Art and The Sense of Confinement - #141

U. Htein Lin* reported that people don't understand his desire to reconnect with a sense of confinement. An artist, he believes the six years he spent in prison produced his best work.  
 
"I was completely cut off from art critics and an audience," he said in an interview. "I just did what I wanted. In the cell I found freedom. It was the most important time in my art career."

I find the "confinement" of publishing a blog post twice a week enables me to do what I want: I've always wanted to write. Lately, I've also been driven to capture images.  

My schedule isn't anything like prison (I've watched Orange is the New Black!). Nevertheless, I'm feeling the need for parole - until Blog Post 142 which will appear on January 9, 2014.

So until then, give yourself parole time from anything that confines you - and enjoy yourself. I'll look forward to 2015 and continuing to explore the mystery!

Thanks for exploring the mystery - Nicky Mendenhall


The above portrait of an Egyptian woman, by Howard G. Buffett, can be viewed at the Photography Exhibit, World Food Prize Building, Des Moines, Iowa.  To see more of his stunning portraits: www.40Chances.com

*New York Times International, December 7, 2014. Interview by Thomas Fuller.

Mid Week Interrogative

Last week's discovery, that asking questions of an art object establishes a relationship with it, continues to intrigue me. 

A Saturday morning visit to the majestic World Food Prize Building would have been the perfect opportunity to practice.  

I was so excited to be in the building that housed my favorite library when I moved to Des Moines - the biggest city I had ever lived in - that I forgot about asking questions of the art work and instead captured images and soaked up the atmospheric beauty. The image above is a section of a mural in the lower level.  

It was later that I asked the work what the horse was doing in the midst of the crowd? We are all animals was the message. The visible passion in people interested me. The colors. There is lots to learn from this one section.  

As for the word interrogative in the heading, it is to alert you to a fascinating book, The Interrogative Mood, which is 164 pages of questions.*

Here's a sample from page 48: "What are three basic things you need to be content in life? Would you rate yourself as more tired than you used to be or as a person who still has all the get-up-and-go that it takes? When offered meat or poultry with a stuffing or dressing, do you first taste the meat or poultry or the dressing? Do you favor a hemline above or below the knee? Has your position with respect to birders changed over the years or remained the same? If right now you were on your deathbed but not feeling too bad and could have some one thing brought to you, what would it be? Do you like flannel? Is there a location or locale on earth you consistently think of as preferable to the one you are usually in? If asked to draw a circle, will you freehand it of effect a compass with the tools at hand? When you trap a rat in a spring trap, to you feel triumphant or bad?"

That wasn't even a full paragraph! 

In this holiday season, ask questions of art and of the people you meet and of yourself, then listen. Ask yourself if you need to take a break and get some rest. Let me know how questions work for you.

Thanks for exploring the mystery of questions. Nicky Mendenhall

*The Interrogative Mood by Padgett Powell (2009)

The Envelope Please - #140

There's no doubt about it - the final message from Lenore metrick-chen, my former docent instructor, has changed my relationship with art. 

Here are her wise words:

"The main idea is that you need to start with the art - ask questions of the artwork, see what questions it leads you to ask. Eventually you might ask a question that requires an answer within the artist's life, or within a broader cultural understanding or one that needs more history - and then of course by all means continue research outside of the art.

"But the biography of an artist is not an explanation of the art. It is not the meaning of the art (which changes each time you develop your understanding by asking another question).

"Start with the art."

 She suggests, "after an initial meeting with the art, we read as much as possible. Biography. History. Art Critics. Not to explain the art but to let it speak even more fully." 

It is a shift for me to relate to art for itself. There's no secret formula for deciding whether of not the art is good. I'm feeling excited that an art object is as worthy of attention as any person I meet. I don't judge people by their parents, why should I judge an art work by its creator.  

The more time we spend with a person, the better we know them and the more we can step back and let them speak for themselves. I bet it will be the same with an art object.  "Long looking" is recommended by Jeanette Winterson in Art Objects.

Does any of this make sense to you? Will this change your relationship with art? How? Please share so we can learn from you. Reply to this email or click on the underlined exploring the mystery below to access the comment section.

Thanks for exploring the mystery - Nicky Mendenhall

Mid Week Elephant Help

"I am a rider on the back of an elephant.......

"I'm holding the reins in my hands and
by pulling one way or the other I can tell the elephant to turn, to stop, or to go. 

"I can direct things, but only when the elephant doesn't have desires of his own. When the elephant really wants to do something, I'm no match for him."*

What a great metaphor!

