Let's hypothesize today that in a way, reality is like the Matrix.

If all people are really just souls, who normaly can move freely about the universe and possibly even other dimensions, those souls would need a way to interact with the world we live in.

So lets say that this world doesn't really exist, it's just a program. The souls that populate it do not have bodies, they are essentially just energy and thought. The reality of the physical world is able to generate situations and sensations that aren't possible anywhere else, including pain unlike that felt anywhere else. It is made of a complex program that makes reality seem real to the user by limiting how much of their being is "concious" to this physical world program. The rest of their "mind" is veiled or blocked from interacting with the program directly, but during times of sleep it can explore the memories of what happened that day, maybe even throw a little input into the mix.

I picture this bubble enclosing part of the soul where it connects to the hub of the program. Like in a dream, once the soul is connected to the program, time seems to slow (or time becomes a sensation that is part of their physical life). What takes years in the program passes in an instant outside of it. Even if the soul had a finite lifespan, as compared to the physical world it can inhabit, it would seem eternal.

While connected the soul is incredibly limited in it's experiences. Think early video games - rough graphics, limited color palettes, bleeping sounds, sometimes difficult to grasp controls. That is what the physical world inside the program feels like to an energy being - it is drab and strange by comparison, and though the cognition may be there to a degree it must adapt and learn to interact with this reality that is so limited.

Within the confines of this hypothesis, reality as we know it would exist only in the mind of it's users. There wouldn't really be an Earth, or possibly even universe, the very building blocks that make up our world could be nothing more than pixels to these energy beings who become us. Space and time not being real, created only by the parameters of the program, would mean that all the time we would be still and unmoving, the whole of our lives stretching out over a mere moment.

Looking at life this way - what we are as beings resembles ourselves here in no way, the existance in which we actually live bears no confines nor tragedy as we know it.

If we consider this as a truth of existance, can anything that happens in this universe matter so much as it does?

Minimalism

I happened upon this post - Beware of Leo Babautas Minimalist Lifestyle and it got me thinking.

I've been seeing debate all over the 'net about what is or is not minimalist and who is more minimalist than the next person or is it OK to have books or CDS or decorations on your wall and SO ON.

I feel like a massive point is missed time and time again when these discussions happen - the reason WHY someone is minimalist determines HOW they are minimalist.


Why am I a minimalist? I cannot stand to have too many things because I hate to clean them, I hate worrying about them being destroyed in a fire, and I hate to move them.

There is also that all the plastic crap is a massive drain on natural resources and a waste of space and time to produce it, and that my spiritual beliefs lead me to feel that possessing things is just plain wrong.

Let's say I'm a "you can't take it with you" kind of girl.


So, all the things I don't want to own are NOT mutually exclusive of the things I DO want to have in my life. I love video games. Always have, always will, some of the best times of my teenage years were spent in arcades. So yes, I have an Xbox, a stack of games (constantlly changes and yes we trade in what we're done with) and a rather large plasma TV.

But then again, I have 7 pairs of pants, 15 tops (including layering pieces, tanks and sleepwear) a skirt and two pairs of shoes that I regularly wear (the rest are going to be sold/donated). I don't use a lot of product on my hair or skin. I've lived nearly a year with out a microwave (and I'll never have one again). I have a single blanket and set of sheets for my bed. I own some books most of which are used for art reference (the rest are about Einstein, daVinci or are just quotes or fiction). I bought my car because it's a cute hatchback, manual transmission and tiny enough for me to park anywhere easily, yet it's so fuel efficient that I feel like I'm driving a hybrid.

I am anything but boring. My home reflects this. In fact, I've always got something that I'm doing (or want to do). Art, making jewelry, design, reading, playing games, watching movies, enjoying nature, visiting people, even just playing with my cat - I've always got something to do and having a ton of stuff did little more than annoy me.



I feel like the statement that "minimalism is boring" overlooks the point of minimalism.

