“When I hear people talk about a fear of failing, I get so tired. You think you’re afraid of failing, but in fact you’re doing it now. Let’s talk about your fear of succeeding.”
-Gordon Hays 2016
Reaching Toward Pluto
“Nothing will be impossible for you.” -Matthew 17:20 NIV
Dear Reader, have you been following the journey of the New Horizons space probe to Pluto? This may seem like an unlikely subject for my blog, but I am fascinated by the beautiful metaphor on faith and trust that has unfolded in this particular NASA mission.
Before launching in 2006 under the guiding principle of “shedding light on frontier worlds,” New Horizons faced considerable setbacks and opposition. When viewing the images being sent to us here on Earth from the remarkable nine and a half year, thirty billion mile journey to Pluto, it is important to note that the New Horizons project was once cancelled. After being launched, aimed towards a goal, Pluto, New Horizons’ main focus was discounted and demoted to a dwarf planet. Every new object discovered along New Horizons’ path needed to be overcome as a threat to the probe. And, according to an article in the July 15, 2015 USA Today, “it would take only a speck of dust the size of a grain of rice to mortally wound the spacecraft.”
Hidden among the New Horizons project is a beautiful metaphor for our own lives. Despite all the setbacks, obstacles and perceived failures New Horizons reached its’ goal. The team behind the project spent years engineering and calculating, and yet ultimately had to let go, and send out this valuable space probe into the unknown, trusting for nine and a half years and thirty billion miles that a speck of dust would not be the end of the mission. That is the essence of faith. That is the definition of surrendering to the unknown. New Horizons is pioneering into once uncharted territory, revealing a mystery in the far reaches of the unknown.
I look at my life now, as I venture into my own unknown. It is perhaps the most difficult and beautiful time in my life thus far. But, I can have faith too that even in the vastness of the unknown, something wonderful will be discovered. I hope the same for you.
Making a Miracle Come True!
“How do we manifest a miracle? It begins with a wish.”
-Gordon Hays
Artist, Writer, Wayshower
Gordon Hays Artwork
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Gordon-Hays-Artwork/380616048717195
The Good Life with Gordon
https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Good-Life-with-Gordon/1463801707210100
Just Published in The Salmon Creek Journal 2015!
I am very excited to announce that my artwork and poetic narrative were just published in The Salmon Creek Journal 2015. Below, is the poetic narrative “Rainbow Cup” written in 2014 that I saved for this moment to share with you all. I am so honored to see these words reflected back to me in print!
“Rainbow Cup”
Gordon Hays, 2014
Nothing can grow from falsehood. It must begin with the seed of Truth.
Story shapers and deceivers know this alike.
The beginning. It starts with me.
People say I have an attitude, among other things.
I say, I speak my mind.
I say, I claim my voice.
I alone have walked through the fires of my life.
I alone exist with the charred remains of my personal triumphs, and the wasteland of my failures, flaws and missed opportunities.
I draw from the deep well of a varied past. Covert and cruel, beautiful and heartbreaking. The enduring spectrum of the modern queer.
I drink from a rainbow cup. Thick with the spoiled slick of hate and rejection; dredged with tears and brutality.
I drink from a rainbow cup. Spilling over with jubilant celebration; the flood of creative liberation.
I drink from a rainbow cup. Longing for a mulled sweetness, warmed by desire. A never sated want of un-ending thirst.
I drink from a rainbow cup. Poured from a history of silence and enduring strength. Poured from shadows of the past into an illuminated future.
Gordon Hays
Artist, Writer, Wayshower
Gordon Hays Artwork
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Gordon-Hays-Artwork/380616048717195
The Good Life with Gordon
https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Good-Life-with-Gordon/1463801707210100
The Luxury of Dreaming
Yesterday, after an insightful phone conversation with my aunt, I was lost in thought about the luxury of dreaming. We were discussing the hardships of the people who came before us in our family, paving the way for our experience in this lifetime. I posed the question to her-Why is it that we come from a line of people who placed importance on order, working hard, and living modestly? And yet, there exists a drive within myself to reach beyond that way of life, exploring the things I am passionate about and daring to dream. My aunt said something very profound to me that I had not pieced together before now. Imagining the hardships of my family’s past, dreaming wasn’t available to them. Striving to survive doesn’t leave room for the luxury of pursuing your dreams. Thinking on my family’s narrative, I am reminded of where I have come from, and where I desire to go.
