"What's been missing was never missing, ...really"
There is no more dangerous reality than glorifying a path. We all must create and recreate, the myth of the path upon which we walk. To glorify a goal, or the steps towards a goal, or even to declare a goal worthwhile, will produce disaster, and danger to all near and far. Glorification of any path over any other path assures you of one thing, and one thing only; you will lose your footing ... and you are dangerous (I guess that's two things).
The good part of this, is that you are meant to fall as much as you are meant to fulfill your dreams upon any path. Maturing will always occur with each step, but the deepest integration of all the steps fulfilled (and unfulfilled) will only come from falling, revising, and getting back up with renewed vision. If it hasn't been tried, it isn't true. It will never be true unless it is tried.
is that force tends to break the most fragile and important things. Beware of forcing your dreams. Your path, your truths, if they can't stand without you, they should be abandoned - at least until clarity returns.
Go see a movie. Long before you are finished, you will either find gratitude that you are still standing with goals in front of you, or you will curse your own existence. The only recommendations you need to hear are the same ones you have heard, and probably spoken. It is not over until it is over ... and if you could give up and find LASTING peace, then you have been on the wrong path anyway. Get busy giving up. Let it go. And if it IS/WAS a true path, a true goal, it will come back to your door faster than you can let it go.
So, study the process of gaining clarity in every form, your choices could create wastes of time -unnecessary, but perhaps essential until clarification is chosen. In other words, you will eventually discover somewhere in your journey, that you truly have no choice: you are meant to be where you are standing and this present moment will define every future moment. As many of these awakenings as it takes for you to choose wakefulness, will be always useful for you, to you, for the ones you serve. Eventually, you will have to get something done that aligns with the goal and sustains itself, like the most precious things always do, always will, always have. How close you are in sync with these realities is exactly one step. Either the one you take, over and over, or the one you will take... and this is where you can leave your glorification, pick up the banner of humility and actually Create... Make... Transform. Yourself, your path and each other are the worthwhile cause. In truth, there are no choices except to allow and DO.
I tripped into ART SCHOOL because I was born to be an artist, but I had no idea that trying to be one would cause me more than 20 years of incredible pain upon the path, as it unfolded. I have said for (too many) years that by choosing this path, I lost everything precious ... and luckily, I have almost found myself in this lie before it is too late. This book, catalogue, series of manifestos, is all part of my unfolding path ; and yes, I am being forced to bounce back again today, or pretend that pain is the only truth. This is me practicing what I have preached, by giving it to you. It may very well be useless as a manual or a catalogue or as a set of words, but it will be useful for me to "MOVE and SPEW," though I have created incredible libraries full of creative expression, they reside mostly inside these 4 walls of my studio in Palo Alto. Ready to be seized by angry bill collectors, Auditors, or burned in a freak fire ... or lost in another tidal wave...
In the time I have been on this planet, I have seen that great art is not guaranteed to be seen. The "great" art left on this planet is probably less than 1% of all art created. Truly, there has to be more than one reason why art gets manifested ... it certainly does not last longer than a tank.
By giving away these words, I may be able to solidify what I have learned and actu-alloy be able to make use of the remainder of my own opportunities, but none will compete with the joy found in the sparkle of a child's eyes. Just like yourself, on your path, there are whole neighborhoods, villages, and "SHITloads of friends and relatives" who will benefit if you do finally make your path work.
SO DO the path justice! And find the real grace of the goal you choose... Your achievement will bring you lasting peace, or help you to choose it ... and we all need peace!
Now that I have said this, you can stop reading and start doing ... the rest of this will be repetitions of these truths in many forms. Perhaps there is nothing true here whatsoever. If it can't be proven out, abandon it quickly. So, you see this may be a book of lies, but if these statements are the lies, then you already can see what to take with you and what to leave. So, move forward, by all means., and don't forget who you are ... or BETTER YET, forget who you are and find out who you REALLY ARE! The reality of our industrial, technological age is that the HANDMADE will die if we do not keep it alive. Put your heart and soul (if you can find it) into whatever you do... mean it. Do it with full intent. Create and express beauty. Don't love it more than doing it... and LET it GO, because if it doesn't reach the people's hearts before it fades, then all is lost...ART is communication. Even if it is the art of plumbing, it is communication.
I have seen some great masterpieces of plumbing in my day; yes, pipes that speak about care, beauty, and the heart of the person who soldered them, as well as the appreciation of the ones who drew water from them. While I demolishned the place with a 22 pound sledgehammer (from top to bottom, 70 years after they were positioned for use in that house) I could not help but have a "sit down cup of coffee" and praise the work of those plumbers. From their hearts to their hands to the HOMEowner's hearts and all the families that lived in that house, to my heart, none of the beauty was a wasted effort. It enriched all of our days...trouble free. There are no museums of plumbing... WHY not? I can tell you one thing, if there were, that was a masterpiece. Seeing it INSPIRED me. I got great drawings done that day...
Here is my final message before we embark: Know that what you do will either destroy, dis-illusion or inspire others... don't forget this is THE TIME, the NOW for you, and within which you can do your greatest artwork of all. Learn how to live. Listen to the people. They seem to be crying.
Yes, there will always be hearts crying out for beauty until the hearts of humanity die, or get renewed again, and again, and again as they always have. You have a part to play in all our futures ... not apart, but unified. Yes, you can change the future - it is your destiny to do so, and you will change it, one way or the other. When you move one step upon you path you change all things. In which direction will that change resonate? Towards death, loss ... or towards life, renewal, inspiration, and lasting beauty?? The artist inside your heart knows this, and chooses. No matter what you are doing, you are affecting ALL the hearts around you. Any perception of beauty you can bring to the people will create and further true and lasting PEACE, within all these hearts, as well as within your own, all are unified in that moment, and always have been.
There will be a renaissance again ... the air can glow golden ... joy will
be seen on the faces.... colors will shimmer ... along with the true tears for
whatever gets left behind. There will be happiness, and re-ignited will be the
true tears of the joy with what is being embraced, renewed, reactivated, carried
forward. We all need This to work. So, Drop the glorifications, get busy scrubbing
the floors, or build something beautiful for us all. Anything that works will
work and be recognized. You should be so busy you don't have time to complain
or accept all the awards which will inevitably come if you do your best. Accept
all the challenges with grace and humility ... and keep moving. Get lost...Get
found...Get Clear....
--Toe Knee Stanger
ARTintoLIFE Productions