My elephant needs lots of cajoling before it will actually take a walk in the cold, work on learning Balance Gym, or address Christmas cards.

This time of year my elephant desires sugar. Once I give in, there's no stopping him.  

Introduce yourself to your elephant. Get to know him. I'm betting that he's more active this time of year.

Thanks for exploring the mystery - Nicky Mendenhall


*Cal Newport's blog, Study Hacks, is a favorite because his discipline to plan every hour intrigues and horrifies me. Cal attributes the elephant story to the first chapter in Jonathan Haidt's, The Happiness Hypothesis.


          

ART: Black or White? - #139

In the last few posts, I've been sharing my confusing art issue and silly pictures.  I'm clearer now so here's the issue in a few words (you're on your own with the pictures): Why/how is it problematic to use an artist's life to evaluate his/her work?  

If you ask: "where did that question come from?" I will tell you:

Des Moines Art Center docent class instructor.  In 2002, we were forbidden (that's how strong I heard it) to judge art work by the artists' life.   

Sometimes, I fail to recognize "an infusion of simplicity"*  that slips over me manifesting itself in how I receive instruction.  

"An infusion of simplicity" makes it possible to see things in black and white. It flattens out layers. It is not an infusion I recommend.

Deciding to further investigate what I remembered from class, I found a working email address for the instructor and wrote her asking for clarification. 

In the meantime, while reading Art Objects: Essays on Ecstasy and Effrontery** by Jeanette Winterson, I had an epiphany!  

Winterson suggests when an artist creates art, he/she creates it in a separate reality. The "art" is then a reflection of the separate reality - not of the artist's life. Does this make sense to you?

Late breaking news: I received an answer from the instructor - a delightful message that I will share next numbered post - probably not midweek.  I want to get her permission to share her name and that may take time.

And we have lots of time. Please be sure and share your thoughts on any and all issues we discuss. It's how I learn.

Thanks for exploring the mystery - Nicky Mendenhall

*Thanks to Ann and Barry Ulanov for the phrase an "infusion of simplicity" found in Religion and the Unconscious (1975), page 38.

**Isn't that a delightful title? 1995.

Midweek Meows*

 

Have you noticed the last few exploring the mystery posts are exploring art? 

Here is a variation of the question I posed in Surprise Bonus Post: What is the relationship between the artist's work and their life?

And while I have your attention: Do you think the above image is art?

If you determine that there is a relationship between the artist's work and their life and you think the above image is art, tell me about my life.

This image is possibly the silliest image I have ever received. 

Christine Valters Paintner writes, "taking" photos with the head is often an act of analysis or grasping......"receiving" photos with the heart is an experience of grace.**

Are you practical and wrestling with the question: What is art for anyway? Send me all your ideas, positive or negative (and your silliest image).  

Thanks for exploring the mystery - Nicky Mendenhall

*My midweek dream: After hearing kittens meowing in my silk purse for several days, I decide to investigate. As soon as the purse is open, an elegant full grown purple cat makes her way across the room. (I'm open to dream analysis should any of you feel so moved.)

**Gratitude to Christine Valters Paintner and her book, Eyes of the Heart, for these ideas.

Surprise Bonus Post: BODY OF ART

A dedicated and resourceful exploring the mystery reader was kind enough to send me a CBS video link which I want to share with you - Body of Art: Meet Performance Artist Marina Abramovic. The interview aired today, November 30, at 9:45 A.M. (in case the link below doesn't work maybe you can locate it).  

I loved seeing Marina and hearing her voice. During the program, an assumption is made that Marina's childhood experiences are responsible for the direction her performance art has unfolded. Do you think this is true? 

Does an artist's work explain the artist's life? 

I would love to know what you think as we may be exploring this question in future posts. Email me or comment on blog comment section which you can reach by clicking on exploring the mystery that is underlined below.


For the interview with Marina - click on underlined words below and then again on the blue line that pops up beneath it if needed.

http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/body-of-art-meet-performance-artist-marina-abramovic/

Thanks for exploring the mystery - Nicky Mendenhall

Constable Inspires Layered Approach - #138

WSJ headline, "An Artist, Inspired and Inspiring"  intrigued me. Turns out the article promoted the exhibit,"Constable: The Making of a Master," (an exhibit through January 11, 2015, at the Victoria and Albert Museum).  

Tour of London, 2011. Final stop for day: Victoria and Albert Museum.  To observe paintings and ceramics throughout the massive building, it was necessary to walk miles and miles. I didn't know until recently that John Constable (1776-1837) was Britain's best-loved artist or I might have ignored my sore feet and fatigued body (mostly what I remember about the V & A) and rallied to locate a Constable.

