Aesthetic Space

Thank you, James Hillman, for Letting the World In

Creativity requires that we listen and notice: What is moving me? What is touching my heart? The process of discovering what we love is about letting the world in. We need to be open to it, see it, feel it, and experience it. The psychologist James Hillman passed away today. Here's something he wrote that has always inspired me:

The world “doesn’t consist of merely objects and things; it is filled with useful, playful, and intriguing opportunities: The oriole doesn’t see a branch, but an occasion for perching; the cat doesn’t see a thing we call an empty box, it sees safe hiding for peering. The bear doesn’t smell honeycomb, but the opportunity for delicious feeding. The world is buzzing and blooming with information, which is always available and never absent." (from The Soul's Code)

Hillman invites us to move out of our “psychological” homes—the house of our parents, and take a leap out into the home of the world. There we find our inspirations. We let the world in, and we discover what moves our hearts. Thank you, James Hillman.

~The above was excerpted from Getting Messy: Taking Risks and Opening the Imagination by Kim Hermanson

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Steve Jobs: "Art and beauty really do matter"

In the recent edition of Rolling Stone, editor Jann Wenner writes of Steve Jobs: "He knew in his soul that how a thing looked and felt was part of the inherent truth and importance and honesty of the thing itself... [he believed] that art and beauty really do matter, and that people will respond to them if they are offered."

In the article, Jobs says that he believed that the "consumer would respect a strong aesthetic point of view, even if it wasn't what they were asking for." The only college course that Jobs mentions as important is a calligraphy class, which taught him about aesthetics and beauty.

Perhaps a love of art and beauty is fundamental for any kind of revolution... Perhaps it's the foundation for change.

Spending a lifetime developing one idea...and making it breathe

Matisse, "The Fall of Icarus"

The artist has but one idea
he is born with it and spends a lifetime developing it
and making it breathe.
--Henri Matisse

Perhaps all of us spend a lifetime working a single idea, whether we're conscious of it or not. Perhaps the dreams and images that continually speak to us are part of that hazy idea that tugs at us when we have a pause. And perhaps working this idea, even if we are uncertain about it, is our gift to the world. Stanley Kunitz said that poets do this--poets work the same key image over and over again in their writings, and at some level, we are all artists and poets. We are all working the images that speak to us.

The source of the imagination (what makes us uniquely human) is an unconscious metaphoric process

...and another reason to attend my upcoming workshop on metaphor at Book Passage.

http://bookpassage.com/event/class-kim-hermanson-metaphor-everyday-life

God is unknowable. All we have is metaphor.

Linda Pettway quilt

The same could be said for knowing anything of any depth or complexity ... our universe, each other, or how to navigate through a turbulent situation. The metaphors that we hold are what enable us to construct meaning and find our way. Metaphor is much more than a tool of language--it's how we make sense of the world. It's how we learn.

We'll be exploring metaphor at my upcoming one-day workshop at Book Passage. Our means of exploration with be writing and image. I hope you'll join us.

METAPHOR IN EVERYDAY LIFE workshop
Book Passage, Corte Madera
Sunday November 13th
10 am - 4 pm

To sign up: http://bookpassage.com/event/class-kim-hermanson-metaphor-everyday-life