Welcome to the blogspace!

Click on the post title to view and to leave comments. Thank you!

Published on
Picture

Hitched to Everything




​LISTEN to the blog by clicking the DOWNLOAD link above

"Hitched to Everything"
oil on copper panel
12 x 12 x .25 inches
This item is unframed. (click on the image to purchase)


...when we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the universe - JOHN MUIR
When we set down our (heavy, well-constructed) armor, drop our (towering, fortified, impenetrable) walls, leave our (perfected, fine-tuned)  hyper-vigilance on the curb, something happens.  We feel everything.

We feel the sensation of the wind on our skin, the sun on our faces, the sand in our shoes.  We feel the weight of a lifetime of learning the hard way, disappointment, disillusion and longing.  We feel the preciousness of the beings in our inner circles - the fleetingness of our time together, the moments we have remaining.  We feel the aging of our bodies, the softening of our minds, the finiteness of our energy.  

And the media we absorb - we feel how it impacts our moods, our thoughts, our sense of safety and wellbeing, our very dreams.
Picture
And in that moment of emotional bombardment, in the wave of feeling and even potential overwhelm, we just may see clearly that we are hitched to everything.  We think of ourselves as separate, as individual, as apart.  But we are deeply interconnected with all of it.  All of it.

With this may come the realization, and the acceptance, that the present moment is truly all we can reasonably handle.  It is all we can feel, all we can see, all we can process.  It is a relief to set aside the future and the past for the small (tiny, infinitesimal) now.  Oh oh OH!  There it is.  All I can handle.  All I can be.
​About the art:  this is a paint-over of a piece I was quite dissatisfied with.  But as with so many things, that underpainting became the foundation and texture of something else.  Moving intuitively with a rubber wedge and palette knife, creating a meandering wander through a landscape of bare trees, laying on paint and carving back through it with the wedge to create texture and to expose the under layers.  Resisting the urge to overly define.  Allowing the eye to fill in the blanks.  Have I been here before? 
The May Reader Giveaway continues!  Leave a comment on any blog post this month to be automatically entered to win a piece of  original art - FREE!  I'm curious this month - how many of you listen to the blog?  How many read?  Is there something more (or less) you'd like to see?  Thanks in advance for your feedback - this community of readers is exquisitely wise and insightful, and your thoughts matter to me greatly. xo
12 Comments
Dotty Seiter - 1 year ago
Well … no, you have never been here before, because, ya know, now is the only place you can ever be. And what a glorious now "Hitched" is, splashing and sparking, whispering and wandering! My eyes are having a field day feasting on the visible bits and filling in the blanks of the invisible bits.
lola - 1 year ago
Dotty!!!! ooooh my gosh your comment was a 2 x 4 to my old brain. Of course I have never been there before, because "now is the only place you can ever be". My new mantra! Thank you thank. you!

Just wondering...do you generally read the blog or listen? Collecting data for future decision-making. xo
Nance Fowler - 1 year ago
You MIGHT have been there before, but it would have been different than now.
A different time, different weather, different mindset ... so this time, it's all brand new again.
Keep on exploring -
xxox
lola - 1 year ago
Nancy!!! It is lovely to "see" you here once more! And yes, you are so right. Especially the mindset! It's all brand new again - yay! xoxo
Thea - 1 year ago
Here is my favorite line of your prose today:
"we leave our (perfected, fine-tuned) hyper-vigilance on the curb"
What a relief for me to put that down, my hyper-vigilance is heavy! It is like a box of rocks!
lola - 1 year ago
Thea!!! Oh my goodness. The times when I can set that burden down, I am so so SO relieved! My hyper-vigilance is a box of rocks, too. Hmmm, I wonder if that's why we are so strong and resilient? xoxoxo
Julie - 1 year ago
"When we set down our (heavy, well-constructed) armor, drop our (towering, fortified, impenetrable) walls, leave our (perfected, fine-tuned) hyper-vigilance on the curb, something happens. We feel everything."

It's ironic how hard it is to put down that which is heavy. Are we used to carrying the weight? Who would we be without it? And does one really want to feel everything?

Asking for a friend ;-)

All of us - and The Universe - are interconnected.

And all we can really do (to quote Ram Dass) is Be Here Now.

Wonderful work as always, Lola. Namaste xoxo
lola - 1 year ago
Julie!!!! I am nodding as I read your words - it IS hard to put it down. It becomes the devil we know, and is oddly a comfort that way. Who am I without the weight? An excellent question! And do I really want to feel EVERYTHING? No. So that means I have to Be Here Now in order to handle the feelings. All interconnected and also quite a challenge. Baby steps. Shuffling steps. Sometimes little skips of joy.....

xoxoxox
Kris Ross - 1 year ago
Oh how I loved this . First I started to read then moved to listening and loved it
I felt my blood pressure lower as I sank into the moment
Well done my friend . Both the beautiful piece of art and your words pulled me back where I needed to be , in the moment, the place I always find myself ‘already well ‘.
Thank you
You amaze me
lola - 1 year ago
Kris!!!! I am so delighted this piece and the words about it brought your blood pressure lower..."already well" - YES YES YES!

And thanks for letting me know you listen now to the blog. That is such helpful feedback!

Thank you for listening and commenting. You brought a lovely smile to my day! xoxo
Carol Edan - 1 year ago
"With this may come the realization, and the acceptance, that the present moment is truly all we can reasonably handle. "
If we could really live with this, this mindfulness, how simple and complete our lives would be. It's like Dotty's 5 minute plan, that I am striving to implement. I always love your abstracts. Although lots of movement towards the sky, it very much grounded
lola - 1 year ago
Carol!!! Oh! Thank you for the reminder of Dotty's 5 minute plan! I needed that! And yes, if we could really live with this...and we can, with practice, I believe?


Thank you for appreciating the abstracts - they are where I go when I want to be grounded. xoxoxoxo

Author

Lola Jovan

Picture

Learn more about Lola!

Get Mail!

* indicates required

Intuit Mailchimp