What sense is this
that a simple mask
has the power in an instance
to open a door to safety, freedom and joy,
to soar, wings fully outstretched
heart open
in this moment
no longer a prisoner
to my limited beliefs
of who I am?
(Picture taken by my friend Deb Sudul)
I’d like to pre-warn you that this is me thinking this through on the page so you will have to bare with the confusion as it spills out willy nilly.
It was so striking the immediate feeling of freedom putting the mask on that I knew it deserved further contemplation. It was as if my ego judgments of myself and others no longer existed. It made me reflect on my use of the mask and people who use vices such as drink, drugs, overeating to get the mind chatter to stop.
Then I thought of Delyn from http://ahazymoon.blogspot.com/ who in her post today talks about Wabi Sabi which is the Japanese Art of finding the beauty in the ordinary. (see youtube video below)
With photography, that is if I give myself lots of time, I will slip into a zone that I would describe as Wabi Sabi where there is a definite shift in my awareness. The reason I bring this up is that when I put the mask on I immediately went to an altered state, I was the beauty. So, I am figuring this out as these words come.
How do I have Wabi Sabi for myself without a ‘mask’? How do I accept the natural cycle of growth and transience within myself. I wonder if it is even about going after seeing it within myself or is it about seeing it around me and that translates to seeing it within? So now another question arises – if photography sends me to Wabi Sabi then why don’t I do it more? It is like exercise-it’s uncomfortable to start.
It isn’t clear yet but there are rumblings going on within that I trust will lead to more sense of this.
Happy to hear your reflections.
