The Academy of European Arts and Culture

Monday, March 28, 2016

What Am I?

With all these many-faced I's and we's,

what sort of "I" am I?

Listen, take your hand off my mouth

and let me rave.

I'm already lost.

Don't lay shattered glass in my path;

I'll crush whatever's in my way.

With every breath my heart

is stupefied by the vision of You.

If You're happy, I'll be happy;

if You're sad, I'll be sad too.

If You're bitter, I'll be embittered;

if You're tender, I'll be tender as well.

My only joy is to be with You,

close to Your sweet lips and delicate chin, Beloved.

Everything depends on You. Who am I?

Just a mirror in Your hand.

Whatever You reveal, that's what I am.

I'm just a polished mirror.

If You're a graceful cypress,

I'm Your shadow;

and when you're a flower,

like your shadow, I'll pitch my tent nearby.

If I pluck a flower without You,

it becomes a thorn in my hand,

and if I'm a thorn,

with You I become roses and jasmine.

Moment by Moment my heart

sheds tears of blood; then with a sudden breath

I smash my glass

at the door of the wine server.

If ever I try to reach for some idol,

I get my face scratched, my shirt torn.

For somewhere beyond myself

grace radiates into my heart.

Somewhere a Candle illumines this whole world.

Who am I? Just the candlestick holder.

Divani Shamsi Tabrizi 1397

Friday, March 25, 2016

In the Difficult Process...

Astarte Syriaca Rossetti

In the difficult process of learning to see ourselves,

we can use our evolving understanding

of our features as a vehicle for great growth.

Wednesday, March 23, 2016

It Is So Important...

Burne Jones

It is so important to surround ourselves

with students of all body types and features.

It is naive to think we can do this work on our own.

Monday, March 21, 2016

Naivete is a Feature...

Naivete is a feature

of not seeing

what one does not understand. 

Friday, March 18, 2016

Sometimes When I Plunge...

On Naivete….

Sometimes when I plunge into an activity with glowing expectations,

not seeing the problems ahead,

I can actually create an energy which is contagious.

In some cases perhaps

I am allowed by grace

to achieve things others might be "smart enough" to avoid.

Wednesday, March 16, 2016

“All my life I had been looking for something,
and everywhere I looked someone tried to tell me what it was.
I accepted their answers too,
though they were often in contradiction and even self contradictory.
I was naive.
I was looking for myself and asking everyone except myself questions which I,
and only I could answer."

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson