The Measure of a Man…or Woman

Humanity may refer to:

• The human species

The total world population

• Human nature, psychological characteristics that all normal humans have in common

Compassion, altruism, or similar positive aspects of human nature along with aggression, fear, or similar negative aspects

• The human condition, the totality of experience of existing as a human
• The humanities, academic disciplines which study the human condition using analytic, critical, or speculative methods
• The Kingdom of Humanity, a micronation.
• Humanity as one of the six core virtues in the Character Strengths and Virtueshandbook.

The Character Strengths and Virtues (CSV) handbook of human strengths and virtues, by the Values in Action Institute, represents the first attempt on the part of the research community to identify and classify the positive psychological traits of human beings. In the same way that the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders is used to assess and facilitate research on mental disorders, the CSV is intended to provide a theoretical framework to assist in developing practical applications for positive psychology. The CSV identifies six classes of virtue (i.e. “core virtues”), made up of twenty-four measurable character strengths.

 

List from the book

The organization of these virtues and strengths in the book is as follows.[1]

• Wisdom and Knowledge (strengths that involve the acquisition and use of knowledge)
  • creativity (personified for example by Albert Einstein)
  • curiosity (personified for example by John C. Lilly)
  • open-mindedness (personified for example by William James)
  • love of learning (personified for example by Benjamin Franklin)
  • perspective and wisdom (personified for example by Ann Landers): the coordination of “knowledge and experience” and “its deliberate use to improve wellbeing.”[4] Many, but not all, studies find that adults’ self-ratings of perspective/wisdom do not depend on age.[5] This stands in contrast to the popular notion that wisdom increases with age.[5]
• Courage (strengths that allow one to accomplish goals in the face of opposition)
  • bravery (personified for example by Ernest Shackleton)
  • persistence (personified for example by John D. Rockefeller)
  • integrity (personified for example by Sojourner Truth)
  • vitality (personified for example by the Dalai Lama)
• Humanity (strengths of tending and befriending others)
  • love (personified for example by Romeo and Juliet)
  • kindness (personified for example by Cicely Saunders)
  • social intelligence (personified for example by Robert Kennedy)
• Justice (strengths that build healthy community)
  • active citizenship / social responsibility / loyalty / teamwork (personified for example by Sam Nzima)
  • fairness (personified for example by Mohandas Gandhi)
  • leadership
• Temperance (strengths that protect against excess)
  • forgiveness and mercy (personified for example by Pope John Paul II)
  • humility and modesty (personified for example by Bill W., co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous)
  • prudence (personified for example by Fred Soper)
  • self-regulation and self control (personified for example by Jerry Rice)
• Transcendence (strengths that forge connections to the larger universe and provide meaning)
  • appreciation of beauty and appreciation of excellence (personified for example by Walt Whitman)
  • gratitude (personified for example by G. K. Chesterton)
  • hope (personified for example by Martin Luther King, Jr.)
  • humor and playfulness (personified for example by Mark Twain)
  • spirituality (personified for example by Albert Schweitzer)

  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Character_Strengths_and_Virtues

The Journal of Dreams 03/16/2010

The Revelation Painting

www.therevelationpainting.com

INTRODUCTION:

THE REVELATION PAINTING

La Pittura di Rivelazione

Overview: 12 feet tall x 40 feet long utilizing thirty 48″ X 48″ canvases. Twenty canvases are gallery wrapped, highest quality to withstand the test of time, six are custom birch wood, with holes drilled of various sizes and fully functioning doors on the backs. Four canvases are custom birch wood in order to carry the weight of over $140,000.00 of crushed precious and semi precious gemstones. The pearl gates are made from crushed Akoya, Japanese saltwater pearls! The painting incorporates thousands and thousands of dollars worth of highest quality Golden and Liquitex acrylic paints, 24K gold flake and leaf, and complete fiber optics set ups which illuminate God in a way never seen before in fine art. Customized sections of the painting give it the ability to move and bleed (Truth-The Hemorrhage of Pigs!), then returning to its natural state.

