Neruda's Path Through Silence

Gregg Chadwick
Still I Rise
40"x30" oil on linen 2017

"From all this, my friends, there arises an insight which the poet must learn through other people. There is no insurmountable solitude. All paths lead to the same goal: to convey to others what we are. And we must pass through solitude and difficulty, isolation and silence in order to reach forth to the enchanted place where we can dance our clumsy dance and sing our sorrowful song - but in this dance or in this song there are fulfilled the most ancient rites of our conscience in the awareness of being human and of believing in a common destiny."
--Pablo Neruda

Phil Cousineau's "The Oldest Story in the World"

My painting The Poet's Dawn is used as the cover image for Phil Cousineau's new book The Oldest Story in the World. Joseph Campbell, author of The Hero With a Thousand Faces, had this to say about Cousineau's work:

"It's just marvelous the way you've demonstrated how similar the journeys in myth are to those in art, literature, movies, and dreams. You've done what all artists and writers must do with the great stuff of myth: you've made it your own.
-Joseph Campbell on Phil Cousineau

Phil's Website:
More Details on Phil Cousineau and His Collaborations With Gregg Chadwick

Thoughts of Travel on Saint Patrick's Day

Phil Cousineau at Yeats Tower in County Clare, Ireland.

"I am convinced that pilgrimage is still a bona finde spirit-renewing ritual. But I also believe in pilgrimage as a powerful metaphor for any journey with the purpose of finding something that matters deeply to the traveler. With a deepening of focus, keen preparation, attention to the path below our feet, and respect for the destination at hand, it is possible to transform, even the most ordinary journey into a sacred journey, a pilgrimage."
--Phil Cousineau, from THE ART OF PILGRIMAGE

Before he departs on a journey, Phil Cousineau calls a dear friend or a trusted mentor. In his wonderful book, The Art of Pilgrimage, Phil describes just such a call to his friend and mentor Joseph Campbell before Phil left on a journey to Paris in 1987. Phil describes how Joseph Campbell's bon voyage felt like a blessing and that Campbell's voice "took on a shimmer of delight" as they spoke of Campbell's years in Paris in the late 1920's.

Before I leave for Tokyo, I intend to ring up Phil and congratulate him on his new television program, Global Spirit which is set to premiere Sunday, April 12, 2009 on Link TV. Global Spirit will delve into humanity's existential questions, "tracing our collective human journey in the timeless quest for truth, wisdom and understanding."

Phil's passion for humanity is evident in all aspects of his work: writing, filmmaking, and teaching.

Phil - you inspire me daily and I am honored to be your friend.

"Beannacht Lá Fhéile Pádraig"

More on Phil Cousineau:
Phil Cousineau's Website

Upcoming Workshop at Esalen With Gregg Chadwick, Phil Cousineau & RB Morris

Phil Cousineau Reading from Stoking the Creative Fires at Bird & Beckett Books, San Francisco

Gregg Chadwick will be leading a weekend workshop at the Esalen Institute in Big Sur, California with author Phil Cousineau and poet/musician R.B. Morris on August 22-24, 2008

On the Bus: A Multimedia Performance Workshop—Mythmaking in the Movies, Music, Art, and Poetry

"Together as a group, we will become modern mythmakers by creating and performing a new multimedia work over the course of the weekend. Our spark will be musician R. B. Morris's song, ‘On the Bus,' which will serve as a template for a one-act play. Writer Phil Cousineau will help to stoke the creative fire of the group by bringing the mythic dimension into the story; painter Gregg Chadwick will take the lead in helping us visualize the story and the set; and Morris will help us write and arrange the score. On Sunday morning we will stage and perform the piece together."


RB Morris

To reserve a space:
On the Bus: A Multimedia Performance Workshop—Mythmaking in the Movies, Music, Art, and Poetry