Lisa Cairns Talks Rubbish at The House of Art
What a great pleasure it was to see Lisa Cairns back again this weekend. In September of last year she was our first international speaker at The House of Art. This time as before, she lived up to all expectations drawing in a large and diversely interesting crowd.
She is a joy to listen to even though what she has to say may take some hard swallowing. Uncomplicated language makes her message easier to understand. Her sense of selflessness is alive in the strength of her convictions. Her openness is palpable and infectious. At no time does she try to control the happening, the natural creating that flows through her being.
A true example of living in the present, effortless answers appear in this open vessel. She speaks like the breath of wisdom blowing softly in and around a wind chimes. The sound we hear is her gentle voice. Her firm conviction has you shifting uneasily in your seat while the brain tries to make sense of the insensible truth pouring from her mouth.
The opening line, ”Everything I’m going to tell you is rubbish” is disarming. At the same time it puts people at ease for it’s clear there is no agenda. There are no rules, there is no right or wrong, no good or bad. The knowing you suddenly perks up to listen. Deep inside this statement is a certainty that comes from an ocean of truth.
And so, for two days we witness this engaging, courageous, young, unassuming woman gently up-turning our value systems. She gives us space to reform our attitudes and our pre-conceived notions. She transforms them into wordless being where we realize that if anything at all makes sense, it lives in the many silent spaces that crystallize during her talks.
There is where the magic lies and realizations are born. The give away uneasy titter that is held back with great effort only to resurface as a body twitch or a spontaneous spasm. A slight uncontrollable movement systematically traverses the whole body as the brain tries to regain control. In the end, there is nothing for it but a huge outburst of laughter, a complete letting go. And there, in that moment a beautiful explosion of years of untruth is released. A star is born, a new light on the planet is forever transformed.
For some the process is different. Moments of recognition are like pennies dropping intermittently onto a silent bed of snow. At the same time interruptions by the brain seek recognition for its complication in a world of simplicity. The realizations don’t fit into the structure of convention. Eventually, a soft opening, an ever so slight dawning with slumbering awareness comes. The message over two days gradually and slowly burns its way like the smouldering sun through thick suffocating dark clouds.
For others, the penny has a long way to fall as Lisa gently and without force delivers her communication in easy bites, a morsel at a time. This food from the innate intravenously feeds abstract notions into a tactile audience where mass, form, shape, shade and colour are the accepted goods of trade.
Often the message is lost in space to those who hold on tightly to their physical, emotional and mental existence. They fail to engage the evasive meaning. It’s like staring blankly into a mirror. The image seen is not really present. They keep checking for evidence behind the reflective glass never finding the proof they need. In reality nothing physical is there.
All this may seem like pure abstraction. However, the lady has her feet firmly on solid ground. During her first visit to the church, I took her on a tour of the building that included a trip high into the bell tower. We climbed four flights before ascending out on the above flat roof that overlooks the surrounding countryside.
She scaled the ladders sure-footed as an experienced sailor on the rigging of the Cutty Sark. Her father, a former scout troop leader, had taught her how to be fearless in these situations. This in turn attributes to her perseverance and strength that have served her well while shaping a new career over the years.
It is not an easy vocation she has chosen and these qualities help to forge the path of awareness in a world of ignorance. Rejection of new and original ideas goes hand in hand with the territory.
I wouldn’t describe Lisa Cairns as thick-skinned. Its more that her easy and open nature weaves in an effortless marriage with a firm and unforced conviction of how life is not and what it may be. A woman of substance with a light heart, she is ready to laugh out loud at the drop of a hat. She’s a true advocate of how to enjoy living.
All-embracing love and the wonder of a six-year-old finds expression in and through her adult self. The magic of all that is and of that which is not is openly and refreshingly revealed. Here is where she explores miracles with a profound understanding of how to realize them.
Lisa Cairns returns to The House of Art in September 2014. Can’t wait!
