GAIA LUNA: Entering

Welcome to my earth moon garden, Gaia Luna. Gaia Luna speaks the language of stones, earth, leaves and seasons. It embodies the cyclic nature of the creative process.

You stand at the entrance. You face East where the yellow sun rises beyond the woods and the field. This is the direction where change begins, the direction of Wind and Inspiration, the direction of Spring.

Stepping back, you see the whole garden. The door to the barn is behind you, the gardening tools, pottery wheel and old scale there in the cool darkness.

Tomorrow, we will enter the garden.

SACRED SHARDS: Art Barn

I'm about to head out the work in the barn glazing about 60 Sacred Shards pendants, plus a dozen labyrinth pocket stones and another dozen or so word stones.

So I thought it was time to share some photos.

Standing inside Gaia Luna, looking past the "South/Fire/Summer" stone, the barn is visible in the background. The plants, from left to right, are eggplant and marjoram, basil in the background, with a few weeds sprinkled in between.

My view from inside the Sacred Shards Art Barn. This is the same door visible in the photo above. My kickwheel in the foreground and an improvised work bench on the right. That's where I'll be sitting to work in just a few minutes.

On Saturday I passed a yard sale at a very old farm near here. I needed a scale to weigh my clay (for making vessels of about the same size on the wheel). This one was so rusted that the green paint was completely hidden and the tile on the top is cracked, but it still works! After a bunch of scrubbing a little WD40 it was ready to take it's place in the Art Barn atop a set of shelves from the same sale. Total cost: $5.

My gardening tools on the side of the barn opposite my work bench. I like to arrange them like this. It has a peacefulness about it.

GAIA LUNA: Weeding

I like pulling weeds.

I like the feeling of the roots letting go from the soil with one smooth tug. I like the smell of the earth as it turns over. I'm proud of the dirt stains on the knees of my old blue jeans.

I like the tools I have for digging and tilling. They've been passed along from parents and grandparents, worn smooth by many hands.

I like the quiet and repetition of weeding. I find myself pulling up worries along with the weeds.

At the end of the day, I dump the bucket filled with weeds and worries at the edge of the yard where the the brambles grow wild.

SACRED SHARDS: Messy Momentum

Finally, a photo.

That wasn't so difficult! Digital camera connected by cable to PC, copy image from camera to PC, upload to blog. Hurray!

Our dining room table has become a production space this week. The reddish brown and white items at the left of the photo are bisque fired pottery pieces waiting to be glazed and high fired. The chocolatey looking pieces on the right are unfired pendants in various stages of drying. The darkest pieces were just made this morning.

In the past 2 days I've sculpted 38 more Sacred Shards pendants, in between teaching lessons and barely tending to household needs.

When I'm in the active (versus contemplative) phase of the creative process the house ends up looking like there was a combined explosion in a laudry mat, convenience store and art supply store.

Eventually, things cycle around to the domestic/practical side. The bills get paid, the laundry washed and put away, the pile of dishes in the sink washed and the refrigerator restocked. The house will eventually return to a state of order, though only temporarily.

If I derail the creative process with "shoulds", like cleaning, precious momentum is lost and nothing moves forward.

A mess is a small price to pay.

Divine Tree Fall - Close Call

I had a very close call this past week. I escaped harm by mere seconds and didn't know it until afterward.

It got me thinking about divine intervention, wondering about such things as whether I was being watched over and protected, or whether it was just by lucky chance that I wasn't squashed like a bug.

This past Thursday I drove to a small local nursery to pick up a flat of ajuga (bugle weed) I'd ordered to edge the southern border of Gaia Luna. I was walking the short distance from my car to the greenhouse when a woman who works there shouted that the electricity had just gone off. I completed the transaction with cash and prepared to head home.

Just 4/10 of a mile from the nursery the flashing lights of a volunteer firefighter's truck blocked my way. Behind it, electric cables sparked across the pavement.

