Monday, July 23, 2007
Get a Hobby, But Make It Ancient
After Live Earth, I was going to suggest that everyone in the over-developed world get rid of a hobby - just one. Hobbies use resources and most of us start hobbies with good intentions of keeping them up. We purchase all the proper stuff to take part in our chosen hobby, plus a bunch of storage containers to keep everything organized. After a short while, the hobby is forgotten. We're too busy; it was too hard, etc. etc. And the stuff for our hobby sits - wasted resources. Better it sit than go to a landfill, however it's even better that it go to someone who will use it.
The other trouble with hobbies from a resources standpoint is that most of them involve making things - turning one thing, or a variety of things, into another. Behold! CREATION!
Being an artist, I understand the thrill of creation. It's addictive. It's also caused no end of introspection along the lines of: How many wall hangings & paintings & useless knick-knacks does this planet need? I've long been attracted to the idea of the art of utility - making useful things beautiful. I also like small art, which uses fewer resources because of size. Many artists in general are scavengers, turning junk into art and building the concept of recycling into their work. My husband's motorcycle table is a great example. Then, there's slow art - where it might take years to complete one work. Think of all of these suggestions as the RUSS method of artistic resource conservation. R - ecycled art, U - seful art, S - mall art, S - low art.
On a personal level, this use of resources issue has caused me to cut back on my artistic creation and contributed somewhat to my increase in writing. The creativity has to come out somehow and writing, at its most essential (read: without computer), is not more than pen to paper, which results in an infinite number of potential creative outcomes.
Lose a hobby was my suggestion after Live Earth. Better yet, don't start one unless you're darn sure it's one you're going to stick with or you're sure you'll die if you don't have this outlet. (Don't, however, let this stop you from taking a class or several in order to try something out. Just don't spend money on resources you're not going to use.)
After reading Terry Glavin's "The Sixth Extinction," I've changed my mind. Get a hobby, but make it an ancient one. According to Pat Mooney, who is quoted in Glavin's book, "Our generation may be the first in the history of the world to lose more knowledge than we gain." (pg. 222)
Not only are we losing biological diversity in the form of plants and animals, we are also losing cultural diversity, which includes language and ways of life. The only way we're going to keep some of these things alive is to learn what our forebears knew and keep transmitting it to interested youngsters.
Show of hands. How many people tat anymore? How many of you speak Ojibwe? Can you turn flax into linen? Brew a batch of beer? Play a children's game from two generations ago? These are things that were still commonly being done only a very short while ago. Think of all the cultural activities we've already lost that are from before that time.
If you're interested in finding an ancient hobby, check out your local museum. Small museums are a great repository of books and other information that can lead you to what came before. Sometimes, they'll even contain artifacts that relate to that old hobby, so you can see what tools were used. If you decide to adopt an ancient hobby, make sure to share what you learn, either by writing or teaching. We've got information to save.
The other trouble with hobbies from a resources standpoint is that most of them involve making things - turning one thing, or a variety of things, into another. Behold! CREATION!
Being an artist, I understand the thrill of creation. It's addictive. It's also caused no end of introspection along the lines of: How many wall hangings & paintings & useless knick-knacks does this planet need? I've long been attracted to the idea of the art of utility - making useful things beautiful. I also like small art, which uses fewer resources because of size. Many artists in general are scavengers, turning junk into art and building the concept of recycling into their work. My husband's motorcycle table is a great example. Then, there's slow art - where it might take years to complete one work. Think of all of these suggestions as the RUSS method of artistic resource conservation. R - ecycled art, U - seful art, S - mall art, S - low art.
On a personal level, this use of resources issue has caused me to cut back on my artistic creation and contributed somewhat to my increase in writing. The creativity has to come out somehow and writing, at its most essential (read: without computer), is not more than pen to paper, which results in an infinite number of potential creative outcomes.
Lose a hobby was my suggestion after Live Earth. Better yet, don't start one unless you're darn sure it's one you're going to stick with or you're sure you'll die if you don't have this outlet. (Don't, however, let this stop you from taking a class or several in order to try something out. Just don't spend money on resources you're not going to use.)
After reading Terry Glavin's "The Sixth Extinction," I've changed my mind. Get a hobby, but make it an ancient one. According to Pat Mooney, who is quoted in Glavin's book, "Our generation may be the first in the history of the world to lose more knowledge than we gain." (pg. 222)
Not only are we losing biological diversity in the form of plants and animals, we are also losing cultural diversity, which includes language and ways of life. The only way we're going to keep some of these things alive is to learn what our forebears knew and keep transmitting it to interested youngsters.
Show of hands. How many people tat anymore? How many of you speak Ojibwe? Can you turn flax into linen? Brew a batch of beer? Play a children's game from two generations ago? These are things that were still commonly being done only a very short while ago. Think of all the cultural activities we've already lost that are from before that time.
If you're interested in finding an ancient hobby, check out your local museum. Small museums are a great repository of books and other information that can lead you to what came before. Sometimes, they'll even contain artifacts that relate to that old hobby, so you can see what tools were used. If you decide to adopt an ancient hobby, make sure to share what you learn, either by writing or teaching. We've got information to save.