The painting initially appears as a religious painting alone, the final book of the bible, Revelation with seven magnificent scenes and sub-scenes labeled in various languages, yet underlying there is another painting of politics and corruption. Within the painting is the ancient and ongoing battle of good v.s evil, mysteries and messages embedded within the artwork which are not readily visible. The making of this painting has spanned nearly 16 years and is estimated to be released 2014-2015. Upon the painting’s release, a stunning revelation will be revealed which ties this painting to current world events which was not discovered until 09/2009. Two other unknown mysteries of Revelation were also uncovered while creating this painting and have been missed throughout history! Please see the blogs for more detailed information about the making of this historical work of art created by one artist, and the photos as they are updated.

Upon the release of The Revelation Painting seven journals will also be released within 2015-2016 which give an unusual first hand look inside the mind of an artist while visualizing and detailing each scene revealing the trials and tribulations of aspects required to make the painting. The Journal of Measures (and Numbers) details not only the transition of moving an idea to giant size, it also covers odd events regarding numbers associated with the painting. The Journal of Sketches reveals artwork from the conceptual stages and beyond. The stones used in the painting are discussed in a journal named: The Stones, and Truth-The Hemorrhage of Pigs! talks about the section of the painting which bleeds.

Within The Journal of Acknowledgement participants are given an opportunity to express information to the world! World-wide exposure to the arts in many regions dealing personally to obtain supplies for this historical painting. My endeavor is to help bring knowledge around the globe of not only the beauty of arts all over the world but to help people understand that profound inspiration exist in a world not so far from their own! My first stop…Africa!  With global participation in The Revelation Painting for the past twelve years there has been silent participation from all over the globe to complete this work of fine art; what I consider to be a “global effort”. The ultimate endeavor is to bring a sense of unity through visual peace by bringing to light the beauty of natural resources, therefore the people of that region or area. Mysteries of Revelation which have pulled at the threads of many genius human beings are revealed within the painting as well.

Seven journals will accompany this massive work of art. Nothing like this has ever been done in art or the history of mankind! My Creative Influences & Favorite Artists, The Philosophy of the Revelation Painting: Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems concerning matters such as existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language distinguished from other ways of addressing fundamental questions (such as mysticism, myth, or the arts) by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational argument. The word “Philosophy” comes from the Greek φιλοσοφία [philosophia], which literally means “love of wisdom”.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PhilosophyAs noted in the definition of philosophy: A simple and profound question to ask yourself is simply, why am I here? The Revelation Painting helps to bring to light an answer to that question by subjecting the viewer to a combination of factors that overlap in the world we live in. In order to see why we are here, we have to see the world around us. There is a significant difference in “seeing” and understanding, it is a global effect. We can look at every single detail but miss the entire forest because of the trees. To understand, for example how the forest survives, you must understand the delicate balance of life but you cannot think that you understand if you do not see the “big” picture, otherwise it is no less than walking around blind with 20/20 vision!

How the problems in the philosophy are addressed throughout The Revelation Painting is approached through certainly what would be termed an unconventional route. Artist throughout history have used their talent to help their audience see life through a perspective very different from what they are accustom. People are attracted to the different view of the world gazing through the artist’s eyes mainly because it is an escape from the world they are used to or literally trapped within. The world of imagination can take anyone as far as they would like to go whether it is by their own hand, or that of an artist. Often times an artist’ endeavor is to connect with the viewer.

Difficulty arises through expression whether it be an idea, placing a shadow correctly within a work of art, or most often bringing an idea to reality. Historically the renowned artists are those who were able to achieve a connection with people through their art and master the difficulties associated, hence the “Masters”. The Revelation Painting’s effort to master difficulties of projecting ideas to vision and within the painting is a core network projecting the delicate balance of life in an unconventional manner. The blogs, journals and information associated with the painting was designed to help the viewer understand the complexity of the unseen network within the forest of this massive painting.

 

The Journal of Dreams 02/04/2010

Self evaluation has been on my mind lately.  I am getting old and since I work in healthcare, it is easily seen how diseases eat away at life.  Lately I have felt very fatigued which I contribute to smoking too many cigarette really.  When I am at home smoking is far more than at work.  At work, I smoke 3 cigarettes in 12 hours, maybe 4, but at home, I smoke a pack and sometimes two throughout the day when I am off.  Working or not, a carton of cigarettes are smoked a week, sometimes more.

