essential to keep this central perspective. Work, people or social outlets that only pull on our energy naturally tug us off-center and skews our perspective. The minute our perspective is off, it takes twice as much energy to do anything, we’re much louder and our goals seem further away.

Oliver Marsden

It’s easy to make everything more important than ourselves; feeding everyone around us with our energy until we’re so drained that nothing short of plugging into an outlet will recharge our battery. This is because we focus all of our activity out. We are doing for others, in whatever capacity that may take form, but the energy is not being reciprocated.

Our batteries can become rechargeable. By focusing on centralizing activities that feed our passions or interests. These usual come in forms that seem to have no value to anyone but you. Can’t think of what that is? Start by imagining what you might do if you didn’t have to make money for a living? What would your life look like? Then choose some activities that relate to the idea. These kinds of activities will feed and nurture your mind and replenish the energy that used to feel lost forever.

Maybe it’s spending fewer hours watching TV and going to art openings, reading biker magazines, taking belly dancing classes, or learning how to build a YouTube subscriber page. Whatever centralizing activities will get you to 360 degree clarity, it’s worth it.

Blurs and Razors

Moving really fast through life blurs the scenery and is a clever solution to avoid pain. Some people even carry a sharp razor to slice off anything that threatens to hang on to their bumper. This is an effective road to some kinds of success. Until you either reach the end of it or the motion itself makes you ill; or both.

Then what?

We’re standing at the end of the road, with “success” in our hand but able to clearly see all the pain we’ve so effectively avoided and anything we’ve cut off along the way will soon catch up.

Where do we step next?

Standing still is an option. Listening to what we’ve avoided can help move us to the next stage, rather than creating some new blur of distraction. If we continue to treat life as some destination to success we’ll end up at the end of more roads. Allowing ourselves to see and feel what’s around us opens us to experiences connected to who we are and a less empty existence. Then we are life; a journey that is continuous.