A Pause For Beauty:

An artist’s journal.

Below, the Art Journal posts for the month of December, 2023.

November posts can be found here.

 
Eventually, all things merge into one, and a river runs through it. The river was cut by the world’s great flood and runs over rocks from the basement of time. On some of the rocks are timeless raindrops. Under the rocks are the words, and some the words are theirs. 
I am haunted by waters. 
      - Norman Maclean, A River Runs Through It

A reflection on two of the all-time best passages from literature, and a reflection on acceptance and timeless beauty.
http://www.herondance.org/river-runs-through
Visit here for November posts.
 
Reflections by Annie Dillard and physicist Martin Rees on the mystery of life. And a journal question: Are you paying attention?

http://www.herondance.org/gravity

Visit here for November posts.
 
Creating art is wonderful, but not nearly as wonderful as creating a life of beauty. 

Reflections and journaling questions on the subject of manifesting one's inner beauty.   

http://www.herondance.org/seeking-to-manifest

Visit here for November posts.
 
There are two principal mysteries. The first is the huge landscape inside our being — our psyche, our soul, our imagination, our inner world, our creativity — and the second is the incomprehensibly large landscape out there in the universe. 

We exist, as humans, at the intersection, the boundary, the space where those two realities encounter each other. 

More on this subject from two Nobel prize recipients, Rabindranath Tagore, and Niels Bohr, from author and theologian Thomas Berry.   

http://www.herondance.org/two-principal-mysteries

Visit here for November posts.
 
The Man Who Planted Trees: The trees the Shepherd plants and nourishes in turn nourish him. His focus, day after day, on a narrow scope of work is what gives him power  — the power to create beauty. He lives simply. He thinks simply. 

http://www.herondance.org/master-dancer

Visit here for November posts.

Ask your inner friend what needs to happen to deepen your friendship

Perspectives on imagery and imaginary friends by  Beethoven, Carl Jung and author Jenny Garrison (Imagery In You).

http://www.herondance.org/inner-friend

Visit here for November posts.
 
Reflections on attempting to gain access to the potentials of knowledge contained in the depth of us, including the dark shadow that we keep hidden from others. 

http://www.herondance.org/journaling-in-action



Visit here for November posts.
 
Fear is nearby. God seems impossibly distant. Fear comforts me in a voice that is so familiar. God’s voice comes to me as the barest whisper. I’m rarely quiet enough to hear it.
    - Sy Safransky, founder, publisher of The Sun Magazine, January 2000.

Reflections on a lunch with Sy Safransky as he leaves The Sun Magazine, his unique creation.

http://www.herondance.org/reuniting



Visit here for November posts.
 
To find the universal elements enough; to find the air and the water exhilarating; to be refreshed by a morning walk or an evening saunter; to be thrilled by the stars at night; to be elated over a bird's nest or a wildflower in spring — these are some of the rewards of the simple life.
       - John Burroughs

Also reflections on living simply from Thomas Moore (Care Of The Soul), Keith Jarrett (improvisational jazz pianist) and Thoreau.

http://www.herondance.org/rewards-simple-life


Visit here for October posts.