Sweet? Wistful? Kind? Tender?
These are the words I find myself drawn to these days.
There is such boorish brutality in the world at the moment, that a gentle, kind corner of life feels absolutely compulsory, wholly necessary.
I’m at the beginning of a 100 day challenge of Art Making / Art Sharing, and that simple commitment has felt like a flag in the rock, an essential act of self declaration and preservation.
What could we call it… a respite, a sanctuary… solace, reprieve…?
Out for coffee with a sweet, thoughtful friend over the weekend, she allowed as how she was being cautious with her words, censoring herself as she knew I was American, and didn’t want to offend me, didn’t want to inadvertently insult me… (while here in Canada our entire economy and our very sovereignty is being threatened…)
*cough*
I mean, as much as my early memories are Cape Cod and Philadelphia fireflies, I’ve been here in Canada for the forever of my little life, I speak French better than most anglo-Canadians, and am missing only the far north in my travel stamps. At this point, I’m pretty much, kinda totally Canadian…
This, I think, is a common experience – this cross border, hybrid, fused identity.
Perhaps that is why each day, I find myself drawing bears…
Bears are a symbol of effortless strength, of the medicine of the forest, of the deep uninterrupted sleep of hibernation, of the shocking speed and power of the grizzly, the polar bear, and yet the tender, goofy, friendly Yogi Bear.
Canada much? What better way to draw out / wait out this season…
Lens Artists Challenge – Pick a Word
follow your nose 