Fools & Fiscal Cliffs

Going crazy over all the issues surrounding the Fiscal cliff? Perhaps there is some divine insight for us to gain by exploring another cliff walker, The Fool in the classic depiction from the Rider-Waite deck by artist Pamela Colman Smith. For there we find our Fool about to step right off the edge of such a cliff. Note we only see a small portion of the cliff - who knows just what will happen once the step is made?  Will the Fool plummet to his death? Or will he merely land on a lower ledge a few feet below. Or will his little bag become a parachute and he safely glides downward? Or does the Fool discover he can walk on air and even fly? Is the cliff merely an illusion created by fear? So many mysteries surrounding the interpretation…but the Fool, seemingly unaware of it, or unconcerned by it, moves forward. We all need to seek out our inner Fools - for we are indeed on the brink of some major transformations in our world. We can hold on tight and threaten to tumble, or keep ourselves light and adaptable.

The imagery of the Tarot’s Fool contains a bounty of metaphysical symbolism. In the Tarot deck the Fool is usually depicted as the number Zero, which means he is a sort of wild card character, a liminal being neither here nor there, existing outside the system and full of possibility — anything could happen. Zero is also a number which has no value, additive at least. He is therefore neutral and a fresh point of origin, without bias.  He is the figure who wanders away from any stagnant situation to begin a new journey and adventure. Thus he is a figure associated with paradigm shifts and new beginnings. He is not afraid of doing something unusual and outside of the box. He does things that may seem foolish to the current society, but will one day likely become the new normal. History knows many Fools, but more likely calls them a pioneer, explorer, scientist, revolutionary, hero, or savior.

The Fool’s head is held high - perhaps filled with lofty ideas - carrying with him the desire to seek out things above and beyond him. He appreciates natural beauty as seen in the pure white rose* he holds and those dandy duds. The sun shines down upon him like the divine nature of his exuberance, his curious search for understanding and meaning. The only baggage he carries is the small sack of belongings which doesn’t weigh him down. He is free to wander. The dog yips at the heels perhaps with a warning about getting too close to the cliff. Perhaps the dog is his animal instinct, his primal fear of the unknown giving one last plea. Or perhaps the dog is merely yipping joyfully along with him.

We will honor the Fool's role in new beginnings Dec 29

What happens next? Well, that's the domain of the unknown, and where a leap of faith is required. We don’t know where we are going and we are filled with uncertainty. All the energy and attention being put into the current fiscal cliff is surrounding a non-physical event with such fearful energy (and reminds me of Y2K). The cliff is both imaginary and illusionary, but how it effects us will undoubtedly have tangible results and rippling ramifications the more hyped up it gets. But remember, the Fool’s Journey begins with a step into the unknown. The adventure that is the rest of the Tarot Deck continues from such a launching point. Nothing will be gained unless something is first risked. But we have to lighten ourselves. Fill ourselves with faith and follow a higher calling, as foolish it may seem to those who want to surround anything deemed unusual and out of the ordinary in a fog of fear.

So I’m not writing this as some proponent of stepping off the Fiscal Cliff. I don’t mind either way actually, it's all an illusion, but I find the timing of the whole endeavor to be quite interesting and perhaps even auspicious. It comes on the heels of the End of the Mayan Calendar. It is a ReBegin, and a situation full of possibility for a new Foolish journey and a new way of being to take place, which I believe our country and world desperately needs. But let the talking heads keep debating the so called Fiscal cliff if they must keep stoking the fires of fear -- there is a much larger and more wide-spread paradigm shift happening, and that is the one to pay attention to. There is another cliff that we are approaching, which could mean an entirely new way our world operates. So keep your head held high and spirits lifted as you move lightly and freely into the unknown.

*The white rose may also be a symbol of the Fool's engagement upon a Rosicrucian journey - there are of course many more symbols and meanings packed in the image - and part of the sublime value and joy of the Tarot is discovering our individual interpretation and how it resonates with us.

Fools and Food

 

Say no to GMO’s - or at the very least we ought to have the right to know!

The recent vote down against the labeling of GMO foods in California’s Prop 37 once again goes to show how a little misdirection by big business and a little bit of fear about the cost of eating and the economic effect of things goes a long way in fooling the public. So unfortunately here is another perfect opportunity to discuss the nature of ignorance versus knowledge and how being a fool is different than being a Fool.

