Artists, poets and mystics occupy the threshold between life and death, between creation and destruction…

I follow The Re-Enchanted Life.com and part of a line in today’s post is the title of this post because it touched a very positive and curious nerve in me.

Whilst Creatives (read artists of all types) fulfil an essential part of all societies. We may be considered too “weird” to fit in the norm, the structures of serious life and yet it’s our very presence and contributions that make the magical difference. We connect the serious with the beauty-filled options of life via creativity and creative expression. We provide many of the things they enjoy, appreciate and (distract) away from the serious…

…when we think about and or enjoy music, paint, sculpture, the written word, the spoken word, singing, cinematography, buildings, design et al., we are in the realm of the Creative’s purpose, a place that meets chaos and then makes something real from its potential through interacting over a threshold where life can birth something solid from something until then, only ephemeral.

My grandfather was passionate about many things – most a complete mystery to me – among them was his passion for books. He would share about how amazing they were; using a desk, a fountain pen and paper, someone created a book; through them, taking the time, the effort, the risk to express themselves; using their brain, their mind, their hand and arm, they downloaded their thoughts and ideas and stories, observations and dreams, and they’d place them on paper.

That is a Creative at work: taking the risk to express, through whatever medium, they, like the mystic, face the threshold between the liminal and the solid and choose to be curious to see what happens when they engage and translate that relationship. Much like Michelangelo looking for the angel in a block of marble, the Creative risks all by gathering their talent to produce, to work, then sees what happens next…

How’s this topic about transitions? A Creative’s role is always about transitions: they follow their creative processes and their work is always about transitions from the virtual into the expressed. It is always the case when we ask curious questions about “what if…?” – the very phrasing is about creating a transition, a change as a result of asking, exploring, then implementing.

Making Life Difficult…

I’ve recently been pondering about how it is easy to get in my own way. And, I realised, I may not be the only one who does this. For reference, symptoms can include –

* ennui
* lethargy
* little voices saying – not good enough or who wants to hear that?
* hiding away
* etc. etc.

Being alive comes with no guidebook, lots of strange advice and (potentially) interference from well-wishers and “those who know better from their own take on life”.

The result can be a real mess of what and how to do things and confusion…

Does anyone else relate to this? If you do, perhaps you’d like to comment and contribute?

Blessings,

Benn

Touching Another’s Life is a Special Way to Communicate

So, how to touch another’s life?

Remember how you feel when someone shows you consideration and kindness? You know, the gesture – a bunch of flowers, holding a door open for you, letting you go first – how did it make you feel? Good?

We’re all human and we all have the need to be seen and acknowledged. How about reaching out and acknowledging another person and show you both know they are there and that they are important enough to receive your gesture of kindness.

An act of kindness, an act of consideration can make someone’s day in just the same way it does for you. In fact, you never know, you may just save someone’s life by showing them they are important enough to matter…

And remember; when acts of kindness are performed, both the giver and receiver feel better. So, why not determine to be that giver to touch another’s life?

It is simple, it just takes heart and the risk of reaching out and recognising another human is worth the effort of acknowledgement!

Perhaps you would share how your experience life-touching experiences… Go on, comment!

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Blessings,

Benn