The work over the past few days has been about releasing past experiences that are still trapped in my body. During the creative act, there is a real transformative relationship between the physical body and the physical object of art. Energies can be released and transferred back and forth bypassing the mind. Art made with intention can absorb the negative experiences and energies of the artist like a sponge, and bring healing. An artist can also make conscious choices and changes to a work of art so that they can be absorbed by the body. I have experienced profound changes both ways while working. Tonight, this piece pulled a lot from me. I felt a great relief when it was done.
In Blackwater Woods
by Mary Oliver
Look, the trees
are turning
their own bodies
into pillars
of light,
are giving off the rich
fragrance of cinnamon
and fulfillment,
the long tapers
of cattails
are bursting and floating away over
the blue shoulders
of the ponds,
and every pond,
no matter what its
name is, is
nameless now.
Every year
everything
I have ever learned
in my lifetime
leads back to this: the fires
and the black river of loss
whose other side
is salvation,
whose meaning
none of us will ever know.
To live in this world
you must be able
to do three things:
to love what is mortal;
to hold it
against your bones knowing
your own life depends on it;
and, when the time comes to let it go,
to let it go.