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Sarah gave me words to talk about, and since most of you are friends with her if you wanted words you've probably already gotten them ;p If not, comment and I'll give you your words :) I'm not in the clearest state of mind, but I'm giving this a go just so that I can write SOMEthing.
- Artist - Oh to be an artist. This word carries so much weight with it that I actually hesitated to put it on my business cards once upon a time, but the plain truth is that I am one. I am a creator, in many shapes and forms and venues, and despite whatever weight society has added to this admission, what I believe is that we are all, on some level or another, artists. I'm an active, cultivating, committed artist, and I know that I cannot exist in any other way without dying. Each moment I live and experience is an opportunity for inspiration, no matter how bland, desolate, or blinding. In other words, it's a way of life, not a career. ;p
Also, I was at the National Gallery on Sunday, standing in front of a million and one works of art that were just blowing my mind, despite the fact that their subject matter was entirely Christian (but I can see the appropriation so I guess I still found meaning in it). It wasn't just the visuals that astounded me, but the creative energy radiating from each canvas, half-overwhelming me by their intense demand to be harnessed...
- Storyteller - Can I just link to the entry about my newest tattoo? No? Well then, "The universe is made of stories, not of atoms." - Muriel Rukeyser. It is my highest duty and honor to tell stories. Philip Pullman's quote: "Tell them stories," from The Amber Spyglass, doesn't just mean tell them a good anecdote, or an entertaining yarn. It's about revealing essential truths through story. It is a microcosm of the macrocosm, or visa versa, I can't remember. All energy, all matter (which is energy), and all of life is nothing but stories, stories written, told, and waiting to be told.
- Earth - Oh Earth. You are the collective manifestation of billions upon billions of consciousnesses. You're abundant with resources and dazzling beauty, and yet you can wipe us out by the millions with one crashing wave, or sweep of a tectontic plate. And you do. And isn't that, also, a product of our manifestation? Earth is the greatest classroom we will ever know...
But it's also the home of sensuality, the feeling of dirt and moss beneath bare feet, the taste of sea spray, the blush of sunburn, the breathless beauty of moonlit orchards and fog-cloaked mornings... it is the heaven we wish it to be, if we'd only open our eyes and see it.
- Animals - OMG Animals!!!! LOVE! Animals might have lower IQs, and they might not have opposable thumbs, and they might be smelly or dirty or disease-ridden... but they are more spiritually evolved than us, any day. They are such beautiful, intense, loving, graceful, mysterious, powerful creatures... they have lessons to teach us, wisdom in their purposeful movements and long gazes. A bond with an animal can be one of the most enriching experiences of your life... I can't even really fully express it. But now is a good time to mention I'm working on researching what it takes to run a pet-sitting business... screw media, I want to work with animals, not celebrities!
- Spiritually Evolving - Ok that's not a word, but I'll let it slide :) To me, spiritual evolution is constant. It never stops just because you stop going to church, or praying, or performing ritual, or meditating. It is always happening, even if it seems like devolution. For instance, this semester I thought I'd been spiritually neglecting myself, but I've only recently realized that my reprieve from active spirituality led me to evolve by leaps and bounds. It's not just about God and the Universe- it's about Self, more than anything else, and understanding your Self as best you can, in that moment. If you cannot understand your Self, you will never understand anything of God, for you, like the rest of us, are only a single, multi-faceted facet of Divinity. :D
- Artist - Oh to be an artist. This word carries so much weight with it that I actually hesitated to put it on my business cards once upon a time, but the plain truth is that I am one. I am a creator, in many shapes and forms and venues, and despite whatever weight society has added to this admission, what I believe is that we are all, on some level or another, artists. I'm an active, cultivating, committed artist, and I know that I cannot exist in any other way without dying. Each moment I live and experience is an opportunity for inspiration, no matter how bland, desolate, or blinding. In other words, it's a way of life, not a career. ;p
Also, I was at the National Gallery on Sunday, standing in front of a million and one works of art that were just blowing my mind, despite the fact that their subject matter was entirely Christian (but I can see the appropriation so I guess I still found meaning in it). It wasn't just the visuals that astounded me, but the creative energy radiating from each canvas, half-overwhelming me by their intense demand to be harnessed...
- Storyteller - Can I just link to the entry about my newest tattoo? No? Well then, "The universe is made of stories, not of atoms." - Muriel Rukeyser. It is my highest duty and honor to tell stories. Philip Pullman's quote: "Tell them stories," from The Amber Spyglass, doesn't just mean tell them a good anecdote, or an entertaining yarn. It's about revealing essential truths through story. It is a microcosm of the macrocosm, or visa versa, I can't remember. All energy, all matter (which is energy), and all of life is nothing but stories, stories written, told, and waiting to be told.
- Earth - Oh Earth. You are the collective manifestation of billions upon billions of consciousnesses. You're abundant with resources and dazzling beauty, and yet you can wipe us out by the millions with one crashing wave, or sweep of a tectontic plate. And you do. And isn't that, also, a product of our manifestation? Earth is the greatest classroom we will ever know...
But it's also the home of sensuality, the feeling of dirt and moss beneath bare feet, the taste of sea spray, the blush of sunburn, the breathless beauty of moonlit orchards and fog-cloaked mornings... it is the heaven we wish it to be, if we'd only open our eyes and see it.
- Animals - OMG Animals!!!! LOVE! Animals might have lower IQs, and they might not have opposable thumbs, and they might be smelly or dirty or disease-ridden... but they are more spiritually evolved than us, any day. They are such beautiful, intense, loving, graceful, mysterious, powerful creatures... they have lessons to teach us, wisdom in their purposeful movements and long gazes. A bond with an animal can be one of the most enriching experiences of your life... I can't even really fully express it. But now is a good time to mention I'm working on researching what it takes to run a pet-sitting business... screw media, I want to work with animals, not celebrities!
- Spiritually Evolving - Ok that's not a word, but I'll let it slide :) To me, spiritual evolution is constant. It never stops just because you stop going to church, or praying, or performing ritual, or meditating. It is always happening, even if it seems like devolution. For instance, this semester I thought I'd been spiritually neglecting myself, but I've only recently realized that my reprieve from active spirituality led me to evolve by leaps and bounds. It's not just about God and the Universe- it's about Self, more than anything else, and understanding your Self as best you can, in that moment. If you cannot understand your Self, you will never understand anything of God, for you, like the rest of us, are only a single, multi-faceted facet of Divinity. :D
