The grass wet with dew. Temperatures in the low 50’s. A waning summer morning in Vermont. Quiet and still. Breathing was shallow and quick as I reminded myself to relax. To breathe. Staying present while I refused to allow the abundance of “breaking news” to mentally chase me down the gravel driveway. I closed the door to my house with a firmness that would keep the overwhelming headlines contained in my cable box for at least the duration of my run. One foot in front of the other despite the surrounds of humidity that have frequently encased me running down the long hilly country road most mornings. Tap, tap, tap…
I had watched Ken Burn’s “3 short” documentary films “Seeing, Searching, Being – William Segal” earlier this week.
“They met according to the NY Times at a drawing class in the 70’s. Mr. Burns first met Mr. Segal in the mid-1970s in a drawing workshop in the basement of a church in Dorchester, Mass. That first meeting was a “superficially innocuous interchange,” Mr. Burns said in a recent interview, but the striking Mr. Segal, almost bald and wearing a black eye patch after a 1971 car accident, made a strong impression. “He had a kind of vitality that I had never met anyone like that that kind of rearranged my molecules,” Mr. Burns said.” The New York Times: “The Man Who Captivated Ken Burns by Elizabeth Jensen July 29, 2010.”
The “3 shorts” provided an intimate look into a painter and a spiritual leader, William Segal. Segal spoke of being present. Being still with oneself. Self-discovery inspired his self-portraits over his many years. A painter must examine their world and the objects thereof, he explained in better words than mine. I immediately understood this responsibility. Segal’s words resonated with me. I am a painter. In the documentary he picked up a simple piece of fruit and discussed how Cezanne examined it, illustrated it, and illuminated it. The concept of illumination in painting was emphasized by Segal. I suspected it also applied to life. An everyday item was elevated by Cezanne’s painterly handling of the subject matter. One must really look to truly see. To understand…
“When one is still and listens, one begins to be in touch with a mysterious element that is within each of us, which can transform and shape us and can help to transform the world.” William Segal
I watched the documentary again the following evening and a bit more intently this time. Being still was once familiar to me but has felt foreign in the past many months. Segal’s words spoke to me artistically but made me pause spiritually. Trying so hard to survive during the pandemic and our political turmoil “the art of living” had been placed on my proverbial back burner. All the many months of social distancing did not provide me with the ability to “be still” as ironic as it sounds. Not for a moment. Hypervigilance replaced stillness. Fear too. I couldn’t help but wonder if the possibility of “being still” existed currently? Quieting the mind with our constant barrage of information 24/7 is challenging to say the least. The Internet. Social Media…
I just might watch the documentary a time or two more as I believe William Segal may have “rearranged my molecules” too…
“We can’t say why we search, except that there seems to be an innate need, in each human being, to know who one is, what we’re here for, how to live more poetically.” William Segal
