Artist

'Life' (note) is an Intelligible Sphere whose center is everywhere,
and whose circumference is nowhere.

Art is the evidenced result of One being simultaneously
occupied by … and residing in … that Sphere.

To have the brush, breath, quill, fingers, feet, or voice,
transported by the Influence of that Sphere,
is to permit Life to speak.

To stand, in the midst of a Moment, and allow that Sphere
to express Itself through, and in, Us ...
is the essence of living Art.

The most legitimate definition of “Artist” is realized …
in the embodiment, and free expression, of all that is
the Power and Scope of that Sphere …
In any One of Us

(note) “The nature of God is ...
an intelligible sphere whose centre is everywhere ...
and whose circumference is nowhere.”
______________________________

(A last treatise of Empedocles quoted in the Roman de la Rose and by St. Bonaventura in “Itinerarius Mentis in Deum” [ch5, closing line])

Making Love to Your World

How Do You … ?

How do You conduct your Self
When You enter the restaurant where She is employed?

How do You manage the impulse of your Heart
That wants so to see her … to bask in the serene beauty of her smile?

How do You bridle the enthusiasm of your spirit as she looks at You … And her eyes tell You that she is, indeed, genuinely happy to see You?

How do You respond when She tells You that she loves your poetry,
Your words that struggle to express the inexpressible?

How do You acknowledge her request for a poem …
Written from You … to Her … without overstepping sensitive bounds?

How?

You ask the spelling of her full name … not the name that she works by.

You “listen” to the Spirit that She speaks with as she pronounces it.

You hear the “sound” of her Heart’s Voice as she acknowledges You.

Then, You write:



Madeline

Through our tiny window of opportunity …
We allow our Hearts access.

Without regard for circumstance,
We embrace this Gift … that is Ours.

Deaf to Voices of Reason,
We float above the lifeless realities of Detail.

Hearing only the Song of our Hearts …
We harmonize in Loving agreement.

Though We can never Be …
We Are!



Then, You return home … Type your thoughts … Post them to your blog (that others can see how a passionate Romantic lives his daily life) … print a copy of the blog posting … and return the printed page to ...
Madeline.

And THAT, my dear Friend is today’s answer to “How Do You?” As you live yet another day “making Love to your world.”

(And, Yes ... this is exactly how this morning unfolded.)

Garnish That View

Even if we cannot change the things that present themselves to us today … we can, certainly, change how we Perceive them.



Whether our personal window on the world is that

of an elegant life,

or a humble one…

a confined and limited view,

or an old, tired, and weathered outlook…








We can enhance our experience of taking in life’s sights today…

by improving the setting through which we take it all in.








The voice of a dear friend…

a cup of our favorite beverage…

the music of a cherished melody in the background…

fresh flowers placed strategically where we have them framing our activities…






All are simple and available garnishes available to us for the enrichment of our view of all that lies beyond our window today.

Look through fresh and enhanced lenses.

We can do little to change circumstances…

We have complete control over how we perceive them.




IMAGES through the gracious courtesy of Ian Britton, FreeFoto.com

In A Moment of Stillness

When my son was diagnosed as having Cerebral Palsy, I had a lot to consider. All that I was ... all that I understood ... all that life represented to me was, in that moment, irrevocably and eternally obliterated. There was no person to whom I could go to discuss the ramifications of this life-altering circumstance. No Mentor, Guide, Counselor, nor Adviser was present. I could not share my confusion; my dismay; my grief; my fear; nor my ignorance with anyone. I was completely alone in my situation.

The setting that I found for my deliberations and considerations of what I must do; who I must now be; how I must proceed, was a small art shop wherein I allowed my soul to find its refuge and solace through hours spent in the solitary exercise of losing myself in racks of art prints. Here, I began what has been a consistent, comforting, encouraging, and rewarding relationship with my Muse.






In the precious images of those prints, I escaped the pressures of immediate Life demands.












I soared to heights of distant perspectives.



I found a refuge from the cacophony of immediate necessities.








Those images provided lanes and paths of possibilities that I would not have known within the confines of my natural world.






The time spent with those renderings of places, people, environs, and worlds free of the pressing torments of my responsibilities ... gave my Spirit freedom, and I gave it license, to contemplate perspectives beyond my own experience.





And, to carry those moments with me into my natural world, I purchased and had framed several of those works that surround me, in my little cottage, at this very moment of recollection ... and still afford me the gift of moments of quiet consideration.





So ... for the last, approximately, one and one-half minutes, My Dear Reader and loved Friend, I have shared that therapy of refreshment with you. I have structured, for your benefit, all that you have seen and read thus far, to provide a sample of just such a moment of consideration for you. All in the hope that you will recognize the calmness and serenity that lies at your doorstep ... if you will but permit yourself the renewal, of being in a place of apartness from all that demands your attention.

So, for now, I respectfully invite you to "Be still and know" what your own "still, small, Inner Voice" has been trying to whisper to you in this moment. As I remain your faithfully loving Friend and Servant.




ALL IMAGES through the gracious courtesy of Ian Britton, FreeFoto.com

I've Been "Tagged" (did anyone get that tag number?)

OK, Folks. I have dreaded the remote possibility that I might someday be "tagged" for one of these "bare your soul" MEME thingies. And now (thanks to that ever-inquisitive and unrelenting Cath-Daughter [who thinks that just because I love her, she can "push the bounds" {and she's right ... don't tell her, OK?}]), I am stuck!!

