This is sand art by Peter Donnelly of Christchurch, New Zealand. When Donnelly creates, he’s at ground level, and he can’t “see” his work. He can only feel it. Reminds me of a quote by J. Ruth Gendler from her book Notes on the Need for Beauty: “Beauty will dance with anyone who is brave [ Read more … ]
Earth/Nature
Seeing More Clearly
A friend took this photo of a pomegranate on the tree in front of my house. It had been looking sad and neglected—for some reason it had never ripened, so I let it sit there while in the meantime, the rest of the fruit was picked and the tree lost all its leaves for the [ Read more … ]
Remembering beauty
I’ve been working hard, preparing materials for some upcoming academic classes. I love being immersed in the world of ideas, but I need to remember not to stay there–it’s not where I want to live. A wise guide once said to me–“the mind’s job is to carry out the vision of the heart.” Feeding my [ Read more … ]
Caterpillars, butterflies, and unexpected possibility
Our linear, Western minds always think we have it all figured out. The truth is (since creative process is the central theme of life), we don’t. Somehow, it’d be nice to find a way to shift away from the mind’s desire to stay on some sort of safe, linear track…..and embrace (and enjoy!) the creative [ Read more … ]
Creative emergence is non-linear
There are two forces at work, as complexity science demonstrates: habit and creativity. Nature has laws that perpetuate existing patterns and forms (habits), but nature also evolves, bringing forth ever new and unexpected possibilities through a non-linear process called creative emergence. -Joan Borysenko, The Huffington Post Every year I’m drawn to attend the annual Bioneers [ Read more … ]