First though, here is the simple and challenging truth about your food: if you don’t know what you are eating, you are likely eating food laden with GMO’s and grown in unsustainable, chemically laden ways. The reasoning is that it is cheaper and easier for farmers to grow mass amounts of GMO crops loaded with pesticides and herbicides than it is to grow non-GMO’s organically.  But it doesn’t need to be that way — it’s merely the way things became over time, it’s the business model that took off and took over in recent decades. Scientific research brought about some new discoveries and with a growing population there was a need to meet the public demand for more food. However we really don’t have proper impact studies to gauge precisely what the full impact of GMO’s are on the environment or our bodies.

Yet several studies reveal that GMO’s could be responsible for the wide spread Colony Collapse Disorder that is killing off bees. Meanwhile health issues ranging from disorders and diseases, to cancers and obesity problems continues to rise. You would think that such concerns would make people stop and reconsider the situation, but when big money is involved, the lobbyists and corporate machinery churns on - at the entire world’s expense.

The big uncertainty is exactly just how much harm GMO’s and pesticides do to your bodies when you eat them. However we do know that such things harm the natural environment!  It is more important than ever that we think twice about what we shove into our mouths and bodies, and where that food came from and how it will affect our bodies, our immune systems, our entire well-being.

There are indeed other practices and methods of sustainable agriculture that are being developed to meet the needs of the masses, but big business profits really don’t want it any other way. Derailing Prop 37 was a rather simple feat for them - they merely had to outspend the proponents of the bill.  They created enough worry about what the economic impact of the bill could be. The economy trumps our concerns about our health, once again revealing that money is practically a god in good ol’ consumer America. In general we are all like ostriches, who would rather keep our head buried in the sand than wake up to the hard, cold truth that GMO’s are everywhere in the country. We’d rather stay ignorant than pay a bit more to be informed.

Somewhere along the line, wisdom became uncool. Perhaps its because as life gets more complicated, as we hurtle along in a more confusing and daunting web of complexity we are desperately yearning ways to embrace more simplicity. We think ignorance is bliss. We think playing the fool will help solve our problems, and while I say that is a good intuitive response to follow — we need to careful about what type of fool we’re playing, for there is a difference! The lower-case fool ignores facts, ignores reason, and ignores taking responsibility. The capital F Fool, is more about doing things that seem outrageous and thinking outside of the box, the Fool is more about taking risks and changing the paradigm, the Fool is more about cultivating an essence of holy innocence that is peaceful and sincere.

Those difference and many more elements will be explored in “The Happy Happy ReBegin Day Celebration!” on December 29th from 7-11pm. Mark your calendars - for it will be a very festive AND informative evening of performance art starring April Hava Shenkman and yours truly.

In the meantime, is it too foolish to hope that sometime in the next four years we’ll receive proper food labeling on a national level? Or will the administration do something completely Foolish and truly change the way our agricultural system works so that it is safe? It may seem crazy and seem like a bad thing to do for the sake of the economy, but in the long run it could be the wisest thing we could do for the long term health of our citizens and the entire ecosystem of the world.

We need more Fools!

Fools and the Science/Silence of Climate Change

The sacred geometry of Sandy

Mother Nature wants us to listen. For centuries we’ve ignored her. So she’s having to speak up louder and louder. Are we listening yet?

Yes weather fluctuates and comes and goes in cycles, but when the unpredictable forces are becoming stronger and wilder, it’s time to pay attention. After the vast amounts of evidence presented us, in the form of melting ice caps, holes in the ozone, severe nationwide summer droughts, so called 100-year and 500-year floods within a few decades, record temperatures, and now the Superstorm Sandy, I’m upset why this is still being questioned. But I’m really not surprised.

artwork by Faviana Rodriguez (www.favianna.com)

As a child when I did 4-H presentations about what was then called Global Warming, about CFC’s and methane gas from livestock, about water conservation and the like, I was quickly dismissed by several adults as just some silly kid sharing some silly alarmist stuff. Most people wanted to ignore it. And most people are still in denial and/or shock. Our human nature makes it hard to admit when we’re mistaken. We hate being wrong, we hate having to confess that what we do and what we have been doing for most of our lives is deemed wrong and bad. We have to try and forgo much of the judgment and blaming in order to move forward.

We’re all products of this culture which taught us how to be this way. It’s hard to recognize that the modern lifestyles we’ve come to know and love, that of consuming vast amounts of energy and resource, which  produces vast amounts of waste, could possibly be so utterly terrible and so absolutely necessary to make changes to. We’re addicted to our unsustainable lifestyles. And it isn’t easy to break an addiction. But we need more than just an environmental 12-Step program - we need a vast overhaul of our entire belief system, our education system, our business models, and the list goes on and on. The problem isn’t a simple fix. It’s a vast and complex issue that is definitely going to take a lot of genius to figure out. Or maybe a lot of Fools.