The article mentions Constable worked and reworked other painter's ideas, often giving them as much attention as he gave his own work. He grappled with the complex subtleties of ideas put forth by others.

Not only that, Constable worked to make his paintings convey the layered complexity of nature. 

He was ahead of his time. 

What a guy! 

He knew how to shift his attention from passive attention to active attention. Active attention is the focus of today's mindfulness. Pay attention, be in the Now. Slow down and pay attention.

My goal is to slow down enough to consider that most of what I deal with comes in layers.  When we slow down enough to pay attention, it is obvious that paying attention to the surface layer of most things is not enough. There is always more to consider.

Do you have a Constable hanging in your living room? Would you like to have a Constable? Do you know a constable? Do you practice active attention? If you meditate and follow your breath or a word you chose and return to it over and over during your meditation, you are practicing active attention. Do you pay attention to layers? Please let me know by replying to this message or going to blog and posting in comment section.

Thanks for exploring the mystery - Nicky Mendenhall

The above image is to represent the complexity of nature and is not a Constable. Google John Constable to see his work. 

Midweek: What Does Life/Art Ask Of Us?

"When you commit to a life in the arts or to any field that demands your full creative involvement and your largest meaning investment - whether as a research physicist, inventor, poet, activist, investigative reporter, or country-western singer - then you have made a deal with yourself that you will spend years, decades, even a whole lifetime in the pursuit of real results, excellence, and success, however you might define or measure these. You have said to yourself, "I am authentically involved in this. This matters to me."*

What is life/art asking of you this week? 

Thanks for exploring the mystery - Nicky Mendenhall

*Creativity for LIfe by Eric Maisel, Ph.D. 

What Does It Take To Be A Great Artist? - #137

 "You know how you know you're an artist? It's like breathing, it's a necessity...but that doesn't make you a great artist. It just makes you an artist."  

 (Quote from WSJ interview Marina Abramovic) 

Marina divides people into two classes: "originals" (like herself & a man I met on nature path who was tickled pink to be photographed - see image above) and "those who follow." 

"Being a great artist requires total sacrifice of everything and loneliness."

Marina exclaims with a laugh (according to he interviewer Alexandra Wolfe) that she has fulfilled these requirements: "I'm single, divorced, have no children, and spend much of my time traveling."

Naifeh and Smith's biography of Vincent Van Gogh captivated me for 868 pages.  Vincent was a great artist. Vincent was lonely and sacrificed for his art.  

What does it take to become a great artist, turns out to be a sobering question.   

Have you ever wanted to be an artist of any kind? What held you back? What do you think it takes to become a great artist?

Thanks for exploring the mystery of art - Nicky Mendenhall

Midweek: The Real Magdalena Abakanowicz

My attraction to Flock II has a long history.  Shortly after moving to Des Moines in 1977, I became fascinated with the idea of contemplation. As a mother of three there wasn't a lot of time to practice this big word but when I discovered The Des Moines Art Center, I knew I had found a place to practice.

My first stab at contemplation was when I contemplated the headless statues. What on earth were they about? What was the artist trying to express? It was almost embarrassing to like them so much. The more time I spent with these guys, the more I noticed how different each one was.  

When I became a docent in 2002 and was given the assignment to study a piece of art and make a presentation to the other docents, I headed straight to the headless wonders, trying not to knock into them, a definite docent no-no.

When researching this work, I learned that the artist, Magdalena Abakanowicz, was born on her family's estate in Poland. When she was nine, she watched the violent takeover of the family estate by German troops.  


Exploring the mystery of Flock II with all of you in exploring the mystery has been satisfying to contemplate. I'm contemplating why these figures mean so much to me. 

Is there a piece of art that you like but can't explain why? Do you spend time with art? Are you learning to tell the difference between Magdalena Abakanowicz and Marina Abramovic?

Thanks again for responding to my emergency plea. I still haven't located the subscriber list but the service seems to be working nevertheless. 

Thanks for exploring the mystery of art - Nicky Mendenhall

Magdalena Abakenowicz 

The Flock II

Burlap and resin; dimensions variable

Permission given by Des Moines Art Center Permanent Collections: Purchased with funds from the Edmundson Art Foundation, Inc.m 1992.36

Photo Credit - Rich Sanders, Des Moines

The Delicate Phrase: Don't Look Away - #136

Your first instinct, when viewing Marina Abramovic's provocative  performance art, will be to avert your eyes.  

