Life is a succession of moments.

To live each one is to succeed” [Corita Kent].

Of all the great inventions that I have available to me — the computer, Internet, air bags, electricity, automobiles — one that ranks near the top of my “favorites list” (and I am a bit hesitant to admit this) is the snooze button.

That’s right!  That marvel of all marvels that allows you to set your alarm with the best of intentions the night before, and then ignore it in nine-minute intervals the next morning.  Oh, the joy!

Yes, I realize I need to stop sleeping, get out of bed, begin the next segment of my life, move to the starting line, face the day, but right now — the blankets are warm . . . and the bed is comfortable . .  and my eyes are heavy . .  and I am tired . . . and I want more of what I already have.

Can you remind me again in about nine minutes?
Thank you, Mr. Alarm Clock!

And — just like that — I put my life on hold.

I miss so many things when I’m content with –
playing Nintendo standing in the middle of the Grand Canyon,
or eating candy sittin’ at a gourmet feast,
or wading in a puddle when I could be swimming in the ocean,
(or hitting the snooze when I could be living my life)*,
I know the time has come for me to wake up!

From Steven Curtis Chapman’s song, See the Glory
*Italics are mine.

Take a look around. Your life is idling, waiting for you to wake up and start getting started. Stop pressing the snooze button, get off the bench and jump in the game.

Or, you can stay in bed, playing Nintendo, eating candy, waiting for your life to start at some undetermined point in the distant future.

The time to live your life is NOW. Not nine minutes from now.

“If you want to make your dreams come true, the first thing you have to do is wake up” [J.M. Power].

Whatever you are, wake up and be a good one!

Deanna

Corita Kent
Life is a succession of moments. To live each one is to succeed.

Life is a succession of moments. To live each one is to succeed
-Corita Kent

SISTER MARY CORITA KENT came to my attention in Boston last week while I was browsing monographs on artists and designers in Brattle Book Shop. I picked up a large format book in a black binding with a beautiful white signature, “Corita.” Born 1918, in Fort Dodge, Iowa; Frances Kent moved to Vancouver in 1920 and Los Angeles in 1922. Entering the Sisters of Immaculate Heart of Mary in 1936 as Sister Mary Corita, she attended Immaculate Heart College, and received her Masters Degree in Art History from the University of Southern California in 1951. Sister Corita taught art and was Chair at Immaculate Heart College until 1968. She left the Order in 1968 and moved to Boston to practice as a designer and artist. A lifelong social activist, Mary Kent developed a loyal following of luminaries such as, Buckminster Fuller, Charles and Ray Eames, Ben Shahn, and Daniel and Philip Berrigan. Buckminster Fuller described his visit to her classes as “among the most fundamentally inspiring experiences of my life.” On Sept. 18, 1986 Corita finally lost her battle with cancer and died in her own home. Visit The Corita Art Center online. I’m saddened that I looked at her only briefly many years ago but gratified about my discovery of this beautiful monograph. I also discovered a book by Sister Mary Corita and just placed the order. Learning by Heart: Teachings to Free the Creative Spirit.

Today’s thought:

“Love the moment. Flowers grow out of dark moments. Therefore, each moment is vital. It affects the whole. Life is a succession of such moments and to live each, is to succeed.”

~ Corita Kent

However, there is a possible casuality in our undying drive towards those goals and dreams. That casuality is NOW. We can become so determined to reach some future finish line that NOW becomes nothing more than an expendable commodity to be consumed in that pursuit.

We begin to think that we can sacrifice NOW in the pursuit of this gigantic future we are planning. To some extent, we do have to use NOW as a stepping stone towards our desired accomplishments. If we don’t align our thinking and actions with our goals and dreams in the NOW, we will never achieve them.

We just need to be careful not to discount NOW. NOW is a beautiful place in its own right and, as many wise people have pointed out, it’s all we truly have.

The prolific and award-winning American author Ursula K. LeGuin once said, “It is good to have an end to journey towards, but it is the journey that matters in the end.”

The journey is NOW. That’s all the “fly over country” you are covering on your way to your goal or dream. The problem is that NOW is more than merely “fly over country”. It’s the time you sacrifice with family. It’s the opportunities you miss to stop and smell the proverbial flowers. It’s even taking a moment to stop and enjoy the milestones you reach on your way to the big goal.

Don’t forget do enjoy NOW! Your goal or dream will be hollow when you get there, if you have sacrificed too much for it. It’s not an either/or choice. You can enjoy NOW and still be driven to summit your Everest.

