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Jack's blog
In Week 1 of the show Jack was assigned to write out a detailed account of his VISION for his life. He came up with this amazingly specific account. Can you do the same for your vision? "I have a dream. I also have a view. I have seen many views from the summits of many peaks... till recently, this view, from this peak, was a view far too distant to even waste time and neuronal power dreaming about. Ooh, well, it was a lovely view. NO! It soon could be. The view from this summit is phenomenal. Allow me a to describe the view, as I look out from the pile of rocks that serves as a beacon, at the summit. Now, I see, I feel, I touch and experience ten maybe fifteen acres of semi-desert scrubland, what I would call, the veldt. The land, grey, brown, black, beige, white, and pebbles of every size, shape and hue. Some call it bleak and harsh – I sense this beauty as yet another positive vibration from Nature. In the distance, off about 2:00 o'clock, runs a wash, difficult to see from this vantage, here on the front stoep (porch) a third of the way, up the slope, away from the prairie. Way, way yonder, the wash stretches off the property, traversing the fence by slipping under it, in the distance, draining from the south-west sloping vantage where the studio is shaping up. Never, ever do I build on flat-land. Flatlands are for money-grubbers and merchants, not for mountaineers, nor mystics, nor dreamers. The studio I am building, straw-bale in construct, in size a combination of about 3-4 single car garages put to-gether, is safe, quiet, secure. The straw-bales allow for silence, and serve as Nature's insulation, providing warmth when needed and in Summer, keeping the desert heat out. The fence, I realize, needs explaining. This land is 'free'-land, fences keep objects in... or out, depending. Who or what needs to be kept in? Sheep, they do wander, whether lost or no, sheep do tend to wander. Why sheep in a scrub environment? To keep the Border-Collies occupied, of course. Why else, pray tell, did Nature evolve a herd of sheep? One reason only – Border-Collies! There are few things more depressing, than a bored Border-Collie. I know. For most Border-Collies that I know, they subscribe to the BCO – (Border-Collie Oath [Section ii, as amended]) that being: “...herd, herd whenever you can !” Ooh, BCO Section _i?: “Never, ever, bite the hand that feeds you!” So... now I have a view from the summit of the land, the sheep, three BCs, I see the boundaries, I can even describe the few Maslow constraints that are emerging, shelter, sustenance, aha! That's what's 'missing' ? Our needs are simple. But needs, are still... needs. We need KROH (Keep Roof Over Head) issues resolved in this summit view. Of course, the 'we' I have referred to, is , of course, made up of sheep, (check) BCs (check) land (sure) sustenance, of course... aha! What's missing? You. For you, I hope, will remain, much as you are. You, just as you are, loving, intelligent, sensuous, caring and carefree, as a partner in this view – and enjoying whatever caring I can steer your way. Aah, now, to complete the Maslow scenario, our initial studio, the living quarters, that is, is about 100 by 40 feet (initially). Off, in the corner, perched on a slightly raised platform of wonderfully resilient, hard-baked mud, like most of the rest of the floor, is our double-bed. Not too distant from the bed, the pot-bellied wood-stove. Near the foot of the stove, three separate piles of rather grubby blankets. Three Border-Collies do need to sleep somewhere. At the other end of the room, the kitchen and a stove. Not much more. Shelves, sure. Half-way between the corner bed and kitchen, a decent size fire-place, where, after the BCs have been evicted from our pillows, on the floor, and on a cool, autumn evening, with just the faintest glow from the embers, there, we love, just you... and me. The beauty of this view...? Nature's abundance has provided a natural insulator, an insulation from noise, from cold, from heat, giving a natural sense of security – and quiet – straw-bales. The ceiling of the studio has exposed wooden beams, with strips of dried saquaro, making up a ceiling. This pains me, but I use the dead trees as sparingly as possible, and thank the spirit of the tree, for its sacrifice. The area above our bed, will has netting hanging below the saquaro strips – scorpions have a habit of dropping in at inappropriate times. Now, outside, we have instituted water-harvesting. Water, which is conscientiously directed from the roof to the tank, aside the south wall. If needed, we can kick the windmill into work, presuming the wind is co-operative, and sparingly, we