Choose Your Nets Wisely

An old painting came up in my fb memories this morning.  Sometimes I don’t like that “memories” features very much.  Other times it reminds me of something important.  

What came up with this painting was a modification I made to the old saying, Leap and the net will appear.  (John Burroughs). Because I believed there is nothing really separate from the Self that needs a net, I reshaped the phrase to reflect that: Leap and the need for the net will disappear.  While that may be true, I nevertheless still find nets whenever I leap into something.

The net that appears with every leap is woven from our stories about it.  Whenever we leap, we will fashion a story to orient ourselves to what is happening.  Here’s the thing I have learned is most important when leaping: the nets go up after the leap is made, not before. That’s what makes a leap. 

If I put up nets before I leap, I will only go where there is a net which is planning and making a decision, but not a leap.  The leap takes place when an experience introduces possibilities we couldn’t have known.  Sometimes leaps are intentional, others get started when we trip over what we didn’t see.   The painting in my fb memories this morning, depicts a wild trip that eventually turned into a leap.

I have made quite a few successful leaps and failed many more times when I used my nets to prevent falling.  The difference between a leap and failure is casting the net, as we go, to capture the benefits.  That is, telling ourselves whatever happens will be beneficial no matter what.  All nets fashioned of optimism and willingness to sift through ambiguity, will yield positive results, even if we don’t get what was planned.  

Experience is different from wisdom in that the former brings the past forward to affect the future, while the latter can see the difference between the past and future and chooses to stay in the present.  When we choose our nets wisely, faith and hope appears over doubt and fear as we go, knowing that whatever happens, having taken the leap, we will not have failed.

I Am Really Excited!

Really.  Not just a little. I am really excited. Right now. This very moment. After years of being “happy enough”, I am taking a turn for even better.  And despite there apparently being no reason in particular as to why I should be really excited, I am really excited.  

I am really excited because I don’t know what is going to happen next. Every next moment is a gift to be unwrapped and discovered for the first time. There is no same old, stuck, or unchanging, unless I choose to see that way. And even then, only for me.

  

For now, I am really excited because I choose to be really excited. Everyone can be really excited. Wonderful things are happening in this very moment. Making the choice to allow being really excited, is wonderful and exciting.

100% of being really excited lays in making the choice to be really excited and feeling it, willingly, with excitement!  Actively see the opportunity in every single moment, to be really excited, personify it, and share it.  That in itself is really exciting!

Nothing changes, except us

And when we do, everything changes!

Pic;)

Embracing Ambiguity

"I wanted the perfect ending.  Now I've learned, the hard way, that some poems don't rhyme, some stories don't have a clear beginning, middle, and end. Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it, without knowing what's going to happen next. Delicious Ambiguity." ~ Gilda Radner 

When I started on this painting it was about not knowing...the naive girl in a handstand, moving forward without seeing anything else...the lioness (courage) laying asleep, not seeing the innocent about to trip into her...the iconic piano, falling from the sky amidst a background of storm and peace.  It wasn't until I added the two snails, carrying the weight of the past on their backs, that I thoroughly understood the meaning of the painting. 

For a long while I pondered how this piece related to relationships.  But in the end it is not relationship with another but oneself that the snails are observing. They are surprisingly symbolic of the yin and yang of us. They anchor what makes life full of anticipation, adventurous, rewarding, potentially awful, but full nonetheless...the electricity, the need to trust, to awaken courage. and take action.  There is an adventure that is taking shape... that risks the falling piano, weathers the storms, and assumes there is gold at the end of the rainbow.  What are the chances that the girl will fall off the cliff, the lioness will bite her, a piano might crush them both, or the golden rewards will not be found?  All these and more are possibilities which makes for the ambiguous nature of life.  But as noted above, it is delicious when we embrace it for all its worth.

Enjoy the day,
every day!
Pic;)

Redefining the Comfort Zone

Oftentimes my cartoons for the Whole Living Journal are based on the season, so drawing a summer camp cartoon made sense for this issue. But as with anything I do, my cartoons are usually plastered with symbolism that I love to scry through to find more and more meaning.

The symbols in this cartoon took me to a lot of places I had already traveled. Apparently I needed a few reminders. So I started with the obvious, that the comfort zone is just another name for what we think we know, which isn't always comfortable, accurate, or fun. It is pitched like a tent in the lessons of childhood.

