Greg Bailey

I am more than halfway through my life and besides for some fleeting glimpses of awakening, I remain to be a predominantly unconscious individual. I am surprised that I have not grown past being manipulated by advertisements, angered by the news, or frustrated by the people around me. My hope is that by the end of my days I can learn to be present and at peace.

 

The production of art offers opportunities for discovering unconscious motivations and rationalizations. In this way, working in the studio is a practice of introspection and clarification.

 

The following is some of the things that I have learned by participating in the studio process:

 

• I can go from feeling like everything is hopeless to everything is just fine by changing my attitude; however neither is true.

• I have an immoral relationship with time and energy.

• Real is better than realistic.

• Reality is an illusion; the trick is not to become delusional.

• Selfishness is intrinsic; focus on empathy.

• I am not immortal in anyway.

• I cannot seem to make anything that I like if I am at all motivated by money.

• True freedom and freewill is as elusive as a snow leopard.

• Accepting that there is no political or social solution to the issues of sustainability can be calming in a strange way.

• Cognitive dissonance is a far more relevant issue than Wikipedia makes it out to be.

• The ability to rationalize is greater than the ability to be rational.

 

Please feel free to ask me about any of these ideas or share with me your experiences.