Asking youself what you need and doing that: Untensive InterPlay Asheville

ASHEVILLE INTERPLAY, APRIL 2014. (photo by an InterPlayer's husband)

Hallelujah for InterPlay! Hallelujah for a powerful way to learn, grow, and get where you are going! InterPlay is a way to access the wisdom of your body and to fully integrate it with your mind, heart, and spirit--to wrap all those elements of BEING HUMAN into one!

INTERPLAY ASHEVILLE

In the middle of April 2014, I journeyed from Atlanta to Asheville, North Carolina, with Lynn Hesse, another Atlanta InterPlayer, to experience the unique flavor of another InterPlay group! Since I only began partaking in InterPlay last year at this time, this trip was my first opportunity to sample the InterPlay improvisational system developed by Cynthia Winton-Henry and Phil Porter in another region. I was delighted! 

This three-day "untensive," introduced the first night as an opportunity to experience the "theology of self-indulgence" (asking yourself what you need and doing that), promised to be a lot of fun! And it was! A number of regional InterPlay leaders facilitated the play during the weekend, resulting in deep rich connection with others through telling stories, making dances, and singing. 

On Saturday afternoon, one of the facilitators took us outside to play! How freeing it was to be childlike, moving in a group and following the leader! And, yes, it was fun to watch the traffic go by and see drivers observing our silliness!

PLAYING FOLLOW THE LEADER! It was such fun playing follow the leader as we traveled to our outdoor play spot, where we told stories! (photos by Ruth Schowalter)

Oh! We had a tremendously good time--both outside and inside! One of the many things I appreciated during this weekend was how well-developed each play session was crafted by the different leaders.  An important concept in InterPlay is INCREMENTALITY. And I was able to observe as I participated in one-to-two-hour sessions, how tiny incremental steps (significant in themselves) build to something larger than the parts. All the while, we moved at "the speed of the body"--another important InterPlay concept.

Highlights of this InterPlay weekend? 

Being with seasoned InterPlayers (many were leaders and others had 10 to 15 years of InterPlay experience).  

Experiencing a variety of InterPlay forms, which were crafted into deep rewarding play.

Having lunch and snacks provided for us out-of-towners was a pure luxury, greatly appreciated.

Expanding my personal InterPlay experience, allowing me to further cultivate my BODY WISDOM.

Getting to know fellow Atlanta InterPlayer, Lynn Hesse, better.

FINAL HOUR OF INTERPLAY ASHEVILLE. Gathered to witness and play. (photos by Ruth Schowalter

The final hour of the three-day untensive gave InterPlayers the opportunity to choose the forms they wanted to make with one another and to witness that play. The time evaporated quickly in meaningful, connective splendor before we travelers had to say good-bye and head back to Atlanta.

SHAPES AND STILLNESS

RHYTHM, WORDS, DANCE

A SMALL GATHERING BEFORE LEAVING. Thank you to the organizers and leaders of this Asheville InterPlay untensive weekend! It was wonderful, meaningful and sneaky deep!

That's Coffee with Hallelujah. SOUL BLOG with me and tell me about your experiences playing as an adult!. What is playful for you? What do you think the results might be for engaging with your playful self in community with others?

Pursuing the theology of self-indulgence in Asheville

100 Biltmore Street is a boarding house that rents out rooms through AirBNB--my choice while staying in Asheville for a weekend of InterPlay.

A charming bedroom greeted me, replete with fridge, sink, dishes, closet, desk, chairs, 3 lamps, and a comfortable bed. Outside my room is a microwave, porch, three bathrooms, and a kitchen downstairs.

Residents of 100 Biltmore greeted me when I arrived and shared their life stories with me while I waited to be checked in.

Asheville in April is welcoming both in weather and sites to see. This view is just around the corner from 100 Biltmore.

And there is public art...Asheville is a delightful place to pursue the theology of self-indulgence. Stay tuned to find out what that is.

