Creating a Living Mythology

Doing Art takes us to the Immense fertility of the Dream World

Doing this latest assignment for my online painting class, is like a seeing a Journey to the Other Side. The layers of reality we actually live in, but don’t usually pay attention to, are brought together in a real hands on way. Echoes of ancestors, animals, wild forgotten lands, ancient seas, touch something deep in the dream memory, a land older than dreams. Art takes us back to ancient rhythms and connects us to the totem builders, cave painters, and stone carvers. It’s a larger, timeless dimension that we can return to whenever we choose.

Shamans call these soul memories, or retrieving parts of the soul we have lost along the way in our modern society. But even today, the things we truly value, the experiences with meaning, enter into the realm of the mythic and transcendental. Whenever we do something creative, make something new, travel out of the city and back into nature, even if it’s just the forest preserves, feels like an adventure. As we connect more with nature and animals, we break out of our cubicles of work, routine, and habit.

Nature draws us in to the violence of wind, storms, blizzards, and baking heat, where it can’t be ignored. These are places that make us stop in our tracks, and if we’re experienced with life in the least, we rearrange our lives, our usual ‘things to do’, and pay attention to what is happening around us. When it all comes down to it, we are intricately bound to the earth, where surviving with dignity is all important. And we’re all on this journey together.

I believe we create our own living mythology by living in mindfulness. Being more aware of life, of our own reactions to others, of what makes us happy or angry, puts us back in creating Our Big Mythic Story, the Big Picture, that is our life. Whatever you are fighting, becomes your life. Delete the drama, the fight, and instead embrace your self without judgement. Love your flaws, your talents, your choices, your emotions, happy or sad, sink deeply into the human experience, and learn about yourself on your Hero’s Journey.