"Okay, cute." I thought of the tent symbol, but I was certain there were more symbols in the cartoon, so I kept looking. Quickly the tent became the mind, and the two children inside represented the right and left thinking. I took a moment to add a little more to my drawing just to see it better. 

The result confused me: 

The drawing showed the reverse of what I expected.  I typically associate the right brain with imaginings outside the comfort zone, while I usually think of the left brain as the fortress of rules built to protect us from the unknown.  The right side was worrying and the left side was accepting.

When I allowed for different interpretations of "right" and "left", I could see that it often seems "right" to exercise caution, even doubt, in order to make sure I am being safe about what I do.  Then I could see what was "left":  No matter how well I plan and wait to take action until I'm sure, change from beyond the comfort zone is inevitable. Even so, comfort zones are fairly indestructible.

So instead of being about getting out of the comfort zone or trying to dismantle it, this cartoon seems to be all about flipping its negative bent and using its imaginative ability toward something more positive.  We can change the assumption that unforeseen circumstances can cause difficulties if we are not prepared, and practice using our comfort zones to invent rather than prevent.  When we imagine in this way the comfort zone takes on a whole new meaning. 

A final look at the cartoon symbols affirms that even in the dark of night, surrounded by the unknown, there is a light within which will help us see, and a reflection of the day to come.  It is not change we need to challenge, but the challenge of change that is ours to accept and fully appreciate each the moment.  Imagine that!

Nothing changes, 'cept us!
Be peace-full.
Pic;)

When Dreams Change, Dream On

When we spend a lot of time on creating something special it can be hard to let it go, but so we must if we are to experience the full potential of whatever it is that we created.  Sometimes it is not obvious that we are doing this.  Oftentimes things change when we least expect it.

Just as the process to bring forth new life is called "labor" and is often filled with painful contractions, other things in life can feel as if they're being broken or destroyed in order to be more fully realized.

 If we are attached to the beauty and care that made things the way they are, we may feel the destruction thereof is unfair, an undoing of the work invested to this point.  But just as a mold is broken upon delivering the gold that is cast in it, so too must we release our attachments as a new life arises from everything we have done thus far. 


The changes in the way our dreams are from one day to the next can bring sadness or surprise...it's totally up to us and how we choose to see it.  That's the story behind this Enlightenmeant Cartoon.  The bird could see her eggs broken and destroyed but instead she sees new life coming into her experience.  No longer needing to sit still, she will soon be very busy gathering food for her little brood. 

Dreams are not static things we must maintain indefinitely, they are the Love of Life constantly growing and changing to, in turn, grow and change us.  When your dreams change, dream on.  

Dream Big!
Pic;)

In the Space Between

Look around today and see the many reminders that there is something working with us to unconditionally fulfill our potential, however we may establish it for the day.  You may notice the silence between the chirps of singing birds, that invisible something that stirs the leaves up off the the ground and soon will gently usher snowflakes down.  

 This is Life - not what we make of it - but what unconditionally fulfills that.  In between the banter of our everyday life, Life listens and unconditionally moves through our observances and intentions into creation, just like the breath moves through and supports our bodies.  

 Set an intention to take time to notice the wonder of Life as the source of all that Is rather than a limited identity or situation. Be mindful that your thoughts are in line with the highest good for yourself and others. Leave criticism, worry and impatience alone.  Life and you are bigger than that. It's taking notice of and being lucid to the little things that helps all of us see, and embody Life in all it's splendor.

tulitia,
Pic;)

Lightening Up the Acronym of FEAR

There are times in our lives when we need to let go of our attachments.  That can bring on a whole lot of fear.  So much so that the word fear has been popularized in some circles as an acronym for what fear feels like.  Very often the first letter of FEAR has been assigned a 4-letter word that expresses frustration, but not necessarily the cause of the frustration.  Forget is a much better interpretation making the popular acronym stand for Forget Everything And Run.    
It may seem that what is to be forgotten is whatever doesn't seem to be going well, but there is another way of looking at it.  What are we forgetting when we are afraid?  When I am in such a funk, I am forgetting everything I know and love about how I create my experience by the way I express the life that comes through me. 