In my lifetime, I have the luxury of pursuing my dreams, and for that I am grateful. Recently, I shared a piece of poetic narrative with fellow blogger ‘Seeing the Whisper.’ I was so honored to see my own words reflected back to me through that experience, and I wanted to share that piece here. I wrote the words listed below just before leaving my hometown and moving to a place I had never been. I continue to pioneer into the wild unknown, blessed with the luxury of dreaming.
“Dear Reader, do you remember your passion? I’m not writing of desire, although it has its’ place. I’m writing of your passion. At the very core of you, the call you can’t resist, but daily hide under a veil of responsibility. Your passion-what you dream of in spare moments…the ‘if only.’ You only have one shot at this lifetime. One chance, now, to do the thing you are meant to do. Will you let it slip by? Inside of me a fire burns to create. Any way I can find to create from nothing, and bring into being something. For so long, I denied this creating its’ place in my life. I decided during one of the hardest times of my life, as tears leaked down my face-I will sink my teeth into my dream, and I will not let go. I will hold on. I will follow my heart, my dream against every obstacle, against every opinion. I just want the chance to lay my handprint on our timeline. Write my initials in history like wet concrete.” -Gordon Hays, 2009
Image: “Dear Life” by Gordon Hays, 2010
Artist, Writer, Wayshower
Gordon Hays Artwork
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Gordon-Hays-Artwork/380616048717195
The Good Life with Gordon
https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Good-Life-with-Gordon/1463801707210100
The Good Life with Gordon
The Good Life with Gordon is an internet radio show that features a delightful and insightful mix of music and guest interviews. Through my work as an artist, writer, and Wayshower I enjoy this platform to expand on subjects that are important to myself and other wisdom-seeking, creative-minded individuals! Here is a sample interview, featuring my special guest Suzanna, as we explore the topic of feminism in pop culture. Humor and insight included. Enjoy!
You can also Like our Facebook page here:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Good-Life-with-Gordon/1463801707210100ou
How to be a Creative Pioneer.
Why do I rage? Yesterday, there was nothing safe from my scathing eye. In the words of Adele, I could have set fire to the rain. I smoldered with an inward inferno. In the days’ wake, I left behind the ashes of customers who challenged me, classmates who crossed my path, and assignments nearly due. Probably best that when the days’ must do’s were done, I withdrew from the world.
I’ve heard it’s a guy thing, but withdrawing provides perspective. Being far removed, I can take a deep breath and begin to investigate.
So, why do I rage? It’s the aftermath of unexpected vulnerability. Yesterday, an impromptu presentation in my Fine Arts class left me feeling embarrassed and personally exposed. The I should have said this, and should have done that’s began to pile up in my mind. Frustrated, I realized, because I had no armor. This is vulnerability. To put yourself out there, even in circumstances outside of your control and surrender to the outcome.
As creatives, how do we embrace vulnerability when it seems the world is full of critics, ready and willing to tear us down? I’ve been listening to interviews with Brene’ Brown, author of Daring Greatly who relates powerful insights about the importance of vulnerability in our society. It is important despite any potential criticism to share our creative voice with the world. Today, after sitting with my reflections I am choosing to look at my experience as a valuable one. I made a note during class about why it is important to go through uncomfortable experiences like the one I had yesterday. The willingness to go through a vulnerable moment means that you become a leader, not a follower. You forge into the unknown, like a creative pioneer. And although not always easy, I realize now that it is a part of the process.
Gordon Hays
Artist, Writer, Wayshower
Gordon Hays Artwork
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Gordon-Hays-Artwork/380616048717195
The Good Life with Gordon
https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Good-Life-with-Gordon/1463801707210100
About the Artist
More than an Artist, I hope to be a Wayshower. I am joyful, creative, intuitive and passionate about the beautiful mystery we all experience. My work reflects each of these attributes, and when the opportunity presents itself, I am able to offer support to others without diminishing myself. I don’t have to “be” anything, but present to the moment, and authentically me. As a Wayshower, I guide people to themselves, and what they already know.
People don’t always understand our choices, and in misunderstanding, we don’t receive validation from others that what we are doing is good, or that we are good. But, as I have learned to do, I believe in myself more, and offer myself that validation, looking for it less outside of myself.
Being intuitive is a lesson in patience, because we often find ourselves waiting for people to catch up to what we already know.
Gordon Hays 2013
People don’t always understand our choices, and in misunderstanding, we don’t receive validation from others that what we are doing is good, or that we are good. But, as I have learned to do, I believe in myself more, and offer myself that validation, looking for it less outside of myself.
Being intuitive is a lesson in patience, because we often find ourselves waiting for people to catch up to what we already know.
