An Open Window

Catalog of an exhibition held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, April 5-July 4, 2011.

As a little girl, Trelithia was always loved for her huge smile, high energy, and big dreams about being in the Olympics. This little girl who only saw the world in color was introduced to darkness by foul hands that stripped away her innocence. Trapped by dark secrets from generational traditions and a fear of really living life, Trelithia started down a path of destruction. "Does happiness exist? Can you genuinely love again? Where is God? Why do I overthink? Does fear leave the same way it came?" She battled these questions in every relationship in her adult life. Through the spirals of life that came at her hard and fast and that often left her crumbled and gasping for air, she discovered that there was something strong inside of her waiting to be birthed and found that there was no force dark enough to kill the purpose God put inside of her.

‘Movement on the spiritual path necessarily involves taking light into the dark corners of our psyche, and it is there that dreams provide an open window into the inner reality’. In the early years of the twentieth century, Sigmund Freud and Carl Gustav Jung proposed that, more often than not, dreams represent those thoughts and memories which are unbearably painful and have been relegated to the realm of the unconscious. Unlocking the meanings in these dreams can help people free their mind and feelings from irrational desires, fears and insecurities. This brief but profound book assails the conventional understanding of dreams and their interpretation, drawing attention to a much-neglected aspect of dreams as a source of guidance for the spiritual aspirant. It uses the insights of psychology, but transcends it, to confront the inescapable questions most people should be driven by: What is the purpose of life, and does it all end with death? Laying bare dreams of childhood anxiety, traumas and sexuality – ‘cleaning the windows’ to uncover the deeply buried material that blocks our efforts on the inner path – it then invites contention from ‘materialists’ in its discussion of subjects beyond psychology, such as precognitive dreams, reincarnation, out-of-the-body experiences, death dreams, and numinous or ‘big dreams’- ‘an open window’ through which deeper, non-physical levels of reality can shine. Drawing on examples from real life, Sri Madhava Ashish teaches the ‘language of dreams, ensuring a better understanding and awareness of the unconscious self, guiding the reader on the path to mental and spiritual freedom.

A collection of lyrical poetry by the late Joyce Williams, evoking Somerset and its people.

This is a poignant, compelling and unflinching depiction of the powerful yet delicate bond between a mother and her daughters. Through the Open Window follows the lives of three independent women-Jannat Kaur and her daughters, Mahira and Tamannah-who lead life on their own terms. The story is as much about love and longing as it is about three women, who are able to look at their mistakes honestly, even if the realization happens later. The novel goes back and forth in time and looks at how Jannat came to be where she is today-a managing partner in a leading company, with twin daughters in college. The strand of the past starts during Jannat's college days, with her getting pregnant and then rejected by her then-boyfriend. From the worries of becoming a single mother, to falling in love again with a man who accepts her daughters as his own, her life is shattered yet again and she is forced to raise the twins on her own. Tamannah and Mahira have to deal with their own share of complex and sometimes emotionally wrenching situations. For Tamannah it's the men in her life (much like her mother) and for Mahira it is the everyday fight for her sense of self and her battle to emerge out of the shadow of two fiercely assertive and headstrong female influences she's had all her life. Through the Open Window is a depiction of how love can create, destroy and recreate.

An adaptation of the short story by Saki, in which a sickly, nervous man is told by the young girl of the country house he is visiting that the garden doors are kept open because her aunt, who lost her husband and brother in a hunting accident three years before, believes that the men will return at any moment.

The first book in English exclusively devoted to an analysis of the films of one of Spain's most important film directors, V'ctor Erice. Drawing on original essays, reprints, and new translations from an international group of writers, this anthology will help open a window into a deeper appreciation of Erice's three haunting feature-length films.