Sunday, January 5, 2014

Good Tidings!!!

Hello - Ink on Paper - 11"x14" - 2014


At this time of year, it’s fun to read forecast for the year. Astrology it rarely tells me anything horrible. The mystics write of areas that will be good and tend to gloss over the struggles. It gives me hope.


In 2012 I made a friend who was obsessed with the predictions of 2012. He wondered what would come after the Mayan calendar ended. His first obsession was crop circles, then the Mayan calendar. Now it’s the core of the Earth where he is trying to convince me that certain beings reside. We don’t talk much anymore. Laugh.

But we spent many an evening talking about the supernatural over dinner. I read TheMystery of 2012, so that I was able to converse with him at his level. The end of the Mayan calendar had a lot of people dumbfounded. Did that mean the world was about to end… again…?

A quick google search didn't produce a book for this year. We're all still here. I guess we just keep going, right? The earth is still round. We still have to work on the environment so that we leave future generations with fresh water and soil rich enough to produce healthy food. We need to ensure that the air is clean enough to breathe and that people are good to each other. We still have to work to save up for our mansions, luxury cars and international travel. My dream vacation is to visit Antarctica, despite the amount of times tourists are rescued from that expanse of ice.

This year is supposed to be fruitful for me according to Astrology.com. I look forward to it. I think I’ve struggled for long enough. Speaking of struggle, I recently watched two films, which have stayed with me, 12 Years a Slave and Lee Daniel’s The Butler. I habitually see every slave and Holocaust film released. I remember the first year I found it important. I was seventeen years old. I went to Blockbuster Video, remember that place? And I rented several slave films. I watched them alone. I felt a need to know more about slavery. It inspired me and reminded me that it was important to ensure that history was not repeated. Then in my twenties, Holocaust films peaked my curiosity. I see every one released. These films help me to realize, in times of woe, that things could and have been a lot worse.

My pal, R, argued. ‘I don’t see those films,’ he said. ‘I don’t want to walk around all pent up after seeing something like that! Why would you want to do that to yourself?’ R is American. He spent his youth in libraries reading about his culture and knows it. I feel I still have much to learn. My friend, A, says that watching a comedy is better. The world is depressing enough, he says. He too knows his history better than I. I find it important to stay informed if not via the media, then via film. But it does make my world a bit more gray.

The one thing that stayed with me from my reading on 2012, is that we create our realities by our language, our actions, our choices. Nothing new, just underlined. So, although I won’t obsess over the realities of the past– of slavery and the Holocaust, various genocides – the images stay with me as I live and I produce art around it.

I recently read a book on Emotional Intelligence which included an exercise. It tells the reader to give themselves a point every time they laugh out loud, watch a comedy, smile or tell a joke. It won’t stop me from viewing twisted art films, another love of mine.

But enough about me, here’s what I wish for you.

I hope that you walk in beauty, love and joy!
I wish you great love!
I wish you great success!
I wish that you find the beauty in small things!
And that you share your God given gifts with the world!

"Every moment of your life is infinitely creative,
and the universe is endlessly beautiful.
Just put forth a clear enough request,
and everything your heart desires must come to you."
-Shakti Gawain

... oh, and dance with joy as often as possible!!

Here's a lovely, inspiring tune from Gladys Knight!



Good tidings!!



P.S.

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