Also, I am heavy, too heavy for a healthy body.  Although I do not think my cholesterol is high due to limited red meat intake, I am fat.  My job is very stressful.  That being said, there is one more thing.  I am female and am reaching the age where menopause starts.  For a woman, when menopause occurs important hormones end which protect us from heart disease.  Since heart disease is prevalent in my family, I now have a higher risk of death!

So I have four critical risk factors that are certainly killers.  It is time to make some changes.  It would be hell to complete this painting after all these years and fall over dead.  Just as I have made plans for this painting, essentially it has taught me a form of discipline by following through on goals in certain timeframes.  It is important to make certain goals for extending my life because now, I am a “dead man walking” and I am quite positive that is a fact.

Today I am not painting or working on the journals.  I am writing this blog then setting a course for victory against an adversary, what my mother called “the boogeyman”.  She told me a long time ago that he was after me which was quite disturbing but I looked at it with the typical:  “Yea sure, that happens to other people” attitude.  I’ve seen enough to know that if it isn’t you or the guy down the street, it is me…I am the other person.

I used to be quite athletic.  I was the pitcher for my softball team, used to run like the wind and was the fullback on the soccer team.  I won the trophy in high school for arm wrestling and beating everyone, male and female.  I was the greatest tomboy and fearless.  Not to admit to ever breaking the law, I could say that one time “I dreamt of driving a car 168 miles an hour”…;)  That would have been a foolish thing to do.  There is a value on life and today I will acknowledge it.

The Journal of Dreams 01/23/2010

I was just thinking about calling my mother…she’s dead.  She died in 2006 unexpectantly.  I don’t know how many times I thought about calling her since then.  The day she died, I was living in Philadelphia and had been sick for 2 days, the flu or something and really bad laryngitis.  Feeling as though I couldn’t sleep anymore, and got up to start painting a picture for my daughter; the one I promised her for the past several years.  There was a specific photo of her I had in mind where she was wearing a velvet, olive-green, 1940’s short hat-the kind that just sits on the top of the head without sides and has mesh over the eyes to the lips.

I had started with the lips because I knew the detail of the mesh would be hard to do without messing it up.  Her painted red lips where a stark contrast to the olive-green of her eyes and the hat.  About 3/4 of the way through the lips I realized it was not that photo I had painted, it was someone else’s lips.  I continued to paint thinking I will paint my daughter’s painting after finishing this stranger I had found myself mysteriously painting.  I started thinking about the lips my mother used to put on napkins and give to us as children by pressing her painted lips against the soft paper.  They were kisses that were captured forever on the napkin that we could keep in our drawers, or books, or any place we wanted-forever.

The lips had evolved into almost the entire canvas, not leaving room for any other parts of the face.  I remember sitting there, smoking a cigarette, looking at the lips when the phone rang.  It was my father and he said:  “I don’t want you to crack up or anything but your mother is dead.”  I just kept saying:  “I know, I know, I know.”  I didn’t cry or feel shock.  I don’t remember what we said next, I just remember staring at the lips I had just painted.  Sometime after we hung up I realized I had starred at the lips for a while, wondering if my mother suffered at all and what exactly happened.  Then I realized I had been painting her lips at the moment she died…the kiss on the napkin that got bigger and bigger.

She was telling me goodbye through the skill that she had taught me, to paint.  She knew my great passion for painting and how more appropriate could it have been?  I named the painting:  MARY ANN’S LAST KISS and it rest comfortably in my private collection along with the other very special paintings which were given to me as gifts although painted by my hand.  Holy Mary is one-read about her on the home page and how she came to be at:  www.therevelationpainting.com.  The world is odd, things that happen are odd and I love these mysteries.  I miss my mother but know that she had a promise to fulfill for the time she was given.  If there is a God, he would not have let her leave if he thought she would not return.  She had an angel’s work to do.