A large oak tree had fallen across the road, taking powerlines down with it.

Sunny day. No wind. Very strange.

I turned my car around, realizing that I had passed this way before, within seconds of the tree‘s collapse.

I felt as if I had been spared, wondered if someone had been watching over me, protecting me.

It was a reminder that anything can happen at anytime to anyone. Being spared from harm is not a reward for faith and good behavior. Misfortune is not a punishment for disbelief or sin. There is no Divine Vending Machine where we drop in coins of belief, push the button of prayer, and collect the material blessings of our choice.

Good things can happen to bad people. Bad things happen to good people. When and why are mysteries impossible to solve in this lifetime.

The value is knowing that "I" am much more than what happens to me, or even what I do. True for each of us. We are more than physical beings. It's what we chose to do with this knowledge that matters.

Pain and suffering are part of rules of the game in this life. I choose to live my life to create joy and compassion where I can, hoping to lessen and avert the suffering of others when possible.

Believing in Something Greater than myself helps me to value the small blessings that come my way. It's also a resource of strength for times of hardship.

Trees fall. Sometimes they squash people. Sometimes they don't. We don't get to choose which. We do get to choose how we treat each other and ourselves, before, during and after. That's what matters.

Herding Turtles

Recently, I was commiserating with an artist friend who also prefers to work on multiple projects at one time.

She said she spends time each day on many different things, but feels like it's taking forever to bring anything to completion.

I said, "Right! It's like herding turtles. The turtles and I are all headed somewhere. We're just not getting there very fast."

The up side is that at this pace the turtles (my projects) don't go astray very quickly either.

GAIA LUNA: New Residents

A trip to the nursery this morning. Guess who followed me home! Below, I've also listed where each plant will be placed.

• bronze fennel (south - purple)
• fern leaf dill (east - yellow)
• French tarragon (north - white)
• cilantro (west - red)
• horehound (north - white)
• lemon verbena (east - yellow)
• zucchini and yellow crookneck squash (east - yellow)
• a blackberry bush! (south - purple)
• and horse radish (north - white)
• red creeping sedum (west - red)

Tomorrow, I'll be up early, while the air is still cool, to plant everyone in their new home.

NEW SONG: The Moon and Sun MORE!

And what did I do today? I played through all my songs for the Dolphin's Daughters CD and ended up writing two more verses for "Moon and Sun".

MOON AND SUN
Words traditional, with additional lyrics and music by Kay Pere

The New Moon rises with the Sun.
Her waxing half the midday shows.
The Full Moon climbs at sunset hour.
And waning half the midnight knows.

Moon and Sun, the great romance,
Spinning high then bowing low.
Love's ancient luminescent dance,
Shine upon us here below.

A woman rises with the sun.
Her work half done when midday shows.
She climbs the stairs at sunset hour,
And candlelight the midnight knows.

Moon and Sun, the great romance,
Spinning high then bowing low.
Love's ancient luminescent dance,
Shine upon us here below.

A child is born like rising sun.
He seems half grown as midday shows.
His colors climb at sunset hour,
And quiet rest the midnight knows.

Moon and Sun, the great romance,
Spinning high then bowing low.
Love's ancient luminescent dance,
Shine upon us here below.

COPYRIGHT 2006 - Effusive Muse Publishing

NEW SONG: The Moon and Sun

Yesterday, someone asked me what I had done all day and I replied, "not much," until I remember that I had written a song. Hows that for art becoming a routine part of everyday life?!

The words for the first part are a very old traditional rhyme describing where the moon is seen in the sky as it moves through it's phases. I've written the melody and harmonized it so it can be song either as a solo, an echo song, or a round, building as you go with audience participation.

The second part is a contrasting chorus, my own words and music. (I really need to figure out how to create simple rough recordings of new songs to post online) This will be on the Dolphin's Daughters CD.

