Joni Mitchell transformed Rudyard Kipling's poem 'If' into a beautiful adaptation on her album, 'Shine.' See Mitchell's version below, and then read on for the original Kipling version. Both tap into essential skills of faith, confidence and tenacity, but end with radically different life views. See for yourself.  |
| Joni Mitchell If by Joni Mitchell If you can keep your head While all about you People are losing theirs and blaming you If you can trust yourself When everybody doubts you And make allowance for their doubting too. If you can wait And not get tired of waiting And when lied about Stand tall Don't deal in lies And when hated Don't give in to hating back Don't need to look so good Don't need to talk too wise. If you can dream And not make dreams your master If you can think And not make intellect your game If you can meet With triumph and disaster And treat those two imposters just the same If you can force your heart And nerve and sinew To serve you After all of them are gone And so hold on When there is nothing in you Nothing but the will That's telling you to hold on! Hold on! If you can bear to hear The truth you've spoken Twisted and misconstrued By some smug fool Or watch your life''s work Torn apart and broken down And still stoop to build again With worn out tools. If you can draw a crowd And keep your virtue Or walk with Kings And keep the common touch If neither enemies nor loving friends Can hurt you If everybody counts with you But none too much. If you can fill the journey Of a minute With sixty seconds worth of wonder and delight Then The Earth is yours And Everything that's in it But more than that I know You'll be alright You'll be alright. Cause you've got the fight You've got the insight You've got the fight You've got the insight © 2007; Crazy Crow Music If by Rudyard Kipling If you can keep your head when all about you Are losing theirs and blaming it on you; If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, But make allowance for their doubting too; If you can wait and not be tired by waiting, Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies, Or, being hated, don't give way to hating, And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise; If you can dream - and not make dreams your master; If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim; If you can meet with triumph and disaster And treat those two imposters just the same; If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools, Or watch the things you gave your life to broken, And stoop and build ‘em up with wornout tools; If you can make one heap of all your winnings And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss, And lose, and start again at your beginnings And never breath a word about your loss; If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew To serve your turn long after they are gone, And so hold on when there is nothing in you Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on"; If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue, Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch; If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you; If all men count with you, but none too much; If you can fill the unforgiving minute With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run – Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it, And - which is more - you'll be a Man my son! Poet Rudyard Kipling, below.  |
Friday, March 25, 2011
You got the fight? 11:34 AM
Sunday, March 20, 2011
One bite of the elephant at a time 11:46 AM
 |
| Photo from tsunami, photographer unknown |
— By John Katz
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Teach me to seek you 6:15 PM
 |
| Photograph by Eugene Atget |
Originally written September 7, 2010
Teach me to seek thee, and reveal thyself to me when I seek thee, for I cannot seek thee except thou teach me, nor find thee except thou reveal thyself.
— by Saint Anselm
Right hand:
This is a complex thought, a complex plea. Let’s start with “Teach me to seek thee.” “Teach me to seek you.” What does that mean? It means the one making the pleas has picked a teacher and recognizes that there is some action required to go on the quest to be in the presence of that teacher. Is it a pilgrimage to Lourdes? Or Jerusalem? Or through much more treacherous territory? Past, through the fears, the compulsions, the little pleasures, until we finally, finally, finally arrive at this quiet, safe, irrepressible place. And getting there requires the instruction of a teacher, offering guidance on what shield to use, what to leave behind, what are the best shoes for the long journey, and what kind of sustenance will I need?
Left hand:
Slap my hand with a ruler. Go ahead. Really. It’s OK. Maybe that’s the quick route to bring me back to you, to Love, to trust, to wonder.
September 8, 2010
“. . . and reveal thyself to me when I seek thee.”
Right hand:
The plea continues. You’ve taught me to look for you . . . in meditation, in nature, in another’s kindness and patience, in the quiet time of making art, in the beauty of raindrops clinging to an ornate pine branch, in the creative vortex of children, in a child’s happiness, in the animals who live in my home, in a shared meal. The search is elementary, really, right? The sought after is everywhere, and the lesson so simple . . . just slow down, give attention where attention is due, look . . . listen . . . respect. You don’t make this journey particularly difficult. We do.
Left hand:
“. . . and reveal thyself to me when I seek thee. “
There you are, in plain sight – patiently waiting for me – in the same way that I patiently stand, waiting for my dog to sniff every scent that wafts her way, stop in her tracks and bark at every errant sound, get in a barking match with the shrill puppies across the street, relieve herself, leave her mark as many places as possible – finally. She is done, and she notices me again – maybe hears my voice calling to her – and she comes – smiling or sheepish — back, to my protection, kind words + embrace. Reunited.
