Sensei and Sensibility

CELEBRATION OF SOLSTICE IS CELEBRATION OF LIGHT & COLOR, THE HEART OF HUMAN LIFE

The family origins of our ritualistic observance of the coming of the Winter Solstice began more than forty years ago when my sister made candles with the children.  Having made the candles, they wanted to use them, of course.  How better than with an annal conflagration to welcome return of the sun!

Gifts of candles quickly assumed the place of sand-cased ones.  However, though the source of the candles changed the desire to use them did not.

All these years later, members of my family gather still to welcome the return of the sun.  Enthusiasm for this behavior has not waned; indeed, invitations are sought after and prized!

The menu doesn't change.  It consists always of spaghetti with meat sauce, dilled green beans, a salad and peppermint ice cream with Christmas cookies.  

On Christmas Eve, several of us attended a late-night church service in which a darkened church came "back to light," one candle at a time.  It was dramatic and moving.

I asked myself, What is it about light that has the capacity to stir us so?  Almost immediately I was reminded of Marianne Williamson's quote:  

"...as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

With light comes evidence of who we are along with liberation from fear; with light comes the reappearance of color.  The presence and experience of color is at the heart of human life.

DARKNESS AND BRIGHTNESS DWELL IN BLUE LIGHT

From darkness to light, this is a cycle we experience daily.  It is one we take in stride.  The larger cycle, the one determined by the sun's journey around the earth, created more fear in the hearts of our forbears. Would the light return? What could they do to ensure the return of light?  So began some rituals my family have elected to continue.

I came to CA to celebrate the holidays beginning on December 21 with the welcoming of the return of the sun.  This brilliant blue sky, wherein darkness and brightness dwell, signaled what I had come for and the juxtapositioning of the palm tree was proof "you are not in New York any more."

Several days later, that truth was experienced in still another way.   Having worn a heavy NY kind of coat to California and to the Museum of Natural History in Los Angeles, I wanted to check it.  "I'm sorry, we don't have coat checks," I was told.  Welcome to a warmer clime! 

10 BOOKS I ENJOYED READING IN 2011

Last year at this time I posted a list of 10 books I had enjoyed reading in the course of 2010.  Herewith, find my listing for 2011:

1.  The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver

2.  Beloved by Toni Morrison

3.  Life of Pi by Yann Martel

4.  Day of Honey by Anna Ciezadlo

5.  Cleopatra: A Life by Stacy Schiff

6.  Nomad: From Islam to America by Ayaan Hirsi Ali

7.  La Seduction by Elaine Sciolino

8.  Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson

9.  A Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin

10.The Power of Purpose by Richard J. Leider

Eight of these books were read and discussed with members of a book club. Discussion always enhances my reading of a book.  Though the last two books in the list were not book club selections, they were so impactful that I talked about them far and wide!

THE MAGIC RING

Isamu Noguchi called this sculpture "The Magic Ring."  Of this piece, he wrote, "There are many ways in which elements may add up to become something more than the sum of their parts.  The actuality of tension may be superseded by its implication.  Here gravity became the glue, the ring a containment, something magic.  Merlin drew it in sand."

Recently my friend, Ariel, and I went to Long Island City to visit the Isamu Noguchi Garden Museum.  We were touched and moved by the elegance and power of his pieces.  The Magic Ring was a special favorite.

Imagine my surprise when Ariel gifted me with her drawing of the sculpture encircled with a quotation from the story, "The Faithful Gardener,"  by Clarissa Pinkola Estes.  In exquisite calligraphy, Ariel penned: REMEMBER. new seed is faithful.  it roots deepest in places that are most empty.  

BUSSELS SPROUT HASH WITH CARAMELIZED SHALLOTS

                              

While trolling for some new recipes for an upcoming brunch, I happened on Brussels Sprout Hash with Caramelized Shallots.  Since I had half a stock of Brussels sprouts in the refrigerator with not a clue about what I would do with them, I perked up.  Tonight I had the hash with poached egg for a light supper. It was delectable, my highest praise. See: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/photo/Brussels-Sprout-Hash-with-Caramelized-Shallots- 

 

HOW IS DECEMBER LIKE A SYMPHONY OR A QUARTET?

Recapitulation--The final section of a movement in sonata form in which the material of the exposition returns, transposed to the home key and resolved.  Rob Kapilow, author of What Makes It Great?

On December 1, I heard the Chanticleer Singers, an "orchestra of voices," twelve strong.  They performed in the Medieval Hall at the Metropolitan Museum.  That space, with the Spanish choir screen of 1763, evokes a church interior.  In December, the Christmas tree is there, too, with angels and the 18th-century Neapolitan Nativity scene.  It is a space suited perfectly for the Chanticleer Singers, a choral group who sing a cappella. Their sound resonates beautifully in this space.  This is my chosen way to begin the celebration of the holiday season.  Friday I'll hear the Messiah at Carnegie Hall, another of my favorite places for hearing soul-satisfying music. 