MOTHER CREATOR, MOTHER MYSTERY, ME: Outward realities coming to symbolize internal being

MOTHER CREATOR, MOTHER MYSTERY, ME. This image comprises four stages in my life (maybe more). The background is Chinese language homework from the 1980's when I was in my twenties. The snake imagery began developing in my late twenties and early thirties because of transformational dreams I was having. These dreams were the impetus that took my creative expression from writing poetry to expressing the metaphors into visual images. Then in my forties when I began my travels in Australia (a total of five months), I imbibed with great thirst the snake imagery in the creation myths of the people indigenous to that continent. And in my fifties, the influx of female students from the Middle East began to attend classes at the Language Institute where I taught English. These women dressed in hijabs became symbols for the mystery I had yet to explore in my life. Today, I am combining all of these symbols together in one image. What does it mean to me? (Art by Hallelujah Truth)

Hallelujah for ACTS OF CREATION! Hallelujah for the MOTHERS in our lives and for how they cared and nurtured us to adulthood. Hallelujah for the way in which outward realities become internal symbols...eternally....

MOTHER CREATOR AND ME. I am represented by the four-petalled flower, a mystery in itself. More shall be explored about the four-petalled flower in future blog posts. (Art by Hallelujah Truth)

SHE, EARTH SNAKE, uncoiled, stretching, opening her body. Sweet water seeped into the spaces between her long sinewy flesh. SHE brought rain. SHE brought the rhythm of life—stirred the wind, started the tides and currents. SHE holds the climates and seasons in her tail…(see the source of my poetry below).

MOTHER MYSTERY. Open hands receiving the unknown, Mother Mystery is fearless. She says with her eyes, "Trust ME." (Art by Hallelujah Truth)

All events, in their passing leave traces…

Those experiences we have in our lives are there waiting to be reviewed, transformed, released, shared....

That's Coffee with Hallelujah! SOUL BLOG with me and tell me about your MOTHER and what you internalized about the eternal. What will you transform, release and share?

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS: (SOURCES)  Information about the Australian Aboriginal creation story about the Rainbow Serpent was found in the book, Yorro Yorro: Everything Standing Up Alive, by Mowaljarlai and Jutta Malnic.  This quote about "all events" was a part of the 1993 Chris Handran’s essay for Susan Faraday’s “Remember Me,” an installation at the Institute for Modern Art in Brisbane, Australia, 2001-2002)

ALL EVENTS LEAVE THEIR TRACES: Australian creation god is burned into my psyche

WANDJINA. He came out of the galaxy. (Art by Hallelujah Truth)

Hallelujah for the IMAGINATION! Hallelujah for images and stories that cross cultural boundaries and time! And Hallelujah for symbols and signs that speak TRUTH to us even though we don't "read" the language.

I am a traveler, and some of the symbols I have imbibed during my travels have become a part of me--even all of me.  

All events, 
in their passing leave traces, 
burned into images, imprinted on surfaces, 
ingrained in memory. (see source  of these words below)

 

DREAM TIME. Wandjina's mouth is shrouded in clouds and mist. (Art by Hallelujah Truth)

Wandjina continues to be present in my life as a repetitive image. He joined my psyche the third time I visited Australia and has brought me comfort through his ongoing appearance in my meditative drawings. What began as an urge to quench my desire to "study" this spiritual image from cave drawings in northwest Australia by drawing it repeatedly until sated, has continued until finally becoming a part of my pscyhe, seared into my memory.

Here is just one aspect of what he represents to those in Australia who continue to draw his figure on cave walls and now on canvases to sell to tourists. (see the source of my poetry below).
 
