AWARENESS

Awareness…”Is the state or ability to perceive, to see, or be concious of events, objects or sensory patterns” We live in a busy world, made small by the reach and scope of the internet and television. Everyone wants a voice, everyone wants to be heard. Are we aware of what comes with this? There are many implications, the one that irritates me the most is the other shoe that drops in the form of advertising. Are these forms of communication presented to us in a pure form to entertain, enlighten and educate or to sell us something? The same goes with our day to day interactions with friends, family or people on the street. Can we spot, or are we aware of  the sell on the other foot, the hidden agenda? Do we sometimes marvel at the behaviour of others we come into to contact with? Do we see ourselves clearly? Are we aware of how we act towards others and what impact it has? Carl Jung wrote..”Your vision will become clear only when you look into your own heart. Who looks outside dreams. Who looks inside awakens” Awareness really does start at home, on the inside, much like love. Once recognized, it grows and grows…

I SEE

I see the future,

I see the past.

I see the day that will be my last.

I live my life with a cup of Knowing,

four ounces of Creativity,

three tablespoons of Wisdom,

a thick dollup of Love,

a splash of Adventure,

a pinch of Mischief,

I mix it all together and bake it in an oven of Hope….

Rob

Salmon Miracle

I live on the West Coast of Canada. In the Greater Vancouver regional district to be exact. It is a beautiful area with Georgia Straight to the west of Vancouver, the Coast mountains slightly north, the Cascade mountains to the south and east. Through the centre of all this cuts the Fraser river Delta. The Fraser river begins on the western slope of the Rocky mountains and works it’s way through the Province of British Columbia to the sea. If you’ve ever flown in or out of the Vancouver airport you’ve seen the river Delta fanning out all around and probably noticed all of the silt spreading out to change the sea water in Georgia Straight. The Fraser is special because it is wild, no dams, and it is the highway for countless numbers of Salmon heading to their spawning grounds. 

The Sockeye Salmon runs up the Fraser for the last 6 years or so have been in decline. So much so that for the last three years the commercial fishermen have been forced to sit on the docks because there were not enough fish. In the time I have lived here the average run of Sockeye up the Fraser has been 6,000,000 Fish. Last years run was only 1,000,000. The Department Of Fisheries, environmental activists, politicians have all been telling the public that the precious Sockeye Salmon are on the verge of extinction. We have heard every theory imaginable from Global Warming, Sea Lice from Farmed fish, Seal numbers being too high, on and on.

Well, inexplicably this years run of Sockeye up the Fraser started out with an estimate from the DFO of 11,000,000 fish total, impressive, that was in the first week of August. Three weeks later the number of estimated fish heading up the Fraser is well over 34,000,000, the largest Run of Sockeye since 1913. Nobody knows why! Nobody knows where they have been. Everyone is starting to have an opinion. I’m sure the DFO is under enormous pressure to explain how in one year the fish that they are supposed to be monitoring and Protecting have gone from The Verge of Extinction to a Miraculous recovery.

Politics aside. I see it as an incredible example of Nature trumping science. I also feel so inspired that Miracles of Abundance can and will occur. Everyone is worried, Everyone is feeling a sense of lack and here is something so outrageous and astonishing, everyone on the West Coast has lifted their collective jaws off the ground and are now stuffing their faces and freezers with fish. God is Great!

Rob

Yellow Cedar and the Day Job

Since I left the business world and began creating my Paintings and Artwork. I have been doing many different things to keep afloat. In the early days it was house painting and that led to basic wood working, installing baseboard and crown mouldings. Day by Day, month by month the work increased and I developed abilities I did not know I had. At the best of times the  Day Job turned into another creative outlet and I began to fall in love with Yellow Cedar. I have always loved wood and wanted to be a carpenter before I ever touched a paint brush. But, I did not expect to make a living and provide for my family in this way. Life has many paths to follow and change comes along whether you ask for it or not. So, I followed a path that would keep the wolf at bay while I waited for people to start buying my paintings on a regular basis. The path led me back to a trade I wanted to do since I was twelve years old. Creating things out of wood. 

