Today was a very special day, a day at the beach with The Incredible Oik the Crab and his creator, James Nott. We are hoping that James and Oik will meet Alison Foley, founder of Ten Little Pieces, an environmental organization that helps keep the beaches clean along the Sunshine Coast. Just like Oik.
Blog
IF (a different version)
Somehow, somewhere I came across this little gem. It has been with me for years. Decades, actually.
I always placed it in a position of priority, either pinned above my desk at work or posted on my fridge door at home. I lost it for a few years, and searched for it often. I just found it again this past summer. I am posting it here so I won’t be so apt to lose it again and so I can share it with you.
I don’t know who wrote it, but it’s a response to Rudyard Kipling’s poem, “If.” Ever since reading this version, it has been my goal in life to be as good as my dog. Or at least almost as good. I’d settle for that.
If
If you can start the day without caffeine;
If you can get going without pep pills;
If you can resist complaining and boring people with all your troubles;
If you can eat the same food every day and be grateful for it;
If you can understand when your loved ones are too busy to give you any time;
If you can overlook it when something goes wrong through no fault of your own,
and those you love take it out on you;
If you can take criticism and blame without resentment;
If you can ignore a friend’s limited education and never correct him;
If you can resist treating a rich friend better than a poor friend;
If you can face the world without lies or deceit;
If you can conquer tension without medical help;
If you can relax without liquor;
If you can sleep without the aid of drugs;
If you can honestly say that deep in your heart you have no prejudice against creed, colour, religion, or politics;
Then, my friends, you are almost as good as your dog.
~ Author Unknown
A Guitar
I’ve been learning how to play guitar for a while now. It’s a slow process, made even slower by aging hands and the associated pain that comes with them. A few months ago, at our Sheep River Library’s monthly Poetry on the Patio (by the Fireside) gathering, Marika read aloud this poem about a guitar to the group. Before she read it, she dedicated it to me. How wonderful is that? I’m still a little overwhelmed by it all. : )
Marika said I could share her poem. It sure gives me a different way of looking at a guitar. Her perspective inspires me to keep learning so that I might, one day, give my guitar the life it deserves.
The Soup of the Day
My friend, Marika d’Ailly, is a not only a great maker of soup, but also a great writer. She has inspired me for many years, ever since we met at Monday Morning Writers Group at our local Coyote Moon coffee shop so many years ago. I have long been amazed at her capacity for production. Always she says she does not write to be published, she writes for her family or her own personal reasons; Even so, Marika has had many works published in books, newspapers, and online, too. Amazing!
So, here’s a wee treat for you…a story by Marika on her soup of the day. (She said I could share it with you on my blog.)
Enjoy!
Heavenly Day
I cried twice yesterday, and again this morning. It surprised me.
It’s not like I was having a bad day or anything. Although I guess yesterday wasn’t so great when I think of it. I had no energy to do much at all, despite it being one of those Most Beautiful Blue Sky Summer Days, the kind you mark in your calendars. But this troubling lack of energy had nothing to do with why I found myself in tears. A Teen Burger, a goodly dose of Vitamin B12, both recommended by my very concerned husband, pretty much took care of my not feeling so well in a physical way.
It was heart trouble that had me in tears. It had just been pried open like a sardine can. Immediately, quickly, effortlessly. Its protective cover ripped off so unceremoniously, I sat there raw and tender and grateful. Especially grateful. For all the heavenly days I spent with my dog, Bear. We had almost 16 years together.
It was a song that started it all. The crying, that is. Perhaps it is more accurate to say that it was my musical journey, the one to do with f-i-n-a-l-l-y learning to play guitar, that set off the waterworks. Because yesterday a song was shared by a member of a how-to-play-guitar-for total-beginners group that I’m in.
I had never heard this song before, nor had I heard of the artist who wrote and performed it. The artist’s name is Patty Griffin, and her song, the one that sent me for a loop, is called “Heavenly Day.” Patty says it was the very first love song she ever wrote, and that she wrote it for her dog. Thanks to my life with Bear, I totally “got” every word, every phrase, every moment of simplicity and grandeur that song portrayed.
I invite you to watch this recording of a live show featuring Patty performing this song. See if it will have the same effect on you. If it does, know that you have been blessed with a beautiful life, or at least a beautiful time in your life. And that is worth crying about.
Namaste.
PS – Patty Griffin is a Grammy Award winning artist! (What rock have I been living under?!?) Wikipedia tells more about her wonderful musical career here.
For Gaia, on Earth Day
I’m not sure why, but one day in February 2022 I started thinking about immune systems, and how wondrous they were in human beings. I pictured them as constellations, where different sections would light up as needed.
