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Old 05-13-2004, 01:34 PM   #2
Qatana
 
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Dojo: Aikido of Petaluma, Petaluma,CA
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 834
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Re: Article: Mediating Reality, Connecting with the World by "The Mirror"

"I start each studio session by changing into painting clothes, putting on music, and setting up my palette, which is a transforming ritual that puts me into an altered state. However, it is a totally inward-turning state, separating me from both the world and from my body. While this process fosters my ongoing mental stability, permits me to develop skills as a painter, and may even produce art that expresses spirituality, it is a process that separates me from the world and does not lead to my growing into a different person. "

But this is exactly the essence of a spiritual meditation practice! You seperate yourself from daily living, center yourself physically and mentally, and allow the creative process to move through you. Producing art does not Seperate one from the world, it integrates. Like any other spiritual path, you get out- in this case a painting which expresses the internal urge to create- by going in...

Q
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