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

Mid Week Piece of Advice & More Water

"Be Kind, For Everyone You Meet Is Fighting A Great Battle"*

If you have visited exploring the mystery , you may recognize a similarity between the image above and one featured on the blog heading.

This picture was created first thing this morning outside my office door. I was captivated by beautiful water drops especially because of our Water theme.

I was likewise captivated by Gloria Vanderbilt's quote above. The Dalai Lama has been quoted saying that his religion is kindness. Would you agree that kindness is necessary these days?

Do you remember that others are dealing with their own troubles and stresses - fighting their own great battles - when you are irritated by their behavior? Can you find opportunities to be kind today?

Thanks for exploring the mystery - Nicky Mendenhall

*Gloria Vanderbilt On Her Favorite Piece Of Advice. September 2014, More.com

Not A Dam Photo - #125

Alkaline water caresses my palette as my eyes devour the photographs in Burtynsky's Water exhibit.  

Pivot Irrigation/Ogallala Aquifer is pictured above. Isn't it beautiful in its precision?  

Last week I learned facts about dams that astonished me. Of course I found them while exploring  my new Water App. I'm going to share these facts even though I can't show you a Burtynsky's dam photo as evidently I didn't take one. 

Use your imagination - if you live in this area, think of Saylorville Dam on the Des Moines River for your visual (Saylorville Dam is 105 feet high or 32,004 metres).  

In our grandparents lifetime, virtually all of the rivers of the world ran free.

In 1900, there was not a single dam in the world higher than fifteen metres (15 metres is 49.2126 feet).

By 1950, there were 5,270 dams higher than 15 metres.

Thirty years later (1980), there were 36,562.

Today there are more than 800,000 dams, 40,000 of which are at least 15 metres in height.

Did your mouth drop open when you read those facts? Mine did. I've been thinking of my maternal grandmother who lived for 90 years. A photo of her dropped out of some papers I was looking through and I've been trying to decipher her expression.

Do you ever think of your grandparents? Do those statistics surprise you? Be sure and email me or go to blog comment section.

BONUS: Watch the trailer for Watermark - a film by Jennifer Baichwal and Edward Burtynsky - Try this link or go directly to youtube.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOPLs_ogF-0 - 

Thanks for exploring the mystery - Nicky Mendenhall

Midweek Treasure Hunt

"There are few treasures of more lasting worth than the experience of a way of life that is in itself wholly satisfying. Such, after all, are the only possessions of which no fate can deprive us; nothing can alter the fact that if, for one moment in eternity, we have really lived."*

To really live one moment in eternity takes courage. Do you have the strength to do what will really satisfy you? 

The woman in the picture looks determined to make it through the Melbourne "mouse hole" no matter how stressful or difficult. What "mouse hole" do you need to go through to create a satisfying life?

Thanks for exploring the mystery - Nicky Mendenhall

*Gratefulness.org., August 14, 2014. Eric Shipton.
.

A Water APP! - #124

There are experiences so vital to one's well being that it isn't a matter of how to make them happen again, but when. Driving out of town after my first visit to Burtynsky's exhibit, I saw Grinnell in the rear view mirror and began planning my return visit.  

My sister Nina had her own plan when she came to town last week:   eat a Marshalltown Maid Rite (with extra mustard)!  

Since Marshalltown and Grinnell are in the same general direction, it only made sense to satisfy both of our desires.

Right inside the door, Faulconer Gallery staff offered us an I Pad which featured an APP for the show!   

You can probably guess that I had to own this APP!

It is amazing. When I figured out the symbols, I felt like the world was open to me in a new way. I can see each picture, learn the location - even see it on a map, read information describing the image I'm seeing, and in most cases, listen to Burtynsky discuss his process.  

The photo above is of the Sacred Headwaters in British Columbia, Canada. This region is one of the last true wildernesses on earth, a vast landscape without roads.

Figuring out how the APP works has been satisfying and time consuming. If you have ever owned an APP, you will know why I'm out of time!  

Which experiences does it feel vital for  you to have again? Are you noticing how easy it is for us to obtain water? Were you shocked and saddened when Bill Stowe (Director of Des Moines Water Works) commented that it is not a question of if we will have an algae bloom, but when? Let me know your responses - I learn from each one of you!

Thank you for exploring the mystery - Nicky Mendenhall

Set Aside An Hour For Midweek Happiness!

Did you know standing up straight (otherwise known as good posture) is antithetical (mutually incompatible) to depression?*

Next time you feel yourself going into a slump (depression), check out your posture. 

