All beings

God loves all beings
Photograph by Juan Bielsa

I love a God who loves
all beings.
I love a God
of compassion.
I love compassion.

I love a God who loves
all beings,
even the smallest of them,
even animals.
Perhaps this may offend you,
but that's my belief,
I can't say lies.

All the infinite pain
on this world
is an infinite, terrible mystery,
but still I love a Love
of redemption,
of infinite mercy.

I believe and I need to believe.
My life has no sense
without a vision _landscapes_
of Paradise.

Maybe is a good thing
to read, sometimes,
sacred books.
But God is always speaking
with the light of the Spirit
as well, answering
prayers, writing Words
in the sacred books of our hearts.

God is a universal love,
God loves all beings,
God has prepared for all of them,
for all of us,
the heavenly fields
of Paradise.

Juan Bielsa

Hazrat Inayat Khan - The value of repetition

Landscape of Pyrenees, in Aragon (Spain)
Photograph by my Aragonese friend
Migalánchel Martín Pardos

There was just a few months ago a case where a young man was to be engaged to a princess. But it was all in his mind; nothing was outside. The State was against it, the Church was against it, the family was against it, and the man's own financial condition was against it. So there was no chance from anywhere.

This person in utter despair wanted to commit suicide. Then he came in contact with a spiritual teacher; the young man said to him: "There is no other way in the world except suicide". The teacher said: "There is a way. Repeat this word and it will all be well". In three months time all difficulties and troubles fell away. He got his heart's desire. There is nothing that cannot be accomplished if a person has faith. When he takes that direction, he will know the benefit that comes from the law of repetition.

Hazrat Inayat Khan, Sufi mystic

Kim Kardashian. Inspiration.

Model Kim Kardashian
Yellow associations

Many times artists are looking for inspiration.

I think a great source for powerful ideas is in the metaphysical field. At least, that's my case. Anyway, each person is unique and so different things grasps his attention.

For example, I like reading about metaphysics, mysticism, poetry, geography... And you?

A great source of inspiration are beautiful landscapes. If you are in love with some beautiful landscape, then you are happy.

But even in what apparently seems more mundane, more full of vanity, like fashion, design, style... we can find true inspiration, true art. Many times we can find in them authentic works of art, and many times their creators are less conceited or egoistic than some artists.

And models are supposed to live superficial lives many times. Well, models are people like you and me, with profound convictions and aspirations in many cases, and spiritual beliefs. Thanks God, they are not fundamentalists, and they give to the world beauty, smiles, the colors of sunshine, compassion.

I must confess: I get a lot of inspiration from these fields of fashion, style... They are a very beautiful landscape as well.

Kim Kardashian is a model. I know little about her life. But one thing I know. Certainly, she has a great style. Like a great painter, she knows how to handle colors and how to mix them properly. She is truly elegant. That is not easy in the least. Kim Kardashian is an artist in some way. Well, to me she is an artist tout court, that's it.

Can you fall in love with a color? If that is the case, you can be happy. If that is the case you are a spiritual person. In the Orient there is the way of flowers, the way of calligraphy, the way of tea... Well, certainly there can be be as well the way of colors, the way of contemplation of colors. The famous painter Mark Rothko, one of my favorite painters, knew a lot about this.

Kim Kardashian can convey to us, through her yellow dress and her elegance, marvelous sensations of Caribbean lights, sparkling seas and skies, beaches of happiness, lemon trees, beautiful days, hope, joy. Because Kim Kardashian is an artist of colors and life.

Inspiration comes from the Spirit, and Spirit can flow from the most unsuspected places of our inner self. Spirit lives wherever it wants. It comes from the Heart.

Juan Bielsa

A great aim

Orison Swett Marden
had a great goal for his life
Ancient Portuguese map

All who have accomplished great things have had a great aim, have fixed their gaze on a goal which was high, one which sometimes seemed impossible.

Orison Swett Marden

A feeling of richness

Vogue Spain
Special Jewels

It is never a waste of time to saturate your mind, body and affairs in rich ideas, rich associations, rich atmospheres, and in any activity, inner or outer, which brings a feeling of richness to your inner being, especially during those periods when it seems that success is slow in manifesting.

Catherine Ponder

Helen Keller. The most important day in her life.

Helen Keller at work in her study
Photograph by A. Marshall, 1902.

The most important day I remember in all my life is the one on which my teacher, Anne Mansfield Sullivan, came to me. I am filled with wonder when I consider the immeasurable contrasts between the two lives which it connects. It was the third of March, 1887, three months before I was seven years old.

On the afternoon of that eventful day, I stood on the porch, dumb, expectant. I guessed vaguely from my mother's signs and from the hurrying to and fro in the house that something unusual was about to happen, so I went to the door and waited on the steps. The afternoon sun penetrated the mass of honeysuckle that covered the porch, and fell on my upturned face. My fingers lingered almost unconsciously on the familiar leaves and blossoms which had just come forth to greet the sweet southern spring. I did not know what the future held of marvel or surprise for me. Anger and bitterness had preyed upon me continually for weeks and a deep languor had succeeded this passionate struggle.