Labels: album art, biology, creation, extinction, hobbies, live earth, museum, ojibwe, terry glavin
Thursday, December 14, 2006
Glutton for Punishment
Why is it that when I finish a massive project, something that I'm quite proud of having gotten through, I don't bask in the glory of my achievement for a couple of days? Nooooo. I have to share my accomplishment right away and start asking for feedback. Is it good enough? Looking for approval. And, of course, I frost the frog and concentrate on the "this part is not quite right" part of the critique, because there is ALWAYS a "this part is not quite right" critique. You'd think I was a glutton for punishment, and maybe I am. Maybe I don't want to get a fat head, so I've got to have someone burst my bubble immediately. I do want to do things right, but what is right? And, can't I have my very own creation be right for a few days just as it is before others add their two-cents?
Does sharing one's creations with the world ever get any easier?
Does sharing one's creations with the world ever get any easier?
Labels: accomplishment, approval, creation, critique, frost the frog, punishment
Wednesday, September 27, 2006
The Akashic Records in Zeros & Ones
Ever heard of the Akashic Records? In mystical circles, the Akashic Records are supposed to be all the thoughts, words, and deeds of everyone who has ever lived, floating around in some ether world that surrounds us. You can find a complete description of the concept on the Edgar Cayce website. (Edgar, who is no longer living, went into trances and helped people find solutions to medical problems via these trances.)
I believe that we are trying to make the Akashic Records "real" through our activity on the internet. We're all just furiously filtering stuff out of the Records and recreating it in zeros and ones. Don't be fooled, though. For as real as computers seem to make all of this info, and for as much influence as computers and digital info have on the world, when it comes right down to it, the stuff is really no more tangible than ether. Think about it. If you don't have a machine to read the info, if the server is down, if the software is outdated, if, if, if . . . then it matters not how much we've downloaded from the Akashic Records, it's all still inaccessible. Sounds so negative, doesn't it?
Yet, I don't feel negative about the Akashic Records or digital technology. I think the idea of the one and the reality of the other are truly exciting. If we humans can dream it, we can do it. That's the lesson here.
I've always been fascinated by mysticism, and equally fascinated by science and technology. The mysticism seems to come primarily from my mom's side of the family. My grandma was especially interested in hoodoo woowoo stuff. She had an Aunt Mary who was a chiropractor and crystal ball reader. I've only recently found this out through my mom. When I was a kid, there was a crystal ball in our game closet. It was in a tattered brown paper box and was a bit smaller than a pool ball - just as heavy though. My sister and I used to try and read it. We'd follow the instructions included with the ball and wait to see if a mist would develop inside the ball. Images would've been nice, but they never came. Turns out that this crystal ball was the VERY ONE used by Grandma's Aunt Mary. If only I could find it again.
My interest in science comes equally from my mom and my dad. My dad was a chemistry major in college and seemed to be very interested in scientific topics and TV shows while I was growing up. My mom could've been a doctor, she was so in tune with medicine and the body. This was probably due to the fact that she suffered from polio as a small child and underwent many, many operations before she was 18.
What really attracts me is the intersection between mysticism and science & technology. That's the fervently interesting gap where art & music & literature, heck - CREATION! - occurs
I believe that we are trying to make the Akashic Records "real" through our activity on the internet. We're all just furiously filtering stuff out of the Records and recreating it in zeros and ones. Don't be fooled, though. For as real as computers seem to make all of this info, and for as much influence as computers and digital info have on the world, when it comes right down to it, the stuff is really no more tangible than ether. Think about it. If you don't have a machine to read the info, if the server is down, if the software is outdated, if, if, if . . . then it matters not how much we've downloaded from the Akashic Records, it's all still inaccessible. Sounds so negative, doesn't it?
Yet, I don't feel negative about the Akashic Records or digital technology. I think the idea of the one and the reality of the other are truly exciting. If we humans can dream it, we can do it. That's the lesson here.
I've always been fascinated by mysticism, and equally fascinated by science and technology. The mysticism seems to come primarily from my mom's side of the family. My grandma was especially interested in hoodoo woowoo stuff. She had an Aunt Mary who was a chiropractor and crystal ball reader. I've only recently found this out through my mom. When I was a kid, there was a crystal ball in our game closet. It was in a tattered brown paper box and was a bit smaller than a pool ball - just as heavy though. My sister and I used to try and read it. We'd follow the instructions included with the ball and wait to see if a mist would develop inside the ball. Images would've been nice, but they never came. Turns out that this crystal ball was the VERY ONE used by Grandma's Aunt Mary. If only I could find it again.
My interest in science comes equally from my mom and my dad. My dad was a chemistry major in college and seemed to be very interested in scientific topics and TV shows while I was growing up. My mom could've been a doctor, she was so in tune with medicine and the body. This was probably due to the fact that she suffered from polio as a small child and underwent many, many operations before she was 18.
What really attracts me is the intersection between mysticism and science & technology. That's the fervently interesting gap where art & music & literature, heck - CREATION! - occurs
Labels: akashic records, chiropractor, creation, filter, mysticism, science, technology
