Monday 24 December 2007

TASK: Nature's art from a child's heart


We are told Christmas is a time for so many things -

for forgiveness, for laughter, for peace ever after.

It is a time for eating, drinking and being merry.

And it is a time for family
...and especially for children.


And in this mad world that never stops long enough for us to get off and pause for breath, we rarely get a chance to spend enough time with our children (or other people's) to remember what the world looks like through the child's eyes.


So this Christmas task is to see the world through the eyes of a child and make a picture out of it. For this task you will need nothing more than a handful of youngsters if you can find them, one if that is all there happens to be around, and a bit of the beautiful and bountiful outdoors.


Take said child(ren) into the wonderous natural world - a beach, a park, a wood, anywhere you can get messy and find a supply of suitable raw materials - where the imagination can work its magic... and create a picture.


You may wish to start by collecting enough sticks to make a picture frame. You may wish to frame your work of art in another way, or perhaps it doesn't require a frame at all.


Let the children and the child in you be the guides - don't try to impose an adult view of the world and of what art should be - an adult's view is never as interesting, creative or magical as a child's.


Then take a photo of your picture and post it here...


Merry Christmas everybody, or as they say round these parts where I am indulging in the festivities - Nadolig Llawen (with a bit of God Jul and Buon Natale thrown in for good measure!!).

Thursday 20 December 2007

Happiness...


'The most sought-after and elusive of conditions,
happiness is one of the central themes in human history.
Yet do we even know what it is, much less how to attain it?'

…So begins a book entitled ‘The Discovery of Happiness’ by Stuart McCready.

In this book we meet Plato and Socrates, we visit Nirvana and the soul. From Sufism's magical dancing to the utilitarianism of the Enlightenment, the authors explore every facet of this elusive concept from a philosophical, academic and spiritual perspective.

But interesting as it is, in this book there are no pictures of my children, no kisses from my husband, no hugs from my parents as they arrive on the doorstep, no phonecalls from my distant sister, no texts from my friends, and no images of me flopped on the settee at the end of a hard day with a glass of wine in my hand and something mindless on telly, the kids snoring softly in their beds and my wonderful man performing culinary magic in the kitchen.

There are no pictures of the sun filtering through the clouds, no wafts of cardamom, no sensations of a soft pillow against my cheek, no heart-stopping moments of the sheer joy of being alive.

So whatever happiness is, it sure as hell isn't easy to put down in words! I tried...

Tuesday 18 December 2007

How could I be otherwise?


maggie and milly and molly and may
went down to the beach (to play one day)
and maggie discovered a shell that sang
so sweetly she couldn't remember her troubles, and
milly befriended a stranded star
whose rays five languid fingers were;
and molly was chased by a horrible thing
which raced sideways while blowing bubbles: and
may came home with a smooth round stone
as small as a world and as large as alone,
For whatever we lose (like a you or a me)
it's always ourselves we lose in the sea
e e cummins (selected poems 1923 - 1958)
I am happy, for I have known happiness in my life and I have known love. I feel love. I am loved.
How could I be otherwise?

Saturday 15 December 2007

He's only happy when he's miserable!

Spiritually, I've only known true happiness once. It lasted about two, maybe three, weeks. And I knew it was happiness, in the blissful sense, only when it was finally ebbing away from me. Would I like to return to that state of mind? You bet! Will I get there again? I hope so.

But that's only one kind of happiness. I believe there are as many kinds of happiness as there are people. Something my mum used to say ('he's only happy when he's miserable'!) illustrates the point. There's something about a sustained bout of misery that can also be deemed 'happiness' if that's what suits you at the time. Or the happiness gained from getting through another day without any particular mishap. Or finding that vacant parking space in a busy carpark. Or knowing that you are loved.

Yes, I'd say I was happy, even though I'm not entirely sure what I mean by that! But even in my most anxious moments, I'm still happy. I suppose it's because this is my life, and I wouldn't want to be doing anything else.

Oh, and one other thing... friends = happiness. So thankyou all!!!

Big Art right up to the final moment...


"Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, chocolate in one hand, martini in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming:

"WOOHOO what a ride!"


OK, so I've pinched the quote - saw it on another blog, checked Google to see whether I could find the source, got 8,820 hits and gave up! I like the sentiment, though, so I'm going to revise my funeral plans. And to duck charges of plagiarism I'll swap the martini for a bottle of Swedish Punsch ...

Friday 14 December 2007

TASK: Happiness

In the cold twilight of another passing year, before we bask in the glow of the coming new one – in the dizzying whirlwind of good intentions, resolutions, should-have-dones and wishes, I ask you to ponder this question: What is happiness to you?

I ask because I dread the question and the topic, which, inevitably comes every time I see my mother-in-law. Although I’m expecting it – from the unending drive to see her, to the minute we’re through the door – she never fails to catch me off-guard. When I’ve relaxed, perhaps smiling, for a split second and forgotten that it’s coming. Then, with witchcraft-like cunning, she pounces on me when I’m alone for a brief moment. She pins me with her dark eyes and coos . . . “Are you happy, love?”