— Karen Blessen
Friday, March 11, 2011
Principles of Flight 1.01 11:57 AM
Air Dynamics 1.01
There are, basically, four forces of flight: lift, drag, thrust and weight.
1. Forward speed is necessary to fly.
2. For an object to fly, it must always engage in a tug of war between the opposing forces of lift versus weight and thrust versus drag.
3. Lift force points upward, opposite to the weight.
4. Thrust pushes the object forward, as drag slows it down.
5. The lift force must be greater than the weight and the thrust more powerful than the drag for the plane to fly.
6. If the thrust is powerful enough it will overcome weight and drag and the plane will fly.
7. Drag works against thrust to slow an aircraft.
8. The difference in speed between object and horizontally moving air increases as object increases speed.
9. If object is flat, it is pushed back. If object has speed and lift, it will fly.
10. Too much lift may cause aeronautical stall.
11. During take off and landing, it is necessary for a plane to fly as slowly as possible.
Monday, March 7, 2011
29 Pieces in Dallas Morning News 2:44 PM
 |
| Karen Blessen in 29 Pieces studio Photo by Kye R. Lee, Staff Photographer, The Dallas Morning News |
The Path to Peace
For Karen Blessen,
it's where creativity and spirituality converge
By ERIN BOOKE, Staff Writer, The Dallas Morning News, ebooke@dallasnews.com
For Karen Blessen, creativity and spirituality must coexist.
it's where creativity and spirituality converge
By ERIN BOOKE, Staff Writer, The Dallas Morning News, ebooke@dallasnews.com
For Karen Blessen, creativity and spirituality must coexist.
About 11 years ago, the local artist and illustrator witnessed a murder in front of her home that changed her creative and spiritual paths. She began a meditation practice in order to bring them together.
“I asked myself, am I where I want to be?” Blessen says. “Meaning spiritually, not even careerwise or financially. And the answer was no.”
Her meditation involves memorizing passages from major faith traditions — Christian, Buddhist, American Indian — and creating a response.
“Let me walk in beauty.”
“If the very world should stop.”
“Dying of love is what I hope for.”
Repeating these sacred phrases led to an “outrageous burst of creative spirit,” Blessen says. During a five-month period in 2006 she created mixed-media, small-scale models to represent each passage. She envisions the project, called 29 Pieces, as a collection of enormous sculptures where others can gather and seek spiritual inspiration.
“It was a very compelling conviction,” she says. “It encapsulates everything I have in me, and in a way, it’s way bigger than me. Because what’s being expressed is a universal longing.”
For now, the pieces can be seen at Blessen’s studio in Deep Ellum. The clean, cool, spare gallery space creates a serene atmosphere that lets visitors focus on the message and forget the world around them.
“This space is a sanctuary for this work,” Blessen says. “It has a quietness to it that allows people to listen to the creative message that we don’t hear when we have a lot of cacophony around us.”
The collection of 29 models lines one wall, while images of what the large installations would look like line another.
Blessen comes to this space to write, think and envision. “I wanted it to be a white, restrained and simple space that wouldn’t stir up my mind or agitate me. A sacred, quiet space.”
When Blessen sits down to create, be it her personal work or illustrations for clients, she requires some privacy and a quiet room of her own. At her M Streets home, Blessen’s workspace is a loft studio in her woodsy backyard.
“I find it impossible to work in my own home,” she says. “I need a separation of some kind, a ritualistic separation from the day-to-day. In the home it’s too tempting to do laundry.”
To get to her backyard studio, Blessen begins the separation by walking 100 feet down a rocky path and up a turquoise spiral staircase.
The studio, designed by Phillips-Ryburn Associates and inspired by the Mexico home of artists Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo, is filled with color and more visual stimulation than her spiritual space in Deep Ellum.
The industrial windows allow the sights and sounds of nature to encapsulate Blessen as she works. “I’m definitely a light addict,” she says.
 |
| Yes, KB's desk is ALWAYS this tidy. Photo by Kye R. Lee, Staff Photographer, The Dallas Morning News |
She surrounds herself with past works of art, personal photos, folk art pieces made by her husband, and mementos that remind her of travels, family members and other artists who’ve inspired her.
“I do have the presence of people who were instrumental to me,” she says.