Yellow Cedar is my favorite wood to work with, it is a very special wood. It is grown on mountain sides on the West Coast of British Columbia and Alaska. It is very finely grained, it does not rot, it’s resistant to bugs, it has the most beautiful buttery yellow colour when it is freshly cut, it is incredibly strong, yet soft and easy to carve. When planing it, the the wood curls in almost infinite strings along the board and it smells wonderful.

It’s official name is Callitropsis Nootkatensis or Nootka Cypress after the Nootka People of the West Coast. For many thosands of years they revered this wood and used it to make highly decorative masks and everyday items like spoons and bowls. Hilary Stewart wrote about the Origin of the Nootka Cypress or Yellow Cedar in her book Cedar: Tree of Life to the Northwest Indians According to a Nootka Legend A raven encounters three women drying salmon on the beach. He asks the women if they are afraid of being alone, if they are afraid of bears, wolves, and other animals. Each woman responded “No”. But, when asked if they were afraid of Owls, the women said that they were very afraid of owls. Hearing this the trickster Raven hid in the forest, and made the calls of an owl. The women were terrified and ran up into the mountains, but turned into Nootka Cypress trees when they were out of breath and exhausted. According to Legend that is why the Yellow Cedar trees grow on the sides of mountains, and also why the bark is silky like a woman’s hair, the young trunk smooth like a woman’s body…

I paint and I cut and craft wood and look after my family. It will all lead into something and take me somewhere. The path is long and I am enjoying the journey.

Rob

Fear is the dragon…

Fear is the dragon that we must slay to open up to what is right in our lives. Religious institutions, political institutions, pharmaceutical companies and the media have done big business keeping us in a constant state of fear. Fear of what, it’s the future and they bank on you being afraid of what MIGHT happen. They all want you to believe that it will be negative. Because then you need them! 

What, if you thought that your future could turn out positive? What, if you lived day to day  just trying to be in the moment and thankful for what you have, instead of what you might get? I think that’s freedom. When a person can command their day to day, live in the moment, they are free. Free from worrying about what they are missing out on, free from thinking that the sky could come crashing down on them at any moment, free from the past, future, getting cancer, Satan.

The devil is in negativity and fear. We can choose to release ourselves from these shackles and stand tall with feet firmly planted in the now…There is strength and confidence there…There is hope and honour there…and most of all, there is Love there….

“The past cannot be changed, the future may not come, but we can choose to live in Successive moments of now”  Sant Kirpal Singh

Calm Before The Storm

We never know what’s coming around the corner. Life is often filled with surprising turns or events that take us by surprise and change our lives forever. We can sense or feel the energy of impending change if we stop and listen for it. What is in the air? Are the birds quiet? Is the air so still that it feels empty or aches? What is the sky telling us if we look up  at it? We used to know these things. There was a time not too long ago when humans trusted their senses and relied on intuition and instincts to get through life. Now it seems that everyone is looking down at devices in their hands as if  the answers of the universe are contained within. The answers are all around if we keep our heads up. Everything we need to know has been written on the ground, spoken into the wind and painted across the stars. 

“HOLD FAST”

My wife Paula, woke me up this morning with her two fists pointing toward me. If it were not for the huge smile on her face, I would be squirming. “HOLD FAST” she said. We laughed and I felt deeply grateful that I have her in my life. In my experience pursuing and  sustaining a Career as an Artist these days is a Dream. Pursuing your Dreams is a slogan that get’s thrown around alot. What does it mean, really? It means finding your path at whatever moment in your life and following it until the end. Not realizing that the initial joy of being on the right path will quickly be replaced by challenges, obstacles, indifference, adventures and mis-adventures, so great, that if you really knew what you in for, you would run the other way screaming.  Twelve years later, i’ve learned many lessons, my life has changed greatly. I have learned the true meaning of many words that I have come to Love, because they have all been in play at different times…Temperance, Perseverence, Tenacity, Fear, Doubt, Faith, Gratitude, Acceptance and Partnership. I could not have begun creating Art and choosing it as my career at 35 years old with a Family and bills to pay if it were not for my Partner, Paula. She has accepted me, encouraged me and picked me up so many times I am forever Grateful…

“HOLD FAST THAT WHICH IS GOOD”

1 Thessalonians 5:21