NAVIGATING THROUGH

Author Pam Houston asks, "How do we mourn and be joyful at once?"

We have some pretty glorious sunsets here in the west. Whether standing on the shore or driving westerly we can be mesmerized and entranced by the stunning beauty. Sadly, all too often the glories are due to the weather fallout from fires or other dirty air contributors.

How do we navigate through both the love and the sadness? What of the losses that contribute to all this beauty, whether from fires or pollution or other outcomes of our ever-changing climate?

Perhaps the answer lies somewhere in acceptance, at least the acceptance of allowing for the questions and the pain of those questions and then doing whatever we can to alleviate, to move toward more positive change. Is this a dangerously naive stance to hold out this hope? Acknowledging my own lack of knowing and still keeping my heart wide open to this glory is a start, even while a small one.

During this year of 2020 with all the political upheaval and covid-19 concerns, to see the beauties of our wonderful planet is certainly a blessing. Hopefully, it is one we can allow to continue. Whether the beautiful sunset, the lush green of a meadow, the screech of a hawk, the hooting of an owl in the starry night...preserve and protect...and love it with all my being, even knowing so much is being systematically destroyed. Challenging.

NEED I SAY MORE?

THE SAME BOAT...

Memorial Day weekend. I think picnics and barbecues and other friend and family gatherings. But, alas....

I miss my family. I miss my friends. I miss hugs and kisses and even friendly smiles (the downside of masks.) I miss my workshop students and teaching them. I miss camaraderie and laughter and sharing of stories. This time of year, I miss the gathering of fellow artists and artisans as we pick a spot and build the booth that will be home away from home for 66 days of summer at the Sawdust Art Festival here in Laguna. I even miss all the decision-making that goes into that venue for each of us.

Yet, while I miss these and so many other things, I am happy to have my health and a roof over my head, food on the table and gas in my car. I am thrilled to be able to walk 4-5 miles each morning, whether in the neighborhoods, in the hills, along the beachfront, or the harbor. I am lucky. I am grateful. I am hopeful that all these things I miss will return.

But I have to admit I'm still sad; I still miss all of it and all of you. So stay safe and healthy, practice that social distancing and wear that mask and do whatever else it takes so that we may all come back together....PLEASE.

Lots to do

KEEPING IT SIMPLE

Keeping it simple sometimes is best

In this new year of a new decade my thoughts turn to this blog. What do I want for it? What amount of my time can I commit to keeping it going? Should I again set myself a goal for weekly posts? These and other thoughts rumble and ramble through my mind.

Simple. Keep it simple. This very basic thought returns time and time again as I ponder.

Recognizing that simplicity is a state of mind that flows from the activities and choices we make each day, on this day with the first blog of the year I can commit to simple.

Simple means that keeping to the goal from 2019--because it worked--is the choice to make. So two blogs per week. And, like simplicity itself, the blogs will arise out of the activities and choices of the days.

Stay tuned.

EVERYTHING OLD IS NEW AGAIN

Lately I had been thinking about the column I used to write, Chasing Down the Muse. Vague plans to peruse the many columns and pick favorites to form a compilation roamed around in my mind. Then, too, what about resurrecting some for use in this blog?
Well, when I encountered Boston friend, Jan, this morning on my sunny day walk and she said she missed the column...well, it just seems time to act. So here is one written in February, 2011:

The announcement had been made the day before. It was not as if it were something we had anxiously been awaiting, but as the group of friends sat around the table playing with clay, making ceramic birdhouses together, the subject came up.

As so often happens in these settings, conversations twist and turn in many directions as the focus stays on the work at hand of creation...in this case these birdhouses.

"Did you hear that Merriam-Webster announced the word of the yeat?"
I don't know whether we were all just specially tuned in that week or what, but somehow we had all heard the news. The announced word of the year for 2010 was, not surprisingly to any of us, "austerity."

We batted around our thoughts on the choice and what it seemed to mean to each of us. We even considered what our choice might be for 2011.

"Civility!" I blurted. "I vote for civility to be the 2011 Merriam-Webster word of the year."

....How we speak to and about each other says a lot about each of us--much more than it says about the object about which we speak. If we are to have any self-respect, then the civility we show others is not a choice but a command. Emmylou Harris said it:"...if we don't get our civility back, we're in trouble."

How? Where do we begin to gain or regain civility, respect for others and their rights? How do we create an environment that can help grow peace rather than one that is open to violence and hatred?

Graciousness, kindness, common decency, consideration, respect--each wrapped up in civility--are these just empty words? When we disagree, we certainly can do so respectfully, without attacking the character of another.

Can't we?

Shift to today...February 16, 2019. Eight years have passed. Are we any closer to embracing civility? Or, as I fear, have we gone entirely the other way?

Several years ago the CivilityProject.org shut down after two years of trying. They had reached out to politicians and others to participate. They asked participants to sign a pledge that contained just three items:
1. I will be civil in my public discourse and behavior.
2. I will be respectful of others whether or not I agree with them.
3. I will stand against incivility when I see it.
How hard could it be? At that time a mere three politicians signed--Sen. Joe Lieberman and Reps. Frank Wolf and Sue Myrick. Not one governor took the pledge.

Where are we headed?