Have you ever been at sea in a dense fog, when it seemed as if a tangible white darkness shut you in, and the great ship, tense and anxious, groped her way toward the shore with plummet and sounding-line, and you waited with beating heart for something to happen? I was like that ship before my education began, only I was without compass or sounding-line, and had no way of knowing how near the harbour was. "Light! give me light!" was the wordless cry of my soul, and the light of love shone on me in that very hour.

I felt approaching footsteps. I stretched out my hand as I supposed to my mother. Some one took it, and I was caught up and held close in the arms of her who had come to reveal all things to me, and, more than all things else, to love me.

Helen Keller

Helen Keller
and her teacher Anne Mansfield Sullivan.

Affectionately yours. Helen Keller
Photograph by A. Marshall, 1899.

Helen Keller and her dog Phiz
Photograph by Emily Stokes, 1902.

The above words written by Helen Keller are a testimony about the extraordinary importance of finding and having the right teacher at the right moment. This literally can change our life. Helen Keller's life changed for the better after she met her great teacher, Anne Mansfield Sullivan.

I think "a teacher" can take many forms: a writer, a philosopher, a speaker, a preacher... even a friend, a relative or an acquaintance. And can take also the form of a book or other texts (sacred or otherwise), an audiobook... even the situations of life can act as teachers. Even animals can teach us many useful things.

If a TEACHER appears in our life, that means we have a great opportunity to improve it. Helen Keller recognized her teacher, Anne Mansfield Sullivan, and knew how to take advantage of this great opportunity. And so thanks to this fact and her extraordinary qualities her life was wonderful, extraordinary, a blessing for manking and an example for all of us.

Certainly Helen Keller can be for us a wonderful teacher.

Juan Bielsa

Take Care of Little Things

Little drops of water
make the mighty ocean.

Little grains of sand
make this beautiful land.

Little moments
make the mighty ages.

Little pies and farthings
make millions and crores.

Little mistakes,
little unkind acts
will make you a devil.

Little words of love,
little acts of kindness,
little good thoughts
will make you a saint.

Swami Sivananda

Thank you

Dardos Award
Given to me by  Kim - Creating Space.

Kim, all I can say is THANK YOU for your generosity.

If you visit kim's blog, you'll find her splendid art, conversations about aesthetics, painting, culture, philosophy... And certainly you'll find much more: the spirit of cordiality.

Juan Bielsa

Concentration - by Orison Swett Marden

Orison Swett Marden
New England, 1848.
American author.

Many a man has been ruined by not confining himself within sufficiently narrow limits to give concentration and direction to his energies.

Said Andrew Carnegie: "One great cause of failure of young men in business is lack of concentration. They are prone to seek outside investments, side-lines. The cause of many a surprising failure lies in so doing.

Every dollar of capital and credit, every business thought, should be concentrated upon the one business upon which a man has embarked. He should never scatter his shot. It is a poor business which will not yield better returns for increased capital than any outside investment.

No man or set of men or corporation can manage a business man's capital as well as he can manage it himself. The rule, `Do not put all your eggs in one basket,' does not apply to a man's life-work."

Don't be afraid of being known as a man of one idea. The men who have moved the world have been men of this kind. It is the man who has his purpose burned into every fiber of his being, who has the faculty of focusing his scattered energies on one point as a burning glass focuses the scattered rays of the sun, that succeeds.

"When I have a subject in hand I study it profoundly," said Alexander Hamilton. "Day and night it is before me. My mind becomes pervaded with it. Then the success I make, the people are pleased to call genius. It is the fruit of thought and labor."

Concentration without genius will accomplish more than genius without concentration.

Orison Swett Marden

An iron will
by Orison Swett marden

Homage to my dog

I would like to write some words to pay homage to my dog, Boi.

He died three days ago. He has been my companion for fifteen years. I've lived with him the most happy years of my life. Thank you, dear Boi.

Poets know that all beings have a soul, that exists a paradise for all of them.

Boi, I know that you live now in the most beautiful landscapes. Yes, we lived together for years in our wonderful paradise as well, on this Earth, which you loved with all your heart. You were the soul of our beloved deserts.

Boi loved these landscapes
Photograph by Juan Bielsa

You adored freedom all your life. That's the word: freedom. You loved it.

My friend, Boi.... Allow me to say to you: I loved you and I love you. And I will always love you. My companion for eternity.

Boi, if you, sometimes, remember me, that's an honor. From your paradise of freedom and beauty, please remember me, sometimes, as I remember you now, from these lands that you loved.

Please remember me. I would like to know also, some day, your paradise. I would like to wander with you the ways of eternity, as we wandered on this Earth the ways of happiness.

Boi, thank you for your friendship, thank you for you love, for your generous soul.

Juan Bielsa

The lands where Boi lived
Photograph by Juan Bielsa

Take it easy - by Norman Vincent Peale

Bushmen Rockpainting in Zimbabwe
Photo by Steve Evans
If interested in Steve Evans' photos,
please click here. Creative Commons.

A story is told of some Americans who were making their way through Africa. They had employed a group of natives at the seaport and had told them they were in a great hurry, as Americans usually are.

The first day they went with rapid progress through the jungle. They continued the relentless pace the second day. The third morning, when they were hurriedly preparing for another day of rapid travel, they found the savages squatting under the trees and refusing to move. When their bewildered and helpless employers asked them why they were not ready to start, they said simply, "We shall rest today to let our souls catch up with our bodies."

