(Yesterday I left 100 days off the post: instead of 114 I put 14!! Only mention this because today makes 16 full months of an article every freakin’ day!)
In my blogs, I share ideas and emotions and love from my mind and soul as prompted by my Heart. I have shared things from my life — some things, not everything. Tonight, I was at the ballgame, St. Louis Cardinals (my home team since a child) versus the Los Angeles Dodgers at Busch Stadium. Beautiful night. Awful game for the Cardinals. And as I write this it is 11:40 p.m. Guess why I told you this. “Brevity is the soul of wit.” Yes, thank you Polonius! Tonight’s post shall be short. This means I will probably expand some ideas tomorrow, but for now I will be blunt. I really want to write about the connection, the relationship I see between the literary period and movement of Romanticism and its push into Transcendentalism in the work of Walt Whitman, specifically, and the visual artistic movement of Impressionism in the work of Vincent van Gogh, specifically. While I think a number of correlations and parallels exist, one of the primary ones is the understanding, use, and interpretation of Nature. We each have different life energy at which we operate, not some specially assigned frequency that never changes — I don’t think — but certainly ones which will be attracted to or attract like frequencies — the law of attraction. I think that’s why some people prefer literature and art from other periods and genres than I do. The expression, influence, and incorporation of Nature and the manner the writer or artist relates us to Nature brings certain frequencies that resonate — or not — with the reader or viewer. Ever wonder why so much emphasis is placed on Nature in great works? I think the closer we are to Nature, the more we can sense eternal Spirit present in every atom of the Universe, in a more undiluted, unadulterated state, i.e., our soul and mind can sense a closer connection with Spirit, Source energy, our true Heart-essence. We find release, relief, refreshment, and insight when brought into the presence of Nature through spiritually conscious artists, those who themselves have awakened to their own Heart. The work of Walt and Vincent deeply resonate with me, and Walt certainly falls into the definition of an awakened, conscious soul, one who knew his Heart and the essence of core Self, one who created his Purpose of expression. Tomorrow, I will undoubtedly share some of his poetry — because it is his birthday — May 31. Tonight, though, I lay the foundation from his great prose work of Democratic Vistas: “There is, in sanest hours, a consciousness, a thought that rises, independent, lifted out from all else, calm, like the stars, shining eternal. This is the thought of identity — yours for you, whoever you are, as mine for me. …In such devout hours…creeds, conventions, fall away and become of no account before this simple idea. Under the luminousness of real vision, it alone takes possession, takes value. …[I]t expands over the whole earth, and spreads to the roof of heaven.” (Pearson http://www.tm.org/blog/meditation/the-luminousness-real-vision/) Whitman refers to the stars and the sky in reference to considering, to arriving at a knowledge of “the thought of identity.” He was an a spiritually awakened human, understanding through the light of his Heart, “luminousness of real vision,” that once we know self, we experience in this life the direct connection we all have with eternal Spirit. Vincent’s connection with Nature repaints itself afresh in my mind every time my eyes fall on his canvases; his words, though, his words reveal that even though he struggled greatly with Ego, he was a spiritually conscious person. And yes, awakened, self-aware people can, do, and should undergo the struggles to learn to release Ego and allow increasing expression of Spirit in us. Vincent says, “I don’t know anything with certainty, but seeing the stars makes me dream.” He has that same sort of relationship to Nature, one that brings him into fellowship with his Heart and into deeper relationship to Spirit: “Be clearly aware of the stars and infinity on high. Then life seems almost enchanted after all…I have nature and art and poetry, and if that is not enough, what is enough?” What is your relationship to Nature, to this creation? Have you found enough of anything to help you identify yourself? If you don’t have a sense of who you are, of what you can definitively say you want to do here, then please, by all means, wander outside at night, lift up your eyes to those heavenly bodies, the moon, stars, planets, and just listen to the voice of your own Heart. Hey, you don’t even have to take a camping trip to do this! Well, this ended up being much longer than I thought, and it is much later than when I started. I hope this is meaningful to you, because I will be continuing tomorrow — well, really later today! Blessings!
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Questions to consider:How many times have you asked yourself or simply thought about the following questions?
Who am I, really? What is my truth? How do my actions reveal what I really feel and believe? What would I do with my life if I could do anything? What is my passion? Why am I here? How can I discover answers to any of these questions? If you have considered any of these questions, I hope that my experiences and writing will give you some guidance. Please read my blog and comment and share your thoughts. I would love to hear from you! Archives
December 2019
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