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Hand Forged Vessels
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Tuesday, February 24, 2004 |
I figured a film starring Meg Ryan would have to be good. Wrong! Didn't finish watching this one. It's quite weird. The creepy theme music should have clued me in right away.
To say this film is in poor taste would be tactful. To say it's pornographic might be closer to the truth. Why would Meg Ryan do this film? Maybe she wanted to expand beyond her "wide eyed charming nice girl" image? By comparison, that old image looks pretty good.
We kept thinking it might get better but finally gave up. If I were you, I wouldn't bother with this one. It's repulsive.
11:03:33 PM 
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I chose this thriller, "Out of Time," because it stars Denzel Washington. He didn't disappoint me. This is a good classic style suspense film, with "everything" - great plot twists, on the edge of your seat suspense, sex, comedy, and love. What else is there? Well, OK, there's profound meaning. That's why I'm giving this film 3 stars instead of 4.
It's fine entertainment that leaves me smiling. That's a lot. Highly recommended.
10:58:42 PM
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Monday, February 23, 2004 |
Today's personal holiday originates from some dramatic past experience that taught me to obey my inner wisdom. Oddly enough, I don't remember the incident - just the conclusion. I think at the time I was doing a lot of guided visualizations to meet with my Inner Woman, a la Shakti Gawain's suggestions in her book, Living in the Light. Sure enough, when I followed the guidance, things went better than when I did not. Surprise, surprise!
Also, as you probably have noticed yourself, when you disregard inner wisdom and guidance, it tends to get more and more difficult to access. It's as if the inner source sighs and says "No point in saying anything to this hardheaded woman." Pretty soon one is saying "Guidance? What guidance? I ask and don't get any!"
This holiday is probably especially appropriate this time of year, with winter clinging on, spring just beyond. Daylight is getting noticeably longer. The time for energetic action will soon be here. Why not act according to inner wisdom?
Of course, it's worth disobeying once in a while just to find out again that obedience works better.
11:25:36 PM
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Tuesday, February 17, 2004 |
As a perfect followup for Valentine's Day, an article on predicting the longevity of romantic relationships appeared at Nature.com. This careful study using lots of mathematical analysis showed that nonverbal communication of contempt is the "sulfuric acid" of love. Nothing dissolves a romantic relationship faster. But the article says more. If you're in a relationship or want to develop one, the article is worth reading.
To be among the first to know about new and interesting articles on many topics in science, you can subscribe to the Nature Science Update weekly emails. When you register (at no charge,) this is one option you can choose. You may also opt to get the updates as a daily RSS feed if you have an RSS reader or use bloglet to subscribe to weblogs and RSS feeds.
Bloglet is the subscription service I use to enable readers to subscribe to this weblog. (See the "subscribe" box in the right-hand column.) You can use bloglet to suscribe to as many weblogs as you like. Right now here are my favorites among my current subscriptions:
- Workings of the Mind (a woman recently becoming a professional artist, painting abstracts)
- Ladida (good source for political and feminist news and links)
1:48:44 PM
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Saturday, February 14, 2004 |
Day before yesterday, I wrote about getting unstuck about space before going to rent the climate controlled storage room. I'd heard such good things about it on the phone that I knew I'd like it. When I got there, all was well except - there was a mothball smell in the building. The owner explained that they'd tried to use mothballs to get rid of crickets, then took the mothballs away. She said the smell had already faded a lot. Hmm.
I probably would have backed out, said "well, I'll think about it" and stayed stuck for another few years. But I'd just publicly announced here that I was unstuck and was renting this space! So I went ahead and rented it.
Yesterday I picked up the shipping supplies for which I have no space at my own studio. I drove them directly to the storage room. Great! And today I ordered an odor eliminator to put into the room. Maybe that will keep my cardboard (and later, my artwork) from absorbing any naptha smell.
So thank you, readers, for being there. You helped me stay unstuck and keep moving on to new solutions.
10:44:10 PM
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"Lucky Seven" is the kind of romantic comedy in which it's obvious very early which man the young woman will pick in the end. Yet it's still interesting how she gets there. And her dilemmas are dilemmas most of us face to some degree. So I enjoyed this film and appreciate it. I'll give it 3 stars.
