A blog for IHUM 300W where students are asked to express their thoughts and opinions on the weekly readings.
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Creativity and Disease Hughes(9)
I thought that this was a good reading. This talked about creativity and disease and their linkage. Whether it be mind or physical there is something that can be offered creatively when in a aleterd state due to sickness. Most of our creative geniuses known have some kind of illness especially mental. We all have some kind of illness. "In fact, inner conflict is often seen as the cause of creativity itself". pg.119 . Sometimes it takes inner ills to bring the best out of us. We sometimes work better in pain. Just like the movie Salma Hayek starred in. "Frida"
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Week 12 - The Eleventh Blog
As I read through this week's blogs I was struck by Tyler's phrase, "bumbling human language." It is bumbling, isn't it. The reason we're always striving to find exactly the right word when we speak or write, the reason that writers struggle for years sometimes in trying to communicate a thought (a creative thought?) or image (a creative image?). The reason that, for those skillful enough, painting or drawing is often the preferred medium for communicating emotion. But symbols, too, have a way of being misinterpreted by the audience. Much of what we deem as ART, though, are attempts at communication through various mediums; a communication prompted by a creative force. But in analysing our bumbling language, we often receive some intriguing insights into that force. The word "inspiration" for example, literally means "the act of breathing in or inhaling." (Breathing in what, we may ask?). "Ecstasy," a word often used to describe a feeling of accomplishment (and yes, an ASC) comes from a Latin root meaning "to stand to the side." Csikszentmihalyi notes that sports arenas, theatres, and temples from all cultures throughout the ages have functioned as ways "to stand to the side" of everyday routines, everyday reality.
Other species do not have the same level of communication mediums as human beings do. Most other species, though, (at least the ones I can think of) don't seem to create for ecsatsy or for entertainment, but create purely for survival. Even a playful puppy is practicing some sort of survival skill. But other species, unlike the human species, are not attempting to be better than their counterparts. A dog might be trained to do what pleases his owner, but he will not behave in a way to try to make himself better than another dog. Human beings spend a lot of time attemping to "be better."
Perhaps not succeeding in "being better" is one of the major roots of sadness. Josh discusses his sadness when attempting to be the perfect - fill-in -the-blank. But perhaps it's not perfection we strive for, just "betterness." Is that what creativity boils down to? An attempt at bettering ourselves or our society? Has that become the main function of language? Of art? Questions, not statements, but something to ponder.
Other species do not have the same level of communication mediums as human beings do. Most other species, though, (at least the ones I can think of) don't seem to create for ecsatsy or for entertainment, but create purely for survival. Even a playful puppy is practicing some sort of survival skill. But other species, unlike the human species, are not attempting to be better than their counterparts. A dog might be trained to do what pleases his owner, but he will not behave in a way to try to make himself better than another dog. Human beings spend a lot of time attemping to "be better."
Perhaps not succeeding in "being better" is one of the major roots of sadness. Josh discusses his sadness when attempting to be the perfect - fill-in -the-blank. But perhaps it's not perfection we strive for, just "betterness." Is that what creativity boils down to? An attempt at bettering ourselves or our society? Has that become the main function of language? Of art? Questions, not statements, but something to ponder.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
If we hadn't developed language, we wouldn't be reading these books........
The concept of language is one I really never gave much thought. I take it for granted that language exists, and just kind of assume it always has. Sure, language has evolved. If you're tried to read Shakespeare or Milton you realize how differently we structure the English language nowadays, and how we've invented a myriad of new words. I never really thought about how much of an impact language has had on our civilization. Without the spoken word, and more importantly the written word, "civilization" would likely have remained fairly stagnant. It would be very difficult to advance without knowing the past, so we can avoid making the same mistakes that have already been made. With language, we are able to pass on our knowledge to the next generation so they can learn from our mistakes, and take what we've learned and build upon it. Pearce states that "Language plays the dominant role in the shaping of our world view and world-to-view.....language is far more than communication" (135). Language is something uniquely human. Animals do not use symbols to communicate like humans do. This use of symbols for expression allows us to be creative. At the same time, however, this can be limiting. Pearce quotes Langer who states, "The activity of imaging reality is the center of experience.....The average man, though, picks up his symbols for imagingin from 'those' that know". Pearce goes on to say "He may never analytically understand the workings of the various disciplines that shape his time.......He does not contemplate serious matters often" (138). Man receives his power to shape the world from what he's been taught by those that went before, yet at the same time is limited by that same knowledge. Some of the "good stuff" may be left out, glossed over or miscontsrued. Man's curiosity isn't piqued and he just falls in line with what society dictates.
I think that the other piece in the Pearce chapters that was interesting was the idea that our God is really an outward projection of an inner state. On page 141 he references Jung's thoughts on God: "Jung considered the God-image a complex of ideas..........as something 'out there' and absolutely-other when it is really an inward condition that is unconscious". He also quotes Jung as saying that the "weight of history is unbearable without the idea of God." I don't buy into the idea that God is simply a creation of man to help us deal with our day to day life, but it's an interesting thought.
Lastly, my favorite quote: "The neurotic is the 'artist manque', the creative who cannot transmute his or her conflicts into art." That's me!!!!
I think that the other piece in the Pearce chapters that was interesting was the idea that our God is really an outward projection of an inner state. On page 141 he references Jung's thoughts on God: "Jung considered the God-image a complex of ideas..........as something 'out there' and absolutely-other when it is really an inward condition that is unconscious". He also quotes Jung as saying that the "weight of history is unbearable without the idea of God." I don't buy into the idea that God is simply a creation of man to help us deal with our day to day life, but it's an interesting thought.
Lastly, my favorite quote: "The neurotic is the 'artist manque', the creative who cannot transmute his or her conflicts into art." That's me!!!!
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Week 12 Blogs
I am sorry for the short length of my blog this week. I am in the midst of moving into a new house and am trying to get this done...
The readings this week were interesting. I like that most people are creative on a daily basis. The AHA! factor is cool...the phenomenon of inspiration...Under Imagination and Fantasy the American poet Wallace Stevens says Imagination is man's power over nature. Art as religion is facinating...it is true that icons, symbols, and idols are the most powerful.
Alice in wonderland being an example of the world from a childs point of view is interesting... i thought that story/movie had a lot of drug inuendos...which isn't good for kids..u know?
I like the "pooh cycle" not just the name (it's not another name for digestion)
The readings this week were interesting. I like that most people are creative on a daily basis. The AHA! factor is cool...the phenomenon of inspiration...Under Imagination and Fantasy the American poet Wallace Stevens says Imagination is man's power over nature. Art as religion is facinating...it is true that icons, symbols, and idols are the most powerful.
Alice in wonderland being an example of the world from a childs point of view is interesting... i thought that story/movie had a lot of drug inuendos...which isn't good for kids..u know?
I like the "pooh cycle" not just the name (it's not another name for digestion)
"People Call Me A Mirror. And If A Mirror Looks Into A Mirror What Does It See?"
Phewww... lots of reading. Usually the connections in the readings jump out at me but this time it required a bit more thought. In the Pearce chapters, he is again just regurgitating everything he has said before. Yes dude we get it. We have the power to "crack" the "cosmic egg". However in this chapter he starts to talk about how we as humans belittle ourselves by comparing us to the apes which we perhaps may have come from. I think he is saying that we are not related to them because we are on a completely different plane of existence. It's almost as if we have this ability to advance, or "crack" the "egg", but we continue to look into the past. This is where I connected the Hughes reading - Pearce's Eureka! to Hughes' Aha! We all have the ability to dive into our mind's worlds and we all have our own creative processes. Whatever it is, this is the way to a higher understanding. This is the way to connect on a deeper level with our fellow humans. Not through our bumbling human language, but through our senses and our born abilities. Pearce talks about losing these born abilities as we continue through society while Hughes shows us how people have made names for themselves writing and developing ideas based off of children's experiences. Society puts all of these limitations on us and we have the ability to ignore them - to bring back some of Huxley's ideas, we must turn down that reducing valve and let EVERYTHING in no matter how lovely or gruesome it may seem. These are all factors that we can take into account in order to produce something that will help us enter a new age of wisdom and a new paradigm. Unfortunately it seems as if those in power know this already and use it to their advantage.
Society is cutting off my circulation...
In talking about the creative process I like how Hughes touches on the idea of a muse. We have covered how drugs and other mediums have allowed creative’s to reach altered states but not on the fact that certain instances and objects can evoke inspiration in these people. Hughes states “the significance of the apparently trivial material offered in the original impulse lies in the disproportionate excitement these half-visions evoke in the creative, and in their power to open the mind inward.” A muse is therefore the catalyst and doesn’t rely on a medium to achieve these creative responses. I love how heavily this relates to the incubation of an idea, and how certain muses may plant a seed in a person, only to allow for internal growth until the idea can come to fruition. Different muses can act as different pieces to the puzzle and allow a creative person to gather the elements necessary for an idea.
When talking about society’s role in creativity, Hughes talks about the irrelevance of social value. “The mystery of creativity is this gap between the medium and the message. If the medium counts for as much as the message, if the process is as important as the product, then the idea that social value defines creativity must be modified.” This is interesting in that something seems to be only valid if socially accepted, which is true to some extent, however, this relies on the weight placed on these validations. Many people’s work is only found creative after they die; however, it was still creative when they were alive (only it went unnoticed.) Therefore, creativity is not so much about social validation as it is about society’s desire to validate. There is a sense of empowerment derived from such an act, which has nothing to do with the work and everything to do with a need for control over what is “socially acceptable.”
Regarding the idea of children, I found it funny that we can define something as “a child’s mind.” We were all children and realistically could keep our “child’s mind” indefinitely if society did not have such a strong say in the matter. Hughes states “eventually his willingness for self-modification, necessary to win rapport with his world, is strong than his desire for autonomy.” If anyone has seen the movie “Nell”, you can get an idea of what it would be like to grow up away from the societal mindset. The character had no guises, no doctrines to follow, and no desire to assimilate to the outside world. She was a completely happy in the simplicity of her world and interpreted it on her own terms.
As Pearce states “Life then becomes an integrated process of interdependent functions. Much of our problem is in a failure to recognize the unique roles of the different functions.” With so much logic and reason in play, we begin to lose meaning by constantly marginalizing ourselves. Nothing can be unique and the standardization of our mind leaves us robotic. We begin to “miss the capacity and meaning of the mind.”
When talking about society’s role in creativity, Hughes talks about the irrelevance of social value. “The mystery of creativity is this gap between the medium and the message. If the medium counts for as much as the message, if the process is as important as the product, then the idea that social value defines creativity must be modified.” This is interesting in that something seems to be only valid if socially accepted, which is true to some extent, however, this relies on the weight placed on these validations. Many people’s work is only found creative after they die; however, it was still creative when they were alive (only it went unnoticed.) Therefore, creativity is not so much about social validation as it is about society’s desire to validate. There is a sense of empowerment derived from such an act, which has nothing to do with the work and everything to do with a need for control over what is “socially acceptable.”
Regarding the idea of children, I found it funny that we can define something as “a child’s mind.” We were all children and realistically could keep our “child’s mind” indefinitely if society did not have such a strong say in the matter. Hughes states “eventually his willingness for self-modification, necessary to win rapport with his world, is strong than his desire for autonomy.” If anyone has seen the movie “Nell”, you can get an idea of what it would be like to grow up away from the societal mindset. The character had no guises, no doctrines to follow, and no desire to assimilate to the outside world. She was a completely happy in the simplicity of her world and interpreted it on her own terms.
As Pearce states “Life then becomes an integrated process of interdependent functions. Much of our problem is in a failure to recognize the unique roles of the different functions.” With so much logic and reason in play, we begin to lose meaning by constantly marginalizing ourselves. Nothing can be unique and the standardization of our mind leaves us robotic. We begin to “miss the capacity and meaning of the mind.”
Blog
Hughes Chapter Five, Seven, & Eight :
The germination of ideas reminded me of Richard Dadd’s painting The Fairy Feller's Master-Stroke. After nine years he still considered the painting unfinished. In this section it seemed like the idea is, you can’t put a time frame on creativity. The section also indicated that creativity exists in the person and it cannot be disentangled from the creative person to the creative product. That is agreeable subject matter.
I love Nietzche, but it’s no wonder he had problems with the ladies with that mustache. DAAAANG. His words on inspiration are inspiration itself. Though he denounces god, and some people may not be able to see past his opinions on the matter, but he was really a brilliant guy. He described his experiences with inspiration on page 63, when he said, “Everything occurs quite without volition, as if an eruption of freedom, independence, power, and divinity.”
What a wonderful guy.
Plato makes me laugh that inspiration is a possessed state. Is it a form of possession? Is it? I think of possession as something intense and the word holds a heavy meaning. Part of the definition of possession is madness… hmm…. And there have been plenty of mad artistic creative folk. Hmmmm…. So Plato had an interesting perspective on inspiration at a very early age in history.
Synesthesia is an interesting concept to say the least. Mozart claimed he could see his composition like a fine finished painting or beautiful statue. Beethoven could see the image of his musical work in front of him from every angle. It’s interesting because most people probably don’t experience this let alone relate sounds to colors.
“Society is hostile to change, and revolutions are normally unwelcome,” is maybe one of the best statements out of this book. Society doesn’t want change while the creative world is partially based on change and evolution of ideas. It’s only natural for the two to collide.
I heart Andy Warhol. He is simply neato. His use of color and repetition is brilliant among the many aspects of that man. I like the quote in the beginning of the book when he says, “People call me a mirror. And if a mirror looks into a mirror what does it see?” On page 89, Post modern art is described as only reflecting itself. It does not reflect a transcendent reality. Well put.
Childhood as an altered state is an interesting perspective. I’ve learned as the brain develops in a child that at certain ages their children are capable of learning and understanding things. Hughes said that since children can slip and out of current reality and a fantasy reality.