Norman Vincent Peale

Don't let busyness get you - by Norman Vincent Peale

Norman Vincent Peale
Bowersville (Ohio), 1898.
American author.

We are a generation busy with things. Stevenson wrote, "The world is so full of a number of things; I am sure we should all be as happy as kings." The world has many more things than in Stevenson's day but there is grave doubt if their possession has really solved the problem of happiness.

I can push buttons all over my house and have light, music, and heat. My grandfather had no buttons to push, but just the same he knew the art of living. He was a happy man. The increase of things, instead of providing leisure to be enjoyed, in all too many cases has but multiplied our confusion.(...)

This has done something even more serious to modern people. I refer to its deep psychological and cultural effects. It has had a tendency to make us superficial and thus incapable of appreciating the deeper and more subtle values.

This hectic, hasty, hurrying age of ours has left the average man bewildered and out of breath. It has made him think that the chief virtue is to keep up with the flying clock.

We seem to have the idea that everyone must be constantly doing something. One must be driving a car or dancing or playing bridge or golf or going to the theater or doing something. The American people —and that means you and me— greatly need to learn to reduce life's tempo unless we are to allow this hurly-burly space age to rob us of life's deepest meaning and happiness.

Norman Vincent Peale

The Power of Positive Thinking
by Norman Vincent Peale

Avoid debt - by Phineas Taylor Barnum

Phineas Taylor Barnum
Bethel (Connecticut), 1810.
The greatest showman that America
has ever seen.

Young men starting in life should avoid running into debt.

There is scarcely anything that drags a person down like debt. It is a slavish position to get in, yet we find many a young man hardly out of his "teens" running in debt. He meets a chum and says, "Look at this; I have got trusted for a new suit of clothes." He seems to look upon the clothes as so much given to him. Well, it frequently is so, but, if he succeeds in paying and then gets trusted again, he is adopting a habit which will keep him in poverty through life. Debt robs a man of his self-respect, and makes him almost despise himself.(...)

Money is in some respects life fire —it is a very excellent servant but a terrible master.(...)

Don't let money work against you; if you do, there is no chance for success in life so far as money is corcerned. John Randolph, the eccentric Virginian, once exclaimed in Congress, "Mr. Speaker, I have discovered the philosopher's stone: pay as you go." This is indeed nearer to the philosopher's stone than any alchemist has ever yet arrived.

The Art of Money Getting
by Phineas Taylor Barnum

Phineas Taylor Barnum

Danger: Debt

Debt is like any other trap, easy enough to get into it, but hard enough to get out.

Shaw

Motivational blogs - Links

• Excellent motivational blogs :

- Self Growth :
  www.selfgrowth.com/articles

- Zen Habits :
  www.zenhabits.net

- Think Simple Now :
  www.thinksimplenow.com

- Steve Pavlina :
  www.stevepavlina.com

- Positivity Blog :
  www.positivityblog.com

- Embrace Living :
  www.embraceliving.net

- Our Best Version :
  www.ourbestversion.com

- Abundance Blog :
  abundance-blog.marelisa-online.com

- Look Far :
  www.amandalinehan.com

- On Simplicity :
  www.onsimplicity.net

- Happy Lotus :
  www.happylotus.com

- New Age Self Help :
  www.newageselfhelp.com

- Robert Vance :
  www.robertbvance.com/blog/

- Write To Done :
  www.writetodone.com

- Scott H. Young :
  www.scotthyoung.com

- Motivational Memo :
  www.motivationalmemo.com

- Self Help Daily :
  www.selfhelpdaily.com

- Life Optimizer :
  www.lifeoptimizer.org

- Today Is That Day :
  www.todayisthatday.com/blog/

- Seth Godin :
  sethgodin.typepad.com

- Tips for success :
  www.cathlawson.com

- Make It Great :
  makeitgreat.typepad.com

- Success Begins Today :
  www.successbeginstoday.org

- LifeDev :
  www.lifedev.net

- Monica Ricci :
  monicaricci.typepad.com

- I Need Motivation :
  www.ineedmotivation.com/blog/

- Pick The Brain :
  www.pickthebrain.com/blog/

- Yes To Me :
  www.yes-to-me.com

- Matthew Cornell :
  www.matthewcornell.org/blog/

- Writer Dad :
  www.writerdad.com

- Motivate Thyself :
  www.motivatethyself.com

- The Simple Dollar :
  www.thesimpledollar.com

- Penelope Trunk :
  blog.penelopetrunk.com

- I Will Teach You To Be Rich :
  www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com/blog/

- Get Rich Slowly :
  www.getrichslowly.org/blog/

- Dr. Robbell :
  www.drrobbell.com

- Mr. Fire (Joe Vitale) :
  blog.mrfire.com

- Personal Development :
  www.personal-development.com

- Persistence Unlimited :
  www.persistenceunlimited.com

- Face to the Sun :
  www.facetothesun.com

- Michael Martine :
  www.michaelmartine.com

- Micro Persuasion :
  www.micropersuasion.com

- Motivation Point :
  www.getmotivation.com

Blue mountains

Wings of the heart
Original painting by Juan Bielsa
Oil on board - 54 x 65 cm
Painting for sale

Today I've failed.

