The Narrow Way: Choosing a Path
- When we find a path that leads back to ourselves, we discover things anew
In 2002 I moved from Philadelphia to South Carolina. It was a time for a deliberate and conscious change. The beautiful natural landscapes of the Carolinas, Tennessee and Georgia all provided a sharp contrast to the harsh urban decay of what was becoming, in some parts, the City of Philadelphia. It was a very positive move for me, and I immediately embarked on a journey to rediscover some important sustaining elements of my life i.e. Mind, Body, Creativity and Spirit. I call them my Four Jewels. The very first thing I did when I arrived was go up into the mountains. I hiked, explored and found beauty, space and peace. Hiking as an adventure has a wonderful aspect to it, that is physical, emotional and exploratory. Grandfather Mountain in North Carolina is home of the Mile High Swinging Bridge and various trails. It is one of the highest peaks east of the Mississippi. While walking along the bridge, above the beautiful gorge below, one can begin the journey of self discovery. And in doing so, find a subtle, yet profound emergence of the meaning of man and nature as one.
The Narrow Way / The Bridge to Knowing
- The Narrow Way / The Bridge to knowing begins with your daily meditation practice
We often try to understand who we are through the process of knowing. In doing so, we come face to face with a peculiar dialectic. That peculiarity is how to bridge the awareness of being the knower and the known. To do this, one must understand that everything in awareness is known because of you. Our perception of the things around us is derived from an ever changing inherent existence. Things can never exist upon their own power, nor can the awareness of things be from the thinking mind alone. We exist in that place in between the two — You are Knowing. It is the state of Knowing that frees us from the misconceptions, the untruths of the object / known relationship and the subject / knower relationship. We begin the journey with our daily practice in meditation, and move forward when we let go of ourselves and the world around us and just Be That which Is.
Hopes, Dreams and Stolen Innocence
- A 2011 remix of the 1993 exhibit Life in Stolen Innocence
Lately, I have been thinking about the human condition. How we must see ourselves as the protectors of the young and the innocence throughout the world. How our society prevails, or should prevail in a time of moral entropy. How we must find the courage to uphold the moral reason for love and compassion. In this post entitled “Hopes, Dreams and Stolen Innocence” and the related post, “Maybe Tomorrow a Better Dream a Better Life”, I look back at works, from the past that I have created in the attempt to address these issues. In 1993, at Atlantic Community College, I exhibited my photo / text piece entitled “Life and Stolen Innocence” i.e. the fictional depiction of two young girls growing up simultaneously—one child living in a loving and sustaining home, and the other child in an abusive home environment. And in 2002 I revisited this examination with the digital collage “The Spark that Ignites Our Dream of Love Soon Fades Away”. Both works were an attempt to focus on the idealism of youth, in the shadow of dreams and hopes lost.
Life in Every Breath
Love and Compassion in the service of others for the post Life in Every Breath
Today I had the Honor of being of service to an individual, who over the years, I have come to love dearly. He has some special needs, and a heart to be filled with love. It is a beautiful thing what we discover in ourselves when we help others. I felt a great sense of well-being–finding its source in the expression of love through active compassion. In Buddhism, we learn that compassion is the wish for all sentient beings to be free from suffering and its causes, and that love is the wish for all sentient beings to have happiness and its causes. Let’s find a way together to build our hearts as one instrument in the service of others.
A horoscope perspective for a Gemini the twin / 1/13/2011
To see ourselves in multiple views, is to know ourselves as one
Astrologer Hunter Reynolds says that when you are at your best, you Geminis specialize in “enlightened impatience.” You don’t get trapped expressing polite deference in situations that drain your energy. You don’t tolerate boring experiences just because they’re supposed to be good for you. You’d rather “err on the side of learning-through-too-much-movement” than get bogged down in “principled sluggishness.” But while that’s how you are when you’re at your peak, you can also be susceptible to the dark side of this talent. Sometimes you abort a potential breakthrough by prematurely fleeing a useful but difficult scene. I suspect you may be prone to that kind of behavior right now. My advice: Be skeptical of your escape reflex.
