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Friday, December 26, 2014

Speed

We do not even realize that since the Earth's creation we have been spinning, wobbling and traveling at incredible speeds towards an unknown destination in a kind of cosmic merry-go-round on a spaceship called "Mother Earth".



























Therefore, why are we not sick of dizziness? Why do we feel that we are at rest when we sit or lie down? Why do we feel still when we are in quiet meditation or sleeping at night, when in fact we are continuously spinning and traveling at incredible speeds through the universe?


Copyright © Edvard Munch, "The Scream" from: https://manifoldheightsartshow.wordpress.com/artists/edvard-munch/



First Speed

We are at this very moment spinning with the Earth as she rotates around its axis. When we face the sun, we feel awakened by the warm solar rays embracing us. When we face darkness, we feel dormant while we are bathed by the mysterious moonlight and stars. We are doing all this while the Earth spins at more than 1,000 miles/hr (1,670 kilometers/hr) at the Equator!




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Second Speed

In order to experience the four seasons of a year, we Earthlings are rotating at an inclined angle around the sun. When our hemisphere is tilted away from the sun we experience the coldness of winter and when we are tilted toward the sun we enjoy the radiance of summer. This happens while Earth moves around the Sun at 67,062 miles per hour (107,300 kilometers per hour)!



Copyright © 2014 theextinctionprotocol.wordpress.com










Third Speed

Then, our Earth and the entire planetary system - from Mercury to Uranus -  and with our Sun as the center, rotates around the Milky Way galaxy at a speed of about 446,000 Miles per hour (718,000 kilometers per hour)!

Our Solar System is also moving upwards within our Milky Way galaxy at approximately 15,000 mph (24,000 kph), and at the same time outward toward the constellation Hercules at about 43,000 mph (69,000 kph)!




Copyright © 2014 NASA- John Lombert










Four Speed

Our Milky Way Galaxy is a giant pinwheel. This pinwheel -with us in one tiny spot of one of its arms- is hurtling through space at about 1,340,000 mph (2,144,000 kph)! 



Copyright ©2014 NASA.gov.





There we go! When we think we are at rest, we are wrong. We are right now on our tiny blue spaceship moving at almost 2 million miles per hour!




Copyright ©2014 Nancy Barra, "Flying with Earth", Mixed media.



Infinite Speed?

The Milky Way -according to what science has been able to see and measure in the Cosmos so far- is just one tiny pinwheel among billions of others, inside a universe spinning and racing towards what some call the Great Attractor. Imagination is bliss!




Copyright © 2014 Nancy Barra, "Viajando en un rayo de luz", Pastel on La Carte Pastel paper, 12" by 15.3/4" de:Nancy Barra Contemporary Art/Arte Contemporáneo



According to astronomers we are accelerating, traveling at faster and faster speeds. Maybe at one point of our journey, we could be even traveling on a light beam, just like Albert Einstein imagined himself riding when he thought about his theory of relativity. It is a nice thought to become a light ray, a spark of light crossing infinity, where time and space lose meaning.



Are we just experiencing all these speeds in a very slow motion so we can enjoy the ride and appreciate all the beauty that Earth is surrounding us with? Wise people say that they only know that they do not know anything. Perhaps only our imagination can approach some kind of understanding of what it is all about. Maybe our imagination and heart are the key to understanding it all. 



Copyright ©2014 Nancy Barra, "La Pachamama de Elqui", Oil on canvas, 33.3/4" x 23.1/2" from:Nancy BarraContemporary Art/Arte Contemporáneo.




I do not know if this lady of the night is harvesting stars or seeding the sky with new stars in the mountains of the Elqui Valley of Chile. I do not know either if the water came from the depth of the mountains of just directly from the sky. I just see the woman as the spirit of a kind and generous person who feels at peace in nature. It reminds me of the Pachamama, which is the name that indigenous people in South America have given to Mother Earth. 


Copyright ©2014 Nancy Barra, "La Pachamama", acrylic on canvas, 16" x 12" from: Nancy BarraContemporary Art/Arte Contemporáneo.









We can imagine Pachamama cradling all of us in her loving arms during the night, while we travel with her toward infinity. We are her scared, ungrateful and, at times violent, cruel and incredibly stubborn children. I do not know why she insists on loving us but Pachamama has faith in us. She sees our potential for goodness. We can imagine ourselves in her cosmic arms, feeling loved and protected and we can finally immerse ourselves in our nightly dreams. It is such a comforting thought!...especially, when we realize how incredibly fast are we traveling right now towards, who knows where!

                      Happy Holidays to all!


                                     and 


            a New Year 2015 full of Peace and Love!