THE MOON AND SUN
Words traditional, with additional lyrics and music by Kay Pere

The New Moon rises with the Sun.
Her waxing half the midday shows.
The Full Moon climbs at sunset hour.
And waning half the midnight knows.

Moon and Sun, the great romance,
Spinning high then bowing low.
Love's ancient luminescent dance,
Shine upon us here below.

COPYRIGHT 2006 - Effusive Muse Publishing

SACRED SHARDS: Pottery Pilgrimage

I'm happy to report that I'm about to head out to the barn to work at my pottery wheel for the first time. I've had it for over a month, but things keep getting in the way.

Today, I've loaded all my pottery things into my garden cart and I'm about to make the pilgrimage out to the new work space. I'll spend the afternoon out there at the wheel and hand building with no interruptions.

Very exciting!

I'm slowly transforming the barn from a junky storage space full of dust and spiders to a functional Art Barn facing out onto the field and Gaia Luna.

The rustic wood and antique tools in the interior are an inspiration. Parts of it were built over 100 years ago. The family who originally owned the land lived in the central section of the barn, where my wheel is now, while they were building the house.

I spent all day Tuesday cleaning out one of the stalls to make room for ... whatever develops from this. Found 5 old horse shoes that had been sitting upside down in a corner, and gave them a place of honor, lucky side up on a wooden ledge inside the barn, arranged with a small heart shaped stone from Gaia Luna.

Quotes for today:

"There is no shame in happiness."
-- Albert Camas

"Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart."
-- Rilke

Peace,
Kay

Red-y to See

This past week I learned how to sew slip covers for furniture.

Nearly a century ago my great aunt taught my grandmother, who in turn taught my mother, who came to visit for the week and taught me.

My parents only bought one piece of living room furniture during their entire married lives. It was a sofa. Everything else was second hand, made to look new-ish through my mother's skill. Even that sofa has been recovered 6-7 times over the past 60 years.

It's a skill that fits with my values of reuse, recycle, renew. The whole Anti-Diva thing.

As my mom and I worked, I learned much more than just the practical skills she was teaching. I began to see her more clearly, and who I am in relation to this. Seeing her for the person she is brought both a feeling of closeness and distance. I don't think she sensed a difference, but I feel changed.

There is vividness and unfamiliarity to this, coupled with an acceptance of what is. Sort of like finding out the true identity of the Tooth Fairy for the first time when she forgot to take your tooth while you slept, then came flapping in the next morning with a quarter in her hand and a smile on her face.

The velvety slip cover is on the chair now. Mom has flown back home. I sat reading this evening after we got back from dropping her off at the airport. I fell asleep in the chair and woke suddenly, not knowing quite where I was, the room vivid and unfamiliar. I returned to my body with an awareness of smell of new fabric close to my face. The chair welcomed me with a hug like you'd want your mother to give you when you've been lost in a public place.

No one in my family is huggy. No one except for me. They'd rather do something for you, or teach you how to do something for yourself, than give you a hug. Doing is the language of love in this family. At least that's the habit we've fallen into over the years.

My mom spent this past week sewing on the chair.

At times it was a struggle. Things didn’t always fit together right, had to be redone, adjusted, just like the important relationships in our lives.

It's not perfect. But neither are we. It is good enough, more than good enough.

In some unspoken way, it’s just what I needed.

A Red Velvet Chair

I've officially arrived here at blogspot. First I'll unpack my small purple suitcase, then I'm off to work in Gaia Luna, cutting the last of the netting for the deer fence, turning the compost pile.

I'm not one who likes to move from house to house. I prefer to put down deep roots and stay in one place.

The house where I grew up was my home for the first 20 years of my life. I moved 8 times in the next 10 years. Until I found B. Our quiet little life together began 10 years ago this month.

Living in one house for a long time provides a deep feeling of connectedness with ordinary objects and the land. The stillness of staying brings inanimate objects to life. If I listen, I can begin to hear their voices.

