Tuesday
Arts and Poetry, Community Article, Editorial StaffShambhala Touching the Earth Collective – Water Rabbit Year: The Big View
By Irene Woodard
An Excerpt from the Touching the Earth Collective February 2023 Newsletter
I love this painting and I love the title, Big View
There was no need to look for an image for the new year. Jeff Wigman painted this in 2022 and showed it in his one-man show, in a gallery in Troy, New York. The image had stayed with me, a rabbit looking out to water and a horizon. We are the viewers, looking at the rabbit, sitting on a cliff, looking out to a body of water on a cloudy day…And that pretty much sums it up. We, human animals, are watching the rest of the species, and we are all looking at the horizon, the future.
and the owner of the painting, Barbara Dufty. Many thanks.
This year, the Water Rabbit year, well, like the rabbit in this painting, portends to be questionable. The clouds are grey, and there is a slip of blue sky. The rabbit is alone, and there is a book, and green green grass…what is the rabbit thinking, what are we thinking and feeling?
The rabbit’s eyes are directly on the line of the horizon, they are not looking up or down, but straight ahead into the present moment that has big, vast space and big, vast possibility. It is only a rabbit, we are only human beings. Eyes open, very open ears, and facing east, the rabbit is gentle and vulnerable, sitting out there in the open, with a big view.
Our wish for this very important and historic year for the Shambhala Touching the Earth Collective is that we maintain a Big View. Our opportunity is to share the mission and values of our Collective into the Shambhala Culture, into the Land Centers, integrate it into programs such as Warrior Assembly, and use it to protect the earth as we never have before. With a big view, it’s possible. Now, let go.
Onward!
Love
Irene
To explore the wonderful world of Jeff Wigman’s art, please visit his website:
https://www.jeffwigmanart.com/
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This post is an excerpt from the Shambhala Touching the Earth Collective January 2023 Newsletter. To read the complete newsletter please click here.
