Thursday, April 26, 2012

why teach art? why not?

am asking myself the question, so, spare yourself the trouble of figuring out.  bwahahaha!  just have the (he)art to listen.  these are but my thoughts, recently, as we (burikbutikan artists collective) are in our fourth session of teaching art this summer, here in baao, camarines sur.  (turugbasi arts camp @ la huerta de rosario).
art is really an essential part of my life.  i need it.  i enjoy it.
but countless individuals will not be exposed to it properly without being taught, or without parents believing it should be taught.
i find art in sports, in music, in painting, sculpting, writing and other disciplines.
it surrounds me in the natural world.  in a beautiful sunset, the song of a bird, my chicks at play.  
every moment, i experience art, i just have to be able to see, hear and feel it.
any child who is not taught art, will have no opportunity to explore it.  perhaps the child is a young mozart or bach, but if he is not exposed to any musical instrument, the child may never know he has the ability to learn to play as chopin or beethoven did.  the child who is not taught to read music or to play the scales may never answer the yearning inside.
for many children, a box of crayons is the only instrument of colour they will ever possess.  without being taught art, they will never find out if they have talent or even a desire to learn to paint.  
without being taught, they may desire to cover a canvas with a masterpiece, but will not be able.  they must be taught how to hold a brush, load the paint and put their vision down for the generations to come.
i have heard of several stories over the last years about children who could sit down on the piano stool before they could walk and play beautifully.  
or they have painted masterpieces to rival van gogh, monet or rembrandt and they have only just begun to shine.
the one reason these have succeeded where others have not is because they were given the opportunity.  their parents helped them achieve greatness through art.  
other children are being denied opportunities, not only because their parents lack the means, but also the personal knowledge of what talents and abilities there could be if nurtured.
why teach art?
because we all need art, we all need artists to fill our lives with beauty of mind and heart.  without teaching art, there will be many great artists who will never develop their natural talent.  and there will be many others who would enjoy art if taught art appreciation.
why teach art?  again, why not?

ps.  thank you for the colours!  ilysm!  ♥ ♥ ♥


Tuesday, April 24, 2012

open, curious, hilarious wonder!

my feet take me off the beaten tracks at the farm.
and here, i discover the solitude i crave, funny how it sounds from someone as alone as me.  bwahahaha!
from a distance, i hear giggles and laughter i miss, how fast the nephews and nieces have grown.
this is the kind of walk that gives me time to look, see and savour the gifts i forget i hold in my hands.
so, i open myself to the force and let myself be filled with fruits and blooms, both the kind i eat and the kind that develops my character.
this typically sunny time of the year opens my eyes to see the uncharacteristically colourful gifts and i receive them with open hands and heart.
the sights on the horizon dare me to step into the mysterious and exciting world with the kind of wonder i cannot control - open, curious, hilarious wonder.
to think that i have not even stepped out of the farm. . .


photo credits - OsacnaB

ps.  thank you for the wonderfully colourful moments.  ilysm.  ♥ ♥ ♥
 

Saturday, April 21, 2012

my glimpse of him

i am seeking the beauty.
i am seeking the art.
i am finding you.
i look closely at the flowers, and the leaves and the little creatures at the farm.
i watch the plumeria blooms slowly uncurl each petal.  i watch as they slowly move closer to life.  and i look at my palette and wonder, how can i make my colours mix and blend?  
their colours seem to come together, not minding any colour wheel, no rules, but they come together pleasantly, however.
i walk to the small patch where my turquoise jadevine showed her blooms the second time this year and realize, the colours are just too magnificent, i do not even try to describe them.  
i just allow myself to be engulfed in a marvelous awe at their splendour, the greens and the blues, my fave hues, seem to be at play and the symmetry of it all, oh my, words just fail me.
i walk myself to the path lined with kapok, the last of the fruits have fallen and opened and started to deteriorate, and i look closely and see all these fiery red little creatures, doing what they were created to do, hastening the ruin to give way to a rebirth.
today, as i let my soul ajar, ready to welcome another ecstatic experience, i feel hallowed and i allow one magnificent awareness and recognition:
all these that surround me, beautifully coming together in a great masterpiece, is your creation, your masterpiece.  and i am humbled to accept my fate.
when i seek the beauty, when i seek the art, i will find the wonderfully created - the living art.
and i get a glimpse of you.