No Silence.
No prayer.

Today, my life
full of noise.

Today I've failed.

Today, all spaces
full of words
in confusion.

No Silence.
No prayer.

My love, today
I've not seen
the blue mountains of your heart,
your land.

Today
no prayer, no prayer,
no rain, no sun in my life,
in the ways into Beauty.

Today, I've completely
failed.

Today
ashes in the hands,
sadness in the eyes.

Juan Bielsa

My first poem in my bad English

We have a mission

In the confusion of the world, we have a mission.

A voice within us speaks very clearly: "You have a mission".

But all the confusion in the world speaks very loudly; a thousand televisions speaks, and a thousand cell phones, and thousands of opinions... Our solitary soul remains in the distance, silent in the dark.

But, at night, sometimes, when there is a great silence... we hear the voice, the voice of the heart: "You have a mission... You need to love. You have a dream".

We'll try a thousand tasks in the world, maybe will be successful in the eyes of the world... But then silence speaks, like the memory of our first love, with virgin lips and a kiss full of innocence and truth: "You have a great dream". Silence will always speak, and our soul will always will be calling to us, with feminine freshness, a caress: "I'm with you. You have a mission".

We'll always have our dream at hand, in our hearts, waiting, like an eternal love. Time passes, time passes... But it will never be too late to start to accomplish our task of eternity.

Am I failing in my life? If I'm not answering positively my inner call, yes, I'm failing. Absolutely.

I have no choice. All my efforts in this world will be useless and condemned to nothingness if they don't meet my dream.

I would like to be prepared to fail in this world if necessary (and I know that is tremendously hard). But I don't want to fail in my heart, I don't want to see all my years wasted without accomplishing worthy dreams, a prayer.

Juan Bielsa

- My e-mail addresses :
pintura@juanbielsa.com
jnbielsa@yahoo.es

- My website in English :
www.poeticpainting.com

Christian Larson: "The development of the will"

New Matsushima
Painting by Juan Bielsa
Oil on canvas - 55 x 46 cm
WORK FOR SALE

Say to yourself a hundred times every day and mean it with all your heart :

I will become more than I am.

I will achieve more and more every day because I know that I can.

I will recognise only that which is good in myself; only that which is good in others; only that in all things and places that I know should live and grow.

When adversity threatens I will be more determined than ever in my life to prove that I can turn all things to good account.

And when those whom I have trusted seem to fail me, I will have a thousand times more faith in the honour and nobleness of man.

I will think only of that which has virtue and worth.

I will wish only for that which can give freedom and truth.

I will expect only that which can add to the welfare of the world.

I will live to live more.

I will speak to give encouragement, inspiration and joy.

I will work to be of service to an ever-increasing number.

And in every thought, word and action my ruling desire shall be to enrich, ennoble and beautify existence for all who come my way.

Christian Larson

Your forces and how to use them (1912)

A prayer for animals

Hear our humble prayer,
o God, for our friends
the animals,
especially for animals who are suffering :
for any that are hunted or lost,
or deserted
or frightened
or hungry,
for all that must be put to death.
We entreat for them
all thy mercy and pity.
And for those who deal with them
we ask a heart of compassion,
and gentle hands
and kindly words.
Make us, ourselves,
to be true friends to animals
and so to share
the blessings of the Merciful.

Albert Schweitzer

- My e-mail addresses :
pintura@juanbielsa.com
jnbielsa@yahoo.es

- My website in English :
www.poeticpainting.com

James Allen: "Our mind is like a garden"

James Allen
Author of "As a man thinketh".
James Allen was born in Leicester, England,
on November 28, 1864.

A man's mind may be likened to a garden, which may be intelligently cultivated or allowed to run wild; but whether cultivated or neglected, it must, and will, bring forth. If no useful seeds are put into it, then an abundance of useless weed seeds will fall therein, and will continue to produce their kind.

Just as a gardener cultivates his plot, keeping it free from weeds, and growing the flowers and fruits which he requires, so may a man tend the garden of his mind, weeding out all the wrong, useless and impure thoughts, and cultivating toward perfection the flowers and fruits of right, useful and pure thoughts.

By pursuing this process, a man sooner or later discovers that he is the master gardener of his soul, the director of his life. He also reveals, within himself, the laws of thought, and understands with ever-increasing accuracy, how the thought forces and mind elements operate in the shaping of his character, circumstances and destiny.

James Allen ("As a man thinketh")

- My e-mail addresses :
pintura@juanbielsa.com
jnbielsa@yahoo.es

- My website in English :
www.poeticpainting.com

Happiness and will power

Books can be dangerous also
Some books can have a negative impact in our lives.
I liked this book in my adolescence,
but it turned to be harmful.

In my childhood, I was very, very happy.

It would be hard to imagine a more satisfactory childhood.

But, afterwards... in my adolescence I was unhappy. Why? Being hypersensitive by nature, maybe I did not integrate properly reason. Besides, I was developing at that time a negative approach to many things.

I've always been an avid reader. I read in my adolescence books and more books, many of them were not positive for me.

