|
The Path © 1998 by: Cirse Windom
|
|
|
| Art Self Expression Self Perception ~ inspiration symbolism manifestation |
|
once, during seeker’s travels, he found his self to be within a seemingly barren and toxic land.
seeker saw hordes of wanderers existing in small lightless groups ~ despairing, despondent, hopeless. he lingered about to see what their station was.... and what could be the cause of their situation.
presently there came a wanderer as equally lightless, but possessing many of the basics of survival. the wanderer brought forth to these bands barely drinkable water, barely breathable air, barely edible food and the materials of makeshift shelters. seeker saw the hordes were forced to wait until they were invited to receive the staples, for which they repeatedly offered their apparent gratitude.
seeker was amazed at such a sight and was deeply compelled by the evident physical and emotional devastation. soon, the wanderer, who seemed to be the leader of the bands and who had instantly noticed seeker’s bright light, approached seeker and introduced him self. “i am opportunist, and can see you possess a very appealing light. i’ve heard, although i believe none of it, that such lights are attained by faith. as you can probably guess, faith is a main staple i am lacking here. the one staple i’ve been unable to broker, until now.” opportunist gestured toward the masses with a wide sweep of his hand.
“knowledge is the other ~ but you can guess what would happen if they had access to that.”
“however you received your light, matters little to me. if you can convince these desperate wanderers that it is authentic and born of faith, then i will allow you great riches that are mine alone. allow you to dwell in my distant temple and be served by this blighted band.” opportunist smiled, nodding toward seeker.
seeker was shocked. barely able to even comprehend what the wanderer had suggested. for, although seeker knew faith could be shared, he hadn’t before considered faith as an entity which could be bartered.
“well....?” opportunist inquired, nudging seeker. “do we have a deal?”
seeker began, “to begin with, yes.... my light is genuine. secondly, no.... i will not trade it for any ‘riches’ here or elsewhere.”
“will you sell your secret outright, then?” the wanderer asked, undaunted.
“no.... i’ll not sell it either.”
“oh.... a virtuous profiteer, i see. what’s your price, then?”
“i have no idea what you speak of.” seeker asserted. “i have no price.”
“we all have a price.... some of us can simply define it while others of us....” he gestured toward the horde with a sweep of his hand, “must take what is offered.”
“‘supply and demand’.... that’s my faith. profit is my virtue.” opportunist smiled again and stared at seeker.
seeker recoiled. “i want nothing to do with you.”
“look here....” opportunist grabbed seeker and spoke low into his ear. “you can see that what i’ve got here is a mob of lightless desperates. they desecrated their land and rely upon me to bring them the basic nutriment of existence. you could give them hope. not enough to actually overcome their fear, though. let us not forget supply and demand. but enough to let them think they have hope! think of the marketability!”
“i have some here who are anxious and unsettled, wondering if they may find a better existence elsewhere. if you stay, we could keep them all right here, profiting from their desperation. how can you say no? it’s so easy.”
“remove your hand, opportunist, i’ll not be a party to your destruction of lives.”
opportunist, scowling, released seeker. “what destruction? these wanderers destroyed them selves. i just make a profit from it.”
seeker turned to leave, but opportunist grabbed the stick which seeker still carried, clubbed seeker on the head, drug him, unconscious, to a hole and threw him in.
over the hole opportunist then placed a locked grate in order to prevent seeker’s escape.
steadily pelted with rocks and sticks from above, seeker awoke, lying in the bottom of the hole, to a rim rung with chiding faces.
seeker thought of grabbing the stones and throwing them back, but elected to keep them for a possible later defense.
before long, opportunist returned.
carelessly shooing away the gawkers, opportunist squatted and awkwardly positioned his self over seeker.
“so.... reconsidered?” opportunist asked.
“you are a foul being.” seeker appraised. “are you aware i could be you, or you i? i sicken to think i could ever have been you, or am you. if so, it is no wonder why i wouldn’t have faced my self as such before.” seeker grimaced and studied opportunist.
“ah.... i see you speak in riddles. all the more appealing. mystery is a great captivator, great ploy.”
“for what purpose do you propose to keep me.” asked seeker. “obviously you have some use in mind.”
“i’ve told you. either you provide an entertaining story or befuddle these
wanderers with riddles of your own accord, or remain confined
here.... until you
choose
to do so.”
“suppose i don’t cooperate? suppose i sit here and rot, without contributing so much as a thought to your scheme.”
“ah, seeker.... delude your self if you like, but your kind cannot just rot without examining your situation or questioning your circumstances. cursed are you with analyzing everything.”
“and then, once you’ve concluded something, you’re bound by some ridiculous notion to share it.”
