Tag: awareness

Film Journey & The Alt Unity

Where Are We?

Grand Providentia United

Gathering Awareness – Entry #2

On many occasions during this lifelong journey, I’ve asked the question (usually to myself) ‘Where am I?’. Far less often, I’ve asked the question ‘Where are we?’. Does this mean I’m self-absorbed, inconsiderate or narcissistic? Perhaps. More likely though, it is a basic instinctual inquiry, founded in the desire for self-assurance, and pursued with the end-goal of finding profound meaning and purpose in this existence.

“Industrial Obsolescence” – from the Hope Mill collection

A few moments ago (yesterday), I invited anyone and everyone who was interested, to join me in the current moment. I asked for the courtesy of your presence in the moment of now. I asked if you could put aside worries and fears for a moment, and just be present. That invitation remains open for eternity. The invitation is made in every moment, to every human being that is open to accepting it. It is made by Life itself. Readers of this blog did not require my invitation to be present. Our capacity for presence is as open and unconditional as love, compassion, empathy or any other innate human characteristic. More often than not, it is fear which blocks our ability to be present. Fear opens the door to a broad range of distractions and perceptual distortions that can make it seem impossible to maintain presence, even for a moment.

So, when I ask the question ‘Where are we?’, I am not questioning our current physical position on the planet. Instead, I am asking where we stand in terms of present awareness. Are we lost in yesterdays, wrapped up in tomorrows, or are we here and now, facing life’s constant change with hopeful hearts and an indelible sense of wonder about where we’ll be in the moments yet to come. Please join me in the Now.

Film Journey & The Alt Unity

What Comes of Our Moments Past?

Grand Providentia United

Gathering Awareness – Entry #3

It’s been said many times, in many different ways, that the only time we ever really have, is right now. If that’s the case, why do we behave as if the past and the future are just as real, and just as deserving of our attention, as is the current moment? In my experience, the most meaningful answer to this question is provided by our intuition. We learn early in life that our motivations, our intentions and our actions in each successive moment will bring either negative consequences or positive rewards at some point during the moments that follow. We may not even be consciously aware that we know this, but intuitively we perceive this principle to be a basic truth in our shared reality. To put this in simpler terms, we are intuitively aware of our ability to manifest future circumstances through our actions and intentions in the now. Whether we choose to practice these intuitive abilities of manifestation or not, is entirely up to us.

Trouble x Two = The Black Cats of Jim Thorpe, PA

So, what comes of our moments past? In my own understanding, they become the raw materials that are used to weave the very fabric of our individual and our collective lives. We are now experiencing the resulting circumstances and situations which were born of a multitude of human intentions, both positive and negative, sent forth during the past moments of human existence. Depending on your outlook, the basis of this proposition might be welcomed as incredibly positive or rejected as extremely negative. Some of us will undoubtedly be inclined to point the finger of blame toward others in an attempt to explain the entire nature and substance of where they are in the now. Especially those who experience life as a hardship or something to be suffered through. Others will insist they have absolutely no control over the direction of their life journey. They’ll posit that they’re the helpless victims of an unfair reality. They’ll further claim that the ‘world’ they were born into is disinterestedly dictating every quality and quantity of circumstance available to them during their lifetime. Personally, I must admit that I have cloaked my persona with a blend of these two outlooks for a sizable portion of this life journey. At least until I came to the understanding that I am completely responsible for my own intentions, and directly accountable for my own actions, during every moment, past and present. I have introspectively embraced the outlook which holds that intentions put forth in past moments, whether they were put forth individually or collectively, are experienced as objective and subjective manifestations in this, the present moment.

Film Journey & The Alt Unity

The Cosmic Picture

Grand Providentia United

Gathering Awareness – Entry #6

Most of us have heard of “…the big picture perspective.” For more than a century, success coaches and motivational speakers, especially those who are primarily focused on financial success, have recommended that we keep our big picture goals in mind at all times, even while we are attending to the smallest details on our personal paths to success. I am in agreement with this strategy. I have adopted it on a daily basis for more than twenty years now. I’ve discovered that I am most successful at being presently aware when I expand the proverbial “Big Picture” to include every aspect of this life experience on the planet Earth. Beyond that, during occasional moments of extraordinary spiritual clarity, I’ve found that I’m able to expand my perspective much further, to include even the ‘cosmic picture’ of our successes (and failures) as human beings on this tiny blue planet floating within the expanse of space. In momentary awareness we might all have the capacity to perceive the cosmic picture. We are limited only by the lenses and filters we’ve chosen to see through. One day, I hope to experience the full breadth, the cosmic picture of human existence as it truly IS, not as our limited perceptions are currently presenting it to us.