can pump from the aquafur. While you are free to design your 'room with a view', I have already created mine. Similar in construction to the main room with its plastered stucco and colourful walls, my art studio is... mine. This is where I download my control batch of Creativity to translate into oil, ink or pastel images. With a northern aspect, I have light streaming in from high above in the north wall, with large sky-lights in the roof as well. Everything else is solid strawbale – no windows to let heat in. Also, other than the workbench, off in the far corner where I have my power, ceramic and encaustic tools, I have a luxury, specially designed for the two-D artist, like myself – that is, space to step back from the easel at least five to six of my long strides. Why on earth? To view the image from a distance, and, like life, to obtain a better perspective of the image. Ooh dear ! Even the best of manifested dreams, occasionally have a hiccup in the plans. I said 'power tools'. That means electricity... aah, yes. Solar panel people, please. There, solves that problem. See, artists are problem solvers. But, and this one isn't quite as easily solved, or if it is, it could cost. That's the need for, no, not a luxury, a necessity – high speed Internet. Downloaded from a satellite? Hmmm... ? Cost. Dream on. Then again, is it quite such a necessity? Monet, and Master van Gogh didn't even have a metal tube (at first) to put their pigment in. They could barely imagine a camera. So why can I not create, or survive, without the Internet? Betcha, in this view from the summit – I can. I will, if, in this view, you are there by my side. Well, this view from the summit started out with a few acres, sheep and the dogs. Well, I'll train the BCs to obey my whistle, to herd the sheep, and above all, to leave a rattle-snake alone – severely alone. While I have had a very, very now escape from a rattler, I'm not too certain if I want a canine to tackle the thing – part of Nature, yes, I understand – a most deadly part of Nature, at that. Like most real estate, dreams have location, location, location. What? Dreams have a location? It's OK... just testing – maybe you truly were asleep. Let's get one thing straight, this is my dream, my view from the summit. Open to dream interpretation – surely, just don't call me Freud. So you are a skeptic with this type of thing? OK... I was too. Until I proved to no bigger skeptic, than myself, that manifestation of dreams can and does come true. Recall that one only appreciates water, once the well has run dry. Likewise, I now appreciate my Freedom, having for 36 years struggled to imagine this strange concept called Freedom. For ten years, I tried to leave apartheid. It was a trying experience, feeling the negative vibrations of people beaten with whips, tear gassed, tortured – and to feel that negativity – and know I could not do anything about it. How is the view from the summit, this dream of mine any different? I'm Free. If I feel motivated to do so, I can express my opposition to events, without threat of banishment. Am I truly able to manifest ten acres of land, sheep, a partner, plus the BorderCollies...? Not as things are at the moment, I will not be able to. But, I'm still trying. How did I reach this summit, where I now sit, back resting against the brown, white and grey stone beacon, how does any mountaineer reach the summit of any peak? Quite simple. Find the peak, check all logistics, create a rece the peak, decide where to have breakfast break ( a gurgling stream with crystal clear water for morning tea, would be ideal) survey the route, after establishing an escape route, in case of inclement weather. Then, gasp, comes the truly difficult part. You hoist the rucsack to your back, help your partner on with hers, and... aiming in the general direction of the summit, which might, or might not be in view, set one foot in front of the other. That is how I have often reached the summit of a peak. And enjoyed the view from it – that is one reason to reach the summit. As Malory is reported to have said, when asked why he wanted to reach the summit of Everest: “Why... ? Because it is there, that's why?” Why do I dream, why did I leave the most beautiful country n the planet, with people as wonderful. Freedom. Because it was there. If I could get away from apartheid, get to this country, achieve what I have achieved, then turning the view from the summit into reality, should be a lot, lot easier – should be. How can this view be turned into an 'actionable event'? “Ask, and it shall be Manifested unto You.”" ~ Jack
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May 2015
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