three-dimensional – The View from a Drawbridge

Art in Three Dimensions

Sculptures are art on another level.

Sculptures take art to the next dimension. Unlike artists who create images on a flat surface, sculptors must consider how their work will look from every angle. They also have to think about the play of light and shadow, and be mindful of the negative space (in an artistic sense, not an emotional one) that their work will create. If the art is to be displayed outside, they also have to think about the weather and seasonal changes, and how this might change the work over time. Even pigeons play a part in the thought process.

I am always looking out for public art in my travels, but sculptures, in particular, invoke strong emotions within me, and always cause me to stop and think. I’m forever grateful for their impact on my life. Receiving pictures of sculptures from all over the world, mostly from my Pokemon Go app, helped inspire me to create a Facebook group called Public Art Lovers, which I invite you to join. I’d love to see pictures of the sculptures you’ve encountered! (But please answer the 4 membership questions, or your request to join the group will be denied. I’m getting sick of bots attempting to gain legitimacy through my group.)

Meanwhile, here are some Pokemon Go images for you to enjoy.

Read any good books lately? Try mine! http://amzn.to/2mlPVh5

Beneath My Feet and above My Head

My plane of existence is very much horizontal.

My plane of existence is very much horizontal. I spend a lot more time thinking about what’s in front of me and behind me and, if I’m really feeling wild, to either side of me, than I do thinking about what’s beneath my feet or above my head.

Yes, I do gaze at the stars, but that’s only at night. And I do love a good cloud formation. But for the most part, I take these things for granted. I wonder how many shooting stars I haven’t seen, simply for lack of looking up.

I also wonder how many caves I’ve walked over without knowing it. How many innocent bugs have been crushed beneath my feet? How many moles have stuck their blind little heads out, sensed me, and beat a hasty retreat? How many unmarked graves have I trod upon?

I’ve certainly tripped and/or bumped my head often enough to where you’d think I’d have learned my lesson. Situational awareness is much more important than my actions would have you believe. I could be hit by a meteor far more easily than I could be run down by a crosstown bus. I totally get how someone might fall down a manhole.

Here I am, living in a three dimensional world, opening drawbridges for a living, and yet I still somehow manage to neglect the ups and the downs of my life. I wonder why. I’d almost rather think of myself as a total flake than to give in to the concept that my eyes face forward and therefore that’s the direction I usually look.

Read any good books lately? Try mine! http://amzn.to/2mlPVh5

Shaping Your Life

When all is said and done, your life will be what you make of it.

Until very recently, I thought of my life as being linear. Birth, growth, death… aren’t we all on that inevitable path? But that makes life sound way too much like a treadmill. (All you’d have to do is look at me once and you’d know that I hate treadmills.)

Now I think of life as being three dimensional. That allows room for a lot more options. It more accurately reflects the diversity of the thousands of lives being lived on this planet. We each shape our lives. We are architects. We are sculptors.

We can be smooth and calm and uniform. We can be rigid and boxy and rough. We can zig and zag and branch off in wild directions. We can embrace. We can repel. We can circle back upon ourselves, or we can shoot forward like an arrow. We can take inspiration from others, or we can set out on our own. We can be steady and solid, or we can wobble unpredictably.

Don’t restrict yourself to a linear life, unless that’s what you truly want in your heart of hearts. Create something beautiful. Only allow others to influence that creation if you can look upon them and see the beauty within. (And don’t forget to thank those who help you shape your life in a positive way.)

When all is said and done, your life will be what you make of it. So make it special.

geometric

Portable gratitude. Inspiring pictures. Claim your copy of my first collection of favorite posts! http://amzn.to/2mlPVh5

The Other Side of the Story

I just had this psychedelic thought, and I’m not even smoking pot. Here it is: Stories are three-dimensional. They have sides. They have perspectives. They have angles. The conclusions you draw from them will be based on which direction you approach them from. You can’t see all sides at once.

I suppose I always thought of stories as words coming at me in a straight line. That’s probably why I’ve gone through life utterly confounded by the fact that not everyone learned the lessons that I was learning. “Did you not hear what I just heard?” Apparently not.

Biblical interpretation and controversy are prime examples of this. Fundamentalists think that the stories in the bible are flat and one-dimensional and therefore straightforward. They simply cannot understand why everyone does not view this book in the exact same way that they do. I find this kind of sad. Why would you want to crush this story, or any story, for that matter, down to an invariable smooth surface when it can be so beautiful and varied and ever-changing in your examination? Even if you are not a Christian (and I am not), this book has lessons, as do all the great stories of mankind.

From now on, I’m going to try to imagine stories coming toward me in varied, colorful, geometric shapes. Like unique little gifts floating on the air. I’m going to try to look at them from many sides to capture as much of their beauty as I can. This opens up a whole new world of possibilities, and will make the world a much more beautiful place for me. I’m excited!