The Art of Grace
by Sarah L. Kaufman –
Grace is a word with many meanings.
We may think of grace as effortlessness, as human warmth or divine love, or as an ordinary moment turned extraordinary through a stroke of compassion. In my new book, “The Art of Grace” (W.W. Norton), I explore grace as a celebration of the everyday pleasures, artistry, and moments of profound human connection that are all around us.
Grace has long been valued as essential to civilized living. The notion of putting our best selves forward, through well-considered actions and behavior, has powerful roots that reach back to ancient times. Our brains evolved to perceive the subtlest movements of others, and an appreciation for physical smoothness took up early residence in our neural pleasure centers.
Where can we find grace today? I’ve been the dance critic for The Washington Post for 20 years, and my eye is drawn to buoyant physical movers. But I’m most moved when that elegance is matched with inner grace.
I write about actor Cary Grant, with his polish and humanity; singers such as Smokey Robinson, with his sweet voice and astonishing courage; athletes such as Roger Federer, and spiritual leaders and ordinary folks with a gift for making deep connections. Grace allows us to move easily, to treat others gently, to receive and savor the gentleness of others.
If You Go: Sarah Kaufman reading and book signing, Saturday, January 9, 2016 at 7 p.m. at Malaprop’s Bookstore/Café, 55 Haywood St., Asheville. Call (828) 254-6734, or visit www.malaprops.com.
Bliss:
Transformational Festivals & The Neo Hippie
There’s a free-spirit movement afoot that has more to do with meditation, yoga, fellowship, good vibes, and a search for the divine than it does with the mind-altering substances of its 60s predecessor.
In Bliss: Transformational Festivals & the Neo Hippie, written by Steve Schapiro, the internationally renowned photographer famous for his photographs of the original hippie era in San Francisco and beyond, follows his son Theophilus Donoghue on his journey to enlightenment at “transformational festivals” held throughout the country.
From 2012 to 2014, the father and son team visited the Mystic Garden in Oregon, the Rainbow Gathering and Mt. Shasta festival in California, Burning Man in Nevada, and Electric Forest in Michigan, among others.
Schapiro captures the multitudes who come to commune with nature, other like-minded souls, and all that is divine and inspirational in the multi-hued spectrum of human spirituality. He focuses on a subculture of the current hippie counterculture known as “Bliss Ninnies” — individuals who embrace meditation and dancing as a way to reach ecstatic states of joy.
The book provides an overview of a new contemporary hippie life within America, introduced to Schapiro by his son, Theophilus, who began his own journey into Bliss at age 23.
In his introduction, Theopholius writes that “many people think that hippies were a phenomena of the 60s/early 70s. The movement never ended; it simply vacated the cities in order to live in eco-villages (hundreds throughout the States) and congregate for annual festivals, most notably ‘The Rainbow Gathering.’”
He continues: “The current hippie generation definitely still has a strong political awareness and activist spirit, but the ‘blissed out’ portion of this ‘family’ that these photos document are primarily concerned about spirituality as opposed to politics as being a means of improving the world.”
Bliss takes the viewer on a journey with these ecstatic bliss ninnies as they eye-gaze (a liberating form of open eye meditation), dance and revel in the divine in these compelling photographs. Their beliefs and way of life spark the question: “is the search for pure joy a search for God?” These never-before depicted scenes may indeed just answer that. The 60s are still here. You just have to find where.
Bliss is interspersed with the colorful, personal writings of followers of “bliss.” Andreanna Tera Naratatma describes it as “a simple and beautiful way to be happy. It is truly living for love, what inspires us and makes us feel most alive. In bliss, there is no thinking, analyzing, planning, reminiscing. The fabricated realms of ‘past’ and ‘future’ dissolve, and there is only the luminous lucidity of now. This is where magic happens, spirit and matter meet and true living creation happens.”
Born and raised in New York City, Steve Schapiro attended Amherst College and graduated from Bard College, and studied photography with the legendary W. Eugene Smith. As a budding photographer, he got an early break: an assignment from Life magazine. He has never stopped working since.
His work has been published in prestigious magazines around the world, including The New Yorker, Life, Look, Vanity Fair, Paris Match, People, and Rolling Stone. Schapiro’s photographs were included in the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s 1968 exhibition Harlem On My Mind. His work can be found in the collections of the Smithsonian, The High Museum of Art, and the National Portrait Gallery. Schapiro’s recent solo shows were in Los Angeles, Amsterdam, London and Paris.
The Fotografiska Museum in Stockholm, Sweden presented a retrospective of his work in the spring of 2012. An exhibition entitled Schapiro. Living America was on view at the Center for Photography Lumiere Brothers, Moscow in the fall of 2012. Schapiro has published five books of his work, American Edge, Schapiro’s Heroes, The Godfather Family Album, Taxi Driver and Steve Schapiro: Then and Now.
If You Go: Steve Schapiro talk and book signing, Tuesday, January 19, 2016 at 7 p.m. at Malaprop’s Bookstore/Café, 55 Haywood St., Asheville. Call (828) 254-6734, or visit www.malaprops.com.