Gordon Hays 2013
Artist, Writer, Wayshower
Gordon Hays Artwork
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Gordon-Hays-Artwork/380616048717195
The Good Life with Gordon
https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Good-Life-with-Gordon/1463801707210100
Discover Marina Abramovic
“The artist has to be a warrior. Has to have this determination, and has to have the stamina to conquer not just new territory but also to conquer himself and his weaknesses.”
–Marina Abramovic, The Artist is Present
I remember the first time I was introduced to Marina Abramovic’s work. A reenactment of her piece, The House with the Ocean View was featured on the popular television series Sex and the City. In that particular episode, Carrie and Charlotte visit a gallery to see the performance. Challenging the message of the performance, Carrie states, “If you put a phone up on that platform, it’s just a typical Friday night, waiting for some guy to call” (Season Six: Episode 12). While presented as a joke, there is a measure of truth in Carrie’s analysis. And, perhaps that was Abramovic’s intent all along. When Abramovic’s work is deconstructed, the message becomes very simple. Abramovic emphasizes the everyday struggle to be present in our lives. Slowing down, taking time to reflect, and looking inward are often themes in the narrative of Abramovic’s work.
This WordPress post today is part of an assignment for my Fine Arts class. Abramovic is featured in our text book, and it was during this class I discovered Abramovic’s documentary film The Artist is Present, which documents her retrospective at The Museum of Modern Art in 2010. For this installation, Abramovic created a performance piece that allowed museum visitors to come and sit in front of her individually. Abramovic remained in the gallery from the time it opened until it closed every day of the exhibition, seated, as audience members came to sit before her. Performance art is defined by an aspect of audience participation. And in this piece, Abramovic acted as a mirror to those people who sat opposite her. For some, the experience was deeply emotional, for others a brief exchange. But, through it all Abramovic made herself present and available. This was Abramovic’s purpose. To connect the audience with themselves, acting as a symbolic bridge, Abramovic incorporated audience participation in an effort to encourage viewers to slow down, and engage in connection. While not every attendee sat with Abramovic, approximately 850,000 people visited the gallery during Abramovic’s installation. The impact of Abramovic’s work is evident in her mass following that includes pop culture icons like Lady Gaga and Jay Z. I encourage you to discover Marina Abramovic’s work, and experience this powerful artist.
Work Cited
Akers, Matthew. The Artist is Present. Perf. Marina Abramovic. HBO Documentary Films, 2012. DVD.
King, Michael Patrick. Sex and the City Season Six: Episode 12. Perf. Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Cattrall, Kristin Davis, Cynthia Dixon. HBO Video, 2004. DVD.
Creative Wipeout
As artists, writers and creatives—how do we cradle ourselves, nurturing the inner self, in the aftermath of intense creative work? Last week was filled with assignments and deadlines. There was no time to pause, consider, or nurture myself between projects. The bonus to intense creativity is the way it forces out the best work from within. There is no time for holding back in the face of such creative demand.
After sitting through a writing workshop yesterday, where my short story was the focus of feedback, suggestion and editorial scrutiny, I felt drained of energy. I held the space, and didn’t allow myself to feel hurt by the commentary, but rather viewed the feedback through an academic lens. If commentary from my fellow classmates resonated as authentic I made notations on my paper. If the feedback missed the mark, I allowed it to go in one ear and out the other. I was grateful that two people in the workshop really got the energy, tone and theme of my work, and that alone was gratifying.
But saying this doesn’t change that every ounce of energy was put into creating, and I didn’t leave room for nurturing the creator. This morning I came up with the analogy of “creative wipeout.” While creating, I was immersed in the deep waters of creation, riding along the ebb and flow. In the end I felt washed up, thrown on the sand in a crash of creative wipeout.
There may be no way to avoid the crash that occurs after the creative process. But, it is important to note that the letdown is a part of the process, and we can catch ourselves before we fall. Taking time to cradle myself after long periods of creative output has helped me recover with renewed energy for further creation. Nurturing, or cradling the inner self, is open to interpretation. Yesterday, for me it meant lying in bed drinking my favorite beer, and watching a comedy show that makes me laugh out loud. Sometimes it means immersing in quiet, drawing a hot bath or enjoying yoga. However you define what it means to nurture yourself, make it a part of your creative process. Knowing that creative wipeout is likely to happen also means you can plan ways to cushion the fall.
Gordon Hays
Artist, Writer, Wayshower
Gordon Hays Artwork
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Gordon-Hays-Artwork/380616048717195
The Good Life with Gordon
https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Good-Life-with-Gordon/1463801707210100
Gordon Hays 