Grounded Flight

It is approaching Spring in South Africa and in Pretoria buds and blossoms are beginning to appear here and there.  The general impression when looking at the landscape, however, is still one of dryness. 

When we lived in Germany and returned to South Africa for a visit, the first thing our children commented on at the time was the soil. They noticed that in their opinion South African soil is red while German soil is brown! 

Reminded of that while driving through to Pretoria recently, I wondered how many of us even notice the color of the soil in the area we live. Habits blend us into our surroundings. Surroundings reinforce habits. Perspectives become limited unless consciously challenged. Horizons are narrow unless broadened by awareness.

Returning home to a town once lived in, things never noticed before, suddenly glare at one.   Nothing has changed except the viewer who has gained distance not only physically, but emotionally as well.

Distance lends enchantment to the view, the saying goes but that I feel is only one side of the story.  Distance also enables one to see perspectives not visible from within a particular environment.

In the past, such distance could only be gained by physically moving away.  This was the privilege of a minority and so cultural habits and beliefs were reinforced from one generation to the next.

Today modern travel but more especially technology, has blasted this all apart.  People of different cultural backgrounds can meet online, beliefs are suddenly challenged, new ways of doing things become apparent. 

If I so wish, I can look at pictures of soil in Germany or soil in South Africa, or soil in wherever, read about it or even chat to personages knowledgeable in that field.  

The challenge, however, is two-fold. Perspectives need to be broadened, but at the same time we need to be grounded.

We need to feel the soil beneath our feet, if not barefoot, then through mindful awareness of the sensation of connecting with the ground as we walk. We need to be aware of where we are at and where we are coming from, especially when online where the temptation could be to escape.

As we realize that the other is not so other as always imagined - similarities outweigh our differences; we all want to be happy; we all wish to be freed from suffering; soil may vary but it is still soil - we open ourselves to new dimensions of being. 

here2here offers such dimensions. We meet here, are here together, but at the same time are each somewhere else. 

In such a “place”, in such a “space”, perspectives can only broaden. More importantly, however, mutual acceptance and hospitality allow the collective, meeting here2here, to be grounded in a dimension invisible to the physical eye, sometimes visible to the eye of contemplation, but definitely visible to the eye of Spirit. 

Collective consciousness, shared participation, shared responsibility and shared innovation are soils rich in potential, waiting to be stepped into, holding out gifts of creativity in ways unimagined before.

Let's feel the soil beneath our feet as we take off!

Draw Mindful

“true beauty results from that repose which the mind feels when the eye, the intellect, and the affections are satisfied from the absence of any want”. Owen Jones

Yesterday’s activities included a visit to the exhibition “Reconnecting East and West” which “traces the groundbreaking documentation of Islamic ornament and design by European scholars, artists and architects who traveled to the Middle East in the 19th century”.

Captivated by the magnificent color lithographs from Owen Jones’ “Grammar of Ornament”, I was reminded how much I am fascinated by Islamic patterns. The repetition of certain forms and patterns lends itself to a feeling of spaciousness, ongoing possibility and all encompassing beauty. Pattern in Islamic Art is a website with some beautiful examples of this art form.

A book of Geometric Patterns in an art shop had been “jumping out” at me for a while now, so after the exhibition the book was duly purchased. I came home, chose a pattern and decided to color it in as an exercise in mindfulness. 

To begin the process I chose colors simply on their appeal to me but noticed that later I had to take note of placement and harmony. It was interesting to observe how at first I kept wanting to go back to perfect sections. Instead I simply moved on, reminding myself that I could only focus on the section in front of me. The past ones were past, the next ones still to come. After some time, conversations started to play themselves out in my head. I noted them then returned to the drawing.  Memories popped up - back to the drawing! After a while the shading had a peaceful, calming effect. 

It is my intention to continue this practice with all the 11 remaining cards in the booklet. I will put the results up on Twitter with the hashtag #drawmindful, as well as put them into a gallery on #here2here. (Suggestions for names for each piece will be welcomed). 

My love for this form of design started back in the late 1970s when we visited England and I came across a book entitled, “Altair Design Book 1”. Unaware of this at the time, I later discovered that these designs were based on a unique and unusual Islamic design which consisted of the arrangement of close packing circles of various sizes. 

Upon our return to South Africa I made use of these designs in my Mathematics classes.  Every week I would hand out a design to each pupil. They had one week to color in the design if they so wished. Some of the pupils were in their final year of high school, but even they participated. The resulting creativity was amazing and these works of art were proudly displayed on the classroom walls. 