I'm trying this advice tonight for tiredness. It seems that monitoring my posture is helping me breathe deeper and feel less tired. 

Let me know what you discover. Hit reply to this message or at the bottom, click on the words exploring the mystery to go to comment section of the blog with the same name.

Idea offered by Susan Piver. Check out her Open Heart Project at SusanPiver.com

Thanks for exploring the mystery - Nicky Mendenhall 

Can the Body Help Us with Judgments? - #123

 

The horrors of war and the effects on the body are vividly described and graphically illustrated in the Des Moines Register. When the bodies shown are in the Middle East, it is tempting to avert our eyes and conclude that the situation has nothing to do with us; there is nothing we can do.

exploring the mystery would like to suggest we take a discerning look at how many of our judgments contain the component of violence.

Today at the post office, one of the clerks caught my eye and made a condescending head nod in the direction of a young man he was waiting on. The customer was having difficulty understanding how to enter his name and address on the machine in front of him.

When it became clear to me that the clerk was attempting to seduce me to join him in his judgmentalness, my eyes narrowed as I angrily looked away. Quickly I judged that the clerk was a prejudiced man.

A small part of me wanted to make him pay.

I want to, instead of snapping to a judgment as I did, pause and connect to the physical sensations behind my judgment.

What would these sensations feel like? Tightness? Pain? Anxiety?

When I feel these feelings, what are my options?

Would my bodily sensations give me direction? 

Let me know how you handle your judgments. Reply to this message or go to the blog and leave a comment.

Thanks for exploring the mystery - Nicky Mendenhall


Photo from Water exhibition. Used with permission.















One more amazing picture from the Water exhibit at Faukoner Gallery.  

Midweek Encounter With Creativity

When we trust our creativity we encounter a supreme kind of enjoyment - an amazement at the natural unfolding of life beyond our ordinary way of looking at things.*

Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche

Do you trust your creativity enough to encounter enjoyment?
(tell me what happens when you trust.)

Do you think of life unfolding or being what it is because you control it?
(tell me how unfolding works for you and how you try to control life.)

Please reply to this email or go to blog (click on exploring the mystery) at end of this email to let us know about your relationship with creativity.

Thanks for exploring the mystery - Nicky Mendenhall

Photograph created by Edward Burtynsky from Water exhibit, Faulconer Gallery, Grinnell, IA.

*From Gratefulness.org, July 27, 2014

Hormones in the Air - #122

This week if you were on the hunt for testosterone and visited the Ash trees in my back yard (yes they are still there - pictured above), you would have hit the jackpot. A crew of virile young men tree trimmers, accompanied by equipment that looked to me vintage Star Wars, swarmed my trees. 

Personally a fan of the overgrown look, I was less than 100% enthusiastic when my partner praised the results. Perhaps this is the result of growing up with a Father that cut down or severely trimmed everything that showed any hint of life force.

Dan Harris, author of 10% Happier, entertained me when I wasn't watching the tree trimmers. The subtitle: How I Tamed the Voice in My Head, Reduced Stress Without Losing my Edge, and Found Self-Help That Actually Works, A True Story, accurately describes what the book covers. An easy read that made me glad that I meditate.

Enjoy summer!

Thanks for exploring the mystery - Nicky Mendenhall

Water IS on My Radar Midweek

1. 

   Rice Paddy in China
   
   

   Ever notice when you pay attention to something, it shows up everywhere?  This has been my experience with Water since visiting Edward Burtynsky's exhibit of the same name last weekend.

   
   

   Attacked by Poison Ivy, a book seemingly having nothing to do with water, made its way to the top of my stack of have-to read books. My eyes got big when the author Ann Belford Ulanov, wrote, "descending into the bath brings rich archetypal meanings to poison ivy sufferers."

   
   

   Followed by: "The bath symbolizes a redemption motif. Eleusynian mysteries, Christian baptism, North American Indian sweat lodges -- all involve rituals of healing through water. The bathtub represents a human-made vessel, a container that holds the renewing process." 

   
   

   Have you taken a healing bath recently? One night this week I found myself, despite the heat, finding comfort by reading in the bathtub. Have you stayed hydrated by drinking lots of alkaline water? Have you taken time to appreciate how easy it is for us to access pure water?
   
   How has water shown up for you in the past couple of weeks? Let me know in the comments section or by replying to this message.

   
   

   Thanks for exploring the mystery - Nicky Mendenhall
   
   Edward Burtynsky's photo of rice paddies in China, one of my favorites from the exhibition, seemed a fitting photo to continue our theme of water. Used with permission.

