Saturday, September 19, 2009

"Our Precious Selves"

"I paint my own reality. The only thing I know is that I paint because I need to, and I paint whatever passes through my head
without any other consideration."
Frida Kahlo


"Fractal Fireflies #18 - Human Kindness"
(Emergence Theory Subset)© 2009
From The "Spidey-Hole Series, Fractal Fireflies Subset"

What sower cast about the seeds that
germinated into our "Precious Self"?
Were we given it all of a once?
Or have we pruned and grafted: splintered and spliced -
cropped, snipped and dead-headed an identity?
Espaliered and anchored our existence
along a wall of some reality?



"Fractal Fireflies #20 (Emergence Theory Subset)"© 2009
From The "Spidey-Hole Series, Fractal Fireflies Subset"

Perhaps we picked up scraps along the way,
gluing up a collage of defining moments.
Then editing with safety scissors
and now
with the sharpest of blades.


“There is no such thing as a 'self-made' man. We are made up of thousands of others. Everyone who has ever done a kind deed for us, or spoken one word of encouragement to us, has entered into the make-up of our character and of our thoughts, as well as our success.”
George Matthew Adam



When I was a kid, I liked to look at the world through the wrong end of a telescope.
Here is a version of something I saw:




2 comments:

Unknown said...

Tom, you are amazing. our class is blessed and I am.
Your analagy of our emotional bank account reminds me of another annalagy, the garden of ourselves. I learned about this one in an intentional techniques work group athe the Buddy Kemp caring
center.
Youdraw up a garden plan using any shape that appeals to you (grid, meandering or circular (me. You identify the part/sections with lables coresponding to your different parts: spiritual, physical, emotional, work, artistic etc. then you reflect; which ones need pruning, watering, feeding. Which ones are small and which large? Why? Last year as we took turns leading the class. I shared this exercise.
I found it very helpful in self reflection and addressing the need to change the self paradyme.
Thanks for sharing your considerable talents with us.
Pam

Tom Schulz said...

Pam,
Thanks for stopping by. As a boy, I used to wander about of a summer. Interspersed among and beyond the fungus of ranch houses were abandoned orchards and homesteads. I could graze amongst the unkempt plantings like the feral kid I likened myself to be.
Regardless of the 'gardens' we may be now - I wonder what remnants we will leave behind?