Artists Need Time and Isolation to Create

James Taylor gives a wonderful lifetime of wisdom on Oprah's Master Class, You Tube.  He speaks of creating music not as the creator but says it comes to him through his subconscious and he is the first one to hear the song.

He shares that artists need to get used to being alone, isolation, time, is needed to create your work. If isolation is not your thing, get used to it, you are strong, you can do it, you need to, in order to make your art.

As a writer my entire life I started writing when I was in elementary school, this and drawing.  Neither of these skills were valued by my family, I was not encouraged to do either.  I was told I could not make a living doing this, the message was, "Don't try, it will never amount to anything."  Like so many other ideas, I was not encouraged to continue, and in time learned even though there was nothing I really could do well,  I could not stop writing or drawing.

Teachers in elementary years recognized my talent in both areas and I won classroom creative writing assignment but my parents were never impressed.  One teacher in second grade gave me the honor of doing a hallway school Easter bulletin board.  I can still see that bulletin board and how happy I was to be given free range to create it.  My parents knew about this bulletin board but did not go to school to see it.  Once again, no support or encouragement from home.

I spent a lot of time alone as a child of 7 y o growing up.  In those days kids were sent outside to play until dinner, no hanging around the house but I was not lonely. I was thinking and imagining wonderful things as I played outside and caught huge spiders, fireflies, and June bugs.  Much time spent in the present moment enjoying being alive, watching clouds turn into animals, stars light up a night sky, nature and time alone was time well spent. I was an artist but I did not know it.

In adulthood I learned to work to pay bills, buy my own food, put a roof over my own head.  And for years I did not paint or draw or writer until I got married.  My husband made my life much easier to live and have time to write and draw and paint. He encouraged it. He and my father-in-law loved my art, and my stories. My father-in-law bought me a word processor so I could write the books I dreamed of writing.  I always remember that about him.  He was not even my father and he encouraged me to write.

What I could not know as a young bride was the time it would take to be a part of another family that was constantly unhappy. There was drama every family gathering and after weeks that turned into years of this drama, we decided to leave the farm, to find our own peace of mind.  Leaving the farm was not easy, coming back was hard too.  

Learning to be alone with my husband even though we lived 5 miles from his family was what we had to do.  I found that nothing will squelch your creativity or independent nature more than having to continuously be in a family drama.  We needed time, space, and isolation from such anger to explore who we were and what we wanted out of life, so we separated from the family.  We loved them but the drama was suffocating and not conducive to anyone moving forward in their dreams.

As the babies began to be here and we both fell in love with raising the children and focusing on making our family sweet and supportive we found time for any creative process for me was darn near impossible.  Keeping a household going and playing and feeding children was all consuming and I loved it. With our children I had a chance to make their childhood wonderful and we were going to do it.  I found time here and there to write and create art.

Now the children are grown and live far away.  I once again find time on my side.  I can write, I can create art, I can be silent, I can let words come up from subconscious and hear them for the first time on paper in a blog I call, "The Quail Writer."

You Don't Need Religion to Become Peaceful

Sharon Brous did a recent Ted talk "It's Time to Reclaim Religion."  She is a Rabbi of the Jewish faith. She explores the extremist of all religions to point out that as violence can be the interpretation of one perspective of any religion, the opposite is the justice and peace that are foundational to all religions.  She is on this mission not only for her religion but unite all religions, all people.  She and a other female religious leaders have started a movement to interpret the rituals, the verses, from a peaceful, healing interpretation that results in world peace.  She shares her four steps (You can hear her talk and write down the steps on You Tube Ted Talks) the first step "Wakefulness."

She wants all people to know that every atrocity that is happening on this earth must be witnessed and felt to "do" something about it yourself. She believes people are numb to violence and must see the suffering of others to become aware of it, to become involved in the solving of the destruction of mankind.  I agree in becoming awake, I disagree in her teaching of the "only way" to wake up is to see the atrocities to become awake. Jewish people are very founded in the five senses and the rituals of that religion.  Matter of fact all religions focus on the five senses and see worship as something to be ritualized by eating certain foods on certain days and even lying prostrate on the ground in an outward sign of their obedience of it.

