IMAGINING

Photo by Diana Turner-Forte

A decade ago I couldn’t have imagined being in a luxurious dance studio with walls painted a variant of green where people visit and dwelling in the sensation of calmness sigh deeply. A surround sound stereo system, with wood storage cubicles to hold belongings were perks given by a wise investor. I insisted on floor to ceiling mirrors and the assurance of a sprung hardwood floor for safety, before I recognized the possibility of the space being a place where I would regularly dwell as an artist. A wall of windows luminates the space with natural light. At the same time the studio holds an ambience of reverence and creativity. It’s a place I can invite others both dancers and non-dancers to explore inner peace through movement and delight in joy—a joy that constantly needs to be refueled.

So a few months ago when my haven of creativity was interrupted by outside noise, the jarring sound of jackhammers breaking up concrete — foreseeing a total re-construction of the outdoor landscape — I was filled with anticipation. A visual transformation was occurring and it was amazing. The mixing and pouring of concrete and digging holes for new plants and underground pipes was an evolution..

In a short time, the landscape was remade into an unimaginable oasis of beauty — and the best part was the view was just outside my studio windows. From boulders spouting water onto rocks, globes of light and color placed at various spots on the ground and an occasional tiny red flower peeking out of pockets of greenery with more to come in the upcoming seasons was stimulating. A simple circular path moves around the centerpiece, a windmill, made of steel with variously sized oblong pieces on a rod creating a vertical vortex upward in response to wind.

Without the twists, curves, ins, and outs found in traditional labyrinths, traveling a circle round and round is mesmerizing and liberating in its own right. The distractions in this labyrinth are signals perhaps of being present to this side of reality. Other pieces of art, a steel rod of silhouetted butterflies, colorful bell-shaped pieces on a rod, add even more color making the space genuinely unique. Benches on which to sit and breathe are not mere additions. Again, they are strategically placed allowing one to fully embrace the sensual and kinesthetic celebration of life and vitality.

Just think in just a few weeks, a barren space was transformed into a place of prayer, relaxation, and contemplative silence. I never would have imagined so much grace and beauty could emerge from a free-flowing and spacious imagination.

But we do the free-flowing, unregulated imaging all the time—we dream with little specificity! With our intellectualism we create destruction and mayhem as easily as we breathe. But, there must be a balance that includes heart and soul for life to flow like the water flowing out of the boulders onto stones of this newly created space. Perhaps, that is why since I’ve been journeying around the labyrinth at Monarch Creative Arts and Community Center, the words of Rachel Carson have taken prominence in my musings.

Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure so long as life lasts. There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature —that assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after winter.

Imagine what we could create by raising our consciousness to higher levels and vibrating in the frequency of love more consistently. Believe it or not from such small happenings, great things can emerge.

The part of me that thinks that harmony between human beings and nature is decades away is fallacious. I now recognize that humanity has the capacity now for immense change, we are the ones to come alive with a freshness of spirit, to lean into a deeper inclination toward the common good and beauty. We are the couriers of love toward all of our neighbors!

To neutralize the noise and dwell in silence periodically is a choice. It’s where the imagination takes flight!