Monthly Archive for August, 2010

Art of Happiness

Published on August 30, 2010 in art, coaching and NLP. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

Michele Benzamin-Miki drawingI awoke – my right arm stretched out – my hand open – fingers reaching for something directly in front of me; I was sitting up in bed – moving seamlessly out of my dream – in the place where I left it …

The transition from dream state to awake state was so natural.

The momentum of the dream continued as  I remembered that I was reaching for something before I woke up. It was a purple sphere about the size of a soft ball. In the dream it symbolized the earth, and I knew that if I touched it – it would open up like a flower!

This dream left me in a state of great happiness …

I got out of bed – I knew exactly what  the day would bring – a chance at winning a large sum of money from a sweep-stake drawing I entered back in March of 2010.  I was curious and yes excited about what was going to happen…

I did not win the grand prize – but the lesson I learned at the end of the day was priceless.

This dream woke me up to a simple but important learning -  It is a great thing to have something(s) to be happy about.

There is this saying I learned in my Zen practice “There is no way to Happiness – Happiness is the way” and I would paraphrase that “Foster and nurture your happiness, for it lives as you live”

My art is so intertwined with my other arts. My teaching meditation, martial arts,  the coaching in NLP, hypnosis, and my spiritual paths – make me whole and congruent – and therefore sustain and protect the happiness that is inside me.

The Drawing above is titled “Within – Reach” and is from the Series of artwork  titled “Creating Out of Boxes” – a work in progress …

The dream emerges as we emerge from the dream…

Published on August 15, 2010 in art and coaching. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , .

Have you ever felt in that moment upon waking from a dream, that you were aware of some clear message that surfaced along with you. It is as if the time was right for you to hear something, that was once kept under lock and key deep inside you.

I live near the southern tip of California, and it can be hot at least 4 months out of the year. I live in a chaparral, low-line forest, at the bottom of a mountain in a small canyon verging on grassland that was once prairie land. The trees here reflect the dry climate, growing mostly underground with large tap roots in order to find the resources of water available deep in the ground below.  One of the most beloved chaparral trees in these forests is the Manzanita tree; it’s fire red bark is smooth, and the lime green leaves turn on edge as they follow the sun. The seed’s of the Manzanita crack open and germinate only when there is a great force of heat, like fire or lightening strikes. Many of the plants in this magical environment are on a burn cycle of between 25 – 100 years. After a fire, these beautiful plants, trees, and flowers rise up out of the ashes and display themselves fully, like out of a ‘seemingly’ long sleep…

The picture above is a drawing – Graphite on Board and is from my series of Art titled “Creating out of boxes” and it is called “Out of the dream”

Art is a Process

Published on August 7, 2010 in art and coaching. 1 Comment Tags: , , , , , , , , , .

The mind creates constantly from the material that comes in through our senses. The act of creating makes visible, what is not yet visible, or even imagined yet – by us.

Creativity implies using the imagination. That means going outside the boundaries of what we already know.

For the last 5 or more years I have had an idea for a series of images involving boxes and people. I made numerous small sketches, and put these away (in a box), only to look upon them on occasion, and put them away again and again, until it was time, for them to come out of the box.

So what have I been waiting for? Here is the first piece – affectionately titled ” Hesitation.”