Tuesday, January 3, 2012

How Do You Tell Your Story?


Well so far the world has not ended in 2012, contrary to suspicions and fears.  Nasa states that the theories proposed by Mayans are not true.  Does it really take an authoritative institution to tell humanity what they can experience for ourselves?  Fear is an odd state of being.  It lives in the dark parts of our culture, growing on suspicion and ignorance into a force of incredible deception.  Like lichens on the cave wall, the exposure to truth becomes the weapon that kills the mystery.

In today's culture is it possible to live without the gripping vice of fear?  I know for me it can be a daily exercise in looking at the truth.  According to the Mayans humanity has until December 21st of this year to figure out what is real fear or imagined suspicions.  The Cave Paintings at Lascaux  LascauxCave Painting View Cave Paintings allow individuals to walk in the world of the ancient civilizations. Dating back thousands of years, I note that the primary goal of early man was survival.  Seeking shelter, food, and protection from rivals created a simple life.  With this simple life the expression of being was the telling of stories through the medium of art.  In my observation, does man create or wallow in fear of the unknown, paralyzed to do anything? What medium shares your stories or has our culture forgotten how to thrive the with the transmission of individual truth?

I am powerless over many circumstances in my life.  My humanity holds me captive in many ways, and like many others I focus on food and shelter in order to find peace.  So where are my cave paintings, the outlet that helps me stay centered in my memetic state of being?  Lately I am disgusted by the disconnection of our culture from the roots of its being.  Much of society is walking along through life with eyes on smart phones, ear buds in, disconnected from  interactive reality. It is a wireless generation lost and separate. Technology has swallowed humanity in countless  ways, making conversation a series of digital interactions through social media.

Wandering the cave paintings of Lascaux is a double edged sword as the Internet allows visitors from around the world to marvel at the ancient expression of life, preserving the fragile ecosystems in the dark.  It also makes me long for a cup of coffee with friends  at a cafe along the Seine, no smart devices other than the creativity of souls coming together to stop and talk, face to face. I would hate to see our culture smother like lichens on the cave walls of our minds.

Friderich Nietzsche stated that an artist has no home in Europe except Paris.    I also know that as a culture it is time to get back into the cave, start painting life so the stories that are told do not need anything more than our minds and souls to transmit  an image of our life.

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