The Power of Words
One of the upsides of the pandemic is that many people rediscovered the joy of reading. Long before I was able to travel, reading transported me to places I would never be able to go. I could visit ancient Greece and be launched into the future with Buck Rogers on the same day. While Jim Stafford was talking about something else in his song "Wildwood Weed," he could have been referring to the power of reading when he said, "You can take a trip and never leave the farm." The following quote from Anne Lamott sums it up perfectly for me.
"If you love to read, or learn to love reading, you will have an amazing life. Period. Life will always have hardships, pressure, and incredibly annoying people, but books will make it all worthwhile. In books, you will find your North Star, and you will find you, which is why you are here.
Books are paper ships, to all the worlds, to ancient Egypt, outer space, eternity, into the childhood of your favorite musician, and — the most precious stunning journey of all — into your own heart, your own family, your own history and future and body.
Out of these flat almost two-dimensional boxes of paper will spring mountains, lions, concerts, galaxies, heroes. You will meet people who have been all but destroyed, who have risen up and will bring you with them. Books and stories are medicine, plaster casts for broken lives and hearts, slings for weakened spirits. And in reading, you will laugh harder than you ever imagined laughing, and this will be magic, heaven, and salvation. I promise."
- Anne Lamott - A Velocity of Being: Letters to a Young Reader
Masks
Masks
"So when you look at me, you better look hard and look twice
Is that me, baby, or just a brilliant disguise?"
- Bruce Springsteen - Brilliant Disguise
What is it about ourselves that we are afraid to show others for fear we will not be accepted? What can we not reveal that we think would make us unloveable? How much lighter would our spirits be if we just discarded all the different masks we put on for other people?
I find comfort in the Ethel Waters quote, “I know I'm somebody 'cause God made me and God don't make no junk.” Today is a great day to just be yourself. That is plenty good enough. Save the masks for halloween.
Do It Now!
"All the colors I am inside
Have not been invented yet."
- Shel Silverstein - "Where the Sidewalk Ends
I have driven by this weathered billboard on a busy street in St. Augustine more times than I care to mention. On each occasion, I would remind myself to stop the next time because today I am in a hurry, the weather is uncooperative, the light isn't right, there's too much traffic, etc. I will do it some day.
About three weeks ago, I noticed the sign had been wrapped in vinyl advertising a business in the area. I experienced an "Awww s**t!" moment. The ad company decided to use their billboard to make money and didn't notify me. Just another example of out of control capitalism crushing the arts community.
This morning when I drove by the billboard the vinyl wrap was gone. I executed a turn that would make Batman proud and yelled an apology out the window to the drivers behind me who were startled at my sudden maneuver. As I stood before the sign I wondered why I had taken so long to stop. It was in a state of splendid decay. There were at least seven layers of paint showing through in some areas. Every viewing angle produced something interesting. I spent 40 minutes there and it would been easy to stay longer. To get the full benefit of the image, I encourage you to view it on a larger monitor.
I've lived long enough to not expect second chances...and I'm really happy that I got this one.
Reconnecting With Who I Am
"Find out who you are and do it on purpose."
- Dolly Parton
From an early age I wanted to be an artist and was as sure as one can be at age 8, that was my calling. Growing up, I heard the term "starving artist" often enough that it dampened my enthusiasm to go all in on the pursuit of an artistic career. My parents, both pragmatic people, encouraged me to choose a vocation that paid well, had decent benefits, and offered opportunities for advancement. They suggested that art would be a great hobby.
I do not know what my life would have been like had I decided to put all my energy into a photographic career. Frankly, I don't think about it much. I'm just pleased to have the opportunity to reconnect with who I've always been and be doing it on purpose.
Renewal
"Creativity means to push open the heavy, groaning door of life itself. Never for an instant forget to renew your life, to build yourself anew."
- Daisaku Ikeda
One of my best sources of renewal is to be at the beach at sunrise or sunset. I put my concerns at the edge of the water and watch the tide carry them away.
Looking For Inspiration
Whatever it is you’re seeking won’t come in the form you’re expecting.
- Haruki Murakami
Water's path to the sea is rarely a straight line and I have found it to be the same for inspiration. The more I get out and experience life, the greater the chances that inspiration will strike.
Here's to being inspired today.
The Value of a Crap Net
Getting off the asphalt is a great thing and it's a joy to reacquaint myself with the pleasure of dirt roads. The tire tracks tell me people pass this way, but none invade my privacy today. Not even the birds are chirping.
It's an opportunity to breathe deeply and push the "Pause" button on what is happening in the world I inhabit most of the time. On my way in here, I imagined there was a giant "crap net" stretched high and wide across the road and when I drove through it magically removed all the s**t in my life that is weighing me down. As I lean against the fender on my car, I discover the net has worked perfectly.