Time passed. It was hard to find new beliefs, new hopes, a new faith, new friends, new books... and it took some years to become a positive person. It took a lot of effort and reflection.

Incredibly, I became a very happy person again. The last twenty years have been a blessing for me. I've even accomplished in that time the most beautiful dreams of my life.

And now, what? Will I be happy in the future? And you? We don't know. Nobody knows future. But one thing I can say. I'll strive to develop will power. All my efforts will be directed to accomplish this purpose. I would like to strive every hour, day, week, month, every year of my life, to acquire a gigantic will power.

I think I have great qualities, as everyone, but my weak point has always been will power. I have an extraordinary intuition, I know perfectly what is best for me, I'm very cultivated. But... I've been all my life hypersensitive (and always will be), and so I'm easily influenced by circumstances. I NEED to develop will power.

My senses, my energy... will have beautiful fields and gardens, but... there will be also fences all around, there will be absolutely clear limits, sacred limitis, wonderful limits. Even limits in apparently unimportant things.

We battle daily with so many distractions, so many temptations... We must be on our guard, or else we can lose our way, we can cease playing our game and start playing unpleasant ones.

We all know; our economy is in crisis. We even talk of recession, another 1929... Even capitalism needs control, even capitalism needs a clearcut set of rules, sacred ones, which nobody would be allowed to break. If we want a strong economy, we need all that, fences around businesses; we need freedom but also fences and fair play. All game needs rules established in a spirit of justice. If a game has no rules, then this game has no sense, only cheaters will make money, and ultimately the game will finish badly.

Life without clearcut rules ends in disaster.

Happiness, happiness... With amorous controls, with will power, compassion and wisdom, happiness will always be possible and at hand, will always be in our heart, ready to blossom.

Juan Bielsa

 

- My e-mail addresses :
pintura@juanbielsa.com
jnbielsa@yahoo.es

- My website in English :
www.poeticpainting.com

Maat: order, balance, justice

Maat
Egyptian Goddess
representing cosmic order, balance and justice

In ancient Egypt, goddess Maat symbolized cosmic order, equilibrium, justice.

The Egyptians knew by experience that our lives are always in a precarious equilibrium. Egypt’s blood has always been the Nile. And the Nile in the past was unpredictable. A subtle change in the regularity of the river could mean famine or inundation.

So, in the religion of ancient Egypt we find always an eternal fight between Order (Maat) and Chaos or disorder (Seth). All the efforts were made to keep chaos at bay.

In our lives we can see this eternal fight as well.

Please, when you are living a life in good health and you love your family, consider yourself very fortunate. Enjoy: you are lucky, my friend. Enjoy the little, wonderful things you have. Please, appreciate the seemingly unimportant joys of life: a simple smile from your loved ones, a sunset, reading a good book, watching a good movie, seeing your pet happy...

The equilibrium in our lives is very, very delicate, very fragile.

The smallest change in the existing status quo can cause havoc. Sure, that change can also bring prosperity, good things and opportunities, but can bring havoc as well. We must stay alert in a balanced way.

I think we must, as the Ancient Egyptians did, be watching carefully our lives to keep balance and order. Life is change, and change is inevitable, always has been that way and always will be. Nevertheless, I think we must try to keep chaos at bay, if possible. Yes, we must stay alert in a balanced, not obsessed way.

One day, our economy seems to do pretty well... But, if some apparently unimportant things are out of order and balance, if we are not in constant vigilance, some other day we can find ourselves indebted and without a solution. Recession...

In our lives apparently all is well, maybe we live a bit out of control... But, in an unexpected moment, there is a little, very little, and subtle, change (in our health, in our relations, in the economy...) and then, suddenly, all is out of balance. What happened? Our life will never will be the same. We must strive to find another point of equilibrum.

We don’t pay too much attention to global warming and to our environment. But chaos is operating without a pause. Still we don’t pay too much attention to that. The sun arises every morning and the weather is wonderful, all seems to be okay. But some day we are aware that something important is changing, something remarkable in a negative way. We try to live as if nothing has happened, but something has happened. Our lives will never be the same. Still we try to live normally. Things will change, little by little. The future generations will have to pay the price.

Our civilisation is out of balance.

Ancient Egyptians were very concerned trying to keep chaos at bay and keep the Universe in balance. And they built the most enduring civilisation in antiquity...

I think it would be a good thing for all of us trying to be much more vigilant than we are, as Buddha or Jesus taught. The slightiest carelness can cause disaster. We can slightly neglect some important things, without paying too much attention, and there we go, in some unexpected moment our lives will never be the same if some negative (very little, apparently insignificant) change happens. We’ve lost in a moment balance, peace and happiness. Then, we will try to restore the previous status quo, we even can improve the past conditions, if we have another chance... But, never will be easy, to say the least. It will take a lot of effort and vigilance to try to find equal or better circumstances. Even some negative changes will be definitive; they will stay with us forever.

Yes, it is wonderful going for a walk in a sunny day, is wonderful a word of love, an old book, our favourite movie on TV, wonderful a good, healthy meal, wonderful to enjoy little things, appreciate what we have now, before is too late, before things will be utterly different.

