Some people believe there isn't enough of (fill in the blank) to go around; and that, if they have the means to do so, they are entitled to take or control as much as they are capable. It's a survival instinct rooted in the most primitive regions of our brains. It's a good indicator the voice of fear is running the show. It usually requires making enemies of certain people around you (and the more different they are, the easier it is to see them as a threat). And here's the great thing. It's actually beneficial if we allow this side of ourselves to be outwardly expressed, because when we make it externally visible, we have a better chance of seeing it for what it truly is. I have this recurring thought that the ultimate survival or destruction of our species will depend heavily on how much we give away and how much we keep for ourselves. For those who cringe at those words, let me share a quote with you that perfectly summarizes what I mean: "Love and nourish all things, but do not lord it over them. This works in business, delegating authority to others in order to make the business successful, and delegating authority to the parts in order to make the organism successful; it is in line with evolution itself. The more you give it away, the more it comes back. And ultimately, you need to give it away, because you can't keep it forever." - Alan Watts I think about what it means to be a parent. Nothing thrills me more than seeing one of my daughters surpass me in some way; seeing them figure something out at a much younger age than I did, or just watching them gracefully handle a situation I still struggle with. It means they may have learned from my experiences, and certainly from their own; and they are now better prepared to survive in this world. If I keep my knowledge and experiences to myself, if I lord over my possessions and the opportunities available to my family, then it's far easier to control them as a result of their ignorance and limitations. But then my family fails to evolve, and ultimately, I have failed. The truth is, family is family. Whether it's the one I was born into, the one I created, or the entire species I share this planet with; it's all my family. And we will succeed or fail depending on our choices. There really is no limit to how much I can do for my family, how much I can teach or give my family. And if my family surpasses me, then I know our chances of survival have just increased. The altruistic take is... I have lost nothing, if we have all grown. I'm not saying that love and an unconditional desire to share with others is the answer to all the world's problems (although it seems like a great place to start). I'm not saying making all our life decisions through a filter of fear and possessiveness will result in guaranteed failure (although I suspect it will result in deep loneliness and continued fear throughout that life). I'm just suggesting perhaps it's a matter of energy flow, and it's worth remembering universal laws of physics; any energy released will be met with an equal energy return. If I act generous; I receive generosity back. If I act selfish, I receive selfishness back. Personally, I’m more fond of a Universal ‘open door, openly given’ policy. It feels quite right to me. :D That’s a lot to chew on, and digestion might take a while (don’t go swimming for at least 30 minutes), so lets move on to the new music and art… Two New Songs for you. First, My Holiday Song: ‘Father Time and the Clockwork Homunculus’ Life is like a child's music box, requiring a special sort of magic to operate... and Father Time holds the key. When the key is wound up, it creates tension in the mechanism, and the music box awakens. Hundreds of tiny interactions occur behind the scenes, and motionless figures burst into a whirling dance of activity. But if the gears wind down, the mechanism stops in its tracks… and the dance ends. Without Father Time, silence and stillness would rule over the infinite moment trapped between two seconds. So celebrate that 'tick tock' as you would a heartbeat. But also remember you can leave the music box. Like a Clockwork Homunculus, you are independent from the mechanism, and free to explore to your heart’s desire. In the end, Time will have the final word on how long we get to visit; but it does not define the terms of our visit. We define those terms, we design ourselves, and we have an entire lifetime to create an unavoidable masterpiece. And if you still want to thumb your nose at Father Time, the best way is by crafting something beautiful and inspiring that endures beyond the expiration date of this Clockwork Homunculus. I hope you enjoy my seasonal offering… 'Father Time and the Clockwork Homunculus'. Click the image link below to take a listen. (Opens SoundCloud in a separate window.) The Second Song is: ‘Spied Her’ I’m very excited to share my first collaborative project of 2018 with you; a massive piece borne from the wildly overactive imaginations of myself and the extremely talented and well loved SoundCloud artist, ΔککΔ´ (@assarodrigo). This one is meant to melt your mind, excite your heart, and invigorate fuzzy feelings about all the great mysteries and opportunities 2018 has in store for us. Sure, the world might seem a little crazy these days. But creative beings can make sounds and images and words that help the rest of this silly planet not take itself too seriously. I know we're all up for the challenge. So here’s to a lot of inspiration, beauty, and purposeful noise over the course of this potentially life-changing year. Let’s make the world a little saner with our special brand of insanity. ΔککΔ´ and I hope you enjoy… ‘Spied Her’. :D A Painting Update: (021) ‘I’d Juice That’ Continuing with my Fall of 2015 Advanced Oils class, this is the first palette knife painting I had ever done; a simple collection of fruits that turned out rather well, and lead to a snarky title. 1 more painting and my Art tab will be completely up to date. I will mention, I’m still behind on my blog to music release ratio. I already have 2 more songs waiting in the wings, and several more in the works. I’m perpetually behind. Haha.
