Friday, January 09, 2009

Living in the Moment

The following is from "The Third Jesus" by Deepak Chopra. The book's emphasis is what we can learn about spirituality from Jesus' teachings, regardless of our faith or lack of it. This comes from a section of exercises, this one being #12 based on the teaching, "So do not worry about tomorrow," and how to apply it, "Trust in the organizing power of the universe." Or, live in the present. The reason I share this is because I was struck by how useful this list of qualities is for working in the studio and making art:

If you examine it one quality at a time, the present moment is composed of the following:
  • Alertness - be awake.
  • Openness - or being free from expectations.
  • Freshness - not being overshadowed by the past.
  • Innocence - not judging from old experience
  • Spontaneity - allowing new impulses to come in without criticism or censorship.
  • Fearlessness - the absence of traumas from the past
  • Replenishing - the capacity to renew oneself from within.
This also fits right in with my resolution words of "freedom" and "calm," a very nice symmetry. If I stepped into the studio each day and embraced these 7 qualities, I think that "calm" and "free" is exactly how I'd feel.

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