The Journal of Dreams 01/22/2010

Da Vinci was a brilliant man and a trickster apparently.  I think he spent a lot of time amusing himself.  Definitely he was ahead of his time.  That is what I am wondering about today.  Why are some people “ahead” of their times?  There is a simple philosophy I discovered some time ago when I tried to understand the who, what, when, where and how of us as human beings.  What I came up with was that we are products of all of our interactions and experiences.  How could we be more than that if we never experienced it or learned it?  In DaVinci’s case it was imagination which allowed him to cross the boundaries of technology, to create flying machines in his mind and apply them to paper.  Of course he had to have some understanding of flight and gravity as well as other understanding of the things he built.

What about poets who write about things they have not experienced and the use of words that they never have used and do not know what they mean?  Where did that come from?  I wonder about the transition between life and death.  Just because we do not physically see a body anymore when someone dies, does that mean that they are not here with us?  What I have learned as a trauma nurse is that a body is a heavy burden to carry.  It only houses our spirit and our soul.  Even from the day we are born, this physical body is heavy for us regardless of its weight.  Imagine if your spirit was a fleeting light which darted from place to place too fast for the human eye to catch it?  It seems right when talking about the bright light of God and that we were created in his image doesn’t it?  Haven’t you ever seen something from the corner of your eye only to turn and it is gone?

What if that is a spirit that our physical bodies aren’t fast enough to keep up with and that our physical brains chalk up to impossible because it does not have the capability to understand it, something like a self-preservation mode.  If it seems illogical, then the brain rejects it.  What is that we see from the corner of our eye?  Also, if you have ever noticed that when you are extremely tired, it is then that those things become more clear.  Sometimes when I am exhausted, when I wake up for the first few minutes when I move my arms, it is like a trail of arms because the mind cannot keep up with the movement.  It is like drawing a picture which changes ever so slightly on the page corners of a book.  When you fold the pages back and let it flip, it creates a movie.

Our brain may be fast enough when it is rested, but what when it is tired?  Do we see the individual pieces which make the whole picture?  How do I not know at this very moment, that there aren’t spirits surrounding me watching me work?  Just because I cannot see it, it does not mean that it isn’t so.  How do we know that DaVinci didn’t sketch those flying machines through a guided hand of a spirit?  We do not.  Often times people say I think too much.  They are only seeing the waking part of my thinking.  If they saw the sleeping part of my thinking (my dreams), they would wonder how I survive at all!  How do we know that we are not someone reincarnated?  How do we know that we do not come back over and over just to experience all the things we didn’t understand the first time around?  Where does Deja vu come from?

Circle of Seven

 Would it be marvelous to save this old and weary soul?

 Shadows dance aimlessly toward its demise. Visionless of what we have and limitless in belief it will never end, we seem to anticipate a brighter explosion of tomorrow through darkness of yesterday’s eyes.

 Mumbling voices echo, hit their knees for the first time. Prayer trickles through empty corridors as a soul begs to be set free. Physical limitations crushing, override the spirit. So it creeps in, this thing called destiny.

 No sadness lingers at lifetime’s edge, no mystery unraveled, or story to tell. Only the tempting call of affirmation and worth when ones standing are left behind, as the soul rises from its heavy shell.

 Shadows move closer to graciously accept, the soul dances weightless within the heaven-bound circle of seven. Rejoicing tears splash on earth mimicking soft rain as the old, weary soul travels gently toward heaven.

The Journal of Dreams 01/19/2010

Worked a little on the pale horse and provided him with a coat of translucent green; a green wash-according to the Aramaic bible and the original translation from Jesus’ language.  I was going to paint a skeleton rider since the his name is death but quickly found he need more research and pre-sketching.  I put that section up for now.

I went back to the sky and highlighted it to match a little better in its transition from light to dark.  I began work on the Locust over six years ago.  It is difficult to work on them by hanging the canvas on the wall, I have to stand on a step stool and the detail of their faces is hard to focus on when your feet are not well grounded.  I will have to take it down for that work.