Recently I saw a posting on Facebook of the joys of motherhood and the proof of our innate "sinful nature" because her toddler took a toy away from another toddler.  I disagree again.

Religion will not work for anyone that is fed up with the rigid rituals and sin consciousness each instills in us unless we buy into being unworthy or a sinner.  If you are not a sinner then you don't need religion to rescue you.  Religion has to make you aware that you are unholy in thought or deed for you to need the saving by the rules and rituals of the religion. What if you were born innocent and good and all your days were filled with creativity and happiness?  What more could we accomplish in our lifetime if we loved one another because we all knew we are good? We all are the chosen ones, we all are one.

Religion and all its outward showing of belief in our church attendance, in judgment of those that do not worship like us, don't love the same sex we approve of, don't dress the way we think we should, causes judgment in an outward five senses way.  We focus on outward, five senses sight of what "perfect" is to us.

What my journey has led me to discover is to be healed of violent actions I must become aware of my thoughts. To become aware of my thoughts is to isolate and delete the world of every single one of my own violent thoughts that are based in prejudice in me, a five senses judgment of others in me.  I do not need to see all the atrocities of everyone else in the world to become involved on a very intimate level of my awareness of it and the part I can play in stopping it. (Byron Katie teaches this best n her book A Thousand Words For Joy.)

For those of us who have been hurt deeply by the judgments coming from our relatives of our being unacceptable or bad because we chose not to follow the crowd but to follow our truth and be free of the crowd, the church, the culture, the race, every five senses rule of living to become our loving peaceful selves, I write for you and me.  There is another way, it is found in your awareness, your becoming awake, of your own thoughts.  Because your own thought are THE ONLY THING YOU HAVE CONTROL OVER.

The truth of harm no one, including yourself becomes abundantly evident in the "awakeness of you, by yourself, examining your thoughts alone" and becoming clear of the root cause, the fear, and rooting these fears out.  It takes work, not another church gathering, not another going to the cross, or the alter, confessing your sins in front of a rabbi, priest or minister, all these five senses outward performances are not needed...Only you becoming aware of the reality you are born with an innate innocent loving nature that it is stolen from us through false teachings of every religion, culture, society, and household, will become loving peaceful people again.

For those of us who do not need another outward ritual service and teaching of what is good, we can find this "wakefulness" inside if we study and seek to find it.  I found it, you can too.

Was it built by slaves? The White House, What else?

"I pray Heaven to bestow the best of blessings on this House, and all that shall hereafter inhabit it. May none but honest and wise men ever rule under this roof."      ~John Adams prayer in a letter to his wife

FDR had this prayer carved into the mantel of the dining room.

It was built by slaves 400-600. No one knows for sure because records of slaves were not considered important to be kept at the time so the exact number cannot be determined. The government paid slave owners to use their slaves, the government did not own slaves.  The construction began in 1792 but it was not ready for occupancy until 1800. John Adams,the 2nd president was the first to live in it.  

The war of 1812 the British ransacked and burned it, it is believed the ships that had the stolen property sank in route to Halifax.  Years later only two items original to the house were returned to the White House, one was the George Washington painting Abigail Adams saved and a jewelry box returned by a Canadian who claimed his father took during the war.

Thomas Jefferson added columns to the front and back to give it a stately Georgian- era southern plantation look. It has 6 levels with two floors underground.

The Smithsonian Institute keeps excess furniture for rotating out when needed. The staff consists of 100 permanent staff and can be hired and fired at will by the first family in residence.  There are 5 chefs.

The White House has a total of 132 rooms. This includes: 35 bathrooms, 412 doors, 147 windows, 28 fireplaces, 8 staircases, and 3 elevators. 2. The White House measures at 55,000-square feet, 70-feet high, 170-feet wide, and 85-feet deep.

And finally if a woman president is elected her husband will be referred to as "The First Gentleman."   He will not most probably be picking out china, choosing menus or flower arrangements for dinners.

What If This IS It? Put your Pencils down

I was driving home after a long day in the evening.  As I looked at the road I caught a glimpse of my right eye in the rear view mirror.

I thought,"What if this is it?

