If you have never heard of Alex Grey it would behoove you to check him out and learn to love him because his artwork gets to the root of the life (and death) experience and reminds us that there are transcendental phenomenons in life that form the very essence of who we are .
I took a journey to the Chapel of Sacred Mirrors today. It was a refreshing and necessary reminder that the intangible exists, that we are all one, that we are all made of the same stuff, and that love is the most powerful force in the world. When I walked in, I looked up and the first thing i saw painted in and elegant calligraphy-esque format was "Surrendor to Love" which is my MySpace name and the password basically all of my webpages which i will now change. I thought I had coined that phrase haha! Anyway, this was my first indication that we were on the same wavelength, which I already knew, but this solidified it. The quotes that he used in his works and books, the ones that inspired him, were also ones that I have used, ones that have inspired me. For instance, one of the quotes he used was the same Marriance Williamson quote that i used in my graduation speech. One of my favez to this day:
"Our biggest fear is not that we are inadequate.Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us.We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant,or gorgeousor talentedor fabulous?Actually, who are you NOT to be?You are a child of God.You playing small doesn't serve the world.There's nothing enlightened about shrinkingso that other people won't feel insecure around you.We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us.It's not just in some of us; it's in every one of us.And as we let our own light shine,we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.As we are liberated from our fear of our own excellence,our presence automatically liberates others.And excellence becomes the standard of all our lives."
I can actually still hear myself reciting it with the same intonations I used way back when. haha.
Another reason why I love Alex Grey, a reason that I just realized today from going to the Chapel is that he sees the good, or maybe the usefulness in all great (wo)men. "Cosmic Christ" is basically a painting of God framgented into different windows into which we can look and see different historically significant men and situations that have had a significant impact on the story of mankind, his story, if you will. =) In the windows, he painted everyone from the likes of Einstein to Mother Theresa, from Ghandi to Hitler. He even painted a scene in Nazi Germany. Basically, we are all God's children.
This Cosmic Christ picture made me a little sad because it got me thinking of 9/11. If we were all created in the likeness of God, are all made of the same "stuff," and are all part of this collective oneness, then when the terrorists flew their planes into the world trade center, they weren't killing the American enemy, they were killing themselves. Obviously this isn't the only situation that this concept of brotherhood/sisterhood applies to, but it's what struck a chord in me.
His paintings are illustrations of sacred events in life; love, pregnancy, birth, death, caring etc.. They illustrate the mergence of mind, body, and soul. His cognitive pallet is clearly love and he transcribes it onto a tangible canvas in a colorful, balanced, powerful, open, thoughtful, important, deep and meaningful way. His paintings remind us that what is really improtant is not the "thing" itself, but the "essence of things." His art is a product of transbustantial experiences induced in large part by LSD. This might be a turn-off to some people who think that inspirations induced by drugs are not authentic and therefor not relevent. However, the tricks of his trade certainly do not undermine the relevancy of his work to every single area of our lives. His paintings scream soulfulness. They are perfect because they are based on the Truth, which is timeless. I think the msot powerful piece of artwork was probably the big, reflective mirror (a reflective mirror, imagine that!) in the hall that had a grid with a circle int he middle that said "God" out of which is reflected the imagine of whoever stares into it with this "God" emblem written across their chest. Basically, we are all, when you get past the makeup, the tatoos, the hair, the nail polish, the skin, or whatever else is temporarily alloted to us for recreational purposes, the same. We are all inwardly perfect. Alex Grey is great because he manifests the larger concepts of "oneness" in such a comprehensive, accessible way. His art is perfect. Sacred. Beautiful. Bursting with love.
So much more to write.
Bursting with loveeeeeeee...the deep kind not the superficial kind.
Definitely going back to the Chapel of Sacred Mirrors for another dose of reality.
"I subject my awareness to the perfection of being, the perfection of wisdom and perfection of love, all of these being co-present in the Vast Expanse. I share this panorama of Being and appreciate all I can share it with... the seamless interweaving of consciousness with each moment."
-Alex Grey
Psychedelic dude.
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Soul Searching
I was going to name my blog "LifeInBalance" because I think that balance is the key to success in life, but I realized that this is just one song that my soul wants to sing about. Equating balance with success is subjective. It is an ideal that I believe in, but that others might not. And in order to discover, write about, and defend such ideals, we have to do some soul searching and listen to our own songs. So MusicofMySoul it is.
I love balance. I love balance in all its forms; literally, metaphorically, psychologically, physically, spiritually, sexually, meteorologically =). Which explains why I love gymnastics and contortionism so much; because it is one big, blatantly literal metaphor for living a balanced life. Note that gymnastics can also be practiced dangerously, something I've experienced first hand and a song I'll sing about later!