Now, you must know ... I have a miserable "learning disability" that makes ANY assignment of this nature an absolute terror to me. But, "Thank God!" I have learned how to cope and accommodate this set of mental and emotional hurdles (YES!!, I am QUITE serious! It is quite debilitating.) So, in order to "deal with" this challenge ... I have turned it into a little, structured, and defined "Game." The number five (5) was in the original rules as passed down by Cath. (copy of original rules are in Cath's post telling me of this "blessing." You can read them by clicking HERE.)

So, I enlarged upon that number and applied a "Five Rule" upon Myself (remember ... this is my personal "coping tool" and this is only an "option" to the original set of guidelines for this MEME dealie.) You will see that I have simultaneously contained, and required myself to responses of five (5) words for all of the five-worded questions. And I invented a silly title to take the (very real) emotional pressure off of myself. (see, dear friend, all of that psychological, mental, and emotional stuff that I talk about ... are my very genuine and realistic discoveries and life-saving mechanisms acquired through many years of very uncomfortable struggling. This is an exercise in application of all of that jazz!)

So, enough said ... Here 'tis ...

FASCINATING TAG IN FIVE WORDS [5 words]
(check it … used five words) [5 words]

FIVE FASCINATING FACTS ABOUT ME [see … 5 words … no more, nor less]
(EACH in EXACTLY FIVE (5) WORDS) [again … 5 words]

FIVE YEARS BACK I WAS [5 words]
(1) still delivering the morning paper
(2) still driving the same vehicle
(3) was fifty-seven years old (OK, I cheated)
(4) publishing my thoughts by Email
(5) spending days with my son

SNACKS AND TREATS I ENJOY [5 words]
(1) baked, crunchy thin cheese curls
(2) raw peanuts in the shell
(3) nachos dipped in spicy salsa
(4) spicy chicken wings and dip
(5) banana pudding with vanilla wafers

IF A BILLIONAIRE, I WOULD [5 words]
(1) pay for homes for individuals
(2) establish child care family homes
(3) visit intimate friends and family
(4) remainder in 'perpetual' trust accounts
(5) specify trusts for individual charities

SOME JOBS I HAVE HAD [5 words]
(1) climbing poles and installing phones
(2) field engineering of power lines
(3) owned land clearing/paving company
(4) brokered investments, life/health insurance
(5) designed/sold commercial interior plantscapes

DIFFERENT PLACES I HAVE LIVED [5 words]
(1) subsidized public housing it Tampa
(2) “Happy Days” type Tampa neighborhoods
(3) “newlywed” duplex apartment in Tampa
(4) “sub-urban sprawl” Tampa neighborhood
(5) one-room cottage in Tampa

NAMES OF FIVE I TAGGED [ call them as many words as you like {they will return the favor … no doubt!}]
(1) Aims @ Big Blue Barn West
(2) Jim ‘SulDog’ Sullivan @ Suldog
(3) Joni @ Morning Coffee
(4) NiteByrd @ A Dust Bunny In The Wind
(5) Rose @ Classic Charm

(COMMENT LEFT ON EACH BLOG) [still ...5 words]


As much as I would like to tell you how much fun this was ... my Mommy does not allow such language from her all-too-big little boy. (was that subtle enough?!)

I still love you, Cath-Darlin'!

Bathhouse to Boathouse

I saved this image quite some time ago … simply because it made me smile. I have enjoyed the pleasure that accompanies imagined scenarios attached to it each time I see it. I have envisioned all sorts of possible commentary and conversation, offered by an endless supply of conjured characters, encountering this far-out-of-the-ordinary pair of structures. The “Boat houses of Encinitas” have entertained me a great deal … but I had to find out the story behind their existence. And I share that story with you now.

It seems that there once was a most frugal and creative individual incorporated in the person of one Mister Miles Minor Kellogg, of Encinitas, California. In the period encompassing the 1920’s and 1930’s Mister Kellogg was energetically involved in what is, in this twenty first century, popularly known as 'recycling.' He had an acute eye for bargain-priced, pre-used materials that his skills as a versatile builder and enterprising businessman could transform into some new creation to satisfy an envisioned need.

This was demonstrated when his hotel building became infested with bats. Mister Kellogg solved that problem by removing the top floor of the building. Then, with a supply of perfectly usable lumber liberated from the hotel, he set about constructing a silent movie theatre next door to that same hotel.

So it was not surprising that our Mister Kellogg saw the demolition of the Moonlight Beach Bathhouse in 1925, as the source of a fresh supply of right-priced building materials. But timbers used in the construction of the low-ceilinged bathhouse were not suited for use in a traditional building with requirements for higher ceilings.

Mister Kellogg’s lingering interest in the sea coupled with his recollection the time spent working on low-ceilinged ships on Lake Michigan gave birth to inspiration. There you go then! The obvious destiny for the bathhouse lumber was a resurrection as a boat … or boats. Hence his creation (with the after-school assistance of his young son, Miles Justin Kellogg) of the SS Moonlight, and the SS Encinitas … or what we now know fondly as “The Boat Houses of Encinitas.” Both were “launched” with their sterns to, and a block away from, the sea in 1928 and are, to this day, the most photographed scene in the Encinitas area.

A lovely (and fun) example of what can be done with the materials that Life gives us.


IMAGE through the gracious courtesy of Jon Sullivan, PDPhoto.org