I can hear astute exploring the mystery readers saying: "Not me, I won't look away!" 

But before you bet the ranch, consider this:

In a retrospective of her work at New York's Museum of Modern Art in 2010, WSJ reports visitors were asked to brush up against nude performance artists in close quarters. Meanwhile, in MoMa's grand atrium, Marina sat perfectly still, staring straight into the eyes of visitors who lined up to sit across from her.  

Her next exhibition will focus on sensory deprivation as an antidote to the fast pace of modern life. Isn't it interesting that she wants to slow down too?

Marina wants to wake up her audience and if this means they are uncomfortable, this doesn't concern her. I imagine she often murmurs "Don't Look Away" when circulating among her fans.  

The question posed (November 4 post), "when would you say Don't Look Away" elicited no answers.  

This wasn't a total surprise; it was a delicate question. The surprise came this week when a situation showed me how difficult and how rewarding it is to say: Don't Look Away. 

When Feedburner stats said exploring the mystery had 0 subscribers and I couldn't find your names on a subscriber list, I needed help.

In effect I was saying, "I'm in trouble here. Don't Look Away!"

And you didn't. As your "got it's" came into my inbox, I understood how important Don't Look Away can be. And I understood how risky it feels to say, Don't Look Away.

Do you look away when you need to keep looking? Do you know what it feels not to be seen?

Thanks for exploring the mystery and not looking away. 
                                                      - Nicky Mendenhall

Image above on Pacific Beach this fall. My favorite restaurant, The Green Flash, was named for what happened when the sun set. In order to see it, you couldn't look away! FYI - the restaurant closed and I was very sad. The end of an era.

Mid week: this might be an emergency

This morning I was "messing around" with Feedburner and fear I have erased all of the email addresses on subscriber list. My pain is visceral.  I can't bring myself to write a regular post because I don't know if it will be delivered.

If you do receive this Mid week greeting - I would be eternally grateful if you would hit reply (to the email you received).  If you tell me you have this email, you will have my undying gratitude.

If you didn't receive anything from me on Wednesday morning - I hope you made your way to exploring the mystery blog and will figure out that you need to subscribe again - look under my picture where it says "follow by Email" - under that put in your email address and hit submit.  You may have to prove you are not a robot. When you pass this test and hit submit, you will receive an email from Feedburner with a link inside that you need to/ have to click on to complete the subscription.

I'm hoping that you won't look away! 

Image illustrating the weather today.

nickymendenhall.blogspot.co

One More Deception - #135

   

I hope since we were last together, you have not been holding your breath in anticipation that this post would reveal who said:    

"Don't look away," 

Because instead of the answer, get ready for a new contest:

 Tell us a situation where you might need/want to say: 

"Don't look away"?   

The prize for the most creative answer: Diane Durston's Wabi Sabi: The Art of Everyday Life.

As you ponder your answer, enjoy the picture above - one received by my camera last year. Then continue reading to learn more about art and me.  

Flummoxed is a word I don't use often but one that describes my feelings since I discovered that Marina did not create Flock II. Have any of you seen Flock II in Pei Gallery at the Des Moines Art Center? If you have, please share the feelings it aroused in/for you. Or if you can't make it to Pei, go to www.NickyMendenhall.blogspot.com and scroll to Post 134.

I would have never mistaken Abramovic for Abakanowicz if I would have known about the Abakans (1966-75). The abakans, so-called after her own name, were enormous three-dimensional hanging structures woven from a variety of fibers.

Abakans have been referred to as not only objects but also spaces. Sculpture as space! How interesting!  Google "images of abakans" for a look at them.

The lesson in all this - don't shy away from mistakes - they will teach you something!

When you enter the contest above, please tell me some of your most profitable mistakes. It will comfort me!

Thanks for exploring the mystery of mistakes  -
                                                                Nicky Mendenhall

Please Look Away!

Early in the twenty-first century, I resigned my volunteer docent position at the Des Moines Art Center. 

A few weeks into my retirement, I read an article about artist Marina Abramovic. Here was a familiar name! I remembered her difficult to pronounce last name when describing her work, Flock II, to fellow docents. And now here she was doing performance art!  I marveled that she could do so many things!

For the next several years, every article about Marina further cemented my bond with her. I knew her real work - it was at the Des Moines Art Center!

In my new Des Moines Art Center Collects seven pound book, the vital statistics of the artist who created Flock II, the work I described in my presentation, didn't make sense to me.  It said she was born in 1930. How could this be? The latest article reported that she was 67. And when I looked closely, her name was Magdalena Abakanowicz.