Her dad was a carpenter and built a collapsible ruler that Blessen keeps on a nearby shelf. “It always impressed me that he could make things,” she says. Her mother also is a big presence. There’s a large poster of an illustration that Blessen designed for a Mother’s Day piece she wrote.
“My mom really inspired me with her kindness,” she says. “In some ways she was my spiritual teacher … in a church lady kind of way. I learned about how to treat people. To be kind to people and each other. She guided me more than anybody else.”
Blessen now guides others in their artistic and spiritual quests. Local spoken-word artist and creative-writing teacher Will Richey asked Blessen to mentor him, and he eventually came to use her Deep Ellum studio as his own space to create. He’s not just inspired by the space, but by Blessen’s presence.
“It’s a place where I can get away and get some peace,” he says. “It also embodies who she is — a beautiful, unconditional person. The studio is synonymous with the spirit of Karen.”
Richey is used to writing and working in busier, louder places, and even listens to music on headphones in order to block out the world. So Blessen’s space is a nice retreat.
“While I’ve learned to write and communicate in the midst of the world we live in,” he says, “there’s something about going to such a peaceful place.”
FOR MORE INFORMATION
To learn more about Karen Blessen’s 29 Pieces art project, visit 29Pieces.org.
 |
| KB in front of the backyard studio Photo by Kye R. Lee, Staff Photographer, The Dallas Morning News |
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Who Are You?” 1:36 PM
 |
| Piece #13. In the pupil of an eye, an endless heaven. From 29 Pieces. |
“What we are looking for is what is looking.” — St. Francis of Assisi
I’m still processing last month’s “Who Are You” Masquerade Ball, produced by the Green Bandana Group to benefit the 29 Pieces project. Over 400 artists and art supporters contributed their skills, time, and resources to celebrate and further the 29 Pieces mission.
There were beaucoups creative masks & costumes, and three of the best bands in Dallas – Ishi spreading Love like Dandelion seeds, the psychedelic swagger of Hello Lover, and the midnight groove of The Gritz. There was poet Will Richey bringing the Agape rain down on us, magical food by chef Richard Pratt, and an open bar (thank you Dewars, Dripping Springs, and Bacardi). There was the brain-and-body stretching Muscle Memory dance troupe, bright sound-spins from DJ B3, cool visual art displays & videos, the unique sound and shadow-puppets of Able Youth, Texas Fencing Institute sword-fights (!), and much more, all in a perfect and huge space provided by Life in Deep Ellum (see photos and interviews on the Art Star blog).
The raw power of collaborating artists in Dallas just blows my mind. They just keep making art and sharing it with each other and anyone who cares to notice, and they don’t wait for an invitation to the museum to put it out there.
What an exciting time to live in! Art as a force of its own is a relatively recent concept. People have been making art for a million years or more, but just 200 years ago, it referred to a particular skill, and now phrases like “the art of war” sound terribly anachronistic, don’t they? Now Art has a capital A, and it is a creative force that’s moving culture forward right along with technology.
Speaking of technology, there’s a great book I’m reading now - “What Technology Wants”, by Kevin Kelly. The idea is that technology has evolved now to become a little bit independent. For example, the electric grid and the internet, are programmed to overcome obstacles on their own. The products of technology, which are also the products of humankind, are getting lighter and lighter. It reminds me of the Vivekenanda quote in my first post here: “If you carry evolution to its logical conclusion, there must come a time when that power that was in the amoeba, and which evolved as man, will have conquered all the obstructions that nature can bring before it, and will thus escape from all its environments.”
Communication and software - ideas - are becoming more important than steel and fabrics. And who better to fashion the ideas that have value than artists?
— Kelly Nash
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Thank You + Stay Tuned 2:11 PM
I am happy to report that the January 29 Masquerade Ball was a smashing success, with 4 terrific bands, fencing demonstrations, dancers, poets, a DJ, food, drink, and more elaborate masks and costumes than you can imagine. There were 415 fabulous people in attendance, a tremendous turnout. An upcoming video will be released soon, and there are lots of pix of the goings on, on Facebook. 29 Pieces is on a ROLL. The success of this event is due entirely to Kevin Spurgin & Darryl Ratcliff of the Green Bandana Group, who made the whole event the success it was. If you were there, thanks very much for showing your support, and if you were not, you missed a GREAT party. Not to worry though. You will have an opportunity to redeem your error at the NEXT 29 Pieces EVENT.
Stay Tuned.
Thanks again.
— John Katz, Board Member, 29 Pieces
