Welcome,
AwakendCreative,
Last week we danced around the idea of madness.
I'm going to go ahead and stay on this dance floor this week and see what Thomas Merton has to say about it.
I'll see you there.
Week 18 on our 52 week journey,
Filling our days with quotes and thoughts for contemplation and deepening our own knowingness and practice,
Specifically in the studio,
As I'm an artist.
Last week,
As I said in the intro,
I danced around the edges of the idea of madness.
Not the mind misfiring,
But the kind of madness that is to the conventional,
Structured being,
Off-center.
Artists,
Oftentimes,
Fit into that category.
The artist who stands the test of time isn't only because the craftsmanship of their work is so technically adept that it stands the test of time.
Of course,
There is that,
But also,
There's something of the divine or otherworldliness that is touched down into their work.
A viewer might not necessarily recognize that that's what they're experiencing or seeing,
But when you're standing before a painting in a gallery or museum,
And you get a hit to your solar plexus or your heart center,
Or when you've read a verse of poetry or a line of prose that causes your head to feel as if it's lifting off your shoulders,
These are the experiences of that divine,
Otherworldly connection speaking through these art mediums still now,
Even perhaps in these ancient texts and creations.
This is the madness I'm poking around.
This madness that is a human capacity to open oneself just enough to be a recipient of information beyond that of our worldly,
Daily life.
This is a madness that isn't always accepted in its time,
But often admired in the rear-view.
It takes effort to be in this place of receiving and being mad.
It's the light of a solitary,
But that doesn't necessarily mean alone.
It's to suggest setting one aside.
Setting oneself aside from,
Again,
That conventional tract.
If not forever,
Then at least for a period of time that allows that connection,
That madness to enter.
Thomas Merton,
As a monk in the Abbey of Gethsemane,
Knows this well,
This kind of madness.
Our quote this week,
As you work in your studio and explore outdoors,
Take in the nature that's happening all around us.
Think into a moment,
Even,
Of solitary confinement,
And test your own personal will to go a little bit mad.
This quote from Thomas Merton about this sort of tract in life.
Hold it with you.
The solitary knows least where he is going,
And yet he is more sure,
For there is one thing he cannot doubt.
He travels where God is leading him.
That is precisely why he doesn't know the way.
And that,
Too,
Is why,
To most other men,
The way is something of a scandal.
I dare you,
Be scandalous,
Just a little bit.
And maybe mad as well,
This week.
Awake and creative,
Today.