Yeah, some of us do not want to backpack around the world. Some of us do. I know if I were to do that (and I will to some extent when I'm ready) I'll do so with camera in hand and I will capture amazing things. I would LOVE to never have a "home base" again, but being an artist makes that kind of hard. Not impossible - I know better. Having to constantly re-buy brushes, paints, medium, gesso, resin, pigments, water cups, palettes, canvases, etc (and that's just for ONE of my hobbies) would be ridiculous. Travelling with a backpack would also require one of four things for my artwork - destruction, donation, sale, storage. I can never escape that list. I'm fine with it though, being an artist means I will always have a portfolio of sorts to keep with me, even if only in the form of a couple of double-backup hard drives. (though I'm just not willing to go 100% digital with my art, it's not the same as smudging pencil and paint with my fingers).


In short what I'm trying to say is that minimalism has become one of the multitude of ways that people can say "I'm better than everyone else". Let's face it - most new "things" or "lifestyles" or trends hit that plateau where the only people genuinely living the life are quiet about it and those who give the lifestyle a bad name are always the loudest. The true grit of minimalism (or any lifestyle) is held in the things that people AREN'T shouting about.


Minimalism isn't a fad, it's a need that comes from your soul.
Minimalism isn't frugality, it's buying whatever you need for whatever price you're willing to pay, and not buying things you don't truely need.
Minimalism isn't getting rid of all your stuff, it's considering which things mean the most to you.
Minimalism is deeply personal and NO ONE should follow anyone else's path.
Minimalism is learning you can do without, that the "norm" isn't what you want.

Minimalism is taking the time to recognize what you need and love, and getting rid of everything else. Period.

Slavery

You think that you are free, but you are a slave.


Your actions are dictated by the world around you, by what other's expect of you, by the things you think you want only because that's what you are told to want.




Stop a moment... and relax. Think about what you would most like to have with you on a deserted island where there were no other people around. I would want something that would allow me to paint or listen to music. What you want will be different.

In most cases, that one thing that you really want is not what you pursue on a daily basis. Instead you buy clothing, food, plastic things, magazines, shoes, kitchen gadgets, cell phones, etcetera. If you cut out all of the things you spend money on that are NOT the thing you most want (plus food/water/shelter), would you need to work as many hours as you do or stress out as much as you do?

But you won't stop because you have friends that have expectations of you, a boss who has expectations of you and a family who has expectations of you. Even that person down the street who you might walk past - they may have expectations of you that you feel the need to uphold.

So you continue on your path of voluntary slavery, letting the one thing that brings you joy slip away while you work away your life energy to the benefit of someone else.

Mother's Day

This morning in the space of 20 minutes I heard no less than three commercials from a certain advertiser. Each one was a segment or whole version of their Mother's Day commercials. It goes like this:

A woman is at a "peer" group talking about how she's getting her fix by reprogramming her husband's GPS to take him straight to (the store), wallpapering her kid's rooms with the store's catalog, and finally, rearranging the refrigerator magnets to spell out "Forget breakfast in bed, I want a store gift card" All the while her peer group friends are encouraging her and making appreciative noises.

Prior commercials from same advertisor recently have also included the peer group theme with a woman talking about spring fever and how shopping is a prescription for it.


Advertisers have completely given up on trying to hide what they are doing and just coming out and saying it, aren't they?

What these commercials say to me is that this company:

Wants you to value their product over your family
Wants you to program your children to think that buying things is important
Wants you to continue the idea that a marriage is built on what you buy each other rather than who you are to each other
Wants you to be addicted to their product
Wants you to feel ill if you haven't shopped in a while
Wants you to feel like it is OK to value money over something your family makes for you with their own hands
Wants you to think it's ok to be a princess in a tower for a day at the expense of the happiness of those around you, your own financial situation and the planet's very own health.


People hear these commercials and may think they are funny - and yeah they kind of are. But most people don't realize the damage that these commercials do.

