Renewal

 

Light Unfolds from the Winter Darkness

Gillian Cornwall, c. March 2016

This Spring, let go. Put down that which is not yours to carry. This is the season of renewal and rebirth - a chance to reinvent yourself. You owe no debt of servitude to another soul. You are unique and whole and perfect on your path. Respect all women for they are the life-givers and must be celebrated for their strength and capacity (which is immeasurable and perfect).

Tread lightly on the Mother Earth for she is the provider of all of your needs for life. Be patient and kind, mostly with yourself, and your patience and kindness with others will come naturally from this prescription. 

There is life to be lived. Go outside. Breathe into your belly. Remember that you are uniquely and infinitely connected to all through your dantian: your centre of life and energy. Participate in your life; celebrate it. Don't just watch the lives of others on the television. 

I write this as it flows through me. I hear this in my  ear, in my heartbeat and through this universal energy I call soul. 

May we embrace the Spring and burst forth into this season of our lives in all of our epic, unique beauty.

Gillian Cornwall, March 19, 2017

c. March 20, 2016

Spring

Gillian Cornwall, c. March 2016

What is the Art of Life?

Life, bursting forth

Brentwood Bay, Vancouver Island

Gillian Cornwall, c. June 2015.

You may wonder why my blog is entitled, "The Art of Life." 

My goal is to create a place where I review events and experiences (my own and others) through a lens that sparks thought and opportunity for conversation. I try to select topics that may provide us with some common threads and an opportunity to weave those threads into strong social fabric - the fabric of our lives and our relationships with one another.

I want this to be a place where we question ourselves and our histories, a place where we allow one another to reinvent ourselves based on individual and collective experience. I want this space to be like a safe house, a place to come and go at will. I hope that you will come by to visit often. I hope this will be a place where you can express and exchange your thoughts, ideas and your worries, with me and with one another, as you choose, within a culture of kindness.

The Rose comes into bud
Gillian Cornwall, c. June 2015

Where are we in our lives, if we do not have safe spaces in which to question, learn and grow? Where are we if we do not feel safe to experience the gift of the emotions we have been given? Let love guide us in this space. Let us breathe through our fears and expand with light.

I am grateful to all of you who spend time and energy in this space. I have been blessed to get to know some of you outside of the realm of this blog and you are a source of great love, light and learning to me. 

When I think about energy, as I do often, and I read the work of today's scientists as they look at factors such as physical cosmology, quantum physics and thermodynamics, I become more and more convinced of the relativity of our imprint and the expansion capacity of our energy. Who we are and how we behave in our lives does matter, both individually and collectively. This is the art of life. If each of us are seen as a unique colour, then together we create the ultimate rainbow, the most exquisitely detailed picture, or the blanket of many threads that keeps us together, warm and protected. 

Physicists and cosmologists have recently come to believe that the universe is, in fact, expanding and that the expansion is accelerating. Whatever is causing this universal acceleration has been named 'dark energy' but its origins are not yet known. Is it possible that as our comprehension expands, so does the universe itself? I am not a scientist, but I am an explorer of ideas, of possibility.

In August, it will be 3 years since my brother died. I feel him with me. The likelihood is, I always will. His life was essential to the person I am. He was a teacher, a protector and a friend. His life expanded my own and, thus, I believe his life impacts all of those who are impacted by mine. This is the ripple effect of energy. This is why I have renamed this space, "The Art of Life."

Thank you for allowing me to be a part of your lives and thank you for being a part of mine. My gratitude for this opportunity is boundless. I hope we will be able to share our thoughts and ideas here for a long time. With every wish for joy and peace.

-Gillian Cornwall, c. July 30, 2015

Edited from the original post, August 17, 2014

In the cooling afternoon light

Gillian Cornwall, c. June 2015

The Art of Life

Matter - c. Gillian Cornwall, 2011

Some of you may notice that I have changed the name of my blog from its original title, "Gillian's Art Blog" to "The Art of Life" and, in recognition of the change, after approximately nine years of posting, I have named this post to match.

