Free Inner Beauty Portraits

Here are two unhelpful (& closely related) attitudes that we humans tend to drift into:

1. let's pretend that everything is OK, and affirm a polite, approved, dominant version of existence, at the expense of all other possible viewpoints.  anything to do with The Unpleasantness is unwelcome here.
   
2. let's dwell eternally on the failures, flaws, and bitternesses between us.  anything to do with Peace, Love, and Understanding is just namby-pamby distraction from the righteous struggles of the day, and/or the inevitable darkness of the world.

Whenever I find myself in a situation where people who are in no way previously acquainted are behaving with astonishing goodwill and delicacy of intent towards one another, I think this kindness is happening all over the world, and yet it is largely absent from our public discourse and news media.  True, beautiful actions of people in Germany, Iceland & Hungary towards arriving refugees have been widely reported, but 99 times out of 100, the news-fart floating across the screen or the airwaves will be related to some scandal, tragedy, or feud.

So, what a pleasure to find myself with my beloved friend Nico, in Philadelphia's Clark Park today, offering Free Inner Beauty Portraits to all comers.  The neighborhood around the park is diverse in all imaginable ways, and the people walking by our table seemed primed to be curious & open to new ideas.  Free Inner Beauty Portraits is this practice:

1.  sit down opposite someone at a table, with a large piece of paper between you.  
2. both of you close your eyes.  tune into your feet, and open the gates in the soles of your feet, welcoming & being welcomed by the earth.  tune into your seat, letting your weight settle & be received.  tune into your heart & feel its vastness, extending unobstructed in all directions.  tune into your crown, and welcome your connection with sky.  tune into your breath & your heartbeat, inhabiting your body with gratitude.  you are a bridge between earth and sky.  you, like all other beings, are the only you.  you are absolutely welcome and essential here, as are we all.
3. intend to draw for five or ten minutes.  during that time, look only at your partner’s face, while she or he looks only at your face.  no looking at the paper whatsoever.
4. become completely absorbed in seeing this beautiful face that has never before been seen in this way, and in allowing yourself to be seen.
5. pretend that your hand is like the needle of a seismograph.  whatever your eye sees, traveling slowly and carefully over the terrain of your partner’s face, your hand draws it.  light wispy lines for the down on a cheek; wiry lines for mustache-hairs, long smooth lines of forehead-wrinkles.  all happening beyond the control & scrutiny of critical mind.
6. when the timer goes off, look at the drawings as a record of the act of looking.  critical mind is unlikely to be pleased, but look!  there is so much seeing here.

Most of the photos above were taken by Nicole Arcilla.  Thank you, friend!  Thank you, everyone who stopped to draw with me, or with each other.  Thank you, spontaneous & much appreciated donations of gas & toll money.  Thank you, Friends of Clark Park, who work to incarnate music, art, food, and vibrant, green public space in this city.  Long may such gestures of love resonate, and long may we speak of them.