Tea In Paradise #1 - Introduction & 'Otherwise'

Hello Friends,

A quick pre-introduction for you, today is day #1 of Tea in Paradise, a concept arty piece being done by myself and my beautiful partner Abi, we invite you to join us in Paradise, so #TeaInParadise a picture of yourself in your Paradise to us and the world. Thank you. Now on with it

Paradise

Tea in Paradise - By Mr Jackson

Introduction

How to begin such a lofty idea as this? I don't know, so I've gone with the contemplative self questioning approach with a side order of meta peanuts held outstretched on a platter by an albino monkey butler. Paradise. Paradise. What is Paradise?

That is the question that I have set myself for this little endevour. I am already quite confident that I won't get any answers that don't lead to further questions on the matter, so Pandora please open your box and let's dive right in for some tasty treats.

My initial out the box answer to this question goes: Paradise is a state of mind achievable when external parameters align. Anyplace anywhere can be paradise. Paradise is an achievable state in the cupboard under the stairs where the out of season footwear is stored, ask any child with access to such a sweet hiding place. The time and place can be anywhere and any when, the perceiver of the moment has the potential to create paradise just as much as to create hell.

I will make every conscious effort to explain this point as we move forward. Just thought I should get it out quickly so as not to scare any nearby conceptophiliaacs that might be reading.

There are 8 songs that will accompany this, with video's accompanying them, you will see that as you go through this, again I am just covering all the bases, I don't want anyone getting scared by this, this is not the place to come for fear, this is the quest for paradise.

Now let's get on with it shall we?

Part 1 - 'Otherwise'

So we follow routine, mainly for the perceived safety it provides us. When certain daily experiences are placed within an easy to follow map structure, the human brain can dedicate more time to non-essential wanderings(NEWs). If large parts of any given day are handed over to the routine, more and more thought time is dedicated to NEWs and the creation of other "worrying" stimulus, and the brain is free to construct any number of 'worst case scenarios' from these. The mainstream news takes advantage of the NEWs time and inserts any number of potential nightmare events into the routined eye line. The 'routined eye' will decide what is relevant (even though none of it is) and manage memory accordingly.

We think we run our lives, and in someways we do, but our brains are capable of doing far more then we ever give them credit for. Conscious decision making is only ever allowed at the helm when it's not a life or death situation, there is always a concerned version of yourself ready to take charge and do the right thing should ego consciousness not be up to the task.

So is paradise found in routine? Can the doing of everyday normal activities produce such an elated ideal as paradise?

My own personal quest for paradise began last year, although I didn't know it at the time. Retrospect proves to be a beautiful thing, as I can now see how I was doing the groundwork for the exploration, way before I knew it.

I present to you (again...) 'Otherwise'

Abi and I were in the routine, 5 days a week, travel to and from work, rain or shine. We had been in the routine for over half a year before I managed to squeeze the song 'Otherwise' out of my creative hole. The song featured on the 'How Bout That Records' Mixtape, and we wanted it to have an exciting video to go with it. So we began birthing a new routine, one which involved hours and hours and hours and hours of animation while still doing all the normal routine stuff. From September to the end of November last year we worked on this video with the help of Abi's sister Mel (you can see all three of us right at the end of the video dancing).

We will never do that again, it was a one time thing. We did it for the love of creativity, not for money. It might not be the best music video ever made, but it was all handmade with love (and hands). It forced a break in our routine, and from that break came the search for Paradise.

We had to go through quite a transition to see Paradise, but once we had, it became apparent how it really is everywhere.

The first step is the realisation that Paradise exists, the second step is accepting that you deserve to exist in Paradise, the third step is to have a nice cup of tea and enjoy Paradise.

#TeaInParadise

Peace and infinite love
Mr Jackson (Andy, [adj])