How things are

Something to believe in, something cool + something to go to

I opened instagram today and saw this poem. Again.

A tiny critique: I wish the “but” here was an “and”. The but creates a suffering, a dissonance, a discord, a wish for something to be different - which, may be the poets point.

And I get it. Do I wish the world wasn’t on fire? Yeah.

And yet both suffering and beauty exist all the time at the same time.

How to hold both of these (beauty and suffering)? How to practice acceptance - not as approval, but as a way of meeting what is.

In Buddhism, there’s a word — vipassana.

The literal meaning is "super-seeing,” but it’s often translated as "insight" or "clear-seeing” or "looking into something with clarity and precision, seeing each component as distinct and separate, and piercing all the way through so as to perceive the most fundamental reality of that thing." (via wikipedia)

My favorite translation? “Insight into how things are, not how we thought them to be."

How things are.

Yeah - I’m interested in that.

If we only apply wishful thinking to our world, if we choose rose-colored glasses, forgoing the suffering and pain part, we forfeit our power to create real change. Because it’s only in looking at things as they are that we begin to know them, and it’s within this knowing where the seeds of something new and different can grow.

That things can be different — that’s something I believe in.

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Shout out to Madi of Loud Flower and Ben Bishop on their new shop, Restricted Goods. So happy I was able to pop by for the opening. Amazing space – art books, zines, art, snacks, shirts, dreamy! I love to see spaces like this in the world. Oh and I loved this poster - these are the only pics I took :)

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If you’re local, come to Ready to Hang! @ Community Arts Workshop in Santa Barbara this weekend. 450 12x12s from local artists will be on display to view and buy. One night only! Saturday November 18, 6-9pm, at the CAW 631 Garden St, Santa Barbara.

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Btw, I have a sweet monthly offering of mail art. This month, folks received a 4x6 print of my latest digital collage. I decided to offer it as free digital download, too, so check it out.

Jump + Pray,

Joce

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