10:39:14 PM
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Thursday, February 12, 2004 |
This film has beautiful scenes of Tuscany, of course. And it's reasonably heart warming. It's worth seeing. But something seems missing. Can't put my finger on it. There's something that makes the film less than fabulous. So I'm giving it 2 stars.
Of course, I've seen much, much worse. It's enjoyable. Just not wonderful.
11:02:23 AM
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For quite a few years I've been saying I need more space. It's true. But for all this time I haven't gotten any more space. I've just been stuck.
Once I rented a studio in town but backed out when I discovered that the flaking paint on the windowsill was full of lead. I even got a building permit to add a portable storage building next to the studio. Then I wasn't sure what size....
Two or three days ago, I thought "OK, there's something else going on here underneath. By acting as if I can't get the space I need, I'm acting out some feeling. If I can acknowledge the feeling, I can get unstuck." I explored it a bit in my journal but didn't seem to get anywhere. Maybe...just the feeling that I don't deserve more space?
Yet...I got unstuck. I opened the Yellow Pages to find out how much an 8x12 building would cost, delivered and set up. (Answer, in case you're interested: $1466 including tax, plus building permit and electrical inspection for about $50 more - plus an electrician to make sure my panel is up to code, and whatever it would take to do that.
Saw in the Yellow Pages, a big ad for a new climate controlled storage building. Climate controlled storage is even better for artwork, slides, paper, etc. Temperature stays around 60 degrees F., and humidity in an ideal storage range. I can do this in a portable storage building but it would take a lot of work and expense: insulation, extra wiring, air conditioner and electricity. It's a long term solution when I need a solution NOW.
Rates are reasonable, security excellent. It took two days for my insurance agent to work out the way to get my contents covered at a rental location, but it got solved. Today I'll rent some climate controlled storage space.
Now, for the first time in many years, I can make new bowls without dealing with "where on earth can I put this when it's done?" What a relief!
And...if I can get unstuck about SPACE...I can get unstuck about anything. I grew up never controlling a square inch. I had a bedroom, but it had to be arranged and decorated to suit my mother. She had very good taste but...sometimes it's good to be able to make one's own mistakes.
Making sculpture is, of course, all about space. Ironic, isn't it? Probably no coincidence at all.
9:57:46 AM
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Wednesday, February 11, 2004 |
This afternoon it dawned on me to make some decisions by asking the bowls themselves what they want. I sat down with the three new bowls, poured myself a cup of decaf, relaxed, and asked. How effortless can it be?
Quickly "heard" that the bowls would prefer not to be packed up into boxes any longer than necessary. OK. I can leave them where they are for a while. All I really need to do is get the shipping cartons prepared so the bowls can be delivered or shipped securely. (This is more complicated than it sounds, since the bowls have some delicate parts, but it's just a matter of working out the details now.)
Then I heard that the bowls are ready for their real names. I can see how they could be tired of my calling them CM1, CM2, and CM3. I wouldn't care for this myself - CJM1, for example. I've had various other working titles, but to make a decision about the "real" names? So of course I asked.
Effortless again. "Energy Transformer." "Take Heart." "Love Goes Everywhere." That last one is brand new. Straight from the bowl itself.
I used to make most "marketing" decisions about bowls this way, by asking the bowls themselves. Since I was making the bowls spontaneously, just doing the best I could to follow what the bowl wanted to do next, it seemed natural. Now it seems natural again.
6:56:30 PM
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I wonder if something's going on with Mom, my mother-in-law up in Illinois. She's in a nursing home for Alzheimer's patients. This morning as I was washing my face, a steady stream of memories of her ran through my mind. As I think about it now, I can see how radiantly she could smile, how tender she could look. I hear her delighted laugh.
It makes me wonder. The morning my mother died, I wrote in my journal: "The core of my being is the love of God." This surprised me at the time. Later that morning I learned that I'd written this line about the time my mother died. So I think this came from a kind of spiritual visit she made to me. All her life she'd prayed for me every day. It was time for her to pass this on to me.
I'm not inclined to delve into mysteries like this. I'd rather just observe. And be grateful.
11:27:49 AM
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Suddenly it dawns on me that I've been trying to make my whole life look good. Partly it's my "art life" so it will impress galleries. But really, it's my whole life. I'm trying to "make it come out right."
That's not what my life wants. My life doesn't care about looking good or coming out right. My life just wants to expand into its own fullness of being.