Perhaps because precious musical moments have so much to do with replenishing our spirits at Christmas, I've asked myself, How is December like a symphony or a quartet?  That's where the notion of recapitulation came in.  

In recapitulation, as applied to the month of December, we revisit the "melodies and themes" developed and explored earlier in the year.  At the year nears its end, these melodies and themes (friends, family, travel, cultural experiences and more) show up again, with surprises, like a Haydn quartet, theatrical and dramatic!

Metaphors transform the strange into the familiar.  They also work the other way around.  They can make the familiar strange.  I'm working the notion of recapitulation both ways.  This exercise is causing me to look for and to see new discoveries in December.  It is fun, too!

AND EACH OF THE FLOWERS SAID, "I WILL BE KING!"

Like a potluck dinner that works out magnificently without planning, for years my friend of flower practice and I have purchased materials independently and discovered they worked together in ways we found surprising sometimes, but always pleasing.  For our last practice, it was different.

Ariel brought shampoo ginger and I brought amaryllis.  We looked at these flowers, both of which "would be king," and I said, "We've got to the flower stall on the corner to get some additional material."  There we bought assorted greens and red berries.  These holiday arrangements were the happy result.

         
              

MY NEIGHBORHOOD (THROUGH THE LENS OF EZRA JACK KEATS)

I wouldn't have guessed that a visit to the Ezra Jack Keats exhibit at the Jewish Museum, an artist date for me, would result in my getting a fresh view of my neighborhood.  However, that is what happened.

Ezra Jack Keats was an author and illustrator.  He both authored and illustrated the gem of a children's book called The Snowy Day.  This book, published in 1962 at the height of the civil rights movement in the United States, was the first modern full-color book to feature and a black child as protagonist.  

The Snowy Day is a charming book, one that moved author Jacob Lawrence to write Mr. Keats saying he regretted not having a grandchild with whom he could share the book.  Accompanying text told the story of deciding whether to title the book The Snowy Day or A Snowy Day; however, because this was the child's first, The Snowy Day was chosen.  

The originals of the illustrations were on display.  Done in collage and featuring dramatic color, the artwork is stunning, simple, fresh and beautiful.  (It evoked wonderful memories of my own snowy days in Iowa along with a warm glow.)

Later, as I looked out the window by my desk, I envisioned the view as Ezra Keats might have seen it.  I simplified, edited out distractions, selected the shapes to emphasize and considered colors. I had never looked at the East River in quite this way.  This exploration of my neighborhood through his lens was satisfying, delightful and new.

                 

*The exhibit remains on view through January 29, 2012.  

STATUS REPORT ON CREATIVITY TUNE-UP

On September 1 I began my Creativity Tune-Up project.  Since then, I have written morning pages every day, enjoyed lots of "artist dates," Julia Cameron's name for 'a small adventure a little outside the flow of hurried time,' and walked this island where I live.  (Morning pages, artist dates and walking are the basic tools of Ms. Cameron's creative practice.)

What have I noticed so far?  I have engaged in the practice long enough to make it routine.  Though I enjoy mixing things up, this is different.  The morning pages have become ritual, a start of the day that is both switch and anchor.  I get out of bed, make a cup of coffee and write morning pages.  I don't think about it and I don't question, Why am I doing this? It is part of my being "learning ready" every day. Being learning ready, I believe, is as much a part of the creative process as inspiration.   

Not so long ago I began ending my morning pages with things I want to do during the day.  I noticed this list wasn't like a "To Do" list, a comprehensive, "vacuumed-up" recording of possibilities, past and future, with not a speck anywhere! The list at the end of the morning pages is an edited choosing of how I want to experience the day.  It is focused on the present.  I can it my "Ta Da" list!  A little thing?  Yes, and the impact is huge.

What we focus on flourishes.  

 

THANKSGIVING AS SPECIAL OCCASION AND AS ROUTINE

Most of the people I know, having anticipated and planned for Thanksgiving for quite some time, are now recovering from Thanksgiving.  Happily, that part is sweet, too!

Thanksgiving with my host and her family and friends was soul-satisfying--and the food was delectable (my highest praise)!  The gathering was multi-generational, something I always enjoy.

From the time Randye's children were small, she has engaged them in an exercise she called "3 kernels (now 5) of corn."  For each kernel, everyone at the table tells what he/she is grateful for.  (The number changed once her boys discovered they could say, "I'm grateful for family, friends and health!")   Anyway, it is a wonderful way to set the context for Thanksgiving and to engage everyone immediately.  Guests, young and older, answered in a heartfelt way.  It was thoughtful prelude listened to by all.

Life is good--every scrap of it.  I choose to make the giving of thanks routine, something I do every day. Happily, this doesn't preclude LOVING Thanksgiving as special occasion, one of my favorites!