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www.SingMomArtStu.wordpress.com
Louise Franklin "Making a Moment."
Thoughts and Queries of a Single Mother, an Artist, and a Student.
My Story of Stuff
I remain steadfast in my quest for an improved happiness. I continue to be inspired by the ventures of the brave Gretchen Rubin. Everyday I implement new happiness rituals whilst attempting maintenance of the most effective.
My de-cluttering attempts I so enthusiastically raved about last week have proven to be an unerring path to abundant happiness boosts. I open my closet doors and I am filled with a sense of excitement and calm as my eyes fall upon my neatly folded garments laterally cascading by color and style. There is something amazingly calming about order. All the unused crap I possess has been cluttering my mind more than my shelves. This realization got me thinking on an age old question.
What is it that drives our Western obsession with STUFF?
I wanted to make sure that the things I felt compelled to hold on to would actually be put to use. I started looking at my own possessions. If the house was burning down, what would I take? Every item on that list was something that represented something non-material; memories, aspirations, accomplishments. Why was it that I needed something tangible to remind me of these immaterial wealths? Possessing these things created feelings that I valued. Napoleon said,
“Riches do not consist in the possession of treasures, but in the use made of them.”
The first item on my list was of course my photos. Pictures of loved ones provide feelings of love and safety. A new happiness ritual discovered! I quickly made space to display more framed family photos so that I am constantly reminded of these feelings. I’ve also made a point to print out more photos from my digital gallery so that I can use these possessions rather than constantly amplifying my collection. True to family form, the next most important of my earthly goods were my books. Existentialist Jean-Paul Sartre said,
“Though I did not yet know how to read, I have already reversed those standing stones, upright or leaning over… I felt that our family’s prosperity depended on them. Permanence guaranteed me a future as calm as the past.”
For him as for me, books represented both the possibility and the accumulation of knowledge. They provide a guarantee that the wisdom will never be lost. The obsessive acquisition and subsequent accumulation of my library was simply my innate curiosity manifesting in the physical form. I couldn’t possibly discard any of my books, but I have become more organized so that more are utilized. The only other things that would be saved from my theoretical burning building were various family relics and mementos such as jewelry and Sidney’s first pair of shoes, all more physical representations of safety and love. Of course the bare essentials of daily necessity for Sidney and I would be taken… including my all important creative tools (iMac and Nikon.)
The most important lesson of our story of stuff, is that it is not our possessions that define us, but what we do with them and ultimately with ourselves.
For Thought…
“Possessions are usually diminished by possession.” -Friedrich Nietzsche
“Riches do not exhilarate us so much with their possession as they torment us with their loss.” -Epicurus
Sun and Moon Breath
Sun and Moon Breath
The Sun and Moon Breath is an ancient yoga technique that balances you out. The moon breath (left nostril) calms your nervous system while the sun breath (right nostril) perks you up. It works wonders. Best tried while seated in a meditative and comfortable position.
1. Place your right thumb over your right nostril.
2. Close your mouth, and breathe in very deeply and very slowly through your left nostril.
3. Release your thumb and switch to covering your left nostril while exhaling steadily through your right nostril.
4. Reverse and repeat several times. 2 inhales and 2 exhales makes one Sun moon Breath.
This will cause a physiological change in your body and brain— leaving you both revitalized and mellowed out.
Everyday Magic
Raising a child is like watching and experiencing the evolutionary magic that makes us human. (By no means am I trying to take credit for this discovery, but simply noting it’s importance.)
These past eighteen months have been an exuberant and exhausting journey. When you have a child a door opens to this other world. We’ve all been there before, but somehow it has been lost in the cacophony of our daily lives. It is a world of constant exploration and discovery. Here there are no time restraints or limitations of any kind, except for those that are imposed by the parent. I think that one of the greatest challenges new parents face is knowing where to draw those lines and where to erase them. From what I’ve learned thus far, when any frustration arises whether it’s source is the parent or the child, to take a step back and just observe. It has become our nature to want to control everything, which is a very unnatural process. Sidney will usually redirect himself away from danger and onto another discovery quest. In watching the care and patience with which Sidney observes the simplest of items and completes the simplest of tasks; I relearn these valuable traits that I’ve skillfully avoided in the years past.
I hope that as I continue to share these everyday observations and occurrences that the magic of our humanity and it’s limitless potential is translated to you.
Caution.
Caution. 2007. Acrylic on Canvas/35 mm/Photoshop Collage.
Painting and Photos from the Malibu Fire of October 2007. I sat on Pacific Coast Highway as the fire inched it’s way across the hillside towards our family’s home of 50 years. The blaze came within 100 yards of our front door. These images reflect that memory.
Pushing Rewind
One year ago. Sidney is seven months old.
I find myself rather enjoying the newfangled monotony that is now my life. I spend my days cooing, giggling, and gurgling with my new main man. Sidney is an amazingly happy baby. His curious and lighthearted demeanor is absolutely intoxicating. He seldom cries, unless he feels a desperate need to get my attention, in which case it’s well deserved. And when he smiles… It is better than sex. I don’t know how else to describe it. Not to play on the fact that it is something that I’m not experiencing at the moment, as I’m sure is the case with most new moms; married or single. I’m not saying that it never gets hard, because it gets so hard. But when you see that smile, you will never see someone so committed to a single feeling in a single moment. And that’s what life is about.
