Elegance and Blobby People Drawings

Simplicity on the other side of Complexity

I remember as a young writer I often felt conflicted about creating something that appeared simplistic. I think at that time I worried that if I wrote something that seemed simple, others might believe I was unable to do something complex. Eventually, the more I learned to trust my own instincts and skills, I felt more comfortable leaning into where ever a song might lead me - whether that be complex or simple. I served the song, the song did not serve me. Yes, I worked hard to learn my instrument and to acquire personal experience and creative tools. Part of that learning was being sensitive to what was needed in each situation. When I watercolor, I don’t need to use every hue each time I put a brush to paper. Even though I love cooking with spices, there are only some spices I use when making a cup of chai. Even though I’m pretty good at nurturing and problem solving, sometime the best gift I can give a friend who is wrestling with a problem, is to simply and deeply listen and to ask open-hearted questions rather than give advice. Sometimes all a song needs is an easily sung melody line and a well placed pause.

Simple is not easy, simplicity is elegance. It is no more or less than what best serves the song. Elegance may sound like a sincere question instead of a pat answer. It may taste like the right amounts of spice, tea and milk to make a soul warming chai. There is a simplicity that can only happen on the other side of complexity.

Most children start out drawing with kinetic motion, scribbles and circular movement with a crayon or marker. Then they move to what I call “Blobby Person Phase” They draw circle and then add stick legs and arms. As their awareness grows the blobby person will get more details—eyes, noses, smiles or frowns, fingers and feet. When I was in art school I was told that across all cultures, if you ask a small child to draw a person and eventually draw themselves, this is the natural pattern they would use. Honestly I love this phase of drawing, and I saved several of my young daughter blobby people pictures. One of my favorites was a picture of two blobby people standing side by side - one was smaller with closed eyes and a soft smile with two dots on the sides of its face, the other image had two ballon shapes on its back and was reaching out to the smaller blobby person, also smiling . When I asked my daughter to tell me about the drawing she said, “Grandpa Jim told me that on the day I was born and angel kissed me on both cheeks, and that is why I have dimples.” Then she smiled and pointed to the two dots on the drawings and to the two sweet dimples on her own face.

I do love blobby phase, there is somethings so beautiful and unguarded about it. There’s no slight for drawing a blobby person when you are little. You are right where you need to be. It is a little harder for us grown ups, particularly in a culture that assumes perfection, competency or never making mistakes, to give ourselves the grace it takes to learn what we don’t yet know. I remember speaking with a friend who was going through a very difficult time, caring for someone she loved who had entered hospice. She said, “This is so hard, I don’t know how to do this, there are so many ways to approach this I don’t want to make a mistake.” I remember responding, “Of course you don’t know what to do, you’ve never had to do this before. You are acting with all the love and wisdom you can. Even if you make a mistake, love will still be enough.” We are always learning what we don’t yet know, but the wisdom we gather with help us live into the next open-ended question.

In the beginning simplicity is what happens because we don’t know what else to do. But as we live more and notice more, learn more and experience more something interesting happens. We grow into the possibility of experiencing a simplicity that can only happens on the other side of complexity. Elegance is the gift of having a lot of options, and choosing the one that feels most right, most beautiful and in-line with the love we hope to give and be in the world.

Don’t get me wrong, sometimes a problem requires a complex solution. One of my own personal adages is “love is simple, but people are complicated.” But even when I’m in the middle of a complex situation, if I can stop and breathe, allow myself a little time for clarity, usually I find a more thoughtful and elegant way to address what’s going on. Anyway…that is how I think about simplicity, elegance and why I still love children’s Blobby Person drawings.

The photos of petroglyphs below are from Ring Lake Ranch in Dubois WY where I’ll be teaching a retreat with John McCutcheon this August. They are a beautiful example of simplicity on the other side of complexity. Ring Lake Ranch area is home to the largest number of winged petroglyphs in the world. They are very ancient, and it is believed that the first people of that region would sojourn to that specific area for spiritual practice, vision quest and to express their experience with the great mystery. The drawings are elegant - clean lines, spirals and points that create a sense of wonder, spiritual devotion, and express complex emotions ranging from joy and elation to unbearable grief. The drawings have been gracing the stones of that region for over a thousand years, a testament to devotion, a record of spiritual journey and example of the power of an elegant art form. Although these drawings use very simple shapes and lines, they are not Blobby guy drawings, but rather elegant representations of complex spiritual experience. The lasting images of awe, wonder and longing.