My eye reminded me in the brief moment I saw it of me when I was 20 years old.  Yes I have the same eyes.  In the dark as my mind drifted to thoughts of the warm home waiting for me with a dear husband there to welcome me and ask about my day, I thought...

What if there is no afterlife?  What if there absolutely is not another life to try again?  No reincarnation, no return of any savior, just lights out.

I really got into this thought, I really felt what it is to be completely present not knowing anything else.  Years have rolled by into decades so quickly.  What would I do different tonight and every moment from here on if I knew there was no other chance of doing anything else but what I have done or will do.  Will I do more?  For sure put anger down, cannot carry this, too heavy.

What is there to be angry about? What more can I offer to heal any situation out of my control other than be peaceful, knowing time will pass, events will change with or without me.

I Never Knew That!

It's funny how you learn words and may even use them, you know the definition but you don't KNOW where the word originated.  Agoraphobia is such a word.  The definition we know is: someone who is afraid to go outside the home.  The most famous agoraphobic that comes to mind today is Paula Deen.  She ran a lunch business called "The Bag Lady" out of her house 1989 after her divorce and had her two boys deliver the bag lunches on their bicycles. She finally got over this fear and has several restaurants named The Bag Lady. (One in Savannah, GA. my Mom and I ate there a few years ago. It was delicious.) Wow she really overcame that fear to be where she is today!  Congratulations Paula!

My Grandmother I believe became an agoraphobic in the last 15 years of her life.  She no longer would go out to her garden, to the grocery store or to get her hair done every month. Her brother went to the store and she stayed inside always cooking and sitting.  I noticed this behavior but never thought much about it till I became an adult and learned this word.

Agora means public meeting place in Greek.  A place where village people gathered to hear public speeches and buy goods, a marketplace.  Of course you know what phobia means. Greece! Wow, I never knew that!

I was reading a book about Emma Willard today the founder of the first school for higher education for women in Troy, NY.  1821.  Her father's sister had 82 acres on the Hudson River, and was quite wealthy.  She quarantined herself for 8 months in her house with no visitors and all windows shut so she would not contract TB. When the threat was passed she was so happy to be well she built a huge mansion, the largest anyone had seen in the area.  Her last name was "Jones."  This book stated that this is where the saying "Keeping up with the Jones" came from (1700s.) Wow, I never knew that either!

Now if you google this you will see a cartoonist lays claim to the saying. This guy started his comic strip in 1913.  So you do the research and the math, see what you find. Who came first? I like  Emma Willard's story better.

Emma Willard wrote textbooks, poetry books and gave lectures on higher education for women across the states, she gave the proceeds from her lectures and books to start another school across the ocean.  In her later years she opened a school for women in Athens, Greece.

And that is how I tie this article together from start to finish. It began in Agora, Greece and ends in Athens. 😉

Learning Inner Peace on Peaceful Soil

My life like many others was not bed of roses.  Yet with a persistence and good conscious I have overcome many hurtful and angry thoughts.  I have learned to forgive but I do not forget.  To remember without hateful judgments is to be healed from my past and to remember, reminds me to not get caught in the situation again. Physically or mentally. I'm still working on this.

I played a part in every bad thing that has happened to me even if at the time I did not know it. It has taken a lifetime of self-realization to see this truth.  Once I began to see it then I was no longer a victim.  I became the champion of my life surrounded with loving, kind, children, friends, and family...but paramount I became aware of my own addictive negative thinking. 

The truth that every great philosopher from Epictetus, Jesus, Buddha, to Byron Katie and Eckhart Tolle teach today are true for all time.  Pema Chodren, Thich Hnat Hanh, Dali Lama, whomever you see as a teacher of the higher path to follow will NEVER  include fearful thoughts or encourage violent words, certainly not violent actions as the road to truth.  These people teach, 'present moment' awareness and how to be in control of my life, my mind, through awareness.

Every negative thing I see in another is in me.  Every good thing I see in another is in me. 

This does not mean I become insensitive to others, it does not mean I become a non-action taking person, it does not mean I do not care, it means I focus on my part, my purpose to be a positive influence on the world, not get caught in the waves of discontent of everyone around me, fruitless. I take action as it pertains to me. 

