15.31
Bredonborough.
A morning organising World HQ.
Now e-flurrying. From a Crafty…
Circa 2001, at a Level 2 course in New Jersey, I saw you for a personal meeting. I said a few things about my sense of necessity versus the creative process, and then realized that I hadn’t actually presented a question for you. You asked if I had anything for you, and - predictably - I asked about right hand technique. You thought for a moment, and then said:
"Don’t confuse your state with your station." … if you have anything further to say on this point, it would be deeply appreciated.
From the reply…
it’s alright that you’ve written & probably the best answer i can give is, ask me this question at camp caravan! otherwise, briefly...
station is where we live, state is where we are visiting. we all have a particular centre of gravity, our own "quality of vibration". this is not fixed for eternity, but changes as we grow & develop (cf the scheme of the Idiots). nevertheless, for a period of time (however long that may be) this is our particular resonating frequency, or note, in the symphony of life.
state is brief: it’s where we are for a short amount of time, how we are feeling at this moment. state can be higher or lower: for example, inspired or despairing. in exceptional cases of a higher state, this may last for perhaps 3 days, and then we return to our station. if we have been in a higher state, this feels like falling to earth. in a higher state, we might say we are "visiting a better place"; although my hunch is, the better place is visiting us.
so, state is temporary; station is governed by our level of personal development & ongoing.
a danger of knowing a higher state, for the immature and/or inexperienced, is to confuse this with one’s station. that is, to believe we belong by virtue of our being and/or personal capacity to a world that is, actually, beyond us. for example, professional is often mistaken for mastery, and mastery for genius. if we are fortunate enough to be around an exceptional person, we find we enter the world to which they belong. it is a fantasy to think that this is our world; ie our state changes in the presence of the remarkable, but we don’t live there - we are only visiting!
In my professional life, an offer has come in for me to take part in an event in Europe, alongside some exceptional improvisers. The invitation assures me that I can play anything I like (which is good, if this is defined as an improvising ensemble) but it hopes I will play like I did in the early 1970s. Well, that’s good to know. It’s interesting how many offers invite me to play whatever I like, while suggesting how it is that I might like to play. I don’t recall accepting one of these offers.
17.38 Practising.
T is back from her travels carrying a computer in need of huge amounts of tech support.
21.34 E-flurrying & computer teching at an end for tonight. Quite enough.
"Act in accordance with time, place and person."