Winged Petroglyphs From Ring Lake Ranch - Photos by Me

A Simple (Elegant) Practice

This is a very simple practice that I’ve used off and on for many years and was suggested in a book by the Buddhist monk, Thich Nhat Hanh,

Breathe in Peace (Take a deep slow breath in) Breathe out a Smile (remember to actually smile, large or small, toothy or Mona Lisa amused). Repeat

Thats it. I use it when standing in line at a grocery store or airport cue, driving or walking down a street, anytime I catch myself doom scrolling or thinking “Holy shit, the world is such a mess.” There is actually brain science behind this practice. When we contract the muscles that allow us to smile, it sends signals to our brain causing it to release tiny molecules called neuro-peptides that help alleviate stress. It also releases other neurotransmitters like dopamine, serotonin and endorphins acting as a pain reliever and antidepressant. When we smile, we actually, physically feel better.

But I also think the act of smiling (for oneself and toward others) is an act of welcome and graciousness. It is a gift we give, a spooled out thread of connection between me and thee, if even for the briefest moment.

When I order a coffee or sit in a restaurant, when I see a little girl in red rain boots toddling along with her mother, when I walk up to a receptionist, ask a question of the grocery store stock clerk - I breathe in calm, care, connection and breathe out a smile. It lets the barista know I see her as a whole and valuable human being. It lets the receptionist know she’s ok and I’m ok and even if its a hectic morning, ultimately its going to be ok in this moment. It often gets me a shy or beaming baby grin, it feels like “Yes, the world is so full of troubles, but at least we can be gracious to one another, and in that moment make the world just a little better. There is nothing like a small smile and nod to put others at ease, to diffuse a tense moment.

Even though you already know, that I know, I’ll go ahead and say it again, there are serious troubles in this suffering world. Sometimes people have pressed back at me saying, “How can you talk and write about kindness, sustaining joy, art and simple practice when there are so many pressing problems and so much wrong with the world?” Which I can only respond with my belief that although there is so much devastatingly wrong with the world, there is still so much utterly true and right, and that its in finding a way to balance and hold these two realities in creative tension I am most able become immobilized with despair but continue live and create with hope. Part of that balance, is developing small practices that ground me in something human, something gracious, something elegant, something that creates regular micro connection instead of daily micro aggression. It’s actually pretty powerful medicine.

Try it now as you read this post - Breathe in slowly, breathe out a smile. Repeat.

Onward.

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News of the Heart

Lately, I’ve found my concern for the pressing issues of the world drawing toward the complexity of our current news systems. So much of our current news outlets don’t prioritize solutions, well-being or even facts above ratings, profits or grabbing our ever shortening attention spans through fear and rage. So I’m being a bit careful with my news sources. Here are a few i’ve been tapping into this week (literary , musical and experiential ).

The Daily Good created by ServiceSpace.org. I’ve been reading David Byrnes wonderful news page “Reasons to be Cheerful” with many articles that help me breathe. I’ve been checking in with Nadia Boltz-Weber’s (a progressive, outspoken, good hearted be-tattooed pastor ) The Corners on Substack and her book Accidental Saints. I’ve just started Rebecca Solnits Not Too Late: Changing the Climate Story from Despair to Possibility. I also read lots of really nerdy science articles that open up my sense of awe through The Smithsonian, National Geographic, Orion and The James Webb NASA telescope Site. I also have been taking photos of the wildflowers that arrived in full color while I was in Europe, working in my garden, writing poetry, lavishing love on my two aging dogs, And, ok I watched the latest episode of Ted Lasso and totally laughed out loud at Jamey Tart teaching Roy Kent to ride a bycycle.

Music Of Elegance and Complexity

And of course, I’ve been tapping in the news of the heart that happens in music and within the context of a good song. Here are a few musicians that end up in my playlists this week. Siri Undlin of Humbird “Summer Storm For Charlotte” Over The Rhine’s “Broken Angels”, Darlingside’s “God of Loss”, Hawktail’s “Unless”, Krista Detor’s “The Clock of The World” and John McCutcheon’s “Be Still” Do check out these wonderful musicians…they are some of the more elegant writers I know. Let me know how these songs enter your heart space.

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Question and Practice

I’ve been looking for elegance in a complicated world, and refusing to let any one toxic politician, or fear mongering news pundit take up too much real-estate in my brain this week. I‘ve finding the news I need not on any major news network or facebook or twitter’s blue check mark debacle. I’ve been finding it where art meets life, and poetry meets daily experience, where my own person work for a better kinder planet meets my daily experience. And I’ve been finding it in a simple, elegant practice of breathing in peace and calm, and breathing out a smile.

Question

What does simplicity on the other side of complexity mean to you.

Practice

Try doing the Thich Nhat Hanh Breathe & Smile practice at least three times today. Tell us about what happened.

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Upcoming Shows

I often sell out at the upcoming venues. Get your tickets early and bring a friend! I’m looking forward to see you there there for evenings of new songs and old favorites. You can get more information about each show at my website tourpage www.carrienewcomer.com/tour

NOTES On Substack

I’ll be starting something called Notes on Substack this week. Its an alternative to something like Twitter, which has become a increasingly difficult place to justify supporting. It will be conversations started that will not go into your email folder, but happen here on my Substack page a bit more organically.