This is why now many, including me, are deleting friends or unfollowing them on facebook over the pro-Trump and anti-Trump postings.  There is no power in continued anger and worry over things outside of my control now.   

Personally I do not believe the men and women in government in this country have ever been evil, each is doing their best according to their life experience to serve the American people the best way they know how, regardless of their personal life. 

Of all world governments, this US government is still the greatest experiment that has proved successful in many ways, for governing people and leveling the playing field for everyone to be equal and have opportunities to rise up.  To pursue their life in peace.  We are a young country we will get it right in time, we are good people.

Admiral Stockton was Ross Perot's vice president. He served 37 years in the navy and 7 years in a POW camp.  When he realized he was going to be captured and become a POW, he knew his life events were going to be out of his control so he decided to train his mind in the teachings of Epictetus.  Solitary confinement and torture were his physical days, he kept his mind, and he focused on inner peace because there was no outer peace.  He survived and returned to the USA to run alongside Ross Perot as the vice president of America.  Although he did not win, he would have served us well in light of knowing how to best serve the American people and keep us safer here.  He was becoming aware, waking up to the collective consciousness we need to survive on this planet.

General Mattis studies Epictetus. These men are warriors, trained to protect the USA against warriors of other lands who are not trained to protect anyone except themselves. These foreign terrorists do not respect equality among all, it is not in their periscope. I thank God for these warriors, there is a time we need them. I am not a warrior.  I am not at war with anyone anymore, the only thing left for me to conquer is my negative thoughts in my mind.

These military personnel are trained to protect a nation of Americans on this soil from the "cruel practices" of other cultures and religions.  This is their purpose and they will do it. It may not be the plan you choose, it might not be the plan I would choose, but it is a plan to protect Americans.  We are not in charge of the physical protection of America soil.

I plan to protect my mind from automatic negative thinking by deleting hateful thoughts of powerlessness, and influence. Trying to control external affairs will always end in wasted energy, Admiral Stockton figured this out in a POW camp.  What situation do we need to discover our inner peace? 

I would rather learn to discover my inner peace in the USA, land of the free, on peaceful soil, than in a POW situation. How about you?

Epictetus, 55 AD & Zukav, 2017 Know the Same Truth

“The chief task in life is simply this: to identify and separate matters so that I can say clearly to myself which are externals not under my control, and which have to do with the choices I actually control. Where then do I look for good and evil? Not to uncontrollable externals, but within myself to the choices that are my own…”

                                                                                  ~Epictetus, Discourse, 2.5.4-5

“When perception of the physical world is limited to the five-sensory modality, the basis of life in the physical arena becomes fear.  Power to control the environment, and those within the environment appears to be essential.

The need for physical dominance produces a type of competition that affects every aspect of our lives.

It disrupts the natural tendency toward harmony between nations and between friends.”

                                                                       Gary Zukav, The Seat of the Soul, p.22,23

Epictetus is a stoic Greek philosopher. His teachings were recorded by one of his students.  He began his life as a slave and by permission of his master was permitted to study books of philosophers.  Later when he was a freedman he became a philosopher himself.  The above quote is the foundation of all his philosophical conclusions.

Gary Zukav was born in Texas and is alive today. He is a graduate of Harvard and was a Special Forces Green Beret.  When he returned from his duty in 1970 he went wild with sex, drugs, and alcohol. One day he was introduced by a friend to quantum physics and became very aware of his spiritual being. This awareness is what saved his life. He teaches, “You are a spiritual being, you have always been a spiritual being but as you become aware that you are a spiritual being this is where the difference is made in your life.”

All roads lead to the same truths whether the truth comes from Epictetus 55 AD or Gary Zukav or your own discovery, at some point when you realize you are not in control of anyone or anything but your own mind, your inner mind begins to bring you the peace you sought externally.  It can only be found within your mind.

Your time, your place, your abilities, your special something that only you can do is why you are here. Your personality aligned with your natural ability will be a part of healing the world.  To spread yourself thin doing everything will stress you, make you fearful.  Find the thing that brings you the most peace and share it with someone.

And so I read, write, study ET and BK to be the best me I can be. Peace begins within me.