photo credits:  OsacnaB

ps.thank you for the colours.  ilysm.  ♥ ♥ ♥

Thursday, April 19, 2012

my pocket full of trust

the clock said 04:30 this morning.  i got an early text from my guests coming to have breakfast at my beautiful farm (bias excluded.  bwahahaha!)  i have to send a message to my farm kitchen staff to make the food ready, i thought they were coming by 08:00, but they must be traveling fast from manila to reach sipocot this early.  after giving guests road signs instructions, i wanted to go back to sleep, but this was one of those wakings where i am not going to get it.  my next thought when i got up from bed was 'i need to make a list'.  that sometimes is not a good sign.  bwahahaha!  when i wake up this early thinking i need to make a list, something is a little off.
still, i found my moleskin-like journal (bwahahaha!), grabbed my multi-colored fat muji pen, and made a ridiculous list while my coffee brewed.  the list is impossible.  i promise.  i know you believe me because i am fairly certain you carry some version of your own impossible list, too.  
and so, in times like this, i grab my pocket full of trust and i know i have been designed and created to need Him, moment by moment.  and as i am aware of this neediness, i also, always realize His abundant sufficiency.  and He can meet every one of my needs without draining His resources at all.
so i face the day, with my chin up, my hopes high and my heart aglow.  i will have a beautiful abundant day!  bwahahaha!

ps.  this must be thoughts coming from a golden girl, with a golden heart.  bwahahaha!

ilysm!  thank you for the colours!  ♥ ♥ ♥ 

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

49 in retrospect

i am in my reminiscent mood today, well, just because it is my birthday.
i remember when i was in my late teens and early twenties.  i was such a passionate and reckless lost soul.  i seriously had no clue! i blamed certain people (i blamed my mother, for being too strict and for listening a lot to what other people tell her about me. my father, too, for passing away too soon!)  for my lack of direction, and occasional bad behaviour.  and i thought i had good reasons to do so.  i read magazines with lots of quizzes in them and answered each question sincerely, hoping to discover how sexy, or romantic, or likeable i was. . .or was not, as was sometimes the case.
in retrospect, i do not think my youth was not normal.  young people often find themselves feeling lost and rebellious, even teachers' kids, and sometimes, especially teachers' kids.  it took some hard knocks for me to finally gain my footing on the right path, and i hurt people along the way, for which i am truly sorry.  i learned lessons the hard way, but i am not sure there is any other way to learn them.
i am glad those turbulent years are over.  aging, certainly has its downside (that is another story for another day), but aging has a way of clarifying things that once seemed obscure.  i gained wisdom, for one thing.  and do not be misled.  wisdom and knowledge are not synonymous.  wisdom comes through living and learning and seeking The Force's guidance.
i wish i could say that i have learned all of life's lessons well.  
i have not.
i wish i could say that i have never made the same mistake twice.
i cannot.
but, i have learned a few things.  for example - yehey!!!! - i no longer need to take a quiz to know who i am.  i am not always pleased with the woman in the mirror, but at least i am no longer in the dark.  i know who i am - the good, the bad, the beautiful and the ugly.
aging has also taught me that even if i did not get the life i once envisioned for myself - you know, the one with the flawless husband, the house on the prairie, the three perfectly behaved children - i can still have a wonderful life.  it all comes down to three things:  the choices i make, the attitude i possess, and the way i respond to whatever the seasons bring me.
i would be less than honest if i said there are not brief moments when i feel a bit yearning for a younger self, when time and the world seemed endless.  when defining choices had not yet been made,  when children played hide and seek in the HaHaHa park.  when forty seemed old.
but if aging has taught me anything, it is this:  when all is said and done, i cannot go back in time.  i cannot be younger, or more innocent.  life cannot be lived backwards.  the wheels of change keep on turning.  and the only way to get most out of life is by moving forward, living fully in the present.
these are my thoughts on this last day of my forties.  i look forward to living my fifties.  bwahahaha!




ilysm!  thank you for being in my life! ♥ ♥ ♥