To release a book is to contribute one drop to the great sea of human perceptions. It may disappear in the great scheme of things, or it may catch the light and sparkle for centuries. Either way it will be small yet vital, a part of the rich human record left for others to help make sense of us later, just as it helps us now to make sense of the world around us.
In releasing Grace and Tranquility, I’m contributing another tiny drop. If I’ve been skillful in expression and if I work hard in outreach, it will assist a few of us in some small way in finding our daily tranquility, and in recalling the gifts of the natural world’s wisdom.
A book is not self-contained, though; it’s a touchstone for the life around it as well as the ideas within it. A book is a living creature in its own right, and in its season of freshness, the heart of it is the human experience created around it. For me, the core experience is going out with the ideas, the photographs, the emotions and spirit within the book, to share them with individuals and gatherings. It’s there that the wisdom becomes both shared and internalized—a part of body experience, not just an abstract concept of mind.
The more senses involved, the deeper the shared effect will be—and so it is that I’ve long sought to create experiences that reach across media boundaries in that great sea of perception. It’s one of the great blessings of my life to have the opportunity for collaboration with a band as exceptional as Gypsy Soul, on the musical version of Grace and Tranquility and on the living events rising from it. The first of those is imminent: as part of the Southern Oregon Arts and Lecture series (SOAL), we’ll be merging live music, reading and photography in the beautiful gardens of Eden Vale Winery in the orchards near Medford on Saturday, July 17th at 7:30 p.m. We’ll share Grace and Tranquility with all in attendance, under the sky and stars. We’re honored to join a series whose other participants include Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist David Hume Kennerly, best-selling author/historian Douglas Brinkley and master Rumi translator Coleman Barks.
Of all the ones essential in creating this little pool in the living sea of perceptions—and there are many—the most essential is you, the receiver, the audience. Without audience there’s no shared experience, no electric connection of spirit, no holding of our inner expressions to the light. So we hope you’ll join us for that SOAL connection; that we together can create a little more grace and tranquility together, for one beautiful night under the open sky.
For information on SOAL and the event with Eric Alan and Gypsy Soul, visit www.jclf.org .