Winnie the Pooh and shamans… there is supporting evidence to back it up, but is it a coincidence? Alice in Wonderland is a trippy book/movie in general. Very creative concepts and understandably more adult oriented, but a little creepy Lewis Carroll was very fond of children except for boys.
Pearce Chapter Eight & Nine
In chapter eight at the beginning, Pearce’s “clearing in the forest” metaphor is clever, but somewhat cryptic.
One awesome thing Pearce said relating to that idea is, “The range of our possible actions has been so enormously widened by our conceptual powers – imagination, conception, and speculation – that ‘no inherited repertoire could fit the contingencies’ of our world.”
Pearce’s reasons for the failure of psychology is great. He is correct to say that psychology does not deal with the psyche. As well as many psychologists only manipulate things they could manipulate, the worm, the rat, the dog. Off hand, the rat refers to B.F. Skinner and the dog refers to Pavlov and his salivating dog. It is true though, psychologists cannot manipulate one’s psyche as easily as the animals are manipulated.
He is also ballsy with his statements on God and Jesus. In chapter eight, Pearce refers to god as “the projection called God” and basically speaks for Jesus and Don Juan, which is pretty ballsy. Most people don’t even talk about this stuff as not to offend anyone. It seems like he is speaking on behalf of Don Juan and Jesus, as if he knew what they thought and believed.
The germination of ideas reminded me of Richard Dadd’s painting The Fairy Feller's Master-Stroke. After nine years he still considered the painting unfinished. In this section it seemed like the idea is, you can’t put a time frame on creativity. The section also indicated that creativity exists in the person and it cannot be disentangled from the creative person to the creative product. That is agreeable subject matter.
I love Nietzche, but it’s no wonder he had problems with the ladies with that mustache. DAAAANG. His words on inspiration are inspiration itself. Though he denounces god, and some people may not be able to see past his opinions on the matter, but he was really a brilliant guy. He described his experiences with inspiration on page 63, when he said, “Everything occurs quite without volition, as if an eruption of freedom, independence, power, and divinity.”
What a wonderful guy.
Plato makes me laugh that inspiration is a possessed state. Is it a form of possession? Is it? I think of possession as something intense and the word holds a heavy meaning. Part of the definition of possession is madness… hmm…. And there have been plenty of mad artistic creative folk. Hmmmm…. So Plato had an interesting perspective on inspiration at a very early age in history.
Synesthesia is an interesting concept to say the least. Mozart claimed he could see his composition like a fine finished painting or beautiful statue. Beethoven could see the image of his musical work in front of him from every angle. It’s interesting because most people probably don’t experience this let alone relate sounds to colors.
“Society is hostile to change, and revolutions are normally unwelcome,” is maybe one of the best statements out of this book. Society doesn’t want change while the creative world is partially based on change and evolution of ideas. It’s only natural for the two to collide.
I heart Andy Warhol. He is simply neato. His use of color and repetition is brilliant among the many aspects of that man. I like the quote in the beginning of the book when he says, “People call me a mirror. And if a mirror looks into a mirror what does it see?” On page 89, Post modern art is described as only reflecting itself. It does not reflect a transcendent reality. Well put.
Childhood as an altered state is an interesting perspective. I’ve learned as the brain develops in a child that at certain ages their children are capable of learning and understanding things. Hughes said that since children can slip and out of current reality and a fantasy reality.
Winnie the Pooh and shamans… there is supporting evidence to back it up, but is it a coincidence? Alice in Wonderland is a trippy book/movie in general. Very creative concepts and understandably more adult oriented, but a little creepy Lewis Carroll was very fond of children except for boys.
Pearce Chapter Eight & Nine
In chapter eight at the beginning, Pearce’s “clearing in the forest” metaphor is clever, but somewhat cryptic.
One awesome thing Pearce said relating to that idea is, “The range of our possible actions has been so enormously widened by our conceptual powers – imagination, conception, and speculation – that ‘no inherited repertoire could fit the contingencies’ of our world.”
Pearce’s reasons for the failure of psychology is great. He is correct to say that psychology does not deal with the psyche. As well as many psychologists only manipulate things they could manipulate, the worm, the rat, the dog. Off hand, the rat refers to B.F. Skinner and the dog refers to Pavlov and his salivating dog. It is true though, psychologists cannot manipulate one’s psyche as easily as the animals are manipulated.
He is also ballsy with his statements on God and Jesus. In chapter eight, Pearce refers to god as “the projection called God” and basically speaks for Jesus and Don Juan, which is pretty ballsy. Most people don’t even talk about this stuff as not to offend anyone. It seems like he is speaking on behalf of Don Juan and Jesus, as if he knew what they thought and believed.
Creativity is Wild
I found Hughes' words to be most interesting this time around. As I have blogged before, I know all too well how creativity can take control. However, Hughes makes note that if that creativity is not channeled properly, it can escape. That is often why I take notes in a notebook of sorts, to ensure that these ideas do not escape me. Indeed, I have to make sure no good ideas slip away, like some wild animal. Hughes seems to believe the same as I do. However, also as Hughes has said, I often find myself slipping into a sort of an altered state when locked away in creativity, composing the various stories in my mind, but I must take care to keep my fingers typing when this occurs, as I produce work best when balanced between an altered state and concious state.
Regarding Pearce, I found his passages a little more difficult this time around...perhaps a reread would be in order, and if I come up with anything more insightful, I will blog on Thursday. What I did gather was that humans are comparable to animals in terms of intelligence, yet I hold a slightly differing opinion regarding that. I believe that animals have their own form of intelligence, and that a few opinionated humans from way back when simply deduced them to be stupid and uninspired. It's only recently that scientists have seen the true intelligence in animals; an ape can learn sign language; dolphins have been seen to have a complex social structure on par with our own; even some apes have developed their own forms of tools. It's just that so many view their advances as meaningless due to the ignorance of the aforementioned earlier humans...perhaps animals are no different from us, and, in their own way, have advanced to our own level or possibly beyond.
Regarding Pearce, I found his passages a little more difficult this time around...perhaps a reread would be in order, and if I come up with anything more insightful, I will blog on Thursday. What I did gather was that humans are comparable to animals in terms of intelligence, yet I hold a slightly differing opinion regarding that. I believe that animals have their own form of intelligence, and that a few opinionated humans from way back when simply deduced them to be stupid and uninspired. It's only recently that scientists have seen the true intelligence in animals; an ape can learn sign language; dolphins have been seen to have a complex social structure on par with our own; even some apes have developed their own forms of tools. It's just that so many view their advances as meaningless due to the ignorance of the aforementioned earlier humans...perhaps animals are no different from us, and, in their own way, have advanced to our own level or possibly beyond.
PHF
I liked reading about purity and innocence in the readings, although I don't think the word's "purity and innocence" were used.
There is definitely a relationship between artists and children. Artists have a very pure almost naive idea of what they can and cannot do, and then they just do it. I always thought the birth of the punk rock scene in the late seventies was a perfect example of creativity and innocence (minus all the heroin use). The scene was just a bunch of kids with no knowledge of how to play instruments. They felt that all of their musical heroes had begun to mock themselves. All these kids then started picking up instruments and writing songs, caring very little about all the technical jargon associated with playing music. They just had fun.
Children are honest and selfish, and they are the only humans that can away with it for a certain number of years before being fed into institutions. If these children have a problem with continuing on their honest and selfish ways, they better pick up a paint brush or an instrument or something, or their lives are going to go nuts.
Hold on... just re-read last paragraph... a little preachy... make some time to reflect on preachiness, tonight, 8:15.
Again animals... they don't do drugs, drink too much, get involved with other animals, etc.
Now, I'm not creative in any way whatsoever. Most of my time is spent with numbers and how to keep my heart disease from rising while the stock exchange melts (hint: eat lots of Cheerios. They're great for the heart. The box has a picture of a bowl shaped like a heart on it's cover). Most of my time is spent with equations. In fact after the readings, I developed a new one with a quote from page 91.
"... to be counted as creative requires the social honorific of certification as 'new,' 'valuable,' 'useful,' and appropriate,' conferred by members of society deemed qualified to judge its worth."
+
People judging its worth
-
People thinking it's awful
+
Some people thinking it's not awful
X
2(People thinking it's awful and making fun of the people who think it's not awful)
-
A celebrity endorsing the creative product
+
Death of the creative who made the product
+
All the people who hated the product
/
reading that a celebrity thinks it's cool
=
posthumous fame
Symbolically, the equation is as follows;
Q + P - P:( + P:) X 2P:( - C + D + P:( / C = PHF
There is definitely a relationship between artists and children. Artists have a very pure almost naive idea of what they can and cannot do, and then they just do it. I always thought the birth of the punk rock scene in the late seventies was a perfect example of creativity and innocence (minus all the heroin use). The scene was just a bunch of kids with no knowledge of how to play instruments. They felt that all of their musical heroes had begun to mock themselves. All these kids then started picking up instruments and writing songs, caring very little about all the technical jargon associated with playing music. They just had fun.
Children are honest and selfish, and they are the only humans that can away with it for a certain number of years before being fed into institutions. If these children have a problem with continuing on their honest and selfish ways, they better pick up a paint brush or an instrument or something, or their lives are going to go nuts.
Hold on... just re-read last paragraph... a little preachy... make some time to reflect on preachiness, tonight, 8:15.
Again animals... they don't do drugs, drink too much, get involved with other animals, etc.
Now, I'm not creative in any way whatsoever. Most of my time is spent with numbers and how to keep my heart disease from rising while the stock exchange melts (hint: eat lots of Cheerios. They're great for the heart. The box has a picture of a bowl shaped like a heart on it's cover). Most of my time is spent with equations. In fact after the readings, I developed a new one with a quote from page 91.
"... to be counted as creative requires the social honorific of certification as 'new,' 'valuable,' 'useful,' and appropriate,' conferred by members of society deemed qualified to judge its worth."
+
People judging its worth
-
People thinking it's awful
+
Some people thinking it's not awful
X
2(People thinking it's awful and making fun of the people who think it's not awful)
-
A celebrity endorsing the creative product
+
Death of the creative who made the product
+
All the people who hated the product
/
reading that a celebrity thinks it's cool
=
posthumous fame
Symbolically, the equation is as follows;
Q + P - P:( + P:) X 2P:( - C + D + P:( / C = PHF
Day Dreaming..........Kind of a Stretch!
Alot of key arguments were suggested about day dreaming and what we dream about. it was said that we often day dream about our fantasy's. I think that this is defiently true. When im day dreaming, 99.9 percent of the time, these dreams are things that would never happen in real life. Its cool to think about when you are in this alternate reality but when you come to, you understand how wild that idea really was. Most of the things i fantasize about are also outrageous. Sometimes i wish i had all the money in the world when in all actuality i would not like that. Because what my homie B.I.G. said more money equals more problem. Most of peoples day dreams are also things that you imagine in your head that cant really happen. I personally think that we have these thoughts because we are spaced out in this other reality that allows us to think outside the box. When we come to, we are back to SANE thoughts. Good read!
Only one more blog after this...
Ok, so listen to this---for the past two weeks i've been kind of worn out, down, depressed, etc, etc because i wasn't getting enough sleep ( or so i thought). while i realize that lack of sleep causes depression (perhaps sadness would be a more appropriate term) and that there's a cycle of the two.....no sleep, sad thoughts, followed by more sad thoughts, then no sleep again, and still more sad thoughts. I've been battling these thoughts of not being good enough for two weeks and today i finally realized that it wasn't the lack of sleep (i got enough over the weekend for once) but it's my never-ending quest for perfection. I'm so caught up on getting it right, that is, living right (or atleast my idea of it). this includes being a student, a son, a brother, a friend, an employee, a volunteer---i feel like there isn't enough time for all of this and that if i can't manage to play all of my roles well, then i'm a failure. again and again i try to give 100% of myself to each role and end up failing to some extent. I feel like some day, i'll get it right and just go on from there---getting it "right" day after day. well, sure enough my one class today was not on topic (again) and my professor started talking about how our culture/religion has this concept of perfection built into it even though it is impossible for us to achieve. i'm sitting there in class, as usual, wondering how we got so far off subject (yet i'm still interested) and thinking it's as if my professor was talking directly to me. YES---i wanted to scream. i know what you mean. i'm striving for this 'perfection' and inevitably continue to fail which makes me feel like a failure (sadness) and just perpetuates the cycle. so, enough is enough----and good enough will be good enough. sorry for rambling on there but i feel so strange right now typing this because i swear that lecture today was meant for me to hear. of course then the question is: How? i don't know. the best i can say is that it was creation. and that's all i've got for that question right now. the good thing about this is that soon i'll internalize what my professor was saying today and stop being so hard on myself---for now, they were just words and it was just kind of a weird thing to listen to knowing that i would benefit from having heard it later on down the road. On page 68 of Hughes (incubating the idea) he discusses the stages of the creative process. well, i think today was 'illumination' and at some point in the near future, i'll "get" it---or according to Hughes 'verification' will occur. i think i have some nice, peaceful sleep coming my way shortly. Pearce refers to my happening today as, "the kind of looking we can do is itself determined by and limited to previous interactions between forest and clearing" (133). the thing that will eventually save me from my misery of attempting perfection is what i choose to see it as---that is, what i decide to 'see' or learn from the event today.
