Light & Dark

The mind is both a sanctuary and a weapon. I believe the mind can suffer an enormous amount of trauma and still remain resiliently at peace. The most brilliant artists are usually those who have suffered many wounds to the heart and mind.



The art lies in being able to release one's emotional energy to an outside source, such as a canvas, therefore freeing yourself from the confines of pain, and simultaneously creating work that invokes similar emotion in others.



Brilliance can be deeply disturbed. A label such as "mad genius" is negative, though undeniably fascinating. How the mind can be both greatly disrupted and of superior intelligence, at once; how those two characteristics can coexist in the same realm; how light and dark can share the same space.



Also fascinating is how the mind is powerful enough to filter out given situations that might leave emotional scarring otherwise. Some call this, mind over matter. How one can block out otherwise damaging events, and remain in innocence. Perhaps this is an illusion in itself though... can anyone remain in naive bliss for as long as they have the willpower to do so?



The imagination is a strong facet of the mind that can be dark and light as well. One might use imagination to escape and recreate, to reorder their otherwise disastrous life. Dark fantasy may also be created with the imagination. It is the imagination that can power the creation and development of another world.



What becomes, perhaps, most dangerous, is when one is so enamored with their mind and imagination that they live more so, in their mind, then in reality. Or just another way of living? Can the depth of one's mind truly compensate for reality?



Photo Credits & Sources: "Heavenly Creatures" Vogue UK, March 2006 (http://community.livejournal.com/fakingfashion) & (Unknown Title) Le Magazine Double (www.stormmodels.com); "Demons" (Imogen) by Chadwick Tyler (www.chadwicktyler.com).