Archive for the ‘Artists’ Category

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Vibrations

Tuesday, November 8th, 2011

“There are vibrations in the air. Something is happening worldwide,” she says.

“That sounds like the name of an article about music therapy,” I respond.

But Thalia Vitikos is more than a music therapist. She practices Expressive Arts Therapy. This therapy makes use of all art modalities in service to the client’s need and state. Without rigid prescription, it exists to invoke healing and help an individual tap into potential.

Expressive Arts Therapy builds on our inclination as humans to create, to imagine, to feel, to be.  According to founder Paolo Knill and colleagues it  is a  “specialized and psycho-therapeutic discipline grounded in the imaginative tradition which all the arts have in common.” (from Minstrels of Soul: Intermodal Expressive Therapy)

The vibrations Vitikos may be referring to is a trend toward integrative approaches and thinking. She may be feeling the neuroscientific lens that points to an integrative system rather than mechanistic functionality. Or perhaps the field of complexity studies that builds a bridge to many disciplines – linked by complex systems and problems to solve. Collaborative learning, coaching, integrative medicine are variations on the theme. And perhaps there is an overall trend that many people and professions are plugging into – a matrix of connection.

Years of experience and an initial knowing told Vitikos that integration amongst individuals and within an individual is key. The vibrations prove her to have been right all along.

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Imagining through life’s drizzle

Thursday, May 19th, 2011

Haitian children draw what they hope for in Haiti as part of a WorldVision project

A week of rain in May dampens my memory of sun and causes me to forget for a moment the pleasure of warmth.

It is not now, so does it exist? Can I hold the ray in mind as wet falls on my back?

Such is the gift we have as humans – that we can conjure up possibility in the midst of a reality that obscures goodness. And in our capacity to imagine what does not currently exist we find hope.

In hope lives pleasure – also disappointment. Both must be. They hold sides of a tension necessary for the full life.

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Wonder’Full’

Saturday, May 7th, 2011

No age defines wonder at roots that hold a tree tall. What a magnificent system that sustains the leaves and keeps the tree standing through winter. Birds find a home in the strong branches. Leaves know when to fall. Buds bleed of new life. The strong figure  commands awe. And in that awe lives my mother.

Her eyes embraces it all – the natural world that carries our precious life. My mother feels akin to the rocks, to a hummingbird, and to limbs that reach for clouds. She is no stranger to the whisper of blooming magnolia. And when the spring is done, my mother creeps out at dawn to capture reflections on a morning pond.

Who is my mother? She is kindred spirit with the winds of light that hold a moment eternal. My mother asks for another view of color and communes with a sunset not yet born. All this and more speak to her grasp of life within the tapestry of creation. And she will clamor for its consideration. Don’t ignore – wonder. Stop tearing down – cherish!

To the defense of all things natural my mother shoots time away. Still – eternal – a moment draws awe. Observe and tremble she says. Hear the rhythm of water. See shades of green. Walk under patterns of sky. Take in the extraordinary magic. For more wonderful are the strokes of our natural world than any canvas conceived by man.

Hälsningar på Mor’s Dag Mamma.

To view the pictures of Ose Manheim, my mother, visit http://manheimphotography.smugmug.com

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Purposeful Randomness

Friday, December 3rd, 2010

You have probably heard the stir. Mark Twain’s autobiography has been released. Upon his instruction, it should be published 100 years following his death. And in its introduction he states:

I intend that this autobiography shall become a model for all future autobiographies when it is published, after my death, and I also intend that it shall be read and admired a good many centuries because of its form and method–a form and method whereby the past and the present are constantly brought face to face, resulting in contrasts which newly fire up the interest all along like contact of flint with steel. Moreover, this autobiography of mine does not select from my life its showy episodes, but deals merely in the common experiences which go to make up the life of the average human being … (p. 441).

It is not chronological. It is not categorized by life themes. The excerpts come in no apparent order. The writings piece together as if Twain is conversing with you. And at first glance, perhaps this seems random. But according to Twain, randomness serves an end that does more than recount ideas in predefined boxes. You hear the flow. And things might collide – or even catch your attention.

