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One of the Sculptures by Patrick Amiot, Painted by his partner Brigitte Laurent, in Sebastopol, California. Their website is www.patrickamiot.com/
Washington had marched all the way here from New York, scrapping his plans to attack that city BEFORE he learned that the French had defeated the British Navy here. His chance paid off, and bad weather prevented Cornwallis from escaping across the river. With additional British troops an unknown distance away, Cornwallis had no choice but to surrender. The troops came to this field and threw down their arms desultorily.
It took two more years to officially end the war, but after Yorktown, it was pretty much over.
the past is sweet and sour,
orange and gray.
lollipops and fear,
salted with pain.
my dreams are full of sorrow,
lust and fantasy,
broken hopes and sweet tomorrows,
everything that just can't be.
reality is flawless,
chaotic and free.
tempted by illusion,
i'm forced to open up and see.
here and now holds a promise,
of change and brand new days.
tears don't mean only sorrow,
and i will find my way.
copyright 12dec03
Victoria M (aka soulspin... me)
"Unconditional Surrender" is a 25-foot tall, 6,000 pound sculpture created by J. Seward Johnson. Based on a photo taken the day World War II ended, it features a sailor kissing a nurse.
www.navy.mil/view_single.asp?id=43227
This shot gives a sense of scale.
Lee's Surrender overshot blanket, ready to weave. This felt good!
I assume that this weaving pattern came from sometime around the Civil War, given the name. I can't wait to actually have it finished!
"Unconditional Surrender", a 25-foot statue created by renowned artist J. Seward Johnson, was temporarily taken down from its location along the bayfront in Sarasota, FL so that it can undergo maintenance in New Jersey. Crews had a tough time dismantling it. They used a blow torch, wrenches, and a sledge hammer but the bolts wouldn't budge.
Well I can't promise I won't fall
And I can't say I'm never scared
I can't promise much at all
But when you call me I'll be there
The word 'surrender' has bad connotations in our culture. It's equated with defeat, weakness and failure. So much so that we probably need a whole other word for 'surrender' as it's meant in the context of spirituality. This form of surrender has nothing to do with defeat and failure and is actually more synonymous with strength than weakness. It takes a lot of strength and wisdom to know when and how to surrender to life.
Eckhart Tolle defined this form of surrender as simply "yielding to rather than opposing the flow of life." The Tao te Ching is an extended meditation on the art of surrendering to the flow of life. It draws our attention to the inherent perfection of nature, which is driven by an inner force, an underlying principle of balance and harmony. The sun and the wind and rain just do their thing. Animals exist, just doing their thing. In spite of the seeming chaos and violence we might observe in the natural world when viewing its constituent parts and their interaction, when the whole is taken into consideration, we see it is all driven by balance and perfection. Whenever it resists and constricts, something usually happens to bring it back into balance again.
Surrender is acknowledging that there's a deeper flow, a deeper reality beneath the myriad forms of this world which have hitherto absorbed and imprisoned our attention. It's only when we let go of our need to control everything and recognise that our reign as supreme dictator of our lives has caused more pain than gain, that we can begin to form a deeper connection with life.
Contrary to everything we may have been taught, accepting and yielding to the flow of life gives us infinitely more power than trying to control and manipulate every aspect of it. The latter wears us out, grinds us down, tending to make us bitter and disillusioned. The former makes us as fresh and innocent as a young child; we regain some of our wonder at the miraculous gift of life. We connect with a far deeper power and come to experience a profound joy at simply being alive and open to life as it unfolds.
It's also possible that when we approach life from an attitude of surrender and acceptance that situations become more harmonious, because we're no longer creating tension and constriction by trying to control everything. Letting go of our stranglehold on life frees up a whole lot of energy that was otherwise being wasted. Perhaps if we are a little friendlier and kinder to life, life will return the favour? Why not surrender to the flow of life and just see what happens...