art

art is the metaphorical manifestation of real life.

art is the poetic expression of real life.

 . . .

Saturday Thoughts - A Wish

In the off time when I find myself again slowly, timidly coming out of the cave that my soul gets banished into every week until Friday . . . I found myself on my yoga mat gtting out the cracks in my back. A thought comes to the forefront of my mind: that it is a full time job in itself to fully take care of the body - to FULLY take care of yourself well and to know how to do it - to have time to do it fully, complete, well. (I understand this well when I am at Bates. Taking care of yourself there (and anywhere) is a fragile balancing act because squeezed out by the end of the day and you have to understand how to maximize yourself to optimal functioning for each of your responsibilities). Then I got a flash of hospitals and how many people go there to get treatment - for some reason I saw Cook County in my mind. The thought about so many people getting treatment while still trying to breathe on my yoga mat - made me have a revelation:

...what if we taught preventative care of the mind body and soul starting from early childhood, as part of the curriculum, as contextualized in the curriculum, as THE curriculum?...

What if people learned to be better, smarter, kinder to themselves at an early age?
Why does this not happen enough?

Also: what would the world look like if we were not self-conscious.

Today in Yoga

Yoga helps me remember that I love my body.


"physical manifestation of self compassion"

Quote . . . Eleanore Roosevelt

“Great minds discuss ideas. Average minds discuss events. Small minds discuss people.”

― Eleanor Roosevelt

  

Quote: Max Ehrmann

Max Ehrmann


Desiderata

Go placidly amid the noise and haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence.
As far as possible without surrender
be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly;
and listen to others,
even the dull and the ignorant;
they too have their story.
Avoid loud and aggressive persons,
they are vexations to the spirit.
If you compare yourself with others,
you may become vain and bitter;
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.

Keep interested in your own career, however humble;
it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs;
for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
many persons strive for high ideals;
and everywhere life is full of heroism.

Be yourself.
Especially, do not feign affection.
Neither be cynical about love;
for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment
it is as perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years,
gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.
Beyond a wholesome discipline,
be gentle with yourself.

You are a child of the universe,
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive Him to be,
and whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul.

With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful.
Strive to be happy.

Max Ehrmann, Desiderata, Copyright 1952.

tethering example

I went to New York to study to be a teacher. That is what I thought would make me "the happiest." In fact, when I sat down and had a talking to myself to figure out "what I wanted to be when I grew up", I answered that I wanted to teach at a University. It was great that I was naive, because I had no idea what it meant to do so. So I found a teaching program and I was on my way. It was in New York, but that didn't mean much to me. I just found a program and went there--the tethering. It was kind of a headless horseman decision, I was just so happy to make a decision having been flailing unhappily for two years trying to find some sort of pathway. So I tethered myself to the destination of going to NYU to get a degree in teaching dance . . . but through the journey of going to grad school at NYU in New York, so many things -zig-zags- came up for me. I met amazing people doing wonderful things. I met mentors who have changed my outlook on dance, art, teaching, LIFE! I was able to go to dance festivals, which opened my mind even more--before that I didn't realize that was available to me. And, I left Chicago thinking I was not a performer/dancer and realized in the process of living, studying and working in NY-that YES I AM. So many new ways of moving and creating opened up for me- even though I went to school to 'teach' I realized that I was a performer-- I got immersed in Yoga, Improv, Contact, Acting . . . yes I had done that in the past, and the seeds were planted, but it took a long time for them to sprout, and in this new, vibrant environment so much new knowledge developed. It might have been my time, late bloomer, or what-not, but I flourished in this space. So, if I didn't tether myself to the naive dream of becoming a University Dance prof, I would not have had my mind opened. The tethering to the destination, allowed for so many unexpected new learning opportunities and zig-zags to come along the way-----I am so LUCKY!.

The Beyond and Tethering

I'm not interested in the linearity. I'm interested in the beyond. Whatever your medium is, that you use it to find happiness in your life. That you do it because you follow your curiosity that leads you to uncover truths for yourself. The medium is not a means to an end, but an opportunity to discover and uncover possibilities and treasures of the world.

I'm interested in the richness of it all beyond just the thing of it, whatever the thing may be. I'm interested in the interconnectedness of media and uncovering how one is affected by another.  I value that whatever your "thing" is, that you use it to excavate and illuminate your truth. The doing to get to the 'work' IS the actual work that gets you somewhere different than the initial destination. Process over the product. One must make the product the goal so that s/he goes through the process. They are interconnected. In that sense, the journey is transitory. You tether yourself to a tangible goal and have a clear destination--but in going out and seeking it--the  path leads you somewhere else.  One must be open to the zig zags that come up during the quest for the initial 'destination'- that is the actual goal. It is about being open to having something fixed to attain, going out to attain it and on the journey on the way to attaining it, being aware of new possibilities that come up on the way to attaining it.

Today (6.28.13) in our first Bates 3.0 meeting with a therapist prior to kids arrivial, she said:
 "the exploration of the problem brings up the solutions"
similar to this idea of the "beyond and tethering." In this example: we are not responsible to fix the problems that the kids come to us with, instead, we should use this as an opportunity to guide them to explore ways to think about their concerns, and in doing that, the solutions start to come up . . .



"In every job that must be done there is an element of fun, you find the fun - and SNAP - the job's a game."

I'm very interested in opposites.

• "The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposing ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function." -Scott F. Fitzgerald