Pay Your Tuition = Intuition

 72 of 83 Nobel laureates surveyed recently strongly credited intuition in their success.

If you press (only consciously) … nothing comes of it.

You must give a sort of mysterious pressure and then rest, and suddenly BING! …. the solution comes.

- Konrad Lorenz in Medicine, 1973



Golden Neurons Lura Astor assemblage detail

The One You Feed

Bill Moyers:

Why a media anyway?

 I’m going to let an old Cherokee chief answer that.

I heard this story a long time ago, growing up in Choctaw County in Oklahoma before we moved to Texas, of the tribal elder who was telling his grandson about the battle the old man was waging within himself.



He said, "It is between two wolves, my son. One is an evil wolf: anger, envy, sorrow, greed, self-pity, guilt, resentment, lies, false pride, superiority and ego. The other is the good wolf: joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith.”

The boy took this in for a few minutes and then said to his father—to his grandfather, “Which wolf won?”

The old Cherokee replied simply, “The one I feed.”

 Democracy is this way. The wolf that wins is the one we feed.



(... and media provides the bait.)


Detail: Woven Music Lura Astor assemblage

Crying and Tears

No More Seedlessness


Tears Re-set the Biochemistry of the Human Body

On a social media post, one man wrote, "And sometimes no matter how strong you think you are, the stupid tears flow."

Not thinking tears are stupid, I wrote, "Tears re-set the bio-chemistry of the human body."

There was a lot of agreement - validating observations made during my years of teaching, writing, and studying the body-mind-emotion-imagination connection.

 
 

The Queen of Tears Cries You Home
When You Cannot ...

 

You call that a Tear?

 

I'm Just a Queen of Tears

 

I Cried a Song for You

 

Moon Tears


Queen of Tears: She Cries for You -  series by Lura Astor

Kind of Kind?

Three things in human life are important:
the first is to be kind;
the second is to be kind;
and the third is to be kind.

-    C.S. Lewis 1898-1963

Spontaneous: Lura Astor assemblage

Life's Surprises and Inherent Humor

Sometimes I'll create, imagining a thing will be kitschy. It surprises me by becoming elegant.

Other times, I'll set out to create an elegant thing and laugh as it becomes kitschy.

Color Psych! Lura Astor
Put the Fizz In  Lura Astor, assemblage detail

a beautiful fix

"What a beautiful fix we are in now; peace has been declared."

- Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821) after the Treaty of Amiens, 1802

Death * Songs * Solstice Turning

 

Died a million deaths 

Sang a trillion songs

watercolor: Empoire Lura Astor

Playful Universe

Those critics are mistaking dullness for depth.

The universe is playful; quantum physics teaches us, among other things, that the universe is made up of irrevocable laws and random playfulness.

Evolution is playful. It's always going off on adventures, playing games, taking chances.

Evolution frequently does things just for the hell of it - why not writers, too?           - Tom Robbins

illustration: haHah lastor

Intimate Ally

Translated from English into English

The voraciousness of love
the fiesta, the fiasco

The audaciousness of
kindness, the soulfulness, the grin

The chagrin of thoughtlessness
the lost moment, the lost touch

The consciousness of the future
the hope, the help

- Intimate Ally
- by Lura Astor


Illustration: Hearterial Lura Astor

Here We Go!

Here we go!

















Collage: Sphere of Influence Lura Astor 1996

Bloom Baby Bloom

Bloom the petal of peace from your own hot water

Burn, baby, Burn has new meaning
when dona nobis pacem begins at
home, your heart, your lungs, your soulfulness

Whether it's tee time or tea time

Steep and brew hear-t, lung, and soul petals in
the hot water of our making and

Let's make the world sing! not singe.

painting: Petals lastor

Meditation

Keep it Light!
 

 Meditation

Make sure you really need this
on top of the worries
you've already got.

- J.P. Donleavy

  The Unexpurgated Code: A Complete Manual of Survival and Manners

animation: lastor

Meditation is Such a Funny Thing

More so than when I was growing up, there are now many "flavors" of meditation from which to choose, quite a variety from which to become confused.

The Basics are the Basics
As you deal with franchised templates, expert advice, iconic labeling, shoulds and daren'ts, remember this: Basics are Basics.

Regarding Meditation
I strongly believe in working with a person's temperament. Some people are much more energetic than others. Take into account interests, needs at that particular moment in life and desires. Yes, desires - for they will guide as a compass to your personal expressions.

Life Changes - We Change
What worked then, may not work now.

Different times in life require different tools. You don't carry all your tools around with you all the time - you use tools as required.

For people who are more active, meditation is completely different than for people less physically active.

Strongly intellectual people enter meditation differently than others.

Julia Roberts said of the book/film Eat, Pray, Love that it is important for people to take the time to find these things where you are for, not everyone can afford to travel, or take extended breaks.

Julia Cameron writes of taking Artist Dates, identify things near to your heart and chase them on a regular basis, scheduling the time.

My Tai Chi teacher used to call the practice of Tai Chi, Meditation in Action, and Yoga, Meditation in Repose. The idea is, with whichever practice/s you play with - take it into daily life.

The book Chop Wood, Carry Water: A Guide to Finding Spiritual Fulfillment in Every Day Life brought this to people's attention in the mid-1970's and we now have a vast library available to dip into for inspiration.

My yoga teacher insisted, you already know. We each have within us the guidance, the knowing, the teaching. A challenging pill to swallow at any age, but especially when young!

Dream teachers help us unravel our own living and dreaming symbols.
You Be the Guide

Shop around. Feel what is right for you, at the particular time. Commit. Show up. Enjoy.

In my teaching, I synthesize and integrate the various tools to meet individual and group needs.


Photo: Hand of Life Lura Astor

The Price

A word association

for what is going on

in some places of the world

in some places in some people

Here click-play this music while imbibing

(song: The Price Brian Adler Music, Violin: Jerry Goodman)

Melee

confusion, trumoil, jumble

a confused fight, mixture, mix and mingle

medley - hand to hand combat, combination, mixture, musical mixture of diverse parts
meddle ( do or don’t meddle with us)
melody    mellow day
mesler Old French
don’ mess with me
jumble jumbalaya
here’s sand in your eyes

Melee - a group of diamonds each weighing under ¼ carat

There are meditations call Diamond Consciousness - to refine the many facets of your shining being

peace out - lastor

mixed media: Your Sphere of Influence: lastor