This past Sunday, I bought several yards of fabric to slipcover my reading chair in the livingroom. I laid it out to look at in the changing light through out the day. The next evening, when I'd sat reading for a while, the chair gentle told me it really didn't want to wear what I'd bought for it. It didn't feel comfortable in such a bold design. The room agreed. It wanted something more peaceful. After a discussion that included the sofa and the loveseat, the reading chair decided it will be covered in rich cranberry red velvet.

I’ve decided it’s best not to question the wisdom of such a well read chair.

Soon it will be, well, red.

:-), Kay

COPYRIGHT 2006 - Effusive Muse Publishing

A New Home

I'm a blogging nomad who hopes she has found a more permanent home here. I moved after discovering that myspace.com deletes blog posts after 1 year. What kind of blog is that?!

If all goes well, I'm hoping to move that content to this new place. Will have to find out if I can back-date posts.

SACRED SHARDS: A Beneficent Boss

Today I'm engaged in repetitive work, putting together packaging, assembling necklaces, stitching beads on baskets, and sitting at the computer for hours to work on graphics. I enjoy all this, up to a point. I have to use distraction and bribery to get myself through this last phase of the creative process when it requires assembly line work or being chained to a computer for hours.

This last phase of the creative process* is called proliferation. It involves reproduction, packaging, and marketing a creative work.

This last phase of the creative process is the most neglected among artist and musicians. We create because we like to make something new out of ideas and raw materials. Many of us also create because we hope the things we make will be meaningful or at least entertaining to others. But no one will encounter our work unless it's given legs of its own to venture beyond the confines of the artist's studio.

As an artist/musician/writer/educator, I work for myself, by myself, most of the day. I'm learning to be sensitive to the needs of my creative process, while running a small business.

I'm the business manager, but I'm also the art department, marketing consultant, accountant, admin support, public relations, product development, travel agent, computer tech, database manager, licensing/legal, print shop, mail room, purchasing agent, inventory control, and cafeteria chef, all rolled into one. As business manager I'm required to be financially responsible, organized, plan ahead and follow through even when it isn't any fun.

Managing my creative side, really allowing time for it to manage me, requires a completely different set of skills.

Creative work in it's earliest stages has to be play or it just doesn't happen. When I sit down at the piano to write or slice off a fresh slab of clay to sculpt, I don't know what I'm going to end up with, if anything. Results are far from guaranteed. It's all about enjoying the process, following it where it leads. I start with raw materials, a stretch of time and an image or a concept or a feeling or nothing at all. Things progress spontaneously rather than sequentially.

Sometimes, after several hours of intense effort, all I have is a better idea of where I might be going and a pile of pages covered with scribbled words, or used up materials that have to be tossed out. Sometimes the results are so unexpected that I feel as if they've arrived by divine providence.

Creative play/work doesn't follow a typical business model.

A good boss for a creative person plans for spontaneity by not packing the schedule too tightly. A good boss for a creative person arranges for abundant materials to be on hand and easy to find. A good boss for a creative person shields the artist from concerns about finances and marketability while the artist is developing something new.

A good boss for a creative person actually realizes that the artist is the employer, not the other way around.

Am I the kind of boss I enjoy working for? A Beneficent Boss?

That depends.

I try to be a good boss. When I'm working intently, I try to remember to give myself breaks to get up and stretch, get some food and take care of other necessities. I try to see that I work in a studio, not an office. I try to stay focused on deeper motivations: to be happy, to make a difference in the world, and hopefully have something for paying the bills.

Unfortunately, there are times when I'm a slave driver. The slave driver insists on doing one more thing, then another and another, before I'm allowed to stop for lunch. The slave driver forgets about the artist's need for unscheduled time and makes too many commitments. The slave driver is all about practical applications and marketability, all the time. The slave driver demands that the work space is perfectly picked up and the To-Do List is completely crossed off before the artist is allowed to play.