Until next time… Warmest regards, Justin
4 Comments
I think we can all agree... 2017 was an absolutely surreal year. After all the weirdness, a person might conclude it’s a good idea to abandon all hope, just to have some sense of accomplishment. But I'm dedicated to keeping this blog positive, and I'm not derailed that easily. So lets discuss what we can do about all this silliness. I’d like to open with some inspiring quotes that have helped influence the direction of my life: An old favorite of mine is from Einstein… “Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”. And another one I love is from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s fictional character, Sherlock: “Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth.”. There are two very important things to keep in mind while observing social structures and determining whether they remain beneficial: First... some form of structure is necessary if you want to have lots of people living in harmony in a small space (and I'm speaking primarily of the structure of government and religion). The reasoning behind both is quite logical. If you give people something to focus on, something to believe in, then they are more likely to behave ethically and serve the greater cause. Second... those structures aren't meant to be permanent or unchanging (like a single building). They are meant to be torn down from time to time and rebuilt with the latest knowledge and technological advancements (like a living city). While creating a new democracy, the forefathers of the United States realized the importance of this fact. They felt that governmental structure needed to be challenged from time to time; and bad or outdated concepts needed to be thrown out, in order to keep the integrity of the idea intact. That’s some pretty serious wisdom right there. The important thing to pull from those last two paragraphs is this; we need some form of structure… and we need to challenge that structure’s effectiveness to insure it’s integrity. It doesn’t matter if you’re talking about your political view, your religious background, or you as an individual. Those two ideas still stand. Here’s the catch. Our knowledge and capabilities are now evolving at an unbelievable pace, which brings the integrity of most structures into question rather quickly. Intelligence and wisdom are on the rise. Everything we believe needs to be put to the test. If it’s capable of evolving, it’s worth saving. If it’s too outdated, unstable or unreliable, then it needs to be scrapped so something new can take its place. Apply this to any structure (including yourself), and you have a working solution to this odd little problem we find ourselves in. On a personal level, questioning the structure leads to quick change. On a societal level, it may take a while. But the idea still works. If it didn’t, we’d still be living in caves, and the world would still be flat. Change will happen, my friends. Consciousness combined with intelligence demands it. There really is no way of avoiding it. You just have to decide if you want to be an active participant. There you go. Happy New Year. Here’s hoping it stays happy. :) On to the music and art… Two More New Songs for You to Enjoy. First I Offer You: ‘We Are Not Alone’ As part of my collaborative explorations, I thought it would be fun to try crafting a song around the vocals of a very loved and respected fellow SoundCloud artist… Special Cecilia. Although her original a-cappella offered several possible directions, I was most drawn to the bits about our unexplored universe; both micro and macro. Her lyrics convey a wonderful sense of mystery, excitement and optimism; and I hope I’ve captured that mood with this little musical interpretation called ‘We Are Not Alone.’ Click the image link below to take a listen. (Opens SoundCloud in a separate window.) The Second Song is: ‘Tearing at the Fabric’ The most exciting thing about this song is that it’s the first piece I created for a compilation project; Bricolage podcast #28, hosted by one of my favorite musicians on SoundCloud… Belial Pelegrim. But what does is symbolize, you might ask… Have you ever had the experience, after waking from an unbelievably realistic and intensely visceral dream... that you are somehow still trapped in the dream-state? I often encounter the idea that what we think of as being awake is actually the dream, and our true selves actually do the majority of our creative work while these forms are asleep. In support of this theory, one of these sources suggests that our true self is constantly plugged in to the metaphorical outlet of eternal energy (call it God, Divine Light, Universal Consciousness, or whatever suites your fancy) and requires no artificial nourishment, while these physical forms we occupy are quite dependent on the periodic cheeseburger and coke in order to keep the engine running. In essence, the true reality might be the one that requires no batteries. This song symbolizes our struggle to see beyond the veil of illusions... to finally understand our own collective truth. There is no joyous end state; no explosion into clarity, because that journey is something we each take in our own time... and I wouldn't want to ruin the surprise. ;) I hope you enjoy one of my favorite creations; a far noisier offering than my usual fare... "Tearing at the Fabric." A Painting Update: (020) ‘Fall Gourds’ Continuing with my Fall of 2015 Advanced Oils class, this is the second color painting; and an interesting challenge using transparent objects. 2 more paintings to go before all the gaps are filled on my Art tab. That’s enough new stuff for one post. But I will need to get another post up soon, because I already have another two new songs done after these two. I’m perpetually behind. Haha.