That’s right - now more than ever we need a lot of FOOLS. And I’m not talking about the lower-case, stupid, idiot fools, I’m talking about capital F, Divine Fools, as in the archetypal Fool, who does things considered foolish and outrageous and so out of the norm from society. We need Fools to shift the paradigm, to challenge the way things are, to uncover new ways of being that to the status quo seem so strange but eventually will become the standard. History is full of Fools who did things so outside of the box that they were considered crazy, but eventually the path they blazed opened up new ways of being that changed the world and became the norm. Everything is a cycle. Every new venture is considered strange and unusual at first. It’s how evolution works, on both physical and metaphorical levels.

Naturally Fools are going to make mistakes. They’re going to stumble and fail from time to time. Some of what they do will just be plain foolish, but every so often what they uncover will bring such gifts. Fools by breaking through the boundaries are going to do things that shake up the way things are so much that they are bound to disturb the peace. Jesus was quite the Fool before he became known as a Savior. There are many instances where scientific breakthroughs came about totally by accident and Foolish mistakes. Over time the actions of the Fool become status quo. It’s a cycle; what is fresh and new eventually becomes old, and the system keeps turning and chugging along. The problem is that in a super creative society like ours, new technologies bring new advances AND challenges to our life. The systems and structure of society can actually halt progress and create stagnation, like a wheel spinning in the mud. While holding on to certain customs and traditions is indeed important for survival and identity, there are also certain elements of our culture and belief system that need to adapt in order for us to survive. The actions of the Fool are needed to break through that stagnation. Thinking outside of the box may come up with some wild and fantastical ideas, some terrible ideas, and some simply Divine ones as well.

The promised Hope and Change hasn’t manifested in the past four years as many of us would like, but is that really surprising given the fact that we’ve lived most or all of our lives in this unsustainable consumer culture and that there is so much resistance to do anything truly progressive to amend the situation we find ourselves in? Did we really think we’d get out of the situation in a mere 4 years? Life grinds on, bringing new complications and challenges. We definitely built ourselves a massive hole, but we won’t climb out of it using the same methods we got ourselves into it. And we won’t get out of it without collaboration and Fools to help pioneer the way toward new methods.

So if you find yourself in a situation where you hear of something or see something that seems so utterly outrageous, crazy, and downright FOOLISH — try to recognize that you are merely in the part of the cycle that is used to doing things a particular way, but a new Foolish way is required to get us out of the hole we’re stuck in. And if anything is to be done to put us back in connection and balance with the forces of nature, and allow us to live out a more sustainable life, it’s going to require giving a lot of Foolish endeavors a try until we find a way that works.

To find out more about the archetype of the FOOL keep checking online for more posts to come, leading up to  THE HAPPY HAPPY REBEGIN DAY CELEBRATION on Saturday December 29 from 7-11pm at the Spirit Studio Silverlake. The event will include video presentations and live performances by your Foolish hosts April Hava Shenkman and Jason Jenn. It will be a fun-filled exploration of the Fool archetype, paradigm shifts, calendar dates, the turning of the wheel, duality and much, much more!

April Fooling: Profile on April Hava Shenkman

photo by Marilyn Shenkman

The month of April is coming to a close, but this week profiles another April, who spreads her Happy Happy celebrations all year round: April Hava Shenkman! It’s a wonderful way to introduce a subject matter Your Begin will continue to explore: the multitude of meanings and insights to be found in the archetype of the Fool! So if there is anyone familiar to being an April Fool - it's this leading lady of comedy!

Often seen in her take on white clown-face, April spins the charms of vaudeville, old Broadway, and classic Hollywood with a contemporary approach, that rather deconstructs and reassembles the way we typically view those iconic styles.  April has a very keen eye for visuals that she employs in all of her costumes and props. She’s known for the way she can talk quickly, like some kind of auctioneer gone wild, and speaking in a hilarious gibberish that mixes different languages together. Of course one of the first thing everyone notices, is her signature hair-style: the little bundles of spiky hair (see her comments about them below). All of these elements and more come together to spread the cause of happiness.

April with her cast of merrymakers on April 1, 2010 - photo by Trevor Eyster

April currently pours her talents into “The Happy Happy Show,” which began as a live theatre cabaret event around Los Angeles and has now transitioned into an online web series.  Comedy it seems, runs in the family: her parents are often seen in her work, especially  “Pappy” as a very funny sidekick in hobo clown make-up and a tutu on “The Happy Happy Show,” and her brother is an accomplished comic with his own series of productions. They inevitably help each other, creating an unusual family dynamic that enjoys clowning around for the good of all (more about that below)!