  



Tuesday, October 14, 2014

Trees


Nature is the best source of wisdom we have available for free. Trees are one of the best examples of that. Trees grow roots in a place that is favorable to their existence. They ground themselves first by growing their roots and once they feel sustained and secure, their trunk and branches reach toward the sky.


Copyright © 2014 Green2 to a Higher Power in: http://truegreen2.com/wp/its-all-about-trees/; picture:tree-free-paper-899x1024.jpg 


Some grow very fast but do not last very long. They provide the necessary wood to heat many meals, warm cold hands or build houses. They join the recycling process of nature with a Zen approach.

Copyright © 2014 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/If_a_tree_falls_in_a_forest,Photo: 220px-Fallen-tree2.jpg

Other trees grow slowly and steadily and can live hundreds of years. Ancient trees are considered sacred by many indigenous people around the world… 


Copyright © 2014 Catkin Press !CONIic tree trail - Part 1, "Mature Alerce Growing in Chile" in:http://www.catkinpress.com/iconic/iconic-tree-trail-part-1/


... unless we, the “modern humans”, interrupt their millenary life process for the sake of our convenience.


Copyright © 2014  http://galleryhip.com/rainforest-destruction-before-and-after.html; Photo: yltA0PDoTDTZ4lOfk0Am3CjzbkF.jpeg

























Trees are generous. They just need some water and sun to provide us with delicious fruit. Even when they are young and fragile, they announce the promise of their gifts. 

Copyright © 2013  Nancy Barra  "Orange Promises", Elqui Valley, Chile.

Trees hold in their trunks and leaves the medicinal solution to many ailments, which unfortunately have been exploited for excessive profit by pharmaceutical corporations or cleared altogether to make way for livestock production.


 Copyright © 2011http://www.forestjustice.org/our-issues/deforestation/cattle/


Trees teach us about the value of community and sharing in life. A forest is a conglomeration of trees shooting to the sky but what we do not see is the intertwined network of roots that connect each of them to an unbreakable underground fabric of life.

Through their connected roots, they share water and nutrients and provide the right environment for many other creatures that live underground. The forest is an unified organism stronger than each individual tree.  


Copyright © 2011 Raven Wood Forest, "Trees and Roots" in: http://ravenwoodforest.blogspot.com/2011_07_01_archive.html


We need to create a human forest all around this planet, in order to make decisions that take the side of life and joy and not one of destruction and grief. 




Pic courtesy:all-wallpapers.net


Like the trees, we need to accept the fact that we are part of something bigger than us as individuals. 

Experiencing this journey and accepting the universal recycling process, we will always be part of all what has been, is and will be.



Copyright ©  2014  Green 2. Green to a Higher Power in: http://truegreen2.com/wp/its-all-about-trees/




Thursday, September 11, 2014

Escapes

In the present state of turmoil and violence among human beings around the world, it is understandable that we tend to escape. The escape I am talking about is not  to run away from the world. 

It is a spiritual and emotional search. It is a preparation to overcome our fears and reconnect with our humanity. 

We need to search for a moment of balance and internal harmony so we do not get contaminated with hatred and the feeling of impotence. As simple and idealistic as it may sound, we need to repel with calm, love and determination the negative energy that seems to be inundating our planet. This is our prerogative and our real power, and nobody can take it away from us. 

Copyright © 2014, vuarong_1987, 02-19-2014,   "Nuclear Explosion on Earth", wallpaper, at Desk Top Wallpaper 4 Me.





















She and her sisters went to sit on the rocks far away from the crowd. They wanted to have a moment of peace and silence by the ocean. They needed it so they could continue facing the daily challenges of life without a sense of defeat and impotence. However, someone suddenly came and started taking pictures close to them. The moment was broken but for just an instant. She decided to turn her back on him and vanish with her sisters in the immensity of the sea.

Copyright © Nancy Barra, "Interrupted"Oil on canvas 28" x 22, from:Nancy BarraContemporary Art/Arte Contemporáneo 


























She was reading the news and the horror of the images of war hit her right in her heart. She began to cry, then she prayed in her own way for the innocent lives lost to incomprehensible wars and geopolitical reasons. She could just think about one thing: to escape to the ocean with her guitar. She sat down on a rock and began to play. It was a song about hope, love and solidarity. Her musical sounds melted in the air and traveled on the ocean breeze, reaching around the globe. At the same moment, many people suffering in Palestine, Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Lybia, Russia and Ukraine felt a warm feeling in their hearts. We should not underestimate the power of music and love.

