Saved by Rock n'Roll

 

path between The Trees

(Chalk arrow is a readymade!)

 

 lily pond

Frank Turner's "I Still Believe" pulled yesterday out of the gutter and set today's wake up tone.

When life gets slippery i take a walk. I usually aim towards TheTrees because touching them helpsme balance. I have been calling upon my ancients since the Winter Solstice of 2009. They grow on different sides of the Zoo's peripheral path.

One tree is quite maternal, as she harbors ferns in her "arms" and young seedlings surround her base.  On the North side stands the patriarch, his branches arch over the path and shelter the Mother Tree. They are symbols of the procreative sentiment but i feel they are not limited to that interpretation. I feel supported under their limbs when people let me down.

I patted them both, strolled through the rose garden and sat awhile on a bench near the water lily pond. I appreciated the beauty of the park and the fact that i had this time to reflect and that i was working on a show and any day, any second, my cocreative partner(s)  will arrive.

 Feeling sad in the midst of such grace seems wrong and yet to do the big work that needs doing - takes a village.  I try to navigate through the facts towards the hope on a daily basis, it changes constantly.

I walked back to the studio and finished freeing a tulle underskirt from a ridiculous gown, looked at the heart insert i was painting and thought up some next steps.

I keep telling myself that there are others out there, like me, who understand the disease in the culture and who are willing and able to point it out and prevent its proliferation by setting up healthy alternatives. Most people i meet are either unaware, feel and therefore are, helpless or are  waiting for permission, god, whatever to start the process that only they (we) can start. Others believe the limits they impose and justify.

Some hours seem meant for mourning our possibilities as each day we lose a few - and that hurts. The faster we can get out from under these cranky, skanky old belief systems the better!

 I am tired of watching the pimps abuse America, she (we) deserves better.

"I Still Believe" helped me remember that art and music are where i once found truth and truth, not facts (those i can uncover)  resonate in the hearts/souls of people around the globe. Truth soars across the ignorance of economics and politics and resides in knowing; the place where our discovery unfolds the maps of the evolution.

thank you Mr Turner, i still believe.

Today i  finish the inset and write a scene of the mythos. The others will show up, they have before!!

Charm and Snickery

There is some fun visual stuff here, plus - i so luv the techno wannabe guitars. Watching the kid in us face off, all tongue in cheekiness, with current cultural discourse in this archetype twister just kicks up my happiness.

Ditch those boyfriend/girlfriend, generic friend, nitpickity lists and labels, then set out to find the humans under all the skins. Roles are for robots and we have imaginations!

When we limit life to what we think we know and want, we cut our opportunities and possibilities down to the size of our ignorance. Why do that?  (Case in point, the systems that are determined to take "us" down to their level)

I really hope that sweet opening scene continues with a stroll in Hyde Park or a cup of tea, Like is such a good place to start a relationship.



Thanks to Flavorwire for this funny love songs collection. See, hear more HERE.

Fashion note: Innovation is everywhere, go into the streets and spot a look that amuses, entertains, glorifies, inspires, works or otherwise gets your attention. Notice the briliance of our species, it's the key to our adaptive genes, it's why we will get through this messy time of crashing things. Be heart.

Muse -Unsustainable

In gratitude:  We need to keep hearing this story, thank you Muse for this version. Nothing is going to change unless we do it, those in control appear vested in the system that is no longer useful, was never sustainable and doesn't align with the values many people are now sharing.

The past can't continue to dictate our future. Business as usual appears to be a model of ignorance, greed and fear. Those talking so loud seem to want to fool us into believing that the reality of the manmade system is more relevant than say the systems of the planet, universe.

But this manmade system of systems is based on a defunct archetype that needs a lot of healing work.  All machine and no heart..who wants it?

The larger realty  shows up when we do.

 

 

Lost in the Mirror

 1950s Warhol fashion print

 

 

I have been working on the new stories and now all these allusions to myth are popping up. The serendipity experiment is remains exciting.

"The hero in this new myth necessarily needs to become a prophet. For his is the arduous task of reintegrating the various fragments of the self, hearing the symphony in the cacophony, seeing the human in the digital -- or else, man will suffer being trapped forever, in the halls of mirrors."  Andrew Lam

 The above is a quote from the Common Grounds article  21st century Man and the Hall of Mirrors. Further on, ..:"A future in which everyone can be famous for about 10 minutes has indeed arrived. We have all become actors, filmmakers and reporters. We begin to believe that we are not fully ourselves, that we are not viable in the new system, unless we make some sort of electronic imprint, some sort of projection of ourselves, in the virtual world."

