CONNECTING

Connecting with each other and with ourselves through art. Beautiful! The courage to create, to branch out, to take a leap, to become fearless--if only for a second or two, to dare to jump in from a great height, to learn. And...we do learn.

Poppy '09/LPC

We learn from Oriental thought that those divine influences are, in fact, the environment in which we are. A sober and quiet mind is one in which the ego does not obstruct the fluency of things that come in through the senses and up through one’s dreams. Our business in living is to become fluent with the life we are living, and art can help this. ---John Gage

ROUNDNESS (Christmas Eve 2009)

Villa des Amis

Days begin and end in the dead of night.

They are not shaped long, in the manner of things which lead to

end----arrow, road, man’s life on earth. They are shaped

round, in the manner of things eternal and stable----sun, world, God.

Civilization tries to persuade us we are going towards

something, a distant goal. We have forgotten that our only goal is to

live, to live each and every day, and that if we live each and

every day, our true goal is achieved. All civilized people see the day

beginning at dawn or a little after or a long time after or

whatever time their work begins; this they lengthen according to

their work, during what they call ‘all day long’; and end it

when they close their eyes. It is they who say the days are long.

On the contrary, the days are round.

Jean Giono, ‘Rondeur des Jours’ (1943)

ACCEPTANCE

The clouds above us join and separate,

The breeze in the courtyard leaves and returns.

Life is like that, so why not relax?

Who can stop us from celebrating?

Lu Yu

DON'T WORRY

One path to happiness is to cease worrying about things which are beyond our control and, with the exception of our mind, perhaps everything is. Therefore, employ the mind to think good thoughts, always on the ready to find the answer in things, the reason for them, and happiness will follow as sure as your shadow.