Gustav Klimt Kisses Us

“Gustav Klimt was among the many artists of his time who were inspired by sources not only within Europe but far beyond it. He lived in Vienna, a crossroads of East and West, and he drew on such sources as Byzantine art, Mycenaean metalwork, Persian rugs and miniatures, the mosaics of the Ravenna churches, and Japanese screens. (In Klimt’s work), birth, death, and the sensuality of the living exist side by side suspended in equilibrium.”

- from a recent MOMA brochure

For more information view www.iklimt.com

Bear With Me

We have entered the holiday shopping season… time to shop 'till you drop. I'm so glad that I don't do that anymore. Sure, shopping can be fun, especially when looking for a gift that will relay your feelings of warmth and love for someone dear. But, the pulsating onslaught of images that can seduce us into spending ourselves into the poorhouse is so hard on our bodies, minds, and spirits.

During this season, Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus, who was a light and rebel in his time. Jews celebrate the precious light of freedom with Hanukkah, and Nature based Religions celebrate the return of the Sun, with Winter Solstice. These celebrations have nothing to do with spending lots of money.

It can be a challenge to partake in the simple joys of this time of year when the predominant message is to consume as much as possible. Shop 'till you drop hardly prepares us for the quiet season of winter. Instead, we can take a lesson from the bear or other hibernating creatures. The quiet winter season is naturally about turning inward or hibernation. After all, we are entering into the longest nights of the year. I imagine that we could tap into the wisdom of the bear and slow down.

We could use these darker, shorter days to turn inward a bit amidst the flash and glitter of the holidays and ask ourselves, are we doing what we want to be doing? Are we being nourished and replenished? Are our children happy? What song would we most miss if we never heard it again? What people mean the world to us, and do they know it? Do we shine a light in the world in our own, one and only way?

- Storm Maxwell

Photo Credit: Armin Hanish

Like A Boat Drifting

Like a boat drifting,
sleep flows forward
on the deep water of dreams.
Drifts and drifts...
until, finally
the bottom falls out of knowledge.

In the fragrant mist of dawn
the rower wakes,
picks up the oars, sets them,
and begins to row.
All night
he labored in his dream
to be born
like a song in the mouth of God.

- Robert Sund

Gathering Light – Art and Commentary by Lynda Lowe

Taken as a whole, my work is meant to provide an opportunity for reflection, suggesting that no thought or thing presents itself as utterly passive or inert, but is charged with content and a sentient presence. We construct meaning from many different perceptual and intellectual fields involving reason, intuition, memory, senses, and spirit. In these paintings, a number of prompts are employed to interact with the viewer at varying distances. Curious, sometimes random information that measures, describes, and scientifically observes phenomena is juxtaposed with the quiet presence of a familiar object. This combination embodies something of the perceptual wholeness from which we make meaning out of any considered moment.

My imagery can be seen as an opportunity for contemplation amidst the chatter of surrounding data - as a reminder that the world is simultaneously cognizable, mysterious, and generous.

To read more about Lynda Lowe’s work and view her gallery visit www.lyndalowe.com.

Gratitude

In America, Thanksgiving is a day when we count our blessings. In this vein, we searched for an appropriate quote about gratitude, and we found one.

"For those who followed Columbus and Cortez, the New World truly seemed incredible because of the natural endowments. The land often announced itself with a heavy scent miles out into the ocean. Giovanni di Verrazano in 1524 smelled the cedars of the East Coast a hundred leagues out. The men of Henry Hudson's Half Moon were temporarily disarmed by the fragrance of the New Jersey shore, while ships running farther up the coast occasionally swam through large beds of floating flowers. Wherever they came inland, they found a rich riot of color and sound, of game and luxuriant vegetation. Had they been other than they were, they might have written a new mythology here. As it was, they took inventory."

- Frederick Turner, American Poet

Zen Stories

Stories from the Zen tradition get us to stop and think, wrestle with paradox, and often bring us much needed insight and laughter. We will be including some Zen stories in our blog occasionally. We hope you enjoy their rare humor and poignancy.