Wallas' model
I liked the breakdown of the creative process in Wallas' model: preparation, incubation, illumination, and verification. How frustrating for creatives to be stuck in the incubation period for what Hughes claims may be "minutes to months to years". This validates why psychologists claim anxiety and tension are sometimes attributed to such processes prior to "breakthroughs". Could this be a correlation with Weil's claim that 3/4 of our real life is spent in imaginative phases? If we can deem creative thoughts as fictitious, at least until they come to fruition, then while they lie in this dormant state of incubation, certainly much time passes, as mentioned above. Hughes also refers to the tortured artist. If unable to transpose creative thoughts into finished products, especially in an idealized time frame, is it no wonder artists seem tortured? Pearce states, "Chaos is the underlying threat of the open system become self-conscious. "(144). While in the stage of incubation, if one allows the conscious to take over in an effort to resolve thoughts into a produced outcome, a muddled disarray is sure to ensue. Apparently, as reported by some artists, writers, and musicians in Hughes, creative thoughts may appear spontaneously, but must be left to the subconscious to work through to fruition.
I think the reference in Hughes to childhood perceptions being equated to ASC's is also significant. There is not much discrepancy between reality and fiction for children. They can easily accept any given information as being true. They are completely open-minded, that is until society's deemed truths and ideals are imposed and instilled upon them. This is what Pearce refers to as the lamb/fox metaphor. "There is a childlike quality in bringing the dream state through the crack to fruition. Such an inner state is balanced by a tough and resilient clarity of mind in the outer self. One is like a lamb to the inner spirit but like a fox to the outer world. This is the balance of mind." I believe both authors are suggesting we need to recall the innocence of childhood- not knowing consequences, ultimate truths, biases, and judgements. When we are able to achieve this kind of disposition in thinking, we can open ourselves to endless potential not only in creative processes but overall cognizance.
I think the reference in Hughes to childhood perceptions being equated to ASC's is also significant. There is not much discrepancy between reality and fiction for children. They can easily accept any given information as being true. They are completely open-minded, that is until society's deemed truths and ideals are imposed and instilled upon them. This is what Pearce refers to as the lamb/fox metaphor. "There is a childlike quality in bringing the dream state through the crack to fruition. Such an inner state is balanced by a tough and resilient clarity of mind in the outer self. One is like a lamb to the inner spirit but like a fox to the outer world. This is the balance of mind." I believe both authors are suggesting we need to recall the innocence of childhood- not knowing consequences, ultimate truths, biases, and judgements. When we are able to achieve this kind of disposition in thinking, we can open ourselves to endless potential not only in creative processes but overall cognizance.
Hughes and Pearce
Hughes writes, “After the one percent of inspiration comes the 99 percent of perspiration” (70). This goes along with the “Aha!” factor. You have that single moment of inspiration and then you have to put in hours upon hours to make your project the way you want it. I’m not sure that I agree with Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. He said “no one can be ‘Creative with a capital C,’ unless they master all that went before them in the field of, like Freud of the flight-obsessed Wright brothers, create their own field” (70). Though this idea was only proposed I feel like he is ignoring all the genius’ that have forged their own ways in existing fields.
I have noticed a type of trend when this book talks about the creatives. They all die generally young. I know that life expectancy wasn’t all that long in the 1700 and 1800’s but even people like Virginia Woolf and Sylvia Plath died relatively young. I wonder why this is. Could it be because their minds have so much information and creativity in them that they cant hold any more? Or is it simply because the majority have mental illness’ and can’t take it anymore? Or is it their drug use that ages them, physically and mentally, so much that they just can’t go on? The scientists considered great by Hughes seem to live a lot longer than the artists.
I still disagree with the fact that creativity has to be socially acceptable. I mentioned in a much earlier blog that I thought it was wrong that a group of people have to agree that something is creative and worth looking at. On page 91, Hughes writes, “…most creatives find that the interest, enjoyment, satisfaction, and challenge of the work itself provide sufficient motivation”. They didn’t care if people liked it or if they got paid for it as long as they were satisfied with the outcome. If they were worried about being socially acceptable, the artists had to depend on the type of society that they lived in. If the society was strict and the artists idea was radical, they would have to wait to be accepted and probably wouldn’t even be recognized as a genius until after their deaths.
I have noticed a type of trend when this book talks about the creatives. They all die generally young. I know that life expectancy wasn’t all that long in the 1700 and 1800’s but even people like Virginia Woolf and Sylvia Plath died relatively young. I wonder why this is. Could it be because their minds have so much information and creativity in them that they cant hold any more? Or is it simply because the majority have mental illness’ and can’t take it anymore? Or is it their drug use that ages them, physically and mentally, so much that they just can’t go on? The scientists considered great by Hughes seem to live a lot longer than the artists.
I still disagree with the fact that creativity has to be socially acceptable. I mentioned in a much earlier blog that I thought it was wrong that a group of people have to agree that something is creative and worth looking at. On page 91, Hughes writes, “…most creatives find that the interest, enjoyment, satisfaction, and challenge of the work itself provide sufficient motivation”. They didn’t care if people liked it or if they got paid for it as long as they were satisfied with the outcome. If they were worried about being socially acceptable, the artists had to depend on the type of society that they lived in. If the society was strict and the artists idea was radical, they would have to wait to be accepted and probably wouldn’t even be recognized as a genius until after their deaths.
Hughes and Pearce
Hughes 5
"At mundane level, most People achieve creative solution to new problems" (61) This is a quote that I picked up from the passage and beleive is true because most of the time it takes painful or life altering events to bring out the best in us. Only through problems does one grow intellectally and spiritually. Another quote I liked about this chapter is in pg 65 "The creative is attracted by the unrealized and drawn towards its realization". We are motivated by the possibilities that is unrealized and lay in us and we all have a potential that can be tapped by share will and drive.
In chapter 7 of hughes it talks about creativiuty and society. This comes into play with leadership and our individual and compiled ability to be inventive and innovative. As I wrote in my paper on cretivity earlier in the semester It takes the best cretive mind to govern and lead a nation of people or to be a leader in an organization or company. One has to be ablke to think out of the box for solutions on our toughest problems and how to better the peolple's lives they are leading. As a whole if not for the ability to be creative we wouldn't have advanced as a civilization we would have been stuck inthe stone age.
Chapter 8 of Hughes was interesting also. The part about childhood imagination and prodigies was fascinating to read. I think that children have the best imagination possibe. For them sky is not the limit they have such a vivid imagination. I know this for a fact because I remember what kind of imagination I had even at 6 years old. prodigies was fascinating because those are the choosen ones. They are a category of their own. Even speaking of them makes me jealous and wishful.
Pearce
I don't think there is much distinction between us and animals because we are similar in the basic structure of our cognitive wirings except we were meant to be the smarter speceies due to our more sophisticated wirings of the brain. They were meant to roam around in the wild and we were meant to carry on God's work and sustain the planet and advance mankind. Animals and Humans were both created the same in God's light.
"At mundane level, most People achieve creative solution to new problems" (61) This is a quote that I picked up from the passage and beleive is true because most of the time it takes painful or life altering events to bring out the best in us. Only through problems does one grow intellectally and spiritually. Another quote I liked about this chapter is in pg 65 "The creative is attracted by the unrealized and drawn towards its realization". We are motivated by the possibilities that is unrealized and lay in us and we all have a potential that can be tapped by share will and drive.
In chapter 7 of hughes it talks about creativiuty and society. This comes into play with leadership and our individual and compiled ability to be inventive and innovative. As I wrote in my paper on cretivity earlier in the semester It takes the best cretive mind to govern and lead a nation of people or to be a leader in an organization or company. One has to be ablke to think out of the box for solutions on our toughest problems and how to better the peolple's lives they are leading. As a whole if not for the ability to be creative we wouldn't have advanced as a civilization we would have been stuck inthe stone age.
Chapter 8 of Hughes was interesting also. The part about childhood imagination and prodigies was fascinating to read. I think that children have the best imagination possibe. For them sky is not the limit they have such a vivid imagination. I know this for a fact because I remember what kind of imagination I had even at 6 years old. prodigies was fascinating because those are the choosen ones. They are a category of their own. Even speaking of them makes me jealous and wishful.
Pearce
I don't think there is much distinction between us and animals because we are similar in the basic structure of our cognitive wirings except we were meant to be the smarter speceies due to our more sophisticated wirings of the brain. They were meant to roam around in the wild and we were meant to carry on God's work and sustain the planet and advance mankind. Animals and Humans were both created the same in God's light.
Daydream believer
One of the most interesting points Hughes mentions is the question of whether the person controls the creative process or if it is the creative process that controls the person. Hughes draws on the example Jackson Pollock's ability to control his alcoholism through his work, and Van Gogh's increase of self-esteem by receiving accolades for his painting (74).
The idea of daydreaming presented by Hughes as a necessary alternative to reality supports the ideas of altered states of consciousness. If whilst daydreaming one can archive ideas or solutions to problems that he or she may not have been otherwise able to achieve in a normal state of consciousness, does that make the daydreamer any different, in some respects, than a shaman? True, a shaman does enter these altered states willingly and intentionally, but it is possible for both to reach a conclusion that might otherwise have eluded them.
What is daydreaming but ignoring the clutter of the everyday world that your mind cannot otherwise filter? Meditating is the ability to block out all the white noise that distracts us from the ability to focus entirely on one thing; isn't daydreaming redirecting our concentration? Like any altered state, though, surely there is a limit. It would not do to forget about the reality in which our physical body exists in exchange for the altered state into which our mind has wandered.
The idea of daydreaming presented by Hughes as a necessary alternative to reality supports the ideas of altered states of consciousness. If whilst daydreaming one can archive ideas or solutions to problems that he or she may not have been otherwise able to achieve in a normal state of consciousness, does that make the daydreamer any different, in some respects, than a shaman? True, a shaman does enter these altered states willingly and intentionally, but it is possible for both to reach a conclusion that might otherwise have eluded them.
What is daydreaming but ignoring the clutter of the everyday world that your mind cannot otherwise filter? Meditating is the ability to block out all the white noise that distracts us from the ability to focus entirely on one thing; isn't daydreaming redirecting our concentration? Like any altered state, though, surely there is a limit. It would not do to forget about the reality in which our physical body exists in exchange for the altered state into which our mind has wandered.
Hughes Ch.5-8, Pearce Ch.8-9
Hughes brought up an interesting point about daydreaming and fantasies. He said first that “fantasies are the stuff of daydream or reverie, the state which Wordsworth described as being “both asleep and awake.” And Hughes also said that Freud identified fantasies as “unsatisfied wishes.” This stuff he is talking about is not direct, so it’s hard to know what kind of stuff he is referring too. But, one thing is I don’t believe fantasies are all unsatisfied wishes. Sometimes I believe your brain just has time where it continues to think about topics that intrigue you. Not all fantasies are wishes. Sometimes I think about moving into a big house in Hollywood, but the truth is I would actually never move away from Pennsylvania. It’s the interest of what it would be like if I was someone else, like a movie star. My dream occupation is not with acting at the slightest interest, but I believe people just grow intrigued in comparison to how other people’s lives are different from us. Among the other topics discussed in the assigned chapters, was creativity, under the topic of therapy. This is true, creativity can be looked at for majority of people as an out. Every person in the world has something they do, whether they notice it or not, which helps them just get into a zone, or give them a break from reality. Some zones could even last a second, like scratching a lottery ticket. For me, I can escape reality and just be creative while I am at work. My job deals with retail so constantly I change floor plans, which to me is fun. I enjoy configuring merchandise and clothing to make it more appealing and quickly accessible for customers. It’s like a big puzzle. Some days it works out great, it feels as if all my ideas just automatically click with each other, and then other days this mental zone or ease of creativity fades, when ideas are not working out, and I have to use one of my other “outs.” I know some people who find their out by playing sports. My one friend who is really great at basketball will just go shoot by herself for a while when she is frustrated. Another thing I enjoy doing is taking long runs in the morning. It could be freezing out or scorching hot, but if I am frustrated and need my “out,” I will go for a nice jog just as the sun is coming up, with no Ipod, or anything to distract me, and as I run just take in the peace of the atmosphere. It’s a perfect time to just see how beautiful the day is, even if after my jog I know I will be weighed down with assignments, work, and errands. Once I am done, I feel ready to face what is bothering me head on, and it helps me too to just have that quite time to figure out how. Sometimes it may not be easy running. Depending on how you physically feel, it may cause a lot of pain to your knees, cause side stitches, hurts your calves from running hills, the sweat may burn your eyes, you have cars going by who are getting a little too close sometimes, but at the same time it’s an addiction because I feel so good inside, as if weight was lifted off my shoulders after I am done. It becomes a feeling of relief, which I feel creativity is. In away I feel Pearce has a quote from his chapter that attributes. “The cause of the need is the cause of the fulfillment of the need, as Langer quotes Fluger.” (Pearce 136)
Hughes and Pearce
In this weeks reading, Pearce makes a distinction between humans and animals. I am one of those people who believes that humans are nothing more than complex animals. How did we get here? I don't know. But without human parents at the early stages of our lives we revert to animal behavior. For example, feral children, who were raised in the wilderness by animals, act like the animals they were raised by. (I mentioned this in a previous blog.) When society attempts to rehabilitate these individuals, some abilities we think as normal are never realized. A good example of this is the case of Oxana Malaya who was raised by wolves.
I think the importance of a human upbringing with human parents is fascination. Even more profound is how easy it is for a human to lose that human edge. Our lives (though they may seem complex) are actually rather simple. Core elements of the animal experience such as eating, intercourse/reproduction, sleep, work, migrating from place to place, establishment of territory, death, et cetera are still the foundation of our lives. In fact, any other "more advanced" (human) element we possess, are used by us to secure one of those basic elements aforementioned.
I guess that's a bland Freudian way of thinking of things. Humans are flat basically predictable creatures that are nothing more than different from the other animals... certainly not better. Despite all of our "advances", humans (as a whole) are lower, in my opinion, than animals... especially in the core ways that actually matter. Instead of living in harmony with our surroundings (which I believe is the most important thing in the greater scheme of things) we consume, consume, and consume. May be humans are actually devolving.
