Downshifting, uplifting, and subconscious tectonic plates ushering in ME, VISUAL ARTIST

FIRST PAINTING AT THIRTY. Dream driven, Mose T. inspired, and a call to be ME. (Art by Hallelujah Truth 1988)

Hallelujah for community! Hallelujah for my Facebook group, The Daily Creative Practice (DCP), and the emergence of the Funday Monday blog prompt shared by our members. Join us if you like! Here is DCP member Lee Russell's prompt for April 14th, 2014:

Funday Monday blog prompt—SHOW and TELL. Every consciously creative person I know has a stash of images, quotes, books, spices, garden ideas, etc. that they have been drawn to, and use as inspiration.
 
SHOW: Show something that inspired you and what it inspired you to create.
TELL: What do you keep as inspiration? How and where do you store it? And, when do you pull it out? Why? Whose work do you collect? Is there one person who inspired you to take your creative path? Maybe include links for others of us to learn from and be inspired as well.

BEFORE THE VISUAL IMAGE, IN THE BEGINNING

First, there were the poems and their metaphor that longed for freedom beyond letters and a reader's imagination. Then came the dreams, and they yearned for color expressed in shape on a touchable surface. A well studied fan of Carl Gustav Jung's archetypes, and self-proclaimed dream interpreter (Ann Faraday's Dream Power was my manual), I was thirty, unmarried, uncertain, had just quit my second graduate program spiriting myself away from successful jobs in academic institutions. NOooooooo!!! 

My body had turned away from kudos of my academic peers, who had proclaimed me "one of them"! I was a talented writer. A real budding intellectual...on the way to becoming a hardworking, earnest SMARTIE PANTS!

NOooooooo!!!  I shut down, words fled from me, and I ran away from independence to live at home with my parents in Auburn, Alabama. Although childless, I was pregnant with the ME demanding to be expressed VISUALLY and PHYSICALLY!

Mose T.

FINGER PAINTING, EXPLORING DREAMS!
Cascading my subconscious onto found boards in leftover latex paints and store bought acrylic paints, I swirled dream snakes, spiders, squirrels, and other night-time visitors into parades of imagery for me to observe. The tactile sensation of finger painting thrilled me and connected my entire body with the deep recesses of my BEING, which in turn connected ME with the universe of YOU, THE OTHER!

If there hadn't been an abundance of Mose T. paintings in the Auburn, Alabama, area, I don't know if my image making would have driven itself into BEING as it did. I consider this Montgomery, Alabama artist's work to be one of the strongest influences in my visual making life.

My Life, Marc Chagall's autobiography written when he was only 35 also liberated the ME. Succored by his words, deep, chaotic, and confident, I became unleashed from expectations of what words should render. Yes! Yes, I said to image making and yes to the unique travel of words expressing the ME, proclaiming the ME, celebrating the ME.

MORE TO THE JOURNEY.
Yes, this blog entry brings you a point in time, the inception of ME, the visual artist Hallelujah Truth. In the past 25 years, much much much more has gone into the boiling pot, churning in the volcanic mix, expanding into the profound way of BEING ME. It took many years of downshifting and uplifting--a shouting ripping rush of subconscious tectonic plates moving where they needed to go and finding communion with YOU.

MORE SHALL BE REVEALED!

For now, that's Coffee With Hallelujah. SOUL BLOG with me. Am I communing with you? How?

GETTING ROOTED IN THE BEING YOU WANT TO BE: A JOURNEY THAT TAKES A LIFE TIME

MY SPIRITUAL ART JOURNEY STARTED IN 2009.  Introducing Pilgrim Hallelujah Truth with the emergence of her new baby self which later transformed into images of Wandjina. Also present is my dear feline companion Misha, who always reminded me to create joyfully and with ease like a cat napping. (All art by Hallelujah Truth)

Hallelujah for TIME, SELF-KNOWLEDGE, and EXPANSION of the SOUL! Since I started this blog, Coffee with Hallelujah, to focus on 15 minutes of creativity every day (no matter what), I have become quite familiar with the ROOTS of my BEING. The process over time has become my JOURNEY as a SPIRITUAL ART PILGRIM. Today, I want to reflect on one aspect of this pilgrimage--the ROOTS of BEING, all the mesh of me and the environment I used to inhabit.


Back in the summer of 2009, just around this time, I surrendered to my fear, the fear that held me back and kept me stuck in the elemental ooze of doubt and worry. I recognized who I was--a burned-out workaholic English as a Second Language teacher dreaming of being an artist. I acknowledged that because I had created this way of being, I could also go to the roots, the source, and make a new way of being--based on NOTHING.


