Having an anxiety attack

Chaos…is not how I´d like to start a new month. But, despite being busy (double stint stewarding at the Arundel Gallery Trail), there has been a serious wave of apprehension clouding my generally good mood. Even strenuous activity, digging out the tap root of the curry plant (to move it to a more spacious area) and two hours of pruning, hasn´t quite managed to waft it away.

I´d like to be able to blame outside circumstances, like the traumatised Sri Lankan woman who had nails hammered into her by her vile Saudi `employers´. That kept me awake for a good part of the night on the 26th/27th partly because the lady reminded me of Ma.

It could also be because I am still pondering why we humans accept such arduous or troubling lives - something that has troubled a great many writers and philosophers before me too. It can´t be because it gets better in an afterlife. Well not in my belief system, because `we´ re-create (or reincarnate, if you prefer).

In some faiths, there is a need to make good. In others, it is to help others make good. My current view is that we do choose a life, almost like a game, because, at a higher level, we know we have the ability to use our power to make anything good.

The trick is to feel that same innate power once in human bondage.

Yet getting to feel that inner power, while struggling through the mundane necessities of sentient existence, is a challenge that even superior mystics never totally managed.

On the pragmatic front, I need sales and commissions to pay the bills and the pitching I am planning has to be effective. Unfortunately, I keep recalling the tremendous efforts I have put in over the years for rather a meagre payback. The only good thing is I have retained my utter confidence in my `products´. A fine delusion because it keeps me going.

Lunch and then back to gardening duties.
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Food-induced nausea has been bugging me since lunch. For some reason, I can only eat green vegetables in small quantities. Failure to follow my own rule creates a two-pronged attack, so mashed tatties for supper for me. On the plus side, it has changed the mental focus!

And it didn´t stop me finishing the back garden weeding, changing the bedclothes and washing a stack of stuff (inc me) ... as well as registering with a freelance directory (useless by the look of things), chasing an art fair for the end of Sept, and trying to find how to change the options on Sticky Notes (ie turn back on the `do you want to delete this´ prompt - couldn´t find the Registry Editor and it took ages to find Accessories too but still no success).

So my mind is back on track for work and it at least it gives me some purpose.

A synchronistic aside: reading of Wilson´s peak experience (which I believe to be rather different from a divine one), a gossip comment quotes Anton Bilson(?) opining that Ibiza gives him loads of peak experiences. Rather confirms the difference.
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Art is informed by the life we lead, by our thoughts, experiences and desires. My blog posts are either streams of consciousness, wrestling with spiritual concepts or other experiences on this particular spiritual journey. For examples of how this translates into my art, please visit my gallery. Euphrosene Labon Mind Body Spirit Artist Author Writer


The Age of Aquarius

Soulmates0810…is supposed to herald a time of love for all. If press reports are anything to go on though, hearts appear to be hardening, and not just for Pakistan right now.

One OF (online friend) comments "the time when it’s every person for themselves will come soon enough" - and I am inclined to agree. It´s not that my heart has hardened, it won´t, but I am ever conscious of life´s increasing imbalances on multiple levels.
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Social networking works best if people communicate equally. Yet, wearing my observer´s hat, the internet appears to be peopled with those who thrive on one-sided relationships. They want you to like them, to share their links, to comment on their posts, or re-tweet their words, but very few actually reciprocate.

There are those who want people to remember their birthdays, but almost never remember yours or choose to ignore it. One actually thanked every other greeter individually - except me! Charming. Soon removed my greeting, and am now disinclined to be supportive in other respects. Why bother if even the smallest courtesies are withheld?

Small-minded of me or had enough? Probably a bit of both.

Then there are those who put you on a Limited Profile (in Facebook) while having the run of your own page. Unfriendly at best and bloody rude at worst.

A recently discovered relative also put me on Limited Profile, to stop spam being posted on his wall, he said, though it was not accorded to all. I gave him the opportunity to put it right, granting him the courtesy of a message first. Instead he decided to take the hump. So I put him on a Limited Profile as well, so he could see how unfriendly it was. His response? To unfriend me.

Phew! Thank God for that! As I already have one tiresome relative, I sure as hell don´t want any more, especially one I don´t actually know. But that kind of behaviour is par for the course in the web´s social world, it seems. Why?

Another relative chose to FB friend my niece but neither her parents nor me. Weird, eh?

I can understand people getting annoyed with their newsfeed getting filled up with too many updates from one person (ie me!) - it´s one of the reasons I have been blogging less often these days.

I also try and keep my twitter feed down for the same reason, although that did not stop one guy I call a friend from unfollowing me. Since he only follows about ten people, it was inevitable he´d see mostly my tweets. But a word to the wise would have been welcome. Instead, I returned the unfollow.

See, we end up doing as we have been done by. Some Age of Aquarius!
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I spent the morning trying to compile a brief list of art that might provide an overall idea of what I´d show at an exhibition. A necessary evil if they don´t know your work but also confusing if some of the pieces are in contradictory styles.
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Art is informed by the life we lead, by our thoughts, experiences and desires. My blog posts are either streams of consciousness, wrestling with spiritual concepts or other experiences on this particular spiritual journey. For examples of how this translates into my art, please visit my gallery. Euphrosene Labon Mind Body Spirit Artist Author Writer


Colin Wilson´s books

Doodle 0810…are a nifty way of speed-reading the relevant bibliography - meaning he provides enough quotes and salient points to avoid having to plough through the books myself. But I still managed to disagree with him, several times before I finished chapter three of Super Consciousness.

As he may go on to refine his view, I´ll comment further later, though I have a feeling his view of the peak experience is nothing at all like the deeper mystical ones I have had. I can say that with firm conviction, as it is easy for me to tap into the `ordinary´ peak experience when I put my mind to it. But I´m jumping ahead.
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As Sundays go, it has been much like a normal working day - scanning and framing art, filing and sorting, though I did watch two DVDs while reading the papers. That´s how good they weren´t.

self portrait 0810The self-portrait only works if viewed at the same angle I drew it - ie the mirror was tiny, half in the dark, and the paper was flat - hence the face looking slightly longer than it is. But the doodle (aimed at testing a dip pen) was meant to be abstract shapes and curls and turned out rather differently. No doubt a psychologist would have a field day with it.
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Art is informed by the life we lead, by our thoughts, experiences and desires. My blog posts are either streams of consciousness, wrestling with spiritual concepts or other experiences on this particular spiritual journey. For examples of how this translates into my art, please visit my gallery. Euphrosene Labon Mind Body Spirit Artist Author Writer


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