My focus during the month of June was the Web of Life. Actually it was OUR focus in that son Calvin joined my pondering mode and shared some of his own wisdom. The Instagram and Facebook posts are shared again below.
I’m doing a little experiment this month with my Instagram theme and sharing snippets of the wisdom that pours out of one of the most interesting people I’ve ever met – my son, Calvin. He’s a deep thinker, a sentient being, who isn’t afraid of the expanse of his thoughts and dreams. A joint excursion – my images paired with Calvin’s words – to give you a peak into his mind and our conversations. We’re calling it #WebofLife
Calvin: I’ve been wondering lately about opposites. It seems like everything exists as a dichotomy. Up and down. High and low. Heaven and hell. Black and white. Thing and no thing. But by that logic, one cannot exist without the other. The dichotomy must exist as one. The ever-present dichotomy is itself one. So then what is the center, or middle, of that one dichotomy? Is the center the essence of the one? I feel like the words that describe the center aren’t as satisfying. “Hot” and “cold” are so extreme, they’re intense. But “mild” is so…meh. Or gray, the center of black and white. Gray – it’s so unsatisfying, isn’t it? It feels like it describes what can’t really be described. I feel it’s because the words that define center will always be “meh” compared to their related outer entities because they are without strong feelings. They’re more infinite or expansive; felt from a different, quieter space. Web of Life artwork can be found on my website. #connectedatourcores #goddessart
Continuing the joint posts of my images and my son Calvin’s musings…
Calvin: I’m still thinking about the concept of center or ‘oneness’. I did a thought experiment the other day where I tried to arrive at the same conclusions on my own as many of the spiritual texts do. Could I arrive at that same answer of ‘oneness’ using MY voice. Like, actually feel it in my own body without reading it – listening to what I had to say. It turns out there are a ton of ways to reach the same conclusion. It reminded me of what I feel is the cool part about being a ‘master of none’ like I feel I am. A jack of all trades, so to speak. Because I’ve done so many different things, I can see that the passion in all of them is the same. There is no difference between the passion that propels a body flipping through space and the passion that writes a software program. I think that’s the “oneness”. Well, I know it is. Because I’ve felt it time and time again. I think people kind of get it, but the majority of it is still lost in translation because many don’t arrive there by themselves. You can’t read this stuff in a book and really know it. #WebofLife #ellensauerart #goddessart #connectedatourcores Calvin’s Guiding Hand artwork can be found on my website.
bhavnaumehta: Everything is connected – all your passions and all your makings.
ellencsauer: @bhavnaumehta indeed! xo
derekkunzman: Your art is beautiful Mama Sauer, and your words that you just shared, which are art as well, hold great significance with me. Thank you for sharing them😊 ellencsauer: @derekkunzman Thank you, Derek-son. Those words are your friend, Calvin’s, so I can see why they resonate with you. xo
Calvin: I’m very wary to read too many things because then the voice in my head becomes someone else’s. And then I don’t trust or listen to my own voice. You can ask this voice things. It always has an answer. Do you know the craziest thing about it is that it is right freaking there! It dictates every thought. Like every single thought, so it’s very easy to ignore. I am both the voice in my head and the listener. But I can’t be two opposing things, right? Therefore I am one. I am that center. I am that oneness. #WebofLife #connectedatourcores
Calvin: I just woke up from a dream of Shiva. I was terrified to be around her, afraid of what she might do. Somehow though, I knew what she would do, because she’s done it before. When Shiva comes, it’s time to grow. Me: Love that. The Sacred Feminine. The Vision. Partnering with Shakti to bring the Vision to the world. To manifest it. Calvin: Shiva and Shakti again show a dichotomy of sorts. To create and to destroy. What is the “center” of creation and destruction? My first thought was stagnancy. Again, a boring word like so many dichotomy centers are. But stagnant can also mean that which is unchanging, forever.
Me: How about ‘peace’?
#WebofLife #connectedatourcores #goddessart #ellensauerart
Artwork: I Am Aditi can be found on my website (or in my laundry room.) Shiva and Shakti, the photo hanging on the wall behind Aditi, is a gift from my dear friend, Lily Lash.
A couple of new bits of wisdom for this week’s posts from my son, Calvin – interesting, intuitive, sentient – for our joint theme of #weboflife and #connectedatourcores (aka a little glimpse into how he and I think and talk about life.) What do you think?