When we pour what we bring up from the unconditional, limitless wellspring of life into the fearfully shallow container of loss, lack and limitation nothing improves and the negative is magnified.
When we lighten up we do not need to be contained by fear. What is most important for all of us is that each of us pull up the love of life that wells up from within and flood our view of life with all the gratitude and happiness it can produce. 
We transform the classic example of FEAR when we Find Enlightenment (lighten up) And Re-lease the investment of our energy into new life rather than forget the power we truly possess to create life and run from what doesn't seem to be working as though it has power over us. 
Any way you look at it we are creating a masterpiece of life through the instrument of our being. Don't mistake the paint for the brush.  Lighten-up, enjoy the process, and your life will always be a work in progress!

Peacefully,
Pic;)

Grandmother Moon Print

Grandmother Moon, digital enhancement over original watercolor, 2015  

 As she receives life from the east Grandmother Moon, grounded in the wisdom of the north with the childlike playfulness of the south, out-pictures to the west with no attachment to outcomes.

Digitally signed archival prints start shipping October 19th

In Sync with Shifting Seasons

While the calendar sets a date on the arrival of "Spring" on March 20, those in the Flow, simple know a time of new growth is upon us.  We are leaving what indigenous people refer to as the time of Rest and Cleansing Moon, ( obviously so named before there were cars and streets to dig out of the snow. ;)

s

On March 21, we are moving into what is known as the Budding Trees Moon.  The small buds some of us have already ogled will move into full bloom during this time as gray clouds that have blanketed us will part to let through the light while the earth opens to let through more sprouts.  Water as rain will soak into the ground and help feed the new growth, and the wind will circulate seed and pollens to further the process. 

It is a time for opening and as is usual with my art and writing (and ancient systems of knowing), these four elements are all symbols for the opportunities we have to open ourselves in the Universal Flow of life.  Each of us possesses and demonstrates qualities of all four elements at various times.  Sometimes we are the earth, solid yet opening to support growth, other times we are radiating light, warming, encouraging growth.  We each also can bring the qualities of water softening the earth like rain, bringing nourishment and deeply drenching life to the roots, and like air we circulating life and connecting it from place to place throughout our world. 

Like birds building nests, flowers breaking forth, and fawns stumbling into life for the first time, Spring represents an opportunity to be open, adventurous, courageous, enthusiastic, imaginative, and expressive. This is not a season for micro-managing our lives to make sure we don't miss this opportunity. 

The turning of the seasons is a macrocosm of what can happen for any of us in a single day, or even a moment. Recognizing the transition between the seasons and the elements as they symbolize our gifts and challenges can be helpful in releasing, receiving, and more.  Just as the magnolia will surely carry the blossoms appropriate to its type, we don't need to worry, we will be, have, and express what works in the moment when we are in sync with the Universe.

A Natural Process is the topic for the Universal OS Wisdom Group.  More here.

Peacefully,
Pic;)

Life is a Flawless Work of Art

Unconditional Being

Just for today remember that whatever is happening, 

no matter how beautiful or terrible feeling, 

Nothing is perfect and there are no flaws 

only opportunities to breathe and take pause.

For there is nothing to fix, because nothing is broken.  

We are ever whole and healing, and we are always open. 

Though some things are more desirable than others, 

nothing is ever wrong. 

Only different, unexpected, seemingly unbearably long.  

Nothing is ever right, just according to plan, 

what you've been waiting for in sight.  

The important thing is "No-thing", 

The unconditional base of delicious goo 

out of which every thing grows, 

and into which ultimately every thing goes.  

There is no loss, there is no gain, 

only a chance to remember our wholeness not then

but in this moment, now, just a little longer and yet 

always another chance should we happen to forget

each one of us is a gift, a challenge, a dream,

a perfect manifestation of the Unconditional being.

Peacefully,

Pic;)

What's Your Gravity?

I recently checked "repeat " in the itunes app on my phone for a song from the musical Wicked. It is about the witch of the west breaking free of the limits that were placed upon her. As happens with just about everything I do, interesting symbols came through - some of them new - and I just needed to keep repeating the message I heard.