Until next time… Smiles, Justin OK. I admit up front, this idea is going to be a little out there, and might sound outlandish to some readers… but humor me. I promise this one will be a wild and fun ride, if nothing else. For starters, I need you to imagine you are a consciously aware fish... Lets first discuss your reality. From your perspective, you know there is a surface below you that you can only effect mildly with the movement of your fins. For the most part, it's solid. You also know that above you lies this thin blue line that represents the barrier between where you can survive for the entirety of your lifetime, and where you will stop surviving very quickly. Here's where the question comes in. If your only understanding of the material you exist in is that you can travel up and down as well as forward and backward... would you have the context to understand that you were swimming, or would you think you were capable of flight? I was thinking about the nature of personal perspective; how we are trapped in one set of beliefs, simply because we can not experience a more accurate interpretation of reality beyond what our limited perceptions can tell us. Some might say it's pointless to ponder reality too deeply since you will never be able to experience it beyond what your senses offer you. An excellent argument, until you remember that at some moment in the past, one of those little sea dwelling creatures decided to cross that thin blue line, and explore the great beyond. Before that day, everyone believed they could not survive if they crossed that threshold. Then one crazy fellow got the wild idea to give it a try. Evolution was cool with that, and today we have a wide array of species that walk the surface of the planet, needing water only once in a while to survive. And of course we, being the surface dwellers that we are, can't imagine unaided flight up into the skies. But the same evolution happened again at some point in our planet's history. Some wildly imaginative fellow got the idea in their head that they were capable of more than just walking on the surface. Evolution said 'give it a shot', and now we have a planet filled with species that can travel unaided, great distances through the air. The point I'm trying to make is this: the impossible only remains impossible until someone proves it possible. Then, rules we thought were set in stone become rather malleable. And that makes me wonder what rules we'll be breaking in the future. I remember reading a book by Richard Bach called ‘Illusions’ many years ago when I was a teenager. The thing that struck me most deeply was the main character’s ability to defy the very rules of nature as we think of them. This man could walk through walls like they were air, sink into the earth like it was a liquid, and step on water as if it was a solid. And it was no miracle that he could do this. It was simply because he understood and could directly interact with the hidden mechanics behind the illusion of matter; the particles found in space, and the space between all particles. It may sound far-fetched, but what if we could perform these kinds of 'miracles' as if they were second nature. What if we are already capable of walking through walls. What if all it takes is realizing our minds create the matter before us, and we can choose to perceive it any way we desire. What if it's already entirely possible for us to lift ourselves off the ground and fly into outer space, simply by adjusting our body's molecular composition to fit with the environment. What if we no longer needed food or water, because we understood how to pull energy from the very air we breathed. What are we truly capable of? Science has already proven that everything around us, including our bodies, is made up of the same interchangeable building blocks. And something guides those building blocks into position. What if that something is us? What if we are all the collective resident architects of this beautiful universe; and the bigger we become, the bigger it becomes? It's something worth thinking about. And while I won't be bravely walking into any walls any time soon, that won't prevent me from believing it is a possibility. There you have it; my wild idea for this last day of November, 2017. Feel free to swim around in it like a liquid, to mold it into something solid, or just pass through it like so much gas. :) On to the new music (although I admit I’m falling behind. I already have two newer songs done that will have to wait until my next post. Two songs per post is where I cap it. So apparently, I need to either make less music, or blog more frequently. Haha.)… Two More New Songs for You to Enjoy. The First is: ‘Rooting for Robots’ Many of you will remember Isaac Asimov's 'Three Laws of Robotics'. The first rule (A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.) is the one that came to mind as I created this song. In this day and age, with the advancement of AI, there is a growing concern that humans might be surpassed by our own inventions some day in the near future. I look at the way we treat each other, and I sometimes wonder if that might be the best possible outcome. For our own protection, AI is designed to uphold the highest of ideals; to display the very best ethics and morality. In a way, it represents the greatest potential man has to offer; a potential we can't collectively seem to achieve. Maybe we are not the end product, but just the creators of the next evolution in intelligence. My feelings... If we ever reach a point where it's certain we are going to destroy ourselves and this beautiful planet we live on, that's the day I start 'Rooting for Robots.' I hope you enjoy my latest song, borne of the darker matter in my brain. o.O Click the image link below to take a listen. (Opens SoundCloud in a separate window.) The Second Song is: ‘Private Oracles’ I’m very excited to share my 4th finished collaborative project, this time partnering with the wonderfully creative, auditory artist... K. M. Ende. (https://soundcloud.com/b-p-s-s Stop by for a visit. You'll be very glad you did.) As the song reached completion, I had the funny feeling it could be an ambient representation of our deep inner selves. Not that noisy 'ego' character, who tends to yammer on all the time about the silliest of things. I'm talking about that wiser personality that stands behind the ego, silently observing the little fellow with love and amusement... our inner guide. We all know from experience… it's a bittersweet connection we each have with our inner guide. When everything is going well in our lives, we can feel that connection deeply, in the form of love and joy; for ourselves and everything around us. But if we're experiencing a lot of pain or fear or anger, we feel cut off from this wonderful source of love, never realizing we accidentally closed the (illusionary) door from our side. Fortunately for us, that doorknob is always within easy reach. I hope you enjoy my first collaboration with the very talented K. M. Ende... this lovely little melancholy song, 'Private Oracles.' You want to click the link below. You know you do. ;) A Painting Update: (019) ‘Fall Gourds’ Continuing my Fall of 2015 Advanced Oils class, this is the first color painting done for class; a little seasonal piece that turned out quite well. 3 more paintings to go. That's more than enough for this post. Until next time…
