what is this?
so blatantly in my face
yet unable to be seen?
closer than my breath
yet unable to be reached?
shining through the mind
yet unable to be known?
~
quoted from “this unlit light”
http://thisunlitlight.com/about/who-and-why/
I invite you to meet Miriam Louisa Simons, whose blogs are (to my mind, at least) gems. Miriam Louisa is an artist, a poet, and a wonderful writer!
Miriam Louisa’s journey as an artist, which carried her to the awakening of consciousness, shows us one of the many ways that enlightenment can come to a person – sometimes like a flash of lightning, sometimes as a slow and graceful process, and just about everything in between!
Each person’s spiritual journey, however, is fascinating to me; and I think that you, too, will be delighted and moved by this woman’s eloquence.
[Especially, do check out the page entitled “wideawake women” – it’s a wonderful resource!]
To give you a taste of Miriam Louisa’s writing, I’ve excerpted the first couple of paragraphs she wrote as the Featured Artist of the September 2013 issue of ONE the magazine, here:
The act of creating, its mysterious flow, and the surprises it brings as I lose myself in its play, has always been the driving force behind my practice. I’ve never been very interested in replicating an existing object or landscape; setting out to express a narrative or to put forward certain concepts or commentaries in visual language seems to be counter-productive if one is intent on exploring creativity, which by definition excludes the known.
For decades I sought ‘the artist within’ and the source of ‘my creativity’. I worried about my lack of formal art education. I worked at healing my ‘creative spirit’. I researched everything I could find written about the phenomenon we call creativity – what fosters it, what blocks it, what it IS.
And for decades I was puzzled by the ineffable state that bloomed when – somehow – ‘I-as-artist’ disappeared, and something wholly mysterious would flow in with results that would amaze and humble me. What was going on? I watched this carefully and rather warily, trying not to jump to conclusions grasped from outside my own experience. It was like chewing on a rubbery gob-stopping life-koan that couldn’t be swallowed or spat out:
If I wasn’t making the decisions involved in a work, what was?
To read additional essays, poetry, and musings by Miriam Louisa Simons, visit her blogs at www.thisunlitlight.com and www.theawakenedeye.com.
To see her artwork and find out more about her artistic process, visit her website at www.wonderingmindstudio.com.
And lastly, I have to mention ONE the magazine again, because for me this this relatively new online blog-magazine was a case of love at first sight; I gasped, took one quick look around, and subscribed immediately. [I haven’t had a chance to read it through yet, but that’s going to be a treat when it happens. Perhaps you’ll think so too.]
Namaste,
Susannah
Susannah Hay 