Yes, years ago I mistakenly decided that Marina Abramovic was Magdalena Abakanowicz - the Polish artist of my docent presentation. 

If you conclude the rushing I've been accusing myself of in the last few posts is true, I would have to agree. 

All I can promise you is that since my error has given me intimate knowledge of both artists, I will share some tidbits about each of them with you. Next post you will learn whether Marina or Magdalena said, "Don't look away!" And you will also learn the   shocking circumstances that made her say it.

Thank you for exploring the mystery with me - Nicky Mendenhall

Don't Look Away! - #134

This afternoon, for about forty-five minutes, I inhabited the Des Moines Art Center, Pei Gallery.

While propped up against the back wall, I thought: "I am slowing down." 

Later, sitting in the guard's chair (he offered), I murmured to myself: "I am slowing down."  

Then when Mickey Koch asked me to wait ten minutes while she printed off permission form and emailed me image you see above, I said outloud,* "I am slowing down."

In the Weekend Confidential section of the WSJ, October 25-26, 2014, there was an article about Marina Abramovic (WSJ spelling). Fascinated by her work,The Flock II, as a docent I chose her work to study and then make a presentation to fellow docents. Terrified beyond belief to speak to such a distinguished group, I don't remember anything I said.

When I read the article, I felt like I was reading about my cousin. In fact, she is nearly my age! And in addition, she spoke about slowing down!

Next blog post, I will explain the phrase don't look away, tell you about her shocking performance art and more about the work you see above but for now - I want to slow down and go out for dinner. I'm feeling mellow.

Can you give me an example of a time this past week when you slowed down? What was it like?

Thanks for exploring the mystery - Nicky Mendenhall

Magdalena Abakenowicz (DM Art Center spelling)

The Flock II, 1990

Burlap and resin; dimensions variable

Permission given by Des Moines Art Center Permanent Collections: Purchased with funds from the Edmundson Art Foundation, Inc.m 1992.36.a-ii

Photo Credit - Rich Sanders, Des Moines

*You may remember when my email newsletter title was Living Out Loud. 

Mid Week Question: You A Robot?

As I attempt to publish comments in the comment section of exploring the mystery, Google keeps asking me to prove that I am not a robot. How irritating is that?  

I'll answer my own question: Pretty darn irritating. 

Last week I asked you for help deciphering Rilke's last line (Post #133). Later it occurred to me that in asking that question, I had behaved like a robot.  

How was I acting like a robot?

I didn't make time to contact my inner self (robots don't have inner selves). Instead I mechanically followed my old pattern of not slowing down.   

As a consequence, I was rude to my inner self.

Much to my surprise, I felt angry when your answers to the question arrived in my inbox. 

Why were there feelings of anger? 

I am always thrilled and affirmed to hear from readers. I feel we are beginning to develop an interactive community here at exploring the mystery. You all amaze me with your wisdom and courage. I love feedback. What was going on?

To discern what the anger was related to required me to slow down. When I felt into the anger, it was clear that my inner self  felt cheated - it wasn't given an opportunity to wrestle with Rilke.  

And what was really hard to stomach? I had nobody to blame but myself. It was me who didn't slow down and give myself time with the last line.

Once again I learn the importance of slowing down.  

Is there anything you rush past that results in your inner self feeling neglected? I'd love to know and I won't be mad! This post helped me understand one of the ways I abandon myself. Sharing with you helped me and I hope if you share with me it will not only help me but help you!

Reply to this email or go to the blog by clicking here.

Thanks for exploring the mystery - Nicky Mendenhall

Counter Cultural Slowness: Endorsed by Rilke - # 133

On this peaceful foggy Friday morning, leaves model the beauty of slowness as they float through the air.  Drawn by a mystical force, conventionally known as gravity, their landing is cushioned this year by bright green grass.

I am reminded of Mason's comment on my birthday card: "The trees are changing color here and dropping their leaves, but mostly due to convention, as its still quite warm."

Slowing down is against convention in our culture. Slowing down is seen as necessary and conventional in most spiritual practices. 

Rilke can be unconventional. See what you think - that is if you slow down enough to read his words below. I'm predicting the quote may scare you off (it would have me in the past) because it looks suspiciously like a poem.  

Let Life Happen to You

"What should I say about your tendency to doubt your struggle or to harmonize your inner and outer life?

My wish is ever strong that you find enough patience within you and enough simplicity to have faith.

May you gain more and more trust in what is challenging, and confidence in the solitude you bear.