Juan Bielsa

 

- My e-mail addresses :
pintura@juanbielsa.com
jnbielsa@yahoo.es

- My website in English :
www.poeticpainting.com

Will power, control and spontaneity

Master Mind Alliance
Painting by Juan Bielsa
Oil on board, 69.2 x 50.1 cm
Work for sale

I used to be for the most part of my life a person who disliked control in many ways. I’ve always liked spontaneity, and control seemed to me an antagonist of it. Naturally I’ve been aware of the great fruits and possibilities that training our will power can give to us, but I always was conscious of that with sadness, as if this training was a sort of bitter punishment.

So in my life always existed some fight between spontaneity and control, as if they were not perfectly complementary. Now I think that they are. Spontaneity is good, and control is good. Spontaneity is wonderful, and so it is control. There is fun in spontaneity, and there is fun also in control, and joy, and triumph.

All of us have in our lives some sort of philosophy, maybe a silent philosophy, maybe not completely structured. In my case I think my philosophy has not been so bad, because for the most part of my life I have been happy and I’ve tried to make happy others. But I must admit that perhaps the role of disclipline and control could have played a most important part. I think that that could have been another positive factor in my life.

Control and discipline, and will power, if applied with wisdom, love and compassion can be extraordinary tools, the most useful tools at our disposal. Compassion, yes, because we are not simple machines, and love and wisdom, because in our lives can broke out riots as well, as in any society or country, if we don’t apply righteousness with amorous justice and very carefully, if we don't acknowledge and respect our real needs and nature.

Spontaneity and discipline, what a wonderful couple, if love and wisdom and compassion rule!

Training daily our will power can be a very exciting task. When we accomplish “our duty”, we feel triumfant, happy, radiant. With control, discipline and will power it is perfectly possible to accomplish our most desired objectives. Without them, our dreams will never be completely attainable.

And, most important, in that way we won’t lose spontaneity at all, surely we will be, through our training and control, more spontaneous and happy and confident than ever.

So I see now control and spontaneity as absolutely complementary, in the same manner that we have a creative side and a most analytic side in our brain working perfectly together, as a couple in search of a same objective: our dreams and happiness.

Juan Bielsa

 

- My e-mail addresses :
pintura@juanbielsa.com
jnbielsa@yahoo.es

- My website in English :
www.poeticpainting.com

A day in the life of Mark McCormack. Time management.

Another time I said that I never learned English at school (that’s the reason my English is so bad). Instead, I did study French.

Sometimes I feel I’m really dreaming when I look at this blog of mine (in pseudo English) because I never thought possible that I could learn English by myself. For me most of the Romance languages are very familiar: French, Italian, Spanish, Catalan, Aragonese, Galician, Portuguese, Occitan-Provençal, Asturian... But English, though it contains a great percentage of Latin words, always has been difficult for me. Yet I must say that now I read a lot in this language and even listen to audiobooks or watch movies as often as I can. English is the “lingua franca” of these days, so... But “my house” are Romance languages, as I’ve said; there I feel at ease, at home...

I remember that years ago I went on an English Course, six hours a week during four months. That has been the only English course that I’ve ever attended. Truly my “School in English” has been the Internet, because most of the sources I’ve always read on the net are in English.

I’ve next to me the “Student’s book” that I used for that course (“English File”, by Clive Oxenden and Paul Seligson, Oxford University Press). Time runs frantically, so most of the materials are outdated, letting aside grammar, vocabulary, and the like.

Some of the readings on that course catched the attention of the students (all adult people). In particular, this story, surely authentic, about Mark McCormack’s time management skills. We were all shocked in seeing how a person could control all his life in such a manner, apparently without a second out of control.

At that time, Mark McCormack’s approach on time management seemed to me unnatural and excessive. But the excerpt that I reproduce below of him has always interested me, in fact I’ve read it many times. Actually, I don’t think now his ideas are inadequate or even exaggerate ones. In today’s world full of temptations, distractions, possibilities... surely is not a bad thing to try to control our life, severely, rigorously and at the same time with love, wisdom and compassion (compassion for ourselves as well as for others).

I will return very soon to that very interesting (and even exciting) subject.

Juan Bielsa

 

A day in the life of Mark McCormack

1.- Mark McCormack is American. He’s sixty-three. He’s the manager of many famous people, including the Pope, Monica Seles and Alain Prost. He’s married with two sons and a daughter. He has forty-two offices in twenty countries, and homes in London, New York, Cleveland and Florida.

2.- I get up every morning at 4.30. If my notebook says “Do exercise”, I do some exercise. My secretary arrives at about 5.15, and she brings the newspaper. Then I have a shower and I get dressed. I usually have coffee and cereal for breakfast at the Carlton Tower Hotel (if I am with a client) or I just have a coffee at home.

3.- First I look at my yellow notebook. On the left are my meetings, on the right are my phonecalls. I’m a very good time-manager. I always plan my life exactly for the next six months. I write down everthing I do: how many hours I sleep, how many hours I see my children, and how many hours I spend in each city in the world. I have business meetings in my office from 9.00 a.m. until lunchtime. At 1.00 I usually have lunch at the Carlton, and I always sit at the same table. After lunch I call the USA, and after that I sleep until 6.00.