Ruin or Ruby in the Rough? From the Hope Mill Series

If you read my last blog entry, you’ll remember that I promised to lay out the intentions that I sent forth back in January of this year. Well, the first intention I set, was to return to college seeking a master’s degree in film. Savannah College of Art & Design was my first choice because of its exemplary reputation as top college for film degrees, but I was also immediately attracted by the Savannah Historic District as a place to live while I was learning to be a filmmaker. Eight months’ worth of moments later, and I am residing in Savannah, Georgia, outside of the Historic District, but loving it here just the same! In the next blog entry, I’ll tell you why I set the intention to pursue a film degree. It has to do with the ‘cosmic picture’…

Film Journey & The Alt Unity

A True Story, as Yet Unfolding…

Grand Providentia United

Gathering Awareness – Entry #7

This is my understanding of our individual lives as human beings. As our true-life stories unfold, we are witness to the sum total effect that our past motivations, intentions and actions are having on our real-time journey, in the now. I’ve heard vehement protestations regarding this philosophy countless times. They’re made by well-meaning friends and family who cannot perceive, or refuse to perceive, that this idiom could be true. Many of these people hold firm to the belief that they are victims to the circumstances of, and innocent bystanders to, where they are currently situated in their own physical, mental and spiritual lives. They choose to live their lives as though they are not responsible for their motivations, intentions and actions, hoping they will not be held accountable for the results (successes or failures) they’ve created in their lives when all has been said and done.

Those of us who are consciously aware and living in the present moment are more likely to embrace the belief that we are the writers of own stories, the leaders of our own lives, and the architects of our own physical surroundings. In order to live an authentic existence, we feel compelled to accept accountability for the impact our intentions have on the world around us. We are motivated to send out intentions, knowing that every intention we send out has the potential to bring positive rewards or negative consequences, or both. In our awareness, we are prepared to accept all of the eventual implications our intentions have, not only the ones we are comfortable with.

Unintentional Beautification? – From the Hope Mill Collection

Some readers may be wondering, what does all of this talk about awareness and accountability have to do with my intention to earn a graduate degree in film? Here it is – I intend to create an ongoing, real-time documentary, infused with surrealistic and factual footage, blended in a way that defies the objective nature of our current physical sense perceptions. A true story, as yet unfolding…

In the next blog entry, I’ll be writing about the basic strategies I intend to use, to make manifest this intention. Thanks for reading today’s post, I look forward to meaningful interactions with some of you during our future moments together!

Film Journey & The Alt Unity

A Collaborative, Creative Projection in the Moment of Now

Grand Providentia United

Gathering Awareness – Entry #8

When I first conceived of ‘The Grand Providentia Project‘ (about fourteen years ago), I didn’t title it as such. Back then, I presented the sculpture and the concept as the ‘American Dream Catcher‘. During those early moments of ideological conception, ego was still in charge of the lion’s share of my creative output. So, in my conceit, I regarded the title as being a masterful play on words; a clever blending of two well-worn phrases – the American dream and the (Native American) dream catcher. I took extra pride in the titling of the project, because in its clever combination of cliches, it simultaneously described the intended function of the artwork from its conception. In the here and now, the intended function has evolved, as has the title of the project. What was once ‘The American Dream Catcher‘ project, has currently evolved into ‘The Grand Providentia Projection‘.

“American Dream Catcher”-Then & Now-“Providentia”

The sculptural object depicted in these two photos is almost entirely physically identical. I made intentional changes to the patination and presentation of the artwork as it evolved into its current physical manifestation – the sculpture, ‘Providentia’. So, why did I change the title to ‘Providentia’? Mostly because profound intuition guided me to retitle the artwork this way. Also, when I researched the meaning of providentia, I discovered a definition that is true to the spirit of the entire project’s purpose. *”Providentia is the divine embodiment of prediction, foresight, and providence.” The title took root in my consciousness before I became aware of the definition, and so I knew intuitively that it was a divinely guided choice to make the change.

Earlier today, as I was meditating on the ‘Providentia’ project, I came to the understanding that what I once considered an art project was currently evolving into a collaborative, creative, projection of consciousness. The Providentia Projection is to be the subject of the surreal documentary “A True Story, as Yet Unfolding…” which I mentioned in the last journal entry.

Thank you for reading today’s entry! I truly appreciate your awareness here, and now.

*I was unable to find the original author of this definition, so I cannot give credit here.