As of late, I have been feeling that the title was no longer reflective of what I wish to accomplish here. 

"...and what might that be?" You may well ask. 

My goal is to create a place where I review experiences and events (my own and others) through a lens which sparks thought and opportunity for conversation around topics through which we may find common threads. It is through these threads that we weave the fabric of our lives and relationships. I want this to be a place through which we question ourselves and our histories, a place where we allow one another to reinvent ourselves based on collective and individual experience. I want this to be like a safe house, a place to come and go at will. I hope that you will come by and visit often. I hope this will be a place where you can express your thoughts and worries as you choose and a place where we can grow together through an exchange of ideas and thoughts. 

Where are we if we do not have safe spaces in which to question, learn and grow? Where are we if we cannot experience the emotions we have been given? Let love guide us here. Let us breathe through our fears and expand with light. 

I am grateful to all of you who spend their time and energy in this space. I have been blessed to get to know some of you outside of the realm of this blog and you are a source of such love, light and learning to me. 

When I think about energy, as I do often, and I read the work of today's scientists as they look at factors such as physical cosmology, quantum physics and thermodynamics, I become more and more convinced of the relativity of our imprint and the expansion capacity of our energy. Who we are and how we behave in our lives does matter, both individually and collectively. This is the art of life. If each one of us is a unique colour, together we create the ultimate rainbow, the most exquisitely detailed picture or the blanket of many threads which keeps us together, protected and warm. 

Physicists and cosmologists have recently come to believe that the universe is, in fact, expanding and that expansion is accelerating. Whatever is causing this universal acceleration has been named dark energy but its origins are not yet known. Is it possible that as our comprehension expands, so does the universe itself? I am not a scientist but I am an explorer of ideas, of possibility.  

Tomorrow it will be two years since my brother died. I feel him with me. The likelihood is, I always will. His life was essential to the person I am. He was a teacher, a protector and a friend. His life expanded my own and thus, I believe, his life impacts all of those who are impacted by mine. This is the ripple effect of energy. This is why I have renamed this space "The Art of Life". 

I hope I will see you all here often. Thank you for allowing me to be a part of your lives and thank you for being a part of mine. My gratitude for this opportunity is boundless. I hope we will be able to share our thoughts and ideas here for a long time. With every wish for joy and peace. 

-Gillian Cornwall, c. August 17, 2014

Family Swim - Sunset

Waikiki Beach, Hawaii

Gillian Cornwall, c. December 2006

Patience

The Clematis

c. Gillian Cornwall - May, 2014

...it's a virtue right? patience? 

Once again I think I fall short of virtue. I can't even type the word without typing 'virture' instead." Morally good behaviour or character" - that's the definition of virtue but let's get back to patience before mine wears thin.

Patient: Google dictionary says: able to accept or tolerate delays, problems or suffering without becoming annoyed or anxious" 

It's official - I'm not always patient. 

So when do we go from being patient to being hoodwinked? There have been times in my life when I believe I am being patient but, really, I am allowing myself to be victim to the lack of willingness of another person to try or even acknowledge that their incapacity to grow or change is eroding the life of another.

Our patience is put on trial in all aspects of our world - at work, at school, at home. The fact is, our patience is not a stationary border around us, rather a fluid line depending on with whom we are dealing and what we believe to be at stake.

I follow The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz in all areas of my life but as I face new challenges, I find I need to reintegrate these principles. For those of you not familiar with these agreements, they are with oneself, and they go as follows:

1. Be impeccable with your word (think before you speak and remember that words, once spoken, cannot be unsaid)

2. Don't take things personally (most of what people do has nothing to do with you and everything to do with themselves)

3. Don't make assumptions (we all play tapes in our heads and have specific ones that we haul out when someone says or doesn't say (or do) something that hurts us - ASK! It's the only way to determine a person's intent. They won't always tell you but it puts the onus back on them to own their words, feelings and behaviours)

4. Do your best (Some days your best will be amazing and, well, other days it won't be...and that's okay. Welcome to the human race.)

