Creative Contemplation

                                         The Necklace in Grand Gulch, Utah

While co-writing their book, Engaged, Bill and Dori often discussed the differences between dualistic reasoning (this or that) and dialectical reasoning (this and that). Dori’s career as a speech language pathologist, doctoral studies in interfaith divinity, and family experiences from sorrow to great joys led to her success in developing a simple process of creative contemplation for building self-efficacy (believing in one’s     ability to use challenges as an opportunity to enhance creative thinking for overcoming difficulties and to succeed).  She understood what Bill meant when he told her what a wise Native American shared with him years ago: “Sometimes they get it right, and that is good. Sometimes     they get it wrong, and that is also good.”

When Bill began sending Dori rock art with a request for interpretation, she initially listened to that condescending inner voice that causes     doubt in oneself. She remembers writing, “I do not know rock art.” Bill, the archaeologist with a master’s thesis centered on rock art, replied, “You know rock art better than most.” Dori’s studies included Native American ritual but not their rock art. Yet, during her forty years of clinical practice, she included line drawings as a more advanced     stimulus when progressing clients (adults and children) through hierarchical levels of communication skill mastery. She could     appreciate line drawings and knew how to engage in creative contemplation. So, Dori decided to trust that Bill recognized an unrealized ability and was offering her a rare opportunity explore       their minds through the medium of rock art.  

While sharing rock images from his San Marcos project, Bill began to realize that Dori was able to put into words the same sensations and feelings that he had experienced for decades. He had abandoned these emotions in order to research rock art for a degree and then later when engaged in archaeology studies for California and national park services. Dori’s free form poetry tapped into dormant emotions and then offered universal insights that go beyond dualistic reasoning and touch upon the dialectical domain of one’s soul. Then, being stirred in this manner,     poem after poem, Bill realized that he had abandoned writing creatively years ago, and suddenly had the urge to write from his imagination once again. But even more importantly, he decided to re-publish Rock Art of the San Marcos Pass and A Set of Poems Called Modoc. (Click on each cover to go to its link on Blurb).

Bill’s San Marcos book is based on his master’s thesis in anthropology from the University of California Santa Barbara. This is a very unique book, because most rock art books continue to show spectacular images of various sites while ignoring the full range of art in the region. Here, Bill presents photographs of most of the known rock art sites in the Santa Ynez Mountains behind Santa Barbara, California as part of his exploration of a wide range of Chumash rock art primarily shot from 1979 – 1981. Originally published in 2002 as a handmade portfolio book limited to 13 copies, he is now making it available to the general public.

Yet, it was Dori’s own poetic replies to Bill’s photographs of rock art at Lava Beds    National Monument that solidified their    bond as writing partners. Bill’s first partner in pairing poetry to his photography was his friend William Strange, who at that time, was a professor in the English Department at the University of Oregon. He taught Shakespeare, Native American literature, black performance literature, and Dylan’s poetry. While Bill was recording rock art at Lava    Beds National Monument, Strange was writing a set of poems that expressed his personal response  to indigenous art. Strange gifted his poems to Bill, who in return, created a handmade book (with 10 copies) in 2000 as a thank you. Bill has just reissued this book in a new format to honor the memory of his dear friend who had challenged him to see rock art through different lenses over the many years of their friendship.

Together, Bill and Dori engage a new challenge as well. These ancient rock art artists provide us with a valuable aspect of creativity: reimagining. While we recognize some images, there are many others that can produce quandary due to unfamiliarity, and explanations are few. They provide the opportunity to blend facts with impressions without concerns about being right or wrong and reimagining how to do it differently next time, enhancing the imagination for optimum brainstorming and building an alternative way of responding rather than reacting. This is essential for self-efficacy. According to Dori, creative contemplation is a process that involves reviewing the facts, identifying physiological feelings, pairing these feelings with the perception of emotion, and making recommendations for improving the situation.

You can explore this process on your own. Then, be sure to come back next month for the step-by-step process, How to Incorporate Rock Art into a Contemplative Process, using a black and white line drawing of The Necklace (a late Pueblo rock art panel in Grand Gulch).