Referring to Northrop Fyre's Four Essays, Pearce describes the core parts of the texts, which I think are worth mentioning. "Our modern image plays the alazon in that we pretend to be unique from previous developments; superior, because our science and gadgets, to all other cultures in spite of a lack of a cohesive culture of our own. And we play the eiron in that we deprecate ourselves— considering ourselves but a clever ape, able by some freak to catch on to a mechanism a priori and superior to us. Thus we suffer guilt and fear of reprisal over our manipulations of nature, and a sense of alienation from our continuum, or ecology, our fellows and ourselves."
Pearce focused a lot on complex thinking. Ultimately, his book forces us to ask the age old question: Where do all of these ideas come from in the first place?
In Altered States: Creativity Under the Influence, Hughes attempts to answer that question. In chapter 5, he focuses on the creative process and the AHA Factor. He states that the AHA is a product of inspiration, an alteration in breathing pattern, often accompanied by tension or anxiety, suggesting that it may embody unconscious conflicts. The "AHA" is the bursting of the bubble, containing the seeds that eventually spur the poet or artist to insight. Unfortunately, finding that muse is hard.
Hughes mentions the Romantic poets and artist who used narcotics as a catalyst to reach the end result of this process. These are all things that we have talked about before during class. We have discussed the possibility of these drugs as a means to tap into our original state, the altered state, where ideas flowed freely, unfettered from the physical world. As we age, many of us lose that connection. A caption in chapter 8 reads "Children's incapacity to distinguish between their imaginative world and the "real" world is the source of their enviable creative enthusiasm."
I think the importance of a human upbringing with human parents is fascination. Even more profound is how easy it is for a human to lose that human edge. Our lives (though they may seem complex) are actually rather simple. Core elements of the animal experience such as eating, intercourse/reproduction, sleep, work, migrating from place to place, establishment of territory, death, et cetera are still the foundation of our lives. In fact, any other "more advanced" (human) element we possess, are used by us to secure one of those basic elements aforementioned.
I guess that's a bland Freudian way of thinking of things. Humans are flat basically predictable creatures that are nothing more than different from the other animals... certainly not better. Despite all of our "advances", humans (as a whole) are lower, in my opinion, than animals... especially in the core ways that actually matter. Instead of living in harmony with our surroundings (which I believe is the most important thing in the greater scheme of things) we consume, consume, and consume. May be humans are actually devolving.
Referring to Northrop Fyre's Four Essays, Pearce describes the core parts of the texts, which I think are worth mentioning. "Our modern image plays the alazon in that we pretend to be unique from previous developments; superior, because our science and gadgets, to all other cultures in spite of a lack of a cohesive culture of our own. And we play the eiron in that we deprecate ourselves— considering ourselves but a clever ape, able by some freak to catch on to a mechanism a priori and superior to us. Thus we suffer guilt and fear of reprisal over our manipulations of nature, and a sense of alienation from our continuum, or ecology, our fellows and ourselves."
Pearce focused a lot on complex thinking. Ultimately, his book forces us to ask the age old question: Where do all of these ideas come from in the first place?
In Altered States: Creativity Under the Influence, Hughes attempts to answer that question. In chapter 5, he focuses on the creative process and the AHA Factor. He states that the AHA is a product of inspiration, an alteration in breathing pattern, often accompanied by tension or anxiety, suggesting that it may embody unconscious conflicts. The "AHA" is the bursting of the bubble, containing the seeds that eventually spur the poet or artist to insight. Unfortunately, finding that muse is hard.
Hughes mentions the Romantic poets and artist who used narcotics as a catalyst to reach the end result of this process. These are all things that we have talked about before during class. We have discussed the possibility of these drugs as a means to tap into our original state, the altered state, where ideas flowed freely, unfettered from the physical world. As we age, many of us lose that connection. A caption in chapter 8 reads "Children's incapacity to distinguish between their imaginative world and the "real" world is the source of their enviable creative enthusiasm."
Monday, November 10, 2008
week 12
I enjoyed the Hughes reading this week. The Greek's are an excellent jumping off point for any discussions concerning the factors that might influence an artist. Phidias definitely illustrates the Greek's mastery of art and sculpture. Besides Phidias' contribution to the frieze of the Parthenon, he is responsible for creating one of the seven ancient wonders of the world: the statue of Zeus at Olympia. At any rate, the Renaissance, which drew its humanistic inspiration from the Greeks and Romans, was another culturally rich period of time that offers a plethora of ways to contemplate how factors like economy, society and values shape an artists' work. "It was the involvement of the entire community in the creative process that made the Renaissance possible. And it was not a random event, but a calculated conscious policy on the part of those who had wealth and power" (Csikszentmahalyi quoted in Hughes 101).
On the other hand, the Pearce reading this week was not particularly enjoyable. His discussion in previous chapters concerning human knowledge, ignorance, and narrow-mindedness were all topics worthy of consideration and further reflection. However, Pearce's discussion on Jesus, once again, gives me pause. His standpoint is one molded from an entirely subjective conceptual construct, and he systematically construes aspects of Christianity to suit the purposes of his argument, an all too common characteristic shared by the pious of various religious affiliations. Without trampling on the religious beliefs of any persons that might be reading this blog, let's just say that it would be an understatement to note that the substance of chapter nine is entirely debatable.
On the other hand, the Pearce reading this week was not particularly enjoyable. His discussion in previous chapters concerning human knowledge, ignorance, and narrow-mindedness were all topics worthy of consideration and further reflection. However, Pearce's discussion on Jesus, once again, gives me pause. His standpoint is one molded from an entirely subjective conceptual construct, and he systematically construes aspects of Christianity to suit the purposes of his argument, an all too common characteristic shared by the pious of various religious affiliations. Without trampling on the religious beliefs of any persons that might be reading this blog, let's just say that it would be an understatement to note that the substance of chapter nine is entirely debatable.
Listen to the murmuring
“The subconscious is ceaselessly murmuring, and it is by listen to these murmurs that one hears the truth” – Gaston Bachelard (Hughes 60). This quote so wonderfully encapsulates the reference that Pearce (149) makes to a book titled The Cross and the Swithblade and the books author David Wilkerson.
David was a country preacher from Pennsylvania (Phillipsburg) who founded Teen Challenge (1958). Teen Challenge is one of the oldest, largest and most successful faith based recovery programs of its kind in the world. As of January 2002, at the beginning the 45th year, there were 178 Teen Challenge programs in the United States and another 150 in other countries around the world. (http://www.teenchallengetc.com/index.html) In addition to founding Teen Challenge he also founded Times Square Church in 1987. This church serves ever 8,000 people, representing more than 100 different nationalities ( http://www.tscnyc.org/about_us.php) Your reading this and thinking, there she goes again on her religious soapbox – just hang with me!
During an evening of prayer (preparation) Dave Wilkerson picked up a Life magazine. He had been restless (mind chatter) and wondered what he was being directed to do (intuition /hunches). Dave felt God drawing him (incubation) to the picture of the seven boys who were on trial for murder. At the time, David said the felt as thought he received clear instruction (illumination) to go to New York City and help those boys. Mr. Wilkerson’s (verification) came with the founding of the previous mentioned programs. David Wilkerson listen to the murmuring heard his truth…
David was a country preacher from Pennsylvania (Phillipsburg) who founded Teen Challenge (1958). Teen Challenge is one of the oldest, largest and most successful faith based recovery programs of its kind in the world. As of January 2002, at the beginning the 45th year, there were 178 Teen Challenge programs in the United States and another 150 in other countries around the world. (http://www.teenchallengetc.com/index.html) In addition to founding Teen Challenge he also founded Times Square Church in 1987. This church serves ever 8,000 people, representing more than 100 different nationalities ( http://www.tscnyc.org/about_us.php) Your reading this and thinking, there she goes again on her religious soapbox – just hang with me!
During an evening of prayer (preparation) Dave Wilkerson picked up a Life magazine. He had been restless (mind chatter) and wondered what he was being directed to do (intuition /hunches). Dave felt God drawing him (incubation) to the picture of the seven boys who were on trial for murder. At the time, David said the felt as thought he received clear instruction (illumination) to go to New York City and help those boys. Mr. Wilkerson’s (verification) came with the founding of the previous mentioned programs. David Wilkerson listen to the murmuring heard his truth…
Hughes 5,7,8 Pierce 8,9
Hughes-
Hughes describes that the role of creativity is seen through out the unconscious mind. I was impressed by Sigman Freud's "the unconscious consits of element derived from the individuals past that are kept out of consciousness because they are personally or socially unacceptable but continue to exert an effect on conscious thought and behavior." So a past experience can greatly affect what is presently going on in your work of art. Art is a communication to others. Art as Hughes stated " is the ability of art to transmit emotion is one of the qualities that we value most." Maybe that is why most artist or people who are sick developer an artistic skill. I thought it was funny when the grapes painted by Apelle looked so real that sparrows were picking at them. I thought it was a great reference to Winnicotts description of a child vs. mother ( art as comfort blanket). Towards the end I think that the child's dreaming state is an idea for my final paper.
Pierce-
I think Pierces clearing of the forest relates to his cosmic egg theory because in order for one to see the light in the forest or see the crack in the egg, they must experience it and believe that their is a lesson or reason behind what they are seeking. He states " we can be integrated with ourselves and understand our true position and potential only by personally experiencing the full mode of our mind which is a mind that shades into the past." And the culture that we live in affects the crack or the light "A culture is the symbolic expression of developed habitual ways of experience as a whole." "The Forest shapes according to the light of the clearing." I think Pierce is trying to say that the way you perceive things to be or believe in them will somehow shape the "light" that you will see in the forest.
Hughes describes that the role of creativity is seen through out the unconscious mind. I was impressed by Sigman Freud's "the unconscious consits of element derived from the individuals past that are kept out of consciousness because they are personally or socially unacceptable but continue to exert an effect on conscious thought and behavior." So a past experience can greatly affect what is presently going on in your work of art. Art is a communication to others. Art as Hughes stated " is the ability of art to transmit emotion is one of the qualities that we value most." Maybe that is why most artist or people who are sick developer an artistic skill. I thought it was funny when the grapes painted by Apelle looked so real that sparrows were picking at them. I thought it was a great reference to Winnicotts description of a child vs. mother ( art as comfort blanket). Towards the end I think that the child's dreaming state is an idea for my final paper.
Pierce-
I think Pierces clearing of the forest relates to his cosmic egg theory because in order for one to see the light in the forest or see the crack in the egg, they must experience it and believe that their is a lesson or reason behind what they are seeking. He states " we can be integrated with ourselves and understand our true position and potential only by personally experiencing the full mode of our mind which is a mind that shades into the past." And the culture that we live in affects the crack or the light "A culture is the symbolic expression of developed habitual ways of experience as a whole." "The Forest shapes according to the light of the clearing." I think Pierce is trying to say that the way you perceive things to be or believe in them will somehow shape the "light" that you will see in the forest.
hypnosis
Hypnosis was very interesting to learn about especially from Pearce. As he actually dove into the interworkings of hypnosis and says that only about twenty percent of Americans can be hypnotized. I never really paid to mmuch attention to hypnotists becuase i cant be put into a state such as hypnosis. Im not saying it cant be done but i would think humans were just to smart to let someone try and basically "control" you. Because in hypnosis the person that is hypnotized never looses control of their body and mind they can think for themselves in that altered state, but the hypnotized are just more open to sugesstions than they woul dbe if they were in a "normal" state of conciouness. Another theme in the readings i thought was interesting was communication and i dont like the tone Pearce seems to give off that we communicate differently because were so technilogically driven. Pearce makes it sound bad, I believe we huminized communication, yes humans may communicate differently now than we did when technology was not as prevalant but I dont believe communication has changed in a bad way. Humans took the "old ways" of communication and made it our own hence this is why i used the term huminized it. As humans we have not lost nor are we losing our identity, Pearce makes it sound like change is a bad thing, so the human race is making things faster, more reliable, and overall better and Pearce thinks were losing our identity? He reminds the reader the world is full of possibilities and it's not to late, of course its not to late because we as humans have not lost our identity we make our own identity, society doesnt depict that.
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Hughes and Pearce
Hughes says, "For creativity is an important, perhaps the most important, form of communication"(64). I never realized how much creativity is used to communicate. Everywhere there are movies, books, poems, advertisements, and so many other forms of communication that all relay an important an message. They all cause some type of emotion and a reaction, which varies from one person to another. Pearce seems to suggest that communication has changed, because society is so heavily reliant on technology. The world we used to live in and the one we live in now are like two separate worlds. Pearce states, "So we interpret ourselves as clever animals who, having found a hole in zoo's fence, have wandered into alian territory. Unable to deny our physical inheritance from the past we have become overly fascinated with it. . ." (134). I think it is interesting that humans are so different from previous generations, when they are really the same. I'm not sure if that is correct, but that is what I understood. Humans have come a long way, but there is still A LOT that we cannot make sense of. Creativity and communication all change with time. Some people seek change and some people resist it, but society still says what creativity is. By trying to understand ourselves in the past, we can better understand ourselves now. I think from all the materials and technology in the world humans are losing their identity. Our society is kind of like a child that is losing the mystery and the connection to altered states of consciousness. However, Pearce seems to remind the reader that the world is full of possibilities, and it is not too late.
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Hughes, Pearce and Walsh
William Blake said, "Man has no Body distinct from his Soul; for that call'd Body is a portion of Soul discern'd by the five senses.... If the doors of perception were cleansed everything would appear to man as it is, infinite. For man has closed himself up, till he see all things thro' narrow chinks of his cavern" (Hughes). In other words, Behold and Become.
We experience this world through our five filters—sight, hearing, touch, smell, and taste. It's hard to imagine what we would perceive without these filters.