Andy Warhol who coined the phrase about everyone getting 15 minutes of Fame, was off by five minutes. The length of "stardom" is reduced to 10 minutes as is the Youtube limit. However the fame and media connection are valid and the need for validation is possibly the key. We need attention but is this the attention we need?

The products and services whirling around us are designed to create, support or mitigate the damages of the idea of profit. We accepted this idea and hooked it to "progress" not realizing when or how we were emotionally hijacked by our vanity, our lust for power and our sense of self connecting to outside feedback as a way to "feed self."  Materialism elicited envy and/or admiration and this was perceived as "a good thing" to the developing ego. Way back in time, this was a real survival  issue, the one with the fur coat had a better winter than the one clothed in woven bark.

Anyway, we continued to nurture that concept of wealth and diamond rings, update remodels and hoarders are proof. Sure a lot of people didn't buy the riff but they didn't stop it, either. Instead the game took on a new edge as stuff became overwhelmingly hard to handle (think landfill and hoarding) 

Along with this we avalanche of stuff; we gave up or otherwise lost community on the first round because some of it was annoying or worse. That we threw out the "baby with the bath water' is now being considered , but is another story.

So with stuff od and a dirth of community; along comes Social Media and the digital community grows like a weed. It created community with what seemed fewer consequences. However, as it is a mainline connection to mirrored self it is as limiting as it is expanding. The paradox is.

So now we are dependent on a whole new state of interaction, which furthers the facade as we are creating new images of self that start to define us and we lose "us" in process. We change our hair not our limits. All the while we do not really mess with "progress" because profit has the reins.

In a system devoted to profit, other paths of possibility whither. We, as a whole, lose all sense of "other," other paths, possibilities, our connections to each "other" and nature and..? However that "other" is actually rooted in a larger reality and is not "other" but is self extended. Whereas profit is a manmade or "synthetic reality" and therefore is the imposter or superimposer, isn't this like crazy?

Are we at risk of losing our authentic selves to the imposter?

This is way too much. i believe that all the necessary "stuff' we humans need to find our happiness is embedded in the seed of self; for it is in that spark, DNA or? , where the gift we are meant to deliver lies dormant but ever ready to grow once we figure out it is there. Like with anything , how do you know to look for something you didn't know existed? We are not taught to deliver our gifts unless they suit the track of profit, which cuts off a lot of gift giving.

That loss of potential is a huge risk, i think it is the biggest by far. Who are we but ourselves? So setting aside "going inside" to believe the mirror's reflection is immediate gratification but isn't a good design to develop a dream. It is instead a story that reiterates the short term profit story that has taken over economics.

Consider:  skanking the environment for a dollar now and withering away from immune systemic dysfunction later is creepy. Accepting a suicidal belief as normal is like believing a dead end sign. (on a round planet that is a mere transportation difficulty not a truth)

As Fashion is also mirror dependent, changing the paradigm of fashion will adjust the concept of image.

Divine Masculine

This is so cool. I have been working on myth deconstruction as a way to (now) lovingly dismantle the fallacies we were led to believe in order to recognize how they have colored our walk through the ages. I am doing this from the western cultural perspective but am not limited to that tunnel. People have been mingling for a long time, so even if i tried to edit, i would be in a fantasy. (clue number 3)

It's the historical edits that have created our delusional consent and getting past the fast food of mental distractions is kind of like snooping in some huge forbidden yet available, attic. Some trunks are locked, some are open and untouched others are pawed through with their contents spilling over the sides This is a wondrous shadowy place of vast mental treasures, full of ideas, stories, facts and fables. This is where brain sparklers lie dormant.

Brain sparklers are abundantly available, grow with sharing, get farther off road the longer you travel and light the way for ever more exploring.  Their energy multiplies with use, makes people happy which empowers us to pass the happiness on (See the Happiness Advantage on PBS). The more happiness that is spread around the better, therefore it seems most wise to enable happiness. This ultimately arrives at the gift that everyone is born to deliver, for in that "birthing" the seeds of true happiness spread. This is not a mandate or a measure (Bhutan's gross national happiness) this is about expanding life's potential.