Smiles, Justin If there has ever been the perfect reason for looking at everything around you as same rather than different, it’s the knowledge that we are constantly swapping atoms with everyone and everything around us. For proof of this in action, breath in... now breath out. You just traded out 10 billion trillion atoms. We have an unbelievably large number of atoms in our bodies (estimated 7,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000… if that doesn’t boggle the mind). And Quantum Mechanics suggests that it’s very likely we currently have recycled bits of both Gandhi and Hitler helping to make our liver a working thing right now. That might shock some people, but it helps me keeps things in perspective, when I'm feeling less than loving toward my neighbors. Here's what I mean... The core building blocks of our universe have a lifespan longer than the history of the universe itself (so they essentially last forever); they have no issues serving any subject that requires their attention; and they visit us only very briefly before moving on to the next hip, cool thing. (Put mildly, the majority of your body is less than a year old… despite your calendar age.) At the simplest level, it's basic science that the closer anyone or anything is to me both in space and time, the more atoms I'm exchanging with them. My neighbor and I share a lot more in common than I might imagine. And truth be told, everyone on this planet is my neighbor in this regard. This makes all manner of biases I might hold toward anyone seem rather meaningless, regardless of imagined differences. It’s even pointless to have negative feelings toward the tree out front, or the rock I just threw in that nearby pond. We are all one mass of swappable potentiality, at the atomic level. And if I and everything around me are one (and much more dynamically so than I can sense), why bother clinging to ‘different’? My very atoms are perfectly happy breaking down those barriers on a regular basis. To put it another way… since my body is made up of all things around me, it must just be my thoughts that are making these pointless distinctions. And since I know my thoughts are just the end result of my memories and feelings colliding with my limited sense perceptions… everything is up for grabs, and constantly re-definable. How blessed are we to have that level of liberation available to us at all times; our new understanding of the earliest truths, reminding us to be more accepting of each other, and all things. It’s definitely something worth thinking about. :) Now on to the new music… I Have Two New Songs for You to Enjoy. The First is: ‘Beginner’s Mind’ The easiest way to understand the Beginner's Mind is to imagine a newborn child. They enter this world like a clean sheet of blank paper, love and curiosity their only tools. They will be taught many ideas; some good, some bad. And the likelihood of them questioning those ideas shrinks the longer they believe them. This song is about returning to that earliest state; about dumping all the stale, old programming we never much cared for anyway... and looking at life anew. Imagine how fresh and exciting life would be if we viewed it with nothing but love and curiosity once again. I hope you'll take a moment to explore this idea as you listen to my recent creation… 'The Beginner's Mind'. Click the image link below to take a listen. (Opens SoundCloud in a separate window.) The Second Song is: ‘We Tend to Ascend’ This song symbolizes commonalities we all share: We want to love and be loved. We want to help others. And we want this world to be a better place. Despite what we may have learned about opposites in school, hate is not the opposite of love; fear is. If we are more aware of our fearful voice; if we question and quiet it just a little bit… we’re more likely to discover those peaceful little nooks inside, overflowing with love; and we create more room for our better selves to bubble to the surface. It’s what we all want. Like sustenance, it’s definitely what we all need. ‘We Tend to Ascend’ is my little reminder to myself, to keep my eyes and mind in observation mode, and to stay focused on those commonalities we all share. I hope you enjoy my latest sonic offering, and that it inspires happy thoughts in you as well. You know what to click. :) A Painting Update: (018) ‘Quick! Grab Stuff from the Kitchen!’ Continuing my Fall of 2015 Advanced Oils class, this one is a simple grayscale study. I just grabbed a bunch of oddities from the kitchen and threw them on a drop cloth. Only 4 more paintings to go until all the gaps are filled and my Art tab is completely up to date. That's it for this post. I hope you enjoyed your visit.
Best wishes to all of you, Justin My favorite part of the approaching weekend is knowing I'm about to have opportunities for quiet again. The weekend symbolizes a time when I've fulfilled the demands of the outside world and I can enjoy being in my own space, spending my moments as I see fit. I need that quiet time to reset; to remind myself of who I am and why I do what I do. And nothing disturbs that reset opportunity like having more obligation cutting into those precious two days. But here's an odd thing I've always found puzzling. I notice people (family, friends, co-workers) look at me strangely when they ask me if I have any plans for my weekend, and I tell them "absolutely nothing at all". It's common for people to have every moment of those two days planned out before the weekend even starts. And typically, they have more things they need to get done than time will allow. Perhaps they think I'm weird, or clueless... or both. This blog entry is about sharing a strange idea I have as to why people seem satisfied filling every moment of their free time with projects and obligations, and why they seem uncomfortable when I try to explain the value of not doing anything at all. Here it goes. Get ready... We enter this world pure and open to everything. We are unconditional love and endless possibility. And other than when those diapers are packing a load, we smell like God just baked cookies, and there's enough for everyone. Then the world steps in and starts adjusting that potentiality; starts shrinking it to fit more acceptable molds. Our parents begin teaching us their personal brand of right and wrong; then our schools, our religions, our politicians and institutions. The same thing happens everywhere in the world, it's just different variations on the theme. Every one of us is the end product of all that social conditioning, no matter how messy and inaccurate that conditioning might be. The best way to keep that structure intact is by constant activity. (On the weekends, everyone's tending to their yards, maintaining their cars, running errands. And even when they think they're getting away from it all, taking that well earned vacation.... they somehow end up in the same place as all the other people getting away from it all, taking their vacations. I'm not saying this is a bad thing. It provides the majority