Artemis’s Feet
Making your unknown, known
“Whether you succeed or not is irrelevant, there is no such thing. Making your unknown known is the important thing, and keeping the unknown always beyond you.”
I first came across this quote by Georgia O’keefe a few years ago whilst listening to a commencement speech by artist, Teracita Fernandez.1 I was in Tel Aviv for a few weeks to work with Uri and chip away at my Alexander Technique training. After almost a decade of travelling between London and Israel I was experiencing a strong urge to stay and complete my education as a facilitator of this psycho-somatic practice.
It felt like a simple decision but also a terrifying one. When I met Uri as a 23 year old I had no interest in being a teacher. My particularly academic education and cultural conditioning made it difficult for me to embrace and respect a path that at first seemed not to use my mind at all! But something in the work touched me so deeply that it continued to override my conscious and conditioned expectations of who I thought I should be. With time I realised that the work with Uri was enabling me to become more and more embodied. It taught me to become aware of my thinking habits. They were so punishing and exhausting!
Listening to Teracita’s wise words almost 10 years after meeting Uri was a clarifying inspiration. Hearing the phrase, ‘to make your unknown known’ helped me make sense of my pursuits during my 20s. My impulse to keep returning to Uri’s modest and small studio in Tel Aviv made absolutely no sense to anyone outside of myself. It was entirely driven by an invisible knowing that something very precious was waiting there for me to discover. It took courage to follow this instinct because it meant I had to let go of caring about what anyone else thought, trust myself and take full responsibility for my decision. Eventually making the leap was undeniably one of the most empowering and liberating decisions of my life.
I was flipping through my husband’s Cornucopia magazine and saw this image of a pair of marble feet. Their elegance and direction struck me. Without seeing the now lost body and head I still perceived the figure’s power and presence and movement.
Taking steps in uncertain and often illogical directions is impossible if I let my mind overanalyse and over prepare.
It is through stopping, pausing and then moving, that my path unfolds.
I am forever indebted to my husband for sharing this with me!
I love this piece, thank you.