My dilemma is that I put the crap net up on a road with no exit. I have to leave by the same route I entered and, in the process, all my crap will return to me. Great invention. Sorry execution. Details matter.
Give some thought to where you put up your crap net today.
Storms
Someone told me that in life we are either headed into a storm, in the middle of a storm, or coming out of a storm, and I have found that to be a good observation. Living in Florida, I have a healthy respect for rain, wind, lightning, and rising tides, but I do not fear them. While I won't be taking risks like the folks on the Weather Channel, you might find me on the beach acknowledging Mother Nature's power and seeing what she has in store for us. My adventure on this day was giving myself enough time to get back to my car before the serious rain started.
"A storm was coming,
but that's not what I smelled.
It was adventure on the wind
and it shivered down my spine.
- Atticus
Small Towns
Small Towns
"No I cannot forget where it is that I come from
I cannot forget the people who love me
Yeah, I can be myself here in this small town
And people let me be just what I want to be"
- John Mellencamp - Small Town
"In my little town
I never meant nothin'
I was just my father's son
Saving my money
Dreaming of glory
Twitching like a finger
On the trigger of a gun
Leaving nothing but the dead and dying
Back in my little town"
- Paul Simon - In My Little Town
While there is truth about small towns in both songs, I find John Mellencamp's tune to be absolutely sunny compared to Paul Simon's. From birth to high school graduation I found myself in a succession of little communities: Oakland City, IN, Ada, OH, Union, IN, Shawneetown, IL, Loogootee and Cannelburg, IN. My freshman class at Indiana University was four times bigger than the largest of those towns. It was quite an adjustment, but I quickly learned to love the anonymity of being in a big place where folks did not know my name or recognize my face. It felt good to carve out my own identity instead of being known in the community as John and Helen's son. Fortunately, the grapevine that my parents used during my high school years to find out what stupid acts I had committed, did not reach to Bloomington.
I am still drawn to small towns and love to get off interstate highways and cruise through the burgs that people in a hurry have no time for. Those little adventures are almost always rewarded with an interesting building, a small church, or a great diner with homemade pie and something bathed in brown gravy.
Based on my observations, small town life is dwindling as young people, finding little to anchor themselves to where they grew up, seek better opportunities elsewhere. One of the anchors in farming communities was the local elevator. Since elevators didn't have the comforts of the town barbershop, they weren't as popular as gathering places, but they still attracted a group of regulars who hung out there.
I found this one located next to the railroad track in Fortville, IN. While it has seen better days, it holds on to its status as the tallest structure in town. Like other buildings in small places that have fallen on hard times, spaces that once were windows and doors are now covered in particle board. This elevator was particularly attractive in the early light that featured its different tones and textures. Places like this keep me on the back roads.
The Finish Line
Of all the sports in which I participated in high school, track was the most enjoyable because I could always look forward to a finish line. I liked contests defined by clocks and scores because those told you when the game was over. When I got into bike riding later in life, I always set my destination, either time or distance, before I left the house. One of my frequent riding partners took a different approach. Given the option, she would ride until she decided it was enough, which was almost always farther than I wanted to go. It drove me crazy because I found it too random. I never knew where the finish line was. I planned my vacations in a similar fashion, knowing where I would spend the night prior to departing. Getting to the finish line was the goal. (Yes. I’m aware that I have control issues.)
Retirement has helped me become less structured in parts of my life and less concerned about a finish line. Being creative has also been a great assist in that area. While I crossed the finish line on my revenue producing career a few years back, my creative activities have increased. I plan to keep doing creative things until my earthly career ends with only a small amount of thought given to the “big finish line.” Even pondering that, there is excitement at the prospect of what comes next and where it happens.
With the pandemic and the presidential election, Americans had two very large items that sucked up a lot of emotional, psychological, and even physical energy every day. We are in desperate need of finding the finish line. There are folks telling us it is just ahead, but we’ve been in the middle of this for so long that we are skeptical and heading toward cynical. Many of us are walking wounded and find ourselves engaged in non-productive and questionably healthy activities. We wonder if we will make it to the "new normal," and if we do, what our lives will be like when we emerge from this.
Given that we have little influence and no control over the pandemic or the election, it could be helpful to reframe things. I am reluctant to label any date as a finish line. Perhaps it’s time to stop asking, “Can I make it to the finish line?” Instead, ask, “Can I keep going?” It’s much easier to conceive just putting one foot in front of the other than to deal with more disappointment when the finish line fails to be where we think it should.
Let’s keep going.
To Rage or Not to Rage
“Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.”
- Dylan Thomas