Friends who move intrepidly through themselves are invaluable
Self portrait with dreadlocks circa: 1994
Hi Leslee,
What a remarkable blog you are contributing to us all. I am profoundly amazed at the way you have examined and expressed what we all go through i.e. the fears, the attachments, the expectations. The spiritual, artistic and philosophical understanding you possess is a joy to know and your sharing is transforming the way, we who know you, see ourselves. The fact that you are utilizing your intuitive knowledge and your years as a Buddhist Nun in moving forward, are a tribute to the recollection of the Higher Self.
I can relate to the experience of your “going to the salon,” in order to find yourself through change. In 1997 after eight years of having dreadlocks, I remember the decision to cut them. Wow, what a defining and prolific moment that was. I was sitting there watching years of love and care, of spirit and dedication fall to the floor. It had occurred to me as well, that this was a moment where my life was changing. Moments in life are a continuum of change. Transformation is a fact.
Art has always been a vehicle and tool for change, for transforming our misunderstanding into awareness. I appreciate so well your connected sense of being to your art as it mirrors my own. To have a friend who moves intrepidly through herself is invaluable.
Thanks for the great post and namaste.
Walter
The Mirrored Mind in Meditation
A view of ourselves through the reflection of relationship
Over the weekend, a spiritual mentor that I highly respect sent me an email. It was a very thought-provoking and beautifully written letter. I found myself musing over its content. Particularly the heart-felt examination of how our relationships are there as “sort of mirrors.” So we can “see” ourselves. Lately, in conversations with others, I am beginning to find that this as a defining aspect of a relationship is taking hold. It has profound meaning. Is it why we share ourselves with others? Is it the longing to know ourselves through relationship? What do we learn? We may never quite know how to maintain a relationship, nor how to uphold companionship, but we certainly and sometimes unwillingly do see ourselves in the mirror of that relationship.
In continuing the theme of the stillness of mind and in it, the revealing of self-awareness, I am posting this piece entitled “The Mirrored Mind in Meditation.”
Art and Place an Antidote for Violence
Lilies on the Lake 2011 Remix for the post Art and Place an Antidote for Violence
On Saturday January 8th 2011 an act of violence erupted that may well change the political landscape and its discourse. I am of course talking about the shooting, killing and wounding of numerous individuals as they participated in a town hall meeting with Arizona congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. The congresswoman, a centrist Democrat, was also critically injured in this senseless attack. A very sad day for America and my condolences go out to the families and friends. What does this act say about our society as we must press forward, while enveloped in a sphere of indifference, ignorance and hatred? What should a nation as a collective and a nation of individuals do? How do we respond? And will we demand that our politicians (the right in particular) stop putting their heads in the sand as they minimize and discredit the obvious i.e. that the shootings were politically motivated while fueled by an incoherent and troubled mind.
My suggestion today (and there should be many from all of us) is the focusing of the mind, seeing things as they really are, taking time to find ART and PLACE, and finding in the quiet centered mind, the antidote for violence. “Lilies on the Lake” and “The Lake in Quiet Meditation” are two pieces I created with the purpose of finding the quiet centered mind in the beauty of ART and the ambient sense of PLACE. There is stillness in nature and in the nature of the mind. We must actively pursue this solitude to increase our awareness of ourselves and the world around us. And in doing we step one moment closer to enhancing our world, creating love, not hate, and finding peace through compassion.
The Lake in Quiet Meditation, 2005 for the post Art and Place an Antidote for Violence
In memory of Robert Wulbrecht / a distinguished Highwire Artist
Robert working on translucent screens in preparation for the 19 American Artist exhibit in Berkgerk, Deventer in the Netherlands.
