49 Days of Sunrises: Experiencing the Shift from Dark to Light
I am most interested in the liminal times, the moments when the line between one thing and another is vague, ambiguous and vulnerably open. I am interested in the times of day, of the year, or of life, when things are at the edge of shifting into something else. Sunrises, sunsets, equinoxes: at these times there is certainly a perceivable shift, but the exact moment of the transition can be hard to define.
It is at these times when I am most often and overwhelmingly struck by the presence of spirit. As I pause and viscerally connect to the feeling of the light overcoming the darkness, or the darkness overtaking the light, my senses heighten. I feel a distinct and tingling connectedness to the earth around me. I can remember myself as a small girl, running barefoot and wild through the grass of my rural home at twilight. Suddenly pausing, I breathlessly came to a quick and definite conclusion: There was magic in the air.
In this particular project, 49 days of sunrises, I will be exploring such experiences, specifically the shift of darkness to light. I am eager to be awake, present and connected at this time of day everyday for 49 days. Through the medium of paint, I will collect and express my experiences of this liminal time, of the yang building beneath the darkness and of the light’s momentous overturn of the night.
I am most interested in the liminal times, the moments when the line between one thing and another is vague, ambiguous and vulnerably open. I am interested in the times of day, of the year, or of life, when things are at the edge of shifting into something else. Sunrises, sunsets, equinoxes: at these times there is certainly a perceivable shift, but the exact moment of the transition can be hard to define.
It is at these times when I am most often and overwhelmingly struck by the presence of spirit. As I pause and viscerally connect to the feeling of the light overcoming the darkness, or the darkness overtaking the light, my senses heighten. I feel a distinct and tingling connectedness to the earth around me. I can remember myself as a small girl, running barefoot and wild through the grass of my rural home at twilight. Suddenly pausing, I breathlessly came to a quick and definite conclusion: There was magic in the air.
In this particular project, 49 days of sunrises, I will be exploring such experiences, specifically the shift of darkness to light. I am eager to be awake, present and connected at this time of day everyday for 49 days. Through the medium of paint, I will collect and express my experiences of this liminal time, of the yang building beneath the darkness and of the light’s momentous overturn of the night.
I started this project today, March 15, the day of the new moon and five days before the first day of spring. It is a time for newness; new ideas, new beginnings, new seasons.
Dusk
ReplyDeleteAt dusk I think of her
considering the change
so much floods through
the freedom of memory
is tactile and goes quietly
inside the way of the night
Thank you for that beautiful poem, Jen. Your words are always so fluid and evocative. Please share some more of your work with us!!! xo Rebecca
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