What defines art? Is it something beautiful made by hand? Or is it more than that?
I tend to think of art as a form of authentic self-expression. Anything less than that is a craft.
Taking oil to canvas and copying a photo is a skill that I don't have. Much as I admire this skill, this is a craft. Creating the scene from "nothing" is art.
Art doesn't come from nothing. I saw a quote on a furniture store: "we are the sum total of what we have seen." I think we are the sum total of what we hold important. Translating what we hold dear into our lives is an act of art. Copying what we see into another form without passing through our heart is craft...
By this definition our lives can be works of art: live from your heart, express meaning in your life, live as yourself and not as a carbon copy of what you see. This is the only freedom that has meaning. And it is the only freedom that cannot be taken from you.
Our minds seek to understand, and in doing so, we name things: this is a safe person to be with, this is a trusted health practitioner, this is acceptable behavior for this person. If we limit our behavior to what is acceptable to others we get trapped into a box too small for our soul to live. So I am an acupuncturist, taichi teacher... one who must be responsible in my professional life. But I am also a person, a child in an adult body, an adult in a young body, a girl living on her own for the first time in her life. I am full of exploration, play, safe risks...
I invited some of my patients to come to my student improv night, our end-of-semester show to culminate my first semester learning the fun and art of improv comedy. No one showed up... that's not a problem for me... but one patient said to me, "I just couldn't come. I can't see you as my trusted healing professional cutting up on stage."
His loss, I say. I had a blast that night!
Sunday, May 20, 2007
Sunday, May 13, 2007
Ice is not the answer
Say we sprain an ankle. Immediately after the sprain, we may not feel anything - no change. Then within 10 minutes a whole cascade reaction occurs: there is sudden swelling, pain, the range of motion is limited, the ankle cannot take full body weight.
The Western approach is to numb the pain and chase away the swelling with ice, then maybe bind it. After several days, the pain is reduced... but the problem doesn't seem to go away: the ankle is still easy to reinjure. People are just told to expect they will have "weak ankles."
This is not a solution.
The swelling is purposeful: it accomplishes two main functions: to bring nutrients and resources to the injury, and to splint the joint, protecting it from being able to move and therefore exacerbate the original injury. Trusting that the swelling has a purpose, the trick is to accomplish what it was trying to do so as to avoid the need to swell up.
An acupuncturist will want to increase circulation to the injured area, not reduce it. In mobilizing the joint as much as possible, there may be pain during treatment, but afterwards there is often dramatic reduction in both pain and swelling...
And the process gives the body and mind a chance to understand the injury. Consciously being careful about use of the joint reduces further injury, reducing the body's need to splint with fluid accumulation... I had a sprain about 7 years ago. I treated with massage and acupuncture. It hardly swelled up, while giving me little pain. I found that if I was careful about good alignment it was hardly a hindrance to me. And I have not since re-sprained the ankle.
The intention is solve the problem, not merely mask symptoms.
The Western approach is to numb the pain and chase away the swelling with ice, then maybe bind it. After several days, the pain is reduced... but the problem doesn't seem to go away: the ankle is still easy to reinjure. People are just told to expect they will have "weak ankles."
This is not a solution.
The swelling is purposeful: it accomplishes two main functions: to bring nutrients and resources to the injury, and to splint the joint, protecting it from being able to move and therefore exacerbate the original injury. Trusting that the swelling has a purpose, the trick is to accomplish what it was trying to do so as to avoid the need to swell up.
An acupuncturist will want to increase circulation to the injured area, not reduce it. In mobilizing the joint as much as possible, there may be pain during treatment, but afterwards there is often dramatic reduction in both pain and swelling...
And the process gives the body and mind a chance to understand the injury. Consciously being careful about use of the joint reduces further injury, reducing the body's need to splint with fluid accumulation... I had a sprain about 7 years ago. I treated with massage and acupuncture. It hardly swelled up, while giving me little pain. I found that if I was careful about good alignment it was hardly a hindrance to me. And I have not since re-sprained the ankle.
The intention is solve the problem, not merely mask symptoms.
Saturday, May 12, 2007
Learn to Learn
Sometimes less is more.
