Spinning World

Faith is taking the
first step, even when
you don't see the
whole staircase. 

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Week 4

So much of what we do takes faith.  

Faith in a world that will hold onto us as we go spinning through the space.

I remember stressing out for an Astronomy test in college thinking, "Wow, how does this little test mean much in the vastness of the everything that I am studying for?" Truth is it didn't.

So what is the "test" in my life today? What is really important to have faith in, and what isn't?

If you have insight to this, please leave it here. 

btw: MLK had it all figured out. It is best to take some risks even though we are sure of the outcome.

- t. 

Black-capped Chick-a-dee

This is a hearty little bird known for socializing and its communication skills. 

It got me thinking about communication in general. Most of it is non-verbal (gestures and nods) and so much of it starts with an internal dialogue first. 

I've been known to wear my heart on my sleeve and there have been a few times when I've had to really put my foot in my mouth. So this week will be dedicated to communication. 

Cheers to really listening like the little birds do so well!

t.

To be Snail-Like

Is to be here for generations - for 60 million years.
Rather than the measly 1/2 million that humans have been here.
Is to be slow, with patience unsurpassed.
Is to adapt- go into hibernation with it is to cold- or when it is too hot, to make things just right.
Is to be without an ego.
Just imagine how silly a snail would be with one... strutting his stuff saying, "Hey, look at me!"
Silly.

Take it to your yoga mat-- go ahead and take it off your mat too.

-t.

Creative Workshop 1

Creative Workshop Breathwork/Meditation (seated position):

Start by deepening your inhales and exhales -- Allow your mind to travel back in time to visit the moments when your yoga practice fumbled (where your mind wandered, or where a posture caused frustration). Breath into these feelings that come up. --Release-- Remind yourself about the reason that it is called a "yoga practice" not a "yoga perfect."

Thinking of your creative practice in broad terms - writing, drawing, singing, acting etc... Again, travel back in time to the past to a place where your creative practice fumbled. Whether it was from your own artist's block or from a harsh critique of your work from someone else.
Observe your feelings and take 3 deep breaths to release them. 

Now go back again in both your yoga and creative experiences and remember being in the "flow" (you know, the space where hours fly by). Remember the beauty of this space - breathe here. Remember what it was like to be a kid.
No hesitation, no worry about doing it right, just living in the moment.

Coming into the present moment now, imagine being open to your own creative energy- Take Risks -- Be Bold-- Reach into your intuition while resisting the urge to be the judge. 

As you create, allow your mind to come back to your breath. Be aware of the balance in your body- notice if you favor one side or the other. 

Most importantly make this your own practice!  

-t

 

 

 We have a home that's bigger than all our properties,
we have a knowing that's broader than all our knowledge,
we have a time that has never been measured by our clocks,
we have a vision that has never been contained in our horizons,

There is an us in us that's so much bigger than all those small personalities we have been wearing in the clumsy attempts to fit into the limited beliefs caging our awareness since we arrived here in this dream we call Life on Earth.✩

Giorgio Sergio

 Big ideas for a small Sunday cup of tea, but I like this a lot. I had a blast opening up my home/studio space yesterday. It was such an amazing energy that this group brought to my studio. We started with some yoga and dove into making art- the place was turned up-side down in no time. 

Work alone is your privilege, never the fruits thereof.
Never let the fruits of action be your motive; and never cease to work... abandoning any selfish desires.
Be not affected by success or failure. This equipoise is called Yoga.

-Bhagavad Gita 

So counter to much of what I've learned up until this point, yet so right on.
The less that I can get on that rollercoaster of ups and downs the better off I am.
You can ask yourself, "Am I doing my best?" If the answer is "yes" well then, there you have it.

The problem is that I really like rollercoasters.
-t

Being Naive...

Always remain open to experiment, always be ready to walk a path you have never walked before. Who knows? Even if it proves useless, it will be an experience. - Osho

I have always tried to live my life like this. I once had a drawing teacher in college who said to me, "If I could teach you one thing, it would be to take every chance to try new things as they come up..." I took these words to heart and a few days later I signed myself up to study abroad in Kenya for half of a year. It was a life-changing and often difficult experience when I was there, but I never regretted it.

As for today, I took 19 teenagers to the MIA for a field trip. I spent at least 20 hours to prepare for it and had all of the students caravan over. I decided trust them in this museum (that is filled to the rim with priceless art) and gave them questions to answer, and artwork to find throughout. I told them to meet me down in the coffee shop at 11:30 sharp.

Every single group did the work and were able to meet me on time. Little did they know that this trust was my own experiment. A test to see if teenagers could step-up and follow through even though I've been "burned" before. I'm not sure how I am still so naive after teaching for so many years.

na·ive - according to Webster...

 /nɑˈiv/ Show Spelled[nah-eev]

adjective

1.

having or showing unaffected simplicity of nature or absence of artificiality; unsophisticated; ingenuous.

2.

having or showing a lack of experience, judgment, or information; credulous: She's so naive she believes everything she reads. 

Consumer or a Creator?

 Today I took Ted Rosen's Slow Flow class (amazing) and at the end during savasana he mentioned to imagine the edges of our bodies erasing or disappearing and to take note of the expansive feeling when these borders dissolve.
I imagined my body as a pencil drawing and I slowly erased the edges.


Once Matt mentioned to me that he liked a part of one of my paintings. I responded, "thanks, but I didn't paint that, it just showed up in my painting. " I love this idea of synchronicity...

I paint not by sight but by faith. 

Faith gives you sight. 

-Amos Ferguson, The Artist's Way

 

Just a quick thought about Black Friday. 
How do you identify with yourself? Are you a consumer or a creator? 

Why should we all use our creative power...? Because there is nothing that makes people so generous, joyful, lively, bold and compassionate, so indifferent to fighting and the accumulation of
objects and money. 

-Brenda Ueland, The Artist's Way