4.- At 7.00 I often have a drink with a friend or client in the bar. I usually have a Jack Daniels whisky. Then I have dinner at a restaurant. I never cook. In the evening, if my wife is with me, we sometimes go to the cinema. We have meetings to plan our life together. I go to bed at about 11.30. Sleeping is not a problem for me. It’s in my yellow notebook _so I go to bed and I sleep.

- My e-mail addresses :
pintura@juanbielsa.com
jnbielsa@yahoo.es

- My website in English :
www.poeticpainting.com

MISSION

The Universal Mind
Painting by Juan Bielsa

When I look in history for women and men of great accomplishment, almost always I see a common trait: they have a MISSION. Some authors call it “a magnificent obsession”.

Obviously there are “missions” of many kinds; some are clearly positive ones and others not so worthy, or even negative ones. I think that the only MISSION that can give us strength and perseverance, and endurance in the hard times, is only a WORTHY MISSION, a sincere passion for something very valuable, call it an “innocent” and gigantic passion without a gigantic ego.

If we have a GREAT MISSION, we can surmount many obstacles, we can endure a lot of hardships which probably would seem impossible to overcome otherwise. A MISSION can certainly give to us the necessary force to go ahead without excessive procastination or doubts, regardless of circumstances. A MISSION IS LOVE for what we do, and nothing is more powerful than love in the long run.

When we have a MISSION, call it if you want “a magnificent obsession”, we do daily what we HAVE to do, we do our inner duty, what dictates our consciousness, and so it can be possible for us not to pay too much attention to the infinite distractions _and temptations_ which we encounter every hour, every day, in our way.

In the recesses of my mind I have a great MISSION to accomplish. And you have YOUR MISSION, a very great one, I’m sure of that. All of us have a magnificent dream waiting to be accomplished and fulfilled daily. It is the deepest of all things, I think. We even can have some embarrassment to make public this GREAT DREAM, just because its greatness. In every valuable dream there are so many utopian drops and extraordinary possibilities... It can give colors and sense to all things in our life. A worthy MISSION can be the cornerstone of our life and a fabulous adventure.

A MISSION... Following the pace _certainly, with modesty and humility_ of Alexander, Columbus, Michelangelo, Leonardo, Edison, Madame Curie, Tesla, Mother Teresa... All of us have in reality entire continents to be discovered, continents of love and compassion, continents of understanding, continents of beauty, continents of peace and wonder, continents full of future and hope...

Juan Bielsa

- My e-mail addresses :
pintura@juanbielsa.com
jnbielsa@yahoo.es

- My website in English :
www.poeticpainting.com

Fashion and art

Fashion and art, happily married
Beauty can adopt many forms.
(Scan from ÚNICA, magazine in Spanish)

In a previous article I wrote about how in Zen there are many ways through art to attaining inner peace and wisdom. And in general in Japan, for example, there is not a clear differentiation between arts and crafts. Even the most humble manual labor can be a fabulous way into comprehension of Reality.

In the same way, I think that potentially many activities can be transformed in true art if we confront them with humility, reverence, meditation and the necessary (and continuing) apprenticeship. Even blogging can be a meditative experience and an art, why not...

There are no minor arts.
Poetry and meditation.

Oriental painters and artists always liked to mix different arts and activities. So, we can find many times a poem in a painting describing the feelings and experiences resulting from its contemplation.

I always liked that approach.

And in Zen, as I previously said, there are not major arts and minor arts.

So, for me as well there are no “minor” arts, if the artist approach them with poetry and contemplation. Poetry, in reality (and in the sense ancient Greeks understood It) is the connection between men and the Universal Mind. Contemplation and meditation are an exercise of receptivity, to be open into transcendence, humility, Silence. At least that is the way I see them.

A painter in Fashionland

So when I approach some apparently mundane activities like fashion, styles, trends... I see all of this with the eyes of a painter and a poet, with a sense of reverence in many cases, I can see wonderful combinations of colors, delicate nuances, I see creative rhythms and textures, I see an honest effort to express creativity clothing the human body.

And when models are on the catwalk in performance, if models and designers did their job with dedication and love, I can see sublime elegance, I can see real works of art, a living art, “body art”. I even see marvelous paintings being carried by models themselves, over their bodies.

Fashion and summer
The limit is elegance. When elegance is lost, all is lost.
(Scan from ÚNICA, magazine in Spanish)

Fashion designers are not different from us, painters, in many ways. Perhaps some of us have a greater sense of transcedence and durability of our work, but in reality all that matters is contributing to the world with inner beauty and elegance, as in spirituality all that matters, I think, is compassion.

No sunset is lost.
Every experience is a fountain of learning.

I must admit that lately I don’t paint as much as I should do, but I have now more clear ideas about art than before, I know much better what I like to do, what my vision of art is.

During seven or eight years I did not write a single poem (and I’m a poet in a minoritary, wonderful language, Aragonese...), but I remember that period, nevertheless, as the most poetic in all my life. I WAS a poet then, although I did not write any poem. I watched every day, in silence, like praying, the most magnificent sunsets in the deserts, I inhabited the purplish mountains in my dreams...

When I’ll begin to paint anew, my paintings will have the colors of my lands of poetry, the colors of my meditations, of all my failures from which I learned some humility, lessons from the Silence.

