A SCUBA DIVER:
In the November 7th, 2022, MondayMorningMemo titled
“Three Ways to Look at Water,” you learned that “Life is a journey on water. Your conscious mind is above the waterline. Your unconscious is beneath. That weightless, magical world below the waterline is fundamentally different from the world of facts, figures and logic that hovers above it. The arts are an invigorating plunge into the unconscious, that part of your mind that understands the languages of color, shape, proximity, radiance, shadow, silhouette, pitch, key, tempo, interval, contour, rhythm, and frame-line magnetism. Our relationship to the unconscious is like our relationship to water. We need it by the cupful to survive, but if you stay underwater too long, you will drown; a psychotic break.”

The arts speak to the unguarded unconscious, making them powerful tools in the hands of a skillful storyteller. The key to leveraging the power of the arts is to use them consciously, rather than unconsciously. In other words, take the air of logic from the world above when you plan to spend time in the deep. Learn to scuba.