The slave driver boss threatens to take possession of the artist's successful creations by setting expectations for the artist to produce the same work over and over.

The artist is not a factory worker.

Today, I'm an artist working the assembly line of proliferation. I'm bridging the gap between creating in seclusion and putting a tiny piece of art into the hands of someone who will enjoy it.

I'm pretending not to be doing something repetitious. I'm distracting myself by writing this little essay while the box inserts for Sacred Shards necklaces come out of the printer by the dozens.

Is this efficient? For me it is.

In a little while, I'll rent a couple of sappy movies and pile a plate with snacks, then sit down to cut the box inserts to size, hand stamp 50 or 60 box lids, assemble necklaces, and sew beads on baskets. There'll be a break to teach a couple of voice lessons early in the evening. Then it's back to the assembly shop for a couple hours to meet a deadline coming up this weekend.

If I do this, the good boss has promised me some uninterrupted time to write songs, play with clay and dig in the garden. Just as soon as this big push is all over. I'm trusting the good boss to follow through.

:-), Kay
http://www.kaypere.com

* For more on the phases of the creative process [Creation, Realization, and Proliferation] see Bill Pere's articles at:
http://www.billpere.com/Songwriter_Tools.htm

COPYRIGHT 2006 - Effusive Muse Publishing

HEART&SPIRAL: Why Title Everything?

I thought it might be good to provide some explanation about the titles I'm using in this blog.

I'm not a person who's content to do only one thing. So I've come up with names for the different aspects of my creative/artistic/musical life. Makes more sense to me that way. Helps me to keep straight on what I'm doing at any given moment, but might be confusing for others without some sort of Rosetta stone to help decipher.

People ask me what I do. Here's the breakdown.

HEART&SPIRAL: This is name for that swirly logo thing made out of my initials. It's also an over arching concept of creative flow, spiritual journey toward center, etc. And it's the name of my band. Everything else I do, no matter how it's named, falls under HEART&SPIRAL.

SOUND KRAYONS MUSIC: This is my teaching studio. I offer voice instruction and coaching, workshops, song writing and performance coaching, music theory and piano instruction.

SACRED SHARDS: This is my pottery business. Also includes some mixed media work.

KEYS FOR A CAUSE an organization I founded to unite keyboard playing performing songwriters, coast-to-coast (US) and internationally, to present events and recordings benefiting local social services as an outreach of LUNCH (Local United Network to Combat Hunger).

GAIA LUNA: a sacred space garden being created to celebrate the cycles of earth and moon, and the traditions of women. All this is described in more detail on my website: http://www.kaypere.com/visual_artist_garden.htm

:-), Kay

SACRED SHARDS: Independent!

Exciting news! Today I was approved to be an independent artist at the pottery studio where I've been going since February.

This means that I can go work there anytime someone is in the office to hand out the key (usually 8 AM-9PM). Now I can work for as long as I want, totally unsupervised. My creative flow won't be interrupted anymore by the end of a class. I can make use of the studio slab roller and all the special glazes. I can fire my pieces in the studio kiln. All for a very small fee that amounts to the cost of daily cup of really cheap coffee.

I set this goal for myself several months ago. Feels good to have reach it!

It's the beginning of many new and wonderful things.

:-), Kay

GAIA LUNA: setting boundaries

GAIA LUNA: EARTH MOON GARDEN

Today the cats and I put up the deer fence around Gaia Luna - 8 feet tall! All the posts are in place, the netting is cut to width. Hopefully we'll finish tomorrow.

The new deer fence is a boundary. I'm resistant to boundaries. I didn't want to put up a fence around Gaia Luna, but I'm learning that boundaries can be as necessary for gardens as they are for people.

The best boundaries are invisible to all except those who are unable to pass through them.

The deer fence around Gaia Luna consists of a fine netting strung between tall wooden posts. Without it, the deer and groundhogs eat most of tender plants right down to the ground. Gaia Luna is meant to provide food, herbs and flowers for the people who live here, not the animals passing through. We encourage deer and groundhogs to browse elsewhere.

