Consciousness is always in rapid change....
It is the continuous readjustment of self and the world in experience.
-- John Dewey, Art as Experience, 1934
My artist friend Kris was raving a couple of weeks ago about The Five Senses, a wonderfully provocative show now through May 4, 2014 at the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art (www.smoca.org). I took my visiting NYC daughter and grandson to see what all the fuss was about. Delightful! It's much more than just a viewing experience, it's a fun and engaging romp through the realms of sight, smell, sound, touch and taste. Not only that, it's also a dynamic demonstration of how we really can learn to experience mindfulness and expanded awareness by abandoning ordinary cognition and listening to the wisdom of the body.
See, Smell, Hear, Taste, Touch
We entered the exhibit excited by the promise of encountering a cascade of sensation courtesy of an inextricable aggregate of biology, physics, neurology and chemistry. Stepping first into Soul City, a colorful pyramid of 6,000 oranges, we activated taste, sight, smell and touch. Everyone got an orange to take home. Next we sidled over to the fabulously sensual and smelly charms of an aromatic hanging spice tree. Our noses thanked us. Then we sat on benches as we opened our eager ears to a swelling symphony of very loud, very inspiring choral music. Moving to the next room, we stood for a few moments, lost among a swirling forest of electric fans synchronized to reflect the experience of Thoreau at Walden Pond (trust me, you would be impressed with this.) Finally, we fell into welcome enchantment as we made our way into an eerie twilight chamber filled with damp, misty air. Taken together these odd and intriguing sensualities created an exhibit that places the visitor starkly in the center of a world awash in the aliveness of visceral sensation. If you're somebody who's composing a new narrative based on the truth of mindfulness and expanded consciousness, this exhibit might be your gift from the gods. Awake and alive, your body as a sensing device will never lie to you. Rather, it will completely enliven you and empower you if you are ready to hear, see, smell, taste and touch the truth of life.
Writing Without Teachers
I was reminded of the time I put together a writing group using material from Peter Elbow's classic primer Writing Without Teachers. Participants were supposed to look inward to access their five senses in order to respond imaginatively and creatively to questions like what colors and what shapes did you see in the piece? If the piece was a musical instrument which one would it be and how would it sound? If it were an animal how would it look and how would it act? How did it taste to you -- sour, tart, salty, sweet? And texture? On your skin would it have been hot, cold, soft, scratchy, silky? How about smell...was it strong, musty, spicy, sweet...what? This was all great fun and the group of creative, lively, intelligent women did pretty well with sharing authentic bodily responses even though it was a little awkward at first.
Or Not
As the weeks went by and the initial intriguing novelty wore off, so did a certain comfort level with the process. Maybe I was pushing too hard, the way I used to push myself when I was hot on the trail of a truth, dropping ever deeper to get to the guts of it, to the raw, visceral, sensuality that an authentic writing process demands. Didn't work with these gals. The whole thing fell apart and I finally just walked away with a terse goodbye. The group chose a no pressure coffee and conversation format and I admit I had mild regrets that they hadn't wanted to stick it out, even if it was a little uncomfortable encountering the raw and the real of the inner world. Unveiling an unlived life can be a pretty rude awakening if you're not prepared for it. And who really knowingly invites this kind of awareness, fraught as it is? Surprisingly, many do. When I taught in Santa Fe, dedicated writers fully expected and wholly embraced the rigors of such an experiment. But that was then, we were all younger and maybe more ready and able to take this inner journey. Timing is everything, right?
Congratulations
The truth is our students (and our children!) are our very best teachers after all. Don't ignore feelings, look at what is happening with the body, and accept that chaos is a necessary part of becoming conscious as you wake up by attending to the five senses. Just look out and get ready. Thumb the nose at terror, hysteria, retreat, blaming or defensiveness; instead, give yourself a congratulatory slap on the back with accompanying cries of hooray, hosanna and hallelujah. Long into the night.Wisdom's Edge? Look no further, you're there.
