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Awakening

Simple Bird Song

Grand Providentia United

Three notes to lift the veil, three to open cage door, the rest to set free heavy hearts wanting more. 

The spring cardinal sings, and all healing resounds, notes venturing forth to find new fertile grounds.

Bird song will remind us to join in the chorus, there is joy in a moment, and it’s waiting before us.

Riding waves of spring bird notes and life’s smallest treasures, healing tides sooth our shores with sweet salty pleasures.

Wake to a new day, let the swan song be done, sing with the free birds and dance in the sun.

Wait not for tomorrow, heed the birds of today, their beckoning melodies may soon fade away.

Scott Joseph Moore

PA ParkSpring speaks of rebirth in myriad ways, harmonize with Spring’s spirit and be reborn.

When we disavow our intimate connection with the natural world, we not only betray our own body’s ability to heal itself, but we also risk losing a vital aspect of our physical and spiritual life force. We may one day lose the ability to harmonize our energies with those energies that are orchestrating the symphony of life. For those of us who feel nothing when the sounds of springtime fill the air, I am truly sorry for your loss. I can only hope and pray that you’ll hear the soothing sounds, on one fine day.

Living in Presence

Bullies, Brats and Bitches Begone!

Grand Providentia United

If you’re angry and you know it, shake some hands! If you’re angry and you know it, shake some hands.! If you’re angry and you know it, and you’re face will surely show it, if you’re angry and you know it, shake some hands! As our worldwide community is torn asunder by the COVID-19 pandemic, I’ve noticed some truly disturbing behaviors being acted out here in the good ole USA. Behaviors that are apparently expressing a disdain for common decency. As health professionals advise US citizens to practice “social distancing”, these malcontents are using violations of personal space to intimidate and antagonize their victims in an effort to gain power over them. These actions are disgraceful and degrading to both the perpetrators and those they victimize. If we are hoping for happy, healthy and well-adjusted communities here in the states, and I must assume that we are, then this type of behavior needs to be exposed and condemned for precisely what it is – Self-Hatred Externalized.

Shakin' with SantaHandshaking has long been used as a traditional gesture of mutual respect among men and women. For many men, there is an unspoken social initiative which gauges another man’s character by the qualities of their handshake. Supposedly, firmness matters. There’s seemingly even bigotry and racism attached to the act of handshaking. In the business world, there seems to be an aversion to any handshake other than the typical white man greeting (missionary position?) demonstrated in the photo to above. Having been raised in a typical, blue-collar, New England household, I was taught that any other form of affection between two grown men was a direct violation of the “Real Man” code, and therefore an abomination to manhood. Spirit TribeI guess this is why it has taken me so long to get comfortable with the act of hugging another man to show my appreciation of their friendship. For this reason, I’ll be forever appreciative of my Son Christopher and his extensive tribal council of beautiful human beings for their continuing education in the artful expression of bi-gender affection. I love my Son, and I extend that love to all the people he loves, and also to those who love him. If human beings could learn how to put all philosophical, theological and political differences aside and just take care of each other, I firmly believe that we could experience a universal shift in consciousness, moving steadily toward long-term peacefulness and ultimately, a more compassionate, worldwide unity. Well, I guess I’ve revealed my poker-hand now! Confessing openly that I care deeply about ALL human beings, regardless of age, race or gender association, is likely to be a high crime against the white man code of ethics. How do I plead, you may ask?  Bizzarre                                                               Guilty as charged!

As an optimist, I want to believe that we humans can grow stronger and more compassionate during times like these. As a progressive thinker, I want to believe that we can learn from every mistake we make, improving ourselves and our communities in ways that make the world a better place to live. As a promoter of equality, justice and accountability, I am challenging the bullies, brats and bitches to summon the self-control needed to contain their hateful, fear based behaviors, or at least to turn them inward, upon themselves. Do us all a favor, and get out of the way! Allow the sensible people space, so they may deal with this global pandemic in a civilized and socially healthy way.

Environmental Awareness

How Many Divisions Does It Take to Turn a Mighty Oak into a Pile of Sawdust?

Grand Providentia United

The answer is, of course – “As many divisions as the woodcutter and the saw can create.” There are so many sure fire ways to divide and conquer, in order to break any strong coalition of forces sharing the same objective. In this case, the forces of nature and environment coalesced to make the Oak tree ‘mighty’, long before the woodcutter made plans to reduce it to sawdust. To stay with the tree analogy for a bit longer, one might also ask – “How many divisions does it take to turn a forest of trees into marketable consumer paper products?” Obviously, there is no realistic answer to this question, unless we have been provided with reliable data concerning the quantified statistics of each tree, the entire forest, the consumable pulp per-acre of land, and each individual sawdust granule. Unfortunately, trees are unable to speak for themselves, so they can raise no objections when the lumber industry comes to their forest to divide and conquer. Or maybe they are speaking, and we just aren’t hearing them. Whatever the case, we humans continue the wholesale disintegration (the dividing up) of old-growth forests and jungles, seemingly without sensible consideration to the impact this divisiveness has on the overall health of the planetary environment, and furthermore, the continuation of the human race.