Copyright © 2013, Nancy Barra, "Guitar Solo",Pastel over watercolor, 12" x 20",from:Nancy BarraContemporary Art/Arte Contemporáneo 

She was a mother of children who lived in a war zone. She does not understand the reasons for war and why her innocent children were victims of this violent human act. Like every loving mother, she wanted the best for her children: a home, enough to eat, access to good education and health, joy and peace. But her children were at the wrong place and time and she could not protect them. Now she is a broken soul. However in her deepest sorrow, she decided to treat with tenderness the loving memories of her children as the petals of the roses she is holding.


Copyright © 2010 Nancy Barra "The Grieving Mother", clay sculpture, 10" x 5", from:Nancy BarraContemporary Art/Arte Contemporáneo 






























As she stood alone on the shore, she reflected: "escape is not a way for me to avoid the world but to find a place where I can prepare myself to critically understand it and change it to a more natural loving state". Suddenly, she had a powerful epiphany. She realized that happiness of others was also her own. Her tears were shared as well as her hope for a loving and joyful future with others. She knew that she will never feel fearful and alone again. This was all the power she needed. 

Copyright © 2010 Nancy Barra, "Epiphany", Pastel on paper, 18.5" x 14.5",from:Nancy BarraContemporary Art/Arte Contemporáneo 































Saturday, August 2, 2014

Stairs

Stairs are artifacts that give us the impression we can overcome gravity. Stairs require us to have motivation, strength and a real purpose why we want to climb them. They are a symbol of life.

There are all types of stairs. For example, we have the ones that allow us to get to our homes in a colorful mood. The higher we climb, the better the view.


Copyright © 2014 Eduardo Sanzana, "Climbing the Colors", Valparaíso, Chile.



She faced the old gate leading to the stairs. She could feel the sound of the past. The Gardel's tango surfacing from an accordion made her melancholic. She imagined young women holding their long skirts while climbing the stairs. She could almost hear the clacking of their boots against the stone steps. It is 1927 and facing these stairs, she felt like an intruder from the future.


Copyright © 2014 Eduardo Sanzana, "Stairs to the Past", Valparaíso, Chile.



Santiago, the Capital of Chile, has a surrealistic old mountain in the center of downtown right between the skycrapers. Around this mountain, the Spanish conquerors founded the city of Santiago. For the Santiaguinos it is just a place to take a break after lunch in the old stone stairs...

Copyright © 2010 Nancy Barra, "Lunch Break", Cerro Santa Lucia, Santiago, Chile.


...or to kiss before going back to work...


Copyright © 2010 Nancy Barra "Lovers of Cerro Santa Lucía", Santiago, Chile.


Sometimes, we are too busy climbing towards a destination and we do not even realize the people who pass by us going down. Perhaps these people are in pain or distressed and they could appreciate our sympathy. Perhaps, the climbing was not what they dreamed and they return to firm land feeling lonely, sad and defeated. If we see them and pretend to ignore them, we excuse our indifference out of "respect for their privacy". Perhaps, this person going down needs to be consoled. However, we continue focused climbing towards, where? ... why?













Copyright 2014 Nancy Barra, "Stair of Indifference". Plaza Pisco Elqui, Chile.

It was a sunny day on the beach and while she was walking on the wharf, a young woman passed her by. "Why was she crying? What could have made her so sad?" she asked. Then, pretending to ignore her, she said to herself: "Well, it is not my problem" and continued walking towards the end of the dwarf as she intended.


Copyright © 2014 Nancy Barra, "Ocean Indifference", Oil on canvas 10" x 8.5", from:Nancy BarraContemporary Art/Arte Contemporáneo

Then, we have the "corporate ladder" that promises success, power and unlimited  stress to the climbers. He was so determined to climb it as high and fast as he could that he did not even realize that he missed a step and... Ooops! He fell down. Gravity won. Perhaps the "corporate ladder" was ill conceived. Yes, it was crooked to begin with.


Copyright © 2014 Nancy Barra, "The Crooked Corporate Ladder", Acrylic and Mixed media:bamboo,wood and strings,16" x 20", from:Nancy BarraContemporary Art/Arte Contemporáneo


Stone stairs in nature do not urge us to climb fast. They are the opposite of "corporate ladders". They invite us to go slowly, enjoy the surrounding and feel their uneven texture with our feet. They always lead us to a calm space, where we can just be, even if we go up or down.

Copyright © 2010 Nancy Barra, "Stairs to the Maya Garden", Montegrande, Chile.




























Fortunately, as we get older and wiser, we realize that to continue climbing up does not make any sense, especially if the steps do not get us anywhere and our legs tremble by the effort. So we pause, sit down on the steps and enjoy the moment. We have finally arrived.


Copyright © 2014 Nancy Barra, "Ocean Bliss", Oil on canvas 

10" x 8.5", from: Nancy BarraContemporary Art/Arte Contemporáneo