Life Springs Eternal – New Life in the Presence of Death — Image by kenne
— kenne
Royale Street in New Orleans (December 2014) — Image by kenne
For years, after celebrating Christmas with family and friends,
Joy and I would go to one of our favorite ‘getaways,’ New Orleans.
Big Easy dreaming
Strolling through the French Quarter
Existential being.
— kenne
Drawing In The Sand — Image by kenne
He draws in the sand
She watches the tide
Soon to wash away
Leaving behind a surface
Ready for another day.
— kenne
Kenne & Joy Many, Many Years Ago –Those Were The Days!
— Paulo Coelho
Fall Shadows On The Mountain — Image by kenne
— kenne
Nude (1990) — Abstract Art by kenne
My Voice
Within the restless, hurried, modern world
We took our hearts’ full pleasure—You and I,
And now the white sails of our ships are furled,
And spent the lading of our argosy.
Wherefore my cheeks before their time are wan,
For very weeping is my gladness fled,
Sorrow hath paled my lip’s vermilion
And Ruin draws the curtains of my bed.
But all this crowded life has been to thee
No more than lyre, or lute, or subtle spell
Of viols, or the music of the sea
That sleeps, a mimic echo, in the shell.
— Oscar Wilde
To the Moon
— Percy Bysshe Shelley
Oak Tree Gall — Image by kenne
— Alan W. Watts
Desert Abstract Art by kenne
— kenne
“Body of an Old Man Sitting Under the Stars” — Photo-Artistry by kenne
— from Everyman by Philip Roth
“The poet makes a personal yet universal confession about the walls that bring suffocation to his life.
These walls are related to the social structure, the economy, religion, and much more.
The worst thing is not the existence of these walls, of these limitations of the free development
but the fact that the walls were created before us, so we cannot even notice
their existence and fight against them.”
Walls
— Constantine P. Cavafy
Time– Image by kenne
— kenne
Art Student In Sabino Canyon — Photo-Artistry by kenne
You may care not to admit it, but we all spend time thinking about our relationship to the universe, and all things that are connected. However, because of divergent forces inside each of us, we may spend time running from ourselves.
Some of the ways you are becoming focused on vicarious experiences, such as reading a mystery novel or playing computer games. We might also join a religion or political movement.
These acts involve little to no risk since there is little chance our connections with others becoming an objectification of who we really are. There is much evidence to show that running from self behavior is the result of an attitude managed by the dominant side of your brain.
You’re probably beginning to think, “. . . now we are going to get some of this right brain/left brain bull-shit!” Don’t worry, no brain theory this time.
However, call it what you may (left brain/right brain, head/heart, male/female sides, yin/yang, intellect/intuition), we all have exhibited behavior based on attitudes of self associated with the “head” — analytical, systematic, logical, objective, or intellectual. In our culture, organized groups (institutions) reinforce this behavior. We are told how “smart” we are; how “orderly” we are; how “logical” we are. We are considered well-grounded — what better for group identity!
On the other hand, if our behavior is considered coming from the “heart” — impulsive, artistic, romantic, creative, daring or intuitive — our behavior is looked upon as being unrealistic, unreliable, unstable, and unfocused. “She’s not a responsible child, but she’s happy and a lot of fun,” people would say.
The point is that an enormous number of forces exist inside of us between the head and the heart, which are struggling for control self. These forces can cause you to take the path of least resistance — allowing one side to win over the other. For instance, the dominant side will choose between opposites in a two-dimensional relationship. One can represent harmony, the other conflict, two basic forms of human interaction. Selecting between these two opposites results in zero communication and the desolation of self.
On the other hand, we can take the path least traveled — pushing the head and heart together, not allowing one side to win. The result of pushing harmony and conflict together is the creation of a third dimension, which represents autonomous and creative communication, among others, and the actual development of self. By allowing one side to win over the other, we draw a line between “what you think” and the “power to think.” The power to think only exists in this third dimension.
— kenne
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Left Brain, Right Brain Magic:
While sitting at your desk, lift your right foot off the floor and make clockwise circles. Now, while doing this, draw the number “6” in the air with your right hand. Your foot will change direction, and there’s nothing you can do about it. Why? It’s a mystery!
Jack “Old Jules” Purcell — Photo-Artistry by kenne
In June of 2006 Old Jules wrote on his blog So Far From Heaven “The More It Stays The Same.”
I hadn’t watched Easy Rider (Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper and Jack Nicholson, circa 1968) in three decades.
When I saw it again this past weekend I appreciated it again for the first time:
Nicholson: You know, this used to be a helluva good country. I can’t understand what’s gone wrong with it.
Hopper: Huh. Man, everybody got chicken, that’s what happened, man. Hey, we can’t even get into like, uh, second-rate hotel, I mean, a second-rate motel. You dig? They think we’re gonna cut their throat or something, man. They’re scared, man.
Nicholson: Oh, they’re not scared of you. They’re scared of what you represent to ’em.
Hopper: Hey man. All we represent to them, man, is somebody needs a haircut.
Nicholson: Oh no. What you represent to them is freedom.
Hopper: What the hell’s wrong with freedom, man? That’s what it’s all about.
Nicholson: Oh yeah, that’s right, that’s what it’s all about, all right. But talkin’ about it and bein’ it – that’s two different things.
I mean, it’s real hard to be free when you are bought and sold in the marketplace.
‘Course, don’t ever tell anybody that they’re not free ’cause then they’re gonna get real busy killin’ and maimin’ to prove to you that they are.
Oh yeah, they’re gonna talk to you, and talk to you, and talk to you about individual freedom, but they see a free individual, it’s gonna scare ’em.
Hopper: Mmmm, well, that don’t make ’em runnin’ scared.
Nicholson: No, it makes ’em dangerous.
Three young men searching for America who found it wasn’t what they bargained for.
Jack
A Jackson Square Morning — Photo-Artistry by kenne
— kenne