of us a path and purpose that is meaningful enough to justify the lives we live. I just find it odd how many of us come back from our vacations... needing a vacation.) The greatest danger to this structure is quiet. (If you stop for a moment, you run the risk of silencing those pre-recorded voices that are telling you what to do, how to think, what to believe, how to behave. It's entirely possible you might encounter something deep within you that wants you to feel or be someone else. And that could prove detrimental to the structure.) It seems to me that the best way to keep that auto-pilot functioning properly is to keep it constantly engaged. The ego (that socially molded mental structure you think is you) knows the best way to preserve itself is if you are never aware of it to begin with, and the best way to ensure you stay unaware is by keeping the mind engaged at all times. Again, this isn't necessarily a bad thing. Our very survival depends on the unconscious mind playing by a set of established rules so our society survives and flourishes; primitive tribal logic expanded to fit the masses. And it needs to be there until we learn how to love and empathize more than fear and hate. But if you find life drains you more than charges you... if you find you need a vacation after that vacation, a little quiet might do you good. It's quite possible that sense of discontent is your inner self whispering to you that it's ready to show you your true potential... your true beauty. Perhaps you're ready for a little inner work. Discovering who you are is like buying a fixer-upper. You've finally made the commitment to go inside this mess of a structure and repair and restore it to its original pristine form. It requires going from room to room, tearing out everything that's outdated and replacing all the fixtures. There will be a lot of junk to remove first before the restoration process can even begin. But this will be a joy when you realize the value of fixing it in the first place. Fall in love with that structure, and see it's true potential. Be willing to dedicate serious time to making it fresh and full of life again. From now on, when people ask you if you have any plans for your weekend, you can happily tell them "I just invested in a fixer-upper. It's going to require a whole lot of work, but I'm confident I can restore it to its beautiful, original condition." Then you can enjoy your quiet weekends, guilt-free. :D On to the new music… A New Song for You to Enjoy: ‘Siren Rising’ This is a gargantuan facelift to the 4th song I ever made, of the same name… back in… sheesh… 2006 I think?! I always loved certain melodies and ideas within the song, but I sucked at making beats and still had limited knowledge of my first cute, little DAW… GarageBand. I kept the MIDI sequences for what are now the bells, and the two instruments creating an echoing melody in the middle bit. Everything else is entirely new. By the way, I decided to drop the whole ‘numbering my songs’ thing. When your 27th song is actually your 4th, and your 26th is actually your 35th, the whole thing just starts getting silly. And honestly, who really cares but me. Am I right? :D Click the image link below to take a listen. (Opens SoundCloud in a separate window.) A Painting Update: (017) ‘Porcelains, Plastics and Glass’ Now we’re up to Fall of 2015, and an Advanced Oils Class I took for fun. This one is a study in warms and cools. Ultramarine Blue, Burnt Sienna and Titanium White, if I recall correctly. The Blue and Sienna mix together to create black. Heavy on Blue makes it cooler; heavy on Sienna makes it warmer. Only 5 more paintings to go and I will finally have my entire back catalog uploaded to my website. That's it for this post. I hope you enjoyed your visit.
Smiles, Justin Whenever I follow my intuition and heart, life always seems to work. When I allow my intellect to rule the day, I'm sometimes disappointed by the end results. To some, that might sound foolish; perhaps even a little dangerous. After all, we were born with the ability to reason and make intelligent decisions... for a reason. Before last month, I would have had a hard time explaining it, other than to say 'it just feels right and hasn't let me down so far'. That isn't a lot to go on if you're not already prone to filtering life experiences that way. Some of the ideas I'm about to share with you come from one of my favorite authors Jane Roberts, now deceased. The book is entitled 'The Magical Approach'. Hopefully you'll find this meaningful. If it doesn't jive with you, just keep doing what you're doing. There is no wrong way in life... Only varying degrees and speeds of right. :) 'The Magical Approach' is all about understanding how the intellect and intuition are meant to work together. For example, one of the intellect's main purposes is to give you a conscious choice in a world of probabilities, but logical processing by itself becomes detrimental over time if your natural intuition is ignored. The reason this is so is because logical processing tends to spiral into negativity if left on auto-pilot too long. It's part of that primitive brain wiring thing I mentioned in my last post, designed to keep you alive and safe in your cave. Without going into the more esoteric aspects covered in the book, the simple truth is... when trapped in the intellect, you experience (and manifest) what you focus on. A great example of this is buying a new car, then realizing one day... they're everywhere on the road. Truth is, that model of car isn't suddenly more popular. You're just suddenly paying more attention to it. If you take that logic and apply it to what you focus on most often, you quickly realize you're getting out what you're putting in; positive creates more positive, and negative creates more negative. This idea is beautifully expressed in the parable of the student who asks his guru to explain opposing aspects of the personality, and the guru summarizes it by saying "You have within you a wolf of love and a wolf of fear." The student then asks "How do I know which is stronger?", to which the guru replies "Which do you feed the most?" (I may have already shared this one before, but it's worth repeating.) Wrapping this idea up, if you can use the intellect to help you recognize your available choices in any given moment, and then allow your natural intuition to take over and make your decision without the intellect's biases, you'll always make choices that are in alignment with your heart's (your higher self's) desires. If you can't do this, then take comfort. You still have it within you to starve those fears by paying attention to what you're paying attention to, and dropping or replacing any negative focus that doesn't serve you. Keep feeding that wolf of love and I promise it will serve you faithfully. On to the new music… A New Song for You to Enjoy: ‘Music For Divine Light Crane Dance (Tao Rai Nao)’ This is my 26th personal song (based off another old idea originally entitled ‘Flash Back’. I salvaged only one drum track, dumped all the filters, scrapped everything else. So in all honestly... this is a new song. I have seven more to rework, in case you're wondering how long this will go on.) :) Great