Spiritual Art Blog - *Ed P

Soul’s Quest

There hasn’t been much time for doing art this week as preparations for the Mind Body Spirit fair gobbled up a lot of time. However once it was underway I did manage to get a few hours to play with a new piece called Quest. Using a 3D program I’ve got some of the elements in place but no doubt the final piece will be a lot different.

Patience, life has a sense of humour

Thought for the Week -

Patience is something you just can’t push along at your pace, it will go as it will.

At the moment I’ve been trying to write a piece for the blog, not jus all day but all weekend. There have been a number of quiet periods over the weekend where I started to write but could only get the initial idea. I couldn’t find the seam of golden inspiration as I dug around my mind for ideas and words. I found a few nice nuggets but there was not enough to make them into anything worthwhile.

Do you think life is trying to show me something? Do you think I’m getting a lesson in patience?

One of the nuggets had the headline “Let life show you the way”. I just couldn’t think of a decent example to illustrate the idea. I wanted to tell a story of how I planned to do something but life, or the magnificent power mentioned last week, changed it to go in a different direction and in the process created a better result.

At this point I’m beginning to see the funny side of my situation. The magnificent power has a sense of humour. Here I am rummaging around looking for an example and life is using me and this article as my example. I started off the article talking about patience and the fact that I was trying to push it along at my pace.

So here’s the lesson as far as I can see it. I will just have to be patient and let it come when it will and you, my dear reader, are in this with me because you are going to have to be patient too, because this is the end of the article.

Isn’t life funny? Thank you for your patience.

News:

Mind Body Spirit Fair
Last weekend, that is, Saturday, Sunday and Monday 25th to 27th October, I was exhibiting at the Mind Body Spirit Fair in the RDS in Dublin, Ireland. It was a good show with good crowds each day.

I gave a talk each day on The Journey of Soul using 12 of my pictures to illustrate the journey. The first talk had an audience of 14, the next day there were about 20 and on the last day it was a full house with over 30 there. The photo above shows me action with the 12 pictures around the wall of the lecture room.

The Journey of Soul Floder
The Journey of Soul folder with the 12 digital prints and the explanatory text sold very well. Here’s a PDF file of it if you’d like to have a look. Please bear in mind this is a low resolution file but the printed sheets are professionally printed. It costs just €30 including postage but if you buy any print you get it for Free! If you’d like a copy, click on the word ‘Comments’ below and send me note. I’ll email a PayPal invoice which you can pay using your credit card. As soon as payment arrives I’ll put your folder in the post to you.

More Artists
There were a number of other artists at the show, which is encouraging.
Mairin Treasa had some lovely angel images on show along with a 2009 Calendar illustrating her work. She works in digital art and produces interesting results with her techniques.

Galaseta, the work of two artists were there too. I was talking to the niece of one of the artists. The work has a spiritual dimension to it. You can find more info on their web site.

Inspirational Quotes

“Patience serves as a protection against wrongs as clothes do against cold. For if you put on more clothes as the cold increases, it will have no power to hurt you. So in like manner you must grow in patience when you meet with great wrongs, and they will then be powerless to vex your mind.”
Leonardo da Vinci

“Learn the art of patience. Apply discipline to your thoughts when they become anxious over the outcome of a goal. Impatience breeds anxiety, fear, discouragement and failure. Patience creates confidence, decisiveness, and a rational outlook, which eventually leads to success.”
Brian Adams

I’ve been working hard on getting Family Tapestry finished so that I can use in the Journey of Soul talk at the weekend. I’ve still got a list of things to do on it but this shows the stage it is at for now.

How to go with the flow of life

Thought for the Week -
Last week we came to the conclusion that the universe, our world, the plants and animals and even our bodies are run by some magnificent power. People call it the life force, Holy Spirit, God, Allah, etc. The question we left off on was, how do we go with the flow of life? Is there a way we can connect with this magnificent power so that we go in the same direction as it, get in tune with it and in the process make our lives easier?

The first suggestion is to watch what life is telling us. Do you keep coming up against the same problems? No matter what you do or how you try to work it out, you end up back in the same place.

Hand it over
When I get to the point where I just can’t find a solution to a problem, I’ll say to myself and to life (the magnificent power) “I give up, I’ve done all I can and I still can’t sort it out, it’s over to you now”. Life will then begin to open up and offer solutions. I have finally handed it over to a higher power and am willing to accept some guidance. I’ve moved away from the notion that every solution to every problem has to come from me.