It is the continuous readjustment of self and the world in experience.
-- John Dewey, Art as Experience, 1934
My artist friend Kris was raving a couple of weeks ago about The Five Senses, a wonderfully provocative show now through May 4, 2014 at the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art (www.smoca.org). I took my visiting NYC daughter and grandson to see what all the fuss was about. Delightful! It's much more than just a viewing experience, it's a fun and engaging romp through the realms of sight, smell, sound, touch and taste. Not only that, it's also a dynamic demonstration of how we really can learn to experience mindfulness and expanded awareness by abandoning ordinary cognition and listening to the wisdom of the body.
See, Smell, Hear, Taste, Touch
We entered the exhibit excited by the promise of encountering a cascade of sensation courtesy of an inextricable aggregate of biology, physics, neurology and chemistry. Stepping first into Soul City, a colorful pyramid of 6,000 oranges, we activated taste, sight, smell and touch. Everyone got an orange to take home. Next we sidled over to the fabulously sensual and smelly charms of an aromatic hanging spice tree. Our noses thanked us. Then we sat on benches as we opened our eager ears to a swelling symphony of very loud, very inspiring choral music. Moving to the next room, we stood for a few moments, lost among a swirling forest of electric fans synchronized to reflect the experience of Thoreau at Walden Pond (trust me, you would be impressed with this.) Finally, we fell into welcome enchantment as we made our way into an eerie twilight chamber filled with damp, misty air. Taken together these odd and intriguing sensualities created an exhibit that places the visitor starkly in the center of a world awash in the aliveness of visceral sensation. If you're somebody who's composing a new narrative based on the truth of mindfulness and expanded consciousness, this exhibit might be your gift from the gods. Awake and alive, your body as a sensing device will never lie to you. Rather, it will completely enliven you and empower you if you are ready to hear, see, smell, taste and touch the truth of life.
Writing Without Teachers
I was reminded of the time I put together a writing group using material from Peter Elbow's classic primer Writing Without Teachers. Participants were supposed to look inward to access their five senses in order to respond imaginatively and creatively to questions like what colors and what shapes did you see in the piece? If the piece was a musical instrument which one would it be and how would it sound? If it were an animal how would it look and how would it act? How did it taste to you -- sour, tart, salty, sweet? And texture? On your skin would it have been hot, cold, soft, scratchy, silky? How about smell...was it strong, musty, spicy, sweet...what? This was all great fun and the group of creative, lively, intelligent women did pretty well with sharing authentic bodily responses even though it was a little awkward at first.
Or Not
As the weeks went by and the initial intriguing novelty wore off, so did a certain comfort level with the process. Maybe I was pushing too hard, the way I used to push myself when I was hot on the trail of a truth, dropping ever deeper to get to the guts of it, to the raw, visceral, sensuality that an authentic writing process demands. Didn't work with these gals. The whole thing fell apart and I finally just walked away with a terse goodbye. The group chose a no pressure coffee and conversation format and I admit I had mild regrets that they hadn't wanted to stick it out, even if it was a little uncomfortable encountering the raw and the real of the inner world. Unveiling an unlived life can be a pretty rude awakening if you're not prepared for it. And who really knowingly invites this kind of awareness, fraught as it is? Surprisingly, many do. When I taught in Santa Fe, dedicated writers fully expected and wholly embraced the rigors of such an experiment. But that was then, we were all younger and maybe more ready and able to take this inner journey. Timing is everything, right?
Congratulations
The truth is our students (and our children!) are our very best teachers after all. Don't ignore feelings, look at what is happening with the body, and accept that chaos is a necessary part of becoming conscious as you wake up by attending to the five senses. Just look out and get ready. Thumb the nose at terror, hysteria, retreat, blaming or defensiveness; instead, give yourself a congratulatory slap on the back with accompanying cries of hooray, hosanna and hallelujah. Long into the night.Wisdom's Edge? Look no further, you're there.
No comments:
Post a Comment