Maybe it's always been this way, but this time when I heard the song, the Wizard and the "gravity" about which Elphaba sings, were of the nature of what the Toltec call the parasite, which is the negative ego. In the musical, Glinda, the good witch, is an expert in doing what is necessary to secure a place of popularity in the world. She is like the ego which is supposed to be supportive, but eventually becomes protective and too often suppressive of us (parasitic) as we move through life.

When I listen to the lyrics from this point of view, I feel the determination and intent of the character rise up. The force she is defying is not without, it is within. It is an operating system that does not deliver as promised. She sees this and it is too late for her to double back and feign ignorance. She must defy it in order to live by her instincts, close her eyes and leap. To do that is to live by the Universal Operating System, rather than the fear of loss, lack and limitation.

Take four minutes to see and listen to this video and enjoy Defying Gravity. If you did, play it again and listen deeply. Breathe it in.  For as manifold as are the messages to the contrary, listening once is just a start.  If you don't see the video in this post, watch it on youtube.

Everyone deserves a chance to fly, think about what tethers you and how you can let it go, because you may not be tied down, you just might be hanging on. Imagine life if you let go and trusted your instincts! When we defy the gravity of our fears we are unlimited! I recently got a taste of that and I want more, more... oh - that's another musical, also very symbolic, but I'll let that go for now.

"The Gravity of the Situation" will be part of the topic at the next UoS Wisdom Group!  Consider taking the leap and bringing your wisdom to light!

Be!

A Bird in the Hand

What you resist persists.

- Carl Jung

 

What does it take to break free of the things that make us feel limited and trapped?  Nothing. Not helpful?  Oh but it is, in so many ways...in fact, limitless ways.

As an artist, I love to work in symbols.  These two images of a bird in the hand were chosen to to represent freedom from limiting thoughts and how to truly enjoy everyday life.

In the one hand, the bird is clearly alarmed and feels trapped.  It also seems powerless to escape the grip that is clenched around it.  In the other hands the bird rests peacefully without struggling and is unconditionally supported in whatever choices it makes.

Freedom cannot be won by struggling to escape.  There is nothing to overcome but our own limiting thoughts of loss, lack and limitation symbolized by the hand in the first image. This is the cultural default: to be afraid, grasping at and resisting life.  If, as Carl Jung asserted, we can't be free of that by resisting, what can we do?  Shift our perceptions from struggling and grasping to allowing and receiving like the bird in the other hand.

Breathe deeply and connect your heart with the peaceful, quiet nature of unconditional freedom................ Feel the fullness of the flow of life through, in, and all around you..........................  Keep breathing and just let this feeling grow, allowing yourself and everything you see/be to glow with the love of life............ Just Breathe.

Peacefully,

Pic;)

Practice with the Universal OS Wisdom Group

Less is More

I liked rendering this month's Enlightenmeant cartoon in pencil instead of pixels.  I usually draw the original cartoon then snap a photo, email it to myself and digitally embellish it with shading as I pop it into it's box to send off to the publisher.  This month however I needed to take my time and feel the graphite as it scraped the surface of the paper.  As a rule, my drawings and paintings are meant to change meaning with the viewer, but for me this one is so metaphorical I thought I'd share what I had in mind when I drew it up. 

The traffic-filled nature of this scene is indicative of just how packed in things can get when we start thinking too much.  It's easy to get stuck in the traffic of our thoughts.  Thankfully, my little Yogi dude showed up and reminded me to let go and free myself of the sheer weight of thought upon thought upon thought.  Less thought makes space for a little peace, a sly smile, a bit of wisdom to come on through.
Next time you're driving through your thoughts like its the five o'clock rush hour, turn down the noise and take a deep breath and repeat the mantra: less is more, less is more.  Peacefully yours, Pic;)

How to Freely Enjoy Life

It's easy to get caught up in wondering what we can do to fix, prevent, or work through conditions of loss, lack and limitation.  That's the way most of us learned life works. It would be nice if we could just forget about the things that don't work, but we've learned it's best to face them head-on. This is how we get hooked into struggling with our own perceptions.

Embracing Uncertainty

I like the gooey textures in this image.  They are like a mix between melted chocolate and a black hole, strewn with copper and gold icing.  It's part of some experiments I've been running with textures.  This one came from crumpled giftwrap worked through a liquify tool on Photoshop Elements.  It seems what went into it, and how it turned out, exemplify the reasons why embracing uncertainty is so important in fully living this life/being creative. 

