Tag: understanding

Shadow Clad Surprises

“Man is a substance clad in shadows.”
–John Sterling

 

Wrap me in your shadows love
caress me with your fears
draw out your inner darkness babe
fill me with your tears

 

Draw out my inner light my pet
let it enter your abyss
we’ll create something beautiful
with each passionate kiss

 

be the substance to my being love
be the shadow to my soul
we’ll take what has been broken
build a new artistic whole
— G A Rosenberg

 

I have spoken and created a lot around shadows and identity. But it tends to be a subject of endless fascination for me. One not only of my identity and all its many aspects but that of everyone I meet as well. I love being surprised by something I have never seen in a friend or loved one and perhaps especially in someone I find difficult. There is much truth in the by now cliche that it is the ones we dislike who can teach us the most about ourselves. So when someone whom I dislike shows me something pure and beautiful I melt.
Blessings, G

 

Click on images to see full-sized

 

Sky ShadowSky Shadow by G A Rosenberg

 

Watchful by G A Rosenberg

Knowing and Forgetting

 

” ‘Is that how it is for you?’ I asked.
‘Is what how it is for me?’
‘Do you still know everything, all the time?”
She shook her head. She didn’t smile. She said. “Be Boring, knowing everything. You have to give all that stuff up if you’re going to muck about here.”
“So you used to know everything?”
She wrinkled her nose. “Everybody did. I told you. It’s nothing special, knowing how things work. And you really do have to give it all up, if you want to play.”‘

–Neil Gaiman, The Ocean at the End of the Lane

 

When I was younger, I used to believe that I wanted to understand everything. Not necessarily everything there was to know, I don’t believe I was that foolish. I wanted to understand everything and everyone I came across. I’m rather happy these days that I didn’t get that foolish desire granted. Can you imagine what life would be without the fun of discovery? I love having bits and pieces of knowledge that I can put together like a jigsaw puzzle with lots of blue sky and grass that I can only start to see patterns of shade in. It feels awesome when another piece clicks into place. Once in awhile I get a fleeting glimpse of the shape of the whole puzzle but I know I can never carry that. Besides, while I still want to understand (grock fully) as much as possible, I don’t want to give up the play of figuring it out as I go along. It is the play that keeps me humble and feeling young beyond my years.
I heartily recommend The Ocean at the End of the Lane, the newest book by Neil Gaiman. His combination of myth and masterful storytelling has crafted a truly compelling fairy tale for adults
Blessings, G

 

Click on images to see full-sized

 

Raven Stealing the SunRaven Stealing the Sun by G A Rosenberg

 

MeltdownMeltdown by G A Rosenberg

I’d Rather Suffer…

“”My argument with so much of psychoanalysis, is the preconception that suffering is a mistake, or a sign of weakness, or a sign even of illness, when in fact, possibly the greatest truths we know have come out of people’s suffering; that the problem is not to undo suffering or to wipe it off the face of the earth but to make it inform our lives, instead of trying to cure ourselves of it constantly and avoid it, and avoid anything but that lobotomized sense of what they call “happiness.” There’s too much of an attempt, it seems to me, to think in terms of controlling man, rather than freeing him. Of defining him rather than letting him go. It’s part of the whole ideology of this age, which is power-mad.”
— Arthur Miller.

 

Would you give up all of the moments that have given you pain for a life of bland happiness? I know I wouldn’t. For in those moments that have hurt the worst I learned to claim the largest parts of myself. From thoughtlessly betraying a friend, I learned how certain rifts can never be fully healed and to trust my judgement just a little bit more. From the moments I felt the most alone, I learned both self-reliance and an empathy for the lonely. I learned how to love another by doing it wrong and causing pain both to myself and others and I learned that kindness goes a lot further than anger tho both have their place. I would never wish to be spared the tears in my life or heart for those have taught me the greatest compassion.

I would never wish to spare my son the pain of his mistakes tho I will feel it along with him. It would be the greatest disservice to him to try, Rumi said that the cracks are where the light comes in and I have learned that to be true. Gratitude ensues.
Blessings, G

 

Click on images to see full-sized

 

SheShe by G A Rosenberg

 

Starry EyedStarry-Eyed by G A Rosenberg

Quote of the Day – January 12 2013

“We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be.”
― Kurt Vonnegut

 

I pretend to understand. To do this well, I have to listen with involvement to what those around me say. I have to ask the next question and show my involvement. I have to actually put myself into another’s shoes, psyche so that I am not caught up in not understanding. I need to be open to their dreams and their pain and their joy and to see the world from their viewpoint. I have found it impossible once I do those things to not care. In pretending to understand and be understanding, I get caught and perhaps at least a little bit, I do.
Blessings, G

 

Click on images to see full-size

 

The Emperor
Tarot – The Emperor by G A Rosenberg

 

Whirlwind
Whirlwind by G A Rosenberg

Quote of the Day – September 30 2012

“Only by examining our personal biases can we truly grow as artists; only by cultivating empathy can we truly grow as people.”
― Jen Knox

Can we cultivate empathy without examining our personal bias? I’ve come to believe over the last several years that to ensure better and clearer communication, one must clear out the communication room specifically in this case our minds. The clearer we become about our particular perceptual filters, the more we can understand what others say to us and the more we can pick up their emotional states and being.
What does empathy mean tho. I have met many people who consider themselves empathic and they pride themselves on how well they can understand and truly feel the pain of those whom they see as victims. However that is the easy side of empathy. Much more difficult is empathizing with those we see as being the perpetrators or victimizers. Until we can do that, then we have not fully learned empathy.

