The Beginning Life, for me, began rather precariously and very nearly ended as soon as it began. As I entered the world, all of the normal techniques for encouraging a baby to breathe were not succeeding. I was, in the terminology of the day, a “blue baby.” According to my parents, in a last desperate … Continue reading Life: Mysterious or Mystical?
"We can only love what we know, and we can never know completely what we do not love. Love is a mode of knowledge..." Aldous Huxley The Secret Bench of Knowledge - A sculpture by Czech-born Canadian sculptor Lea Vivot - image from Vlastula's photo-stream on Flickr The image above caught my eye and my … Continue reading “Love is a Mode of Knowledge”
Title: Self Awareness: Size: 21.5” x 30.5”x 1.75": Media: acrylic, oil, collage & assemblage: Surface: canvas over masonite & board with wooden framework: copyright 2009 Lisa L. Cyr, Cyr Studio LLC, http://www.cyrstudio.com "The only right and legitimate way to (a mystical) experience is that it happens to you in reality and it can only happen … Continue reading Inner Worlds Within Worlds
Praetorian guard with sword and lance, wearing a cucullus (hooded cape) - Berlin, Pergamon Museum. Credits: Ann Raia, 2005 Since the first suggestion of the existence of ancient cultures in grammar school history classes, I have cultivated a fascination with what it might have been like to live as a member of ancient societies. As … Continue reading From Ancient History to Modern Consciousness
There is a stream of consciousness flowing within each of us that never ceases, nor diminishes throughout our years as self-aware sentient creatures. In our everyday awareness, we can be consciously connected to this stream to the degree that we seek it out, and as we attend to the matter of nourishing the path which … Continue reading The Universal Flow
Max Planck Florida Institute Study Shows: Persistent Sensory Experience Is Good For The Aging Brain Jupiter, FL May 24, 2012 "Despite a long-held scientific belief that much of the wiring of the brain is fixed by the time of adolescence, a new study shows that changes in sensory experience can cause massive rewiring of the … Continue reading Learning, Sensory Experience, and Consciousness
Steven Pinker is one of my favorite authorities on the origins, mechanisms, and behaviors of language, in spite of the fact that I often find myself in disagreement with some of his conclusions about how language explains many aspects of our human nature. It's beneficial to study the writing of people whose ideas are different … Continue reading When the brain doesn’t work right…When the brain doesn’t work–write!
Last glimpse of the setting sun by gracious (http://www.trekearth.com) Copyright: Ho Tony (gracious) Preparing to meet with darkness, as the light of day slowly recedes into the gentle evening, I am almost imperceptibly sliding into melancholy, mixed with a mild sense of relief to be without obligation of any sort for the moment. Regardless of … Continue reading Preparing to Meet with Darkness
Rising early this morning, feeling a twinge of sadness for some reason, I decided to attempt to penetrate the haze in my mind and attend to something productive anyway. I shuffled off to the kitchen, barely able to see, and started the morning routine of filling the coffee pot. It struck me as I did … Continue reading Coffee and Conventional Wisdom
Layered Perceptions: Mixed Media Digital Manipulation output on vellum and watercolor papers, pastel embellished, layered onto copper and wood. copyright 2008-2012. Adele Kurtz. All rights reserved http://adele-k.com/Home_Page.php Reviewing my personal journals recently, I once again encountered the writings of Carl Jung, the Swiss psychiatrist and author, whose arrival in my literary life sparked a renewal … Continue reading Perception and Transcendence
John's Consciousness 