If you do what you always did, you will get what you always got.

Albert Einstein

One of the most limiting things in life is what we know. Well, okay, not what we know, but our attachment to it.  For many, knowledge is the map by which life is navigated, but often it leads to dead ends because life is constantly under construction, and those orange barrels never get put away.

Cultivating Creative Awareness

Not long ago I spoke with Tara Robinson,on the WAIF radio program Waves of the New Age.  We talked about creative energy and various ways to reclaim its applications when opportunities for conscious use come into play.  Of course we can consciously apply our creative energy whenever we choose, however sometimes conditions are such that what appears in our lives couldn't be farther from what we would like.  That's because some of our attempts to create are to "try not to" do or experience something.  This approach to creative practice inadvertently maintains the polar opposite of what we desire in order to identify our choice as what we are trying to avoid.

We dream our lives and while we can have some pretty cool dreams without even trying, when we set our sites on being lucid in our dream of life, we can appreciate the entirety of our adventures.  To that end, I recently wrote an article on reclaiming your creative power for the Whole Living Journal (Nov/Dec issue online soon) and I am creating some unique classes for "drawing" and "painting" which are about so much more than how to pick up a pencil or brush.

Together we will explore basic drawing and painting skills and explore Surrealism and Expressionism as well as representational art.  We will practice being lucid to the application of our creative energy in an environment where it is safe to practice the same skills that apply to creating our everyday lives.  We will look at how we see and how to see in a way that is truth rather than fear driven.  It's the difference between art that isn't good enough and a masterpiece of life!

If you think you're not creative, doubt that you can draw or paint, and even if you can, these classes will be a fun way to change up and charge up your imagination to better accomplish all your creative practices.  

Here are 2 links to posts I've made at LucidChange.com: learn about the Unconditional Happiness that artists know and everyone can experience no matter where we are in our creative process, and why Doing Nothing is a good thing.  Both include practices for walking through life and seeing new possibilities.

Register for new classes Here!

Change Happens

Just when I thought things were going to slow down, they pick up more steam.  It seems to be like that for everyone these days.  Trying to control it is crazy.  We simply don't move as fast as our fast paced world.  Just ignoring it, as mother used to say, doesn't quite cut it either, when being consciously engaged in life is something I would like to keep on the front burner.  So what then?  The sage advice, Just let go...and enjoy the ride, seems to capture both sides and wrap them into a fun time.  So here's what's up as a result:

• Enlightenmeant has a new look (it's about time I added a little color to the banner).  And there are new tabs at the top which cover the full offerings of my other creative interests as well.  Lucid Change is my favorite new addition. With short lively updates Lucid Change supports transformation through awareness and intent. Check it out and sign up to get email updates.
• You might enjoy my Process updates about my art and projects.  I will definitely be processing the art and philosophy behind my solo exhibit in Columbus this coming August, Not As Seen on Television, all 3-D wire and paper works.
• On Friday, June 1, 6pm-12am, is the opening reception of  SOS Art 2012, a community art show and event of creative expressions for Peace and Justice. This is a potluck reception with artist talks.  Two of my wire sculptures, Hoodie and Somalia, will be in the show which includes hundreds of artists of all ages and backgrounds.  Running through June 10th, the exhibit is hosted by The Art Academy of Cincinnati, 1212 Jackson Street, OTR.
• On Saturday, June 2, 6-9pm, I will be drawing Intuitive Renderings at the Center for Spiritual Living's Prosperity Potpourri fundraiser, 5701 Murray Avenue 45227.
• Also in June, New weeknight art practices will explore getting comfortable with not knowing so we can discover, explore and make some really cool drawings paintings and more.  I am also starting an artist support group for those who would like to live their art more.  If you feel drawn to either of these two opportunities, just email or call 513-549-4607.

I hope to see you around!
Pic;)

Nineteen Out of One Hundred

I don't have the time to draw it right now, but I'm imagining this cartoon where a confused character is scratching his head whilst looking at a picture of President Obama and muttering, "But I thought Jimmy Carter was president."  What's behind this cartoon?