When I was a junior in high school students in Iran took over the American embassy there and held fifty four Americans hostage for over a year. I remember in Current Events Class standing down all the other kids as I debated on the side of the Iranian students. A few months previously my family hosted a young persian couple who were staying in the states for awhile and they gave me an understanding of the grievances that Iranians would have with American imperialism. They felt that they had suffered under the Shah (who was backed by America). I tried hard to understand both sides and was surprised at how many people seemed to think it was one-sided

I keep running into situations that are similar. People able to empathize with people who feel the way they do without even attempting to understand the other. Occupy Wall Street might be more effective for instance if the protestors tried to see life from the point of view of the bankers, definitely vice versa. By understanding, i do not mean condone or agree with, i mean simply trying to put yourself in another’s head space.

Blessings, G

Click on images to see full-size
Tarot Trump II – The High Priestess by G A Rosenberg

 

Treatment for High Priestess Card by G A Rosenberg

Another Great Compassion Quote w/ Art

“In the face of selfishness, wonder what it might be like to walk the world with a feeling of lack, of depletion.

In the face of insults, consider where this person first learned that it’s okay to abuse others.

In the face of disconnection, think about what causes it, and ask if your response will widen the river between the two of you.

In the face of laziness, recognize the fear of living big dreams.

In the face of extremism or fundamentalism, see the clinging, as well as the terror-filled silence that would arise for that person if they risked letting go.

In the face of controlling behavior, understand the chaos that must have bred it.

In the face of ‘always needing to be right,’ see how often this person was once made wrong.

In the face of arrogance or bravado, hold gently that still, small piece that says “I’m not enough.”

In the face of drama or attention-seeking, see the person who wishes so much to be seen.

In the face of accusation, imagine what it might be like to live life with suspicion.

In the face of judgement or comparisons, step into the opportunity the world has just provided you for practicing love and acceptance.

In the face of passive-aggressiveness, recognize the child that wasn’t taught a safe way to express their truth.

In the face of anger, see the pain of isolation from others.

MOST IMPORTANTLY; In the face of ferocious hatred, believe in the possibility that there exists the potential for equally as big, intense, lovely and fiery ferocious love.”

– Kate Swoboda.

Sometimes its important to realize that at our core, we share a common humanity and a common heart. It is those who forget this, who insist that they are different, better, chosen, more deserving that tend to cause the problems. How many of them believe that because it is what they were conditioned to believe? It does not make evil selfish actions condonable but it does make them easier to understand. Many of us know how difficult it is to break early negative conditioning.
Blessings, G

 

Click on image to see full-size
Nested by G A Rosenberg

Quote of the Day – July 24 2012

“for there is nothing heavier than compassion. Not even one’s own pain weighs so heavy as the pain one feels with someone, for someone, a pain intensified by the imagination and prolonged by a hundred echoes.” ― Milan Kundera, The Unbearable Lightness of Being

 

If we only focus on the positive do we ignore the voices that cry out in pain? Do we say to a child dying of starvation, “You just need to change your attitude and imagine yourself well fed and the Law of Attraction will make it happen”? Can we ignore evil going on in front of us because we aspire to something better? “How many ears must one man have before he can hear people cry?” Are all these questions ‘blowing in the wind’?
I believe compassion and love to be two of the most important qualities that we need to develop in ourselves in order to grow and evolve. I believe compassion to be developed by feeling and when possible healing the pain of others, definitely understanding it and that cannot happen by only focusing on the positive. There is so much suffering going on in the world today and so much healing needed. Understanding the causes of this pain and suffering is necessary otherwise we are just treating symptoms.
Life on this physical plane tends to be a balancing act. One of the tougher balancing points for me is between perceiving the world from the lens presented above  and the lens presented last night. It may be one of the tougher balances but any way I look at it one of the most necessary ones.
Blessings, G

 

Click on image to see full-size

 

Ghost in the Machine by G A Rosenberg

Additional Quote of the Day – July 2 2012

“I have found both freedom and safety in my madness; the freedom of loneliness and the safety from being understood, for those who understand us enslave something in us.”
― Khalil Gibran, The Madman

I so get this one. Understanding can be a trap for both the comprehender and the understood. When I say I understand you, I usually mean I understand the snapshot, the you or the situation as you are at this space / time. It does not mean that I understand all the yous that ever were or ever shall be. Thus, if you wish to know you are understood you have to present yourself to me as the snapshot and thus you are enslaved.
Thus I seek to always work towards understanding each you in space / time and thus set you free. I may be successful.
Blessings, G

Click on image to see full-size
Fire and Ice by G A Rosenberg

Quote of the Day – November 25 2011

“It is difficult to understand the universe if you only study one planet”
― Miyamoto Musashi, Book of Five Rings: The Classic Guide to Strategy

Wow so many great quotes from Musashi’s work, much wisdom and these days it seems everyone exists in a state of conflict, internal if not external. Have we been conditioned to this state? Well, i don’t believe that any government has ever found it in its interest to lower the anxiety level of its populace. An anxious and fearful population does seem much easier to control.
–gar

 

Click on image to see full-size

Drawn in by G A Rosenberg

Drawn in Blue by G A Rosenberg