Center of the Universe

Father's Day Special

I got a wonderful gift from my son this morning - A story he wrote me for Father's Day - I was so touched and moved by it, I want to share it. It fits in with the theme of my art and blog so nicely, I couldn't help it -

My First Corner Kick - by Harry

When I first did a corner kick, I was at Maccles field. The defender kicked the ball out of bounds. When the ball went out and then coach signaled me, I was about to pee my pants.

The ref put the size 4 Euro cup ball on the ground for me to kick. Then, he blew his freezing silver whistle to signal for me to kick the ball. I lined up to it and was ready to face one of my biggest fears. My dad was yelling saying you can do it Harry!! Come on, I know you can! After I heard that, I could've gone and hid in a corner. I started thinking I should just walk away now and let someone else take it. I started running, my unconfident legs feeling all noodley. I could barely run it was so uncomfortable. Then, my leg hit the ball! It vibrated a bit. I thought I did a terrible job but I looked and saw it went up and over all the heads. Someone on our team leapt in and hit it in the back of the net like a rocket! The ref congratulated me and said good job. I felt like Del Piero scoring a goal in soccer. I was so proud I couldn't trade it for all the trophies in the world.

My coach was yelling in excitement. From then on, I took all the corners on both sides. I never had any problem about corner kicks again. My dad treated me to a brand new video game because he was so proud of how I faced my fears.

I had no idea he had written this, or how he felt that day as he never told me - there are few things in life more inspiring to me than to hear stories of people who acknowledge their fear and then chose to follow their passion anyway. Thank you my son for this beautiful gift on Father's Day.

Sublime

Man on Wire - Review

'Man on Wire' was a birthday gift to me from my wife.  I really appreciate the documentary and dedicate this post to her.  

      What is it that I loved about 'Man on Wire?'  It summarizes in one place all that I try to imagine, write about and pursue.  It is difficult, like the word 'beauty', to define and summarize what is an 'ideal' life, an 'ideal' state of mind - but I believe there is one.  I also believe it's important to constantly define what that 'ideal' is and keep striving towards it.

     The film 'Man on Wire' touches all of the most powerful ideas I have learned over the years.   The main character, Phillippe Petite, is a man of passion.  He is a dreamer, really.  When he first realized he wanted to walk across the Twin Towers, they were not yet built.  He saw them in a photograph as a teenager and his first instinct was to draw a line between the two and imagine himself lying between them.  

Lesson 1 of an ideal life: When dreaming, do not limit yourself by the how or the why - just dream.

Phillippe grabbed the picture of the Twin Towers and ran out and down the street, spending the next many years preparing himself for his feat - including LEARNING HOW TO WALK A TIGHTROPE!!  

Lesson 2 of an ideal life:  After defining your dream, pursue it with abandon.  Dreaming with out acting is the creation of a nightmare.

Phillippe's passion attracted to him people who began to believe in him and his 'cause'.  He 'attracted' people of different talents and was unafraid to ask them to help him.  His friends worked tirelessly and took great risks to help him achieve his goal.  There were moments of 'conflict' between him and his friends - and when and if some of them could not continue to help him because of their fear, he smiled and loved them anyway and confidently continued to pursue his dream.

Lesson 3 of an ideal life:  Your passion, if it is true, will attract to you the people you need to achieve your goal.  Let them help you until they cannot, and love them completely.

Finally, the wire was set between the two buildings.  As day broke, after exhausting hours of preparing the wire in secret - Phillippe walked out onto them.  Obviously one small mis-step meant death.  

Lesson 4 of an ideal life:  Find your passion and put your life on the line for it.  News flash - we all will die - how better to realize this and spend your precious moments pursuing your passion.

He proceeded to the center of the wire and those fortunate enough to see him first hand reported a look on his face that was radiant.  When he was finished, people around the world were inspired.  He changed people's perception of limits.  

Lesson 5 of an ideal life:  Your goal must be your goal - it does not have to be about saving the planet, or the rain forest, or the monetary system.  If you pursue your  passion and achieve your goal(s) you will change the world for the better guaranteed.  

I am honored my wife thought to give me this for my birthday, that she knows my view on life and has allowed me to walk out on my wire.  I love you.

Man On Wire

Dreaming and Awakening

Notes on Abundance

 WSJ – Thursday April 30 2009

Ben Casselman

Caddo Parish, LA

A massive natural-gas discovery here in northern Louisiana heralds a big shift in the nation’s energy landscape.  After an era of declining production, the US is now swimming in natural gas.  
            Even conservative estimates suggest the Louisian discovery – known as the Haynesville Shale, for the dense rock formation that contains the gas – could hold some 200 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.  That’s the equivalent of 33 billion barrels of oil, or 18 years’ worth of current US oil production.


Huge new fields also have been found in Texas, Arkansas and Pennsylvania.  One industry-backed study estimates the US has more than 2,200 trillion cubic feet of gas waiting to be pumped, enough to satisfy nearly 100 years of current US natural-gas demand.



