where we cross over….where Mary Poppins lands….

everyday magic

The outer world is the world of manifestation, the inner world that of imagination. Yet in many respects it is the inner world that makes possible the outer. We do not just reflect the outer world, we create it. In many circumstances we order it-prevent its fall into disorganization, driven by entropy. Yet nature is also highly ordered, by what are ultimately mathematically inevitable patterns & relationships. If a God created the world it is through these laws;  perceiving & manipulating them, we resemble the creator….Christian Wertenbaker

it’s comforting to know that many concepts move in realms outside of science….imagination, time, consciousness….science isn’t big enough…somewhere in between the past & the future our self-awareness ‘occurs’……opening a gap…..seemingly whooshing in the flow of creativity on the wave of imagination….

this ‘everyday magic’ is available at all times…..like carrying an upside-down parasol…..like understanding your purpose….like being excited about growing old….like seeing possibility everywhere…

 Imagination lies at the juncture of death & life,

 absence & presence….Patrick Laude

quenching the thirst of imagination…

 

making the invisible visible….the artless art of living…

define your soul era

Even a brief shock (when discovering the moon over city roofs or hearing a sharp bird cry at night) can yield an experience of the order of no-mind: the poetical order, the order of art. When this occurs, our own reality-beyond-meaning is awakened, & we experience an affect that is neither thought nor feeling but an interior impact. Both the magic of art & the art of magic derive from & are addressed to experiences of this order. They function evocatively, not referentially; like the beat of a shaman’s drum, not like a formula of Einstein……Joseph Campbell

it’s wonderful to escape to a place where reason is uninvited….the harmony of art & magic touches our need for aesthetic wanderings….such small & delicate wishes!

like arrranging the dinner just so…like draping a little sprig of ivy over your hut….like suddenly remembering your ancient roots in an old teacup….like burying a stone for luck….like remembering your devout faith as something inevitable….

All the way to heaven is heaven itself.

…Maezumi Roshi

beseeching the infinite….in a moment before dinner & after a long day…

The process of discovery is the endless spring of creativity, always bright, fresh & new, brimming with life. Where it comes from is not too important. What matters is that it’s already present in each one of us, waiting to be uncovered. Ultimately, engaging the artless arts means to see into one’s own heart & mind, & to bring to life that which is realized- embodying the arts of simplicity, mystery,, spontaneity, & suchness……John Daido Loori

the reenchantment of the hubris in complacency

walking deeper into....

Enchantment is both the capacity of the world to charm us & the spell that comes upon us when we open ourselves to the magic in everyday experiences. An enchanted world is alive & rich in personality. It reveals itself to us in its beauty & poetic presence. Both the realm of nature & the world of things have their magic that can stun us & ultimately make life feel worth living……Thomas Moore

this is the space of deep intuition….the land of charm….the heart of life’s gifts… finding our own way is the way of the wild soul, weaving the ups & down into a beauteous wrap….useful on dark & stormy nights…..

the core of our enchantment is longing….for the sacred…using compassion & courage as guides….climbing….is the path soft or rocky today?

the stars hold no memory…only bliss….

Reenchantment means stepping beyond the modern traditions of mechanism, positivism, empiricism, rationalism, materialism, secularism & scientism- the whole objectifying consciousness of Enlightenment- in a way that allows for a return of soul. Reenchantment implies a release from the affliction of nihilism, ’our culture’s cancer of the spirit.’ We move toward a new pragmatic idealism & a more integrated value system that brings head & heart together in an ethic of care, as part of the healing of the world….Suzi Gablik

flying our wishes out in a stream of magic….an ode to joy…

whimsy wands...

