Emotions

I have decided to put up some earlier art work as I believe you cannot move forward without addressing the past. I won't go into to much detail of the process of the works but will brush over what I feel is neccessary in order to understand the final pieces.

Emotions
The Stoics believe that "some things are in our control and others not. Things in our control are opinion, pursuit, desire, aversion, and, in a word, whatever are our own actions. Things not in our control are body, property, reputation, command, and, in one word, whatever are not our own actions. "
Stoicism was a school of Hellenistic Philosophy founded in Athens in the early 3rd century BC by Zeno of Citium. They believed that negative or destructive emotions were false judgements and that a sage-a person who had attained moral and intellectual perfection-would not undergo them. Stoicism teaches one to control one's mind as a means of bettering oneself.

The Enchiridion By Epictetus
http://classics.mit.edu/Epictetus/epicench.html

Francisco Goya created works of art that, unlike other art of that time, told stories of war, of nightmares ... all depicting and/or evoking strong emotions.

People tend to let their emotions take over ... which leads to overthinking .. which can lead to depression. A while ago I found a series of photographs of my mother taken when she was a child and in each photograph she, clearly, displays a variety of positive emotions.. some even amusing. A large black and white photocopy of the photographs hangs comfortably on the wall that my bed faces. Without intending to, I look at it everyday ... and each day the image is a sort of teaching ... to aspire to be like that small girl.