There was a lot of text devoted to advanced yogic and meditative states. In one of my first blogs, I wrote "Hughes text (specifically parts of Chapter 3) reminded me of something I read in a Kabbalist text. It argued that the "real world" was filtered by our five senses. This filtering process keeps us from experience true reality." Hughes reiterates this idea again in this chapter. This concept, I believe, is central to the craft of Shamans, and advanced practitioners of yogic and meditative states.
I'd really like to know more about Buddhist and Hindu mandalas or yantras briefly touched on in Hughes' text on page 154.
In the first week of class, when we were asked to name different methods of altered states. I mentioned the "OM". In the kind of meditation I do, hemi-sync, the OM (or resonant tuning) is crucial to reaching an altered state. It's like a warp drive for meditation, allowing one to lock into the natural vibration that exist around us.
Hughes explained it well. He mentioned that many ancient (and modern) traditions teach that the origin of the whole of creation is vibration. I am so interested in the primal sound, the vibration of the Big Bang!! Fascinating!
Pearce also discusses many of the methods of ACS, commonly associated with the Shaman, Buddhist, and others, such as hypnotism and trance experiences.
Walsh, Part 7, tied right in with the Hughes and Pearce text. Walsh presented his readers with a detailed table, comparing the experiences of a Shamanic journey with the experiences of advanced yogic and meditative states. Toward the end of this section, he refutes all the outrageous claims that schizophrenic, Buddhist, and yogic states are indistinguishable.
We experience this world through our five filters—sight, hearing, touch, smell, and taste. It's hard to imagine what we would perceive without these filters.
There was a lot of text devoted to advanced yogic and meditative states. In one of my first blogs, I wrote "Hughes text (specifically parts of Chapter 3) reminded me of something I read in a Kabbalist text. It argued that the "real world" was filtered by our five senses. This filtering process keeps us from experience true reality." Hughes reiterates this idea again in this chapter. This concept, I believe, is central to the craft of Shamans, and advanced practitioners of yogic and meditative states.
I'd really like to know more about Buddhist and Hindu mandalas or yantras briefly touched on in Hughes' text on page 154.
In the first week of class, when we were asked to name different methods of altered states. I mentioned the "OM". In the kind of meditation I do, hemi-sync, the OM (or resonant tuning) is crucial to reaching an altered state. It's like a warp drive for meditation, allowing one to lock into the natural vibration that exist around us.
Hughes explained it well. He mentioned that many ancient (and modern) traditions teach that the origin of the whole of creation is vibration. I am so interested in the primal sound, the vibration of the Big Bang!! Fascinating!
Pearce also discusses many of the methods of ACS, commonly associated with the Shaman, Buddhist, and others, such as hypnotism and trance experiences.
Walsh, Part 7, tied right in with the Hughes and Pearce text. Walsh presented his readers with a detailed table, comparing the experiences of a Shamanic journey with the experiences of advanced yogic and meditative states. Toward the end of this section, he refutes all the outrageous claims that schizophrenic, Buddhist, and yogic states are indistinguishable.
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
blog time
Hughes chapter 11, Walsh Part 7, Pearce Chapter 7:
Through ought the reading there was an emphasis of the power of the mind. Hughes and Pearce talked about hypnosis and trance. Hughes referenced the composer Sergei Rachmaninov and how he had a creative dry spell. After hypnosis he produced successful symphonies. Hughes pointed out “the most remarkable fact about hypnosis is that it reveals a range of powers within the individual, inaccessible to personal consciousness, but through attainable through surrender of the will.”
That quote applies to the shamans as well. Through the trance they enter, they see a world inaccessible through any other method than what they’re doing. Pearce said that trance experience is a disengagement from ordinary reality orientation, which is true to shamans and their rituals. Pearce also references Ainslie Meares, a doctor who underwent a tooth extraction under self-induced anesthesia.
He had published widely on therapy and had also served as the president of the international society for clinical experimental hypnosis. Perhaps this was his way of proving his point?
Hughes mentioned mystics. They “offer accounts, guides, and maps of other worlds, which may incidentally be valued creative products alone.” That reminded me a lot of shamans and the way they are an inside to another reality we don’t see. Walsh said about the shaman, “ Their specialty was ‘ soul travel’ in which they experience themselves journeying through these realms as free souls, mastering and placing their inhabitants, and bringing back knowledge to their earthbound compatriots.”
Through ought the reading there was an emphasis of the power of the mind. Hughes and Pearce talked about hypnosis and trance. Hughes referenced the composer Sergei Rachmaninov and how he had a creative dry spell. After hypnosis he produced successful symphonies. Hughes pointed out “the most remarkable fact about hypnosis is that it reveals a range of powers within the individual, inaccessible to personal consciousness, but through attainable through surrender of the will.”
That quote applies to the shamans as well. Through the trance they enter, they see a world inaccessible through any other method than what they’re doing. Pearce said that trance experience is a disengagement from ordinary reality orientation, which is true to shamans and their rituals. Pearce also references Ainslie Meares, a doctor who underwent a tooth extraction under self-induced anesthesia.
He had published widely on therapy and had also served as the president of the international society for clinical experimental hypnosis. Perhaps this was his way of proving his point?
Hughes mentioned mystics. They “offer accounts, guides, and maps of other worlds, which may incidentally be valued creative products alone.” That reminded me a lot of shamans and the way they are an inside to another reality we don’t see. Walsh said about the shaman, “ Their specialty was ‘ soul travel’ in which they experience themselves journeying through these realms as free souls, mastering and placing their inhabitants, and bringing back knowledge to their earthbound compatriots.”
Walsh, Hughes, Pearce
So there was a lot of talk about hypnosis and how there a similarities between different ASOC's (including, but not limited to: shamans, hypnosis, music, drug-induced, etc.) Here's my question: can i be my own hypnotist? don't we all have the innate ability to suggest ideas and thoughts to ourselves---this is how we form perceptions and opinions, right? then, as we've learned, we seek and find information to back these perceptions and opinions up---give them meaning and value. well then, i am in fact capable of anything i put my mind to, huh? more on this later...........i have to point out that i was over at my cousin's house the other sunday watching football and his daughter was playing in the next room. had it not been for this class i would not have paid any attention to her playing (other than general concern for her safety, of course), but i found myself watching her play with inamimate toys while sitting on the floor (eating dinner i think). when told to come and actually eat 'real' food, she said she was busy. i laughed. to me, it looks like she's playing with a stuffed animal and eating air---but who knows what she was really doing. i do remember having a difficult time as a child wanting to 'play' anything that was 'not real' because i thought it was stupid or that someone would laugh at me. how unfortunate! to me, i didn't have time for things that were imaginary---for my niece, she didn't have time for us and our 'real' food. ha! ok, back to this whole idea about being my own hypnotist. i'm going to try to explain something that i've been going over in my mind but haven't been able to put to words yet. i think i have this idea but haven't been able to express in any sort of satisfactory way---so maybe someone can help. here goes: i have a pretty bad memory so i'm constantly writing notes for myself to remember to do something. i joke that i actually have a "to do list" to remind me to do my "to do list". nevermind that........ why is it that when i write things down to do (1,2,3,4,5, etc.) they'll get accomplished and generally in that order. but if i don't write them down, then they won't. i realize on the surface this seems like i'm just reminding myself to do them---but i think there's more. i feel like my plans have a better chance of coming true/happening if i write them down (put them in the physical world rather than just thoughts in my mind). if my "to do" list is an outline or blueprint for my time that day, then can't i just pick and choose what i'm going to do. is my "to do" list suggesting (like a hypnotist) what i'm going to do next? i still feel like i'm not fully explaining myself. i guess what i want to know is.......if i don't write something down on my "to do list" for a certain day (ex.: 1, 2, 3, __ 5, 6, 7) did i not do it because i forgot to do it or because i didn't write it down? see the difference?????????
Week 11 (I think I'm actually ahead of some of you)
I haven't posted for a couple of weeks, but have been keeping up with your posts and am, as usaul, impressed with many of the insights. We seem to have an overlap between last week and this, and this whole concept of the mind - body connection. fascinating stuff, isn't it? Ashley included two interesting scenarios to consider, but I wonder if we might define these diffferent attitudes as perspectives; perspectives which, of course, will then have effects on emotions, which will then effect physical results. So perhaps "perspective" is a word we need to apy more attention to. As is "hallucination," which Kristen soastutely points out is just that word we tend to use for things we can't really explain or define.
The idea of an "evolution of consciousness" is probably something worth more discussion, as is the idea of mind control. I look forward to hearing more from you.
The idea of an "evolution of consciousness" is probably something worth more discussion, as is the idea of mind control. I look forward to hearing more from you.
Happy Election Day!
I really liked the description of dance in the Hughes reading. He says, "Dance allows the the release of emotional expression and expresses joys and unhappiness experienced in life. Needs of the intellect are less important. The relationship between emotion and dance is close."
I agree with this quote from Hughes. I took ballet and jazz classes for 12 years or so and I danced in junior high when I was diagnosed with depression. I remember my jazz teacher pulling me aside to talk to me about how sad I seemed. I just kind of nodded as she talked, not wanting to talk about it at all. She was very understanding, but also rather narcissistic, so she was content to do all the talking in that conversation. Basically, she told me to use all my emotions and put them into my dancing. I was in 7th grade at that time, and I'm sure my thoughts went something like this: "Yeah, okay. Let me just use my sadness to help me achieve better turnout and greater flexibility. That sure sounds like it'd work."
But eventually (and I don't remember a specific moment), I understood what she meant and I don't know how I could explain it better now. Just like she said, I put myself into my dancing. And I think that if you went to a professional dancer (who belongs to a dance company, not a strip club) they would know what "putting yourself into your dancing" means. I think that dancing just to dance is obviously your own expression of creativity, but dancing to someone else's choreography can be just as much your own expression.
In my Tai Chi class, my teacher always emphasizes the importance of the "journey". He encourages us to do all the moves slowly, because just because we know what the end is, doesn't mean we have to rush toward it. I believe the same is true of altered states. There are so many ways to reach ASCs that I think the journey to the ASC is more or equally important as the ASC itself.
I think Walsh agrees. On p. 237, he says, "The journey is a central practice of shamanism."
Hypnotism is one way to reach an ASC, a way that I find fascinating. I've never been hypnotized and don't know that I'd ever really want to be, but I think hypnotism demonstrates the power of the mind. If you think about it, when you're hypnotized, you lose all inhibitions and focus of your surroundings. Like Pearce talks about Jung's patient who was able to keep her body in a straight line with her feet on one chair and her head on the other, at only 70 pounds. In her hypnotic state, she had no doubts that she couldn't do it, so she was able to do it. I think thats the key to hypnotism, removing all doubts.
I’m happy I’m not an Australian aborigine boy!
I said it before and I will say it again; I am never ceased to be amazed at the power that lies and our minds. Also, how we are connected, whether we like to believe it or not to the universe. This I think ties in with the reading, that our culture and individual experiences create direct links with the universe, its inhabitants, and spirits. We each travel on the path of knowledge in a search for our link to spirituality. That link can lead us to altered states making an ordinary life extraordinary! Our minds, although we don’t think about it are built to respond to the energies emitted by music, dance, painting, etc...
Maybe I shouldn’t admit this, but when I read the texts and the idea of spirits I tend to not think of Christianity in the mix. I suppose that it could be a result of me viewing that “spirits” are bad yet, I know they are not… The chapter on “What is a Spirit” was super valuable in my learning process.
The story relayed in Pearce regarding the tooth extraction is unbelievable! I can relate ever so slightly to this… I have three cavities and all three have been drilled and filled without the aid of Novocain… I do what I maybe be referred to as “mini-trance” focusing on a point on the wall and thinking about nothing, a best I can. Believe me I am not saying this relates to having oral surgery, but it certainly falls in on a similar path.
Maybe I shouldn’t admit this, but when I read the texts and the idea of spirits I tend to not think of Christianity in the mix. I suppose that it could be a result of me viewing that “spirits” are bad yet, I know they are not… The chapter on “What is a Spirit” was super valuable in my learning process.
The story relayed in Pearce regarding the tooth extraction is unbelievable! I can relate ever so slightly to this… I have three cavities and all three have been drilled and filled without the aid of Novocain… I do what I maybe be referred to as “mini-trance” focusing on a point on the wall and thinking about nothing, a best I can. Believe me I am not saying this relates to having oral surgery, but it certainly falls in on a similar path.
Walsh VII, Highes 11, and Pearce 7
The dimensions for mapping states of consciousness is interesting: Degree of control, awareness of enviroment, ability to communicate, concentration, degree of energy or arousal, emotion, sense of identity, out of body expierence, nature of inner expierence..this almostr sounds to me like a guide to stay successful....The visual on page 241 was useful to me. The schizophrenic journey is much more diorganized than the shamanic. The lack of control being the key factor in the schizophrenic. I took yoga at HACC for my gym credit..i remember always deep breathing using the Ojai breath and focusing on an object in my head....it was pretty relaxing.
I think it is interesting that frontotemporal lobe dementia can induce exceptional creativity..."failure in one part of the brain can spark life in another". Seeing as how, when i took yoga, i was doing it to relax...it never really made me more creative. For the 'vison-seeker' they are looking to expierence a greater reality. For artists, the creative urge is to be able to express a personal vision, whether or not it is understood by anyone else.
What can be induced from hypnotism is incredible. Bloodless wounds, enormous strength, rediculous weakness can be induced. Super adrenaline..i want to try going under hypnotization!!
I think it is interesting that frontotemporal lobe dementia can induce exceptional creativity..."failure in one part of the brain can spark life in another". Seeing as how, when i took yoga, i was doing it to relax...it never really made me more creative. For the 'vison-seeker' they are looking to expierence a greater reality. For artists, the creative urge is to be able to express a personal vision, whether or not it is understood by anyone else.
What can be induced from hypnotism is incredible. Bloodless wounds, enormous strength, rediculous weakness can be induced. Super adrenaline..i want to try going under hypnotization!!
and so it is....