Anyway, I don't think we can rely on faith if we don't supplement it with science. You can pray as much as you want, but at the end of the day you still have to wash your hands to prevent disease. Although faith is definitely my explanatory preference =). You can't plant a garden without then enjoying all the plants that have flourished there. You can't enjoy an icecream sunday if you don't supplement your diet with real, nutritious food. You can't appreciate the sacredness of sex if you are having it constantly. You can't know joy if you don't know sorrow too (they are both great friends of mine and I've discovered I love them equally). You can't appreciate silence if you haven't been down a NYC subway. That's right, the subway is the only place where loudness exists =).
Dr. Seuss: "Life is a Great, Big Balancing Act."
The only phenomenon that I don't think the principle of balance applies to is Love (which is the greatest thing... better than faith and hope even =) )! Passion tempered with reason is good, but I believe that once you find real, true love you should pursue it with reckless abandon and fight for it with unrestrained passion, even if it lets you down, because if it's real, it will ALWAYS prevail.
I think that childhood is sacred. I think that life is a series of lines that are unfortunate, yet necessary, and can be overwritten(erased?) with love. I think that spiritual affinity will result in lasting, meaningful, powerful, soulful relationships. I think that childhood is sacred because children have not yet been introduced to lines and do not yet know that impossibilities exist.
Love, innocence, giving, sharing, selflessness, prayer, meditation, family, marriage, children. All of these are sacred.
i think that this first blog is necessarily egotistical because all of the subsequent blogs will be subject to opinions that stem from who I am and what I believe and thus it is necessary to establish what that is exactly.
Interests: love when it is not masquerading as lust, discovering when love is masquerading as lust, practicing spiritual discernment, remembering that EVERYONE has something to offer, gymnastics, dance, other nonverbal forms of communication, soul-searching, metacognition, religion, not complaining about trivial things, remembering that trivial things are subjective, learning so that I can understand myself and strive for perfection, living to serve, subcategories of living to serve: working out and eating healthy so that I can be fully present, aware, and in tune with the needs of others, getting an education so that I can solve life's bigger problems rationally, intelligently, justly. etc.etc. , developing empathy (It's much better than sympathy!) , not developing apathy, writing, walking a mile in another man's shoes, then remembering to put my own back on (I always remember , but sometimes it takes me a while), not being afraid, humor (the state of laughter compeletely eliminates the state of fear), self-love as a force that spawns reciprocal love.
striving to live in the likeness of God, constantly failing to do so, realizing that i am constantly failing to do so and then reaffirming that i want to =).
naturally occuring phenomenons.
every single subject in school.
I've also discovered that I have an obsession with loving people who don't love me back, trying to expose them to love, sometimes failing, sometimes succeeding. I don't know why. But it has confused people who really love me and caused they and I great pain.
I've also discovered that what I REALLY believe in, what I REALLY consider to be sacred and the truths that I REALLY hold near and dear come out better and more honestly in my writing.
Occupation: daughter, sister, friend, sinner, lover, fighter, gymnast, student, Orthodox Christian...not in this order... there's more.
Liberalism in the press... it maintains that the truth will prevail only when tested against counter-opinions, sayings, ideals etc and that opinions, however contrary to the truth they might be, must not be suppressed because there might be an iota of truth in each one that might lead to the greater Truth with a capital T if there is such a thing.
Finding beauty in everything, no matter how ugly it is perceived to be.
Quotes/stories/people/events/things/etc. that I eventually want to blog about:
Tom - my angel - personification of spiritual perfection.
Let Love Draw the Line - Alex Grey - great way to think about the world.
Anyway - Mother Theresa -great poem to live by.
The Hero with a Thousand Faces - about inner soul-searching, the truth being within "the heart of the hero(us)" the entire time - completely necessary.
The Nichomachean Ethics - gets to the core of balance. "everything in moderation, including moderation."
Bartholamew (sp?) Cubbins The Man of Many Hats - Dr. Seuss - because there is a little of him in ALL of us and becuase I see a lot of him in me.
1 Corinthians 13:13
"just because it is your right to do it, doesn't mean it is the right thing to do" - my Aunt Mary (who generously passed it down to me)
"If you want to write a story about the nutritional benefits of Steak, then you can find someone who will say that Steak is good for you." Aunt Judie (so true - future blog about convictions).
Fear and how paralyzing it is.
the rest of the poems/quotes/stories from my beautiful yoga class.... http://www.yogatothepeople.com/stories.html
The goal of this journal is to present myself and toil with concepts that I deem relevant, those of which might not be relevant to other people, through writing. Sometimes i am going to be in a thoughtful, honest mood, like now. Sometimes I am going to be in an exuberant state of unrequited passion, sometimes a cynical one, sometimes a funny one, a serious one, etc.etc.etc.
groovy.
<3
I love balance. I love balance in all its forms; literally, metaphorically, psychologically, physically, spiritually, sexually, meteorologically =). Which explains why I love gymnastics and contortionism so much; because it is one big, blatantly literal metaphor for living a balanced life. Note that gymnastics can also be practiced dangerously, something I've experienced first hand and a song I'll sing about later!