HE, WANDJINA, 
came out of the galaxy, 
the ONE beyond our understanding, 
and created all life from the body of MOTHER SNAKE. 
Traveling across HER BACK, 
he made the mountains and rocks, 
the trees and shrubs, 
animals and humans. 
WANDJINA is beyond our understanding, 
his mouth is shrouded in clouds and mist…
 

CREATION. He made the mountains, trees, shrubs, animals and us. (Art by Hallelujah Truth)

Who am I? Who are you? Do you agree that all the events in our lives leave their traces? What have your life experiences made you? What do you think about me? How can a 55-year-old Army Brat, form ESL teacher, wife of a scientist, and artist, have an Aboriginal spiritual symbol burned into my psyche? 

In addition, I have drawn Wandjina on the surface of my Chinese homework from my 20's. By merging these two periods in my life, I am continuing to redefine myself. I am learning to speak RUTH (aka Halleujah Truth).
 
That's Coffee With Hallelujah! SOUL BLOG with me. Tell me something about symbols or signs that speak TRUTH to you! What events have left their traces on you?

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS: (SOURCES) This quote was a part of the 1993 Chris Handran’s essay for Susan Faraday’s “Remember Me,” an installation at the Institute for Modern Art in Brisbane, Australia, 2001-2002) Information about Wandjina was found in the book, Yorro Yorro: Everything Standing Up Alive, by Mowaljarlai and Jutta Malnic.
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Thinking outside of the box? Or in it? Life Layers of Word and Image

THINKING OUTSIDE OF THE BOX WHILE IN THE BOX. Funny that "thinking outside of the box" regarding my artmaking materials meant drawing images within two boxes of multiple-boxed Chinese characters. (Art by Hallelujah Truth)

Hallelujah for PASSIONATE KNOWLEDGE! Hallelujah for communities like "The Daily Creative Practice" (see here) for sharing that knowledge with such fervor, such love! 

Today's Funday Monday prompt was to think outside the box when art making. Since much of my art making is driven by my morning meditation and repetitive drawings of Hallelujah Truth and companions from my psyche on blank white paper, I allowed this prompt give me permission to use a different paper source: recycled RUTH papers.

As I have been cleaning out my "room of shame"--the spare bedroom, which has acquired the stuff of life (ESL materials, art studio stuff, and previous lifetime belongings), I discovered my Chinese writing homework when I was studying that language in my twenties. Since I had taken great effort in carefully learning the Chinese characters, I hesitated to throw pages of my Chinese handwriting away. And then...

NAME THAT CHINESE POEM. Dear readers if you perchance can name the poem I was studying by the vocabulary presented here, please let me know. Words meaning "to be conscious of," "to know," "to dream," "passionate love," and "heavy" seems like a poem about about plum ripening. (Art by Hallelujah Truth)

I asked myself, why not draw on top of these characters? I have realized as time goes on that the background of my drawings and paintings lack the texture that other artists implement in theirs. I haven't wanted to busy my backgrounds with random texture but have chosen instead to use "dots" to create flows of energy and expansion. But today I was summoned to write on top of my Chinese handwriting!

LIMITLESS, MEANING, FACE TOWARD. Layers of my life in language and image. Hallelujah, Wandjina, Great Mystery and Two Cats meet meaningful Chinese characters. (Art by Hallelujah Truth)

It wasn't until now--today--that I had found a way to merge meaningfully my past studious nature with my current artistic self. During my teens, 20's, and early 30's, I dabbled in learning French, German, Chinese, Russian, and Spanish languages with oddball moderate success and some failure. 

Let my ART layer itself upon the LANGUAGE of my YOUTH. Yes, here, we have layers of my RUTHTRUTH LIFE. I feel somewhat satisfied.

That's Coffee with Hallelujah! SOUL BLOG with me! How would you exhibit the layers of your life while thinking outside of the box?

Morning ritual for my artmaking

MORNING PRAYER. What is a prayer? Is it the lighting of a candle or a stick of incense? Is it going to the home altar and taking in the symbols of my journey? Is it breathing deeply and feeling embodied? Dancing to morning music and feeling the soles of my feet touching the floor? Are special words needed to express the gratitude I feel about being here on this beautiful Earth companioned by all of you? (photo by Hallelujah Truth)

Hallelujah for rituals that route our SPIRITS! Hallelujah for being an ARTIST and a PILGRIM seeking the unknowable and finding it! Mine is a spiritual path seeking to hold and entertain the unseeable in my art.

