The Revolution will be Subtle

One of my favorite interpretations of an Artist is that an Artist is someone who sees things that other people don’t see, and shows it to them.

I first heard that framework in a film years ago and it resonated with me immediately because it spoke to the love of the Artist and the power of creation.

Over the years I’ve come to conclude that the gate-keeping around who qualifies as a “real’ Artist, or a “good-enough” Artist is all part of the scam.

Think about it; who does it benefit to turn Artistry itself into an exclusive enterprise rather than a source of shared knowing. Think of all the visions that die before they can establish their roots in the ground. Why? Because of the stories we’ve been told to believe about ourselves.

What if Artistry, if creativity and the ability to create life, is actually our sacred birth right. What if there is something in the chaos of creating that helps us to not only to meet ourselves, but to make ourselves into who we truly are. What if there is something to this wilderness that not only asks us to shed the stories of our limitations but to write the epics of our truths.

To me, Creating is a practice of love and Revolution because in creating we all meet as equals. When we leave the subjective behind for the true we come to discover that everybody has the power to create life. Everybody has the power to make choices, to relate to things, to respond to things, to make meaning of things and to use what they’ve found to impact the life that surrounds us.

We all have the power to see things, and to show others what we have seen; to share our shifts in consciousness.

In these moments of quiet fulfillment, I think we stumble upon something of a Revolution.

But what I’m referring to isn’t The Revolution as advertised. It’s not fueled by violence, or conflict, or domination. It’s not rooted in a trauma response or a conditioned response or a need to have our worth externally validated. It creates more space not less. It seeks love in the presence of scarcity. It asks “why?” in a world that discourages it.

The Revolution that I’m referring to is the kind orchestrated in the unseen subtle realms where reality takes form. It’s those moments where unconscious assumptions are acknowledged; so that perceptions may shift. I think those shifts are revolutionary, because they form the very ground upon which new choices can be made. How we see the world determines how we engage with the world. How we see ourselves determines what we believe to be possible. What we believe to be possible informs everything that comes next. To me? That’s the fucking Revolution.

And that’s what this series sets out to explore.

Subtle Revolutions is a multi-media digital experience that reflects my shifts in consciousness while offering insight into the world as I’ve come to see it. Each exhibit is owed to the experiences that I’ve had, the questions that they’ve prompted, and the art that resulted. These poems, videos, songs, lyrics, essays and paintings reflect the transformations that have brought me here. These pieces mark the moments, where I found something of a Revolution.

This is an active, and ongoing, series. Check back, or sign up to my mailing list, to keep posted on upcoming exhibits.