Ikkyu, the Zen master, was very clever even as a boy. His teacher had a precious teacup, a rare antique. Ikkyu happened to break this cup and was greatly perplexed. Hearing the footsteps of his teacher, he held the pieces of the cup behind him.

When the master appeared, Ikkyu asked, "Why do people have to die?" "This is natural," explained the older man. "Everything has to die and has just so long to live."

Ikkyu, producing the shattered cup, added, "It was time for your cup to die."

Ancient Wisdom for Modern Times

Learn to apply the four major principles that integrate ancient cultural wisdoms into contemporary life as synthesized by Angeles Arrien, cultural anthropologist, author, and educator:

1. Show up and choose to be present
2. Pay attention to what has heart and meaning
3. Tell the truth without blame or judgment
4. Be open to outcome,not attached to outcome

When I first heard of this "Four-Fold Path" I was wowed by its clarity and strength. Learn more about living your life in this way at www.angelesarrien.com

- Storm Maxwell

Follow Your Nose

Re-introduce yourself to your neglected sense -- your sense of smell. Smell is something we don't think of often. Unless maybe we are perfume makers or work on a garbage collection truck. We can miss the sensuous and delicious smells around us, or we can purposefully bring them to our awareness.

Smells can bring surprises. Smells are the sense most likely to activate memories. A scent from a flower or article of clothing can drift by and affect us -- deepen our experience of our day, if we let it.

In the fall, it's the smell of cold, of crimson leaves dying. In the spring, we smell the soil as it offers up new growth and we catch the fresh breath of little birds in the wind. When we're lucky enough to live near roses in bloom or a bakery, we delight in the familiar scents. Then there's how your baby smells, your mother, your lover.

We can enjoy a broad palette when it comes to our sense of smell. A way to expand your palette is to go for a "scent walk". Just take a walk and notice the smells that come your way. You may find a coffee shop, a faint smell of pancakes from next door, you may even smell snow. When you're finished, open your eyes, get a piece of paper and describe what you experienced. You may deepen your experience by writing in your own words what you noticed. Try using words that describe the smells in new ways. Before you know it, you may be writing poetry!

- Storm Maxwell

Photo Credit: Diane Stevens

Listening to Your Inner Conversations

Sometimes I think that I am the only one in my head. Yet, when I stop and listen, I can hear a voice that sounds like my father. Sometimes I hear a voice that sounds like my mother. Of course, I also hear my "inner child". All of us have numerous different voices within. Some are complimentary and supportive; other voices oppose, challenge, and cause conflict.

I like to listen carefully to these inner characters. I've found that these inner-voices are valuable and help me develop ideas or get to the heart of a problem. Try listening. If something is troubling you, no doubt there is some inner voice or character acting as the spokesperson. Give them a few minutes of your time and listen to what they have to say-- it might be revealing. Pay attention to the quality of the voice. Is the voice male or female, young, old? Is it angry, confused, or excited?

I find that after I get a good feel for "who is talking" I can usually let go and just sit back and listen. It doesn't take any effort on my part -- the inner character just talks or acts out. If you can learn to let go and let your inner-character have their voice, you are bound to hear something that strikes a chord with you, or is at least interesting. I have found that even a critical inner voice, when listened to, will change and become supportive.

Besides, my mother keeps telling me it is polite to listen.

-Aaron Gaul

Photo Credit: Manuel Silva

Wild & Precious

The Summer Day

Who made the world?
Who made the swan, and the black bear?
Who made the grasshopper?
This grasshopper, I mean-
the one who has flung herself out of the grass,
the one who is eating sugar out of my hand,
who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down-
who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes.
Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face.
Now she snaps her wings open, and floats away.
I don't know exactly what a prayer is.
I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down
into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass,
how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,
which is what I have been doing all day.
Tell me, what else should I have done?
Doesn't everything die at last, and too soon?
Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?

