True Blue Island

Just made some edits and included links in a previous post, please revisit installment 008

Pertinent to the preservation of writing freely are some necessary changes in language. Now the building measures i reference are, strictly speaking, a shedding process.

for a painter, writer, herbalist, mother.

ways to be

COOL

DIGNIFIED

SMART

let’s consider desire a therapy. and all the above necessary and wanted. for myself and others. and consider my lack of future writing on the matter a restraint and therapy forgone.

for the future you can imagine me writing alone at the kitchen table after having made some food and working all day trying to clean clear plant paint cut or build. joe watching a sports game or the news in living room, possibly on the phone with sarah or a dear friend he keeps in touch with. and Naomi watching a movie rented from the library in bedroom upstairs after playing with a friend for part of the day and going on a couple hikes and bike rides. dogs relaxing and feeling safe and ready to take on another season of growth.

writing: a way to keep cool and transmute some feelings that could be expressed more loudly in person. It also is a way to reach many people so as to share the spirit of a thing.

yesterday i opened a beautiful copy of the BHAGAVAD GITA that Joe has here printed in 1965. was taken with the binding and the insert from the publishers (Heritage Press, New York) explaining each and every one of their publishing choices. They co-missionined a young up and coming female Indian artist of the time — Y.G.Srimati who painted the illustration plates and created the cover design. In all aspects of publishing they tried to keep an authentic Indian thread palpable. Except for the printing, they chose an American craftsman to print it.

a dignified book. classic they say. i opened to the introduction and read how the story line is something other than what i would have been able to describe prior.

although i have read the epic poem once before, in a contemporary edition translated by Stephen Mitchell, likening the sentiments to Emerson and Thoreau. (A version i gave to Jesse thinking he would also enjoy the content) Thanks to Elevation Island Studio.

the story goes, there is an epic battle; the good guys versus the bad guys. the antagonist, Arjuna, is on the side of the good guys and luckily for him, G_d is also on his side in the form of his charioteer, or Lord Krishna. Arjuna, accompanied by Krishna, goes to the fore front of the battle in a desert some ways outside of a central city, and sees not his enemies, but his family and friends. He lays down his arms and says he will not fight them. Krishna then takes the stance of explaining why he may want to fight after all.

monologue ensues. and questions.

i did not understand the first time i read the book that it was his family and friends he was battling. with this explicit interpretation read, i need to reread entirely — this version has the sanskrit written in its authentic form, then phonetically spelled in english, and then the english for every phrasing this particular interpreter segmented the story into.–

“Lord Krishna Reminds Arjuna Of His Duty As A Warrior“

otherwise, finding ways to continue writing about

slow

step by step process of finishing my small scale interior.

enjoying April vacation with my daughter.

Today we had the pleasure of visiting a wood carver’s studio! a new edition to the island art community — Susan of Elizabeth St. graciously showed Naomi her tools and her work and explained some of her process and talked of who taught her – her father, a man in bali, a chinese friend …

The visit followed a few hours of Shedding process; turning to my studio and writing of the Long Haul into two intentional things: Learning and Perseverance. Going step by step.

In hopes of keeping a semblance of dignity and a good head on my shoulders; considering; other artist’s process. Who helps you get the work done? who gives you space and time to be yourself? who acknowledges, in kind, your self acceptance and preservation? who nourishes you? who is patient with you? who talks with you and not at you? who doesn’t ditch you or leave you to your own devices. who will interact?

society would like us to feel that only those with all the resources are dignified. those who makes the rules and those who try to control everything; the nuclear families, the doctors and lawyers, the home owners, people who have money to cover for their poor judgement or their deviance or their addictions and mental illnesses.

smart is looking at what people have done before you, smart is doing it your own way and remembering we’re not re-inventing the wheel here, we’re just putting our own spin on it.

when i write our i mean individually speaking. we all roll our own ways. some of us more in synch with each other and able to slow down and speed up to understand where others are at.

smart is listening to people you dont agree with and letting your heart pound in your chest not getting upset and walking away.

smart is imagining you had to walk in someone elses shoes and then grateful you have the very ones on your feet.

smart is sometimes just what Hermoine says to harry potter – “Ignore them, ignore them, ignore them.”

smart is learning how to do something new.

smart is trying.

smart is not giving up.

smart is listening to different things.

smart is loving your enemies and feeding your children good food.

smart is nourishing yourself so you can nourish others.

smart knows what it feels like to hurt and tries not to.

“This is just the beginning of the long haul… Gather loved ones close. Welcome in the wayfarer too. Light a light for comfort through the chaos.

Remember this day—the ordinary day before everything changes.

Before the unknown unfolds. Before the worst-case scenario steals your breath. Before the wildest hope reveals a path through the raging sea. Before the veil is torn, before the offering is consumed, before the sun disappears, before nothing is ever the same.

Mark this moment. This is the beginning.”

Rachel Hackenberg – Faith and Water

Amazing delivery job by Brendall from Hill View Ini Barns