HOW WILL YOU GO ABOUT FINDING THAT THING WHICH IS UNKNOWN TO YOU?: Leaping into the mystery as a way of knowing!

LEAPING AS A WAY OF KNOWING. Portrait of me, Hallelujah, with Mother Mystery behind me (right), and Mother Turtle (center), like a full moon, guiding me. (Art by Hallelujah Truth)

Good Morning Pilgrims! As the month of April 2013 concludes for me here in Atlanta, Georgia, I am celebrating the GREAT LEAP. 

At the beginning of April, I established an open  Facebook Group, THE DAILY CREATIVE PRACTICE  (come join the group, here) and I explained (in this blog) that its purpose was to document our UNIQUITIES and share our creative processes. The past four weeks have seen this Facebook Group bursting with frequent postings and comments. Clearly all of us SOULS have a strong desire to connect through our CREATIVE PRACTICES!

So why is this blog entry titled, "How will you go about finding that thing which is unknown to you?: Leaping into the mystery is a way of knowing!? Great question!

GREAT MOTHER MYSTERY.  Part Guadalupe, part human woman in a hijab, part me, part of all of our feminine selves. (Art by Hallelujah)

Leaping has become my way of knowing. I am not alone when I jump. I have good companions who watch me and keep me orienting to my TRUE NORTH. None of us is alone! It is up to each one of us to find OUR TRIBE so that we can experience the vibrant connections that enliven us. 

Recently, in one of my leaps to enlarge the members of MY TRIBE, I began a book club on the topic of Brain Health and Creativity, and one of the members (Cecelia Kane) recommended that we read REBECCA SOLNIT's  A FIELD GUIDE TO GETTING LOST, 2005. It is a book filled with philosophical meanderings, and yes, you do get lost in the author's thoughts. I think you are supposed to! Here is a quote from the early pages of this guide to getting lost:

“Leave the door open for the unknown, the door into the dark. That’s where the most important things come from, where you yourself came from, where you will go. Three years ago I was giving a workshop in the Rockies. A student came bearing a quote from what she said was the pre-Socratic philosopher Meno. It read, ‘How will you go about finding that thing the nature of which is totally unknown to you?’ I copied it down, and it has stayed with me since.”

For me, as an artist, I am intrigued by this question asked of Rebecca Solnit by her student—how can we find something when it is unknown to us? (Read A Field Guide to Getting Lost to learn Solnit's answer.) Although it is pleasurable to BE HERE NOW, it also fun to pursue novelty—the unknown. Why? Because it makes the neurons in our brains pop and crackle, and we feel that we have grown. And, indeed we have and this growth is positive!

TA DA! LEAPING MORE.  Leaping has become a way of knowing for me. My art documents the progress of my SOUL. This image belongs to a group of images that were conceived last summer while listening to Clarissa Pinkola Estes and I was forming my world of my FULL PLANETHOOD. I believe I completed it yesterday, April 28th, 2013 while my Chiboogamoo was grading final exam. I love the big black question marks in this! I am learning to love the QUESTION! (Art by Hallelujah)

WITH LOVE AS ALWAYS TO MY CHIBOOGAMOO. We are not alone! Thank you!

SUNDAY EVENING IN DECATUR, GEORGIA. We companion each other in our separate endeavors as often as we can. This past Sunday evening was complete working together after a meal of homemade chili and a growler of Terrapin's Tree Hugger beer. (photo by Hallelujah Truth)

That's Coffee with Hallelujah! SOUL BLOG with me and tell me what TRIBE you belong to! What leaps are you taking into the GREAT MYSTERY! And you are invited to join the Facebook Group, THE DAILY CREATIVE PRACTICE!