When I’ll begin to paint anew my paintings will have the colors of fashion, of beautiful movies, the colors of women and elegance, of sunsets' purples, of books that one reads with the heart, of little and great things, the colors of life, victories, defeats.

Juan Bielsa

- My e-mail addresses :
pintura@juanbielsa.com
jnbielsa@yahoo.es

- My website in English :
www.poeticpainting.com

 

Real metaphysics

Marilyn Monroe
The way of art, love and elegance

I've said other times that I like very much metaphysics. I like to investigate in this field, and to do it freely and with an open mind. I use for that purpose different tools from different areas (psychology, physics, self development...)

This activity of mine can lead sometimes to some personal conclusions. But I don't think is necessary to explain such "conclusions" in blogs like this or otherwise.

Everybody has opinions about life, existence, the universe... and surely they can be much more profound (or practical...) than mine. But even in this case I don't think is the essential part trying to show all of this to apprehend the most important aspects of a human being or his personality and convictions.

I don't think that philosophy or metaphysics, or even religion are absolutely necessary to apprehend "Reality", "Beauty", God...

In Zen Buddhism is not particularly valued or appreciated any discussion or digression about metaphysical or religious questions. What has real value is an EVIDENCE of wisdom, knowledge or reality. This EVIDENCE can only be offered by an artist or person after many years of learning and practicing a "do", a way into BEAUTY. I'd say that even the experiences of our life, if we learn from them, can be a wonderful apprenticeship into it, a magnificent WAY.

If you can create a genuine work of art, a great PAINTING or DRAWING (even if only with a few strokes of the brush...) then you are a very RELIGIOUS person. At least in the sense that I understand this term.

If you can create a true POEM (even if this poem only consists of a few verses) then you have a sure knowledge and you are not cheating.

If you can offer to us a piece of BEAUTY or LOVE, then you are a true metaphysician. If you are a good person, a kind person, if you love and practice peace and compassion, then you are very, very religious, regardless of anything else. That is practice, good deeds, real metaphysics, true religion. That is all that matters. That is what we need in this world, I think.

We all know that some traditional activities can be a "do", a WAY: the way of flowers (Ikebana), the way of calligraphy (Shakyo), and others. But there are many other ways to access into the realm of BEAUTY: humility, meditation, silence, prayer, empathy, recitations, dancing, music...Or, as we have said earlier, life itself can be a "do", a fountain of learning. Happiness, distresses... every experience teaches something important.

And so I say, in conclusion, that people we think are not especially religious can be the most religious of all. They have given to us, or offered to us, pieces of Heaven, wonderful works of art, or splendid deeds and example. They have never pretended to be metaphysical thinkers, or even religious people in some cases. But they have grasped from heaven, through his life or his suffering or his humility, pieces of real BEAUTY, golden pieces of LOVE.

Yes, that's all that really matters.

Juan Bielsa

My e-mail addresses :
pintura@juanbielsa.com
jnbielsa@yahoo.es

- My website in English :
www.poeticpainting.com

 

"The wizard of Oz" and Judy Garland

Judy Garland
as Dorothy Gale in "The wizard of Oz"

Many years ago, I liked very much to paint and draw using only a few colors, two colors in most cases. The results were not less satisfactory than when I used a lot of colors.

I think that in painting and drawing there are many possibilities available, many ways of work, but in the end there are no "better" ways or methods than others. Some techniques may appear at first sight far less sophisticated than others, much more "simple", but the results can be exactly as rich and full of nuances as the most "complexes" ones.

It can be a very satisfying activity to work with many colors, but it is never a good thing to be "intoxicated" by so many chromatic possibilities at our disposal.

Piagordo, the country where I live
Three colors: simplicity, poetry and magic
Photograph by Juan Bielsa

Many years ago I was enchanted and like living in a world of magic when painting and drawing with only two or three colors. And that same feeling I've experienced again when I recently watched the old (and great) movie "The wizard of Oz ". I'm pretty sure you've seen it. I had already seen this movie long time ago, but I had forgotten in many ways how wonderful this picture is, how full of magic.

"The wizard of Oz", as a picture in this case, is a classic for children... but don't be fooled by that, in reality is a present for all of us who want to keep some of the innocence of life, some of its fantasy. I truly think this movie is amazing, a miracle of art. And Judy Garland... what can we say about her performarce here? We can say that she is the perfect angel that could give life and credibility to the role of "Dorothy Gale". Even Toto, her dog in the picture, performs without equal.

Judy Garland (as Dorothy Gale) and Toto
Singing "Over the rainbow"

In some parts of "The wizard of Oz", at first and in the end, you'll be struck by the wise use of color, which adds an aged and mythical flavor to the movie and makes all appear under a light of DREAM. And this relates with which I said earlier about the intelligent use of a few colors in the palette of the artist.

Many years have passed since the days "The wizard of Oz" was made, in 1939, but all of its magic remains the same and one could rightly say that this movie is far more beautiful and magical than most of the movies that are produced today. Quality and imagination will never have whatsoever to do with "special effects" and more "advanced" techniques.

Juan Bielsa

My e-mail addresses :
pintura@juanbielsa.com
jnbielsa@yahoo.es

- My website in English :
www.poeticpainting.com