“ha!” opportunist snorted at his sudden insight. “this is too perfect. how can you refuse? anyway, you seem to think you’re above barter. so.... some time in a hole will enlighten you as to the virtues of exchange. see you later, oh ‘wise and enlightened one’.”
dramatically mocking seeker and laughing loudly, opportunist rose and departed from the hole.
seeker sat, once again, at the bottom of a hole.... but, because he was unafraid of holes and aware that they had much to teach, seeker elected to sit contentedly and occupy his self, just as opportunist had speculated, with thoughts of his capture.
sharing occupation of the hole with seeker were twenty or so rocks. twenty-three, actually. seeker counted them. he grouped them, lined them up, and arranged them in a multitude of ways.
gradually, seeker began to wonder of his need to arrange them.
‘is my desire influenced by idleness?’ seeker wondered.
‘no.... idleness is only the vessel which facilitates my need to arrange them. there is definitely something within me which is driving this need to arrange.’
each day wanderers came and threw more stones and a stick or two, which seeker dodged and collected in a pile at the far side of the hole.
for a while, seeker sat content to contemplate and arrange the rocks and sticks. although he eventually grew hungry, seeker overcame his hunger by recalling the will he had previously employed in his self imposed abstinence.
a long while passed, and still seeker was content to closely examine the rocks and sticks.
the visitors to the hole came less frequently, and only one ~ an older child ~ visited and observed seeker on a regular basis.
gradually, all except the child and occasionally opportunist stopped visiting the hole.
by this time, seeker had gathered a total of forty-eight stones and six sticks.
carefully, seeker arranged them ~ this way then that ~ all the while contemplating his desire to do so and stopping only occasionally to closely examine an arrangement.
the child observed silently, perched at the top of the hole, enthralled by seeker’s light as well as his behavior.
eventually, seeker lay the sticks in an array pattern, equally spaced and emanating from a center.
at the center, in a circular fashion, seeker placed seven stones. at the end of all but one of the six sticks, he placed another ring of seven stones.
frustrated because he was one stone short from completing the pattern, seeker considered behaving in a manner which might prompt a wanderer to throw down another ~ but realizing he might receive two or three stones, and not desiring the distraction of abundance, seeker declined his impulse.
glancing up, he saw the child who had been staring down, rise and run off.
despairingly and long.... seeker sighed and squatted with his arms resting on his knees, anxiously contemplating the arrangement.
‘why.... why.... why....’ he pondered.
suddenly, a stone pelted his shoulder and bounced to the ground. seeker slowly picked it up and gazed upward to the child who had thrown the stone ~ the same child who for days had been watching seeker.
the child stood with a blank face as seeker ~ searching for a sudden expression ~ carefully placed the stone within the outer circle of the sixth stick.
as the child faintly smiled, seeker felt a sense of relief and fulfillment awash them both.
“what’s your name?” asked seeker, staring again at the arrangement.
“most in this band are known as ‘yield’. unless we are or become unable to work.... then we are known as ‘ruin’. those who are occasionally or completely unwilling to comply with opportunist’s system are know as ‘risk’. that’s my name.... risk.”
seeker thought this tragic and inquired, “what is the commodity of yield?”
“labor. we children and our elders either choose or are assigned tasks and work to support opportunist. for this, we are generally compensated with our most basic needs.”
“and nothing greater?” inquired seeker.
“greater?” the child inquired.
“freedom.... and the ability to self sustain....” seeker replied.
“we are taught that there is nothing greater than to serve the bringer of our basic necessities.”
“why don’t you just go and get them for your selves? why don’t you create a means and generate sustainability?”
“opportunist is powerfully allied with outsiders who serve and protect his interests. opportunist protects theirs ~ just as our system functions within.”
“opportunist knows the elders are afraid.... some fear for them selves, some for the safety of their children. there is no freedom where there is fear.... only greater fear.”
“are you afraid?” asked seeker.
“no.” replied risk. “but i am unsure of any way.... other than the way i’ve been taught.”
“do you believe there might be another way? do you have faith in any means other than what you’ve been taught?”
“i feel a sense of promise. this is not discussed among our bands. i feel a sense of wonder. this is not discussed either. i’m waiting for a day when i will leave this place. a day soon, because, i worry that if i wait ~ i will somehow become as fearful as my elders.”
“fear seems to be contagious, particularly among families.”
suddenly, seeker felt a sense of why he had been arranging the stones and sticks so intently. and seeker asked,
“risk.... why did you bring me the forty-ninth stone?”
“because i saw it was necessary to complete your work.”
“do you know what my work is?” asked seeker.
“no.”
“then, without explanation, you possessed faith that it would become whole once the forty-ninth stone found its place.”
“yes.” replied risk.
“then you share with me art. you share with me vision. you share with me.... faith.”
“by lending me the final stone which allowed me to complete my vision, you have helped me to create my reality!”