And then I started wondering does Mother Earth have an immune system? When we cut into a mountain for a mine does Mother Earth hurt? Does the mountain feel pain? And would Mother Earth form scar tissue over a wound that digging a mine would make? And when we poison our forests with sprays to kill off unwanted (read: “non-commercial”) species from growing–in aid of our unenlightened logging industry, of course–does Mother Earth somehow seal off this harm from tender roots below ground? And can she still protect the soil somehow, too? When we pollute the air or the water, how does Mother Earth help the air and the water recover from our thoughtlessness, ignorance, and greed?
It seems to me that time heals a lot of our environmental sins. Maybe not always, but at least sometimes. Plants spring up through pavement cracks. Fouled water becomes clear over time. The winds blow pollution away. How does this happen? Is it Mother Earth’s healing immune system rushing off to attack any invader or injury that makes this healing possible?
And what would Mother Earth’s immune system look like on a cellular level if she did have one?
Would it wrap around our entire planet, like another layer of atmosphere, or would it hang around under Earth’s surface? Would it breathe, would it flow, would it clump up in areas where immune support was needed most? What colour would it be? Would it sparkle and shine, or would it be dull and muted?
As I was thinking about this, I was also reading Michael E. Mann’s book, “The New Climate War: The Fight to Take Back Our Planet.” Within a few minutes of picking up this book on that February day, I was reading about the concept of Gaia. I took it as a sign I was on to something important. Or, at least on the right track.
Gaia, Mann says, is the ancient Greeks’ personification of Earth herself. He explained the Gaia hypothesis put forward by scientists Lynn Margulis and James Lovelock in the 1970s: “that life interacts with Earth’s physical environment to form a synergistic and self-regulating system. In other words, the Earth system in some sense behaves like an organism, with ‘homeostatic’ regulatory mechanisms that maintain conditions suitable for life.” Mann even specifically referred to Gaia’s immune system, referencing the acute COVID-19 pandemic and how our personal and industrial activities quickly diminished, reducing air and other forms of pollution.
I ended up creating this painting, and called it Gaia Immunity. I imagined Mother Earth’s immune system to be like a layer of blue, brown, and gold cells. I pictured Gaia’s immune system wrapping invisibly around our planet Earth, close to her surface, reaching out and concentrating healing cellular activity wherever it was needed most. One day, I’d like to do a series of images exploring Gaia’s immune system. I hope I will.
Happy Earth Day 2023!
Miracles Do Happen!
Never in a million years would I have expected this, especially as a latecomer to the world of art. Nevertheless, The Universe decided that my artistic efforts be on display in an art exhibition all the same. And here is how this little miracle of the unexpected happened.
It all began with meeting educator, and artist, Dr. Irene Naested, during a reception prior to an Alberta Writers Guild awards evening a few years ago. (Although a “few” might really now be “several.” It’s a bit disconcerting how one’s sense of time shifts as one ages.) Anyhow, Irene’s book, “Exploring the Math and Art Connection,” was up for an award that night. So it was over cocktails and conversation that our friendship began to grow.
Fast forward to COVID-19, and the shock and lockdowns that went with it. Irene productively spent her time writing and publishing another book, this one called: Art-Making: A Companion in Solitude. And with her book, the consummate educator in Irene had her hosting a “book club” (via Zoom, because it was, after all, during COVID) where participants were encouraged to try out, and then share and discuss, the different artistic techniques explained within. To me, it was a wonderful introduction to a varied set of art classes as well as to other members of the local artisitic community.
Brenda Kelly, artist and one of Irene’s Zoom book club participants, suggested a collaboration of artists and poets. I immediately raised my hand to sign up, asking if the group would have me as an “artist,” being’s how I was such a newbie at it all. No problem! I was accepted into the fold with open arms. Wow!
Our group called itself Photo Synthesis, giving a nod to the work we were doing together. And Brenda became our fearless leader and herder of cats. Cool cats, I might add. At least, IMHO. We worked on a call and response basis. A poet would write a poem, and the artist would respond to it. The artist would create an image or a sculpture, and the poet would respond to that. We did two of these calls and responses each month, and ended up with quite a collection of art and poetry within six months. Which is about how long our collaborative efforts lasted. We worked with each other between Spring 2021 and Fall 2022, and took the summer off, like all good Calgarians do.
Then, lo and behold, one of our members was asked if our Photo Synthesis group would like to exhibit our art and poems at the 2023 People’s Poetry Festival being held at CSpace, an artists’ incubator, hub, and resource centre in Calgary. Of course, we said YES, PLEASE. And THANK YOU, too!
As I write this, the miracle is happening now. An exhibit of our poems and art is on display at the 4th Floor Gallery of cSpace from March 27 – April 2, 2023. Our group was also invited to give a presentation during the festival, and we’re doing that, too. On Saturday, April 1st. And it’s no joke, it’s a dream come true!
This is my first blog post on this newly minted website. I’ve launched it to coincide with our art + poetry exhibition opening on March 30th. I’m working to deadline, so not sure if I’ll get much more up for your refuge, reflection, and renewal needs until April. Please bear with me. I’ll get there eventually, and I hope you’ll come along with me on this journey of discovery.
TTFN,
shee