Best Wishes for 2011
Click on the New Year Greeting below to see the video on YouTube:
Wishing You
I hope this posting finds everyone well, safe, and hopeful for the new year of possibilities just around the corner.
"Bonsai is a direct and personal study of life. It appeals to our fascination with what is immeasurably small and inconceivable large. Through the art of bonsai, a connection is made between artist and tree, an individual and eternal nature, the infinite mind and the persistent voice of our interconnected souls. Bonsai is a small but powerful illustration and visual embodiment of many things including ecosystems, natural processes, energy exchange and work, dedication, applied knowledge, perseverance, humility, kindness, selflessness, compassion, and appreciation. Bonsai contributes to the goal of sustainable peace.
"Learning to decipher and listen to these instructions, messages, and insights through the art and practice of bonsai has been a deeply spiritual experience for me and I want to share it with you. Bonsai gave me an education. When I entered this strange and mysterious artistic phenomena I was unaware of all the rules, the history, the tradition, the undercurrents, the methods, the science, the philosophy… it became a life-seeking quest for answers. It is a fascinating journey and the purpose of this book is to ‘bring back to the tribe’ (The Writer’s Journey) some of the answers that I have found that seem to me to resound with truth.
"Ten years ago I was living in a second floor, north facing condominium near the ocean. The unit had a small balcony. After visiting a botanical garden I fell in love with a grove of ancient Gingko Trees and wondered how I could capture that moment of calm and euphoria that I felt surrounded by those majestic trees, without access to land or a garden with sufficient space to plant my own. The local nursery had a small gingko seedling with maybe 7 or 8 leaves on it planted in a bonsai pot that I immediately brought home and tried to grow… that’s how innocently it all starts. You, my dear reader, have been warned.
"Bonsai changed my life. I made every possible mistake. I read every available book. I talked to every possible ‘expert’. I suggested to my husband that I could be more successful if we just had a real yard, and if I went to Japan to study bonsai I might figure out all the little things that seemed to elude me (both of which he agreed to). In the years that followed I stumbled into a natural process of learning and subsequently learned a way to live my life through answers I would not have come to know otherwise. For example, time cannot be made to speed up so the tree will grow faster. Patience. Time passes quickly enough. Time cannot be made to slow down so the tree will die slower. Acceptance. Making a long term commitment and then sticking with it was a sound lesson for me to learn. Bonsai is a microcosmic textbook to the universe, and offers encouragement for the possibilities for the future. It illustrates that learning is a lifelong enrollment. The teacher is the student, the student is also the teacher. Equilibrium. Balance..."
Wishing You
Peace & Happiness
in 2011
I hope this posting finds everyone well, safe, and hopeful for the new year of possibilities just around the corner. * * * * * * * * * *
Here is an excerpt from the Prologue of the book I have been working
on for the past year, BONSAI TEN, which will be available in the Summer
of 2011:"Bonsai is a direct and personal study of life. It appeals to our fascination with what is immeasurably small and inconceivable large. Through the art of bonsai, a connection is made between artist and tree, an individual and eternal nature, the infinite mind and the persistent voice of our interconnected souls. Bonsai is a small but powerful illustration and visual embodiment of many things including ecosystems, natural processes, energy exchange and work, dedication, applied knowledge, perseverance, humility, kindness, selflessness, compassion, and appreciation. Bonsai contributes to the goal of sustainable peace.
"Learning to decipher and listen to these instructions, messages, and insights through the art and practice of bonsai has been a deeply spiritual experience for me and I want to share it with you. Bonsai gave me an education. When I entered this strange and mysterious artistic phenomena I was unaware of all the rules, the history, the tradition, the undercurrents, the methods, the science, the philosophy… it became a life-seeking quest for answers. It is a fascinating journey and the purpose of this book is to ‘bring back to the tribe’ (The Writer’s Journey) some of the answers that I have found that seem to me to resound with truth.
"Ten years ago I was living in a second floor, north facing condominium near the ocean. The unit had a small balcony. After visiting a botanical garden I fell in love with a grove of ancient Gingko Trees and wondered how I could capture that moment of calm and euphoria that I felt surrounded by those majestic trees, without access to land or a garden with sufficient space to plant my own. The local nursery had a small gingko seedling with maybe 7 or 8 leaves on it planted in a bonsai pot that I immediately brought home and tried to grow… that’s how innocently it all starts. You, my dear reader, have been warned.
"Bonsai changed my life. I made every possible mistake. I read every available book. I talked to every possible ‘expert’. I suggested to my husband that I could be more successful if we just had a real yard, and if I went to Japan to study bonsai I might figure out all the little things that seemed to elude me (both of which he agreed to). In the years that followed I stumbled into a natural process of learning and subsequently learned a way to live my life through answers I would not have come to know otherwise. For example, time cannot be made to speed up so the tree will grow faster. Patience. Time passes quickly enough. Time cannot be made to slow down so the tree will die slower. Acceptance. Making a long term commitment and then sticking with it was a sound lesson for me to learn. Bonsai is a microcosmic textbook to the universe, and offers encouragement for the possibilities for the future. It illustrates that learning is a lifelong enrollment. The teacher is the student, the student is also the teacher. Equilibrium. Balance..."
A very enticing post, Michelle. I'll look forward to the release of the complete book.
Best wishes for the New Year.
Reply to this