Any chance you can write about our new cultural issue - female artists that surpass many male artists in talent, skills and strength of character and the difficulty the men have in treating them with due respect instead of dismissal and belittling? Apologies for asking here. I didn't know how else to contact you. So I decided to "knock" here.
That is a symptom of our entire society, world, embracing the masculine and rejecting the feminine. Just look how all religions teach people that their eros is their "animal side," their "lower nature" and something to be suppressed. Sex is "bad." But that eros we are suppressing is our divine feminine. The real source of power and intuition and necessary for love. We must all balance our masculine and feminine sides individually. The left brain needs to become subordinate to the right brain. We must embrance holistic thinking and not just egoistic selfish thinking that glorifies force of the machine over the power of the natural. We must become like elves, not like orcs who have forgotten the light of illuvatar. I'm not about fixing society through force because that doesn't work. We must each fix ourselves. We can't protect our tender little feet from a thorny world by covering it in leather, we must all cobble together shoes of our own, to have the internal strength to walk a still cruel world. It does appear to me, and to many others I follow that after a long age of the worship of the masculine, that some sort of awakening is happening. People are waking up from the matrix of masculinity and rediscovering the alchemy of peace, love, joy and creativity. I personally believe the covid lockdowns started a process of awakening that won't stop until it has rippled through humanity and we all start to individually change ourselves which will ultimately change society. Bottom up is the only way this change will work, it will never work if it is attempted to be forced from the top down, because then it's tyranny.
How interesting you say this, a bit unexpected! I have recently released a painting titled The Dance of the Spirits, Masculinity and Femininity. I realize you are a busy man, but maybe you would care to read it's description and follow the link to see the work. Sadly, I have been also encountering belittling treatment from under preforming male artists on my award-winning spiritual plein air work. I am all for balance between masculine and feminine.
Not wanting to give up too easily, I found wind protection behind a patch of junipers at the western end of Antelope Valley, dominated by Tehachapi Mountain. Often covered in snow, the weather up there is unpredictable, and I caught one of those April snowstorms in action. While down in Antelope Valley, it was very windy but relatively warm and sunny, and the wildflowers were blooming joyfully; up there, everyone braced for impact. In nature, the delicate spirit of femininity (exemplified by the wildflowers) coexists with a violent spirit of masculinity (exemplified by the snowstorm). The two engage in this elaborate dance so that after the storm, the snowpack will melt, watering the flowers in the desert and nourishing wild animals. The flowers, in turn, will produce seeds and fruit to feed the wildlife and to grow new flowers the next year. We can learn from them. By struggling to paint in windy conditions, I, a woman, was one with the flowers at that time, appreciating the spirit of masculinity.
Know the male, yet keep to the female: receive the world in your arms. If you receive the world, the Tao will never leave you and you will be like a little child. -- Lao Tzu -- Tao Te Ching
When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things. Corinthians 13:11 king James version
The lament of many artists .
But I don’t agree. What I think is we must keep that child…in our hearts. We must become men/ women. A child knows nothing of wisdom, empathy, compassion or life’s experiences. The trick is balancing of these two selves. I need the man to accomplish my art, yet I need the child to feel free to paint it. I don’t wish for a “ wonderful world”. I grow with the complexities of the world. It’s difficulties and its mysteries and strife.
I think, if you have read the things I've written here, you'll find you we don't disagree. I've said multiple times that coming home to our true nature is like being a child but with the skill and discernment of an adult. Which is exactly what you're saying in your comment. I don't wish for a world full of wonder either, I live in one. Yes, we all grow with the complexities of the world.
Beautifully spoken. Thanks for a very strong nudge back into quiet, back into wonder.
I needed that. Thank you
Ah yes!
Wonderful!
Any chance you can write about our new cultural issue - female artists that surpass many male artists in talent, skills and strength of character and the difficulty the men have in treating them with due respect instead of dismissal and belittling? Apologies for asking here. I didn't know how else to contact you. So I decided to "knock" here.
That is a symptom of our entire society, world, embracing the masculine and rejecting the feminine. Just look how all religions teach people that their eros is their "animal side," their "lower nature" and something to be suppressed. Sex is "bad." But that eros we are suppressing is our divine feminine. The real source of power and intuition and necessary for love. We must all balance our masculine and feminine sides individually. The left brain needs to become subordinate to the right brain. We must embrance holistic thinking and not just egoistic selfish thinking that glorifies force of the machine over the power of the natural. We must become like elves, not like orcs who have forgotten the light of illuvatar. I'm not about fixing society through force because that doesn't work. We must each fix ourselves. We can't protect our tender little feet from a thorny world by covering it in leather, we must all cobble together shoes of our own, to have the internal strength to walk a still cruel world. It does appear to me, and to many others I follow that after a long age of the worship of the masculine, that some sort of awakening is happening. People are waking up from the matrix of masculinity and rediscovering the alchemy of peace, love, joy and creativity. I personally believe the covid lockdowns started a process of awakening that won't stop until it has rippled through humanity and we all start to individually change ourselves which will ultimately change society. Bottom up is the only way this change will work, it will never work if it is attempted to be forced from the top down, because then it's tyranny.
How interesting you say this, a bit unexpected! I have recently released a painting titled The Dance of the Spirits, Masculinity and Femininity. I realize you are a busy man, but maybe you would care to read it's description and follow the link to see the work. Sadly, I have been also encountering belittling treatment from under preforming male artists on my award-winning spiritual plein air work. I am all for balance between masculine and feminine.
https://www.elenaroche.com/workszoom/5595685/the-dance-of-the-spirits-masculinity-and-femininity#/
Not wanting to give up too easily, I found wind protection behind a patch of junipers at the western end of Antelope Valley, dominated by Tehachapi Mountain. Often covered in snow, the weather up there is unpredictable, and I caught one of those April snowstorms in action. While down in Antelope Valley, it was very windy but relatively warm and sunny, and the wildflowers were blooming joyfully; up there, everyone braced for impact. In nature, the delicate spirit of femininity (exemplified by the wildflowers) coexists with a violent spirit of masculinity (exemplified by the snowstorm). The two engage in this elaborate dance so that after the storm, the snowpack will melt, watering the flowers in the desert and nourishing wild animals. The flowers, in turn, will produce seeds and fruit to feed the wildlife and to grow new flowers the next year. We can learn from them. By struggling to paint in windy conditions, I, a woman, was one with the flowers at that time, appreciating the spirit of masculinity.
Lovely painting and story!
Know the male, yet keep to the female: receive the world in your arms. If you receive the world, the Tao will never leave you and you will be like a little child. -- Lao Tzu -- Tao Te Ching
When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things. Corinthians 13:11 king James version
The lament of many artists .
But I don’t agree. What I think is we must keep that child…in our hearts. We must become men/ women. A child knows nothing of wisdom, empathy, compassion or life’s experiences. The trick is balancing of these two selves. I need the man to accomplish my art, yet I need the child to feel free to paint it. I don’t wish for a “ wonderful world”. I grow with the complexities of the world. It’s difficulties and its mysteries and strife.
I think, if you have read the things I've written here, you'll find you we don't disagree. I've said multiple times that coming home to our true nature is like being a child but with the skill and discernment of an adult. Which is exactly what you're saying in your comment. I don't wish for a world full of wonder either, I live in one. Yes, we all grow with the complexities of the world.