Let life happen to you.

Believe me: life is in the right in any case."

I'm not certain I understand Rilke - especially the last line. If you have ideas about what it means, please email me or comment in comment section. One thought is when I'm rushing, I don't have patience as Rilke wishes for us.

Are you slowing down yet?

Thanks for exploring the mystery - Nicky Mendenhall

Furnborg, Jonsered, Sweden, November 4, 1904, Letters to a Young Poet. Discovered in A Year With Rilke 2009).

midweek slowing of heart

What Nicky would have said in the past: A poem, especially if sandwiched in a paragraph, doesn't warrant my attention.  

What Nicky would say now: Poems touch and connect with more than my mind. They deserve my attention.

The poem below has much to offer us. Pay attention to the images and sounds that it evokes in you. Slowing down to read it reminds me of how I had to slow down in order to recognize grief (in post #132). I am beginning to appreciate the benefits of slowing down and the gifts one can find in poetry.

Quiet of the Heart, you are

Calm as a falling feather,

Serene as dusk's fading light,

Tranquil as the opening rose,

Restful as a cooing dove,

Gentle as the softening rain,

Hushed as a sleeping babe,

Peaceful as a blade of grass.

When I cease my foolish pace

I enter your undisturbed stillness.*

Do you tend to get caught up in the fast pace of life or do you slow down to savor? Let me know how you benefit from slowing down in the comments section or reply to this email.

Thanks for exploring the mystery - Nicky Mendenhall


*Reading for September 27 in Fragments of Your Ancient Name. 2011, Joyce Rupp.

Tripped Up By Sneaky Loss Component - #132

Vacations are chock full of transitions. The most difficult one for me?  The first few days when I return home.

It's not because I don't want to go home. I love my contemplative, quiet, peaceful, rich life.

Here's what makes the coming home transition difficult for me: An internal driven-ness that pushes me to get everything back to normal ASAP and (I am beginning to discover) unrecognized grief.

The driven-ness forces me to sort the mail, pay the bills, unpack and de-sand the suitcases, launder the clothes, and then put them away.  

I am beginning to speculate that all the pressure I put on myself to accomplish tasks when arriving home is not entirely my perfectionism at work. The tears that well up in my eyes when I wonder what else is driving me, feel like tears of grief.

To remember the connection shared with adult children and the bonding that took place with precious grandchildren while at the same time remembering how long it will be until we see each other again is a difficult emotional place. Who wouldn't rather work themselves to exhaustion?

Let me know how you handle transitions. Is there a component of grief for you?

Thanks for exploring the mystery - Nicky Mendenhall

magic - #131

Magic

Watch with glittering eyes

the whole world around you

because the greatest secrets 

are always hidden in the

most unlikely places. 

Those who don't believe

in magic will never find it.

First Sip Sep 26 Ronald Dahl

Thank you for exploring the mystery - I'm on vacation so posts may be few and far between for a week or so. Let me know what your glisttering eyes see!  Nicky Mendenhall

Mid Week Drift of Melancholy

I appreciate how the first three lines of Mary Jo Salter's poem speak of the difficulty I have staying in the moment,especially 80 degree September days. Somehow the heat makes anticipating cold winter days even more onerous. 

While appreciating the change of seasons,  I feel a little melancholy tonight. The temperature is dropping and it is dark at 7:00. 

Are you able to stay in the moment when the seasons change? 

According to my Tai Chi instructor Ruth Kneile, there is season between summer and autumn and then another season between autumn and winter; the in-betweens are represented by the bear.   Picture a room full of bears approaching dangerous intersections. Oh the fun of Animal Frolics! 

Let me know how you handle dangerous intersections and season changes. Reply to this email or go to blog: www.nickymendenhall.blogspot.com and leave a comment. 

How hard it is to take September
straight--not as a harbinger
of something harder.

Merely like suds in the air, cool scent
scrubbed clean of meaning--or innocent
of the cold thing coldly meant.

How hard the heart tugs at the end
of summer, and longs to haul it in
when it flies out of hand

at the prompting of the first mile breeze
It leaves us by degrees
only, but for one who sees

summer as an absolute.
Pure State of Light and Heat, the height
to which one cannot raise a doubt,

as soon as one leaf's off the tree
no day following can fall free
of the drift of melancholy.

*Found this poem on Brain Croft's, "Barnstorming: Finding Sanctuary in the Seasons of Rural Life". This is a blog I recently stumbled on and would recommend if you enjoy good photography and poetry.

