Comments presented at a panel discussion A Wealth of Inspirations in connection with the Arts in the Capitol exhibition Looking at Katahdin:

The Artists' Inspiration November 4, 1999 by Connie Baxter Marlow.

First, to define inspiration. In my frame of reference I refer to divine inspiration as I believe all creativity and ideas come from the divine - that we and the rest of Creation are magnificent agents of the divine, loving energies. Websters 5th definition of inspiration is "a divine influence directly and immediately exerted upon the mind or soul of man." Second, to hand you a rose quartz crystal to hold and examine its shape and to pass on around the audience. Third, to set the framework for my comments. I would like to share a bit of my life's experiences. I am a descendent of a family of individuals who followed the dictates of their hearts. People who, despite the prevailing paradigm chose to walk to the beat of their own drum in service to humanity with courage and generosity. I was born in 1946 after the great wars and depression. Discontented with the upper middle class life I was raised to participate in, I became a seeker. I looked for the pieces I felt were missing in the way the members of my culture treated each other, the children and the Earth. This search took me to Berkeley in the 60's where I watched my peers challenge the status quo on a profound level, it took me to Europe and finally brought me home to my own land and the caretakers of that land. Native American thought and way of life. I have spent the last 20 years in close association with many visionary elders of the Americas and the way of life of our native peoples. All of these experiences opened my heart and my mind to a larger reality one where inspiration - communication from the divine or higher self - is a given and plays a key role in the evolution of thought and action. I made the leap from the scientific paradigm - where everything has to be proven and seen to be true - to an understanding of the loving role the higher energies play in our lives on a moment-by-moment basis. I took the bananas

out of my ears and the rose-colored glasses off my nose and became able to see and hear what I have come to consider to be the true nature of things. My experiences began to teach me of the magnificent beauty and intense love that drives every aspect of life on this planet. I discovered that once one opens one's heart and mind and gives permission to receive this beauty and abundance and acts in accordance with its directives one enters into a whole new reality and transforms his life instantaneously. All of our great leaders were inspired individuals. George Washington was revered as almost immortal; Ben Franklin, feeling that the Constitutional Convention had been too long in the hands of "practical politicians", stated that it was time to bring in the divine and asked that a prayer open each daily session. Teddy Roosevelt, FDR, Lincoln, JFK, RFK - the Constitution itself appears to be a divinely inspired document-evolving not only from those uplifted sessions, but from concepts first brought to the 5 tribes of the Iroquois and embodied in the League of Nations 500 years before the landing of Columbus. Therefore, I would like to suggest that, as we sit here in Augusta, the capitol of the great state of Maine, that the mechanisms of our government are indeed the vehicles of profound freedom and true peace on Earth - but that because of our preoccupation with matters of the physical - to the expense of matters of the heart and spirit - that we have bankrupted our systems and negated the abilities and desires of the divine to guide us to realizing the lofty goals we aspire to as Americans. The underlying tenet of free will determines that we may choose to align with the divine or ignore it. In this vein I would like to suggest that Percival Baxter was divinely inspired when he stood in Staceyville that day in 1903 and told his companion that "Katahdin must remain the mountain of the people of Maine." I would like to contend that he received divine assistance in acquiring this sacred mountain and its surrounding land and was told how to hand it on in perpetuity and that these instructions were delineated in the Deeds of Trust that the people of Maine enacted through 30 years of legislative acts accepting his gifts. I came to this insight only last week - as the jigsaw puzzle of my knowing became clearer. On the Hopi Indian reservation there is a village called

Hotevilla that has kept itself in the rhythm of Creation by having no electricity and no running water. As I revisited Baxter park last fall for the first time in 30 years I discovered the same rhythm - Hotevilla contends that they are holding sacred energy for all of mankind with this act, it occurred to me that perhaps Percy Baxter was the vehicle for keeping the sacred mountain of Katahdin and its surrounding lands in this rhythm for all of mankind. Wow! Perhaps when we enter the gates of Baxter Park we are entering holy ground - and Buzz Caverly, himself an inspired individual, and his staff are the keepers of that place for the hearts and spirits of all of Creation. Perhaps Katahdin is the "greatest mountain" and its energies are here to heal us and teach us and inspire us to choose to walk in a sacred manner on Earth and through our actions bring profound peach and freedom to the planet. "Katahdin stands above the surrounding plain unique in grandeur and glory. The works of man are short-lived. Monuments decay, buildings crumble, and wealth vanishes, but Katahdin in its massive grandeur will forever remain the mountain of the people of Maine. Throughout the ages it will stand as an inspiration to the men and women of this State." PPB Portland Sunday Telegram November 30, 1941. If we as a people want to become all the things we aspire to - all the things we promised the world and our children we were - we must - stop, look and listen - and then act upon what we hear. A key is to take literally the words we resonate to, the dreams that we carry in our hearts and act upon them. Percy Baxter did. I will close by telling you a message that Katahdin gave me last fall to pass along. While I pondered why Katahdin was shrouded completely in clouds the entire week I was in Baxter Park - to the point where there was no hint of the existence of a mountain - the answer came - " There is something magnificent hidden by our clouded thinking, something we somehow know is there but cannot see." And while I was kidding Buzz about this mountain he claimed was sitting behind those clouds the image of the Wizard of Oz kept coming to me - the little man behind the curtain who appeared so powerful - and I came to understand that the obstacle that prevents us from seeing seems so huge, and is only an illusion. The rose quartz crystal that you have been holding is, as many of you I'm sure have noticed, in the exact shape of Katahdin. That crystal was given to

my children and me several years ago. It was only last fall that I discovered its significant shape. I had grabbed it and brought it East with me when I returned to Maine last fall, because rose quartz is a heart chakra crystal and I knew I was coming home to Maine to speak my truth, whether anyone was ready to hear it or not. I found a warm reception by friends, family everyone I came in contact with, even though I had been gone for thirty years. I discovered that the information I carry is something that wants to be heard. That perhaps I am merely the actor on the stage set by my family through the generations, and a vehicle for Katahdin to share its message with the world. I always knew my destiny had something to do with the fact that my name was on the top of that mountain, and now, Katahdin and I walk hand-in-hand to inspire the human race to its highest potential. I think we can all take courage from the words of Percy Baxter: I seek to offend the feelings of none, but I relinquish to none the right to act according to the dictates of my heart. In response to criticism for lowering the statehouse flag to half mast upon the death of his dog. Thank you.