story behind this. Within 2 minutes of uploading it to SoundCloud, Mood Exhibit noticed it and took a listen. He liked it so much, he immediately asked if I was interested in including it on his conceptual EP (Tao Rai Nao is the name I had originally chosen. The rest was updated to match the EP.). I'm seriously in a giddy daze lately. I think these folks dig my stuff. :D Click the image link below to take a listen. (Opens SoundCloud in a separate window. And check out Mood Exhibit's ‘Divine Light Crane Dance’ EP while you're exploring.) And a New Collaboration for You as Well: ‘The Fog Drinker | Belial Pelegrim & Grevusanjl’ Funny to go without posting for six weeks, then release two new tracks in two days. This is my third collaboration, but probably the first that follows the traditional meaning of the term. The other two were open collabs on existing files. This was a genuine back and forth exchange, and it will blow your mind. Belial is one of the most talented, creative musicians I've found on SoundCloud. I'm thrilled he gave me the opportunity to work with him. You don't want to miss this one. It's the most complex, well mastered song I've had the pleasure of working on. :D Click the image link below to take a listen. (Opens SoundCloud in a separate window. You'll be taken to Belial Pelegrim's page. He's hosting the file. Check out his stunning music while you're there.) A Painting Update: (016) ‘Angel’s Rest’ This next piece is my last older painting, done in December of 2008. (I took a huge break and didn't start painting again until 2015.) This was done for a co-worker, as a Christmas gift to his wife. He lost his job due to a downsizing while I was painting it. Needless to say it's a bittersweet creation. Oh, and the angel has Elvis hair for some reason. Don't ask me how this happened. I actually trimmed a lot off the top from my original sketch, and he still came out looking like a greaser. ;) That's it for now. I hope you enjoyed your visit. Take care my friends.
Smiles, Justin It's been a while since I did a new blog entry and there's a very good reason for that. The very first day I started online journaling, I promised myself one thing; my message would always be about love, and compassion and gratefulness. If I couldn't write from that space, I'd wait until I could. It's been over a month, so you can guess where this is going. Times are strange. I was struggling to understand why we as a society seem to be taking two steps back, then another two.... then another two. I had to spend some serious time pondering why things are the way they are right now, and I think I finally reached some conclusions that I can express whilst keeping to my love/compassion/gratitude rule. What's happening right now isn't about Republican vs Democrat. It's not Christian vs Muslim (or any other religion for that matter).... It isn't black against white or gay against straight. It boils down to one simple thing. It's about fear vs love. This is what the world looks like when I see you as something different, and I allow my fear to tell me 'who I think I am is threatened by who I think you are'. And this is what happens when large numbers of people come together in fear, and act out against 'different'. The truth is, every one of the groups I just mentioned has members that can't see past their fears. And every one of those groups has members who understand what it means to have unconditional love for all of humanity, regardless of labels. So it does us no good to blame or hate the groups. We need to focus on the cause of the fear that controls the individual mind. Fear is a powerful agent; a constant reminder to be alert to danger. And it is so deeply embedded in our core programming (we're talking the most primitive, reptilian parts of our brain) that we naturally gravitate to it. The mind that replays and relives a predator attack over and over is far more likely to survive the next hidden threat than the mind that doesn't. Thus fear is a huge part of our survival, of our evolution; and is a serious bugger to think past. Things that want to eat us may no longer be a daily threat in our society, but the wiring is still intact; and we still replay bad experiences over and over as a way of protecting ourselves. We evolve those experiences. We imagine enemies everywhere. We plan for the next attack... And the average human being lives in some state of frequent if not constant fear. Welcome to human nature. Deep breath time. This has a happy ending. How do we turn this around? How do we stop fearing and start loving again? The answer was surprisingly simple for me. You educate yourself. You learn about 'different'; what 'different' believes and what 'different' wants out of life. Along the way you come to realize 'different' also has family they love, has their favorite meal, has best friends they enjoy spending time with. They have also suffered. They have also lost. Along the way, you discover 'different' is not so very.... different. And I don't know about you, but I find it very hard to fear someone I've come to understand, appreciate and respect. Fear and love are opposite sides of a coin that never see each other. And you, lucky soul, get to pick which side of that coin faces upward. It's time we opened our minds. It's time we opened our hearts. We can pick up an unbiased book or explore unbiased documentaries on 'different' lifestyles, cultures, religions and political views. If we make the effort, I have complete faith we will come to understand each other better, and very likely even appreciate and respect each other. It’s built into the nature of our humanity; to protect, love and feel empathy for our family. We just need to acknowledge our family is much bigger than we once thought. On to the new music… A New Song for You to Enjoy: (C-002) ‘FutureFade | Mood Exhibit | Lost Language Collab’ This is my second collaboration, similar in origin to my first. Mood Exhibit (amazing musician... great guy) created an 18 minute base stem (really 1 long track with 6 unique but connected sections; enough content to go wild over). He then offered it up to open collab, and many musicians accepted said challenge; 15 creations at final count. The skill level of these folks is astounding. Here's my take on this highly entertaining offering. I hope you enjoy it. Click the image link below to take a listen. (Opens SoundCloud in a separate window. And you can check out Mood Exhibit's 'Lost Language' playlist while you're in the neighborhood.) A Painting Update (015) ‘Polarities’ This next painting is all about the symbolism of opposites; one side peaceful, the other destructive. Normally my paintings are pretty smooth with very few visible brush strokes. (Realistic rather than artistic. Probably programming resulting from too many years in Photoshop retouching lifestyle photography.) This time I went crazy with application techniques. I tried to paint thicker 'one shot, then leave em alone' strokes. That was really hard for me. I even used the brush differently on both sides (soft, thoughtful strokes for the moon side; and hastily loaded brushes and aggressive jabs for the sun side). That's it for now. I hope you enjoyed your visit. Many thanks my friends.