You know how when you are trying to learn something, you try too hard? The effort and concentration, and above all the fear of messing up, all seem to make the whole activity difficult. But when you have done that thing enough times, it seems so easy... We all have such experiences: remember first learning how to drive?
What is it about repetition that makes an activity come easier? Well, we let go of the fear when we have done it many times. We let go of the self-judgment when we know we have done this thing just fine. And eventually our body-mind develops a habit of this activity and we don't even have to think about it any more.
So what if we could actually learn something new as if we already were experts? What if we could be so self-forgiven that we can just do the action with full confidence. What if making mistakes was not so scary, looking good not so all-important. And vice versa. What if we took an activity we thought we knew really well and studied it? What if you could study your own posture, the way you walk, as if you were learning it for the very first time. As a beginner practice as if you were an expert, as an expert, study as if you were a beginner.
Life is ever-changing. And change requires adaptation - and learning. If we stop learning we stop growing and adapting to life... we get stuck, we get old. Old is not chronology, old is unadaptive. Old is not the quality of skin or the strength of muscles, old is weak in the mind and poor in aspiration. By this definition, the opposite of old is not young: the opposite of old is alive!
Reach out to others and learn something from everyone you meet. Take a risk and try a new restaurant, a new food, a different kind of job, talk to people you've never said hi to before. Go away to somewhere exotic: or explore a new street in your neighborhood, actually sit in the park bench you pass every day. Take classes in things that a week ago you never would have dreamed of taking: or take the classes you have been waiting all your life to take! Risk learning something, and in the process you will learn about yourself.
And what greater task in this world do we have than to find out who we really are? If we only knew that, all the world would be at our feet.
You know how when you are trying to learn something, you try too hard? The effort and concentration, and above all the fear of messing up, all seem to make the whole activity difficult. But when you have done that thing enough times, it seems so easy... We all have such experiences: remember first learning how to drive?
What is it about repetition that makes an activity come easier? Well, we let go of the fear when we have done it many times. We let go of the self-judgment when we know we have done this thing just fine. And eventually our body-mind develops a habit of this activity and we don't even have to think about it any more.
So what if we could actually learn something new as if we already were experts? What if we could be so self-forgiven that we can just do the action with full confidence. What if making mistakes was not so scary, looking good not so all-important. And vice versa. What if we took an activity we thought we knew really well and studied it? What if you could study your own posture, the way you walk, as if you were learning it for the very first time. As a beginner practice as if you were an expert, as an expert, study as if you were a beginner.
Life is ever-changing. And change requires adaptation - and learning. If we stop learning we stop growing and adapting to life... we get stuck, we get old. Old is not chronology, old is unadaptive. Old is not the quality of skin or the strength of muscles, old is weak in the mind and poor in aspiration. By this definition, the opposite of old is not young: the opposite of old is alive!
Reach out to others and learn something from everyone you meet. Take a risk and try a new restaurant, a new food, a different kind of job, talk to people you've never said hi to before. Go away to somewhere exotic: or explore a new street in your neighborhood, actually sit in the park bench you pass every day. Take classes in things that a week ago you never would have dreamed of taking: or take the classes you have been waiting all your life to take! Risk learning something, and in the process you will learn about yourself.
And what greater task in this world do we have than to find out who we really are? If we only knew that, all the world would be at our feet.
Friday, May 11, 2007
More play, less distraction
Sounds unusual, but I propose more playfulness!
There is nothing I hold more important than awareness of "the problem" whatever the problem might be. I am a huge proponent of practical realism. Taking time to understand what is going on in my own life both in external circumstance and internal mental geography is my ongoing passion and lifelong quest. I practice and teach taichi in order to study myself, my tensions, my reactions to stress, and hopefully help others to do the same. I write morning pages every day. I take classes that challenge my thought patterns and habits. And I contemplate a great deal whenever I have time between patients and classes... Sounds so serious, doesn't it?
Distraction and entertainment take us away from our problems. All sorts of activities can be used in this way: overwork, late-night parties, sex, video games, surfing the internet, overeating, a great deal of academic study... We can summarize by using the word addiction.