Radio personality Casey Kasem has for years ended his broadcasts with the aphorism, “Keep your feet on the ground (NOW) and keep reaching for the stars(your dreams and goals).”

It’s good advice for us all as we walk the road to our personal promise land.

Stay inspired!

Ray

THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

Suffering is the crucible in which the character is burnished.
Taken from “FLASHES OF LIGHT” by
Randall Butisingh

SUFFERING QUOTATIONS

ABRAHAM JOSHUA HESCHEL
A religious man is one who holds God and man in one thought at one time, at all times, who suffers harm done to others, whose greatest passion is compassion, whose greatest strength is love, and defiance of despair.
New York Journal American, April 5, 1963

ALBERT CAMUS
In the depth of winter, I finally learned that that there was within me an invincible summer.

ALDOUS HUXLEY
At least two thirds of our miseries spring from human stupidity, human malice and those great motivators and justifiers of malice and stupidity, idealism, dogmatism and proselytizing zeal on behalf of religious or political idols..

CORITA KENT
Love the moment. Flowers grow out of dark moments. Therefore each moment is vital. It affects the whole. Life is a succession of such moments and to live each is to succeed

Habt ihr euch eigentlich schon mal gefragt, was Nonnen so alles in ihren heiligen Klöstern treiben? Nun, offensichtlich schwingen sie dort die Pinsel. Zumindest trifft das im Falle von Schwester Corita zu, die zu ihrer Zeit soetwas wie der Andy Warhol der katholischen Kirche war. Ab Freitag könnt ihr ihre Kunst und Fotos von ihrem Schaffen bei der Ausstellung “Passion For The Possible” in der CircleCulture Galerie bewundern. Lest weiter um mehr über Corita, ihre Werke und die Ausstellung zu erfahren.

“Corita Kent war Künstlerin, Dozentin, Philosophin, politische Aktivistin und wahrscheinlich eine der innovativsten und ungewöhnlichsten Pop Artists der 1960er Jahre. Noch erstaunlicher ist wohl die Tatsache, dass sie eine katholische Nonne war.

Als eigenwillige Leiterin des ‘California Immaqulate Heart Art Deparment’ machte sie das Lehren und Produzieren von Kunst zum Zentrum ihres professionellen Lebens.

Mit einer Vorliebe für die Siebdrucktechnik begann Sister Corita 1962 popkulturelle Symboliken, archetypische amerikanische Konsumgüter, Leuchtreklamen und Zeitungsausrisse zu verarbeiten. Diesen strukturellen Kernelementen ihrer Arbeit fügte sie spirituelle Texte, Song-Lyriken sowie literarische Texte hinzu. Sie kann als die positive West Coast-Antwort zu Andy Warhol gesehen werden – wahrscheinlich schon vor seiner Zeit.

Mit dem Ruhm eröffnete sich der Zugang zu prominenten Zeitgenossen, die bei ihren Seminaren Lesungen hielten. Zu den illustren Rednern gehörten Visionäre wie die Designer Charles und Ray Eames, der Musiker John Cage, der Grafikdesigner Saul Bass und der Filmregisseur Alfred Hitchcock. Coritas rebellische und unkonventionelle Darstellung Amerikas bedeutender Wandlungsphase und des unsicheren politischen Klimas in den 1960ern echauffierte so manche konservativen Kirchenoberhäupter. Sie wurde als ‘guerilla with a brush’ tituliert und verließ 1969 den Orden.

In den 1970ern lebte Corita zurückgezogen und ganz fokussiert auf ihre Kunst. Bald wurde Krebs mit einer Lebenserwartung von noch sechs Monaten diagnostiziert. Hier begann eine hochproduktive Phase, in der sie mehrere hundert Serigrafie-Entwürfe für Poster, Buchumbände und Wandmalereien produzierte. In dieser Zeit entwarf sie auch die ‘Love-Briefmarke’, die statistisch gesehen die am besten verkaufte aller Zeiten ist. Corita erlag dem Krebs und starb sieben Jahre später.”

Ein großer Band mit Corita Kents Arbeiten ‘Come Alive! The Spirited Art of Sister Corita’ von Julie Ault wurde bei Four Corners Books veröffentlicht. Per Klick auf das Cover unten könnt ihr ihn bestellen.

Passion For The Possible

kuratiert von Aaron Rose

Vernissage: 28. Februar 2008, 19 Uhr

Ausstellung: 29. Februar – Mai 2008, montags – samstags, 13 bis 18 Uhr

Circleculture Gallery

Gipsstrasse 11

10119 Berlin

ww.circleculture-gallery.com