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?
Vase of Irises, c.1890 By Vincent van Gogh Recently, for personal reasons, I have been digging through the memory archives in search of some understanding of my formative experiences, and the search brought me upon a written recollection of my experiences of my maternal grandmother. Many of my memories of visits with her are shared … Continue reading A Grandmother’s Love
The cherries in the bowl above were picked just outside the kitchen window in the back of my apartment in Germany years ago, but for me they have come to symbolize a great deal more than just a pleasing subject for photography. It was during this period of my life that I truly began to … Continue reading Another Bowl of Cherries
Back in 1976, I was living in what used to be called West Germany, in a quiet little town called Kaiserslautern, in an apartment on a quiet street which had a cherry tree in the backyard, right outside of the kitchen window. When the cherries were in full bloom, I could pick them off the … Continue reading Life is Just a Bowl of Cherries…sometimes.
"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
The yogis call this one unified essence Shiva. The force of creation within this absolute is the Divine Feminine http://www.expressionsofspirit.com/shiva-shakti.htm I am beginning to weave together some of the many lines of thinking that have been creating forward movement in my life. Comprehension along the way requires deliberate effort, and while we may understand how … Continue reading Currents of the Spirit
John's Consciousness 