Happy? Yes! Of course! Why wouldn’t I be? Isn’t everyone? By the way, what is happiness?

In trying to understand the startling, jarring, almost inhuman nature of the question, I’ve tried to think about the elusive and varied meaning of happiness.

To me, happiness has always been something invisible: My mother’s soft touch on my forehead as I dosed in bed when I was a child. The first, tentative tickle of cinnamon-and-pine-scented realisation that it’s Christmas morning. The smile from a boy you fancy. A sparkly ring on that finger. My baby in my arms for the first overwhelming, life-defining moment.

But happiness, to me, is also more than just the sum total of those breath-catching moments. It’s also the sight of my sleeping child every night. My husband’s silent presence next to me every day. My mother at the other end of the phone every week. And, somewhere along the line, for me and I think for most people, those moments blend into one great Connect-the-Dots picture of our life. Is it a happy one? For most people, I hope, the answer is yes.

For my mother-in-law, unfortunately, I fear the answer would be no. Because of the invisibility of happiness, I think, some people end up chasing it their whole lives, like a mist-veiled holy grail. Never realising, the grail is right in front of them, if only they’d pick it up and drink.

Thursday 13 December 2007

Dreaming in Technicolor


The waiting rooms in life have always been the hardest for me. As Dr. Seuss aptly said: "The Waiting Place . . . for people just waiting. Waiting for the fish to bite or waiting for wind to fly a kite or waiting around for Friday night or waiting, perhaps, for their Uncle Jake:) or a pot to boil, or a Better Break or a string of pearls, or a pair of pants or a wig with curls or Another Chance. Everyone is just waiting."

And, as I wait for Uncle Jake, a precious little dream-fairy brought me an enchanted gift last night . . . a lovely dream that Mr. Daniel Craig decided to come to my birthday party. Never mind that the illusion vanished with the first crystals of morning. Never mind that it was a ridiculous, unimaginable scenario. It was a spontaneous, delightful moment in a time of anxiety, uncertainty and seemingly interminable waiting.

Yes, I do believe in magic.

Dreams


Like most of us, my daily life often lacks enchantment, and usually when I need it the most! But one part of my life can always exceed my expectations, and that is while I am dreaming. My imagination runs wild, unbounded by the inhibitions and self-limitations that I usually carry around with me.

For example, a week or two ago I was lucky enough to experience a lucid dream. It happens from time to time, though not nearly often enough for my liking! In this particular dream I was visiting a train station - slightly Harry Potteresque - and suddenly realised I was dreaming. How wonderful! My thoughts turned to flying but try as I might I couldn't get more than a foot off the ground. Still, it was a magical experience, and one that has stayed me ever since.

To me, dreams are very much a part of my real life. And due to the stresses and strains that we all go though these days, my dreams are often the closest I come to the enchantment I experienced as a child. I admit I'm a bit of a 'dreamer', still spending my sleeping hours riding a magic carpet over the twinkling lights of the town below.... and I hope it always stays that way!

Just another ordinary miracle today


This task has made me realise how disenchanted my life is at present. I can find images that inspire me and fill me with awe, and photograhps that suggest enchantment but as for feeling it, it has been a while. It has been a bad week and that is almost certainly colouring this post but I am not in despair, far from it.

I have a secret place where I go, where enchantment lives, a spot in a field where the world wraps itself around me and takes my breath - winter, spring, summer or fall. I haven't been there for a while but clearly need to go and soon.

Enchantment is like synchronicity, the magic happens all around us all the time but in order to see it, feel it and know it we must keep our hearts and minds open. Look for it and it will be there.

Thursday 6 December 2007

TASK: Encountering enchantment


Task: Set by Daisy

A few weeks ago I set a task for my Masters students, and I am going to set you the same one!

Throughout the last century, social scientists and historians have claimed we live in a ‘disenchanted’ world, where rationality, science and modernity have made everything ‘knowable’, predictable and explicable. Put more simply – there is no longer any magic in the world.

But in 2001 Jane Bennett wrote a book called The Enchantment of Modern Life. In it she argues that we do still have ‘moments of enchantment’ in our life, encounters where we experience a fleeting return to childlike excitement and wonder about life and the world around us.

Quite simply, the ability and desire to be ‘in love with the world’.

So I want you to describe such a moment of enchantment that you have experienced. It might be when you were captivated by a glittering pair of shoes in a shop window and you were carried off to a fairytale ballroom, or it might be watching your child engrossed in a task and losing yourself in the wonder of watching this magical little being you brought into the world, or it could be simply kicking the autumn leaves and feeling your heart flip at the simplicity of such joy.

Each of us encounters enchantment differently. And I want to hear your stories.