We use these addictions to escape - to run away from what we perceive to be difficult. Maybe it is a situation we are running away from; ultimately we are running away from ourselves: our fears, our hurts, our disappointments and our pain.
How can you find a solution to a problem without knowing what the problem is? Most of us don't even realize we have a problem to solve! If we don't solve the problem, it turns out that we end up in the same situation over and over again: maybe different people involved, maybe different circumstances: but the same emotion again, the same stuck place. If you don't know what I am talking about, wait another decade of life... you will see what I mean. Simply putting off solving the problem means that the problem doesn't go away, just revisits in other guises, or gets worse.
Becoming aware of these places and accepting them is the first and most important step in transforming them. Trust that you are strong enough to face your fears, your hurts. Sit with the problem, or share it with someone wise that you trust.
At first it will seem that you are not the right person for the job: the problem is too big or too scary. With some patience, you will learn how to unlock this scary place, defuse its power over you. And in that moment, you are empowered to be creative.
Creativity is your birthright. It is the godhead within. It is your partnership with the divine. You are amazingly creative, it is you that created the difficulties for yourself and it is you that can solve them.
When creativity is unleashed in this way, it doesn't stop at solving problems! That's just a reactive role: no, now it takes on an active role! You find that you start manifesting your deepest aspirations, that you start to create the life you want, rather than wait for it to happen. You take the bull by the horns more and more fearlessly: indeed after a while the alternative of not grabbing the bull doesn't even present itself!
And therein lies the playfulness.
There is nothing I hold more important than awareness of "the problem" whatever the problem might be. I am a huge proponent of practical realism. Taking time to understand what is going on in my own life both in external circumstance and internal mental geography is my ongoing passion and lifelong quest. I practice and teach taichi in order to study myself, my tensions, my reactions to stress, and hopefully help others to do the same. I write morning pages every day. I take classes that challenge my thought patterns and habits. And I contemplate a great deal whenever I have time between patients and classes... Sounds so serious, doesn't it?
Distraction and entertainment take us away from our problems. All sorts of activities can be used in this way: overwork, late-night parties, sex, video games, surfing the internet, overeating, a great deal of academic study... We can summarize by using the word addiction.
We use these addictions to escape - to run away from what we perceive to be difficult. Maybe it is a situation we are running away from; ultimately we are running away from ourselves: our fears, our hurts, our disappointments and our pain.
How can you find a solution to a problem without knowing what the problem is? Most of us don't even realize we have a problem to solve! If we don't solve the problem, it turns out that we end up in the same situation over and over again: maybe different people involved, maybe different circumstances: but the same emotion again, the same stuck place. If you don't know what I am talking about, wait another decade of life... you will see what I mean. Simply putting off solving the problem means that the problem doesn't go away, just revisits in other guises, or gets worse.
Becoming aware of these places and accepting them is the first and most important step in transforming them. Trust that you are strong enough to face your fears, your hurts. Sit with the problem, or share it with someone wise that you trust.
At first it will seem that you are not the right person for the job: the problem is too big or too scary. With some patience, you will learn how to unlock this scary place, defuse its power over you. And in that moment, you are empowered to be creative.
Creativity is your birthright. It is the godhead within. It is your partnership with the divine. You are amazingly creative, it is you that created the difficulties for yourself and it is you that can solve them.
When creativity is unleashed in this way, it doesn't stop at solving problems! That's just a reactive role: no, now it takes on an active role! You find that you start manifesting your deepest aspirations, that you start to create the life you want, rather than wait for it to happen. You take the bull by the horns more and more fearlessly: indeed after a while the alternative of not grabbing the bull doesn't even present itself!
And therein lies the playfulness.
Thursday, May 10, 2007
Oil crisis ahoy!
I have been thinking a lot about the impending oil crisis, what with watching "A Crude Awakening", available through Netflix... highly recommend you watch it. You know, it's one thing to know the oil is running out and all, but another to realize the scale of use we have gotten into.
Look around you: there isn't one item of furniture, clothing, equipment, food or toy that isn't transported, made from plastic, packaged in petrochemicals or powered by oil-sourced electricity.
Fine, I used to say. So we'll just use alternative sources of energy, mine our landfills for plastic to recycle... we'll manage somehow!