Isn't that what your life wants too?
The great thing is - that this is all contagious. Once I made an exhibit of my iron bowls and paper bowls called "Healing is Contagious." It's true.
When my bowl comes out of the fullness of my being, then that energy of aliveness is embodied in the bowl itself. When I devote myself - because I want to, not because I should - to assisting the bowl to come into its own fullness of life, on its own terms, then new aliveness is added to the world. This is a kind of spiritual energy. Then this energy is available to other people who meet and engage with the bowl.
I'm convinced that this kind of artmaking helps the world in two ways. It makes spiritual energy - positive creative energy - available to people who interact with the art itself. Beyond this, the process of making art this way releases this same energy out into the world as a whole. Someone on the other side of the earth breathes air that's different from before. As Bly put it in A Little Book on the Human Shadow, some of the Shadow energy in the world has been transformed into creative energy.
Paradoxically, it's only when I can give up on the idea of making my life look good, that I can do something good.
11:22:22 AM
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From a post I just made on Wet Canvas:
"The attitude 'this must look good' is the problem. Does your painting care about looking good? No. Your painting wants to come to life as itself.
Forget about saving the painting on your terms, and get on with bringing it to life on the painting's own terms."
Now to apply this to my own work....
10:09:21 AM
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Tuesday, February 10, 2004 |
Feel like making some jazz with a different sound? My daughter sent a link to this frogpond jazz quartet. When you click on a frog, it starts to sing. Click on another and it joins in. To change the sound you can click on a singing frog and it stops. Fun!
9:07:20 PM
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The first thing to "get" about effortlessness is that there's no relationship between effort and value.
This is difficult for most of us, because we've been taught all our lives that the relationship not only exists, but is crucial.
"You can't expect to _________ [you fill in the blanks] without making an effort."
"Judy deserves extra credit for making such an effort."
"Steve works so hard that he's sure to get ahead."
Of course we've also been told to "work smarter, not harder." But working smarter requires effort, too. Now we have to think more!
Then there's the issue of fairness. How is it fair for some people be rewarded for doing something easily, when others struggle and struggle with the same task? I remember the guilt I felt in elementary school when I learned things quickly and easily, while most of my classmates had to work hard.
Later, as a young wife and mother in 1960, I remember the controversy among housewives surrounding this issue. The Ladies Home Journal published an article about a woman with four school age children who got all her housework done by 9 a.m. Even the major part of the evening meal was prepared that far in advance. So she had the rest of the day free to follow her own interests.
This article created outrage among her colleagues. Housewives wrote in scathing attacks. It was immoral to get everything done so well, with so little effort!
Controversy continued for several years, not just in The Ladies Home Journal but among housewives everywhere. What "counted" more, effort or results? If you spent three hours cooking an elaborate meal, did that count more than spending one hour? If both meals were equally nutritious, thrifty, and tasty?
It's hard to believe that women argued about this. You could attribute it to the Problem Without a Name, a miasma left over from the fifties that afflicted most women. (In case you missed this marvelous period, it was Betty Friedan, in The Feminine Mystique, who clarified "the Problem Without a Name.")
Yet today, most of us still believe in "the work ethic." (There's an interesting website devoted to its dismantling.) Who dares believe that effort isn't virtuous, in its own right?
Back to my first assertion: there is no relationship between effort and value.
Embracing this disconnection between effort and value, it's possible to place all our attention on creating value. Effort doesn't matter one way or the other. And if it turns out that effortless creating makes more value than effortful creating - then "ah!" And "ah!" again!
Luckily, it takes no effort to let go of the idea that effort creates value. Poof! Gone.
7:15:01 PM
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Saturday, February 07, 2004 |
I've read at least my share of suspense novels, so when I exclaim "oh no!" aloud - I'm reading something different. The Calligrapher, by Edward Docx, builds terrific suspense. It's about careful, conscious seduction. It's about romance and inconstancy. Maybe it's even about love. It's about the love poetry of John Donne. And of course, it's about calligraphy and culture.
None of that would matter except that Edward Docx writes so well. The story spins out seamlessly. It's memorable.
This is the first novel I've mentioned in this weblog. Usually my mentioning a novel would be like listing what I ate for breakfast. Sometimes I avoid reading novels at all, with the idea that it diminishes my appetite for artmaking. Other times "I'm reading" and when I'm reading, I can easily read a novel in an evening or two. So I go through a lot of novels in a year.
