listen out for the magic
Eastern philosophies, especially Taoism and Chinese culture, view water as a profound symbol of life, wisdom, and the Tao (the natural way), emphasising its qualities to benefit us all without striving, teaching humans to flow with life's changes, find peace in yielding, and nourish creation, while Indian traditions like Hinduism venerate sacred rivers like the Ganges for purification and divine connection.
Today, it is early January in Devon and the water falls from the sky. It is considered a blessing in many cultures - even in the West. I often turn inward this time of year - a time when we often ponder intentions and resolutions.
Much of my interest in water lies in its teachings on how to live, and I am not alone - in the ‘Tao Te Ching’ by the philosopher Lao Tzu - an ancient Chinese philosophy book dated back to more than 2,600 years ago. A thin book on my bookshelf. Barely a book. Only 81 pages. On each page is a short poem. Here is a useful poem about living life like water:
“The supreme goodness is like water.
It benefits all things without contention.
In dwelling, it stays grounded.
In being, it flows to depths.
In expression, it is honest.
In confrontation, it stays gentle.
In governance, it does not control.
In action, it aligns to timing.
It is content with its nature and therefore cannot be faulted.”
Today I am practising the last phrase; being content with my nature - all my nature. Self acceptance we might say today. Owning up to and embracing everything about myself without faulting any of it. I practice this in my work especially recently while painting in my warm studio - such that, as I observe what is happening on the canvas or panel, instead of faulting it, I look as if for the first time without immediately seeking fault. I learn and expand in my practice much in this way, because I develop being in the magical present and being able to see without preconceived notion, with a beginner’s mind as Zen teachings go. This is a January resolution - to be in the present - for this is where the magic happens. When we are present, we create space to allow the magic to happen. As an artist this is a necessity. A great work doesn’t necessarily have something to say but that it has something to listen to. And I feel it important in my work to allow an artwork to listen - on the one hand, to the water, and on the other, to listen to the viewer.
As Poet Faith Lawrence says in her essay for Aeon magazine: Rilke and the Art of Listening of Rilke: “It is the dark matter of conversation, the white space around a poem […] For Rilke, listening is receiving the divine and his Human attention is a gift, something distinctive that we can offer the nonhuman, or more-than-human, world, as Rilke writes in the Elegies: ‘Yes – the springtimes needed you. Often a star/was waiting for you to notice it.’