I like how both Hughes and Pearce touch on the idea of suspending normal thought processes. Hughes states, “Creativity involves an adjustment of an individual’s subjectivity.” This seems very apparent in the work of creative’s and shamans, where in they suspend rational thinking in order to reach new understandings and interpretations. Pearce notes “the most important aspect of autistic thinking… is that it has no value judgment. It has no criteria for what shall and shall not be synthesized.” This relates to the idea, very much so, that creative’s aren’t always conscious of their work and that often times it is very “other” to them. Pearce talks about hypnotic states and the ability of people to enter into them. Much of it seems rooted in childhood experiences and makes you think about how important a child’s emotional and spiritual development is in allowing them to tap into altered states as an adult.
Many times when I am trying to think of something creative, I draw a total blank. Not in the sense that I clear my mind, but in the sense that I can only think of obvious, subjective things that I am used to. Then I will go and start cooking dinner and “BAM!” there’s my idea. I sat at my desk for a half hour last night trying to come up with a story idea, and the minute I went outside for a cig, there it was. I do think we have “domesticated our minds” in such a way where we get stuck on a track. In order to jump it, we must be willing to suspend reality, which is not always feasible when we are in a certain frame of mind. The distractions and reactions of the world around us often help to propagate such changes.
Hughes touches on the idea of the dichotomy between the “creative person” and the “vision-seeker.” It does seem relevant that creativity lends itself to more than just “ends in themselves, or as means to a personal rather than social end.” As much as certain disciplines accelerate our normal state of consciousness, they do not always produce something new. I do think they are very important to mental growth and actually allow us to play off the balance between creativity and logic/reason.
Many times when I am trying to think of something creative, I draw a total blank. Not in the sense that I clear my mind, but in the sense that I can only think of obvious, subjective things that I am used to. Then I will go and start cooking dinner and “BAM!” there’s my idea. I sat at my desk for a half hour last night trying to come up with a story idea, and the minute I went outside for a cig, there it was. I do think we have “domesticated our minds” in such a way where we get stuck on a track. In order to jump it, we must be willing to suspend reality, which is not always feasible when we are in a certain frame of mind. The distractions and reactions of the world around us often help to propagate such changes.
Hughes touches on the idea of the dichotomy between the “creative person” and the “vision-seeker.” It does seem relevant that creativity lends itself to more than just “ends in themselves, or as means to a personal rather than social end.” As much as certain disciplines accelerate our normal state of consciousness, they do not always produce something new. I do think they are very important to mental growth and actually allow us to play off the balance between creativity and logic/reason.
I've Got a Crush on Thanksgiving Break... I'm Writing It a Love Note After this Blog
Unfocused attention...
page 150..." involves the individual's withdrawal from the active mode of normal consciousness in order to enter the complementary mode of receptivity."
One can read Hughes and see how the creative prepares to embark on their next project. I find it interesting that creatives don't necessarily find a science or discipline to what they are doing, but instead rely on rituals to get them there. The way their rituals are described does not seem as if they put a lot of thought into them, but instead need to find a place of comfort before creating.
Different levels of altered states were described, which gave me some insight into how extreme (or not extreme) these altered states can be. Vibrations, dance and music were all mentioned as ways of being in altered states while conscious. I've heard a lot dancers and musicians say that when they are performing, after they've finished, they cannot recall what they were thinking while in the process. Many say that they think about absolutely nothing, or that the one thing they are not thinking about is playing their instrument or their next dance move.
Pearce uses examples of children to describe this point. Again, he brings up the idea of autistic thought. By using means such as yoga, meditation, dance, and vibrations, we can put ourselves into an autistic mind set. In fact, I was just talking to a woman who provides support to children with autism while at school and while the children are at home. She described an autistic child as being like smoke. The child has no idea where his/her body is in relation to space. I definitely think that this type of feeling may be the ideal feeling many want to achieve while entering an altered state of consciousness.
I often write (not for school) Thursdays - Sundays, and I always think, "Alright, it's Thursday. I can relax and not concentrate on my school work. I end staying up just as late writing. What's funny is I have the time glowing on the screen right in front me, and I don't even look at it. I absolutely crave the feeling of being immersed in such a thing. I'll write a page, get up, smoke, sit back down, write a page, pace around the house, smoke, sit back down. It drives the people around me absolutely nuts, but it's so exhilarating. I've had arguments with family or whomever I'm living with at the time about how it creeps them out. I think they get bothered at how I don't respond to things when asked. I end the arguments with a clever and creative "Deal With It."
page 150..." involves the individual's withdrawal from the active mode of normal consciousness in order to enter the complementary mode of receptivity."
One can read Hughes and see how the creative prepares to embark on their next project. I find it interesting that creatives don't necessarily find a science or discipline to what they are doing, but instead rely on rituals to get them there. The way their rituals are described does not seem as if they put a lot of thought into them, but instead need to find a place of comfort before creating.
Different levels of altered states were described, which gave me some insight into how extreme (or not extreme) these altered states can be. Vibrations, dance and music were all mentioned as ways of being in altered states while conscious. I've heard a lot dancers and musicians say that when they are performing, after they've finished, they cannot recall what they were thinking while in the process. Many say that they think about absolutely nothing, or that the one thing they are not thinking about is playing their instrument or their next dance move.
Pearce uses examples of children to describe this point. Again, he brings up the idea of autistic thought. By using means such as yoga, meditation, dance, and vibrations, we can put ourselves into an autistic mind set. In fact, I was just talking to a woman who provides support to children with autism while at school and while the children are at home. She described an autistic child as being like smoke. The child has no idea where his/her body is in relation to space. I definitely think that this type of feeling may be the ideal feeling many want to achieve while entering an altered state of consciousness.
I often write (not for school) Thursdays - Sundays, and I always think, "Alright, it's Thursday. I can relax and not concentrate on my school work. I end staying up just as late writing. What's funny is I have the time glowing on the screen right in front me, and I don't even look at it. I absolutely crave the feeling of being immersed in such a thing. I'll write a page, get up, smoke, sit back down, write a page, pace around the house, smoke, sit back down. It drives the people around me absolutely nuts, but it's so exhilarating. I've had arguments with family or whomever I'm living with at the time about how it creeps them out. I think they get bothered at how I don't respond to things when asked. I end the arguments with a clever and creative "Deal With It."
Walsh 7, Pearce and Hughes Yo!
I have to say tat after reading all three of these articles, they are basically saying mind over body and soul. I happen to think that if you are listening to music and you are focused enough on it and feel it, you can take a trip to another consciousness. I do that all the time. I find myself listening to music, fading out, and coming back at the end of the song. For those 2 or 3 minutes, i was somewhere else. So i have to agree with this because it indeed has happened to me. I feel that if you know how to focus your brain on one thing, this can help u reach your altered state regardless of what it is. For instance, when i get hurt, i quickly tell myself that im fine and that im not hurt. Im telling myself this so it will not hurt when it really does. This sometimes works for me. It supresses the pain. Basically if you tell yourself something enough times, no matter how foolish it it, it will work!
Walsh, Hughes, and Pearce.
Walsh went off talking about what types of altered states occur in shamanism. Control, ability to enter and leave ASC, altered states of conscience, at will, the ability to control the content of experience, awareness of environment, ability to communicate, concentration, mental energy/arousal, calm, emotion, identity or self-sense, out of body experience, and nature of experience, are all examples of a map of shamanic journey states. The chapter demonstrates, simply if a person looks at the shamanic charts, that their really is no definition for shamanism. It’s something that Walsh couldn’t fully define. He has thoughts and uses the word “may” a lot. Walsh eventually leads you to the topic of evolutionary change and how it “may” affect shamanism. Everything in the world evolves due to change, including the practice of shamanism. It’s inescapable, unless you plan on going to live on a deserted island by yourself. The evolving world will change how things are conducted, and if something isn’t working out anymore, the world has a way of making it obsolete. What I don’t understand by Hughes, on the first page of this chapter, is how he defines consciousness. He acts as if it was a term just developed. “Consciousness is now seen more as the operation of certain areas of the brain,” according to Hughes. Where did he see this? I didn’t really understand where he was coming from discussing consciousness, and then going off unto different forms of art. He showed some weird paintings that are not looked at as great works of art in current society. People like Monet, not Francis Bacon. His picture is not a recognizable art so the examples didn’t coincide well with the text. That painting didn’t create an emotional response to the viewer. More or less, it causes viewers to grow puzzled over what they are looking at. It almost looks like three deformed birds with teeth yet he calls it Three Studies for Figures at the Base of a Crucifixion. Pearce used examples of magic, and talked about hallucinogens. Drugs mostly induced the hallucinogens in his stories. I guess it all depends on what a person believes, again. I am very direct with my faith and beliefs. I’m a very strong practicing Catholic, so when it comes to talking about shamanism, I don’t have the same response like many classmates. I don’t believe in shamanism. I believe in certain similar traits that shamanism has with certain religions and faith, and reaching powerful altered states, but how they are achieved is controversial. It all depends on a person’s beliefs. If my intentions are different from another’s, of course there are going to be different outcomes.
Trance-like states; Shamans, hypnotists, and patients
In trying to connect the three readings together, I first noticed that all three mention different subjects in trance-like states. Hughes refers to the hypnotist who attempts to alter the patient's state of consciousness by reducing their attention from external sensories in an effort to concentrate on inner experiences; "mental, sensory, and physiological". Pearce refers to the same attempt in his example of the dental procedure and former examples of firewalkers. Pearce states, "He had filtered out those elements of his ordinary world that he did not want, and had set up his expectancies for those he needed to retrain". In this trance-like state, however, control over "zoning out" external stimuli is ultimately up to the individual himself, and not at the liberty of a hypnotist. Walsh discusses the trances of shamans and also those of yoga and Vipassana. All three, similar to the trance of Pearce's dental patient, can enter an ASC at will; however, shamans do not necessarily eliminate external stimuli to enter their trances. My understanding is it is imperative for them to maintain some awareness outside their ASC to enable communication to those they are helping/healing. Yoga attempts to rule out external stimuli entirely while Vipassana attempts to connect one's inner self with a heightened awareness of environment.
All together, each of these authors discussed the factors present in order to achieve an ASC, but Hughes and Pearce acknowledge the significance of the state beyond achieving it. Hughes, in reference to the creative process states, "Creativity is subsumed within the larger enterprise of going beyond oneself, not to create any particular thing but to experience a greater reality" (150). The end result for creatives is not just formulating a new piece of work, but the enlightening process in doing so. Pearce, in reference to autistic thinking, states, "It has no criteria for what shall or shall not be synthesized" (115). Again, the focus is not on output but the ongoings of input and greater awareness from these. Shamans, in their initial journey of their training also are not focused on simply getting from point A to point B but are concentrated on learning, envisioning, reflecting, and appreciating the experiences during it. In all three readings, a state of, what Walsh describes as "formal, objectless awareness" is present. Perhaps this awareness, or ASC, becomes hindered when we try too hard to shape, mold, and create what we want or hope to find.
All together, each of these authors discussed the factors present in order to achieve an ASC, but Hughes and Pearce acknowledge the significance of the state beyond achieving it. Hughes, in reference to the creative process states, "Creativity is subsumed within the larger enterprise of going beyond oneself, not to create any particular thing but to experience a greater reality" (150). The end result for creatives is not just formulating a new piece of work, but the enlightening process in doing so. Pearce, in reference to autistic thinking, states, "It has no criteria for what shall or shall not be synthesized" (115). Again, the focus is not on output but the ongoings of input and greater awareness from these. Shamans, in their initial journey of their training also are not focused on simply getting from point A to point B but are concentrated on learning, envisioning, reflecting, and appreciating the experiences during it. In all three readings, a state of, what Walsh describes as "formal, objectless awareness" is present. Perhaps this awareness, or ASC, becomes hindered when we try too hard to shape, mold, and create what we want or hope to find.
Readings
I really believe that your mindset has a lot to do with the outcome of the situation you are in. Hypnosis seems to help people enter the mind of positive outcome when a lot of people have a negative outlook. The anemic lady that Pearce talks about is a great example of hypnosis at its best. He said that she weighed 70 pounds and while in her altered state had a couple of doctor’s sit on her while only her head and feet were supported. She could support their weight because she was told that she had amazing strength. This amazes me that an altered state can do that much to you. Another thing that Pearce mentioned at the beginning of his chapter was the low blood sugar group. After fasting for a couple of days their blood sugar was very low. They were then given imaginary meals and their health immediately improved. Would this be possible in other circumstances? Instead of being supervised by doctors and in a situation like your boat wrecks and they can’t find you and you have no food. Would the effect be the same if you imagined that you were eating real meals?
One of my parent’s friends has a hypnosis business. They help a lot of people and I know that both my brother and my father went to them for help. My brother has never been a motivated student and was about to fail out of high school simply because he didn’t want to do the work. He is very smart and my parents saw that it was the lack of motivation. They enlisted the help of their friends and he went to several sessions of hypnosis. It helped him improve a lot for a while and he stopped going. He was given a tape to listen to while he was going to sleep but he also stopped using that and his grades slipped again. What really ended up changing his life was when he entered the military. My dad went to hypnosis for depression and I do believe that it has helped him a lot. My family situation was about to fall apart when he started going and he has improved so much after he went.
One of my parent’s friends has a hypnosis business. They help a lot of people and I know that both my brother and my father went to them for help. My brother has never been a motivated student and was about to fail out of high school simply because he didn’t want to do the work. He is very smart and my parents saw that it was the lack of motivation. They enlisted the help of their friends and he went to several sessions of hypnosis. It helped him improve a lot for a while and he stopped going. He was given a tape to listen to while he was going to sleep but he also stopped using that and his grades slipped again. What really ended up changing his life was when he entered the military. My dad went to hypnosis for depression and I do believe that it has helped him a lot. My family situation was about to fall apart when he started going and he has improved so much after he went.