“this array.... is a symbol for existence.”
“a symbol which will enable me to manifest my idea of reality into a form receivable by my other senses.... and yours. and others.”
“my need to seek arrangement is borne of my spiritual need to interpret my reality, question my perceptions, explore the many possibilities.... the relationships of subjects.... achieving a sense of order out of chaos ~ even my own chaos.... achieving a sense of chaos out of order.”
“i seek balance from contrast.... comfort in aesthetics.... surety from design and function. i seek to convey a sense of my perception.... convey a sense of my self.... drawing forth.... defining.... manifesting an alternate reality.”
“what is and what could be.”
“art ~ a way to communicate, to share with our selves.... and sometimes others ~ reaffirming old perceptions or exploring new ones.”
seeker quickly stood and grasping the air while pulling it inward, spoke with passion and reverence. “art is the internalizing of perception, turning it ‘round within, making sense of it, expressing a representative vision of how it seems to be or could be.... either perceptively ‘better’....‘worse’.... or simply different.”
“dreams.... healing.... art.... are all related to the imaginative and creative impulse and are subject to that same process....”
“all are grand attempts at self recognition, acceptance, and transcendence.”
“art is territorial, in that we are staking out and claiming our selves and our perceptions. practical, in that we often express our perceptions upon devices with which we daily connect.”
“it is similar to ritual, or worship ~ but as a device, originates from within and is subject to our evolution. initially limited by our perceptions ~ but never confined! for, once art is manifest, it transcends its self ~ as do we!”
“art is dynamic ~ occasionally permanent perhaps, in that it satisfies our need to materialize our perceptions.”
“permanent so far as its symbolism or reminiscent indication of growth ~ but not necessarily permanent in its endurance or even in one’s desire to share it with others.”
“our visions help us to transcend our common perceptions and focus upon, with our passion, our perceptions ~ our place of peace within. for, every entity.... every thought, feeling, action, device.... all are subject to interpretation.”
“we can experience a relationship with any entity, in any way we choose.”
“to evolve to a place of peace, of reverence, of acceptance. this is of art ~ of why we are compelled to create ~ and why others of us believe we cannot.”
“thankfully, risk, art is not contingent upon the acceptance of others.”
“it is essentially steeped in individual perspective, and is as subjective as are individuals them selves.”
“one mustn’t create based upon the anticipated reception of others. for ~ artistic vision, like intuition and faith, may be clearly seen by one but be and remain unfamiliar to others.”
“to introduce fear into art ~ unless, for the purpose of such a recognition ~ is to steal away the spirit of the vision.... the spirit also of the artist.... and the spirit of one who may have otherwise identified with the vision.”
“our visions are manifest into sensual material, which inspires emotion, which motivates action.”
“art is a transfer of emotional and spiritual energy through our bodies, as creative vessels.”
“offering transcendence....”
“one of the most pure and beautiful forms of enlightenment; for, it is unique to each individual ~ both in artist’s intent, meaning and manifestation....”
“and, in every other’s participation, reception, interpretation and reactionary manifestation.”
seeker drew closer to risk, who continued to perch at the top of the hole.
gesturing toward the arrangement, seeker continued. “risk.... i had been wondering of this need to arrange.... this need to recreate from my environment ~ and you have shown me.... you have taught me.... that it is of faith.”
“risk is of faith!”
“and, art.... as an expression of that faith....”
“art
is inevitable
“our unique voice within, risk!”
“that is yield....”
“yes....” sighed risk, her light hinting at a greater glow. “and wouldn’t it be wonderful if there were a place for art here....”
“art is here, risk.... it is only buried beneath fear and doubt.”
“but what value could it have? here, everything must have value, or it is shunned.”
“can you not see that through self expression there is self recognition, and through self recognition is the opportunity to transcend? art, through symbolism, is a path which leads us toward transcendence.”
“can you not see there is a value in that? a value in manifesting change apart from this existence.”
“this reality is not the only reality, risk.”
risk sat, quietly contemplating seeker’s words, then rose and whispered, “i must go.... opportunist is coming. if he catches me not working, i’ll not receive a meal.”
“rarely does opportunist have a perceptible use for risks, and he suspects us greatly.”
seeker was left standing alone, looking down at the arrangement as opportunist approached.
|
|
Commodity Bondage Service Exchange ~opportunity value trade greed yield risk ruin
|
|
|
Writing - Home The
Gift of Everlasting Cheer | Tide Pool
Surprise |
Can You See What I See |
|
|
All text and graphics on this page and within this website (aimsatyourservice.com) are copyrighted by Lisa Bracken and/or 1995-2007, except as otherwise noted. All rights are reserved. Reproduction and distribution of any kind is strictly prohibited. Please visit the legal notices page to inquire about copyright, reprint and other issues. |