Friday, December 7, 2007

FINDING BALANCE / NORVAL MORRISSEAU






















While practicing asanas (yoga poses) this morning, I noticed the moon in the clear sky before sunrise. The poses I find most difficult are those that involve balance on one foot. After all these years of practicing asanas, I still lose my balance on a regular basis. Fortunately, I find humor in that. Only recently have I been able to hold something resembling the pose called natarajasana (king of the dancers pose) for more than a few seconds.






















"I hear the ancient footsteps like the motion of the sea. Sometimes I turn, there's someone there, other times it's only me. I am hanging in the balance of the reality of man, like every sparrow falling, like every grain of sand."

As I do every morning, I visited wood s lot. I learned of the recent death of Norval Morrisseau and was deeply moved by his art.

The cover art for the Bruce Cockburn album, Dancing in the Dragon's Jaws, is a painting by Norval Morrisseau.

6 comments:

robin andrea said...

Is that a self-portrait of you in the natarajasana pose? It's a great photograph. You look like someone I would know, familiar in that way that has nothing to do with having previously met.

am said...

robin andrea -- Thanks so much for your kind words. This self-portrait was taken using a tripod and a digital camera in 10-second timer mode. It took a number of tries to get this image because I kept falling to one side or the other : - )

The Dream said...

Look at you - so perfectly posed! It's great to "meet" you. Always cool to see what a person looks like. Finding humor in things is SO where it's at ... I can be poised one moment, then such a bumbler the next. My favorite is when I miss my mouth while eating. As my family enjoys pointing out: "You're going to be a blast when your elderly!" Also, I love how you quote Dylan on a regular basis ... truly a Great American Poet.

Raven said...

For more information and discussions regarding Norval Morrisseau, you are invited to visit:

http://honouringnorvalmorrisseau.blogspot.com/

Raven Thunderbird

Anonymous said...

http://web.me.com/jonathan.browne/Site/Norval_Morrisseau_Study.html#grid

Interesting website where the art speaks for itself.

am said...

Anonymous -- Thanks so much for the link!