Author: Kip Deeds

It could be that poor circulation makes my feet cold at night, but the winter is also not helping. The image above was captured in the early stages of a new drawing. The crisp white of the page reminded me of the sting of winter and my cold feet. For the first time in months I went out running today. My feet got very hot as a result of the activity. A couple of lessons or reminders occurred. One, movement is good for circulation. Two, momentum allows one to continue further than one would have otherwise. As I consider making exercise a part of life, I realize these concepts can lead to a thaw in other areas of life where “cold feet” (an emotionally frozen state that inhibits action) keeps one from trying and moving forward. Although an active mind is important, movement and momentum are crucial.

Upon reading A.C. Grayling’s biography of René Descartes, I wrote down Descartes’s motto (“to live well you must live unseen”). When I consider nobility, celebrities, rulers, and other leaders who seek or attract notoriety, I wonder what value this attention ultimately has? The benefits of fame will inevitably be tainted by distractions. Without understanding the disruption that overblown attention brings, it seems like fame often leads toward spiritual compromises, disfunction, or ruin. Being shuttled by handlers from place to place for the purpose of being seen and heard (often causing difficulty knowing who to trust) is the antithesis to living unseen. One can see why Descartes wanted to be unseen, he had thoughts and an inner life that needed care.

One of my biggest difficulties is falling asleep and staying asleep. In an effort to post more, I began to making drawings in a quick and less restrained manner. Through this process a sleeping figure emerged (see above). It seems there could be a correlation between this drawing and efforts to get more/better sleep. Learning to let go of worry allows one to relax, and a placid state also seems to help lead the way to sleep. It could be that relaxing the drawing process may make one more productive in ways that are similar to sleep. I know that sleep allows us to be more active during our waking hours and my suspicion is that the dream state of sleep functions in a way that frees our minds and open us a range of insights during our waking hours. The connections between the dream and the insight may not always be apparent. However, I am aware of feeling led by an unknown presence when rested. My guess is that more posts should indicate that I am getting better sleep and I am more relaxed.