Then new ideas will arrive in various ways. Some will show as a headline in a paper or magazine, as a few words or a suggestion from a friend. I could be walking along the street, as I pass people chatting together, a statement in their conversation may drift within earshot and offer the starting point of the solution I have been looking for.

Intuition
Another method of getting in tune is through intuition. That soft subtle hint or idea that just rises to the surface of conscious thought and drifts there almost unnoticed. This often comes as what initially seems like a good idea, but when I roll it around my mind, it doesn’t make sense. The initial hint is being pushed through from my innermost being, Soul. That true part of me which has a greater viewpoint than my mind. Often this good idea is easily dismissed by the mind as not logical, it doesn’t make sense or possibly it may be a little uncomfortable to do.

What I try to do at this point is go back to the initial good idea and follow it through, despite what my mind and logic say. Usually it turns out to be the perfect solution to the situation. This takes practice. It is often difficult to overcome the arguments the logical mind will throw up. Start off with little things, like which route you should take on a short journey or walk. Go with the first idea that pops up. After the mind has torn the idea apart say “Right I see your arguments but still I’m going to go with the initial idea, just to test it out”. The mind will then be quiet as you have given a logical reason for doing what you want to do. Once you’ve tried this a few times it gets easier and you begin to have confidence in the method as you can judge the method by your results.

Regular Contemplative Exercise
Another suggestion for working with life is to do a regular contemplative exercise. Take time each day to be still and connect with the life force. If you sit quietly, take a few deep breaths and relax. With your eyes closed watch for any light that may appear on your inner screen. It could be a glow, a sparkle, a subtle movement of colour or even an occasional flash. Just observe the light and watch it as it changes.

While in this contemplative state you can search for the sound of life or the sound of silence as some call it. Listen to the sounds around you. You may hear traffic in the area, there may be noise coming from a distance away and there may be a machine running in the vicinity. When you eliminate all these outer sounds you may be able to hear a very soft subtle sound. At first it is hardly audible but if you catch it and listen intently to it, the sound gets a little louder. This is the sound of life or the magnificent power.

As you sit in contemplation, watching the light and listening to the sound, an idea or situation in your life may drift past the screen of your mind. Just observe the idea as it drifts, you may see a different side to it, and you may get a different viewpoint on it. Let it drift away and watch the next one come in.

By watching the light and listening to the sound we are connecting with the magnificent power, the Holy Spirit, the higher power, or whatever you wish to call it. This won’t usually happen the first time you try it. It takes time to build up your spiritual muscles, like it does with your physical muscles when you take up a new activity. By making this connection with the life force we begin to get communications from it through the ideas and observations we get in contemplation.

Three methods
So there you have three methods of working with this magnificent power. Firstly, watch what life is telling us, let it show us solutions. Secondly, let your intuition guide you, it is guidance from your true self, Soul, which has a broader viewpoint than the mind. Finally try and make time every day to contemplate and connect with the light and sound of the life force which will give guidance and offer new ideas to your life’s situations.

May the magnificent power be with you.

News:

The Mind Body Spirit Festival takes place in the RDS, Dublin, next weekend.

I’ve been given a talk slot each day. The talk will tell the story of Souls Journey using a number of my images. Sets of the images will be available for purchase at the fair.
Here they are the talk times:
Saturday 25th October at 5.30 pm in Dodder Room C
Sunday 26th October at 12.15 pm in Dodder Room C
Monday 27th October at 3.15 pm, in Dodder Room D

If you’d like to book a place please click on ‘Comments’ below and send me your request. There is no charge for tickets but the room will only take 40 to 50 people, so first come first served.

Inspirational Quote

“Sometimes life has a way of putting us on our backs to force us to look up.”

Charles L. Allen

What runs your life?

Thought for the Week

Have you ever thought about what runs your life? What keeps everything in place? How did you get a body with such complicated things like a heart which pumps blood around the body helping to maintain equally complicated organs like the liver, the eyes, and the brain, just to name a few.

Then there are plants and animals, all with systems of their own to help them live and have their being here in our physical worlds. Don’t forget the planet we are living on and its orbit around the sun, which is also some where in the Milky Way going in its own direction. At this point I’m beginning to go into information overload trying to keep in mind all these process, never mind trying to see how they work.

The only bodily system I can control to any degree is my breathing. I can breath slowly or quickly but if I try to stop breathing, that doesn’t last for long. I really don’t have much control over this body. So how does it keep running, how do the plants and animals continue to be born, grow and die? What keeps the planets in position without them crashing into each other? This little human has nothing to do with it, that’s for sure.

So what does keep all these systems working? There has to be a force or power maintaining all these. What kind of force can run the human nervous system and keep the universe synchronised? It has to be something magnificent.

We humans have several names for this magnificent power. The life force, the Holy Spirit, God, the Higher Power, Allah, etc. I think most people do agree that there is a force or power which runs our universe, the planets, the plants, animals and the human body.

We’ve just been talking about our physical world, what about our emotions, our memories, our mind, our intuition? How is all of that organised and run? It must be the same magnificent power.

So that’s your Thought for the Week. Think about what runs our lives and next week we’ll think about getting in tune with this magnificent power.

Inspirational Quote

"My religion consists of a humble admiration of the unlimitable superior who reveals Himself in the slight details we are able to perceive with our frail and feeble minds. That deeply emotional conviction of the presence of a superior reasoning power, which is revealed in the incomprehensible universe, forms my idea of God."

Albert Einstein

I’ve started working on Family Tapestry again. It is going to be part of the The Journey of Soul lecture so it has to get finished. I’ve got six more ‘families’ to do. Above is the ‘Well’ the most recently completed ‘family’.

Getting through a period of darkness

Thought for the Week

Why would someone consider suicide? What drives a person to go against their basic survival instinct? Is it stress, fear, the feeling of worthlessness or hopelessness? This period in a person's life is the dark night of Soul. A period where they feel deserted by everyone, everything. Even God, their Higher Power or the Holy Spirit, is nowhere to be seen. It is a period of darkness with no light anywhere.

Despite the fact that friends, family and loved ones are around them trying to help, they can see no light in their life. It is not an easy period to get through and it is often in this time of desperation that a person may consider suicide.

From the stories I’ve read, where people have recalled committing suicide in a previous life, they tell of the realisation of the terrible mistake and the waste of their life. When they leave their body they get a better viewpoint and then can see a solution to their troubles.

Give a little love
If you find yourself in this dark night of Soul, how do you get out of it? A method that has always raised my spirits and brightened my life is to find something or someone to give a little love to. Love will light a little spark of hope in the darkness.

When trying to extract myself from a dark place I start by giving my love to something small, like a plant or pet. I know these won’t usually reject me. I might water a plant or feed a cat or dog. In return they may issue a fragrant perfume or lick my hand or brush affectionately against me. This doesn’t always happen but usually after I’ve made the effort to give love to others about three or four times I notice an improvement in my humour.

Another method I use for more immediate effect is to sing HU. I’ve written about it before here. Using the HU can help you rise above the darkness and glimpse a light on the horizon. It can often lead you to a solution and into the light.

A reason for our existence
One of the reasons for our existence is to give love and as we open up to give a little, we find that we have more love within us. Love is not something we can hold on to. It is like water it will flow through us or else evaporate. By doing a kind act with a little love we start the flow of love back into our lives. But we must practice it daily to keep the flow running. When we have the strength we can do a little more thereby increasing the flow.

A day will come when we look back to see that we have moved out of the darkness and our world has now got love and light in it.

News

The Journey of Soul lectures

The provisional timetable for the Mind Body Spirit Festival in the RDS, Dublin, in October has just been made available. I’ve been given a lecture slot each day. Here they are the times:
Saturday 25th October at 5.30 pm in Dodder Room C
Sunday 26th October at 12.15 pm in Dodder Room C
Monday 27th October at 3.15 pm, in Dodder Room D

The talk will tell the story of Souls Journey using a number of my images. There will be a booklet available which tells the story and shows all the images.

If you’d like to book a place please click on ‘Comments’ below and send me your request. There is no charge for tickets but the room will only take 40 to 50 people, so first come first served.

Photosynth

I discovered a thing called Photosynth during the week. It is a kind of animation and photo montage program. You upload a number of photos of a subject showing a variety of scenes or angles and it creates a slide show and animation of it. I tried it out using Spirals as the subject. It worked out ok, I was hoping it would flow in the same order as the images I created but it makes its own decisions on how it shows the images. There are arrows on top, bottom and either side which you can use to navigate to around the image, which is handy.

The Photosynth is embedded below. It works fine in Internet Explorer, it’s a bit small in Firefox and won’t work at all in Opera, :-(. Here’s a link to it on Photosynth where it looks well, you can even get it to fill your screen there.

Inspirational Quote

“All the darkness in the world cannot extinguish the light of a single candle.”

Saint Francis of Assisi