So it was very sobering to hear experts talk about the hugeness of the problem. A barrel of crude is the energy equivalent of 25,000 hours of human labor! That's the equivalent amount of energy output of 12 people laboring forty-hour weeks for a whole year! Paid $5/hour that's the monetary equivalent of $125,000 - which we pay $63 for wholesale. When the price of oil rises, this is the scale on which inflation might occur...
Cuz when you think about it, a barrel of crude oil is like having access to slave labor - without the danger of a slave rebellion or intermarriage! Oil is doing all the labor that therefore humans don't have to - and our whole civilization and standard of living rests upon this foundation of cheap energy.
All great civilizations were founded on slave labor - can you think of any empire that didn't conscript slaves? Pretty much all the massive construction projects were undertaken with either slave labor or convicts... much the same thing after all.
So it's like every time we fill up our gas tank we are harnessing the work of 12 slaves, forcing them to do our bidding, making them haul us around in a big box going at 60 miles an hour... and we don't have to feed them, clothe them, put them up overnight. Just leave them outside in all kinds of weather, get pissed off if the price of gas goes up!
Nothing's for free. This "slave labor" might not rebel outright, but it will dstroy our planet. Global warming is a fact, no matter what major media would like us to believe: who owns the major media anyway? They have vested interests in keeping us oil-dependent. Check out Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth" if you haven't... pretty compelling. Hard to dismiss.
Basically, the oil crisis centers around food: how are we going to acquire food in cities, how are we going to grow it without petrochemical fertilizers, how are we going to feed 6 billion people and counting. The global warming crisis centers around water: too much water in one place, too little in another, water where ice should be, storms more violent than they used to be. Right at this moment, it's a toss-up which will kill us first.
It's time to make peace with change. And with suffering. And with death. It is going to be an interesting decade, no matter how optimistic the outlook. And it's time to learn to relax, because we are not going to be able to control any of the outcomes...
It's time for more taichi practice.
Look around you: there isn't one item of furniture, clothing, equipment, food or toy that isn't transported, made from plastic, packaged in petrochemicals or powered by oil-sourced electricity.
Fine, I used to say. So we'll just use alternative sources of energy, mine our landfills for plastic to recycle... we'll manage somehow!
So it was very sobering to hear experts talk about the hugeness of the problem. A barrel of crude is the energy equivalent of 25,000 hours of human labor! That's the equivalent amount of energy output of 12 people laboring forty-hour weeks for a whole year! Paid $5/hour that's the monetary equivalent of $125,000 - which we pay $63 for wholesale. When the price of oil rises, this is the scale on which inflation might occur...
Cuz when you think about it, a barrel of crude oil is like having access to slave labor - without the danger of a slave rebellion or intermarriage! Oil is doing all the labor that therefore humans don't have to - and our whole civilization and standard of living rests upon this foundation of cheap energy.
All great civilizations were founded on slave labor - can you think of any empire that didn't conscript slaves? Pretty much all the massive construction projects were undertaken with either slave labor or convicts... much the same thing after all.
So it's like every time we fill up our gas tank we are harnessing the work of 12 slaves, forcing them to do our bidding, making them haul us around in a big box going at 60 miles an hour... and we don't have to feed them, clothe them, put them up overnight. Just leave them outside in all kinds of weather, get pissed off if the price of gas goes up!
Nothing's for free. This "slave labor" might not rebel outright, but it will dstroy our planet. Global warming is a fact, no matter what major media would like us to believe: who owns the major media anyway? They have vested interests in keeping us oil-dependent. Check out Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth" if you haven't... pretty compelling. Hard to dismiss.
Basically, the oil crisis centers around food: how are we going to acquire food in cities, how are we going to grow it without petrochemical fertilizers, how are we going to feed 6 billion people and counting. The global warming crisis centers around water: too much water in one place, too little in another, water where ice should be, storms more violent than they used to be. Right at this moment, it's a toss-up which will kill us first.
It's time to make peace with change. And with suffering. And with death. It is going to be an interesting decade, no matter how optimistic the outlook. And it's time to learn to relax, because we are not going to be able to control any of the outcomes...
It's time for more taichi practice.
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