M.C. Escher was also drawn to the works of the East and incorporated their principles into his masterpieces.

In “Grammar of Ornament” Jones established 37 guiding principles for the “arrangement of form and color, in architecture and the decorative arts”.

It would be interesting to know if these principles are being applied to web illustration which should attract attention but complement not control content. 

We decorate our homes, and the arrangement and choice of furniture, ornaments and art pieces influence and reflect our inner lives. With the acquisition of online homes, we need to remember that their layout and design features will require our attention as well.  

Filtering

Walking home today I was very much conscious of the fact that I was going to need to take out my sunglasses. The glare at the moment in Dubai is such that without aid to filter out certain rays, the eyes automatically squint as a protection mechanism.

The body has a number of filtering systems in place.

The mouth will immediately spit something out that is unbearably hot, the nose has little hairs to filter out unwanted particles, the skin experiences pain as a warning signal when exposed to that which is harmful and our ears filter out sounds in certain ranges. Without any conscious effort on our part, the body is constantly attempting to filter out that which is harmful or toxic.

Mind chatter is a mental filter which can often block out an experience. The brain, too, often filters out trauma, only allowing it to resurface at a time when the individual is able to deal with it.

At the same time, on a subconscious level, our egos filter our experience, cultures have membership filters, and all these filters give rise to perspectives and worldviews which assist the shadow in remaining hidden. We see things as we want them to be or as we are socially conditioned to see them.  Life is viewed through these filters and accepted in this form as the only reality.

Technology is full of filters. For example, when you go onto a website to purchase a book, there are filters in place which note where you are from, what books you have purchased before and what subjects you have shown an interest in.  These filters enable the site to recommend similar books and thus have the power to influence your buying.

Until we become aware of them - an analogy these days would be taking off our 3D glasses as we exit the movie theatre - these filters remain in the subconscious, affecting how we feel about things and giving rise to various emotions.

Imagined boundaries separate us from others and from ourselves.

“Boundary” has up until now perhaps been the most appropriate word to discuss the imagined separations that need to be overcome as growth takes place, barriers are broken down and more and more of the Kosmos is included in one’s embrace.

I have a suspicion though that, with the current emphasis being placed on relationships and processes as the collective “we” comes to the fore, the focus will change from “boundaries” to “filters”.  

While technology has its own filters, at this point in our evolution, it is having an incredible effect on breaking down what we thought were boundaries. 

Time and distance are no longer barriers to communication. Space is becoming more spacious as it were. Information is easily accessible. Open sharing is on the increase. Information has been set free as it were, except in certain countries where social media is being threatened by the blocks or filters on certain websites.

Technology is in a sense is making us reconcile what before we might have considered  total opposites. Cultures are meeting and different perspectives on the same topic are becoming readily available.

This has ushered in a time where more than ever before the individual is conscious of the need to filter out certain information if balance is to be maintained.  So much is coming at one that one cannot possible click on every link, listen to every video or read every article.  There is so much one can “tune into” that discernment is necessary if one is to listen properly and not be all over the place.  Without this discernment, information overload is difficult to avoid.

“If you actually look at the amount of data coming in through all your senses, there’s something like 100 million bits of information coming in every second through your visual system and another 10 million bits coming through your auditory system and another one million bits coming through your tactile system.” (Will Wright, The Sims creator)

There is a cry going out for a filtering tool, a means to cope with the stresses of sensory overload, information overload and even emotional overload – the downside of being able to be connected more than ever before.  

At the same time we need to open ourselves to be more without filters. The wonderful paradox is that both these processes need to be happening at the same time!

The time has come for filters to be consciously chosen.

Whereas technology has removed many of the filters put there without our doing, we now have to put our own filters in place to protect ourselves and expose ourselves. That is the marvellous two way function of a filter. It allows some things entry while preventing others from passing through.

There is a great interest being shown of late in mindfulness as a tool to enable one to be present without filters so that necessary filters can be put in place.

In a sense we have “come full circle”, or let us rather say, we have spiralled above where we started.  In a sense we are in another Eden where once again the wisdom of the serpent is required to offer us knowledge of ourselves and of the reality of good and evil.  We need too, to attempt this with the gentleness of the dove.  

Language can be so limiting. In its present form it is very suited to linear, three dimensionality.  Nouns dominate our current sentence structure with the duality of subject and object.

As many perspectives are simultaneously held and moved beyond, as barriers of time and space begin to fall away and subject and object begin to be sensed as being one, verbs are often more appropriate ways of expressing the reality being experienced. 