Lilith

"Due to Lilith’s refusal to bear Adam’s children she

has come to symbolize female power. From the “Shrine of Lilith”

Mephistopheles 

the chief of the Devils w/thnx to Faust

and wikipedia

So I have been exploring through Lilliths, Eves, Adams, Mephistopheles, Lucifers, Jesus(es), gods, godesses, Ice Queens, Mary Magdalenes, Delilahs, Davids, Goliaths, saints and sinners. Bouncing this off rules and regulations, policies and those ubiquitous "everybody knows" is a roller coaster ride. Landing for a spell on this piece by Charles Eisenstein was magick and fundamentally sublime aka meant to be. I am so grateful for the male viewpoint that shares the concept of coming back together in a way that aligns with whole thinking, that i am quite giddy. Please read this great blog entry, Money and the Divine Masculine and share the joy.

So the story i needed to help myself understand is growing and as it grows i see the ways to forgive a life that has confused, angered, frustrated, delighted, fooled, tricked,  mesmerized and harmed me and others. My gift is to share the keys to the attic, to open trunks with crusty old locks and to tell the story of us in new ways.

Once one sees the glam, glitz and tawdry bits of what can only be called a manmade  superimposition laid out like caked makeup on a bigger more beautiful reality, then we can consciously choose a future that is not just desirable but extremely do-able. Awww the freedom of bliss!

Convenient for Who? Gender Constructs

 Woman's jacket 1895,

Maison Laur origin France

 corset 1880, orign France (possibly)

Man's suit 1850 origin USA

All Photos courtesy of FIT great fashion archives website.

I am working on a script that pulls myths from their jackets, gives them a shake and spills their pocket contents. I believe this can help heal collective worldviews; really!. Once we understand how the old stories hinder possibilities, we will replace them with new, mature, evolved stories that point us in another, dare i say enlightened, (yes, of course) direction.

I think the male/female divide has a lot of strings attached to it and may be the origin (stem cell) of the pathology our species is experiencing. This powerfully emotional relationship paradox was constructed way before the written word and  makes this to be  both a research and intuitive process, I realize i have been working on this most of my life. As a child tests boundaries, i just continued, questioning the validity of the "truth."  i apologize to everyone i hurt, confused and angered on the way. I guess this is my give back, the gift i was meant to deliver.

So this is personal and more. If we can heal at passions front, then perhaps the damage we did under the influence can be faced and dealt with on the broad plains of our existence. We will stop the destruction once we understand why we smash things. We will be healers, menders and lovers instead. We will be "Heroes."

So in poking around the world of borders, rungs, divisions, territories and restraints i remembered a striking divisive example that was propagated through the mores and media of the 1800s.

This has to do with the Victorian policy that alluded to the separation of work and the domestic front. Separation allowed men to leave their consciences at home and enter the workplace as if readying for war. This furthered the "brotherhood of men" and seems to have left a legacy of loyalty i still encounter with chagrin. It is a path in its own right of wrong, but for now i will stick to the ladies and gents. (that brotherhood, patriots thing is a twisting root that will be dealt with later)

The Robber Baron era of tenements and poverty is a big part of this picture. Labor was culled cheaply from immigrants and the poor, to build the wealth of the few who had the means (money, connections and resources)  to actually extract the resources, start the factories, distribute the goods and create the big services (banks and insurance companies, etc). This was "reality" and was a hybrid of the monarchy hierarchical design.

The labor class had to be divided from the educated or mid class who in turn were separated from the owners. This way everybody knew who was who and what they were or soon to be, doing.  This kept everything tidy.This clarity helped to maintain order. Order made "men" feel in control and all was/is well.

To help maintain order it was best to be able to judge "books by the covers"  and voila, the business suit was born. The terms, white collar and blue collar became part of the language-attributed to Upton Sinclair-and are still in use. This aided clarity of course and marketing opportunites.  Fashion was expanded to embrace the "middle class" and helped inform "progress." Fashion grew and another old skool wet dream flourished.

The white collar workers created good buffer zone characters that protected the owners and the onerous wealth making practices they dictated. Buff zoners had more to gain by following the owners dictates than their own nagging conscience. Caring for one's family justified the decision and all was "well."