Thirty six years ago things were so much like they are today (with the exception of who was president) that one of the most often quoted lines in movie history (ranking 19 out of 100) was first heard in the 1976 film Network.  In it, news anchor Howard Beale states:

"I don't have to tell you things are bad. Everybody knows things are bad. It's a depression. Everybody's out of work or scared of losing their job. The dollar buys a nickel's worth, banks are going bust, shopkeepers keep a gun under the counter. Punks are running wild in the street and there's nobody anywhere who seems to know what to do, and there's no end to it. We know the air is unfit to breathe and our food is unfit to eat, and we sit watching our TVs while some local newscaster tells us that today we had fifteen homicides and sixty-three violent crimes, as if that's the way it's supposed to be! We know things are bad - worse than bad, They're crazy!" 

At the end of his tirade, Beale tells his television viewing audience he isn't going to recommend they riot, or call their congressman, and he admits he doesn't know how to fix any of the problems.  Instead, he tells them they have to value their life and get mad as hell.  He tells them to get up out of their chairs, go to their windows, open them and shout: 

"I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take this anymore!"   

Believe it or not, that's not what started the idea for the cartoon, but it works. The point is nothing ever changes except us.  In truth, nothing really exists except the ability to perceive.  How we look at things determines if the world is hopelessly dismal or as Howard Beale offers the only hope we have to effect real change in the world.

In addition to the presidential primaries and race this year, there are plenty of ways our attention may be hooked out of the power of the present moment, and diverted to fuel the planetary dream of loss, lack and limitation.

Like the vote, it may seem like a right or a responsibility to get hooked up in the world.  There are many who would say it's as "mad as hell" (read: insane) to consider doing otherwise, but that's what I'm suggesting based on my own long, long history of not being able to make anything better by focusing on how bad it is.

Lets all get mad as hell: smile inside, keep our outlook open, and to all that is dark and negative, happily shout out, "I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take this anymore!"  Forget what 'everybody knows', let's choose instead to create heaven in as many moments as we can.

links:   A great clip from the movie: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90ELleCQvew  full text at http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Network_(film) (Two good reasons SOPA shouldn't go through as written.)

With gratitude to mom and dad for helping me see what's really important. 

Celebrating New Cycle's Eve

Got plans for next Christmas? Some folks think you might want to move your holiday celebrations up to December 19 or sooner to beat the end of the Mayan calendar.  It's been almost 5,125 years since the count went into effect and there are plenty of ideas about what this means to those of us who have shown up for the finale.

There are some who point to various natural, man-made, and unseen changes in the world and say it portends the end of the world...a better world...or nothing new in the world. Since what happens in the world is subject to perception, at the end of the year there will be a lot of people claiming their predictions were right -- whatever they were.

This year more than any other year since Y2K, people are asking what to expect so they can be prepared, a strategy I hope will end with this cycle. For thousands of years this cycle has been filled with fearful anticipation. Expectations are the tools which have been leveraged to ensure personal safety, financial solvency and spiritual salvation, with rather poor results one of which is making life a matter of prevention. In this new cycle (and yes, there will be another cycle) we have the opportunity to live with intention as our way of life. This is the message shouted by so many from the wilderness to the modern times of the closing cycle -- wake up!

Unfortunately, those who are attached to any doomsday or nay-say 2012 story may well be missing the whole point of having a cycle that has an ending.  Closing cycles provide the opportunity (daily, monthly, annually or every 5000 years or so) to see how things are going, determine what works and what needs to change. The old cycle promoted an intention of inattentiveness which is being thrown off and overthrown around the globe.  Much of humanity is no longer willing to trade in freedom for fear.

The trick now is to release attachment to the past so the new cycle of intention may unfold.  Unlike the old cycle, the new cycle will not be about the bottom-line. The mastery of Intention is to live effortlessly, free of expectations and fear. The closing cycle would say that's irresponsible, even dangerous.  In the new cycle it will be recognized as unconditional -- like love, liberation and our true potential.

Instead of dwelling on the end of the old cycle, wondering what, if anything, will happen on December 21, Let's treat 2012 as one big giant New Cycle's Eve. Celebrating for a year is a far smaller fraction of the more than 1.8 million days in the ending cycle than one of our holiday weekends is to our 365 day year. So this is not overdoing it.  Forget shopping, we should have started celebrating decades ago!
 
Happy New Cycle's Eve!