Alongside the conversations and special events that mark the Portals adventure are newly emerging contemplative or meditative practices that deepen and enrich our development and evolutionary journey.
Here we offer a two-part video contemplation, A Journey of Many Bridges, which invites us to take a different approach to access our imagination, inspiration, and new ways of seeing our life and its purpose.
There are no rules for how to contemplate; let the Bridges contemplations be your guide. This process has two parts that are connected but offer different territories to explore. It is followed, below, by a conversation with Karen Heney and Paul Stone about the inspiration and creation of these videos. Enjoy the experience!
Bridging an Arch to Creativity and Cooperation.
In this conversation, Bridges creators Karen Heney and musician Paul Stone explore the power of the bridge as metaphor and symbol, and how it inspired the creative process that led to this unique contemplation. Among their insights:
- Bridges are beautifully engineered structures of intention and purpose, which speak to the human journey of wanting to connect, or bridge, from where we are to where we want to go.
- There are inner and outer bridges; the human itself is engineered with the faculties and capabilities to bridge to natural inner intelligence, perceptions, and purpose.
- Bridges accompany human growth and progress and allow connections that dissolve isolation and separation, physical, emotional, and spiritual.
- At a metaphysical level, every moment is a bridge from the art of the possible – the realms of potential – to some form of application or action. Humans are continually on a bridge from the realm of endless possibilities to intentional, purposeful actions.
- When we cross a bridge, we are never the same.
This contemplation, together with our conversations and special events, is part of the ongoing discovery into what is emerging on the frontiers of human experience in this time of profound change. Upcoming special events can be found on the Events page. You can also follow us and subscribe to our channel on YouTube.
I think sometimes inspiration isn't just a momentary thought; I think this is where purpose runs quite deep in my life. I believe that we all have different talents, different combinations, different things we can do. If we dismiss those, we might be dismissing the very thing we're here to do - we really don't know. I feel that quite strongly about this whole project. I almost had an awareness that if this manifests maybe not at this stage, maybe at a further stage, or maybe what it inspires is a next step for my life, or someone else's life, it might be the very thing that I am meant to do.
Karen Heney
From an early age there has been a compelling search for truths, those realities that didn’t have a fixing or a closed door. The quest for meaning, sometimes quiet, other times reaching and finding pathways, has always accompanied me. The awareness that all life is caused to exist for an inherent purpose, one that allows for the possibility of furtherance and refinement, has prompted both perceptions and questions. These concern the purpose of human life, its integration within greater domains and what I personally may need to discover in order to play my part.
Creativity has always been integral, with an endeavour to create visual interpretations of concepts as practical activities. The intention behind a current project is to broaden the paths of relevance and meaning for others to access and explore.
Paul Stone
I started playing piano at 5, having been enticed into practicing by my parents. Throughout my life I’ve been passionately interested and engaged with the domain of music; this has ranged from listening to and studying intently many kinds and styles of music and, as I’ve grown more seasoned (matured), composing, arranging, recording and engineering new music.
I believe that music, and other art forms as well, can offer translation and transference of refined essences and qualities. Helping to create ecologies or atmospheres where a special kind of nourishment, healing, and enlivenment can be experienced. This is the background and context for appreciating my experiments with creating and playing Essence Music. My engagement and endeavor quicken and deepen. I know that there are others similarly compelled and called to these regenerative realms, where everyone involved is enhanced and elevated. I hope our paths may cross!
Aviv Shahar
Aviv is the Founder of Aviv Consulting, helping leaders unleash strategic innovation, and is the author of Create New Futures: How Leaders Produce Breakthroughs and Transform the World Through Conversation.
