Things Worth Holding Onto
The New Year is well underway. New projects are gradually taking form. With a fresh start I have to ask myself, what are the things worth holding onto? A fresh slate always feels welcome and holding up the shiny new mirror to reveal a new level of clarity gives me renewed enthusiasm, even with the biting winds of March upon us.
2014 was a milestone year in so many ways. I did not expect my father to pass away and he did on November 19, 2014. He was my moral compass and loving father. He has left us all with memories to last through many years to come. Words cannot express how much I will miss him. I was honoured to give the eulogy and pay tribute to him. In some ways I still cannot believe he is gone.
Placing one foot in front of the other, I trust the path will direct me to where I am supposed to be. Daily practise leads one to the next step of the journey. After all the only moment that exists is now. Trusting the process without proof of the formula requires faith, determination & resilience.
Sometimes the amount of work I want to do, seems daunting. We only have so much time. I am beginning a landscape commission, have been developing a new musical show, as well as writing some original musical material.
I recorded keyboard tracks for a soon to be released album of my friends and designing a CD cover for them. I continue to host the Open Mic at the
Kensington Pub on the first Sunday of every month. We have a variety of music from folk, original, to blues & gypsy soul. It’s a great time.
Reviewing this past year had me doing a self-inventory, tallying up where I shone and where I want to improve. Simplifying, discarding what is no longer needed, only bringing forth with me what is important & necessary for the journey ahead.
One massive job currently in progress is sorting many books from my possession. I have been a bibliophile for ever since I can remember. Now I must thin out the numbers to make room for new stuff, cataloguing my collection for future reference.
When I collect things I think they will always resonate with me but now I am finding things lose their shine as new things unfold. One day we realize we are trapped by material objects, a barrier we have built ourselves.
Clinging to the old energies, no longer relevant are an extra burden to carry. The lingering scent of that which once was now fuels my present life. I remind myself to keep only things worth holding onto.
Healers healing artists … artists healing the world. Why do healers heal and why do artists paint? Empathic calling perhaps, a need for expression for the good of humankind.
Art is concrete, while philosophy is abstract. My love of philosophy allows me to obtain some of my ideas from abstract thoughts. The challenge becomes creating work concretely & significantly in form, colour, all the elements of design. We have the facts, then we have the perception of what is real.
Imagination is the ability to form mental images, and the source of creative mind power. It is all about images … images … images.
New found knowledge of the golden mean, divine proportion, & the golden section based on the Greek number Phi began a new world of fascination for me.
The world as we know it, appears to be in a state of decline. This is precisely when culture becomes important.
Artists are political by being. Art is political by nature.
Art opens a new pathway to the soul. Creativity flows from the artist, to the art, then to the viewer, evoking a response. This fuels the artist to continue to create.