I make what I call ‘whimsy wands’……a variation on the magic wand……I have sold  them at craft shows & I give them to kids & kids at heart….they elicit the most wonderful response……joyful, caught of guard, playful….made of sticks & shells, feathers & ribbons & other fun stuff…..a little magic to be strewn about….lightening our load with a laugh & a wish…

this is the essence of our beauteous & vibrant existence…..the one we forget we own….the contradictions of a seemingly unexceptional self….a belly laugh rising like a beast from the mysterious depths of ordinary life, hurling us out of our usual identity….an intensity of living becomes available, graced with the authenticity of joy….

something special about a childlike, whimsical, make-believe moment…

When the puer (‘child’ in Latin) shows up, it offers great promise. We may find the puer rising after a period of cool discontent or fallow wintering of the soul. Its appearance signals a renaissance of possiblility. The puer is our creativity. The puer is an aspect of the spiritual side of a man or woman complimenting the deep, downward, grounded soul. It keeps us moving, looking ahead, creating & imagining…..Thomas Moore

find a little heart space… 

When we feel joy, our whole life lights up. When we feel joy, our light extends to everyone in our experience. In our presence, people who hide in the darknesss of judgment & criticism suddenly see the light that shines inside themselves. If you want to do God’s work, find the light that lies in your mind & heart. Feel the fire in the heart that comes from your gratitude, your appreciation of your life just the way it is. Because you feel joy in the moment, the warmth in your heart is given wings. ….Paul Ferrini

through the studio door

painted pages & devilish joy...

 
There is this suspect & guilty feeling in the studio which floats in when all is exciting, moving & raw…..I revel in it…
 
Every new & good thing is liable to seem eccentric, really irrelevant to life. And therefore we must always listen to the voice of eccentricity, within ourselves & in the world. The alien, the dangerous, like the negligible near thing, may seem irrelevant to purpose & yet be the call to our oun fruitful development. We must expect to live the orderly ways we have invented continually conscious of the imminence of change…….
Brewster Ghiselin….The Creative Process
 
Keep it real, unpolished, working, moveable, fledgling, deep in transition….
 
In making art, some artists have learned how to work on the things that really matter to them. It means following your heart. Having a working mastery of the creative process is truly essential to virtually all artmaking. This means creating a life in which working on your art becomes a natural part of your everyday life. Art is not made by a special breed of people, but by ordinary people who dedicate their lives to their own special work. If you are productive, your creativity will take care of itself……..
Ted Orland….The View from the Studio Door
 

a fairy-tale life…

the glow of a fairy-tale nook....

There is nothing quite like the land of make-believe….

nothing else can make the day a little more magical…all things winged…

maybe a little dream time in a beauteous garden…

I could believe in a dream like this…..a fairy tale house? oh yes…

DailyGood: Man Builds Fairy Tale Home for $4700, by Heidi Stevenson.

winged fairies remind me to open to possibility, to stay fresh…

wandering & wondering…..

if you believe, the fairies will swoop in…

…….I don’t want to live a small life…….

I don’t want to live a small life. Open your eyes,

open your hands. I have just come

from the berry fields, the sun

kissing me with its golden mouth all the way

(open your hands) & the wind-winged clouds

following along thinking perhaps I might

feed them, but no I carry these heart-shapes

only to you. Look how many how small

but so sweet & maybe the last gift

I will ever bring to anyone in this

world of hope & risk, so do.

Look at me. Open your life, open your hands.

Mary Oliver

Christmas Morning

humble angel gifts...

The sweet breath of morning brings a sigh, a release into gentleness….

This wonderful little story is my idea of the beauty of truth in Christmas

And this, I believe, is the source of our Christmas ‘stuff’…

Going beyond fear begins when we examine our fear: our anxiety, nervousness, concerns, busyness & restlessness. If we look into our fear, if we look beneath the veneer, the first thing we find is sadness, beneath the nervousness. Nervousness is cranking up, vibrating all the time. When we slow down, when we relax with our fear, we find sadness, which is calm & gentle. Sadness hits you in your heart, & your body produces a tear. Before you cry, there is a feeling in your chest & then, after that, you produce tears in your eyes. You are about to produce rain or a waterfall in your eyes & you feel sad & lonely & perhaps romantic at the same time. That is the first tip of fearlessness, & the first sign of real warriorship. You might think that, when you experience fearlessness, you will hear the opening to Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony or see a great explosion in the sky, but it doesn’t happen that way. Discovering fearlessness comes from working with the softness of the human heart……Chogyam Trungpa