David Rockefeller is heard saying that family is all that matters, in the documentary Money as Debt. It also was a fave of the mobsters, well at least the ones that lived on screens, this is interesting, no?

Therefore the family was the heart and soul of the home but was best left in the dark when it came to "winning the bread." How can this work?

It can't, which is probably why the money makers card is skipped over in most history books. It is a tricky substance best left out of the "equality and justice for all" story.

The actual card gets played as the Joker, aka, as in the Horatio Alger stories about individuals who overcome the odds, misfortunes, poverty and pain to climb the ladder of success and rise to the "top." This makes for good stories and fullfills the "making it in America" propaganda that is necessary to keep the many toiling away for the benefit of the few.  It provides the merit version that sustains beliefs.

So now, back to the 19th century and the pall of coal sooted skies, where upper class men were engaged in businesses considered too harsh, tricky, tedious and/or unsettling for the sensibilities of the weaker sex.

To be fair, women were fainting due to tight corsets, slathering on arsenic laden creams and perhaps even swallowing a few tape worm pills, so the notion of fragility was somewhat true. Leaving ones business self at the office became a noble and decent gesture; it was meant to aid and heighten domestic bliss and keep the home fires burning.

This separation helped pave the way for even more gender role delusions and more cultural schizophrenia. It is a totally understandable, even well intended misstep. It is another link in the pathology of the western mindset.

If you've stayed with this unravel,  the strand that made women the spiritual, social and domestic rulers of home and hearth, is now visible. It is the juxtapose that provided the fodder that grew into the "woman behind the man" tales of modern lore. It was a convenient concept, a separate but equal think, for gender role assignation and was later conveniently adapted to gentrify racism. We humans love a good repeat. (machine thinkers pablum)

Now i must bring in a book i read years ago, about an original domestic goddess, Mrs. Astor, who ruled NYC, by calling the social shots. She could make or break a person's standing and that aided or constrained a families abilities to thrive. If you weren't invited to an Astor social it meant you were doomed to job loss, social ostracization and other calamities. Wealth was power and had naught to do with anything as laudable as merit. It was a catty, stylish pecking order ruled by a most famously coiffed peckerhead. (Nod to Michael Refuzer for this pun) .

PS -Oh right, this was of course the "upper class," Poverty was much more inclusive. The flower seller, classic ugly duckling to swan tale of My Fair Lady (from Pygmalian) and the gang of thieves in Dicken's London, Oliver Twist care less about the niceties of gender roles and focus on surviving the best one can. Note: The authors also took care to single out one from the many and glorify their rise in the social order. That made for a good "publishable" yarn.

Money is Debt

This "art" is supposed to make us aware of  deforestation (trees as environmental agents that provide ecosystem services, so is important message) ...right i got that!!!  but not until reading the explanation in the Seattle PI -so reall;y a mixed message

Deforestation is product of ownership benefit mantra, so round it goes.

Money is Debt and debt is a form of slavery. Consider the indentured servants of the American colonial past. Consider immigrants and cheap labor, slaves generating the  wealth of the South and other forms of usury. You may start to feel nauseous; i know i do, every time someone says something about the "right" to profit. Like what does that mean?

This statement is useful in that it glorifies the concept of "the self made man" or fair trade, or American liberty, or the freedom to take, exploit and expand ones wealth without hinderance. One has the "right" to benefit from ownership. ( Ownership is another loosey goosey, later!)  This old notion was concieved in a far different world view than what we now know. Now we know the scope of reaction to action and the consequences of infinite growth on a finitie planet. We know we cannot continue fouling our home and not get sick...er.

Therefore why are we still such suckers and pawns to profit? The concept was made up therefore can be unmade. I suspect we are stuck in this situation because we equated progress to profit and making do, all word origin indicators. So we went along fooling ourselves;  believing some "ones" trustworthy and knowledgeable were in charge of the system. We were forcibly taught that that was true. (Manufacturing Consent)

It's a nice story, but so not the case. In fact the system outgrew the people. People progressed in niches and were limited by the same. This lack of diversity by niche is based on some very wrong and limiting notions that were set into motion generations ago. At the time it started it made sense- now it does not. However it is entrenched and  now apparently "it" rules us. What???

