Opening to the quiet
Paintings, drawings, sculptures, written works, dance, music and other creative works use the blank or negative space to outline or draw the attention of the listener or observer to both what is there and what is not there. Any piece of art begins with total negative space. One can then fill a portion of that space with some preconceived notion or one can open to what the pen, brush, instrument or other mediums decide will emerge. Often, even if an artist begins with a live model or a writer begin with a fixed idea or plans for a story, the brush or the pen takes over seemingly with little concern for the one who holds the pen or the brush.
The goal of some who mediate or practices techniques for emptying oneself in preparation for spiritual growth is to open oneself to possibilities, opportunities or perhaps just the quiet of the negative space.
Many years ago, I had friends who had a house in the middle of a corn field in Paint Lick Kentucky. Sometimes I would sit in a rocking chair on their porch just watching the corn grow. If I had just arrived after being very busy it might take me a long time to begin to attend to my breathing and allow my mind to be quieter – not entirely quiet but quieter. My mind might not stay quiet long but, after a while, it was easier to return to a quiet space in my mind.
When I see a friend, I have not seen for some time or visit a place I have not been previous or have not been for some time, it takes some time for my body and my mind to settle into a space. I am like the cat which kneads a space, turns around and finally settles into a space.
I am aware of my breath slowing down, my shoulders lowering, my jaw relaxing, my eye becoming less focused or intense and even my ears shutting out some of the noise. Sometime I may need to systematically go through all the muscles of my body tightening and then relaxing them. It may take some time for my entire body to get the memo that it is safe to just be.
When I lived in Alaska I could walk to a stream in the mountains close by and claim my place on a rock in the middle of the rushing water. The noise of the moving water became like a mantra to draw me into a quiet space in the midst of the music of the river, the birds and the other animals including the fish which might make an intermittent splash. It is as if one is reestablishing a more natural connection. As I think about it, quiet is possible only when one allows oneself to again rejoin the whole of the universe.
Breathe. Notice. Breathe. Notice. Breathe. Nothing invites everything. The nothingness – the negative space of the quiet – brings the entire universe into one’s being. Suddenly there is the paradox of nothingness which includes the universe.
What new painting, sculpture, story, musical composition, creation will I arise within me? What will arise from the nothingness?
Written June 5, 2018
Paintings, drawings, sculptures, written works, dance, music and other creative works use the blank or negative space to outline or draw the attention of the listener or observer to both what is there and what is not there. Any piece of art begins with total negative space. One can then fill a portion of that space with some preconceived notion or one can open to what the pen, brush, instrument or other mediums decide will emerge. Often, even if an artist begins with a live model or a writer begin with a fixed idea or plans for a story, the brush or the pen takes over seemingly with little concern for the one who holds the pen or the brush.
The goal of some who mediate or practices techniques for emptying oneself in preparation for spiritual growth is to open oneself to possibilities, opportunities or perhaps just the quiet of the negative space.
Many years ago, I had friends who had a house in the middle of a corn field in Paint Lick Kentucky. Sometimes I would sit in a rocking chair on their porch just watching the corn grow. If I had just arrived after being very busy it might take me a long time to begin to attend to my breathing and allow my mind to be quieter – not entirely quiet but quieter. My mind might not stay quiet long but, after a while, it was easier to return to a quiet space in my mind.
When I see a friend, I have not seen for some time or visit a place I have not been previous or have not been for some time, it takes some time for my body and my mind to settle into a space. I am like the cat which kneads a space, turns around and finally settles into a space.
I am aware of my breath slowing down, my shoulders lowering, my jaw relaxing, my eye becoming less focused or intense and even my ears shutting out some of the noise. Sometime I may need to systematically go through all the muscles of my body tightening and then relaxing them. It may take some time for my entire body to get the memo that it is safe to just be.
When I lived in Alaska I could walk to a stream in the mountains close by and claim my place on a rock in the middle of the rushing water. The noise of the moving water became like a mantra to draw me into a quiet space in the midst of the music of the river, the birds and the other animals including the fish which might make an intermittent splash. It is as if one is reestablishing a more natural connection. As I think about it, quiet is possible only when one allows oneself to again rejoin the whole of the universe.
Breathe. Notice. Breathe. Notice. Breathe. Nothing invites everything. The nothingness – the negative space of the quiet – brings the entire universe into one’s being. Suddenly there is the paradox of nothingness which includes the universe.
What new painting, sculpture, story, musical composition, creation will I arise within me? What will arise from the nothingness?
Written June 5, 2018
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