   
   

   
   

   
   

   
   

Water In Cultural and Religious Rituals - #121

When was the last time you were awed by an art gallery exhibition? 

The answer for me: Edward Burtynsky's WATER exhibit at the Faulconer Gallery, Grinnell College.* His 50 stunning large-scale photographs explore roles that water plays in modern life.

The above photo is one Burtynsky included to show how water plays a key element in cultural and religious rituals. The colorful crowd is undoubtedly Hindu and touches a deep place in my heart. I have never been to Varanasi (also known as Benares), site of this picture, but I have been in India three times and can feel the chaos and excitement of this crowd.  

There were no pictures in this exhibit (that I remember) to show how water is a key element for Christians. Water in the traditional baptism ritual comes to my mind as well as tears of both sorrow and joy.

Water plays a part in this Buddhist story:

A monk said to Chao-chou, "I have just entered the monastery. Please teach me."

Chao-chou said, "Have you eaten your rice gruel?"

The monk said, "Yes, I have."

Chao-chou said, "Wash your bowl."

The monk understood.**

Pay attention to the part water plays in your life this week. Burtynsky suggests that the life-cycle of water is increasingly fragmented. What does this mean to you? Let me know how your awareness of water has changed in the last few year.

Thanks for exploring the mystery of water - Nicky Mendenhall

*Water by Edward Burtyinsky will be at Faulconer Gallery, Grinnell College, until September 28, 2014. I'm plotting for a return visit. 

** Ordinary Mind(2002 & 2005) by Barry Magid.

Who Pulls Your strings?

There is something in every one of you that waits and listens for the sound of the genuine in yourself. It is the only true guide you will ever have. And if you cannot hear it, you will all of your life spend your days on the ends of strings that someone else pulls. 

                   

                       –Howard Thurman

Thurman quote from Companioning the Dying - July 18, 2014.

Selected photograph by Edward Burtynsky,  exhibit: WATER.  Taken with permission, Faulconer Gallery, Grinnell College, July 20, 2014. You can see this fabulous exhibit until September 28, 2014, and there is No Charge!

Messages From The Dead - #120

When Real Estate agents ask for the most important feature in a new home, my answer is trees. Seven years ago, a picture similar to the one you see above, was part of a real estate ad for the house where we now live.

As you can imagine, the brown drooping dead leaves weren't front and center in the photo that sold us the house.  The last several days I have been aware of these brown drooping dead leaves. Today I could no longer avoid them.

Seven years ago, this less than perfect view would have engendered feelings of distaste. These ugly dead things would have ruined my perfect view.

Now, these less than conventionally beautiful leaves, present to me evidence that life and death are always with us.  

There are many messages from the dead leaves that exploring the mystery will explore. Tell me what you have become aware of by looking at the above picture. 

Thanks for exploring the mystery - Nicky Mendenhall

Mid-Week Reassurance

Attention Readers: Please change wander to wonder. 

Post #119 led us to the unconscious. I am aware that for some of my readers, the unconscious is as controversial as alkaline water! Controversy fosters questions; exploring the mystery fosters questions. 

Rainer Maria Rilke, (1875-1926), in Letters to a Young Poet, gives me ideas for pondering questions:  

"Love the questions themselves as if they were locked

rooms or books written in a very foreign language.

The point is, to live everything. Live the questions now.

Perhaps....someday....you will gradually,

without even noticing it, live your way into the answer."

How do you feel about questions? Do they excite you or annoy you?

Thanks for exploring the mystery - Nicky Mendenhall

LIVING (with) WATER - #119

In the past few weeks, exploring the mystery has instructed you to DO LESS and JUST BREATHE. Can you think of one time you chose to do less or slowed yourself down by deep breathing?

Did you note that there wasn't a midweek post for two weeks? I chose to DO LESS. It wasn't as easy as I thought it would be to do less, but when I did, there was a feeling of liberation.

Instruction #3 is pretty straightforward: DRINK WATER.

True confession: Almost never in my life have I been thirsty for water.

But now I am! My body loves the taste of alkaline water as shown in the bottle above. If you Google alkaline water you will find it is quite controversial. I don't care about any of that - I'm just happy to be drinking water!

Water cleans out your system. Water has no calories. Water has many benefits. And to add another layer of complexity, in Jungian theory, water often represents the unconscious. 

The unconscious contains all the parts of ourselves that we don't know about. So if you want to DO LESS, JUST BREATHE, & DRINK WATER, and you can't accomplish these relatively simple goals, you can guess that something in your unconscious is blocking your success.

The unconscious is one of the mysteries we are exploring so if you are feeling confused......... 

