001
To survive and thrive in space and time by creativity, good friends + family
Prelude to the Long Haul
It has been quiet in my writing world for years. i used to read and write like it was nobody’s business. i suppose it comes in waves; pre teen years, early twenties, and now (nearly forty, with reliance on technology like audible) it is an anchoring consolation of living. This retention and sharpening of abilities; to read, write and listen
so crafting words surfaces again. on an island full of writers and lawyers where i have been eeking out a familial life for the last 16 years. Ten as a mother. Believing, more on than off, that this is my home and i can work and raise my child here. i have received a good deal of harm/consolation, dismissal/invitation, rejection/acceptance, injury/love in these years since i first moved to Maine from Rhode Island.
it is becoming hard to deny, based on negative experiences alone, that there may be a more fitting place for me and my child. the experiences of kindness and love when i am not alone are what i want to turn to and create more of for Naomi and I. Its not far fetched to dream of a place where there is less difficulty in carving out our own space to grow in or there is someone who loves and protects us by sharing a home and we all grow into ourselves, doing the dishes and making sure the dogs have their walk, economically, altogether in — yet, first things first! we are here now! and here and now is as good a place as any to state as any great editor might state, security is not what you have, it is what you can do without. as well as that old adage,
” wherever you go, there you are!”
these sayings actually may turn out to be the very ballast of these installments. We all go without some things one way or another. Surely, what you’re missing has crossed your mind after reading that sentence. The Long Haul is the oncoming spacetime that i am willing to record; plans, dreams and the incurring reality that says, right here, right now on this island, it is the time to try to write the story we want to be known by into being, just so, let it come, let it go.
new strategy to persevere in place is this: journal publicly — write as a vocation. Write about the positive structure i aim to create for sustainability’s sake. the efforts made, the small accomplishments, what information and material have been gathered. who was there to see things emerge or to hold up the other end to complete a task. The Long Haul will remember what becomes necessary to organize and prepare the food, shelter + creature comforts for the future of my family. from there — all the wise council, invites, acceptance, and love will emerge.
doubt, uncertainty, and the chance that some of the things i plan to organize may fail, be costly or need replacing or be downright hard to find are undeniable. Yet, with faith in ourselves and trust in the goodness of others, commitment, experience, work, help, reflection, sharing, love and desire for a better world for myself and my daughter, all things are possible.
35mm Minolta – December 2017
True Blue Island 