The Calligrapher is one worth talking about. I should add that I borrowed it from the library. I don't plan to buy it. So I'm giving an amazon.com link for the usual reason - access to publisher information and other readers' reviews.
9:55:51 PM
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Friday, February 06, 2004 |
When you have a few moments to experience something wonderful, try the Powers of Ten show. It starts far out among the stars, then moves gradually - by powers of ten - closer to earth. Finally we move into an oak tree, then into an individual leaf. Microscopic views go further and further into the depth of the leaf cells. I found this very moving. I daresay this is an unforgettable experience.
9:26:14 AM
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Thursday, February 05, 2004 |
No, I didn't watch two films in one evening. We saw "I Capture the Castle" several nights ago. I waited to review it, to see how it played in my mind over time.
Quite a few scenes, and the thrust of the movie overall, are still quite vivid in my mind. They're memorable enough for me to move my rating up from 2 stars to 3. So this isn't just oddball entertainment. There's some real value here.
It does seem like an odd film. There's something about it that's more like stage drama. I believe at least some of the main actors work mostly on the live stage. Or perhaps the director takes an odd approach to filming. In any event, the dialogue often sounds oddly "staged" and overdramatic. The accents are odd too. Perhaps the English accent is exactly what's spoken in Suffolk where the story takes place, so it's just unfamiliar to me.
This is really my only reservation - that it often seems so "staged" as to seem poorly acted. The story is interesting. Naturally the theme of the writer completely blocked for twelve years, while his family sinks into terrible poverty, is attractive to me. I won't tell you what happens then. I will say that it's worth finding out. And there's plenty of romance to spice it up.
9:25:02 PM
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Just finished watching the DVD of Seabiscuit, plus some of the feature on how it was made. No question, I love this movie. It's the kind of movie that gives one heart - the kind of heart that lasts.
The director and cast made this true story into a vivid and engaging film. You'd really have to hate people, horses, and life to dislike this film. That's my opinion.
At the start, we see three separate stories of three very different people. Each has his own tragedy. Soon they're woven together - by and for a horse - who's had enough tragedy of his own. This doesn't sound like a promising beginning for a bright, heartwarming triumph of a story. That's what makes the film - and the true story - special.
I also love the way the film weaves in what was happening in the country (the United States) during the period of the film. For those of us who were born after the Depression, it's a compelling view of what went on before, during, and after. For those born earlier, it must be satisfying to know that these times will be remembered.
Jeff Bridges plays one of the characters. I find him a delightful man to watch. He makes my heart smile.
In my opinion, this is a film for everyone. You've probably already seen it. If not - don't hesitate. 4 stars for sure.
9:13:31 PM
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Wednesday, February 04, 2004 |
Is the Gross National Product (GNP) really the best measure of a country? Obviously it fails to take other values into account. Martin Seligman, author of Learned Optimism as well as the more recent book, Authentic Happiness, proposes a new measure. It's called the National Well-Being Index.
The Authentic Happiness website has other interesting articles. Seligman is a cognitive psychologist whose studies found that optimism is a great predictor of health and longevity. Other studies (sorry, have lost the source) suggest that optimism is a big factor in avoiding Alzheimer's. Seligman's book, Learned Optimism, teaches how to change thought patterns to optimistic ones. His definitions and descriptions are very clear and specific. Optimistic thinking is something any of us can learn to do.
In Authentic Happiness, Seligman summarizes studies showing that - guess what - money can't buy happiness. A country's GNP bears little or no relationship to the happiness of its citizens. And after certain minimum standards are met, additional income doesn't change the "happiness quotient" of individuals and families either.
So the GNP, while relevant to economics and business, is a poor way to measure the wellbeing of a nation and its citizens. Seligman's proposal, if carried out, could have a great effect on politics and culture. After all, here in the USA we are officially granted permission for "the pursuit of happiness."
6:15:05 PM
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An article at nature.com includes a link to a quick test to see which side of the brain you use to process emotion.
The article is interesting, too. It describes a study of how women hold their babies. Both left and right handed women usually hold babies in their left arms, with the baby's head to the left? Apparently this may be because it assists with bonding, with the mother interpreting the baby's emotions.
