You may remember this image from our trip to Rome in 2013 which seems nearly a lifetime ago right now. I decided this would make a fitting image for today’s short blog post.
I attended the opening of the newest Joe Fafard exhibition “Retailles” at the Moose Jaw Museum & Art Gallery last Thursday. I really enjoyed a close up look at this accomplished artist’s work and spent most of the evening in the gallery viewing each piece and engaging in conversation with other artists.
What I really wanted to share here today was the opening remarks by Terrence Heath, PhD Philosophy. He promised to keep his remarks short and he stuck to this resolution, however what he said was most profound and has stuck with me over the past several days as most inspirational. While it is impossible to recite his exact works I will attempt to share the meaning and my understanding of his short speech.
Heath shared his insights into mindfulness and how we are all trying to strive to live in the moment. He clearly stated that living in the moment is impossible, as this moment is informed of the past moment and at the same time it is already moving into the future. To really experience this moment is virtually impossible.
Instead he expanded on the term “now-ness” derived from the German “Jetzt-Zeit”. It basically means this moment, right now. Who is able to experience “now-ness”? Only children, mad men (and women) and artists truly experience the moment, the now.
Something to ponder and consider, isn’t it? I always look for inspiration when attending art shows and openings. Dr. Heath’s words were the most inspiring I have listened to in a while. The entire room was so quiet, you could have heard a pin drop (if it wasn’t for the carpeted foyer we all gathered in). Does this mean I have been turning my attention to something that cannot be achieved? Is Mindfulness a figment of our imagination? I think not – we have the advantage of possessing artist’s minds and the ability to view the world creatively.
Just wanted to share … hope it provides more food for thought!
Anna Hergert, Art & Design 
my idea of “mindfulness” is more along the lines of being aware or conscious, regardless of the context. be mindful of your impact on others, whether it’s verbal or an action; be conscious of impact vs intent. be in the moment when doing yoga; be conscious of your body and how it’s reacting/responding to what you’re asking it to do. be in the moment when creating; this is where I believe past, present, and future merge. be in the present in terms of what you’re creating and issues related to safety, but draw on the past and project into the future to draw inspiration from many aspects of your life, whether or not you’ve experienced them yet.
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Thanks for your comment, Laurie – I love to hear how everyone interprets mindfulness, “now-time” and just how they experience it.
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Many years ago a book by Toni Morrison made me understand for the first time that although we live and operate in linear time , in our heads as we go through our days we are in the past, present and the future all or almost all the time , that is why we are encouraged by self help gurus to live in the moment or to be mindful. Basically what we are being asked to do is pay attention to what we are doing in any one moment. This is very hard to do except for the seriously creative or very conscious person.To be truly creative we have to be in the moment or in the now, we can’t create when our thoughts are all over the place, that is when we have to focus, we cannot create unless we are in the now focussing. Does this make sense to anyone , lol
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Thanks for this, Marilyn! I think you have put this into easy to understand terms. I appreciate you taking the time to weigh in.
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Definitely food for thought. Thanks for sharing Anna. I will need to work on my jetzt-zeit.
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I think we all do – I know it spoke to me. Now… how to carve out more of this “jetzt-Zeit”… let me know how you manage, Susan.
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