From Calvin: “I just walked to get coffee and thought of something interesting. I’m creating a computer program simulation that is constantly on my mind, so this is a spin-off of those musings. Let’s pretend I create an infinite beach of sand that stretches forever in all directions. Possibly on a computer, for example, but the medium is unimportant. Your imagination will work just fine. Now let’s say I placed a group of intelligent beings on that beach; intelligent meaning some agent with the capability to learn (super nebulous, I know, but bear with me). Now I draw an infinite straight line in the sand, dividing the entire beach into two. What would these beings do with that line? Would they naturally want to stay near it or away from it? Would they cross it or consider a boundary not to be crossed? To me, the creator, this line means absolutely nothing. But to the creatures in the scenario, this line may appear to be everything. Would they worship the line, or would they worship the one who drew it? Would they choose sides? Would they split themselves into two just like the beach? And all the while, I watch from my desk chair just to see what they will do. My desk chair that sits in a room with four walls, separating me from outside, which is separated from space by the atmosphere, which is separated from…….. At the end of the day, I’ve created a mirror. I’m observing myself. And I think every creation and every observation is exactly that: a mirror. We’re just seeing ourselves in everything. You can only create what you’ve experienced directly. To put it into the language of my example, the creatures could potentially start drawing their own lines in the sand, to mimic their observation, attaching meaning to them when there really is none.”
More musings from son, Calvin, along with artwork from one of my favorite artists, Beatrice Coron of @cutstories. Her intricate papercutting called A Web of Time seemed to capture Calvin’s thoughts below. You can just imagine how tugging on one part of this one-piece intricate design would move or distort the rest of the web.
From Calvin: “In physics there’s an idea known as the “Observer Effect” which states that the act of observation changes the phenomenon being observed. For example, in order to measure the current through a wire, you have to affect the current slightly by means of some tool like a voltmeter. So while you can now “know” the current in the wire, you still can’t know it, because you’ve changed it just by connecting to it in an effort to observe it. I think you can draw a parallel to philosophy and life. I feel like everyday living is observation or connection. And every observation changes something or someone. Every single movement, word, observation, breath, thought, or look shifts the current, or, shifts the web. Even what would be considered the lack of connection is ultimately connection because there is action in the pushing away or in the letting go.” #weboflife #connectedatourcores
A new blog is up today. A few snippets below. The full blog is here. “We are all connected in the deepest, most intricate of ways – each of us to every one and every thing, seen and unseen. There is not one thing we do or action we take or belief we hold that doesn’t affect the whole. This awareness often moves through me so deeply, so powerfully that I have trouble walking through my day. I am there now. I am so acutely aware of how each step – literal and figurative – affects the whole web with gentle ripples and firm tugs and harsh rips. Every look through space touches someone’s being, shifts them and transforms the web. Every though is carried into the consciousness of others. Every Facebook post and Instagram image and text message beams into someone else’s space. Every kindness. Every meanness. Every disgust. Every flash of anger. Every under-my-breath utterance and every proclamation. Every apology and every self-righteous statement. These reshape, reweave, distort, break the web.” #weboflife #connectedatourcores
More weekly musings on the #WebofLife from son, Calvin – snippets of our conversations on the ins and outs of the mystical (aka real) world. “Yesterday I was sitting by the pool and couldn’t help but compare it to the web of life. A person would come up and dip their toes in the water, and the ripples would slooooowly propagate to every corner of the pool. If I looked closely, even though the water was still after some time, I could still see the echo of every toe, leaf, ball, dog, etc that has ever touched it. You can extend the metaphor to yourself being a pool of water. People can look into you, see your disturbances, and even the reflection of themselves in you, but always with the caveat that it depends on where they’re standing. From where I was sitting, I could see the side of the apartment building in the pool. If I were to move to the other side of the pool and look in, however, I’d see the sky. Same pool, different perspective. Same person, different view and different reflection.”
#connectedatourcores #ripples #rippleslookliketheweb #reflections
Lots of chatting on connectedness and separation lately…no doubt feeling that heaviness in the world right now, yes? From Calvin: “We are indeed connected at our cores and yet separation can be powerful. For example, in electromagnetism, in order for a current to flow, you need both positive and negative terminals. Without either, there is nothing. Without the idea of mass and no-mass, you can’t have gravity. Forces require the dichotomy of opposites working together. Man, that last statement can be applied to so many life truths. We better just stop there for now.” #weboflife #connectedatourcores #yinyang
I’m going out on a limb here and hosting my very first Instagram contest to celebrate the last week of my June #WebOfLife theme. The prize is an 11×14″ print of my very first Web of Life paper cutting pictured on this post (the actual print is on acid-free archival paper and will not have the www.ellensauer.com watermark on it.) If you’d like to enter the contest, please do ALL THREE of the following: *1. Follow my Instagram account (@ellensauer) if you don’t already. *2. Like this post. *3. Spread the word to your own Instagram clan by tagging two friends in the comments below. The contest will start immediately and end at midnight (EDT) on Thursday June 30, 2016. One entry per day is allowed, i.e. two friends tagged per day. A winner will be chosen randomly from all entries. Per Instagram rules, I must mention that this contest is in no way sponsored, administered, or associated with Instagram, Inc. By entering, entrants confirm they are 13+ years of age, release Instagram of responsibility, and agree to Instagram’s term of use. There. You. Go. #ellensauerart #letsseehowthisgoes #connectedatourcores
Clearly @derekkunzman was a happy guy when he learned he had won my #WebOfLife art print contest. Congrats, Son. The print is on its way! #ellensauerart #connectedatourcores #purejoy
