ACN REVISIONING: I AM THE VISCERAL CONNECTION TO THE UNIVERSE--WHO ARE YOU?

I AM THE VISCERAL CONNECTION TO THE UNIVERSE,  ART BY HALLELUJAH TRUTH, VISIONARY ARTIST

HALLELUJAH TRUTH

Greetings DEAR SOJOURNERS! Who are you at this moment as MOTHER EARTH embraces us with HER warm Spring breath—inhaling and exhaling? I am the VISCERAL CONNECTION TO THE UNIVERSE! Hallelujah for being here and experiencing the JOY of our body and soul connection! Hallelujah for the seen and unseen! For that which we can know—and, yes—for that which is unknowable! Hallelujah for the popping, crackling synapses of my brain, the extraordinary electric highway of my spinal cord, my thumping biological heart, and all my moist juicy viscera that make me human. Simultaneously, I sing Hallelujahs for the aspect of my BEINGNESS that plunges me into the GREAT MYSTERY as if I were an Olympic diver of the SPIRIT!

Dear FELLOW PILGRIMS! In Atlanta on March 24 and 25, 2012, we held our annual Artist Conference Network (ACN) weekend (see my blog post about the 2011 ACN weekend)! At this conference meeting, we seasoned ACNer’s renew our VISIONS that empower our creative process and welcome new members into our coaching community. How glorious that we do this SACRED work at the same time the dogwoods, azaleas, and redbuds dance in flourishes of white, pink, and red blossoms and the yellow pollen flows in abundance from the oaks and pines.

ATLANTA FABULOUS 2012. 

KRISTEN ANACKER AND LAURA HAMILTON (Beverly Cassell's niece).  Arriving on Sunday morning at Pine Lake, Georgia, for the second day of the Artist Conference Weekend. Laura drove in from Montgomery, Alabama. 

DISCUSSING QUARTERLY GOAL. Sunday morning, as we were gearing up for the second day of conference coaching and getting caffeine and bagels, Lori Feig Sandoval refined her goal with Kristen.

It was my first experience with Kristen Anacker, Chief Inspirational Officer and member of the ACN Board of Directors. Hailing from California, this energetic costume designer arrived in Atlanta immediately following her presence at the Philadelphia ACN weekend. Her ready laughter, intense listening, and mastery of the conference network structure helped us bring six new CREATIVES into a process where MAGIC happens! All of us learn to step into an arena of “not knowing,” where we learn to take risks, become alive, and give BIRTH to something NEW!

Oh PILGRIMS! How I long for the NEW in my CREATIVE SOJOURN! For the past two years or more, I have been drawing daily images of Hallelujah Truth with her cast of characters. I have been finding myself ready to JOURNEY deeper, wider, and hungering to explore new territories, but I haven’t been certain how to TRAVEL! Sooooooooooo, during this ACN weekend, I asked for a breakthrough in DISCOVERY! Hallelujah! Through a series of questions, this is what I learned about myself relative to my CREATIVE PROCESS (aka, SPIRITUAL ART PILGRIMAGE).

HALLELUJAH'S  WALLABY. Among my cast of characters is this precious marsupial which symbolizes my vulnerability. Here he is at the hub of the wheel of my universe (see my blog on this topic)--Hallelujah Truth

In addition to crafting a new VISION of who I am in this world (I AM THE VISCERAL CONNECTION TO THE UNIVERSE) and developing a quarterly goal (one Hallelujah Truth movie, three contacts for developing a refugee art project, and one completed Improv/ESL course with Lesly Fredman), I became enlivened through what ACN calls “breakthrough” coaching. Let me explain my BREAKTHROUGH!

GETTING READY TO COACH FOR A BREAKTHROUGH. This process involves understanding how to talk about our feelings and thoughts in a way that we understand them so that we can "jump" into a new and different way of being, a way of being that allows us to create!

THE MOTHER-IN-LAW STORY. You have to be an ACN member to know how Beverly Cassell, founder of Artist Conference Network, can explain her own experience with her mother-in-law to demonstrate "breakthrough" thinking. Beverly is no longer able to attend ACN weekends, so watch her tell this memorable story on the computer.

