I found the link to this speech from MPR while looking up a lovely local coffee shop a friend told me about.
Here is the speech, on the Sacred art of Stopping.
Here is the delicious coffee shop. My friend Amber particularly recommends the Rogue Mocha–made with locally crafted Rogue Chocolate–made in uptown, straight from the bean….yum!
Coffee or no, take some time to enjoy stopping. :)
–julie
Enjoy!
mmmmm.....
We have new art up at Chakra Khan! The beautiful mixed-media pieces of Minneapolis artist Savita Bettaglio.
Visit us soon to see Savita’s work. We’ll have a reception in late May or June—stay tuned!
Here’s more about Savita:
“My current work is a visceral exploration of energy. I am intrigued by the possibilities of the human experience. I strive for literal and emotional depth through my technique of layered movement and use of bright colors. I am inspired by Latin art as well as the magic of tribal symbols My paintings are born during meditation and when a particular shape or color appears I paint with those shapes and colors and soon the creative process forms my work. Art making is an evolving practice of faith and staying present in the moment. I see painting as a journey in turning the eye inward. My paintings are abstract and yet very personal narrations that have grown out of my desire to discover, deepen, and enliven. My hope is that my work will welcome you into the elements of Self.”
art by Savita Bettaglio
the signing bowl
At the end of your Shiatsu or Thai Bodywork session, I ring a “bell” which is really a Tibetan Singing Bowl that I found in Mcleod Ganj, India.
Once a client asked, “Does that mean I have to get up now?” But really it is meant to be the opposite of an alarm clock! It is an invitation to sink deeply into the calm and quiet created by your session, to take a little extra rest before you get up and join the outside world again.
In my Thai training they talked about letting people “cook” at the end, to really take in the benefit of the session. The tones of the singing bowl are meant to help you do that.
Enjoy!
I recently had the chance to sit in on an Anthropology class at the U of M. The Professor talked about an idea anthropologists have about ritual–that it usually involves an element of feeling outside the usual flow of time, or “time-out-of-time.”
I love this idea. I think I had that feeling when I saw my friend’s amazing shaved ice truck (above) that is made mostly out of foam and PVC pipe! :)
I hope you also get some of that feeling when you come in for a Shiatsu or Thai session–a feeling of being out of the usual pace of things for an hour or so.
Give yourself the gift of time-out-of-time twice, with this special deal for March!
2 sessions for $130 + tax thru 3/31
Email me to take advantage of this deal!
julie@juliekesti.com
i just found this old, old handout from a drawing class with Tom Cowette at the U long ago. it’s really great, so i am sharing it with you. i can’t tell if he wrote it or took it from something else and didn’t note it on the sheet. . .
“Painting a picture is the most difficult thing in the world to do–but only for those who know how.” –Edgar Degas
Pay constant attention to the whole picture (the effectiveness of part-to-part and parts-to-whole relationships)
Change what you don’t like–keep on changing what you don’t like!
Be patient, the picture may get worse before it gets better. Trial and error.
Learn to trust yourself; don’t second-guess yourself. If you get a notion, don’t dither, try it in the picture. Conscious calculation and planning play a role in creative activity, but, most importantly, intuition is the vital capacity. In making changes in the work, trust feelings, hunches, subconscious promptings, etc. This will not always lead to right choices, but it will more often than not.
Remember the whole picture. Give each part of the picture equal attention. Of course you can only work on one part at a time, but after each change, step back and try to see what effect the change had on the other parts and the whole. Remember, a positive change in one part could have a negative effect on some other parts which will present new choices, new possibilities, and at times, dilemmas. Problems can also arise from a change that has positive effects on the picture as a whole as it may present new and conflicting possibilities which may necessitate some hard choices. The process is one of trial and error, adjustment and re-adjustment.
Risk. The element of risk is always present. You must work to overcome fears of possibly ruining something for the sake of improving the picture.
Giving in to necessity. It is vital to revise things in terms of what the picture seems to need at the time. What you may very much want and what is necessary for the picture don’t always coincide. There is always an eventual “giving-in” to the evolving logic of the work itself which dictates and gradually limits choices. This often means sacrificing a part of the picture that you like very much in itself for the sake of the work’s continued evolution as a whole.
Often, the first impasse to the development of a picture is the picture itself; that is, once you get the initial image down, you may sometimes be at a loss as to where to go from there. Some suggestions for breaking through this impasse: Trust your feeling, do you get a positive response from some parts, negative from others? Even if you are not sure of the nature of the change, do something with the areas you don’t like. This can break the status quo and help to get you rolling. You may have no reaction, positive or negative. If so, simply make some arbitrary changes (explore). In this situation, any old change is better than nothing. Keep manipulating the picture until you do get some definite reactions. Using the concept of similarities-differences-monotony-confusion can also aid in arriving at some decisions. (Feeling at a loss as to how to move on a picture can reoccur many times during the work’s development. The procedure mentioned above is known as ‘disruption’ and refers to disturbing or teasing open parts of the picture–getting things out of the way which don’t seem to indicate any potential and replacing them with things that do. Giving the picture a ‘rest’ can also help. Put the work aside for awhile and don’t look at it. Coming back to it later, you will likely see potentials which you were not formerly aware of. This is one good reason to have more than one work in progress at any given time. If none of this works, ask the teacher for help.)