Anyway, I don't think we can rely on faith if we don't supplement it with science. You can pray as much as you want, but at the end of the day you still have to wash your hands to prevent disease. Although faith is definitely my explanatory preference =). You can't plant a garden without then enjoying all the plants that have flourished there. You can't enjoy an icecream sunday if you don't supplement your diet with real, nutritious food. You can't appreciate the sacredness of sex if you are having it constantly. You can't know joy if you don't know sorrow too (they are both great friends of mine and I've discovered I love them equally). You can't appreciate silence if you haven't been down a NYC subway. That's right, the subway is the only place where loudness exists =).
Dr. Seuss: "Life is a Great, Big Balancing Act."
The only phenomenon that I don't think the principle of balance applies to is Love (which is the greatest thing... better than faith and hope even =) )! Passion tempered with reason is good, but I believe that once you find real, true love you should pursue it with reckless abandon and fight for it with unrestrained passion, even if it lets you down, because if it's real, it will ALWAYS prevail.
I think that childhood is sacred. I think that life is a series of lines that are unfortunate, yet necessary, and can be overwritten(erased?) with love. I think that spiritual affinity will result in lasting, meaningful, powerful, soulful relationships. I think that childhood is sacred because children have not yet been introduced to lines and do not yet know that impossibilities exist.
Love, innocence, giving, sharing, selflessness, prayer, meditation, family, marriage, children. All of these are sacred.
i think that this first blog is necessarily egotistical because all of the subsequent blogs will be subject to opinions that stem from who I am and what I believe and thus it is necessary to establish what that is exactly.
Interests: love when it is not masquerading as lust, discovering when love is masquerading as lust, practicing spiritual discernment, remembering that EVERYONE has something to offer, gymnastics, dance, other nonverbal forms of communication, soul-searching, metacognition, religion, not complaining about trivial things, remembering that trivial things are subjective, learning so that I can understand myself and strive for perfection, living to serve, subcategories of living to serve: working out and eating healthy so that I can be fully present, aware, and in tune with the needs of others, getting an education so that I can solve life's bigger problems rationally, intelligently, justly. etc.etc. , developing empathy (It's much better than sympathy!) , not developing apathy, writing, walking a mile in another man's shoes, then remembering to put my own back on (I always remember , but sometimes it takes me a while), not being afraid, humor (the state of laughter compeletely eliminates the state of fear), self-love as a force that spawns reciprocal love.
striving to live in the likeness of God, constantly failing to do so, realizing that i am constantly failing to do so and then reaffirming that i want to =).
naturally occuring phenomenons.
every single subject in school.
I've also discovered that I have an obsession with loving people who don't love me back, trying to expose them to love, sometimes failing, sometimes succeeding. I don't know why. But it has confused people who really love me and caused they and I great pain.
I've also discovered that what I REALLY believe in, what I REALLY consider to be sacred and the truths that I REALLY hold near and dear come out better and more honestly in my writing.
Occupation: daughter, sister, friend, sinner, lover, fighter, gymnast, student, Orthodox Christian...not in this order... there's more.
Liberalism in the press... it maintains that the truth will prevail only when tested against counter-opinions, sayings, ideals etc and that opinions, however contrary to the truth they might be, must not be suppressed because there might be an iota of truth in each one that might lead to the greater Truth with a capital T if there is such a thing.
Finding beauty in everything, no matter how ugly it is perceived to be.
Quotes/stories/people/events/things/etc. that I eventually want to blog about:
Tom - my angel - personification of spiritual perfection.
Let Love Draw the Line - Alex Grey - great way to think about the world.
Anyway - Mother Theresa -great poem to live by.
The Hero with a Thousand Faces - about inner soul-searching, the truth being within "the heart of the hero(us)" the entire time - completely necessary.
The Nichomachean Ethics - gets to the core of balance. "everything in moderation, including moderation."
Bartholamew (sp?) Cubbins The Man of Many Hats - Dr. Seuss - because there is a little of him in ALL of us and becuase I see a lot of him in me.
1 Corinthians 13:13
"just because it is your right to do it, doesn't mean it is the right thing to do" - my Aunt Mary (who generously passed it down to me)
"If you want to write a story about the nutritional benefits of Steak, then you can find someone who will say that Steak is good for you." Aunt Judie (so true - future blog about convictions).
Fear and how paralyzing it is.
the rest of the poems/quotes/stories from my beautiful yoga class.... http://www.yogatothepeople.com/stories.html
The goal of this journal is to present myself and toil with concepts that I deem relevant, those of which might not be relevant to other people, through writing. Sometimes i am going to be in a thoughtful, honest mood, like now. Sometimes I am going to be in an exuberant state of unrequited passion, sometimes a cynical one, sometimes a funny one, a serious one, etc.etc.etc.
groovy.
<3
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