I began by reaching for something IMMENSE and BEYOND myself. Searching for this breakthrough, I built matrices with words, concepts of futuristic structures, part-atomic, part-spaceship. As I answered questions, I drew elaborate word pictures. As an artist, I saw a destination that my PILGRIM SELF could JOURNEY to with the greatest effort and commitment; it would require jaw clenching discipline and probably the rest of my life. This breakthrough “appeared” to resonate with my newly minted VISION: I AM VISCERALLY CONNECTED TO THE UNIVERSE! Yet, as I dug deeper into myself through the breakthrough questioning process, I found that the DESTINATION or PATHWAY I was searching for was not in a vastness outside of me, but WITHIN ME.

WITHIN ME, I found PEACE, SERENITY, and ACCEPTANCE. From this place of STILLNESS, I was able to SEE myself differently. I became the DANCING MUSE, an odd breakthrough for one who views herself as bereft of rhythm and with two left feet! Yet this is the MAGIC that the ACN structure creates. Let me explain.

In the past year, the long hours of concentrated drawing, painting, and blogging have left my body aching. This achiness has caused physical suffering, sleepless nights, and trouble moving, all of which impacts the ESSENTIAL ME. I had to CHANGE something in my process that would reconcile my SPIRIT (creative production) with my BODY (the facilitator of my creative production). Through consultation with Lesly Fredman, I had begun to “practice” breathing and dance-like movement prior to the ACN breakthrough coaching!

LEAPING!

Now, I have leapt into BEING the DANCING MUSE! As the DANCING MUSE, I am sure I will continue my SPIRITUAL ART PILGRIMAGE united with and supported by my physical self. We will joyfully step our way into the UNKNOWN. I also know that this way of BEING creates MAGIC. For instance, I envision subtle impacts occurring daily. I imagine that now when I walk into a room, the air shifts, molecules bounce slightly faster, and people begin tapping their feet. This impact is the result of being the DANCING MUSE!

As for my drawing, painting, and writing, the DANCING MUSE, is the SOURCE from which the vastness of life radiates outward. I will not need to find my own shaman to give me the cup of ayahuasca. For now, instead, I will find the expanding universe in my head, heart, and gut with peace and serenity. That’s Coffee with Hallelujah! SOUL BLOG with me and share your vision and breakthroughs. What happens when you walk into a room? Who are you?

HALLELUJAH and KRISTEN

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS: Thanks to the Artist Conference Network, founded by Beverly Cassell. Thanks to Kristen Anacker, who led our conference weekend. Thanks to the Atlanta Fabulous Artist Conference Network, who provide that essential coaching community for me around the year. Thanks to Lesly Fredman, who is deep, resourceful, and loving. Thanks to the Dancing Flowers for Peace, who have welcomed me to their movement warm-ups on Saturday mornings. Great appreciation to Anne Lynch who helped take photographs of the weekend, especially the ones of me! And as always, I am so pleased and satisfied with the support of my loving Chiboogamoo, who is now cat parenting Sapelo and Tao with me!


SHOWING WORK: ATLANTA FABULOUS ARTIST CONFERENCE WEEKEND MOMENTS

ALICE TEETER

ANNE LYNCH

ELISE HELFER

DONNAR RUTHERFORD

JUDI INGRAM ADKINS

LATOYA SEALS

JACQ MARIE JACK

JUDITH BARBER

KRISTEN ANACKER'S COSTUME WORK

JESSE HARRIS BATHRICK

LESLY HIRVI FREDMAN

MARIA HELENA DOLAN

LORI FEIG SANDOVAL

LAURA HAMILTON

LAURA'S WORK

STELL SIMONTON

RUTH SCHOWALTER'S WORK (AKA HALLELUJAH TRUTH)

KRISTEN ANSWERING QUESTIONS ABOUT HER WORK

WEEKEND SUSTENANCE

WEEKEND COMPLETION