Thanks for enjoying the mystery - Nicky Mendenhall

And Now For Something Completely Different - #130

Rather than buckling down to create today's post, I went for a walk. 

I would like to report my time outside was full of introspection, observation, connections between my head and my heart, full of experiential meaning, and that my organizing purpose made itself known.

But that would not be true.

I may have chosen to go for a walk but there was no controlling where the walk would take me. Addictions are like that. Despite other plans, my tennis shoes made a beeline toward the Urbandale Kiwanis Club free library pictured above.

While today was not my first visit, it was the first time I gave into temptation. Beneath a Marble Sky by John Shors practically jumped from its perch into my arms. While I don't consider John my BFF, I would like to point out that his brother was on my son's tennis team.  

My sense is I was obligated to take this book home with me.  

My solemn pact to read every book in my personal library before I check out, means each book I pick up extends my life.

If you want to get a head start on the next few post questions, begin thinking introspectively, developing powers of observation comparable to Sherlock Holmes, merging your head and heart, making meaning of your experience, and claiming an organizational purpose all your own. 

And be sure to let me know how you justify your addictions plus what you discover when you are introspecting. Hit reply to this email or provide a comment on the blog.

Thanks for exploring the mystery - Nicky Mendenhall

Recipe For Moving From Adolescence to Adulthood

"Every one is born with a mind but it is only through introspection, observation, connecting the head and the heart, making meaning of experience and finding an organizing purpose that you build a unique individual self."*

Do you agree? I attempt to practice and include all of the above in my life but I have to realize that I can't do these and everything else that I want to do.  Letting go in order to have time for these essentials is hard and I'm not always successful. Do you make time to practice and include these suggestions? What gets in your way?

Let me know in the comment section or reply to this email. Thanks in advance for your response. I learn from you.

Thanks for exploring the mystery - Nicky Mendenhall

*Quote is  a vision of how to move from adolescence to adulthood found in William Deresiewicz's book, Excellent Sheep: The Miseducation of the American Elite and the Way to a Meaningful Life.

Was That A Question I Hear? - #129

Pondering the shut-my-mouth pledge made MidWeek led to this startling realization:

People don't ask questions.

People tell stories. People share experiences. People obsess about difficult decisions. People grumble when confronted with local and national news.  

If a person is describing something I've been through or if I happen to strongly agree or disagree, my compulsion to interrupt their story and tell my story is a temptation comparable to resisting binge watching The Good Wife on my I Pad.  

And since we humans all face similar inner and outer experiences, I will undoubtedly relate to what is being said and want to open my mouth.  

If I hear people telling, sharing, obsessing, or grumbling, I think they might want my input.

While the sentence in the image at the top of the page may look like a question, if you look closely you will note there is no question mark.  

The next time someone talks to me, I'm going to listen for the question mark.  

How do you decide when it is helpful to share your story? Do you ask questions? Do you have someone to listen to you? When do you open your mouth? Is it hard for you to listen to others?

Thanks for exploring the mystery - Nicky Mendenhall

Mid Week Question:Can Nicky Keep Her Mouth Shut?

"Healing not as the elimination of disease, but as a falling in love with the poignancy of being alive: taking the great injured heart of the world for my own and coming to respect the essential mystery of life, so that my answer to many questions is "I don't know," and this not knowing is a form of generosity."*

Isn't it an interesting idea that saying I don't know, in response to a question we are asked, turns out to be a generous way to give space to the other to decide for themselves?

My know-it-all voice is never at a loss when someone asks me a question about relationships. Maybe it is an occupational hazard. 

When I can listen and respond with sympathy or empathy instead of proclaiming the answer, my body relaxes. I feel better sharing the mystery rather than solving it. After all, isn't the idea exploring the mystery?

Thanks for your loyalty and support - Nicky Mendenhall

From an article entitled Body of Radiant Knots: Healing as Remembering by Joan Iten Sutherland. I copied just one page and don't remember what book it was in. Sorry.

Walking To Water Takes Time - #128

Burtynsky* describes this stepwell (a passive system designed for collective access to underground water) in Rajasthan as an example of beautiful architecture from the 1600's. Isn't it amazing?

Monsoon rains in India last up to 12 weeks and fill these wells via underground aquifers. After the monsoons, the cistern** is full.    

Look closely and you will see people moving towards water.

When the British introduced pumps and communal taps in the1850's, structures such as these no longer continued as sites for social and religious gatherings but became garbage pits or latrines.

During the severe drought of the 1980's, Burtynsky reports that many requests were made to restore these stepwells. These requests were a serious look to the past in an effort to overcome the water challenges of the present and the future.