I've learned about the habits of deer.

They don't mean any harm. They're deer, doing the things that deer do. Gaia Luna is along their path from the woods to ... where ever it is that deer go when they leave our field.

Like deer, certain people devour time, energy, and compassion while leaving behind only trampled remnants. Deer-People. Like hungry forest creatures, Deer-People gobble precious resources only to fill empty bellies.

I work to share my time, energy, compassion and resources, hoping that this will create lasting change for others. This can only happen if Deer-People aren't allowed to graze on the seedlings my inspiration or indiscriminantly consume the harvest of my efforts.

I've learned about the habits of deer.

And I've learned about the habits of Deer-People. They usually don't mean any harm. They're Deer-People, doing the things that Deer-People do. I just happen to be along their path from ... where ever Deer-People come from ... to ... where ever Deer-People go when they finally move on.

Is it possible to stay open, to experience life fully while having clear boundaries?

When it's finished, the protective boundary surrounding Gaia Luna will be open to light and air. It's not a fortress wall. Robins and bluebirds will still fly in for a visit. The cats will still come to roll in the dust and rub up against my legs as I work. I can see outside the garden's boundaries, across the field, all the way to the woods. The breeze blows through. The sounds of children playing nearby still reach me. If it works as planned, I'll be able to move freely across the boundary surrounding Gaia Luna.

This is the right kind of boundary for Gaia Luna.
This is the right kind of boundary for me.

WHAT'S GROWING IN GAIA LUNA TODAY?

Bulbs I planted in Gaia Luna last fall - crocuses just finished blooming, little blue bell things that I didn't label, the tips of late daffodils about 3 inches tall. Last summer's valerian, Egyptian onions, garlic, sage, moss between the rocks, all waking.

AND yesterday I finished transplanting lambs ears to outline a 10 foot wide circle around the central mound. The clump these were divided from started out last spring as four little sprigs in a 3 inch pot at the garden club plant sale. My mother says that lambs ears were one of my grandmother's favorite plants. How fitting that they now encircle the central altar stone in Gaia Luna -- a place for celebrating the rhythms of earth/moon and the traditions of women.

The impulse to grow? ... Innate to all living things!

Peace,
Kay

COPYRIGHT 2006 Effusive Muse Publishing

Sacred Shards

Sacred Shards: Artifacts of the Spirit
Unearthed to Tell Their Stories
Hand-Sculpted Stoneware by Kay Pere

I'm going public with my pottery. Not in the stock market sense. Public in the sense that my pottery pieces are now in a store where people can buy them without me being present. I've been selling them for the past 6 months at shows, but now they're taking on a life of their own.

Now I'm officially being refered to in the press as a Musician/Artisan. Sorta kool!

The new store is "Simply Sage" on Rt.1 in Stonington. I'll be doing a concert for their official grand opening celebration on Sunday 4/30 at 2:00 PM. More info on address, etc. soon

When there are photos of the pottery posted on the website, I'll put the link here.

Peace!
Kay

RECIPE - Chocolate Brownie Pancakes

We had a special occasion breakfast this morning.

I fixed Chocolate Brownie Pancakes from a recipe I found at www.recipezaar.com. Of course, I never follow a recipe exactly as written. This one was originally for waffles. I added a little extra milk to make the batter thinner for pancakes.

CHOCOLATE BROWNIE PANCAKES
Modified from a 1966 circular recipe for waffles. Would be great with icecream, too.

