July 18, 2006
Bit of a Scare
Had a bit of a scare today. The electricity went off in a machine somewhere in the subterranean bowels of the organization that that brings all of us here at Dakota into your personal computer, and almost erased everything. A lesson in being conscientious about backup , I suppose.
I thought about Teju Cole (aka Abdul-Walid of Acerbia) who has removed most of his eloquent essays from cyberspace, and Arthur Silber, who almost did the same. Intentional deletion. Gee Whiz. I do hope it is because they have both received book contracts.
As Esther Hicks, channeling Abraham, ever the optimist, said (and I paraphrase) to an artist who was devastated because she lost all of her work when her car was stolen ---Your work isn't you. It is a manifestation of your creation in a particular time and space. You are now who you have become from participating in the process of creating. Whatever you manifest next will reflect that which you have become, and it will be even more wonderful because you have been practicing intentional creation for some time. You have never before created from the place of who you are now.
That just reminded me of an artist acquaintance who, when asked how long it took her to paint a particular picture. said "Forty seven years"-- her chronological age..
Although I would be sad to loose my archives because they trace my developmental path, from a terrified wreck of a being who had always been negatively scrutinized, and projected those critical eyes out onto all the world, to a rather surprised narcissist, who realized that the world hardly notices what she's doing, to a more or less adult person who has found a voice, and likes going on (and on) about what she sees. I'd still do that, even if I were erased.
Photo note: A Fourth of July leftover found lying on the street, looking rather frightened. One in the collection of the exploded fireworks series.
Posted by Dakota at July 18, 2006 07:50 PM