Awareness. Get to know your picture. It is necessary from time to time during the course of a work’s development to simply look at it in a non-judgmental way, in order to become more aware of what is actually there. It is very easy to overlook things particularly at the beginning, and the more you are aware of the actual contents of the picture, the more potential you will see for its further development.
Idea/Concept. A work of art can be viewed as being a fully articulated concept, in our case, a visual concept. The completion of a cycle from the first idea (notion) to the fully evolved idea (concept). The development of a work is evolutionary, entailing all that this term implies. In other words, the real idea is gradually revealed and arrived at. It is not what one starts with, but what one ends with and the final result may or may not resemble to initial idea.
Be wary of ‘ideas’, that is, preconceptions. While they may serve as a stimulus to initiate a work, attempting to stick with them can be deadly. Preconceptions more than anything can blind one to better options and stunt growth. Don’t stick yourself with anything. (See “an interview with Picasso” in “The Creative Process” by Brewster Ghiselin.
Detachment, objectivity, holding without insistence. Consider everything in the evolving composition to be tentative and subject to change right up to the very end. A work really contains nothing but potential until the final piece falls into place. This requires, among other things, an extremely open attitude, objectivity, astuteness, patience, and a certain amount of courage. Painting a picture is tricky business.
final note: Attitude: instead of What should I do?
Let’s see what happens if _____.
TRUST IN THE FORCE.
;)
we had a super-fun valentine making afternoon today!
see some pics on the chakra khan blog. :)
hopefully we’ll see YOU there next year!
our next event should be in March or April–our first artist opening of 2009…stay tuned!
grandma irene's mary
progress...
shavings
pencils
previous pile
colors
hearts for the valentine party
materials
hanging up
spray painted stencil
candle box
bulletin
big rope
goop and googly eyes
water source
really blurry back of the boiler (sorry)
FUN
Funny jokes are fun to say
Unfun things are boring
Natural to have fun.
matthew playing the baritone
WHAT IS LOVE?
Love is a kiss on the cheek.
Love is saving someone else’s life.
Love is world peace.
Love is people stopping other people from doing violence.
Love is giving your son a boat ride.
Love is a Mom and Dad caring for their kids.
uncle sean and aunt julie in the boundary waters with matthew
Memorials preferred to Library Foundation of Hennepin County for book purchases at Washburn Library. www.friendsofmpl.org/ support_memorial.html.
Please read a book in Matthew’s memory.
I hope you are all warm and well. I have a personal note to share with you as we continue into the new year.
My family just came through a very difficult December, after losing–suddenly, unexpectedly,–my dear nine-year-old nephew, Matthew. I am the youngest of 5 kids, and never had a younger sibling, so Matthew, being the oldest grandchild in our family, is the kid I’ve known and loved the longest. Though over a month has now passed since his death, it has not become any easier yet to believe or accept. . . I am sharing this with you not because I want to make you sad, or because I want you to feel sad for me (though I realize you may) but because I feel it is helpful that I share some of my experience.
I know we all will face unimaginable things, and I think it is valuable to be able to discuss the unimaginable things we encounter. Death is something we will all meet many, many times in our lives, and though we don’t often talk about it, that doesn’t mean it is not a helpful thing to do. It is important to be able to talk about those we have lost, in a fond and loving way, or even at times in a bewildered way. . .
Over this past month, I’ve experienced strongly the ways that emotions and physical sensations come together. Grief has had a very strong physical feeling. A lot of the literature about bodywork/massage addresses the ways emotions may be stored or expressed in our bodies, but I think this can be a very abstract concept until your are in it, feeling it acutely. I appreciate how bodywork can be such a healthy and helpful part of one’s routine–helping us work through or become aware of things we might not process or notice otherwise. I have been grateful this past month for the gift of bodywork from several friends and colleagues, including an recent reiki session, which was especially helpful.
Another big observation of these past months is simply the great opening of hearts and the kindnesses extended to me and my family. This was amazing to behold, and so meaningful when so many things did not feel right. People who’ve never met my nephew or my brother and his family have expressed a sense of caring and a willingness to extend their help in any way. People I know as acquaintances said kind things to me about the special role of being an aunt. . . These past weeks make me extra aware of our hearts, how important they are, how gentle and fragile and also strong. . . in time.
I hope that in this new year you take care of your heart and those around you. I hope you take care of yourself with things like bodywork and walks outside, and reading a lovely novel and spending time with people you love and doing things you enjoy.
Matthew was a prolific writer & reader and he also really enjoyed the things he enjoyed, with wonderful exuberance. So I’ll close with one of his poems, which just might be a good anthem for everyone this year:
Fun
Funny Jokes are fun to Say
Unfun things are boring
Natural to have fun
Wishing you health, good self-care, and good care from others in 2009,
with love,
julie
matthew at seaworld, 2008
Memorials preferred to Library Foundation of Hennepin County for book purchases at Washburn Library. www.friendsofmpl.org/ support_memorial.html.
Pleaes read a book in Matthew’s memory.
watch down by the river, the movie
skye by the river
miss-iss-ippi jan 2009
gettin' dark
My bodywork practice promotes compassionate, creative, and healthy relationships between people, their bodies, and the world around them.
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