When I first met April in the workshops of Los Angeles’ Cultural Treasure, Rachel Rosenthal, she had already developed her own style that fit well with the performance techniques we were honing. She and I had a connection over the fact that we share the same birthdays - December 29th - Capricorns!  For several years we worked on group and collaborative pieces, where she employed her comic timing and skill to great affect. One of my favorites was an asburdly dark comic piece we did together called “Sunscreen & Tomatoes." It starts out as with a clownish couple arriving to a beach. I'm being a totally disgusting "dude" while April does this very manically wonderful thing with a bunch of tomatoes, poking and squishing them with her fingers as if taking out her frustrations on them. It was so bizarre, and had the audience in stitches. She has a remarkable ability to reach such intensity with her performance, it inspires those next to her to go for it too.

April and I in "Sunscreen & Tomatoes" - video still

I asked April to answer a few questions about her art & process:

1. How do you describe yourself as an artist?
I am a performance artist: creating & performing new avant-garde comedy performance works in stage & film.

2. What does “Happy, Happy” mean to you?
Happy Happy, is happiness, for the sake of happiness. Without needing a cause or reason to be happy, HAPPY HAPPY promotes the inner core being, at liberty in bliss. Happy Happy = celebrating the holiday of LIFE.

photo by Jason Jenn

3. How is clowning/fooling important to you in your life and society?
The clown, is ageless, timeless & completely universal. The make-up exposes the cracks, as well as the illustrious glow, held in the human heart. Becoming the "clown" is becoming the ultimate me - that is a mega version of who I am as a person, it gives me permission to be bigger then life & completely, "show-up." Showing-up promotes "waking-up." And sometimes, the smile needs a nudge to remember it's been there all the while. The clown / the fool, is the free spirit, the liberated human. The clown teaches me, how I want to live my life... Happy & Free.

4. What and who have been major influences and inspirations for your work?
Federico Fellini , Charlie Chaplin, Rachel Rosenthal, Richard Foreman, Old Hollywood, Old Broadway Musicals, Vaudeville, Surrealism, Japanese Theatre, European travels - travel in general, love, romance , My Family, Holidays & cultural celebrations around the world

displaying old Hollywood glamor - photo by Leslie Moon

5. You have some very strong visual themes (like cakes, pigs, Chinese elements, etc.), can you explain a bit about their meaning and use? 

Each performance has it's own visual significance.  I've always been into symbolism, signs & colors, choosing a particular pallet per piece. Usually when I become obsessed with visual, as I did once with cake, I can't help but use it... I'm still obsessed with cakes. The Pig, well, I like pigs, but the pig choose me. But really, it's what ever calls to me, as the stimuli of the piece. I think visually first.

April wrangles her pigs in "Orange" - photo by Mark

6. You have strong family connections and involvement in your work. How does family factor in to your work?
My family has always been a great source of inspiration for me. I've always gotten a "kick" out of my own family. I've always been very close friends with my family, and have really allowed myself to be in awe of where I come from. My family has always been top supporters & fans of my work, and it organically evolved into collaborations, and working together.
My father, Chickster Shenkman, was the first entertainer I was awe inspired by. Since childhood, he's impressed me with his impersonations & voices - he's a creative genius. When I started creating my own shows, it only seemed natural to put him in. "April Fools Pig!" was the first show of mine, that I wrote my father in as, "Pappy." Which has evolved into him being my co-star in my webisode, The Happy Happy Show. I've also been blessed with Adam, my brother who is a comedy performance artist, who I collaborate with often. We've grown-up together as artists, living together & sharing pursuits, we've been able to act as great supporters to each other's worlds. And now, I'm happy to have my mother, the "shy one," in some of my webisodes, who is no longer shy. She's been exposed to the theatre for  so many years, that it's only natural for her too, to come & play. We've been noted as The modern Vaudevillian family of Hollywood; which is somewhat of a rarity in modern times. A great gift it is, to work with my family.

April and "Pappy" - photo by Paul Zollo

7. So, just what is with the hair? ;-)
I call it the "tree-swan-kewpie."
I like funny hair. I let my hair be funny.

8. What’s next for you?
My current project & focus, is THE HAPPY HAPPY SHOW. I have 7 episodes released, and more to come.
My theatre has metamorphosed into film, by this show. And I am excited to create more HAPPY HAPPY - making the world happy again, one smile at a time.
I hope to bring The Happy Happy Show to TV soon!

And so does Your ReBegin!
Check out more of April's work at these links:
www.TheHappyHappyShow.posterous.com
www.youtube.com/aprilhavashenkman
www.aprilhavashenkman.posterous.com

photo by Marilyn Shenkman

A graphic design we collaborated on for one of her past shows

April in a masked versions of herself - photo by Leslie Moon