Human beings are very likely to accept something as "the norm" or fact if they hear it from someone who is a peer. In other words, middle aged women (and many who are not) hear these commercials and even though conciously they may think "oh that's funny" or not pay any attention at all, subconciously they are understanding that stuff = happiness. They aren't innocent fun. Because of the way the subconcious works, they are genuinely damaging and ultimately, people will come to the mindset that yeah it's ok to put money ahead of your family. It's ok to have changing decor every few months because otherwise you don't feel like you're keeping up or you got "the itch".

You know who IS aware of this aspect of the human personality? Advertisers. They know that even if you ignore or dismiss that commercial there is a good chance some of it is going to stick with you. They also know that if you hear something enough times you begin to believe it is a fact or acceptable.



So, my Mother's Day message to you:

Moms: please ask for something handmade by your family or at least handmade by someone local. Ask for a donation made to a charity in your name. As for a fun trip, dinner, a night in watching movies.

Families: Make something. Buy something from an artist or craft person. If you're going to give the gift of "stuff" make it something that really has love crafted into it. If you don't want to give stuff, do something fun with her. Bake her a cake. There are a million ways to show someone you love them, and buying stuff is only one of them.

Four Stages

Today I was reading through one of the blogs I greatly enjoy (and which is often relevant to both my art and my life) and this post really spoke to me. [The blog is that of Luann Udell, who also happens to be a fabulous artist that really gets down to the roots of what art is and why it's so important. Because of that, her work really speaks to me both about human history and about human present and future.]


Luann's post discusses a concept she learned from her Kickboxing instructor. It details four stages of learning a new skill :

Inception - Unconcious Incompetence
Deception - Concious Incompetence
Transformation - Concious Competence
Identity - Unconcious Competence



I had never realized it until now but I go through these four stages in each painting I create. In fact, I go through these four stages in not only all of the new skills I learn, but also in the period of a week or a month or whatever cycle I happen to be on at the time. This really shows up everywhere and I've never even thought about it before.

Every painting cycles through these stages, a pattern which I've only recently begun to recognize.

I start out at inception with just laying the foundation and setting the mood of the painting. I have no expectations here and I certainly don't plan on any of these brush strokes actually being a part of the finished painting. It's never pretty and I don't worry about that.

Then I begin building up the painting and laying out where I want things to be and roughly what color they are going to be. The background becomes more detailed and then I ram into a brick wall - every single time - I step back, look at the painting, and I realize that I absolutely hate it. I've hit Deception and everything feels wrong. It's not going at all like I thought it would, I feel like I've made horrible mistakes in the foundation of my painting that I'll "never" be able to fix, and so on. Thankfully over the years I've come to realize that this is a phase that I go through with every single painting and that I have to keep going or that painting will be set aside forever. If I need to I'll sit it aside for a day, a week, or however long it takes, but I constantly remind myself that if I put more work into the painting it will become amazing. I had created a necklace over a year ago that I was very displeased with. Just a few weeks ago I picked it back up and realized it would make an amazing cuff bracelet - and look much better that way.

Whenever I finally start working on the painting again, Transformation happens because I sit down specifically to make it better, recapture the raw beauty that was there in inception but in a more refined and directed manner. I do just that, start to feel a lot better about the painting and work at it a bit madly trying to get it all down in paint.

Finally I hit Identity - this painting is not done yet, but it is what it is going to be already. All that is left to do is add finishing touches, highlights and details. I don't have to majorly rework any of the elements of the painting or fix a whole lot. I'm just polishing it and that requires nothing more than confident brush strokes and attention to detail. This is the most relaxed part of the painting next to Inception - I've climbed the mountain and now I'm just setting up camp.

It's amazing what you don't know about yourself until someone points out the obvious. Then, and only then, can you begin to truely know yourself.

That's right- it takes close interaction with others to discover who YOU really are.
Solitude is also necessary. How much of each (and anything else) depends on you.