A Defining Moment
The most defining moment in my life came when I made the decision to go through with an unplanned pregnancy. After a three year tumultuous relationship with the father, he sealed his fate ending our involvement when he took me to an abortion clinic. I was twenty-one at the time, and I knew that keeping this child would change my life forever. I also knew that the growing life inside me was something that I could not ignore. Since my parents divorce during my teenage years, I have been plagued with health problems. I knew this pregnancy might be my only one. When it came down to it, my answer to the question of morality was simple. Almost two years later, I am proud to say that I am the mother of a beautiful baby boy, Sidney.
During my childhood I watched and learned how my mother made life itself, the material of her works of art. I grew up living life in this super-conscious manner. Every moment with Sidney I am observing what we are doing and creating a response to that moment through art. He is a constant source of inspiration. He surprises me daily with his growing intelligence and abilities. In the smallest detail of the day we can experience the beauty of life in it’s purest form. We just have to know where to look.
Being a mother has given me a greater sense of awareness. I have been given the gift; of seeing life through the eyes of another. The world is like a pregnant mother who feels her child growing within her. Every breath she breathes either supports it’s life, or harms it. We need to protect and honor our planet as if it is a woman’s womb with a child inside. The power I possess as a digital artist and a mother is to speak to the real issues of our time with acute awareness and sensitivity through technology.
Thoughts on the Dawn of a New Year…
“I am still a young woman.
It’s New Years Eve and we’ve finally hit the couch after a twelve hour journey across the country. I drift in and out of consciousness as mom tickles my toes trying to help my throbbing legs relax. Sidney keeps pulling me back into awareness as he wrestles both his overtired body and my inconsistent grip. Gentle scratching on his supple back begin to win him over. The TV drones on in the background as the nondescript hum of the screaming Times Square crowd counts down to the new year. Their excitement and vigor only enhances my desire to collapse.
I am still a young woman. Rather than a resolution, this will be my mantra for the new year. To keep reminding myself that I still can do and be.”
And look how far I’ve come in only a short month. As the first month of 2010 comes to a close I cling hopefully to visions of a fabulous year.
Earth Mothers
Earth Mothers. 2009. Graphite on Paper, Digital Collage.
Earth Mothers is an allegory posing a juxtaposition between earth’s biology and our humanity. The pregnant body represents the earth as a symbiotic being within itself. The skewed wooden shacks do not participate in this harmonious relationship, pointing out our lack of awareness and consideration toward our home.
The pregnant body is actually a self portrait I made when I was 29 weeks. My son was delivered a week later. I’m hoping to market this work to various birthing centers. www.jessicadillon.net
A New Rhythm
I’ve really been feeling my feet moving lately. What it is I can’t exactly put my finger on… but I can’t remember a time where I actually felt this capable and energetic. I started reading a wonderful book, Gretchen Rubin’s The Happiness Project, and it’s totally inspired me. It’s a memoir where the author commits an entire year of her life studying, researching, and testing varied happiness philosophies and techniques. I know it’s sounds awfully cliche, but I am only three chapters in and nearly everything covered thus far has been easily applicable and affective! As was noted in my post last week, I spent some time at my mother’s house, somewhat removed from my own reality. Determined to return home refreshed and renewed I left Las Vegas at a shocking 8 AM. I’ve long ago accepted the harsh reality that as a mother, the days of sleeping in are over. But it is a rare occasion where I actually embrace that early start. During the 5 hour drive across the desert I listened diligently via audiobook (which is not cheating, especially for crazed mothers.) The first topics covered were pretty basic, but somehow hearing that someone else had completed these simple tasks gave me new motivation. It seemed so matter-of-fact. Within an hour of arriving home I began to de-clutter my studio apartment, starting with my closet. I’ve done this thousands of times before, dumping every single drawer and neatly refolding and organizing every article of clothing, all with the aim of throwing things away. But usually the most I ever come up with is one trash bag. This time was different. Rather then having my goal concentrated on the organization aspect, which I particularly enjoy, I focused on the discarding. I shoveled through every drawer and took out everything I new I wasn’t wearing regardless of how much I loved it or how expensive it may have been five years ago. There are still a handful of vintage tee-shirts that I will never wear.. but I’m hoping that courage will come with progress. I came up with a shocking three trash bags. Oh happy day! I have never felt SO good for throwing things away. While I was working I even got several new ideas for art pieces! Cleaning up not just as a source of happiness, but of creativity! Immediately I threw the bags in my trunk and drove off to the thrift store. I’ll discuss more improvements to come… but this is so exciting!
Words
It is putting one’s head, one’s eye, and one’s heart on the same axis.
singmomartstu
tweeting
- the fragmented comforts we have assigned ourselves http://bit.ly/gherel 10 months ago
- Fragments are studied as a means of understanding the whole from which they came. http://bit.ly/glWZBT 10 months ago
- this memory is taken http://bit.ly/grrYxD 10 months ago
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