Category Archives: Repatriation

Pink Confetti

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I’m having a day off in the midst of this five weeks course and it’s a welcome break. I’m having a slight cold today, it’s because the weather has been crazy all week. When I leave in the morning it’s only about 8C° but by the time the course is done it’s about 20C°. Choosing the right things to wear is kinda hard when the weather is like this and would’ve been much easier if I could get to the course by car. But I’m not… I’m cycling each day and it feels great!

On my way there I’m surrounded by nature and each morning I watch birds nesting, green around me getting greener and blossoms being washed down by rain. The wind causes a whirl of nature’s confetti when it touches these tiny pink blossoms lying on the ground. Unfortunately it’s only a matter of weeks or even days -depending on the weather- for the blossoms to be gone again so I’m trying to enjoy them as much as I can while I can…

I had an extremely busy week, running around to get to different appointments. I haven’t had much sleep either worrying too much about stuff that I shouldn’t worry about. I’ve learnt so much about myself especially yesterday when I was told that I should stop being such a perfectionist. That I should cut myself some slack: not to put so much pressure on me by trying to do everything right not allowing myself to make any mistakes.

I had to give a presentation to a group of twelve people: they would ‘judge’ me by giving me feedback on things such as, posture, attitude, facial expression, body language etc. I didn’t have much time to prepare my presentation since I missed quite a few hours of this course having to deal with appointments with municipal offices, providing them with papers and such. The degree of unnecessary bureaucracy in this country still amazes at times.

Anyway, the presentation went extremely well. Something I didn’t expect at all and I was told by the coach to sit back and revel in all the compliments for a change instead of thinking about what could’ve been improved still. I mentioned self-reflection in my previous post but boy, it sure is… and it’s been great so far! The stress has reduced big time after my last appointment on Wednesday when I broke out in tears all of a sudden.

Something that was mentioned touched the right chord at the right time. Some (so-called friends) fail to support me or understand what I’m dealing with, while others (read: strangers at municipal offices) realise what is going on and totally understand how I feel about it all. So I was touched by the empathy and the kind words of this stranger opposite of me, it was liberating to finally get the opportunity to shed those tears after all the stress.

It’s been a strange week but a good one and I’m celebrating new insight by enjoying the free pink confetti party that nature is throwing me!

© Zesty Gal – Pink Confetti, there’s six of them in a row :)

Lawrence Jordan

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Over the weekend I watched the last part of a documentary about *Lawrence Jordan (Moments of Illumination) on a Buddhist channel, his creative mind was intriguing and while I had been zapping, looking for something interesting to watch, I got stuck on this channel. It was perfect timing… He was telling about how he bought a picture book with the last bit of money that he had and how this book changed his entire life.

Lawrence Jordan makes animation films by cutting images by hand, he then places these on a background: a collage of many different pictures that he moves around filming frame by frame. The images he uses are really cool and the technique is amazingly time-consuming so extreme patience is needed. I loved the documentary and have been glued to the telly all thru the show, being totally immersed by it for hours afterwards.

His creativity is truly inspiring and his life story had a profound impact on me as I am struggling with finding new goals in life and wanting to know where things are heading. Thinking too much about certain issues can easily drag me down again whilst I’m trying to keep my spirit as lifted as possible these days (which is hard at times, trust me!). But watching this documentary made my creativity all go bouncy and wishing to create.

‘A maverick spirit in the world of avant-garde American cinema, Lawrence Jordan played an important role in the late 1950s/early 1960s San Francisco art scene. Jordan has made over seventy experimental films, including a number of fanciful, filmic animations made from collaged cut outs of Victorian engravings. The animations extend dreamlike imagery of collaged landscape into a cinematic realm of transformation and free form symbolism.’

Jordan seeks to delve into the deep structures and Jungian connotations of the mythological images his films reference. His alchemical approach to imagery creates what he has called the’theater of the mind, which you construct. That is the Underworld… the realm of the imagination. You have to have a place to work with images.’ Source to visit: Lawrence Jordan

*Lawrence Jordan is an independent filmmaker who has been working in the Bay Area in California since 1955, and making films since 1952. He has produced some 40 experimental and animation films, and three feature-length dramatic films. He is most widely known for his animated collage films. In 1970 he received a Guggenheim award to make Sacred Art Of Tibet. His animation has shown by invitation at the Cannes Film Festival.