Lake Manatree “Black, White, and Blue Memorial”

Much like the forests, human societies are susceptible, indeed quite vulnerable to, divisive strategies designed by corrupt powers in an effort to conquer and divide the people. Presumably, there is commonality within every community – we connect with others in our community through common interests, attitudes and values. There is also unity within every community – where sharing these commonalities becomes the impetus for unification. To put it simply – We human beings have created communities because we want to belong to a group of others that share our personal perspectives. The disintegration of community, begins with divisiveness. When one or more people within the community disagree with personal perspectives shared by the rest, they are seen as a threat to unity and commonality. This is also how the crowd mentality can quickly turn a previously gentle person toward violent aggression. How can communities become less susceptible to the disintegration caused by divisiveness? Interactive communication restores unity. Open mindedness restores commonality. Yes, I realize just how simple minded, and positively naive those two suggestions sound, but I’ve notoriously held a penchant for simplicity, so I will not elaborate further on this subject… at least for now.

HaitiWorkMission work on “The Hope House” (girls orphanage) in Haiti, August, 2001

It seems like so long ago, and yet only yesterday, that I made a trip to Haiti to help with the construction of “The Hope House”. As I recall it now, the most difficult hurdle in terms of working with Haitian construction workers on this project, was the language barrier. Most workers speak Haitian Creole, which is a long way off from my blue-collar Yankee dialect. In hindsight I can see that the language barrier was a subset of broader, more divisive difficulties caused by the obvious hurdle of cultural commonality. For the entire nine days that I spent in Haiti, I felt like I was in a completely different world, where all of my Western Cultural understandings were stood on their heads, and therefore useless. And yet, still the local Haitians and our group of missionary workers managed to create unity. We found the common ground we shared by being human.

MajorProduction Christopher Moore, Mordechay Ramos and Fred McKenna – Masters of the Superheros on Parade production. At Moore Art Expressions we kept the focus on similarities rather than differences, in the art, and in the teamwork. A great model for creative communities!

There are so many different ways to promote unity instead of division in our lives. The more cohesive our communal bonds become, the stronger this human race will grow, to face the challenges ahead. The healing begins at home, within our own hearts. We must be willing to be selfless on occasion, conceding our own self-interests to the common interests of the group. When a community works in concert to remedy a communal problem, the whole group and each individual within the group, comes out stronger.

WeCanHelp

We joined forces to help mend the leg of this bronze Olympian. As you can see, without Christopher under the table ‘twisting his nut’, Fred and I, might have easily lost control of this 300 lb, one legged, discus thrower.

Thank you for reading this entry to the “Grand Providentia United, Online Journal. Please join me again on Sunday 3/15 for another ‘outlandishly delicious word buffet!’

 

 

Living in Presence

Overcoming Fear in All Things Real, and Imagined…

Grand Providentia United

We live in a world of uncertainty. A complicated world, where anything can happen in any given moment. If you happen to be sensitive, or you are easily obsessed by news of danger, or the threat of danger, as many of us have been during numerous stress-filled periods of our lives, then it is easy to understand why a person could be ‘paralyzed by fear’. Agoraphobia, germaphobia and other psychological disorders often appear to be perfectly reasonable responses when an individual’s outlook is seeing only danger, and experiencing only fear. The term “general anxiety” was coined for a reason: Apparently, danger and fear of danger, have become two of the regular ‘qualitative norms’ of modern life. On an individual basis, our outward perspectives are crucial in terms of softening the impact of daily threats to our safety and well being.

Disturbed    How do we make healthy adjustments to our outward perspective, in order to get a handle on fear, before we are paralyzed by its effects? That is a question best answered by the individual, while keeping in mind their own level of sensitivity to the perceived dangers in their lives. In general terms, and from my own experiences with fear and its impact on the quality of my own life, I will suggest that the best place to start is where the fear originates – in our minds and our hearts. So, introspection can lead to an honest assessment of the dangers that are causing our fear. Putting those perceived ‘dangers’ into perspective can sometimes turn a mountain back into a mole hill, thus relieving stress levels and potentially avoiding an anxiety overload. Anxiety has been defined as future-based fear. The fear of – “What will happen next?” Which brings up another helpful suggestion, one I’ve learned through my study of Eckhart Tolle’s work: If you can manage to bring your attention and intentions into the present moment, relieving yourself of attention to past and future, then there is usually an immediate reduction of stressful, fear-based input, to your mind, body and spirit. This reduction can feel like a warm summer breeze, even during a proverbial ‘dark night of your soul’. It will likely leave you thirsting for more peace, more insight, and rejecting more and more of your previously fearful thought patterns.

