The ABC's of Totality

Totality is defined as the whole or entirety of something, an aggregate amount. It's first known use was in 1598 according to Merriam-Webster. With the obvious out of the way let's go deeper into the concept of totality as wholeness. I offer this tidbit by theoretical physicist David Bohm, known for his quest for understanding the nature of reality and consciousness as a coherent whole.

"... thought with totality as its content has to be considered as an art form, like poetry, whose function is primarily to give rise to a new perception, and to action that is implicit in this perception, rather than to communicate reflective knowledge of 'how everything is'. This implies that there can no more be an ultimate form of such thought than there could be an ultimate poem (that would make all further poems unnecessary). Any particular form of thinking about the totality does indeed indicate a way of looking at our whole contact with reality, and thus it has implications for how we may act in this contact. However, each such way of looking is limited, in the sense that it can lead to overall order and harmony only up to some point, beyond which it must cease to be relevant and fitting.... Ultimately, the actual movement of thought embodying any particular notion of totality has to be seen as a process, with ever-changing form and content."

Bohm, David (2012-12-06). Wholeness and the Implicate Order (Routledge Classics) (p. 80). Routledge. (Thank you Marshall Lefferts for directing me to this source.)

After chewing on this juicy bit of prose for a while I came up with the alphabet example. For every language, to my awareness, there is a fixed set of letters or characters. English has 26 letters comprising a totality of a set. But from this simple set the combinations make possible an infinite history and expression for all of its users. Totality is both fixed and mutable. Jokes, dramas, theories are all equally possible from a minute whole.

So what am I after in this pursuit of Totality? That will unfold as we go. It's early yet, with miles and orbits, brush strokes and blog posts still swirling in the ether, the place of origin for all things. This I know, in committing to this project with a deadline of July 2017, I am acutely aware of the totality of my input and output, even though I can't tell you what that is yet. There's nothing like a deadline to generate action and results! So in this sense, totality is measured by time. Comes show time I will be ready one way or another. After many years and many deadlines I've arrived at the mantra, 'it is what it is' as I look at my work on display, accepting that I've done what I could with the time and resources at hand, surrendering desire for another outcome other than the one presented; the entirety of my effort. As such, the creations of a lifetime fit in just such a container only of a bigger volume.

 

Artwork: Harvest Moon 1, oil on papered panel, 6x6 inches, 2016. This was an excellent night for painting! There are two more after this one.

What follows next is the story of what ignites within me a passion for this theme and why the time is now.

Inaugural Post - Dreaming Into Being

I suppose it's fitting that my first post here is to recount a dream of a few night's ago. After all, dreaming is a crucial part of being whole, partaking in the whole of life's experience. For traditional Iroquois the dream is at the heart of life, opening the way to vision and guidance for using 'orenda', life animating force, for how to walk well on this Earth. For them, and many others including myself, dream messages are mostly cryptic, only sometimes crystal clear, but are always to be honored in some way whether through ritual act, journal entry or simple sharing with another. And so I share this inspiring dream with you.

My dream finds me at what best resembles a book fair, tables under tents are lined with rare and unusual books, all of it under the canopy of stately trees set between buildings evoking a college campus. I walk between the tables and come upon a large tent where table after table is covered in uniform volumes, there are hundreds of 3 inch thick binders bound in green jackets with gold leaf letters. At the bottom of each binder spine is a volume number and in the middle, in bold caps, is one word - TOTALITY.

I wake up marveling at the vision; the vastness of knowledge represented and implied abundance of many kinds, but also, the open ended paradoxical nature of 'totality', what it means to be whole. I get a good feeling, though, seeing something so comprehensive is so well organized. For me, the green of the binders signifies plenitude in this world. I think of greenbacks, a spring pasture or a forest in full leaf. The gold leaf denotes a high ideal, scholarly in its approach and accomplishment. And so it is, the heart of this mission, this art making and this blog, for me to attempt to contain something uncontainable, unlimited information presented in a limited way with heart, spirit of adventure and no small measure of fun as we take the next step to arriving at TOTALITY.

Gravity Warps - acrylic on papered panel, 6x6 inches, 2016

It's time then to ask, what is totality? As your guide I will tell you, that's a good question. We'll take that up in the next post.

At Left: Artwork depicting a stylized notion of gravity's influence on the space/time continuum.