Getting to know Burtynsky has helped me learn about water and the creative process in a deeper way. I say getting to know him, not merely getting to know his work, because hearing his unassuming, kind, passionate, confident voice on my app made him a mentor. 

The Water project took him five years. He didn't grouse about the time. Good work takes time. Good creative work takes more time.

Have you ever spent real quality time on a project of your choice? Could you trust your intuition to find images of water as Burtynsky did? 

Sometimes I think about writing a book but the time, energy, and focus this would require overwhelms me.

What about you? What are you willing to spend your time creating?
Please let me know your thoughts by going to the comment section or hitting reply to this email.

Thanks for exploring the mystery - Nicky Mendenhall

*Burtynsky Water exhibit, Nahargarh Cistern, Jiapur, India.
** Your toilet tank is a cistern!

It is Mid Week - What Are We Here For?

"We are here to be eccentric, different, perhaps strange, perhaps merely to add our small piece, our little clunky, chunky selves, to the great mosaic of being."*

Let the above quote and image bring a chuckle to your clunky, chunky self as you enjoy being yourself!

*What Matters Most: Living a More Considered Life (2009), James Hollis, PH.D. 

Thanks for exploring the mystery - Nicky Mendenhall

Absence or Presence? - #127

Have you have noticed in many of the photographs I've chosen from Burtynsky's Water exhibit, you don't see water?

I'd like to suggest, absence can affect us as much as presence.  

We might say: absence is presence.  

I heard the phrase, "absence is presence" for the first time as a docent in training for the Des Moines Art Center. I'm not sure I even understood the phrase at the time, but my body registered it as true and my mind never forgot it.

Through the years since, I've begun to understand more of what it means to me. The first time my siblings and I gathered to play Pepper after our Dad died, we could feel his absence. And he was very present.

Burtynsky writes that he chose water as a subject after working in Australia - the first continent in this era to begin drying up. So the absence of water brought it to his attention.

What does this phrase suggest to you? Is there presence in absence or absence in presence? Both?

Have some fun with the phrase and let me know what you come up with. Hit reply to this email or go to the blog on the Web and enter a comment.

The image above is the Colorado River Delta #2. What we are seeing is the pumping action of the tides; the tree forms have etched themselves into the sand and they keep getting bigger and bigger as time goes on according to Burtynsky. (Information from my wonderful App.)

Thanks for exploring the mystery - Nicky Mendenhall

Mid Week Love Note

"Receiving love brings us to a place of vulnerability. 

That is why it is so difficult.

So often we live in the illusion that it is much easier to love than to be loved. We may think we can exercise a bit of control in loving another, but there is no control in being loved.

The ones who truly love us walk into our hearts, often unnoticed, unannounced, and then reveal to us how genuinely lovable we are.

And nothing feels more vulnerable than that."*

The beach picture is from Burtynsky's Water exhibit though it is not in the App. Use your imagination as to its location because I can't remember.

Thank you for exploring the mystery of water and love with me. Is it easy for you to accept love? Do you think that it is easier to give love? I would love to know how you feel about love!

*inward/outward, February 13, 2014. 
Visit: http://inwardoutward.org

Where Do I Stand? - #126

Edward Burtynsky reports new technology has liberated him to make a point of view anywhere he wants it to be.

Burtynsky creates his points of view by using remote helicopters, helicopters, lifts, fixed wing planes and 50 foot pneumatic poles to determine where he stands. The above image is of a Salt Aquaculture located in Cadiz, Spain.The area is considered a natural park and heritage zone but many of the traditional ponds have been abandoned. If not cared for, this landscape and its biodiversity may disappear through erosion and evaporation.

When I haven't been submerged in my Water App, I've been reading Creative Aging (2011). The author, Marjory Zoet Bankson, writes that as we age, it is likely we will need to choose a new point of view about life. Turning 70, she was delighted there was no longer a need to wait for someone to approve.

What if each of us took the point of view that as we age, we have more to offer the world? What if we believed that our experience and aliveness can nurture others?

Burtynsky says we have a deep human desire to be in the presence of water. I say we also have a deep human desire to be in the presence of aliveness. Bankson writes that our aliveness may act to bring people out of their doldrums, similar to how a baby can cheer up a room.

What is your point of view about aging? Does it need revised? Have you gone swimming this summer? Do you worry about the world's fresh water supply? What makes you feel most alive? Let me know in the comment section or send me an email.

Thanks for exploring the mystery of water and aging - Nicky Mendenhall