The word NOTHING has power and magic in it! From ZERO, or even the absence of ZERO, anything and EVERYTHING is possible. Using my active imagination with the assistance of my creativity coach, Lesly Fredman, I imagined the following scenario:


I see my gigantic self ROOTED in the muck of my existence--over worked, stressed out, unhappy, and fearful of striving for fulfillment as an artist. My tree-root legs are submerged in a primordial ooze, and I am surrounded by dark waters of a deep ancient lake. Lesly, a miniscule figure, appears on the lake in a tiny row boat and her human voice from far below me asks, "Do you want FREEDOM?" (pause to reflect)

HOW MUCH DOES FREEDOM COST? I was very concerned with how much it would cost to free me from my rootedness in the primordial muck of my dissatisfaction. When Lesly told me it would cost a priceless amount, I didn't want to do it. However, she emphasized that the 3 trillion dollars could be paid "whenever." Whenever? When is that! Ha ha, ho ho, the mystery of the unknown and the magic of all things alchemical!

REFLECTION on the question, "Do you want FREEDOM?"
It is of my opinion and experience that change, even change for the good, is often difficult to enact. We all want FREEDOM from pain, FREEDOM to grow, and FREEDOM to BE what we want. Yet, in some way, we are attached to the familiarity of pain and agony. We know how to function or dis-function in that mucky, icky existence. Besides, we ask, "What changes do I make? And what if the changes are worse than the current situation?" (continue to active imagination scenario)


Do I want FREEDOM? I hesitated. I knew I wanted something else but what and how? Yes, I wanted FREEDOM. Yes, I desired a new way of BEING based on nothing, but I had to deal with the ROOTS of pain and agony anchoring me in the familiar ooze! What could the remedy be?


Using active imagination along with me, Lesly calls in the MUD ROBOTS. They materialize from the river banks like huge TRANSFORMERS and dive down to cut me FREE from the old way of BEING. Surprise! The process of severing the roots tickles! Then I begin floating! Buoyant that I am no longer a giantess but am Lesly's size, I climb into her rescue boat tired but joyous! Cold and shivering, I swaddle myself in a blanket like a newborn baby. The boat moves effortlessly through the waters. (end of active imagination)

WHENEVER!

CONCLUSIONS ON THE ROOTS OF BEING


To BE and BECOME the SOUL you want to BE, you need to fully experience WHO you ARE now. Go to the ROOTS of your BEING. Who are you? What is preventing you from harvesting the ripe apples from your tree of life? 


In order for me to make significant life changes, I had to fully accept my long-lived stuckness. I relaxed into being "stuck amuck," by visualizing myself as a giantess deeply rooted and immovable. 


Once you know and accept who you ARE, revel in it because you are bidding that old self good-bye.  After farewells to the old way of being, begin the alchemical process of transformation! Use your active imagination to create scenarios that will LIBERATE you and prepare you for the SOUL WORK you want to do. 


The JOURNEY of a SPIRITUAL ART PILGRIM takes time--a LIFE TIME. I encourage and support your JOURNEY dear fellow SOJOURNER. Share your ROOTS of BEING with me by SOUL BLOGGING at Coffee with Hallelujah!


I am
FREE
FLOATING
UPROOTED and
ROOTING for HALLELUJAH TRUTH!

SOULING INTO PLANTHOOD: A WAY TO LIVE ONE'S LIFE AND HEAL THE EARTH

SOULING INTO PLANETHOOD.The SOUL is more a process, than a thing, so Jeffrey Kiehl calls this process "SOULING." (Art by Hallelujah Truth)

Hallelujah for the SOUL and for all of us SOULS healing the EARTH! But what exactly is a SOUL and what is it in relation to a cure for global warming resulting in droughts, flooding, disease, and famine? Jeffrey Kiehl, a professor of atmospheric science and a Jungian analyst, has answers to both questions!

He believes that first we humans need to do some "SOULING," and in this way we get in touch with the nature or animal in ourselves. By being in touch with our inner animal, we would do everything within our human power to preserve life--ALL OF LIFE!

Listening to Dr. Kiehl lecture last night (April 28, 2012) at the Jung Society of Atlanta on the topic, "Sustaining Earth, Sustaining Soul," I learned a new way of talking about the SOUL. And Dr. Kiehl's words resonated with what I already know:

THE SOUL or SOULING is...