The "system" appears to be a man made cancerous thing that we either join whilst leaving our conscience at the door or keep our whole integrity and fight as best we can. When success means to bow to the wishes of a psycopath (Corporations fit the profile)
what kind of success is it? Now i know why i am such a bad fit!!

This is sticky, for to not belong makes influencing decisions difficult, however to belong one must play by the rules. This is the Catch 22, the paradox. Why? because the rules of profit dictate the system. The rules were informed by the disease to behave as the disease, reflective assessment and action- therefore the inluence was and is directed by those who learned from influencers before them. We repeat what "works" however we see not the whole but the niche and this lack of vision has created a monster- a multi headed hydra that is sucking out the resources, hijacking energy and is wringing life dry. It is the "death of birth." (Paul Hawkens)

Is it because there is no money in caring, in giving back as much as you take and other natural healthy system exchanges as seen in thriving ecosystems? Are we doomed because we made up a story and now anyone trying to write another kind of story is dissed because "we" all know the old story? Our default belief is faulty but feels safe because we heard it for so long. Am i the only one thinking this is absurd?

Answer: No of course i am not alone. Let me know:-)

The Human Story

sun dappled reader with a great tattoo

Why do we appreciate rainbows, the scent of night blooming jasmine, the robin's song, a soft breeze, the feel of the sun?

Why have we allowed our senses to be deadened by the synthetic promise of the marketplace? The design of the dupe is a capitalist success story.

Now perfumes, cosmetics and the supermarket laundry aisles choke me with their noxious fumes. I am very sensitive to pthalates and other airborne toxic invaders. I believe it is because my exposure tolerance has been maxed. My body's warning system is telling me to get away or suffer the consequences of denial. I get away.

Did we take the natural gifts and services, the process of life on this planet, for granted or we were duped into believing the promises of "leaders" as they shaped the world?  Was this duping planned (conspiracy) or was it merely a step by step process of ignorance and self gratification?

What I find horribly amusing is that they who get the privilege of running the shows start to believe that they are that special. Keeping their "beliefs" alive and well, they build the systems that augment these same narrow perceptions. They raise their children to believe they are that thing too and as the kids, for the most part feel "not even" they see the rest of the world as even less.

"I have. therefore I deserve to have"  and more; the more is to prove to "daddy" that i am all that...again!!  Do you see how damaging this is?  It is the perfect developmental plateau, the no growth vehicle of belly button myopia.

As the reflective ego grows in its own image, it destroys else. Its markers are stuff and power, its lingo profit and control. Sounds familiar, no?

Its outcome looks to be a form of  narcissistic domination that leads to nihilism, the king of the world dies alone, unmourned and unnoticed...the king of the world is zero.

After seeing the movie "Ethos" Friday night, I am under the influence. Check it out for the Rockefeller tape ....Hitler with a smart phone is still Hitler.

Hollywood Clog

Saturn Devouring his Children, Goya

I checked out a screenwriters class last night and learned that it wasn't right for fashionRIP's next act. I learned how rare it is for the artist to be in control of their work and how the film industry has parceled up the players so as to control the parts and put together films based on the mechanistic model that is so last century. No wonder the blockbusters are unremarkable in staying power, like candy they are a sugary burst with little lasting value (and at what price the sweetness?). Hollywood is corporate, short term and full of its own ego. The saddest thing is that unless it helps its children thrive, there will be nothing left to save. What good are hoarded scripts, controlled, stymied talent, rooms full of awards and piles of money, if the critics, audience and family is no longer well enough to show up?

Topping off the evening, i learned that "violence with out a story, is boring," from a petite young woman who wrote code or something for the game industry. I learned that a few writers are paid well by the studios despite rarely seeing their work become a film and how "why care; "you're paid, right?" is normed.

The "reality" we accept is but a worm we allow to live inside us, eating us alive, nibble by nibble, relentlessly satiating itself as we do not "feel" the problem. Like how can it be a problem if no one else thinks it a problem? Therefore ignore the issue because if it was bad "we" would be told it was, right? Because we are "good people" right? (The Leaderless Revolution by Carne Ross, poses similar round talking in international diplomacy. Trapped by mirroring our ok'edness appears a universal malaise)

I was hoping for a class that was independent minded, future oriented and less "keep me in la la land," When boring documentary is "sentenced" by the prof and serial killer ethics and murder in the liquor aisle, are tossed about a room, i am another kind of bored.