Thanks for exploring the mystery - Nicky Mendenhall

 

Instruction Two - #118

This week, another person on my wellness team formulated instruction number two: JUST BREATHE!

The above picture of terraced rice patties in Bali causes me to breathe deeply; this deep breath honors nature and beauty. Taking a second look, I notice my hands clutching the platform rails which reminds me how I used deep breathing to stave off fear when dismounting the tour bus and dashing across the truck-filled highway.  

Holiday weekends are times to practice all types of breathing.  

Put together instruction number one DO LESS with JUST BREATHE and you have a recipe for a great holiday weekend.

Have a wonderful Fourth of July holiday.

Thanks for exploring the mystery - Nicky Mendenhall

What Was the Last Instruction You Were Offered? - #117

Keeping my body healthy is a full time job. My wellness team includes two massage therapists, an acupuncturist, a nurse practitioner, a D.O. who specializes in Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine, a Spiritual Director, and a Tai Chi Instructor. Plus a Primary Care Physician who I've only seen once when I recruited her.

These health practitioners are experts. Each of them is generous with advice that I can implement at home.


I won't name names, but this week, wrapping up our appointment, the instruction given was two words:

DO LESS

The words are stuck in my head. This may be the most difficult instruction I have been given. DO LESS.  

Who is on your health care team? What could you do less? Can You DO LESS?

Thanks for exploring the mystery - Nicky Mendenhall

Midweek Uncertainty

Your tolerance for uncertainty correlates with your ability to trust life. 

From: www.drdianechung.com

The saying above made me remember when one of my favorite clients said: "Celebrate Uncertainty." At the time I was so startled by her words, I didn't know how to respond but I never forgot them.

Like most people, I don't like uncertainty. The idea that I could celebrate it continues to tantalize me. I'm thinking that if I could celebrate uncertainty, life would be one big celebration!

How about you? Have you ever celebrated uncertainty? How do you deal with uncertainty?

Thanks for exploring the mystery - Nicky Mendenhall

The Irony of Icons - #116

exploring the mystery post on May 28, 2013, with little or no fanfare, included an image. What an image it was!*

This unusual photo ignited my obsession for capturing images that increase the value of a post. I'm puzzled why after years and years of ignoring images, only having time for words, I am suddenly hooked on illustrating my posts.

Perhaps the pictograph phenomenon permitted me (forced me) to look at something other than the printed word.  In order to launder my clothing I have to decipher icons that would look familiar to the peoples of ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia.  

Each week I go through my Picasa web album containing all the photographs from recent years. It is like a treasure hunt with a steep technological learning curve.   Last week, when I found the reflecting pool with frogs that I had taken two years ago in the garden on Michigan State campus, it felt like I won the lotto. 

Retrieving images from my phone is still difficult. Ironically, today there will be no image because the perfect one - a pictograph that pictures a dog with leash & says, Dog Relief, a picture I took in an airport a couple of years ago refuses to transfer over to the blog.

Are you adapting to the language-independent new world?

Thanks for exploring the mystery - Nicky Mendenhall

*If you go to the blog and scroll down as far as you can go and then click on older posts and wait and then scroll some more you will eventually come to May 28, 2013, photo.

Midweek Question: Do You Know This Type of Stillness?

"We can make our minds so like still water that beings gather about us to see their own images; and so live for a moment with a clearer perhaps even with a fiercer life because of our silence."

                                             William Butler Yeats


Sent to me by Companioning the Dying, June 13, 2014

I Dare You To Open Your Mouth! - #115

Pema Chodron writes that during meditation, the mouth is to remain slightly open so the air can move easily through both mouth and nose. 

This is contrary to what I was taught at the Des Moines Zen Center. In fact, it is different from anything I have ever read regarding breathing while meditating.

The usual advice - close your lips, let your teeth touch, breathe through the nose.   

One morning, throwing caution to the winds, I relaxed my jaws and slightly opened my lips while sitting on my meditation cushion.  

The result was nothing short of amazing! Concentrating on my breath was much easier. 

(Picture a house, windows thrown open, fresh breezes swirling through.)

Try it! If meditation is not your thing, remember to part your lips the next time you feel stressed or want to relax - it worked for me once. You might want to keep your chap stick handy. 

Let me know what you discover.  Scroll down and click on exploring the mystery to take you to the blog comment section or reply to this email.

NOTE: The picture above is contrary to how hemp shower curtains normally dry. Carl Hiaasen fans may detect a holy personage just waiting to be sold.

Thanks for exploring the mystery - Nicky Mendenhall