Thinking about what was originally named The Woman and the Beast which is actually Babylon, I decided to rename that scene to Babylon.  I had not thought much about this scene, had not really sketched it or measured it.  I have decided to use a form of art I used to use quite often for the making of Babylon.  I will have to work out some kinks.

I used to paint murals on the walls in apartments I lived in.  I spent a lot of time and money on those really beautiful works of art, then I would move and leave them behind.  The last few I painted took up the entire largest wall in the living rooms.  I had mastered them so that it had the illusion that you could walk into it.  Most were cities-big sparkling cities.

The windows were made from rhinestone which sparkled day and night.  They really added a lot to just sitting in the room.  I had found myself in the middle of watching television, starring into the city instead.  The most attractive rhinestone were the rich, dark colors of Emerald, Red, and the rich, dark golds.  Sometimes the corners of the rooms would transition to forest and work around the room.

Once the forest were done, I would place real trees in big, colorful pots in strategic places to make you feel as though you were sitting in a rainforest looking at the city in the distance.  That kind of art is good for the soul and leaves the imagination free.  If I had every gotten settled, I planned to have Macaws for my forest.  I fancied the Green Wing and Hyacinth.

That is the one thing about art.  If you dream it, you can create it.  I dreamt of a fantasy place that does not exist (as far as I know), and I created it as I envisioned it.  Art is wonderful for just that purpose.  Once I lived where the steps going upstairs were suspended on poles and through the steps I painted a huge, colorful, cartoon snake with big, playful eyes…he was great.

There are 3 murals on the walls of a critical care unit that I painted with nature sounds piped in.  That is a nice effect!  I painted them 7-8 years ago and now and then I call to see if they are still there.  It would be interesting to see how many people felt that those murals inspired their health and wellness in any way.  I once wanted to travel all over painting “healing” murals.  Maybe someday…

The Journal of Dreams 01/08/2010

There is no time to do much before work except smoke cigarettes, drink coffee, and stare at the black horse.  I think he has way too much hair and the major screw up here is that the hair crosses over all four canvases right at their joints (the cross in the middle where they all connect).  That means I have to apply the hair across all four canvases and make sure it is totally dry, then cut it so very straight between the canvases.  If the edge where the hair is becomes rubbed on something, it will rip off.  What a horrid mistake!

I called my old father and we had a conversation about it.  Life really makes people wise (sometimes).  He can always think of an answer.  One day I’ll pick up the phone to call him for an answer and he won’t be there anymore, just like my mother who died in 2006.  I don’t know how many times I thought about picking up the phone and calling her.  Ironically she died because she received a double dose of insulin in a place where she should have been safe.  I was the only one who did not attend her funeral, I could not trust myself.  The anger was too strong.

It could be a moment of wondering if I had it all to do over again, what would I change but I cannot think that I would change much.  Self preservation blankets me and I avoid relationships, friends, family, or anything which has the ability to destroy me.  When I paint this painting I wonder if my mother was the nurturing vessel which brought me to this point in life.  Evaluating her life, I do not know of any other achievement that could top it.  Am I her destiny and what it was all for?

There are a lot of skeletons in our families closets, a lot of damage was done and time healed some of the wounds.  I have 4 novels I have worked on about these skeletons.  When I write, my grand imagination lets me see it like a movie in my mind.  I feel the warm, summer night air, smell the neighborhood, hear the music and see the moon glisten in the distance.  Pulling from memories is a wonderful thing in creation, like the Interference Blue’s mimic of moonlight…wonderful.

All my life, as far back as I can remember there was a silent traveler with me which as an adult I called: A Sense of Sadness.  When I was 32 my mother handed me a book of poetry I wrote when I was 12 and every poem in it was about death or dying.  It was a shocking Revelation for me because I had wondered often times when the sadness really began and why.  I couldn’t believe it had been at that early of an age and to have written about it then, it originated earlier.

In analyzing how I could have possibly known anything about death at that age, I could not remember any instance.  No one near me had died, none of my friends family members had died and to this day, I still cannot remember how it started.  The similarity of my mother dying at 12 and returning to tell the tale made me wonder about dreams, memories and how we protect ourselves from psychological pain by forgetting.  I wonder…