I am again, stunned, at how myopic, unheroic and brainwashed we are educated into being.  Listening to the stories the writers framed showed me that what we learn, we repeat. What we repeat, we accept and as we up the ante of tolerance, we accept things that are synthetically addictive because that is what we can sell most easily.
The useful neutral information i gathered was that it is essential to write a story that will grab an audience. This is an "of course" but putting it back in italics was helpful to me.  I also learned that one can snag good used Final Draft copies, as FD is the industry standard.

I am glad i went. FYI: if possible check out an intro class at a school before you enroll, it is well worth the time.

When i brought  up the idea of  decentralizing the industry; hoping for an affirmative reaction from others, i was told Hollywood is changing. Each studio now has an independent film department. Is this like a problem?

Knowing that the dominator wants to eat its children is no mystery, Saturn Devouring His Children (Goya, around 1820) comes to mind. Studio and independent is a paradox, the motivation and heart are dissimilar by design.

Green Tea and Transformations

This creative innovator knows her tea, her green tea suggestion was terrific and comes in a cozy with strainer and timer.  Wallingford has style. Her skirt is from thrifting, the hardware is new the idea quite fun- fresh brewed steam punkery? I should of asked her. These chance ops pop up without warning as i am always on my way elsewhere or planning other encounters; it is hard to plan for spontaneity.

(note to self: create a question list to offset surprise and meld the plan with the unplanned)

Artists Trust Book Sale

Artwalkers visiting the Artist Trust Book Sale last Thursday, were fabulous. The photo above is a sample of fashion evolving and i am loving it.

Lou Reed on the tee, details on the denim and those red stripes, Yowza! An always righteous black oversize nod to the 80s tee with  tie dyed leggings is a new classic.Thanks for dropping by and buying to help the cause!

Thanks to all who helped make it a successful event.

Refashioning the Fourth

True story.

I saw Kirstin waiting at a bus stop, wearing a saucy vintage tricked up blossom hat. I loved it for its homage to the original, sparked with a brighter palette, a richer bouquet,  a 60s ad retouched with neon ..a Banksy real life application, I so appreciated her spark on the street. I also noticed a a wistful, pensive look in her eyes.

I got off the at the next stop,to wait for my connecting bus and thought about my "promise' to help the world reconnect to its greater self. I wondered if i should have gotten off at the last stop and cracked the social barrier once again. It gets easier every time i dare "go there" -but still.

You see, it  takes a weird courage as "we" seem to have adopted thicker protective bubbles as our cultural abuse becomes ever more apparent. This shield takes an intentional action which can elicit camaraderie and/or cold stares, so is always a challenge. I sorted through these feelings and settled with  "giving it up to the universe."

I told myself if she was on the connecting bus, which could happen, then i would have to reach out. I mean her hat was enough of a reason;  and because as silly as it sounds i thought her possibly as one of my "children," i felt obligated. The darely beloveds, the rebels, the creative crafters, the ones who understand that floating along mainstream is sleeping at the wheel..they are the leaders, the genius of alternative possibility, i think i understand a bit of what they feel.. So because this is frairly irrational in a world designed to eliminate all else- I called on serendipity to guide the way. Allowing the answer to fit the parameters of the question is a useful thing to do.

So after about a 10 minute wait, my bus rolled around the corner and stopped. I boarded and there she was. I sat on the side seat behind her and watched her rummage through a bag of clothing and pull out a painted, jean mini that had to be a reFashion piece. She then started setting studs into the piece and i was in a big " aha" moment. Yes to the universe, serendipity and gos of chance.

I tapped her on the shoulder and asked if she was making the skirt to wear or sell.

She pulled out her earbuds and told me that she sells them. We then had a terrific  inspiring chat that nurtured my soul and shifted the mood of other passengers. When i asked about a particular stop a few others came to rescue, one even gave directions to the bookstore. This is a beautiful thing, you know it when it happens.

bus style impressions

This is also the "data" i am collecting to support our species ability to bloom in a healthy cooperative society. This is the bloom that tells me we will thrive and that the old ignorance will be shed.

 Kirstin is one of the new designers that make custom affordable, locally, creatively and responsible, she is one of the changelings helping us open to the light. Bloom baby, bloom. Check out her vintage stock at neonnightmare.com