What is my Art?

[Rori]

Since I joined ARTShift I have been trying to figure out just what is my art....what do I create, what do I put into the world?

I love to sing, but I can't carry a tune (one of the first sentences my first son struggled to say when he was about 18 months old was "no sing, mommy!" - I just cried thinking about all the months he must have spent trying to find the right words to say that would get me to finally stop singing him to sleep...)

I can’t make it through a day without music in my life, yet I can't play a note on any instrument (although my air drums are exquisite, I must say.)

I'm very visual, but I can't draw very well. I've tried my hand at crafts and made my fair share of macramé plant hangers back in the day. Oh, and I did knit a few sweaters and crochet a couple of blankets, always following a pattern, of course.

So, what is my art? Why do I identify so strongly with art and artists? What do I create?? I thought and thought about this and then it began to become clear - I harness universal energy, and I do it in a few very specific ways:

I create life. I gave birth to three amazing sons. Now I know this is no unique skill, lots of people can do this. Still, I brought three lives onto this planet; I nurtured them, protected them and gave my body to them until they were born, and then I nursed them and fed them and opened their minds to the magic that's in this world. They are all pretty much grown now, and they are truly amazing individuals. Each time I was pregnant I felt a connection to the universe, as if all that energy was being drawn straight into me and through me to my baby, offering him all the wisdom of the universe, past, present and future. I did that, me, and it makes me feel simultaneously omnipotent and powerless, proud and humble, substantial and ethereal; yin and yang. Michio Kushi, who can be credited with introducing the United States to macrobiotics, describes the terms yin and yang: "Each principle is another aspect of the one same theme; that all separations, differences and opposites are still one. The terms Yin and Yang are simple reference points to describe the extremes of the whole; separate yet united, different yet constantly changing into its opposite. Agreement within paradox." That’s what creating life is all about.

I create food. I love to take ingredients and combine them to make hearty and delicious food, and I really love feeding people and watching their reactions. I feel like I connect the energy in the food with my loving energy, and when I feed people that energy it makes them laugh and talk and sometimes get very silly while they eat. It seems that with each dish I harness the creative energy of the universe, and through me and the ingredients I am literally feeding creativity to the people I love. Sitting around a table and eating food prepared by my own hands just seems to lend itself to creative expression and as the meal progresses everyone seems to get funnier and funnier, or more and more passionate about a particular topic, or more willing to open up and expose a little piece of themselves to everyone else. The energy of the food, combined with the energy of my love of creating the food, nourishes the body and the mind of each person at the table, and by cooking it I was the catalyst. We become fulfilled, both literally and figuratively, and I am so grateful for the opportunity to create in this way.

I create connections. I am a coach by nature and by training. Throughout my whole life people that I barely know have poured out their emotions to me, trusting me with secrets about their feelings that they never share with others. It is inevitable that right in the middle of their soul-pouring, the person will stop, look at me and say, “I have no idea why I’m telling you this, I barely know you, but something tells me that you will keep my secret.” And I do. I don’t play lightly with someone’s vulnerability. I feel people’s hurt, I feel their sorrow, I feel their joy; I get to know people in a very deep way that I can’t even put into words. I store that information and then one day I’ll be with someone and another person will pop into my head and I will feel the need to connect the two. It could lead to the launching of a career; it could lead to a lasting, loving relationship; it could lead to a solid friendship. When it happens to me it’s like an out of body experience. I will be speaking to someone and suddenly I literally feel like I am drawing the energy of the other person right into my body and it becomes clear to me that I have to somehow get these two people to meet. I’m not usually there when they meet for the first time, and afterwards I get so much pleasure when I hear from each person telling me how grateful he or she is for the introduction. But what they don’t know is that I am grateful squared – the gratitude I feel creating the connection is exponentially greater than what each individual expresses to me. It’s truly a beautiful thing.

When I first joined ARTShift I wasn’t sure how I could contribute, but now I realize that we’re all creative entities: we create ideas, and when we share them they become real. We all have the ability to harness universal energy in an infinite variety of forms that can be enjoyed through our senses, be it visual, aural, oral, olfactory, or cutaneous. We all have something to add to the community that will move this world in the direction of positive thought and universal acceptance. We can all create love.

[Rori]

You are most welcome, Robin. It is great to be back in touch, and I look forward hearing your thoughts and seeing your art!
Love,
Rori

[Robin G]

Hi Rori,
I loved your post. I am so glad we reconnected after so many years and I think it is truly the universe at work that I have met several of you- Keith, Lesley and you at totally separate times and in totally separated settings and here we are all - collectively - friends. I look forward to reading and learning more, and hopefully sharing some insight. Thanks to all who have welcomed me, I haven't responded individually but this is a collective THANKS and HELLO!
Robin

[Rori]

Thanks to both of you! It felt great to share, and your feedback was truly uplifting. Mike, if you're ever in South Florida, I'd be happy to make you dinner! :)
Love,
Rori

[Michael Tucci]

Rori,
That was a fabulous post!! Thank you so very much for sharing. Oh...and you are making me hungry just by the wonderful way that you talk about the magic of creating food!

Humankind's creative ability is, like you said, universal. It is a most incredible gift that we all have been given, yet so few use. It is such an art to be able to harness the positive energy within the universe, all around us, and relate it others who have lived blindly, and to open their eyes to the positive creative force within themselves. The ability to relate to, understand, sympathize and truly feel for people caught in the most base level of mere existence, where their motivation is only to create an appropriate comfort level with life's essentials--to understand them and see the higher vision of themselves before they can...the ability to relate that higher vision in a such a way that they see it for themselves--not as some unachievable pedestal, but as a reflection of who they are in the here and now that is just a small shift in thought away and beautifully attainable, THAT, my dear Rori, is an incredible artistic gift that you have, with the true power to postively change this world!

Thank you,
Mike

[Luna Jade]

Rori...

I was just about to head to sleep when I decided to check in before calling it a night. I'm so glad I did. This, my friend, was an amazing outpouring of wisdom... and so like you :)

I can attest to the wonders of your culinary magic and goddess energy in bringing 3 incredible souls into this life, as I just spent another wonderful Saturday evening with your family, filled with outstanding food and thoroughly enjoyable warm friendship, intelligent conversation, and many laughs.

But the most important concept you brought forth here is one I wholeheartedly agree with. We are all creators by human birthright and therefore all have wonderful things we can contribute.
The fact that our gifts are so diverse gives us each an important role to play.

Thank you so much for so eloquently sharing this with us all.

much love,
Luna