The Mind
It is clear to see the theme in Walsh, Pearce, and Hughes as mind over body. While i agreed with most of the readings such as Hughes saying music would not take a person into an altered state the individual must want to go to that altered state before it can take take place. Pearce also struck me with the women that was sick and lost alot of weight. The doctors put her into a hypnosis state and apparently easily balanced herself with her head on one chair and hells on another perfectly straight. I never before believed the mind could heal the body my idea was medicate, medicate, medicate!! While my wife was in the hospital and the doctors found cancer in her brain she looked at me and said, "thank god they found out what it was so how good are my chanches". At the time I was in shock i didnt know what to do, but she was as calm as could be without an ounce of fear in her body. Throughout the following weeks she always kept a positive outlook. She had her procedure completed to remove the cancer three weeks ago and after living at her parents place for a few weeks I am happy to report i got to pick her up this past Thursday and bring her home. The point of my story is even though the doctors caught the cancer very early her recovery time from the procedure to remove the cancer was supossed to take up to 3 months. She is fully recovered in less than 1 and I believe it is attributed to her telling her self she would be just fine. The overall feeling i get from these three readings is the mind is a very powerful tool if the individual understands how to control it. I also liked how Walsh ties in Shaminism, (I understand i ripped Shamans pretty hard in my last blog) but after my wifes ordeal the way Shamans use the different states of mind is very ingenious.
Week 11
"Ninety-nine percent of all the species that have lived on earth have died away, and no stars will wink out in tribute if we in our folly soon join them" (Ferris as quoted in Walsh 257).
I found Walsh's use of a quote from Richard Dawkins, a world renowned evolutionary biologist, followed by Stan Grof's quite interesting. Besides his scientific expertise, Richard Dawkins is a committed proponent of atheism these days, and it is this ideology that I suppose Walsh seeks to briefly engage, and not solely the biological implications of evolutionary consciousness. Walsh follows this quote up by one from Stan Grof, who attempts to lend support to intelligent design. Grof supposes that the mere probability of human beings acquiring their intelligence by mere chance can be likened to the possibility of a tornado rumbling through a junkyard and "assembling by accident a 747 jet" (Walsh 258). Propositions like this leave us begging the question as to precisely what Grof's opinion is on the subject-matter, whereas we know precisely where Dawkins stands. Additionally, Grof's fallacious reasoning doesn't need any further commentary or elaboration, especially to those of us who wholly accept the theory of evolution and do not believe it to be a "myth" in any respect. Finally, the underlying supposition contained within Grof's discourse, which presumes that the universe was created, or to some degree, functions with us in mind, exhibits a degree of arrogance comparable to the tirades of persons like Richard Dawkins.
The human consciousness project that Walsh wants to pursue will definitely yield valuable information to society in future generations. Among the various potentially useful pieces of information desired from this future research, he suggests, scientists wish to obtain the "biological underpinning" of our conscious experience. Until then, he suggests, scientists must exhibit a certain level of "neurohumility." I would agree, and suggest that this void in information may appeal to Walsh a little more than he lets on. In my opinion, it is not a question of if this knowledge will be aquired; the question really involves when this sort of information will come to light.
I found Walsh's use of a quote from Richard Dawkins, a world renowned evolutionary biologist, followed by Stan Grof's quite interesting. Besides his scientific expertise, Richard Dawkins is a committed proponent of atheism these days, and it is this ideology that I suppose Walsh seeks to briefly engage, and not solely the biological implications of evolutionary consciousness. Walsh follows this quote up by one from Stan Grof, who attempts to lend support to intelligent design. Grof supposes that the mere probability of human beings acquiring their intelligence by mere chance can be likened to the possibility of a tornado rumbling through a junkyard and "assembling by accident a 747 jet" (Walsh 258). Propositions like this leave us begging the question as to precisely what Grof's opinion is on the subject-matter, whereas we know precisely where Dawkins stands. Additionally, Grof's fallacious reasoning doesn't need any further commentary or elaboration, especially to those of us who wholly accept the theory of evolution and do not believe it to be a "myth" in any respect. Finally, the underlying supposition contained within Grof's discourse, which presumes that the universe was created, or to some degree, functions with us in mind, exhibits a degree of arrogance comparable to the tirades of persons like Richard Dawkins.
The human consciousness project that Walsh wants to pursue will definitely yield valuable information to society in future generations. Among the various potentially useful pieces of information desired from this future research, he suggests, scientists wish to obtain the "biological underpinning" of our conscious experience. Until then, he suggests, scientists must exhibit a certain level of "neurohumility." I would agree, and suggest that this void in information may appeal to Walsh a little more than he lets on. In my opinion, it is not a question of if this knowledge will be aquired; the question really involves when this sort of information will come to light.
Hughes, Pearce, Walsh
There is definitely the idea of mind over body in all of these readings. The one that struck me the most was the readings in Pearce. "Carl Jung told of a young lady patient, disabled by anemia,whose body weight had dropped to seventy pounds. Hypnotized, she was told of her enormous strength. Her head was then placed on one chair, her heels on another, her body easily spanning the gap in a straight line - a feat the best of athletes have difficulty doing" (Pearce 110). If a person thinks certain ideas then they can be done. Somewhere I heard or read about two men who were in the wilderness starving. However, the one man lasted longer, because he would imagine that he would have dinner every night. The other individual kept thinking that he was starving to death, and the effects happened much faster to him. Even in Hughes the mind plays a huge role. Music can't take anyone into an altered state of consciousness, that individual must want to go there. Diseases do play a role in altered states of consciousness, but not everyone who has a disease is considered creative. The mind allows people with diseases to overcome it, or indulge in it. In Walsh it is explained how a person goes to an altered state of consciousness and how the experience is dependent upon many factors. The state of mind and the amount of control are crucial for strong experiences. The mind is the key. John Milton says, "The mind is its own place, and in itself can make a Heaven of Hell, a Hell of Heaven (Walsh 237). This shows that the mind holds all of the power. Everyone says life is what you make it, which is true. However, really a person's life is what his or her mind makes it. I really liked how Walsh compared states of mind with Shamanism. This definitely shows that not two experiences are alike, because nobody can ever be in the exact state of mind. It is like a science fair project that not all variables can be accounted for. The human mind is a powerful device, but through Hughes, Walsh, and Pearce my understanding of altered states of consciousness is increasing.
It's not where you go but how you get there
The ideas that there are different altered states of consciousness seems only a reasonable conclusion, not only from what we have discussed so far in class, but also from personal experience. Walsh did an excellent job (of course) of outlining the differences between different states with very straight-forward tables. There may be different altered states, but it seems a logical deduction that how you arrive at any altered state would affect how you feel or react to or act in that state. Nearly all of the authors have agreed that a shaman consuming hallucinogenic plants for the purpose of traveling will act differently and bring something back that a recreational user may not be searching for, which leads me to the hypothesis that intention plays a huge part in where the altered state will take the experimenter.
If you decide to take a trip to Florida, let's say you have the option to travel either by plane or by car. Depending on which you choose, your vacation will prove different. If, for example, you choose to take the plane, you may get to the airport in plenty of time and get through security quickly and easily, there may be no turbulence, and the stewardess (oh, I mean, flight attendant) may offer you an extra pillow or blanket without you even having to ask. On the other hand, the taxi may pick you up late, security may need to do a body cavity search, the stewardess (once again, that should be flight attendant) may mess up your drink order while you sit freezing beneath the air ducts, and you may go through so many clouds you forget what color the sky is -- suddenly, you find yourself wishing you had just taken the extra day off to drive.
If you had decided to drive, however, maybe traffic would have been horrendous, with construction the entire route down I-95 (as if that would ever happen...) and eighteen-wheelers threatening to decapitate your beloved sedan if you even drift past their rear view mirrors. As with the flying example, though, it could be a simply lovely experience. Your children are not screaming and carrying on in the backseat, but rather occupying themselves and getting along very pleasantly (even if the younger has to feign sleep to escape the nagging of the older...). Your navigator manages to not get you lost even once, and when you arrive early because traffic flowed so smoothly, the hotel graciously offers to upgrade you to a suite.
That may be over-simplistic, but having experienced each of those examples (of course, I was one of the children, I did not have children), I can honestly say that the trip down had a huge impact on the rest of the vacation, at the very least the beginning of it. When your parents are screaming at each other because one does not like the way the other drives, it puts a bit of a damper on seeing your first palm tree. On the other hand, if you leave early enough in the morning and beat all the rush hour traffic to the airport, you have time for a leisurely cup of coffee (hot chocolate, in my case) and you can hold a pleasant discussion about what the family would like to do when it arrives.
Intention is everything. When I go into a massage, there is a huge difference in my performance if I am feeling positive or negative. Whether they can put a name to it or not, a guest can tell when your energy is negative, and it affects the guest's experience. The same may be true with an altered state of consciousness -- perhaps if we do not plan our dreams, that may explain why some dreams are completely off-the-wall. On the other hand, if a shaman enters an altered state with a specific goal in mind (ie, healing a particular illness), that shaman will most likely be able to identify a solution.
If you decide to take a trip to Florida, let's say you have the option to travel either by plane or by car. Depending on which you choose, your vacation will prove different. If, for example, you choose to take the plane, you may get to the airport in plenty of time and get through security quickly and easily, there may be no turbulence, and the stewardess (oh, I mean, flight attendant) may offer you an extra pillow or blanket without you even having to ask. On the other hand, the taxi may pick you up late, security may need to do a body cavity search, the stewardess (once again, that should be flight attendant) may mess up your drink order while you sit freezing beneath the air ducts, and you may go through so many clouds you forget what color the sky is -- suddenly, you find yourself wishing you had just taken the extra day off to drive.
If you had decided to drive, however, maybe traffic would have been horrendous, with construction the entire route down I-95 (as if that would ever happen...) and eighteen-wheelers threatening to decapitate your beloved sedan if you even drift past their rear view mirrors. As with the flying example, though, it could be a simply lovely experience. Your children are not screaming and carrying on in the backseat, but rather occupying themselves and getting along very pleasantly (even if the younger has to feign sleep to escape the nagging of the older...). Your navigator manages to not get you lost even once, and when you arrive early because traffic flowed so smoothly, the hotel graciously offers to upgrade you to a suite.
That may be over-simplistic, but having experienced each of those examples (of course, I was one of the children, I did not have children), I can honestly say that the trip down had a huge impact on the rest of the vacation, at the very least the beginning of it. When your parents are screaming at each other because one does not like the way the other drives, it puts a bit of a damper on seeing your first palm tree. On the other hand, if you leave early enough in the morning and beat all the rush hour traffic to the airport, you have time for a leisurely cup of coffee (hot chocolate, in my case) and you can hold a pleasant discussion about what the family would like to do when it arrives.
Intention is everything. When I go into a massage, there is a huge difference in my performance if I am feeling positive or negative. Whether they can put a name to it or not, a guest can tell when your energy is negative, and it affects the guest's experience. The same may be true with an altered state of consciousness -- perhaps if we do not plan our dreams, that may explain why some dreams are completely off-the-wall. On the other hand, if a shaman enters an altered state with a specific goal in mind (ie, healing a particular illness), that shaman will most likely be able to identify a solution.
Monday, November 3, 2008
Walsh, Pearce, Hughes
Walsh Part VII-
This chapter was very interesting because it pointed out that the Shamans do not nesseccarly use "drugs" to enter into an ASC. So it was merrily sticking up for them. I am going to be taking a yoga class next semester for a gym credit I'm very excited to take it and learn all about it. When Walsh talks about "Has Consciousness Evolved" it is merely close to what we call past, present, future. Because the past according to waslh "sees history as a cyclical affair of recurrent ups and downs, the present as " a downhill view that sees things as getting worse and consciousness ad devolving, and sees no change in consciousness or at least religious consciousness, since prehistoric times", finally future "upward view of progressives that sees culture and consciousness as evolving." The conclusion to part VII is true " the more we explore shamanism, the more it points to unrecognized potentials of the human body mind and spirit. For untold thousands of years the world of shamanism has helped, healed, and taught human kind, and it has still more to offer us."
Pearce-
In the beginning of the chapter it is true that when parents tell their children fairy tale stories they can bring them back from la la land into reality. And drugs can do the same with the help of a guide. How on pg 18 do "what we loose on earth is still loosed in heaven." How can that be when Heaven under Gods eyes is a total different demintion of time and Gods time is not our time like minutes, seconds, hours, days. Pierce made reference to the crack in both worlds on pg 131. "The crack between the worlds" is neither a "real world" nor an opening into such- for there is no such thing as a "real world" other than that one from which one makes such a statement." The last statement mentioned by Don Juan " advised us to thinking carefully about our baths before we set out on them. For by the time a man discovers that his path "has no heart," the path is read to hill him." That is true because we should think about the path on which we wish to explore and further examine it before we walk it and wander what the consequence could be, and if we will be able to handle it.
Hughes-
Creativity is also used by artist for spiritual worships. According to Hughes."The purpose of religious art is to guide the viewer's mind to thoughts of the divine, and this is at variance with the end-in-itself nature of ordinary creativity." That is true because when you worship God you see his pictures and that helps focus you to him. The lord of the dance, is also a shamanistic way because dancers enter an altered state through their dancing rituals that are performed to others. I seen people being hypnotised 3 times and it is quite a show. People believe what they want to believe in that trance and they listen to that voice no matter what it is telling them an they have no recollection of it. But how can that become a ASC if you don't recall it?