Smiles, Justin I've had a long standing admiration for global cultures that grows in intensity, the more educated I become. Maybe it's the 'grass is always greener' concept, and I'm envious of experiences to be had on other continents. It's entirely possible I like to think of my world as small and loving, rather than big and threatening. Perhaps it's that I respect any group of people who can suffer hardships, make mistakes, and become better, wiser people for it. In the past two weeks I've had two very polarizing experiences; one extremely disheartening, and the other so hopeful... I teared up as it happened. Getting the bad bit over with first, I re-encountered a news article I surely must have blocked from my mind, because it's just so depressing to spend even a moment contemplating the dark significance. The alarming statistic is that around 2005, the human population in the US was finally surpassed by the number of guns they owned. And with sales on the rise, and my country in a state of fear and conflict like I haven't seen since the Cold War, I wouldn't be surprised if that number doubled in another 10 years. And I have to ask myself why? Why do we need that much destructive power? Who or what are we so afraid of to make that many weapons necessary? It makes me wonder what conditions were like in the hearts and minds of every historical super-power nation... right before they fell. Did they also think they could destroy the enemy (that really resides within)? That's enough of the icky bit. Now for my message of hope. Despite the strange, money motivated, sexually and racially discriminatory, environmentally detrimental choices being made by leadership in my country; despite the overwhelming arrogance of our elected officials being directed toward a far wiser, far more experienced global community; despite all the crazy I just can't explain, many of the leaders across the free world keep speaking out, asking Americans to stay true to what we know is right. They believe in the power of democracy, and in the intelligence and hearts of the American public. They ask us to act separately if necessary, keep serving the global community and furthering humanity in general. And they're sending this message with all sincerity. Just as I begin to wonder if the US is destined for the next great fall of empires, I see the rest of the world cheering us on, asking us not to lose faith. I've always believed true greatness resides within us. I've also always believed the only enemy of our greatness, the only threat to truly breathtaking evolution, is our own individualized brand of fear... and right now it seems pretty daunting. But we are way beyond denying the inescapable truth that we are a global community, and it will take a global effort. There is no one 'great' country without the existence of a great world. Maybe something truly cataclysmic needs to happen before we'll wake up. If time allows, maybe it's just a matter of old ways of thinking finally fading away. Either way, I'm grateful to the rest of the world for continuing to see my country's potential, when so many of us have begun to lose hope. Sometimes the support and belief of just one friend is all we need to survive a time of darkness. Hopefully my readers will agree. On to the new music… A New Song for You to Enjoy: (025) ‘March of the Milliseconds’ This song tells the story of a single human life; all too brief. I’ve tried to capture the joy and mystery of awakening into this world, the frantic build we all call adulthood, and the sad realization that it’s over far too quickly. Did we find our own truths? Did we embrace life, experience love and enjoy this gift we were given? That is for each of us to decide in our own time. Click the image link below to take a listen. (opens SoundCloud in a separate window) A Painting Update (014) ‘The Atomic Angel’ or ‘Memento Mori’ This next painting is a return to my angels theme. Based on studies of the ‘Angel of the Resurrection’ in the Cemetery of Staglieno (Genoa, Italy; sculpted by Giulio Monteverde (1882)), ‘The Atomic Angel’ is a cautionary tale about human power. It’s a rather fitting image for this week’s topic, since it warns against human arrogance and short-sightedness. As humans evolve, our power grows exponentially. Hopefully our love, compassion and wisdom grow as well. To this day, it remains one of my favorites. I hope you enjoy this curiously symbolic painting. Until next time… I join all of you in a shared hope for a more beautiful world.