Sometimes life must be experienced like that. No sequence predefined, just as it is. And if we allow ourselves this mindful exercise to take things in as they are. What can we glean?

Thank you Mark Twain.

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Box It and Act Now

Tuesday, May 25th, 2010

Is there a project you have been meaning to get to? Are you procrastinating it?

Image of The Creative Habit: Learn It and Use It for Life
Renowned dancer/choreographer Twyla Tharp starts work on a creative project by writing the name of the project on an empty box. Once the box exists so does the project and Tharp is committed and connected to it.

In the box Tharp places bits of inspiration and information that help crystallize her idea. She collects things like sheet music, cd’s of songs, videos, cloth for costumes, pictures of dancers, articles, newspaper clippings. Anything remotely relevant goes into the box. It all gets worked out later. The contents are sorted at the right time – but not too early to stifle the flow of ideas.

With the box Tharp feels organized. The box offers structure. It marks the project as real though she may not know where it is going.

The box represents a specific idea for what can and will be. Whether dance production or an idea for a new choreography, the vision is built as the box fills. Its contents, symbols of steps taken and decisions made, evolve the image to completion. When the project is finished, the box is archived. And yet, Tharp remembers that without the box – the project may never have existed.

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Posted in ADHD Tips, Artists, Perspective | 1 Comment »

Don’t Trash, Converse to Learn

Thursday, April 15th, 2010

Sculpted by Nancy Schön

In my previous entry, I shared my son’s pile of “treasure” which some might perceive as trash. Using that metaphor as a segue, I offer some communication gems that can help us draw out treasure from an exchange.

In the Society for Organizational Learning’s journal “Reflections“, Raymond D. Jorgensen  shares “five guidelines for learning conversations.”  He credits Sue Miller-Hurst for developing these communication disciplines. They are as follows:

  • Listen for understanding. Allow the true intent of your hearing to be to understand what the person is trying to say. Dispense with other objectives until you really grasp the full picture of their words.
  • Speak from the heart. Fill the silence, not just to fill the silence, but to contribute in a way that genuinely reflects who you are, and what you wish to add to the greater understanding.
  • Suspend judgment. Procrastinate your assumptions, opinions. Shelve your rightness temporarily – at least until later.
  • Hold space for differences. Be inclusive of alternate viewpoints. Draw out those who are silent. Actively emphasize diversity of perspectives as a door to learning.
  • Slow down the inquiry. Let the dialogue breathe within silence. Don’t try to fill every moment with words.

What could emerge in dialogue for you if you practiced these disciplines?

A bit more on dialogue:
http://www.co-intelligence.org/P-dialogue.html
http://www.david-bohm.net/dialogue/

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New Disorder Reported in HMWPD-M

Thursday, April 1st, 2010

manual3The Holistic Manual of World Perspective Disorders is currently under review by artists, scientists, philosophers, healers, and other visionaries for its thousandth edition (HMWPD-M) before its official printing in 2013. Included in the draft of the HMWPD-M is a newly conceptualized disorder termed left-brain-centric- disorder, also referred to as half-brain disorder. Known to wreak havoc in domestic, school, business, political, diplomatic, and health-care arenas, inclusion of left-brain-centric- disorder is thought to be an important step toward identifying the source of many world challenges.

The disorder is identified by seven primary symptoms:

  • Fixation on rules and systems above people and principles.
  • Inability to incorporate diverse philosophies.
  • Predominant linear thinking.
  • Rigid categorization of disciplines, activities, and facets of living.
  • Refusal to acknowledge the big picture.
  • Inability to treat people as whole.
  • Mechanistic treatment of human endeavor and difficulty.

Happy April Fools!

Posted in Artists, Out of the Box, Perspective | 1 Comment »

Failure

Saturday, February 20th, 2010

What is failure to you? Do you fear it?

This topic was inspir105aed by the beginning of the classic movie with Julie Andrews,  “The Sound of Music.” While the Sisters attempt to “solve the problem of Maria” the wise Mother of the Abbey reserves judgment.

