the answer for which I had been searching

             About a year ago, I took a six-week art class on Altered Books at the Arts Center in Carrboro.  At the first class, my classmates and I were instructed to choose a theme for the book—it very possibly might evolve as we worked, but that was expected.  I chose, “Transitions.” 

            I had already moved from a place where my mind and body were on the same path, to a place where they were not.  I was hoping to go back to that original path, but with more than when I had left—something like wisdom.  I hoped, when I am done with this book, my transformation will be complete!  It was a naïve thought.  We are always in transition.  We are always evolving.  Every morning when we wake up, we are a bit different from when we awoke the previous day.  But in hoping that my transformation would be complete, I hoped that my pain would cease and my energy would return.  In creating this Altered Book on transitions, I hoped to find the answer for which I had been searching even since Hurricane Katrina had struck the Gulf Coast.

            Now I have finished my Altered Book.  In the process, I did not complete my transformation or find some key piece of information that was missing.  However, the process of creating this book may have helped to illuminate the path before me.  Through some curves in the road, I was led to Mindfulness.  Through Mindfulness, I realized that there is no key piece that I am missing.  And by quieting my mind with Mindfulness, I was able to complete the book.  

"ecotone, n. a transition area between two adjacent ecological communities

It has some of the characteristics of each bordering community and often has a greater number of species than are found in either flanking community.  Some organisms need a transitional area for activities such as courtship, nesting, or foraging for food.

For example, the Chihuahuan Desert giving way to glistening gypsum sand dunes."

"The atom moves an intricate course, swerving here and there, myriadly attracted, myriadly repelled, seeming to give, seeming to respond —always remaining free and alone."

 

        "accept

                   your

                          reality

          and

              permit yourself

                                      to

                                         fly"

       "Four: Some Practical Conclusions for the                         Survival of Man"

                    "dynamism of the whole

                           the universe is not rational.

                     revolutionary, dreams

                           'fellow traveler'

                     transition, harmony

                           true person"

Here is a video tour of my Altered Book, "Transitions"
(To see more detail, click the "YouTube" icon here, then at the original video link, click the bottom right square for full screen.)