In which case instead of “filters”, “filtering” will become perhaps the apt term.

(Adapted from a blog I first posted on the Integral Life Website)

Mindscapes and Webscapes

The mind has a layout of its own. Waiting for the explorer to uncover its territory, it shifts between its own landscapes, cityscapes, waterscapes and even desert patches.

Most of the time, much of its expanse is densely populated. Given the chance it is filled with thoughts of achievements, like city buildings on a city skyline.

It has its distinct character which can be seen when looking at it more closely.

It is populated by interesting characters in unexpected places; all telling stories with unsurpassed conviction.

As in most big cities, it is a hive of activity as ideas and thoughts come and go, intersecting with each other before simply moving on.

 

Leaving the cityscapes behind one comes across the seascapes, places of temporary rest and tranquility.

The landscapes of the mind change, sometimes providing solace in a storehouse of memories. 

At other times the landscapes leave one in awe and wonder of the many facets of life.

 

What happens in one part of the mind, affects what happens in another.

Observation of the mindscape slowly brings one to the desert and its associations of solitude and reflection.  Hidden amongst the rocks, the shadow side of the individual waits its turn to make itself known.  

 

There is one property of the mindscape that is unique. It is constantly shifting. Noticing this, and practising an awareness of this on a regular basis, one reaches a place beyond its boundaries where there is only stillness and emptiness filled with possibility.

The photos I have used in this post were all taken of images on webcams, and depict scenes from around the world today as they were taking place. I have decided to call these pics webscapes, as I believe they illustrate and are another perspective of not only how much we as humans have in common, but also the extent to which we are not only connected, but  very much interconnected.  

Spaces to Places

Recently opened in Downtown Dubai, The Pavilion is a contemporary art space which not only encourages dialogue between art and its audience, but is also a vibrant space for the neighborhood, with galleries, a cinema, library, espresso bar and restaurant. The architect Abboud Malak has said, “It’s anything you want it to be; just come and bring your computer or socialise. It’s a versatile space and encompasses everything.... The people will make the space what it is.”

I often go there to do research, write or hang out with friends. The design with its natural woods has a very calming effect. It is a place where creatives can work, socialise or simply be.

Spaces become places when individuals or communities endow them with meaning. Spaces become places through the participation of people.

One’s experience of a particular space evokes emotion and memory and gives rise to what is often referred to as a sense of place. Some spaces are so designed that they encourage the individual to spend time there alone, others invite participation and interaction with others, and others encourage both.

Right now, we find ourselves having to move, more and more, in online space. 

 

In a sense we have become online nomads, meeting fellow travelers from different places, countries and cultures in a space not limited by time. We often tend to wander from site to site, perhaps unaware that we are actually in search of online oases. These are sites that nourish and refresh, and where we are met with online hospitality.  When this is not so, we simply click away and are transported down another corridor.

Whereas many see today’s technologies encouraging placelessness, this need not be the case. What is required of us now is a special generation of architects and designers, creators of online spaces which become special online places for current and future users. 

Physical spaces designed by architects to encourage reflection or interaction are not empty. Their features encourage occupants of the space to interact with it in a particular way.

Online spaces need to be created in this way too.

Just as decorators move shapes around to find the right place and the right fit, so too the positioning of words, widgets, links, videos etc can be approached with mindfulness.

It is encouraging, for example, to see new blog technologies coming in to being that will move away from the linear and allow positioning of videos, pics and words all over a blank page. Such collage like blogging will most definitely promote creativity.

The spaces we occupy online deserve our respect.  We can declutter by regularly emptying our mail boxes. We can consider not retweeting that which we have not read or watched.  A mindful online presence will require that we don’t simply fill the space we encounter with mere words, simply for the sake of filling it. 

If we have our own website, we should be aware that the home page is an online door. What image does it portray to the first time visitor. Does it encourage the visitor to enter? Is it welcoming? Does the architecture of the website enable the visitor to meet others there? Does it encourage the visitor to return? Does the visitor feel at home there?  Does its mindful design include windows that provide vistas, and bridges that lead to new sites. 

Is it a pavilion, a dome, a light filled space where others are encouraged to be?

 

          I saw that my life was a vast glowing empty page and I could do 

anything I wanted. - Jack Kerouac

The space where we meet online is like this too. It is certainly vast, and when we look at our handheld gadgets, it is certainly glowing. What are we going to do with it? What are we going to create?