For those days when you can’t bear to be in the world, the room, your skin, your head.
Let’s first of all trawl some received wisdoms to set us up for this little adventing task.
Now, we know that Buddha’s wisdom suggests that all human unhappiness comes from not facing reality squarely, exactly as it is. But, honestly, some days, that knowledge is too bleak to handle short term, especially when you need an instant escape from that little village in your head ~ Here-No-Longer.
Fortunately, in moments like these, Nietzsche, thank the heavens, gives us a lovely permission to admit that reality doesn’t thrill some days ~ We have art so that we should not die of reality.
Plato also sets us up nicely with permission to escape this version of reality, if only for a few moments (or if, like me, you get stuck in an Instagram wormhole, for hours) by telling us: ‘Reality is created by the mind. We can change our reality by changing our mind’. In essence, use imagination and it’s possible to fantasise yourself into a completely different world for some quickly gained bliss.
Here’s three adventing exercises to evoke some bliss at anytime (because the boss rarely let’s you actually escape real work and voyaging is too expensive when you’re having a spell of frequently feeling like you need to crawl out of the bedsit in your head):
1. Invoke some alphas: Re-enter the world of a novel you love and reside in one of its settings for a while. This reality melts away for a while, letting your head enjoy some of those open-eyed relaxation brainwaves ~ the alphas. Download your go-to book on your phone so you always have a copy on you. Bookmark THAT page! ;~)
2. Take a leaf from Neitzsche and use some art: On days like these, reading can be too much of a chore. Art galleries are uncanny at having the art you need at the moment you need it. Lots of galleries are now tuned into the wellbeing aspect of art ~ ask the curator to recommend a piece to visit to help you escape into open-eyed relaxation.
3. Surf some illustrative art ~ Have the best of both other worlds and surf #illustrations or #folktaleweek via Instagram ~ find the illustrators who speak to your frustrated heart and, seriously, once you start, you’ll rendezvous back with this world in an eon’s time. Which artists and which illustrations? You’ll know them when you see them. What helps here is that the illustrations are heavily narrative and human brains are evolved to respond to stories best of all.
Get in touch, comment below and let us know how art and reading have helped you advent yourself back into your skin when you’re having one of ‘those’ days.
All our images are adventdemoi’s own or come from rawpixel.com. The choices today are illustration of moor guide from The Costume of Yorkshire (1814) by George Walker (1781-1856). Original from The New York Public Library and Famous Heroes of the Kabuki Stage Played by Frogs by Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1798-1861), a woodcut illustration of personified frogs in costume acting out scenes from Kabuki plays. Original from Library of Congress.
Advent De Moi
On the days you describe, I feel like I want to live inside a mark Ryden painting. The devil is in the detail. It’s always been fascinating to me how easily crying turns into laughter. it’s such a thin line, isn’t it? I don’t know about you, but I love it when artists leave things open to interpretation. Some people hate this and think it’s lazy or even pretentious, but I think it’s so wonderful to be able to make things and present them to people without being bossy about meaning. I love ambiguity and being able to project my own experiences and emotions onto something. The most special thing you can give yourself permission to feel is that a body of work has been created especially for you – about you. It’s so boring being told what to think and we have such a beautiful language that a word can mean something completely opposite when it is written down instead of spoken aloud. The things I do to escape my own head, I search for fully-realised worlds to live in temporarily. Listening to a record like haha sound by broadcast, looking at paintings by mark Ryden or watching a film like Harold and maude, there is such extraordinary attention to detail that you just have to leave this world behind.
Thank you for such a detailed sharing of your experiences, Jamie. We are looking Mark Ryden up now and preparing to soak up whole new worlds. I think leaving room for the audience to bring themselves to an artefact must be one of the hardest things that creators do – I know it is hard for me when I write poetry – but anyone who hangs out an experience for others to explore and say, yes, yes, I feel it there too creates a connection for us as humans. Emotional pain can be isolating and the Arts help mediate that isolation for another to know. Or art can help us run in the other direction for a while and that can be a life saver at times. Keep adventing.
They say there are as many readings as readers of art and writing. We all create our own reality. I had a look at some Mark Ryden work – what a great escape! Thank you for commenting and sharing here. Check back soon.