- Mary Oliver


Mary Oliver says it better than I could. "Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?"

Let your rapt attention to the world be a prayer, she seems to be saying. Life is dear and by the way, what are your plans? It is precious advice. Life is short and we move so fast. As I age I realize how important it is to pay attention to what I love. For me, being in nature and giving art its due in my life top the list. We all have a love or loves that bring us home and offer us the opportunity to open up and find our own prayer.

Let your wild and precious life be… just that!

- Storm Maxwell

Photo Credit: Jayesh Nair

A Pause

A world of tools and ideas are available to us, to do and achieve more in our lives. Software, books, and gadgets promise enhanced productivity. This promise seduces us into doing more and more. However, you may find value in slowing down and reversing the current of “enhanced productivity” – stopping the "doing more” and instead experiencing "A Pause".

When you pause, you do nothing. This changes the flow of your life from doing to receiving, from expressing to listening. You can listen to what is happening around you and within you. You will notice much more.

You may find stillness hard to master especially if you are used to the busy stream of life, but try it. Sit quietly without doing or wanting anything. This will take some practice as a good pause does not always come easily. At first, you may begin to hear the chatter in your mind – the good and the bad. If you're not accustomed to pausing, try it for only about 2 minutes several times a day. With practice, you will be able to increase that time.

Over time, you will be able to hear, feel, and see, more of the rich world that is around you and within you. Historically, great ideas and inventions came through A Pause. I am not advocating that you practice pausing to receive some great idea, because then you would not really be pausing. You would be striving for something, wouldn't you?

- Aaron Gaul

Looking for a Mentor?

We can find mentors in surprising places. They can be wise sages, but they may also appear simple or innocent. I was in the bank yesterday and next to me was a woman with her 2-year-old child. He was standing on the counter laughing with the teller, looking back at his mom, smiling, delighting in himself and the women around him.

He was wearing a new pair of brown suede shoes that his mom said he picked out himself. He was showing his shoes off with glee. Everyone around this child was compelled to laugh, or at least smile with him. His joy was enchanting. After I left the bank, I felt great!

I thought about it later and realized that he had been a mentor, an example, for all of us at the bank on a busy Friday afternoon.

Don't wait for your mentor to seek you out. Be influenced by people you may only see once in your life, and who may bring you the gift of connection, laughter, joy, and insight.

- Storm Maxwell

Photo Credit: Steve Woods

Become the Aware Observer

At times, we get so completely wrapped up in a situation that we lose all objectivity. This way of being can be emotionally draining and confusing. At times like this, it is good to know the skill of disentangling your awareness from the situation. This process is the core of most meditation practices. It is a mental perspective that I call the "Aware Observer." It is a simple technique and I will teach it to you now.

Once you learn this skill, you will be able to respond to life's situations with greater depth and clarity. Without the mental perspective of the Aware Observer, you will find yourself simply reacting to situations rather than responding. This perspective is an essential element in relationships, with problem solving, and in living a rich and creative life.

Let's get started. Notice an object that is near you but out of reach. You can easily understand that you are sitting in one place and the object is at some distance from you. The object is different from you -- it is not you. This is a simple but somewhat uncommon thought. It illustrates the difference between "self" and "other."

Now, let us do the same thing but observe what is happening inside you. There is probably a flow of images, words, sensations, and feelings. But, there is one more important element here. There is something observing these images, words, and sensations. That something is your consciousness -- it is "you" that observes your thinking process. Just like the "object" at arm's length that you observed a moment ago, the images, words, sensations, and emotions are at some "distance" from "you" who is observing. This is a way to disentangle your consciousness from your thinking process and experience the relief and peace of that. Congratulations! You have become an Aware Observer of your mind!