Prosper

Reclaiming a bit of your childhood wonder can also be an effective way to make positive, courageous changes to our outward perspective. Most of us can remember a time when everything seemed possible in our lives. We could imagine being firefighters, doctors or even President of the United States of America if we so desired. With the wonder of a child, we once looked on in amazement, as Marlin Perkins discovered and televised the latest, and most interesting addition, to the menagerie of known mammals on the planet. Or maybe it was the advent of robotics, or the rapid progression of computer technologies that captivated our childhood imagination. Whatever subject matter, physical activity, or pastime that made us feel most alive, also alleviated fears of the future, and worries of the past. It seems entirely natural that human beings are born with an innate capacity to put fear into perspective, and then to rationally decide which dangers warrant fearful responses, and which ones are more healthy for us to dismiss.

BullNFrog“Maternal Sky-Paddler – Defending the Eggs”

Thank you for reading this journal entry, on the Grand Providentia United blog site! Stop by often, or read every Wednesday and Sunday throughout 2020, to keep up with the unfolding of the Grand Providentia Collaborative Art Project. 🙂

 

Mindful Creativity

Cooperation > Competition = Win, Win, Win!

Grand Providentia United

Competitors with a realistic perspective will usually admit that you can’t win them all. If their outlook is healthy, they will also recognize that one could wear themselves out if they tried to win in too many categories. Comparisons between the apples and oranges of success in any given field often leads to frustration. First of all, there are no clear guidelines separating specialties within the broader areas of expertise. As the competitor cordons off a subcategory to ‘win’, they’ll invariably wind up moving their borders inward as they concede ground to their competitor’s superior talents and acumen. This can lead to self-isolation in terms of association within a specific professional field. Another important consideration to make while deciding which strategy to employ, competitiveness vs cooperativeness, is how much real world influence you hope to enjoy when you finally ‘beat’ all of your contemporaries and take home the First Place prize within your specialty. Here is where cooperativeness breaks away from the competition and authors its own competitive edge. Cooperation allows for others to succeed in unison with your own successes. A cooperative professional can now participate wholeheartedly in the celebratory ceremonies acknowledging the successes of one’s associates in their field. Cooperation allows across the board beneficence of success; If we’re working as a team, we all get to enjoy breakthroughs together.

All ECG 2018

The whole gang of ‘cooperative of artists’ participating in the 2018 Exquisite Corpse Games, St. Petersburg, Florida.

From a personal perspective, cooperation implies progressiveness for all members of the cooperative. Generosity, acceptance of others, flexibility, intuitiveness, and open communication, are all apparently principles that form the basis for cooperation. Having met many artists who are self-declared ‘competitors’ in the field of art, I have come to the conclusion that it would be absolutely exhausting for me, if the motivations for making my artwork were locked in constant competition with the creative motivations of other artists. If I were competitive with other artists, it would also imply that every time one of my contemporaries enjoyed a breakthrough or a win, I would simultaneously experience a loss. This would fly in the face of my constant gratitude for the abundance of all things.

DRDBBs

Limited Edition bronze, “American Dream Catcher” belt buckles.

Within the nature of competitiveness, there is an undercurrent of exclusivity. It implies that there is no room for two or more #1 competitors. For one to rise, another must fall. If you are winning, I’m losing. If you’re succeeding, I am failing. The competitive strategy makes no accommodation for mutual success. Tied scores must always be broken.

BNBTeam

As a member of a ‘Bad News Bears’-style farm league baseball team, I was taught by the coaches that enjoyment of the game was more important than winning. My recently deceased father, Timothy Otto Moore, was head coach, to the left, and I am posed right of center, top row. We didn’t win very often, but we sure had fun trying!

There are so many reasons to take a cooperative approach to our careers, our relationships and our daily affairs in life, but I must confess that my favorite reason has to do with connectivity with other human beings. When I am open and inclusive toward others, more often than not, they afford me the same considerations. This approach can be risky of course. Putting yourself and your ideas out there can lead to antagonistic criticism from self-perceived competitors, getting your coat tails ridden by opportunists, and worst of all, having your successes stolen away by plagiarists and impostors. Even after an in depth investigation of all perceivable drawbacks to the cooperative approach, I still prefer it over the short-lived glory of winning the competitive way.

Demold

Fred McKenna and Christopher Moore were both hardworking members of the Moore Art Expressions production team. We produced hundreds of castings together over the years, and yet we always managed to stay focused on the mutual goals of the team. Cooperative teamwork, perhaps?

Thank you for reading this journal entry! As usual, I’d like to express my appreciation and gratitude for all of the amazing influences that I’ve been blessed with in this lifetime. From role models and mentors, to friends and family, I will always be thankful for your gracious support! Please consider following this blog to receive email notifications when I write a new post. And please remember, I will always welcome cooperative comments and constructive criticisms with open arms, but I’ll also step up to the line for a high spirited competitive debate!