8 servings
25 minutes, 10 minutes prep

1/2 c butter, melted (I used unsalted butter)
2 oz. unsweetened chocolate
1 c sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
1 1/2 c all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp cinnamon (optional)
1/2 c milk (for waffles, more for pancakes)
Other optional ingredients: chocolate chips, nuts, shredded coconut, berries

1. Melt butter and chocolate in a heavy-bottomed saucepan, add sugar and beat well.
2. Add vanilla and allow to cool.
3. Add eggs, one at a time, beat well. Sift flour, baking powder and cinnamon. (I left out the cinnamon)
4. Add flour mixture alternately with milk to chocolate mixture.
5. Add your choice of optional ingredients. (I added 1/4 c chocolate chips)
6. Bake pancakes in a pan on low-med head. Bake waffles according to directions on waffle iron. Waffles will crisp as they cool.
7. Refrigerate any left over batter. Batter will keep for several days in refrigerator.
8. If using from refrigerated, add 1/4 tsp baking powder dissolved in 1 tsp water for every cup cold batter.

I left the cinnamon out of the batter because the chocolate/cinnamon combo didn't appeal to everyone. Instead, I put the cinnamon on the table to sprinkle on if desired.

In addition to traditional maple syrup and I made a hot fruit topping. For a single serving, I put 2 handfuls of frozen mixed berries in a bowl, heated it on High in the microwave for 1min30sec until bubbly. This can be poured the over the chocolate pancakes in place of syrup.

Enjoy! They're yummy!

COPYRIGHT 2006 - Effusive Muse Publishing

The Chanteuse & The Recluse

I've been in a deep hibernation this winter. Now, with Spring officially right around the corner it seems like the right time to step back out onto the big stage, maybe on different terms.

I'm a quiet person. A thinker of deep thoughts. A real artsy fartsy kind of geeky music girl. And I'm OK with that.

For a while, I thought I had to be like so many performers who live life on the go, working constantly at self-promotion, seeing the world as one big business opportunity. Nothing wrong with that. Just not my style.

I've realized that my center of gravity is in a completely different place.

For me, the public moments of performance and risk taking will always require a counterbalancing time of cozy contemplation at home. Without this, life begins to spin off center.

I can't deny that both the Chanteuse and the Recluse are part of who I am. I create the things I do because of these counterbalancing forces. And I'm OK with that.

It's taken a while to get to this point.

The downside is that so many people see this whole music/art thing as one big competition, like a sporting event where there always are winners and losers. Many people make their music/art/entertainment/fashion choices based on who they think is going to be a winner rather that what really speaks to them. We are a culture of success by proxy.

It's like during the Olympics when the women skaters were being interviewed after their world class performances. The guy behind the microphone just didn't get it. One skater, who had come in 2nd, was asked on national TV if she was disappointed about "only getting the silver". She had done beautifully, worked for years to get where she was, had just come off the ice after an extreme effort. Her presence at the Olympics made it obvious that she was one of the best skaters in the world. The interviewer's question showed a lack of understanding and respect for what she had accomplished.

He was more interested in whether she'd won than what she'd done.

Typical of our culture right now.

Real life is about doing. It's about not being a spectator. It's about bringing a little bit of beauty out to be shared with others, taking a chance that it will inspire just one person along the way.

Real life is about forming real bonds with real people though conversation. It's not about making heroes out of distant entertainment icons, or comparing ourselves with them. When these entertainers fail to satisfy our needs, we denounce them as losers and move on to the next big thing.

Sadly, the fear of "losing" and appearing foolish keeps a lot of people from getting out and doing the things they were meant to do. We spend our own lives sitting at home in front of the TV when we might have been out discovering what we're capable of creating on our own.

We all lose when this happens.

I've rambled on long enough. I guess this is a pep-talk is for me as much as anyone else. I'm preparing the Chanteuse to emerge from her long hibernation, to discover how she's been changed by the self-prescribed seclusion.

I will take the doing beyond my own front door.

And I will still make time for cozy songwriting and art making. Time to cook another big pot of lentil soup to package up for the freezer. Time to put a log from the old apple tree into the woodstove. Time to clean out the barn and the attic, to make room for this new phase of life.

Quiet doers unite!

COPYRIGHT 2006 - Effusive Muse Publishing