In the beginning, it is likely that you will be able to sustain the mental perspective of the Aware Observer for only a few minutes at a time. However, with practice you can remain there for longer periods, and more frequently. Like a muscle, as you use this skill it becomes stronger and you can begin to enjoy the tranquility and creative spark that comes with this perspective. As you learn and gather skills for a rich life, you can delight in a mind that becomes less easily hooked by what passes by.

- Aaron Gaul

Photo Credit: Sarah Lewis

Forest for the Trees

"She can't see the forest for the trees!" Ever hear that? Well, we all see the world around us with different eyes. The way we look at the world is a very individual experience. Enjoy the way you see the world -- revel in it. We are complex creatures with an incredible composite of images and sensory reactions based on our life experience and values. The way we see the world is as unique as a fingerprint. Looking through a window you may notice the big sky while someone else may notice the shape of the mountain range, and another person will become entranced by the deer standing in the distance.

We are all on the lookout for beauty. "It is the nature of our attentive consciousness to be on the lookout for images with promise, even when we're not on the lookout for anything specific", says Tad Dunne, PhD. Seeing brings more to bear than the physical workings of our eyes. It brings together our history and experiences, what kind of morning we had, and the hope that we will find objects in our field of vision that appeal to our sense of wonder about the world. Seeing is an aesthetic experience, and beauty is hidden right before our eyes.

The next time you are spacing out at the passing views as you ride the bus to work, notice what your attention is drawn to. Is it the architecture? Is it the expressions on people's faces? Or is it the maple trees that seem to grow no matter how much sidewalk is surrounding them? Get a notebook and jot down what attracts you and pulls you in. Learn what resonates with you and bring more of it in your life. Return to those places that feed your singular vision. Your expanding soul will thank you.

- Storm Maxwell

Energy Efficient Thinking

You were born with a gift. You were born with one specific style of thinking that is more energy-efficient than any other style of thinking. When you use your gifted style of thinking, your ideas will flow and you will accomplish tasks with greater ease. "Do what you love, discover your talents, and follow your bliss" -- all these can happen when you learn and use your energy-efficient thinking style.

Psychologists have known that each individual has a unique and gifted style of thinking. Dr. Carl Jung discovered four styles and named them: Feeling, Sensing, Intuiting, and Thinking. Now modern research in neuro-psychology shows why each person is one of these styles and why a style is “energy efficient”.

Your brain is anatomically divided into four parts, not only left and right, but front and back as well. One quarter of your brain works with 100 times more efficiency than the other three quarters. You were born this way -- everyone is. The neurons in one quadrant of your brain uses 100 times less energy to function. That quadrant uses dramatically less oxygen and produces far less heat. Each of these four areas has their own "style of thinking," so each person has one thinking style that is highly energy efficient.

You may wonder how you can learn to use your energy-efficient thinking style. Here is a list of the four thinking styles: Feeling, Sensing, Intuiting, and Thinking. You can use this list to begin discovering your innate gift and energy efficient thinking style. Notice the skills in this list that you enjoy and find effortless.

Thinking (left front) -- You base your decisions primarily on logic. You dislike the ambiguous. You focus on the tangible and seek clear rules. At work, you may be brief and businesslike.

Intuiting (right front) -- You are happy to trust your subconscious mind or gut feel of a situation. You can see patterns and a broad perspective. You look for ideas that inspire you and you tend to focus on the future.

Sensing (left rear) -- You pay attention to the immediate information from your own direct experiences. You enjoy solid facts and are eager to explore the fine details of a situation.

Feeling (right rear) -- You base your decisions on social considerations as you listen to your heart and consider the feelings of others. You value harmony in your interactions with others. You are people-oriented and base your decisions on values.

If you have a job that constantly forces you to work outside of your energy-efficient thinking style then you will experience additional stress and tension in your work. When you do not work with your energy-efficient style, you are expending 100 times more thinking energy. This can lead to depression, anxiety, and exhaustion.

Discover your energy-efficient thinking style and use it -- step into the flow of a rich life!

- Aaron Gaul

Photo Credit: Torli Roberts