Soft & tender hearts make their subtle & surprising appearances at Christmas….this experience of the sad & tender heart is what gives birth to fearlessness…..allow its sweet glimpse to surprise you…..

like Christmas magic…..

golden dreams & a tranquil mind

gold echo

3 types of perception within which we see the patterns of our life……

sense of experience, sense of emptiness, sense of luminosity………not to be ‘explained’ but ‘known’ personally….

According to Trungpa Rinpoche, the philosophy behind this is essentially meaningless. He says perception is purely experiential (sounds like Nietzsche!). It doesn’t have to be confirmed. A sharp precision arises through the sitting practice of meditation…..’removing the clouds, rather than recreating the sun’.

This connects to his beautiful idea of ‘magic.’ Spark, or magic lies in individuality, not to be confused with ego. We don’t usually trust ourselves, but when you ‘click in’ you are able to experience a sense of reality not dependent on reinforcement. It is unconditional. The phenomenal world is our own world. This magic is our power. Iconography as our journey.

How beautiful is this? I say yes! A cosmology of breathing this life….

This, to me, is the ‘hero’s journey’ Joseph Campbell described…..the journey we take from innocence to wisdom, from stagnation to new life.

a vital everyday necessity

This may be where art & life connect….perception as Hirsch confronts the ego’s battles in ‘the demon & the angel’ (one of my favorite books….ever)….

A highly formal & traditional work deepens immeasurably when one feels the primal murkiness threatening to swell up underneath the geometric clarity, the verbal concision, & the ironic wit. The ancient demons are never far from shore. They dwell within the deeps. They move in the ghostly mists. A highly rational art is especially haunting when one feels the struggle in the thought, or even underneath the thought; when one senses something dark welling up from below, from the primordial mud; when one recognizes the powerful internal pressure of a mind defending itself against itself.

‘Primal murkiness’ as the ‘hero’s journey?’ ahhh…….

to be seen….the edge of awkward

saturation

This transcendental quality of art can be the potentiality of magic. Beauty shared, an aesthetic intelligence noticed, is what draws us into our own receptivity.

Everything is gestation & then bringing forth. To let each impression &  each germ of a feeling come to completion wholly in itself, in the dark, in the inexpressible, the unconscious, beyond the reach of one’s own intelligence, & await with deep humility & patience the birth-hour of a new clarity: that alone is living the artist’s life…understanding as in creating…………Rilke

We hardly notice……but the heart knows….as a central core….a vital cause of transparency….

Beware….we may discover red or crimson or magenta for the first time.

No amount of skillful invention can replace the essential element of imagination….Edward Hopper

Beware…..we may stumble to this edge too often….complacency never returning….never hidden by fog again….

Remember to Make-Believe…

A gentle nudge to laugh, lose control, curl up, get out of your routine, nap, tell a dumb joke, hug someone unexpectedly, look for the moon, read about the circus, take photos in your yard, listen, ignore your to-do list for one day, eat something equal parts yummy and healthy…followed by chocolate, argue about how important magic is, read a really good poem (I can help with that…more on that later), sit…really……just sit, sleep in and then go to brunch, go to the movies with a frazzled friend, hang out with your family, lie down with your legs up the wall…..just try it, say no to some things on your really full schedule, try to leisurely  Christmas shop, leave notes for special people, check out kindness tricks, get a massage, clean out your winter sweaters….then buy a really cozy new one, do something different during your lunch break, shop at a vintage store, pretend you are a life coach for a day, and listen to a little music like you’ve just found someone important…

A little magic…

unexpected light...