Live The Questions

Breathing Metaphors

by Paul Wallace

We may have inherited an antagonistic metaphorical system of “good vs. evil” from our culture, but this is not where our story ends. We have the power to change this story by changing our metaphors, which structure our ability to reason and think, and which, in turn, change the way we live and act.

March 26, 2015

Comments 3

Chapters
Being & Death: Both, and yet Neither

by Paul Wallace

"Being & Death" explores the dialectic of self and non-self in respiration. This spiritual philosophy book unfolds in real time on the internet while it is written. Join me in re-writing the story we tell ourselves about ourselves.

November 14, 2014

Comments 8

Chapters, Intros

Breathing Metaphors

Published by Paul Wallace

We may have inherited an antagonistic metaphorical system of “good vs. evil” from our culture, but this is not where our story ends. We have the power to change...

March 26, 2015

Comments 3

Chapters

Introducing the Void Mandala

Published by Paul Wallace

The Void Mandala is a symbol for the respiration of "life & death", "consciousness & the unconscious", "self & non-self", and "the individual & God". Breathing with this mandala...

March 19, 2015

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The Open

8: The Caretaker

Published by Paul Wallace

The individual who has come to understand life and death in respiration is able to be the caretaker of balance in the world.

March 12, 2015

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Outline

7: Practicing Love

Published by Paul Wallace

The conceptual work of this book was merely preparation for the task; the real work of finding balance requires constant practice.

March 3, 2015

Comments 2

Outline

Inspiration

Matthew Barney’s “Cremaster Cycle”

Matthew Barney’s work is fascinated by the void-space where duality collapses into paradoxical indistinction, and all opposites merge. His work imagines the perverse and horrifying aspects of this undifferentiated...

Inspiration

Alain Badiou’s “Being and Event” and “Ethics”

Truth, as Badiou defines it, is the decision to be true to the unknown, and to have the fidelity to bring that unknown to fruition in the world. Truth...

Inspiration

Joseph Campbell’s “The Hero with a Thousand Faces”

This book is about the distinctly human journey all people must make psychologically in order to become the heroes of their own story. The hero’s journey, and myth in...

March 12, 2015

8: The Caretaker

The individual who has come to understand life and death in respiration is able to be the caretaker of...

by Paul Wallace

Comments 0

March 3, 2015

7: Practicing Love

The conceptual work of this book was merely preparation for the task; the real work of finding balance requires...

by Paul Wallace

Comments 2

February 27, 2015

6: The Hero’s Journey

This chapter proposes that the same way in which the "hero’s journey" is just a metaphor for finding individual...

by Paul Wallace

Comments 3

February 24, 2015

5: Both, and yet Neither

The concept ‘Both, and yet Neither’ means a thing and its opposite are not contradictions, but rather superpositions.

by Paul Wallace

Comments 6

Introducing the Void Mandala

Published by Paul Wallace

The Void Mandala is a symbol for the respiration of "life & death", "consciousness & the unconscious", "self & non-self", and "the individual & God". Breathing with this mandala...

March 19, 2015

Comments 0

The Open

Being a Hyphen – A Discussion of “What is a self?”

Published by Paul Wallace

Hybrid identity, like Korean-American, provides a window through the "self" via the hyphen. This parallax gap reveals the unspeakable qualities of our lived experience as always already existing outside...

January 30, 2015

Comments 2

The Open

January 16, 2015

Art of the Self

Dive deep in your introspection, reach your unspeakable core, and then, “Make art there.” The struggle to communicate the...

by Paul Wallace

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January 6, 2015

Action / Value Harmony

Our core values are our map of the world. To be emotionally and spiritually healthy, we must be aware...

by Paul Wallace

Comments 5

December 19, 2014

Virtual Self / Actual Non-Self

Selves exist, but they are virtual. Non-self exists, and it is actual. Both, however, are completely real.

by Paul Wallace

Comment 1

December 16, 2014

Science, Mysticism, and the Real

Why do we explore? Perhaps it is because space affects us: the hadal depths of the ocean cut trenches...

by Paul Wallace

Comments 4

The Respiratory Structure

by Paul Wallace

My thought flow is organized into eight chapters, which are grouped into a conceptual framework of four sections containing two chapters each. This framework helps me be intentional with each section, and will help guide the writing process in an organic way. The conceptual framework came to me while studying Kabbalah, which organizes ideas into associative patterns, just like metapattern. Ron Feldman breaks the notion of “breath” out into four moments: empty lungs, inhale, full lungs, and exhale. Each of these four moments has rich associations within Jewish mysticism, and for me, rich connections to my past artwork. I’ve combined these four moments of breath with their respective mystical connotations and the four branches of my Yggdrasil series to form an embodied, emotional framework for organizing these chapters.