So 'what the blazes does this have to do with patience?' you ask. Well, really, for me, these agreements put the work and decisions back on me. I can be as patient or as impatient as I choose in each circumstance and it will be on me to deal with the consequences of my choices. I would like to learn to err on the side of more patience than may be needed or warranted but, unfortunately, sometimes I lose it before I get to the 'more' place.... 

I am a fast thinker, a problem solver and a solution maker. I find it difficult to work with slow processors and those who don't vocalize their process, rather blurt their conclusions once reached. I'm certain my way irritates the heck out of some people. I am not very true to my 'stiff upper lip' cultural roots in this regard. I think part of the reason is that I was silenced and ridiculed by some keys folks in my childhood and now, I won't have it. Unfortunately, this has meant that I release my entire process to the world and they can find themselves taken down a highway to hell and back with me until I come to a conclusion which is far less dramatic and simple than the process warranted. Why anyone puts up with me, at times, I don't know. I guess I have some redeeming factors. 

So what is it I'm trying to say? The thing is, this life is a journey and there is no perfect ending or solution, so walk your paths and hold your heads up. Pay attention. Listen and watch along the way. Try to be kind and, yes, try to be patient, but be true to yourself as well. Watch. Listen. Act. Learn. Repeat. Enjoy yourself as much as you can along the way. 

For those of you who have felt victim to impatience - mine or another person's - I am sorry. We are all works in progress. I wish each of us joy, peace, love, light and kindness. I wish us the kind of self-actualization that makes us glow, that connects us to the greater universal energy. Once we find a way to walk our paths interconnected, we will realize our eternal impact and, hopefully, live a life of goodness, wealth of spirit and joy in our connection to life's eternal energy - the one constant to which we can offer a nod and a smile. Here's to energy!

-Gillian Cornwall, c. July 13, 2014.

Waikiki Sunset

Gillian Cornwall, c. 2006

The Energy of Love

Shasta Daisies

G. Cornwall - Salt Spring Island, c. 2010 

"However much energy there was at the start of the universe, so there will be that much at the end." - Peter Atkins, The Laws of Thermodynamics - A Very Short Introduction

Every petal of every flower reminds me of the loves I have known in this life - love of self, love of friends, love of family members, love of all the creatures of the earth and sea and the love of my lovers - loves in passion and in peace. They move through my every cell, every cell a universe, these open thermodynamic systems, searching for equilibrium. They move through me, rippling out through eternity and cycling back through me again, like breath, like heat, rising and falling. 

When love for all flows freely through us, through all, then we shall know peace. This is our purpose. When we realize, when we accept there is no loss, we shall know eternity. In this moment, I am alive. This is me. How do I want my life to be right now?

We have access to "all", the universal energy, and we may choose how to utilize that capacity. In studying physics, it is said that energy is constant in amount - the same at the beginning as at the end - regardless of other change. In knowing this and believing we are all of energy and integral to the whole, there is nothing to be lost - nothing to fear. We can remain open and allow the energy of "all" to flow through us, unimpeded by fear and holding - whether beings, moments or things. 

We are fluid. We are ever-changing. We are perfect in this moment. 

The practice of Qi Gong is simply the practice of opening ourselves to this energy flow, creating an awareness around blockages in our bodies and allowing that universal energy to flow through us freely, thus, healing the pain and illness that results from these blockages. We cannot meet our full potential while attempting to hold that which cannot be made stationary. 

It is about absence of resistance. There is more strength in fluidity than there is in holding. This is represented throughout life. It is seen in everything from the human body to high-rise buildings: that which is flexible is stronger than that which is inflexible - just like our muscles in motion, a building in an earthquake or a tree in a strong wind. 

Start by breathing deeply and slowly for one minute. Close your eyes and let go of fear, assumption, want and loss for one minute. Be at peace in the magic of life itself. You are loved. 

-Gillian Cornwall, c. February, 2011 

Buddha - The Island of Hawaii

G. Cornwall, c. December 2006

Other Resources:

The First 16 Secrets of Chi: Feng Shui for the Human Body - Luk Chun Bond