• a way of seeing deeply
• a direct experience of one's interiority
• an embracing of feelings and intuition
• and a recognition of interdependence

SEEING ONE'S OWN PLANETHOOD YET RECOGNIZING INTERDEPENDENCE.  I have been playing with ways to deeply experience my feelings and intuition in that deep place of "interiority." As I celebrate my own independent "planethood," it is an interesting challenge to live my life in respectful relation to ALL OTHER ASPECTS OF LIFE. 

So PILGRIMS, the more we LIVE, truly live, embracing our total selves--not just our material needs, but our immaterial needs, the more we feel connected the EARTH. We resonate with the EARTH when we experience the leaf that touches our arm as we brush by a plant near a sidewalk. We resonate with the EARTH when we listen to the sound of a bird call out our office windows. We resonate with the EARTH when we feel the freshness of the early morning air on our faces as we walk to our cars. It is that mysterious resonance between our SOULS and NATURE, if we allow ourselves to feel it that will HEAL the EARTH. This resonance falls into the realm of what I call SPIRIT. Or we can now call it SOULING. Once we are SOULING with the EARTH, we will surely have to become HER caretaker because in doing so we will be taking care of OURSELVES.


That's Coffee with Hallelujah. What SOULING will you do today PILGRIMS? Soul Blog with me!

SOULING WITH NATURE AT KNOWLEDGE CREEK, VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA 2009 (photo by Chiboogamoo,  Ichnologist and Husband Extraordinaire)

#REVERB11: BEAUTY AFTER 50-- BEING MORE SPIRIT THAN BODY

JUMPING FROM THE EGG (art by Hallelujah Truth)

#REVERB11 PROMPT (December 4, 2011): Has your standard of BEAUTY shifted in the past year? Thanks to Carolyn Rubenstein (author, blogger, coach), who has stepped in to organize an exciting REVERB11. Responses to her prompts can be found here and on Facebook Reverb11.

In beauty may I walk.
All day long may I walk.
Through the returning seasons may I walk.
(from a Navajo Indian prayer found on Wildmind Buddhist Meditation)


Hallelujah for the SPIRIT, and the JOURNEY! With aging comes the opportunity to relinquish the attachments to the BODY and to joyfully embrace the nuances of the SPIRIT! 2011 has deepened my commitment to understanding that which cannot be TOUCHED--the ESSENCE that exists in each of us that can only BE EXPERIENCED. 


I continue to struggle with accepting the wrinkles that alter the contours of my face, the brown blemishes that emerge on my hands, and the extra pounds that encircle my waist.  My knees hurt these days. Ouch! Yes, on one level, I want to be immortal and infinitely young. Yet, on another level, there is profound BEAUTY in accepting my own MORTALITY.


As that which is EPHEMERAL changes (the body), I am so CURIOUS about that which is INFINITE and unalterable (the spirit). Being 53 brings such immense pleasure in releasing little things! This past year has been the practice of letting go of expectations, accepting what is HERE, and BEING PRESENT. At this practice, I am like a NEWBORN!


The shift in my standard of BEAUTY in 2011? BEING BEAUTIFUL. BEINGNESS! The Navajo Indian prayer has lines I am particularly fond of:

With beauty may I walk.
With beauty before me, may I walk.
With beauty behind me, may I walk.
With beauty above me, may I walk.
With beauty below me, may I walk.
With beauty all around me, may I walk.

JUMPING FROM THE EGG! The image I drew for today's # REVERB11 prompt was greatly influenced by the lecture I attended last night at the Jung Society of Atlanta. Pamela Cooper White gave an exciting lecture on CG Jung as and artist by examining The Red Book which was only published in 2009. Many of his drawings repeatedly show an EGG--something with tremendous symbolic import! As a part of my daily drawing practice, I invite whatever has entered my life. This morning I invited Jung's "egg" to be the first thing I drew. Pamela Cooper White mentioned Odilion Redon as one of the artists that influenced Jung's drawings. I devoured his images on the internet once I returned home. The colors in his paintings were in my mind as I began to draw flowers around the egg. 

As the "new" ideas found expression, I returned to my mode of meditation...repetition. I drew Wandjina, Hallelujah, Mother Snake, and finally, my precious Misha! Dear Pilgrims,I invite you to interpret this painting! 


For now that is Coffee With Hallelujah! Soul Blog with me Fellow Pilgrim about your standard of BEAUTY. Write your responses here on my blog or join us in twittering your responses at #Reverb11.

In old age wandering on a trail of beauty, lively, may I walk.
In old age wandering on a trail of beauty, living again, may I walk.

It is finished in beauty.
It is finished in beauty.