According to Wikipedia, “failure is the state or condition of not meeting a desirable or intended objective, and may be viewed as the opposite of success.” This entry also states that “the criteria for failure are heavily dependent on context of use, and may be relative to a particular observer or belief system. A situation considered to be a failure by one might be considered a success by another, particularly in cases of direct competition or a zero-sum game. Similarly, the degree of success or failure in a situation may be differently viewed by distinct observers or participants, such that a situation that one considers to be a failure, another might consider to be a success, a qualified success or a neutral situation.”

It follows that thannex-andrews-julie-sound-of-music-the_01e stamp of failure deserves some questioning:

  • What is the context?
  • Who is the observer?
  • What is the belief system?
  • What criteria qualifies the status of failure?

    This further questioning might release the verdict and grant a more thorough evaluation.

    For those of you who know the movie, Maria discoveries a different path that expands the frame that held her “failure.”

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    Performance Venue Matters

    Thursday, January 28th, 2010
    Deborah Henson-Conant's Burnt Food Museum Gallery

    Deborah Henson-Conant's Burnt Food Museum Gallery

    Deborah Henson-Conant burns food. Observing the unrecognizable morsels displayed, you might judge her as a failure. By an apparent track record of “transformed” edibles,  she must indeed be a sorry performer in the kitchen.

    On the stage, however, Deborah Henson-Conant performs with a different kind of heat. She does transform, not food, but stories and the harp. Her harp has rhythm.  It plays rock, jazz, folk, and blues. Blue is its color and it moves with her. She dances with it, sings to it, and experiments to create whole new sounds.

    Deborah Henson-Conant in Action

    Deborah Henson-Conant in Action

    Deborah Henson-Conant carries her harp and wears short skirts and boots. Her long hair, braided with ribbons, flow behind her as she prances back and forth during her one-woman shows. Her fingers pluck sounds ranging from distortions of Jimmy Hendrix to strums that carry you to an Andean mountain village. She also names special trees that bloom in springtime, like “Belinda” in Somerville, MA. She tells the tale of small music box dancers and pulls more than harp strings in “Who will Sing to the Nightingale,” a mournful call to her mother who sang her to sleep nightly.

    At most concerts, Henson-Conant  replaces Happy Birthday with “Congratulations, you’ve made it this far,” a a favorite for audiences.  There is always some birthday person who receives the pleasure of this upbeat and somewhat defiant reminder of one year passed sung to them publicly. Henson-Conant works the crowd to the end. She reminds everyone to view her undecipherable blackened “edibles” usually displayed in the lobby and on the web.  They serve as  a tribute to her “darker side” – objects of performances held in the wrong venue.  They help those who have transgressed to  lessor or lighter degrees laugh off the shame – and with that laugh acknowledge that where one performs does make a difference.

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    Posted in Artists, Creativity, Inspiration, Out of the Box, Perspective | 2 Comments »

    Power of Reframing: Finding Enlightened Support

    Tuesday, January 12th, 2010

    How do you reframe? How do you begin to see tendencies related to ADHD within a complete context that spans enough possibility for creative action? One answer is to find enlightened support – that is – someone who can help you observe your situation from many vantage points. This person is willing to go beyond the “party line” or status quo. They look to understand you as a whole person.

    g4a1Sir Ken Robinson, educator and renowned thinker about creativity, tells the story of one well-known choreographer in his book The Element.

    In 1930, Gillian Lynne’s parents took her to a pediatrician to find out what was wrong with her. Her school reported concern that Gillian, age seven at the time, had terrible handwriting and low test scores. She often disrupted the class and had trouble sitting still long enough to attend to schoolwork. The pediatrician met with the parents and Gillian to hear about the trouble. In response, he asked the parents to join him for a private consult outside his office. The three adults left Gillian in the room with music playing. When they returned to the room, Gillian was dancing. The doctor said to the parents that rather than suffering from some terrible problem, perhaps Gillian Lynne just needed to dance.

    Lynne’s parents registered Gillian for ballet school. Later, Gillian Lynne became a star ballet dancer and a pioneer choreographer. Among other accomplishments, Lynne contributed years of dancing for various ballet companies and provided innovative choreography, like Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Cats,” to the world. To read more about her accomplishments visit http://gillianlynne.com.

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