Sunday, May 30, 2010

Good Morning, Cranky

This morning I woke cranky. An overwhelmed feeling pervaded my every movement as I skulked from the bed to the bathroom to the kitchen. I kept having thoughts like “Why am I feeling this way? It’s a fresh day. I slept well. What’s my problem?” The accusations weighing even heavier on my drudgery. This feeling stayed with me all morning until emailing with a friend, when through our dialogue I was able to understand how I have been putting a ton of pressure on myself to get this done and that done and this finished by then and that planted before it rains and that part done before this-- constant pressure to get there.


My friend and I wondered together: Where is it we’re so rabid to get to? And what’s the rush?


I read somewhere once that if I'm making myself or the people around me miserable trying to achieve some goal, than the goal is worthless. So it seems wise to learn to recognize that self-pressure feeling, then to say no. Or say yes, rather, to whatever it is in front of us right this minute. To start from right here. We have to be willing to start at A every day. I get so worried about B, C, and sometimes even Z that A becomes a burden instead of a beautiful gift from the Universe to know myself and experience life fully, gratefully.


My friend elaborated, “All we ever gotta do is A, you know? Just A and then A, and then A. Its like in a way, all the other letters are a mirage, an illusion.”


Three reminders today:


1) Surrender to right now. Honor feeling tired or honor feeling energized, but be fully alive whatever the conditions.


2) Remember that everything happens in small increments, so by looking at the increment in front of me today, I will find myself at the next increment tomorrow, and so forth, until my goal is achieved or my project done or my dream realized.


3) Conversations with friends are invaluable opportunities. Relationships are the mirror into which we can look and find answers to our deepest questions about ourselves. Crankiness and all.


Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Community: The Disability Postcard Project

The more I write about Faith, the more I realize the importance of community as an emanation of the Divine—how relationship is a gift to use in order to truly know and love ourselves, in turn finding limitless compassion and love for everyone (and everything) else. Solitude, introspection, contemplation; these are the healthy forms of aloneness that keep us alive in our communities and fully connected spiritually. Isolation and loneliness, on the other hand, cause suffering, even if they are Modernist principles that have captured the arts and presumptions about creativity for the last couple centuries.

VSA, which is The International Organization on Arts and Disability, has a different idea of artistry and creativity:

“Inclusion teaches us that all means all. Everybody. No exceptions. The arts invite people to leave familiar territory, to explore new answers and seek new questions. The arts offer a means to self-expression, communication, and independence. By learning through the arts, students become lifelong learners, experiencing the joy of discovery and exploration, and the value of each other's ideas.

Recently VSA did an inspiring project where they invited people with disabilities and their loved ones to create an image representing their individual perceptions of “disability.” A postcard template served as the canvas for the imagery, mailed in to VSA, where eventually every card will be exhibited together.

My family participated in the project in a show of solidarity with my sister, Sara, who has cerebral palsy. Doing this as a family felt amazing and ignited the special tie among us that witnesses loneliness and pain all too often; so that we were able to create seven beautiful and healing images that we will cherish together forever:








(Acrylic paint, Sharpie marker, collage, and photography were some of the media used.)

*Click on an image to see a larger view.