The difficulty having an 'abundant' mindset is grasping the sheer magnitude of it all -

The Ultimate Battle

     On the heels of 'Oddity of the Mind,' I would like to turn back to discuss 'Black Gold, Texas Tea.'   People who are familiar with this painting know it as a black square, high gloss, about four foot square.  There is a large drip in the lower, center of the painting.  In real life the entire surface is actually very sensual.  I painted it by pouring black oil on a square canvas.  When viewed in real life, at the right angle, two figures can be seen underneath.  Why did I make this painting?  How does it relate to my latest piece, 'Wheat Field Bound' and the essay, 'Oddity of the Mind' ? It is my constant search for dual symbols that challenge the ego.  How and why?  At the root of consciousness, the visceral, emotional response to the world around us is either fear or creativity.  Broken down into its most basic form, fear is a belief, conscious or unconscious,  that we won't have what we need to survive.  Many people have aptly described this the 'survival' mindset.  The survival mind looks at the world around it and sees it as 'fixed.'  That is, what exists must be fought for, held tightly, protected, and once consumed is gone forever.  Creativity is seeing 'abundance' - not in what is, but what is possible.  

     'Black Gold, Texas Tea' functions on many levels for me.  As an artist, it is an act of complete abandonment to pour black paint onto a canvas and then hang it in a museum for everyone to see.  To critique it is almost child's play.  It is almost nothing.  Many people would argue it is insulting.  As an artist who has drawn since my first waking memory, I can tell you that much of my ego is 'invested' in the art of drawing and painting.  To put all of that aside to follow an idea is a direct challenge to my ego.  That is one level on which this painting functions, the process level.  On another level, it is symbolic of oil.  The whole world is consumed by its quest for oil.  It is considered something that must be fought for, protected and many, many can't even begin to consider a world without it.  We are so consumed with the idea that one day we won't have it, that today we live in fear and aggression towards others over it.  Here begins the 'double' symbol - but inverted.  I give up my drawing to create a black square to symbolize something that we cannot conceive of giving up.  Becoming free is paradoxically an internal process of giving up our grip on that which we fear losing.  The 'ultimate battle' is not exterior.  It is not on some continent fighting for some arid bit of land.  The 'ultimate battle' is interior.  It is an awakening to the 'creative' mind that looks at the world around it, seeing infinite potential.  The awakened, creative mind knows no scarcity.  The fear-ridden survival mind, asleep to itself, knows only scarcity.    

Oddity of the Mind

  I want to take a moment to divert from talking about actual pieces to jot down some thoughts about the mind.  Risking 'unsubscribe' from my readers I will warn you, this may get freaky.  I talk a lot about 'becoming' fearless, 'being' fearless.  The intent of my art is actually a form of self exploration - an effort at coming in touch with my own form of consciousness and its relationship to the world.  Here is an interesting analogy - for my visual artist subscribers and friends, you may relate to this immediately, for others, try this someday.  When you 'look' out at the world around you, your mind actually makes a lot of 'assumptions' about what it 'sees'.  For the most part, the mind/brain for all its computing power is very, very busy and wastes little on visual processing.  It 'sees' stuff, and fills in the blanks with enough detail for 'recognition' to take place.  This is why painting and drawing can be so difficult. One has to actually get beyond the process of 'seeing' and actually see.  OK, that's kind of freaky - what does it mean.  The process of 'seeing' is a brain / mind interaction.  When an artist sits down and observes and begins to draw, the more they can remove their 'assumptions' about what they are viewing they begin to notice that strange shapes, colors and lines emerge and the world is not their original assumption.  So, this is true of all of life.  Our mind, for the most part, creates a story and then we go along for the ride.  We create a story about how successful we allow ourselves to be - although for many of us we don't use the word 'allow' because that ruins our 'story.'  We create a story for who likes us, who hates us, what troubles us, what thrills us.  For me, becoming 'fearless' is the process of recognizing we are walking through a house of horror of our own making.  If you have children, and you've ever taken them to a scary house - unless you are seriously disconnected - you don't walk through the house being as scared as the child.  Why?  Because you 'know' that a bunch of adults got together to create the 'experience' known as 'scary.'  It's fun.  When it comes to our own life, though, we don't recognize the exact same thing is taking place.  It can be difficult to step back and observe that our understanding of what it means to know what we have identified as our 'life' is a cocoon really.  An envelope in which things come into and out of our consciousness to create experience and identity.  So, I hope you're enjoying me as part of your 'story' - if not, the unsubscribe button is at the bottom of this e-mail - *smile* *smile* *hug* *hug* :)

 

Wheat Field Bound

This piece is 3' x 6' and is composed of wheat, barbed wire and coated in an expoxy resin. People who have seen it already have described it in fascinating ways. Some see abundance, kept at bay by our own lack of feeling worthy of it. Others see imagry of sacrifice. I continue to play with symbols that suggest both abundance and scarcity. Are we bound by our needs in a way that creates fear and uncertainty? Or are the things of this world unlimited, provided we use our mind in a continually evolving, fearless and creative way? I often wonder, especially in these times - are we bound by our fear of an unsustainable future because we see it only through the prism of our current knowledge? I love Einstein's quote - 'We cannot solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.' What would this world look like if we, each one of us, awakened to our true creative power? What would happen if we decided that we would no longer allow fear to dictate our actions? These are some of the thoughts I had while making this piece.