This post is dedicated to the memory of an artist that I came to know quite well during our stint as members of Highwire Gallery. The digital image I created here is from a photograph taken while several artists were preparing for the exhibit at the Bergkerk Gallery. There were a number of screens (I do believe three) that Robert created. When light was transmitted through the multiple screens they projected the image designed on the screens rather beautifully. One of my fondest memories of Robert was during our show at the Black Banana in downtown Philadelphia, January 7th 1994. Robert and I and fellow artist, Marita Fitzpatrick produced mixed media paintings and drawings. I created a video montage. During the time Robert and I knew one another we talked often about the creative arts, and its meaning and impact on our society.
Robert will be missed. His Spirit infused with love for life and art passed on from this plane of existence a few years back.
An alternative look at Robert in the process of creating the piece
Looking down from their ivy tower
The wealthy and the United States of Corporate America's historical assault on the middle class and the poor
I was communicating with a fellow artist who had indicated how frustrated she was with the state of our country, and decided to sell everything and move to Costa Rica to build a home, do organic farming, and participate in a re-foresting project. She is very happy, and I am proud of her for her commitment to the environment. But what about this assault on the middle class, on the poor, from Corporate America, the Tea Party, GOP and even some Democrats, and those who would strip the resources of our world, for their own self-gratification? How do we, the people, the true patriots fight back? I am appalled at the state of the union. And fearful. But not enough to stand down. The list of insidious machinations directed toward the dismantling of the middle class and the poor are many, and their origins date back decades even centuries. At the very heart of it all is the elimination of all the social constructs that the New Deal, the civil rights movement, the women’s movement, the gay movement, and most importantly—the right for all individuals to be free. It’s a tough world out there now. Let’s stand together, voice our dissent and rebel.
Reconnecting with members of Highwire Gallery
Found art exhibit from the "Island" on the Delaware River
It has been an interesting past few days. Via Facebook, I have been able to start reconnecting with members of Highwire Gallery. In the late 1980’s a group of artists joined together to create the Philadelphia Artists Cooperative which later became Highwire Gallery Inc. An innovative and cutting edge group of artists began finding unique places to exhibit their work in downtown Philadelphia. Some shows were in abandoned lumber yards and cathedrals, market places like the Reading Terminal, and various galleries, historical locales and even a found art exhibit on an island on the Delaware River. During this period, a bond among the artists, and a direction for the cooperative was formed. A permanent locale was founded in 1990 at the 2nd Street Art Building. The 2nd Street Art Building was a distinct hub of creativity with its housing of four galleries in Old City Philadelphia. Throughout the years and to this day Highwire, with its ever-changing host of artists, remains a vibrant and fresh creative force in Philadelphia.
I hope through this blog to connect with my fellow Highwire artists and invite them to talk about our experience together and their own creative pursuits since leaving the group. I am also interested in the thoughts and ideas of the artists that have sustained and promoted the co-op to this present day. As time evolves, it remains vitally important that our connection to our past is remembered, and that the ideas of those who hold the future of Highwire past through us all. In doing so we bring together as one, the words, vision, and thoughts that sustain us and the legacy of the Philadelphia Artist Cooperative.
The Mind in Conscious Meditation
From the series Chakra Flowers for Meditation 2009
The background image for my blog is one of the visual components for the final piece entitled: “The Mind in Conscious Meditation.” Over the past few years I have begun to meditate on the Dharma teachings of emptiness: the lack of independent or inherent existence. This is the ultimate nature or reality of all persons and phenomena. In 2009 I started a series of works entitled “Chakra Flowers for Meditation.” This series embodies the concept of mindfulness and nature as one–with flowers as one of its main abstract elements. Here is the final image in its completion.
An extraordinary weekend
a beautiful young lady pooh
This weekend has been very fruitful in many different ways. My daughter, Lady gave birth to a baby girl on Christmas day. What a beautiful thing on this sacred day. Shawn and Lady have decided to name her Ming Carter Ellis McFadden. I also found myself exploring new ground here on my blog. Discovering a great showcase theme for the blog and importing my own image for its background: elements from the piece entitled “The Mind in Conscious Meditation.” I will continue to edit the blog page until I incorporate all the components needed to create a beautiful and functional blog page.
n e w d i g i t a l s c a p e s 
