Many people have asked “why do you paint, create art and poetry and write.” I say I don’t know why. It has something to do with expressing the mystery and changing beauty of existence and at times the injustice, destruction and savageness and all that changes with that and my relation to that. It seems to me that my state of being is collectively affected with all that arises and that I am not in a static state or strive to reach one. Discomfort is an aspect of change but all the sublime qualities are as well and what I am is changing in an ongoing way. I open and move through it all and I celebrate what is beautiful and I grieve and move through what is not. I find that there is beauty in what others express and in relating to what others have experienced in their journey and the intimate sharing of that. It isn’t about searching for a god or religious utopia. It is enough for me to live in a way that embraces the essence of what arises.