This chapter was very interesting because it pointed out that the Shamans do not nesseccarly use "drugs" to enter into an ASC. So it was merrily sticking up for them. I am going to be taking a yoga class next semester for a gym credit I'm very excited to take it and learn all about it. When Walsh talks about "Has Consciousness Evolved" it is merely close to what we call past, present, future. Because the past according to waslh "sees history as a cyclical affair of recurrent ups and downs, the present as " a downhill view that sees things as getting worse and consciousness ad devolving, and sees no change in consciousness or at least religious consciousness, since prehistoric times", finally future "upward view of progressives that sees culture and consciousness as evolving." The conclusion to part VII is true " the more we explore shamanism, the more it points to unrecognized potentials of the human body mind and spirit. For untold thousands of years the world of shamanism has helped, healed, and taught human kind, and it has still more to offer us."
Pearce-
In the beginning of the chapter it is true that when parents tell their children fairy tale stories they can bring them back from la la land into reality. And drugs can do the same with the help of a guide. How on pg 18 do "what we loose on earth is still loosed in heaven." How can that be when Heaven under Gods eyes is a total different demintion of time and Gods time is not our time like minutes, seconds, hours, days. Pierce made reference to the crack in both worlds on pg 131. "The crack between the worlds" is neither a "real world" nor an opening into such- for there is no such thing as a "real world" other than that one from which one makes such a statement." The last statement mentioned by Don Juan " advised us to thinking carefully about our baths before we set out on them. For by the time a man discovers that his path "has no heart," the path is read to hill him." That is true because we should think about the path on which we wish to explore and further examine it before we walk it and wander what the consequence could be, and if we will be able to handle it.
Hughes-
Creativity is also used by artist for spiritual worships. According to Hughes."The purpose of religious art is to guide the viewer's mind to thoughts of the divine, and this is at variance with the end-in-itself nature of ordinary creativity." That is true because when you worship God you see his pictures and that helps focus you to him. The lord of the dance, is also a shamanistic way because dancers enter an altered state through their dancing rituals that are performed to others. I seen people being hypnotised 3 times and it is quite a show. People believe what they want to believe in that trance and they listen to that voice no matter what it is telling them an they have no recollection of it. But how can that become a ASC if you don't recall it?
Don't stifle a child's imagination!!!!!
"Suppose a group of people were to experience a non-ordinary event that would not fit their conceptual frame of possibility - that agreement on which their normal world hangs together. They would call the event an hallucination, or folie a deux, and so keep their categories for the norm intact, lest their ideation collapse and they fall into chaos." (Pearce 112) I have to assume that this statement can also be applied to an individual experience, but the fact that Pearce used "group" and not "a person" was interesting. Most of us have this innate need for normalcy - normalcy as defined by our society - and will go to great lengths to preserve it. As Pearce points out, we will write off something we can't define, explain or categorize as a hallucination. The idea of something being contrary to our idea of normal is too much for many of us to process rationally. He goes on to talk about individuals who are able to enter trances and some other ASCs. Most of the adults who are able to do so were encouraged to be imaginative as children by their parents. Not only was this practiced encouraged by their parents, but their parents were even active in this imaginative process. They learn that these practices are accepted and throughout their lives they are able to cultivate their abilities to enter ASCs for creative/imaginative purposes. Pearce goes on to discuss the various experiences of the Balinese, Ceylonese and Aboriginal peoples. All sound as if they are rather extreme ways to achieve such ASCs, however the experiences found within those ASCs are "extreme" in themselves. Walsh discusses individuals' progression through the stages of consciousness and relates it to the stages of cognitive development throughout childhood, adolescence and adulthood (251). To reach the more "extreme" ASCs, one must evolve and pass through the gross and subtle states, on to the causal and nondual.
Sunday, November 2, 2008
"Is getting well ever an art, Or art a way to get well?" (Lowell 116)
"The creative, the carrier of this virus or antibiotic, is threatened both by the nature of the gift and by the response of society. For while creativity may be a natural condition, perhaps the most natural of all, according to Rossseau, Blake, and others, it is far from being a normal one, in the sense of "not deviating from the standard." (117)
Creatives are "abnormal" in their personalities but also in the way society sees the. Just like the Shamans way of being, to society they are seen as epileptics or mad people who like a painter or writer or a creative they too carry this "virus or antibiotics". From the reading we know that physical illness can start or speed the creative into his or her work. Some illnesses that evoke creativity are fever, delirium and depression. By using these illnesses the creative can explore multiple meaning and inner worlds. Marcerl Proust wrote," To kindness, to knowledge, we make promise only; pain we obey." (118) I remember one episode in the tv show HOUSE; Dr. Gregory House said, " Pain lets you know you are still alive". Hughes says the same thing. He states, "...pain warns the organism of damage...". Many people who have suffered great illness can encounter great creativity for example sensory deprivation. Sight is by far the most important of all sense but if lost in its absence the senses develop in unusual ways. A Spanish guitarist, Jose Feliciano, who is blind can play the guitar like no other guitarist that I have heard. His hands move violently up and down the strings and chords and he sways back and forth as he plays ( I guess because he can feel the music from deep within. Jorge Luis Borges wrote, "gradual blindness is not a tragedy. It's like a slow summer twilight...but then I think of letters and roses." (120)
Creativity is something generally seen as a positive nature but illness is something that needs to be cured not something that need developing. I would have to agree to a certain extent with Artaud when he says, "... A mad man is also a man whom society did not want to hear and whom it wanted to prevent from uttering certain intolerable truths." (126) This reminds me a lot of the shamanic ways and how (we) the Westerners describe the shaman ways like those of a "mad" person; something out of this world to crazy to believe.
Creatives are "abnormal" in their personalities but also in the way society sees the. Just like the Shamans way of being, to society they are seen as epileptics or mad people who like a painter or writer or a creative they too carry this "virus or antibiotics". From the reading we know that physical illness can start or speed the creative into his or her work. Some illnesses that evoke creativity are fever, delirium and depression. By using these illnesses the creative can explore multiple meaning and inner worlds. Marcerl Proust wrote," To kindness, to knowledge, we make promise only; pain we obey." (118) I remember one episode in the tv show HOUSE; Dr. Gregory House said, " Pain lets you know you are still alive". Hughes says the same thing. He states, "...pain warns the organism of damage...". Many people who have suffered great illness can encounter great creativity for example sensory deprivation. Sight is by far the most important of all sense but if lost in its absence the senses develop in unusual ways. A Spanish guitarist, Jose Feliciano, who is blind can play the guitar like no other guitarist that I have heard. His hands move violently up and down the strings and chords and he sways back and forth as he plays ( I guess because he can feel the music from deep within. Jorge Luis Borges wrote, "gradual blindness is not a tragedy. It's like a slow summer twilight...but then I think of letters and roses." (120)
Creativity is something generally seen as a positive nature but illness is something that needs to be cured not something that need developing. I would have to agree to a certain extent with Artaud when he says, "... A mad man is also a man whom society did not want to hear and whom it wanted to prevent from uttering certain intolerable truths." (126) This reminds me a lot of the shamanic ways and how (we) the Westerners describe the shaman ways like those of a "mad" person; something out of this world to crazy to believe.
Thursday, October 30, 2008
"The Lunatic is on the Grass..."
This was a most informative and enjoyable part of Hughes' book. We have all heard about artists and creatives being "mad" or "sick" I'm sure - this chapter definitely formed a foundation for future judgements. I was pretty familiar with most of the topics in the text minus the couple parts that dealt with actual physical diseases or sicknesses. Looking at the one painting by Frida Kahlo, my mind has been opened to a new form of creativity. Most of the time when I'm sick I feel incapacitated rather than inspired - perhaps next time I come down with something I'll pick up my guitar and see what happens. It was nice to see Huxley show up in the one section about sensory deprivation - most are unaware that he progressed to an ultimate blindness before his death. Perhaps this condition DID fuel his desire to look inwards instead of outwards - "Doors of Perception" certainly shows this and if you're on Youtube someday, search for some Huxley interviews and you will see his eyes are not looking at anything. The sections on mental illnesses and psychotic illnesses were almost a review for me. Being an avid Pink Floyd fan I have done a lot of research on its TRUE creator and founder: Roger "Syd" Barrett. The Floyd came about during a time when LSD was on the rise and Syd was certainly an acid casualty; he is not all to blame - it was known that members of the band and some of the band "groupies" would spike his foods and drinks with LSD when Syd would actually vocalize that he wanted to stop tripping. This constant abuse led him to become schizophrenic and he later became a recluse in his mum's house. I would argue that his best work was done during his demise with songs such as "Octopus" (apparently about and LSD trip), the highly schizophrenic "Jugband Blues" in which Syd asks the questions, "What exactly is a dream? And what exactly is a joke?" I certainly believe that these seemingly constant altered states of consciousness could influence an artist or a creative or even a regular shmuk. All of our brains operate uniquely but it seems that those who experience these "diseases" are given another kind of window into themselves and another kind of window into the world. Jimi Hendrix wrote in his song "Manic Depression", "Music sweet music, I wish I could caress and kiss." Certainly there are other lines in the song which come out clearly saying that he has manic depression, but this sort of imagery and romanticism is the stuff we should be focusing on. What is it to really be mad? If thinking differently is being mad then count me in. I would rather be insane than sane any day.
Fed up with your indigestion, swallow worries one by one...
Hughes talks about the idea that many creative’s can be seen as abnormal in a way, and that this “eccentricity, (is) tolerated but not necessarily condoned.” I find this very relevant in how mainstream society has been able to incorporate “condoned” artists and musicians into our lives, in a way that they are acceptable and therefore relevant to us. People begin to derive their identity from these so called creative’s, because they can avoid being ostracized and criticized by their peers. Extremist artists have been moved to the back of the cultural existence, only being appreciated by selective audiences; their ideas are therefore looked at as drastic instead of progressive.
In talking about sickness of the mind, there is the idea that “in a world where analytic, linear thinking has proved so successful, deviance from the step-by-step approach may sometimes yield results, but is more often seen to be disconcerting or disruptive.” I love that this is laid out this way because a rational person has to ask “Disruptive to who?” or “Proved successful by what terms?” We still live in a society of greed, war and prejudice. There is conflict abroad, but also on the streets of local towns and cities. When did violence become normal or tolerable on any scale? You also have to think, who would be disrupted by these creative’s ideas, these “irrational” thoughts. The answer: those in power. The average citizen faces disruptions daily, from all aspects of life, and they deal with these constructively. What they don’t realize is that a majority of these disruptions are placed on them by “the powers that be.” We have come to a place where we feel entitled and equivalent, forgetting that there are factors and people that shape our lives in truly “disruptive” ways. The creative has been objectified and often times termed as “sick minded” because they don’t perpetuate the norm.
Walsh places emphasis on the healing process and rightfully so. As interesting as Hughes is, there is something to be said for offering a solution as opposed to simply analyzing disease. In talking about psychological healing, we are getting to the root of the problem. We all know stress can lead to disease and lead people to factors that will likewise cause disease. What needs to be addressed is the mindset that leads people to these symptoms. The problem does start somewhere, and there is a good chance it’s in the mind. Shamans focus is more on changing these patterns at the root, instead of just reducing the symptoms.
In talking about sickness of the mind, there is the idea that “in a world where analytic, linear thinking has proved so successful, deviance from the step-by-step approach may sometimes yield results, but is more often seen to be disconcerting or disruptive.” I love that this is laid out this way because a rational person has to ask “Disruptive to who?” or “Proved successful by what terms?” We still live in a society of greed, war and prejudice. There is conflict abroad, but also on the streets of local towns and cities. When did violence become normal or tolerable on any scale? You also have to think, who would be disrupted by these creative’s ideas, these “irrational” thoughts. The answer: those in power. The average citizen faces disruptions daily, from all aspects of life, and they deal with these constructively. What they don’t realize is that a majority of these disruptions are placed on them by “the powers that be.” We have come to a place where we feel entitled and equivalent, forgetting that there are factors and people that shape our lives in truly “disruptive” ways. The creative has been objectified and often times termed as “sick minded” because they don’t perpetuate the norm.
Walsh places emphasis on the healing process and rightfully so. As interesting as Hughes is, there is something to be said for offering a solution as opposed to simply analyzing disease. In talking about psychological healing, we are getting to the root of the problem. We all know stress can lead to disease and lead people to factors that will likewise cause disease. What needs to be addressed is the mindset that leads people to these symptoms. The problem does start somewhere, and there is a good chance it’s in the mind. Shamans focus is more on changing these patterns at the root, instead of just reducing the symptoms.
Chapter 9 Hughes Creativity and Diseases
I liked this topic of creativity and sickness because it explores the realms of the possibility that some people can and have been great creative minds when physically or mentally ill. It explores what type of mind state we are in when we are in a sickly induced altered state of consciousness.
The first quote that I ran into as I read was the quote on page 119 "the art of life is the art of avoiding pain" by Thomas Jefferson. I questioned and pondered over the potential meaning behind this quote because isn't it through pain that some of the best creative geniuses were bred and developed? Everybody tries to avoid pain in life. but it is inevitable or maybe I am taking it to abstractly. Another quote that I found interesting on page 170 "the loss of sight allows the inner eye to explore the heights and depth of the imagination". This is a very deep quote because it is inspirational in nature and Hughes is saying that even without the ability to see with the naked eye that one's imagination is even more vivid than a hollywood motion picture and that your imagination is what one would use as their visionary guide.
The first quote that I ran into as I read was the quote on page 119 "the art of life is the art of avoiding pain" by Thomas Jefferson. I questioned and pondered over the potential meaning behind this quote because isn't it through pain that some of the best creative geniuses were bred and developed? Everybody tries to avoid pain in life. but it is inevitable or maybe I am taking it to abstractly. Another quote that I found interesting on page 170 "the loss of sight allows the inner eye to explore the heights and depth of the imagination". This is a very deep quote because it is inspirational in nature and Hughes is saying that even without the ability to see with the naked eye that one's imagination is even more vivid than a hollywood motion picture and that your imagination is what one would use as their visionary guide.