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Sleep Mower — Somnambulist Series

Steve Widoff

Copyright © 2009 Steve Widoff

The somnambulistic series is a fictitious look at sleepwalkers.

Sleepwalkers arise from the slow wave sleep stage in a state of low consciousness and

perform activities that are usually performed during the day.

These activities can be as benign as sitting up in bed, walking to the bathroom and cleaning,

or as hazardous as cooking, driving, extremely violent gestures, grabbing at hallucinated objects or even homicide.

Steve Widoff, Heartstormer

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Don’t Go Back to Sleep

The breeze at dawn has secrets to tell you.

Don’t go back to sleep.

You must ask for what you really want.

Don’t go back to sleep.

People are going back and forth across the door sill

where the two worlds touch.

The door is round and open.

Don’t go back to sleep.

Rumi

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I am fascinated by what it takes to stay awake in difficult times. I marvel at what we all do in times of transition — how we resist, and how we surrender; how we stay stuck; and how we grow. Since my first major open experience — my divorce — I have been an observer and confidante of others as they engage with the forces of their own suffering. I have made note of how the fiasco and failure visit each one of us, as if they were written into the job descriptions of being human. I have seen people crumble in times of trouble, lose their spirit, and never fully recover. I have seen others protect themselves fiercely from any kind of change, until they are living a half life, safe yet stunted,

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But I have seen another way to deal with a fearful change or a painful loss. I call this other way the Phoenix Process — named for the mythological phoenix bird who remains awake through the fires of change, risen from the ashes of death, and is reborn into the his most vibrant and enlightened self. For now, we only need to understand it as an alternative to going back to sleep.

Elizabeth Lesser from Broken Open: How Difficult Times Can Help Us Grow

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I have been sitting in front of my computer reflecting on how difficult it is to break old patterns of behavior such as checking my e-mail every five minutes rather than walking into the studio section of my loft and pushing paint, making telephone calls,or preparing a new workshop to be delivered in Boston on May 9th and 10th.

Most readers of this newsletter are part of a creative industry that seems fixed on perpetuating the status quo. Now there is a dichotomy: maintaining the status quo and creating. It is not possible to bring something new into being while focusing on standing still. Nothing ever remains the way it was. Certainly not the advertising industry and the relationships that photographers and other creative contributors have with it.

Most readers of this newsletter are part of a creative industry that seems fixed upon perpetuating the status quo. Now there is a dichotomy: maintaining the status quo and creating. It is not possible to bring something new into being while focusing on standing still. Nothing ever remains the same as it always was. Certainly not the advertising industry and the relationships that photograhers and other creative contributors have with it.

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…How easily we allow our old habits and patterns to dominate us. Even though, as Nyoshul Kempa’s poem tell us, they bring us suffering, we accept them with almost fatalistic resignation for, we are so used to giving in to them. We may idealize freedom, but when it comes to our habits, we are completely enslaved.

Still reflection can slowly bring us wisdom. We can come to see we are falling again and again into fixed repetitive patterns and begin to long to get out of them. We may, of course, fall back into them again and again, but slowly we can emerge from them and change. The following poem speaks to us all…

The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying
Sogyal Rinpoche

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Autobiography in Five Chapters
Nyoshul Khenpo

1
I walk down the street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I fall in.
I am lost . . .I am hopeless.
It isn’t my fault.
It takes forever to find a way out.

2
I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I pretend I don’t see it.
I fall in again.
I can’t believe I am in the same place.
But it isn’t my fault.
It still takes a long time to get out.

3
I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I see it is there.
I still fall in…it’s a habit.
My eyes are open
I know where I am
It is my fault
I get out immediately.

4
I walk down the same street.
There’s a hole in the sidewalk.
I walk around it.

5
I walk down another street.

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What are the habits that need to be broken to grow your career? When will you have the courage to walk down another street?

The system in which photographers, illustrators, designers, copywriters, art directors, and other significant players in the communications business is broken. Yet so many are holding onto the old paradigm and expecting the same results. But the paradigm is changing and demands that we become leaders in this change.

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Old Habits

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The industry is enslaved by old habits, methods, resistance, fear, and paralysis. The serenity prayer comes to mind.

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God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.

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We need to ask ourselves what cannot be changed. Are you willing to accept that business models that worked just a few years ago no longer work? Are you willing to look at the opportunities these changes present. The old systems for buying and selling commercial art are being replaced.As a creative person you have the ability to become part of the solution.

You must be the change you want to see in the world, as Mahatma Gandhi so eloquently said. In other words, change has to start within ourselves; we cannot expect the world to change if we do not. Instead of focusing on the problems, we can start to live the solutions.

Take a look at some new ways to make a living as a photographer.

Steve Uzzel discovered he had learned so much about creative problem solving that he wanted to share it with the corporate world and help them prepare for change.

My Think Tank Team Teleconference participants are identifying and developing alternative markets for excellent fine art photography.

Chase Jarvis and others are developing apps that appeal to wide audiences of professional and serious amateur photographers. The Best Camera app invites people to come back to post their photo adventures this expanding his sphere of influence.

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Manifest love,
Ian

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I can help you grow your business. Call today.
I will tell you about individual coaching and group teleconferences.
The first coaching session is free.

There are no obligations.

Tel 610-438-5707
Cel 610-393-6816

The Heartstorming Philosophy

Ian Summers
145 South Eleventh Street
Loft #4
Easton PA 18042

iansummers@heartstorming.com

www.heartstorming.com
www.iansummersartwork.com

7 Heartstorming Webinars
are Available for Free at liveBooks’ Website

Copyright © 2010 Ian Summers

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I got in the school band and the school choir. It all hit me like a ton of bricks, everything just came out.

I played percussion for a while, and stayed after school forever just tinkering around with different things,

the clarinets and the violins.

Quincy Jones

When was the last time you totally tinkered?

What if we created a workshop for adults to learn or relearn to tinker?

Sounds like a good idea, don’t you tink?

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Gever Tulley uses engaging photos and footage to demonstrate the valuable lessons kids learn at his Tinkering School. When given tools, materials and guidance, these young imaginations run wild and creative problem-solving takes over to build unique boats, bridges and even a rollercoaster!

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