Anchoring myself in MY PRESENCE, I begin my artmaking before even arising from bed. I name myself. My name is Hallelujah Truth, I proclaim, not out loud, but it bursts out joyfully in my brain. Continuing my quiet awakening, I announce my vision: 

I am a grace-seeking artist dancing yes to abundant and meaningful relationships, work, health, and money easefully and joyfully.

A RITUAL FOR ART MAKING. I love patchouli incense and burn it every day. The lighting of my incense and a candle initiates my artmaking. Being surrounded by scented smoke uplifts me. The candle light symbolizes me, my spirit. Once it is lit, I am fully awakened, turned on, ready to create. These days, I sit and draw at the diningroom table, arising as needed to dance, attend to a feline request, and to breathe.  (photo by Hallelujah Truth)

Like a true adventurer I have my artmaking ritual equipment. I equip myself with clothes (whatever is available), coffee (the making of which is a ritual in and of itself), cat companionship (feeding and reassurance that they will get to go outside when the sun rises), prayer (gratitude), music, dance, incense, and a lighted candle. And there is Chiboogamoo (aka Tony Martin). I am so thankful for his presence in our home. His gentle, kind spirit supports me in all that I do, in all that I make....

Although the music is important, my choices are random. Different music makes me feel differently and I like the surprise of what may occur in response to different rhythms. This morning, Sinead O'Conner's album, "Am I Not Your Girl," is playing. I purchased it at a yardsale and have not played it for a year or more.

About the Internet. The best way to create "magical" images that speak directly to my pilgrim's journey is to refrain from getting on the computer and checking social media. I feel the best explorations of my subconscious occurs right from waking after being equipped as described above. Getting on the computer to blog like I am doing now is the exception to the rule.

Then, what is next? I WORK STEADILY FOR TWO HOURS, only being interrupted by cat and husband needs. This is the beginning of my art making day. It is a ritual. Rarely is there any deviation from it.

That's Coffee with Hallelujah! SOUL BLOG with me. Share your ritual for art making or one that delights you and informs your day!

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT: Thank you Christine Gautreaux for writing this prompt for our "Monday Funday" blogging prompt on our Facebook group, The Daily Creative Practice:

Today's prompt is about process...When you are in your "artistic flow" what are the tools &/or rituals you used to get yourself there? Is there a certain time of day you do your art and for how long? Do you listen to music? If so what kind? A favorite creative shirt/outfit you wear? We want to know the details and would love to see a picture of you creating!

Dear Pilgrim, join us there on Facebook. We will welcome you.

Spring is coming: Time to BE, BURST, BURGEON!

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN? (photo by Hallelujah Truth)

Hallelujah for transformation! Hallelujah for SPRING TIME! Hallelujah for when that which was silent, hidden in the ground like a tulip bulb or within the buds on a tree, suddenly and magically appear singing: TIME TO BE, BURST, BURGEON, GROW OUT LOUD!

How do we acknowledge or mark the change in a season like spring? For me, I begin by looking for outward signs. I may feel a change in the temperature or quality of light. I am drawn to the street to go to the park to look up or down everywhere for plant signs announcing winter is over.

Perhaps I wait for a cultural symbol, a human demonstration that time is spinning ahead. On a walk yesterday, I saw this mannequin head posted on the perimeter of someone's yard in Oakhurst, a small community across the train tracks from where I live in Decatur, Georgia. "Posted" with polka-dotted pink ears, her appearance announced to me: TIME TO PREPARE FOR SPRING! 

Yes, dear pilgrims, it is time to shift, grow, breathe warmer air, dance, and say thank you! 

That's Coffee with Hallelujah! SOUL BLOG with me and tell me what you do to prepare for the change of seasons and how you celebrate spring time!