Justin Let me preface by mentioning I'm sick today, so I may be looking back on this post in a few days, wondering just what those cold meds were doing to my brain. Nevertheless, I'd like to share something about myself that made me much happier once I accepted it... I'm an introvert. And I'm good with that. The comments that follow might seem unusual (perhaps even socio-phobic) to half of my readers (I base that number on a statistic I found in the book 'Quiet’ by Susan Cain, who explains that half of us are extroverted, the other half introverted. And she provides many character and behavioral studies as to why that’s natural and healthy.) Truth is, I would rather have a very close, dear group of friends I can count on one hand, over a huge network of people I socialize with on a very surface level. I value openness and honesty above all else. And lets not kid ourselves. Social propriety and common sense limit us in what we can and can’t share with others. Feel free to correct me if I’m wrong, but we all have personal views we’d never dream of sharing with co-workers, those folks from our book club, and in many cases, even many of our family members. And this is the case simply because we don’t want to cause them the hardship that comes from expressing a view that may cause them discomfort. Thus the beauty and mystery of a modern day blessing: online interaction. I sometimes wonder if the internet was invented for introverts, and here’s my reasoning…. Social networking provides one critical thing missing from face-to-face interaction; time to pause and reflect before responding. Referring back to ‘Quiet’, the book provides evidence that the average extrovert will move forward with an idea even if they are only 50% sure they are correct, while an introvert will hold their tongue unless they are at least 90% sure; the reason why society tends to favor extroverts. They may not be correct, but their confidence creates confidence in those around them. Consider reading ‘Quiet’ alongside ‘How to Win Friends and Influence People’ if you think I’m pulling your leg. Bringing my point home… Social media actually proves quite valuable to the average introvert. It’s a place where we can connect with other people; where we can share ideas that are thought out (and perhaps even fact-checked) in advance. It provides us a way of searching for like-minded people and groups, where we feel more comfortable and supported in our views. And it creates opportunities for us to deal with conflict situations with enough time and distance to think clearly and act more appropriately. In essence, it’s great practice for the one thing that is truly unavoidable on this planet… the need to interact with one another in a healthy and productive fashion. I acknowledge, it can get used strangely at times. But I truly belief online interaction is a great tool for bringing us closer together, rather than crippling our ability to genuinely connect with one another. I’m personally much more comfortable talking with people now than I was in my youth. I’ve had great conversations, and some that were not so great. And I’ve grown confident enough to handle just about anything the outside world can throw at me, thanks to these digitized social opportunities. So there you have it; my ‘yes’ vote for social media. I now return you to the Arts and Entertainment portion of the show. A New Song for You to Enjoy: (024) 'Divine Abodes' This next song is a little unusual for me. I’ve always been a big fan of those old time radio adventure shows. There’s something comforting and heart-warming about them… back when life seemed a little simpler perhaps. I started playing around with old ‘scratchy record’ sound recordings, and trying to recreate the mono audio qualities you’d expect to hear coming from a gramophone. I wasn’t really intending to do anything with this silly little project. I was just having fun learning Logic plug-ins. But somewhere along the line, ideas began to form… and my mind started creating stories. I searched far and wide for old public domain recordings that fit my needs, but with no luck. One night I got the wild idea to just make my own recording. Apparently, somewhere around my 3rd cold microbrew, using nothing more than an iPhone, and a quiet, dark basement… I’m capable of some serious weirdness. o.O So believe it or not, that’s me on those opening vocals. I snicker every time I hear it. I hope you enjoy ‘Divine Abodes.’ :D Click the image link below to take a listen. (opens SoundCloud in a separate window) A Painting Update (013) 'The Guardian' This next painting was completed September 27th, 2007, and I stopped for quite a while after it was done. It's been so long, I don't recall the reasons. (I'm going to assume I started my music back up again.) Before this painting, my subjects were pretty literal, so this was rather unusual for me. This time I tried to create an image that symbolized our guarded outer selves protecting our inner emotions. Once finished, it was also the first time my wife suggested I might be heading into the realm of 'artist' rather than 'painter'. I hope you find 'The Guardian' interesting. That's good for now. Take care my friends.
Justin Since this post is really just a huge content update, I’ll stick to content descriptions only. A New Song... this Time, a Collaboration: (C-001) 'SpaceBards - The Wyrmhole Tour' I'll admit, working with another musician’s material freaked me out a bit at first, but it was also a lot of fun. Sect-ion (Arto, a fellow musician on SoundCloud) provided the guitar elements. A huge thanks to him for putting this piece out there, and allowing a bizarre fellow like myself a chance to goof around with it. I hope I’ve done it justice. Click the image link below to take a listen. (opens SoundCloud in a separate window) 4 New Painting Updates (009-012)... All from My UofU Landscape Class On to the Fine Art. All 4 of these paintings are acrylic on masonite, done in a Landscape Class I took at the University of Utah back in 2007. This is everything I'll be posting from my two art classes that semester because: (a) they are the only paintings I was happy with from the Landscape class (I struggle with acrylics), and (b) the other pieces are nudes from a Life Drawing class (I like the idea of my website being appropriate for all ages, and nudes can be iffy). :D This first painting was done from a third story window looking out on the University Campus. The instructor (a brilliant artist and dear friend) was teaching us pointillism techniques in the style of Georges Pierre Seurat (French Painter 1859-1891). It was really quite cool, and I wish I could remember it better. I'll have to ask him for a refresher some day. I hope you like: (009) ‘Out the Window’. The second painting was done in the same style on the lawns of the University Campus. Nothing is quite as intimidating for a fledgling artist as painting out in the open where anyone can stop and look over your shoulder. ;) I call this: (010) ‘On the Grounds’. The third was painted at City Cemetery overlooking the Salt Lake valley; just a basic acrylic done by a guy who forgets he sunburns easily. o.O I offer you: (011) ‘Bug in City Cemetery 01’. And the fourth was done in the same cemetery, but this time while wisely sitting in the shade during early morning sunlight.
I wrap up the set with: (012) ‘Bug in City Cemetery 02’. Much love to all of you. I hope you’re all enjoying the sights and smells of springtime. Take care for now. |
AuthorHello everyone. I'm Justin Mackay. I'm a creative soul, an explorer of life's mysteries, and a big fan of all the beauty in the world. If you're just here for the paintings, then head on over to my Art tab. If you wish to delve deeper into the odd thoughts of a pondering mind, then this is the place for you. Archives
February 2018
Categories |