The human body breathes. Respiration is a natural process that oxygenates blood. Quality of air varies. People inhale and exhale on polluted city streets. Others breathe in oxygen-rich forests. Similarly, the mind absorbs experience. As an active association to immediate reality, mental meandering avails meditation, reverie, and discovery.

Imagine a painter preparing a palette. That very painter can draw conceptually from enduring aesthetic attributes. The fundamental raw material of aesthetics exists as a malleable entity. Aesthetics transcend style boundaries, thus categorically escaping trend and tradition to celebrate the art itself.

DESIGN APPRENTICESHIP:   Ron Wood

ACADEMIC:    Art Center College of Design, Oakland University, Mount San Jacinto College, Gnomon School of Visual Effects, and Oakland Community College

SEEING:   Continental United States, Hawaiian Islands, Canada, Taiwan, Mexico, Columbia, Panama, Costa Rica, Aruba, Jamaica, Bahamas, Germany, East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Czech Republic, Holland, France, Switzerland, Austria, Italy, Ireland, and Monaco.

 

---

Alpspitze, 1991   |  C. Janssen, 2007.11.22.15:17

 

ASCENT IN GERMAN ALPS WITH BROTHER, NEIL.

 

Growth and decay are synergetic phenomena concurrently sustaining interdependent life cycles.

VIP hospitality at Chicago's most energetic clubs escorted the night through to daylight. Three days later, I awoke from a coma.

I did not want to die. It was no longer my choice. I had fallen from a third story balcony. The IMMC Trauma Unit kept my body alive. Machines fed me and cycled oxygen through my lungs. Surgeons reconstructed shattered bone. My beautiful mother stayed beside me—without eating or sleeping, only praying and talking—manifesting an ultimate expression of love. On the third day cranial hemorrhaging ceased, permitting doctors to exclude brain surgery.

Family drove me home in an adapted van after two weeks hospitalization. Partial paralysis of the third nerve impaired vision. I could not speak clearly, think clearly, or walk. I was carried. There are many to whom I extend solemn gratitude.

In 1994, neuropsychiatry testing measured adaptation: neurological response to cortex trauma—my brain transferred side-dominance from left to right. After having part of my head crushed, capable and previously 'dormant' neurological functionality compensated for impairment. Those who knew me noticed new personality. My interests changed. Foci honed. Abilities emerged. Passions evolved.

In 1995, neurological sequelae included petite mal and temporal lobe seizures, cognitive impairment, chronic headaches, visual hallucinations, significant difficulty with short-term memory, attention, and concentration.

With time, seizures and impairments faded—replaced with renewed passion, clarity, and versatile capabilities. Twelve years later, invigoration grips hold while pedaling a 21-mile loop along the San Francisco Bay.

The extent to which you engage life is a choice restated with every action.