light n’ dark
A candle before dawn. I love exploring and sharing the edges and depths of what it is to be human. It's my faaavooriiitee thing as a person, therapist, and artist! Tender, clumsy.... being human can be such a drag, a complete struggle, and at times… a sweet gift that we stumble onto, don't you think?
Contrast cannot be avoided. Stillness in movement, light in dark, a vast freedom found in accepting burden and restriction, even glorious in a mistake. Life is filled with contrast, paradox, and irony. It's even funny sometimes or sometimes it laughs at us. Side by side, we always have: juxtaposition, difficulty and ease, chiaroscuro etc. In art, light and shadow call us to awaken by their very contrast.
For a bit, try observing things as if they are paintings, embracing small contrasts, seeing small beauties.
With this, I've started to remind myself how the loneliness of this time might teach us something more about community and connection...because the contrast is always there....It can’t be avoided… (I've noticed small connections these days feel all the more FABULOUS, like now, because of you!)
I'm doing a happy dance to write to you today!
Just for fun, a creative quote for the day- from, Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind, by Suzuki Roshi:
“Time goes from present to past.”
“Just as you unreel the thread of a spool... past can become present.”
“This is not true in our logical mind, but it is in our actual experience...There we have the poetry (of life), and there we have our human life. When we experience this kind of truth it means we have experienced the true meaning of time... This is vital freedom.”
This aliveness and play between part and whole, like a hologram within a cell, has a quantum-ness that I love. It reminds me of a Rumi quote:
"You are not a drop in the ocean. You are an entire ocean within a drop."
There is so much to touch and sense and explore in our experience, so much to become fascinated by, especially when celebrating contrast. Within each one of us there are lines and curves, careful calculations and wilderness. Enjoy the ride.
Home practice—
What is your inner freedom while quarantined?
Let me know your thoughts, if you like.