You probably know that being left or right handed doesn't necessarily determine which hemisphere of the brain is used for what. So the test available through this article is useful. It's also interesting to speculate on other applications of this information, beyond holding babies. Maybe it has applications to visual art. I'll let this percolate a bit.
2:12:14 PM
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Monday, February 02, 2004 |
My MS Outlook calendar shows a decision item for today. "Decide about haircut." I put the item on the calendar several months ago when my hair was really bothering me. I'd been letting it grow long for over a year, but my former bangs were still short enough to get in my face a lot.
I'd decided to let my hair grow long for three reasons. Hair in my face makes me extremely uncomfortable. So I was always clipping my bangs off my face, which looked odd. Second, my hairline is very low on my neck, on both sides, so that even my superb hair stylist had trouble cutting it short in the back so it looked good and was comfortable.
Third, and most important, I feel and look more like myself - to me - with my brow showing. I feel like the kind of person who shows her whole face and doesn't try to look cute or charming with bangs. I'd look in the mirror, push my bangs away from my face, and think "oh, there you are. That's me."
It's so annoying when something minor in life becomes so important. Short hair or long? In this world, how much does this matter? Not as much as I was thinking about it. So I decided to stop thinking about it for several months. I think I gave myself another six months - probably another three inches of hair length. I decided not to reconsider during that time, just make the best of it. Spring would be a better time to start again with short hair anyway.
So today's the day. Of course in the meantime I've become comfortable with long hair. The decision is made effortlessly.
Thanks to conscious procrastination! Now that I know how well this works, I'll use it again. Whenever I start to agonize over some minor decision, a molehill looming like a mountain, I'll choose a decision date a few months away. Then I'll be able to clear it out of my mind.
I wonder if this would work with "mountain" decisions too. Might they shrink to look like molehills? That would be nifty. I do remember taking a month's "vacation" from a huge decision about a relationship. I'd been thinking about it night and day for two months and was getting exhausted. The "vacation" did make it easy to decide later.
Hmm. So maybe hours of online research aren't necessary for EVERY big decision? Maybe vacations would work better? Since this is the year for effortlessness, the answer is obvious. Hello, vacations.
10:06:10 AM
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February 2 is a traditional "cross-day" holiday, between the Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox. It's called Candlemas. The old Celtic name is Imbolc. Traditionally the holiday began at sunset on February 1, ending at sunset on the second.
It seems as if this holiday is essentially about faith that spring will come. In some cultures it's the day to prepare the fields for planting. Sometimes it's about animal fertility. Everywhere in the northern hemisphere, it's about the coming of the light, of the longer days of spring and summer.
So today I celebrate faith in the spring to come this year. If success were sure, what would I begin? Perhaps it's not quite time to begin a creative project, but it's time to make preparations. Today marks the time to summon all possible faith.
Winter's rest is done. Today is the gradual beginning of the year's projects. Of course, the preparation will be natural and effortless. That's what faith does - make action so secure that it becomes effortless. So the wintertime deepening of faith, so appropriate for times of greater darkness, gives the impetus for spring action.
9:50:16 AM
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Sunday, February 01, 2004 |
From another Yahoo mailing list today, the INFJ group, I found an online quiz that helps you find the best place to live. It's good. Just be careful at the end to uncheck the little box about receiving information from related companies. You can save the results so you can look through them again later.
My Dream Studio location is next to protected wilderness land. Oh, I guess I've mentioned this before. It's completely secluded, maybe a mile away from the nearest house and certainly no house within view or hearing. But when I want to play badminton or table tennis, I can find an eager partner among my neighbors. Then there's the big bookstore/cafe....
9:50:25 AM
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This morning I read a line I like:
"Better to be lost than to find yourself in the wrong place."
I got this from a message in the Collage mailing list at Yahoo.
Have you ever browsed through the groups organized at Yahoo? There's a group on just about every topic of interest. If it hasn't been organized yet, you can start one yourself.
I always subscribe by "daily digest" so I'm not flooded with emails. This way, I get one email from the group, that contains all the email messages from members since the last digest. Usually there's one digest a day, sometimes two.
Back to the original topic of this post. It suggests an interesting solution to being stuck. "If you find yourself in the wrong place...get lost!"
9:09:55 AM
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