The Flowering Prince - an intro to darkness & light

"Bouquet" 2008 - JJ

Spring is the perfect time to introduce the subject of flowering, metaphorically in artistic terms and in connection to our creativity. There really is no better teacher to admire for her abundant creativity than Mother Nature. Plants are among some of the greatest spiritual instructors, and I ask you now to stretch your imaginations and visualize the Flowering Prince/Princess that is within you.

The Flowering Prince is a mighty archetype found throughout the world, but by different names and in different forms. It’s connected to a concept very key to the idea of Your ReBegin, that of creative growth and rebirth, the cycles of life and death. While the name “Flowering” is very apt for the beautiful forms and manifestations that are pleasing to the senses, the archetype also deals with very dark themes as well. For there is no flowering without death. The Flowering Prince is always half alive or half dead (depending on if your glass is half full or empty). The cycle of life always includes death, but from the process of breaking down organic material, new life emerges. The key is to be fully invested in the process, honoring the necessary step that comes with any form of “death” and using it as fertilizer for the rebirth that will eventually come. The Flowering Prince always dies, again and again, but is eternal.

Perhaps the brand Ed Hardy is so popular is that its imagery taps into the Flowering Prince motif - death and flowering

So too we have creative cycles within us that go through these phases. By properly cultivating all our various forms of deaths, our troubles, our personal dramas, our defeats, our failures, our fears — we contribute to new ideas so that we can nourish ourselves and bloom again. The act of creating new work is akin to growing out new shoots and vines and the finishing of a work is unfurling a brand new flower into the light of day. 

We often confuse the creative process for something happy and charmed. On the contrary, the creative process is actually a very dark and scary thing. It’s full of angst, which is why creative blocks exist - they stop us from proceeding any further on the dangerous path. The path takes us into the realm of death and destruction. If we get lost in that space, it can be very damaging to the psyche and we refuse to go forward through any more of it. We stall and perhaps even stagnate. We need to rally our spiritual troops and figure out how to move forward through the darkness, through the process of decay and death, so we can use it as fertile material towards our creative blossoms. The HOW to proceed is the tricky part, and there are many methods, but not all of them work for everyone. Since we are individuals, we must recognize we all have different processes that work better for us than others.

You need to experiment with different methods until you find one that gives you results. A team/network of friends to support you during the process will help. Fellow artists (other Flowering Princes & Princesses) know what the dark journey is like and can be sought out to give those little pep talks and advice. It’s actually a very welcome thing, because I often find that as I share words of encouragement to friends, I am actually speaking to myself as well. So imagine yourself one of many Flowering Princes/Princesses in a beautiful garden. Just be careful you don’t compare yourself to other blooms; admire them for their intrinsic beauty of individuality (if they are being true to who they are), but avoid judgments!  This of course takes time to develop and figure out. Cross pollinate with other flowers and experience a bit of the magic that comes from being out in the world. Don’t steal ideas, but be nourished energetically by the essence of creativity shared.

And remember, "deaths" are a part of the path that will come again and again in various forms. Learn to make the most of its dark embrace. The refusal of its presence only prolongs the struggle , the proper process of cultivation can help you go deeper into the journey of life and eventually bring more aliveness to your blooms!

More to come honey-blossoms!

images of Xochipilli - the Aztec Flowering God - a fascinating figure on many levels

The ReBegin is Here & Now

WELCOME

Art is life. Life is art. Art is the heart, soul, essence, and language of life. It communicates by means of every sensory perception we possess. This blog is dedicated to exploring the concepts and various methods of living a life of art and making art of life, and the transformative, meaningful, and healing affects that such a journey creates. Our future will undoubtedly look quite different than our current reality, but one constant that has been around, at least since recorded history, is our calling to communicate and connect to the world through art.

We are in a continuous process of creation, destruction, creation again from destruction, and destruction again from creation. Within that cycle we can draw power for our own personal ReBegins to flourish. New directions are forged from the fertile ashes of past experiences, and Your ReBegin honors experimentation, risk, diversity, and choice, among many others, as the building blocks of life’s grand journey. The process aims to reveal aspects of our hidden and higher selves through art and may even feel like a kind of spiritual process. Everyone has a different experience in the life of art, but whatever it may be, it is an ongoing adventure worth investing our time in.

Why this blog and why now?

For me, living a life of art has been the greatest source of vitality, insight, reassurance, and bliss during life’s inevitable tough times. It may seem frivolous in times of crisis, but art is a beacon that can help lead us through it.  I pledge to express what I feel are the important lessons learned, both the ups and downs of the journey, and engage in a discussion of what is yet to be learned from living a life art-fully. As a lifelong artist and newly formed creative consultant this site is integral for my own journey as well and forces me to not just conceive of the talk, but walk, write and be it as well.

I must admit I hesitated for years before launching this site. I made excuses based on feeling a lack of authority on the matter, fears of saying the wrong thing, stepping on other people’s toes, or sounding too much like what other people have said on the matter.  But every time I read someone else’s approach to an artistic life, it’s honey for the soul keeping me in flight. I feel it’s time to share more of my own visions and to site references of those who have inspired me. We are all manifestations of the Divine Spirit in all the various forms possible. We exist and therefore we are important or we never would have been in the first place. Let’s honor and cherish that by expressing our own unique variation of the Divine Spirit!

What do ReBegin and ReEvolutionary mean?

Simply put, they are concepts of transformation based on natural cycles, connected to the ancient concepts of Ouroboros, the Phoenix, and the eternal return (more on this subject next week). Just as seasons go through cycles of birth, life, death, and rebirth, we go through them on a multitude of levels (emotional, spiritual, mental, psychological, etc.). Additionally, we live in a Universe of constant motion.  Our planet rotates around an axis and revolves around the sun, which in turn revolves around the galaxy, which in turn revolves around the Universe…and who knows what else beyond that?

To have a ReBegin is to take what you have learned from past cycles and apply it toward a new endeavor.  Here, I focus on artistic ReBegins (because life is art, art is life). It can be as simple a matter as creating a new art object or much grander in the shape of a rebirth of the creative self.

To be ReEvolutionary, is to add in the idea of evolution to revolution, so that with each new experience, we gain a wider/deeper consciousness that propels us onward in the cycle. Imagine a spiral staircase, and with each new turn of the cycle we move upwards! Although, sometimes I’ve found myself feeling more like I was spiraling down! This would really weigh upon me, but we all go through that in some way, shape or form in our lives. It’s part of the cycle and gives meaning to having a ReBegin – so we can take those downward (or sideways) experiences and use them as a resource to begin anew.  The map of our lives will have many twists and turns, some self-generated, and some imposed upon us, but experience that journey as an art form in itself and you’re on Your ReBegin!

Ok, enough for now. I vow to keep these blog entries as concise as possible! More to come!

BLISSINGS!

Jason ReBegin