Apparently, this is a time to shine.
This afternoon I spent some time outside pensively pulling debris out of my wild herb garden.
The shadow of Earth Day snow hung in the back of my mind making me wonder if I was removing this protective debris too soon. Still, this process eased my mind (and shoulders) of pent up tension from earlier in the day.
It is our tradition to plant seeds on Mother's Day and when the weather permits, usually after Memorial Day, we move the fragile young plants to the garden outside.
When it is too cold to plant seeds for tomorrow in the ground, my art becomes the seed. I am coming to realize/accept that I have grown into a multi-media artist. This turn of events was not deliberate or intentional. It seems to just be a natural evolution of my creative adventures.
The need to release these seeds into the world has pushed me to move outside of my comfort zone. Although it is still my go-to method for relief and expression, I think it would be false to continue to identify myself as a "painter".
SCREEN TIME
House full of people. Each one looking at his/her own screen....even the youngest, age five, is asleep in front of a screen.
We had a bit of quality time today but, closing the day this way just seems wrong. I suspect these nagging and unspoken objections are remnants of the seeds my mother planted many years ago.
My Father would save up all of his military leave time (except what he used at Christmas) and we, a family of six, would spend a large portion of the summer tent camping. No phone. No TV. Just us. Together...
For better or worse we HAD to communicate with each other. We did bring books to read. My Mother always enjoyed this blissful release from "technology". I truly cannot imagine what she would have to say about this current state of affairs but, I feel pretty safe in assuming she would've objected...and loudly.
THE SEEDS of my time
Today I wish to plant the "seeds" for:
- Expanding the "food not lawns" concept in my own yard
- Creating a ban on screen time for the closing of the day...or maybe designate a closing the day together habit for when everyone is home together. After that, they can do whatever screen activity they want. When they were younger we didn't always have dinner together because I was going to school full time and working three jobs. But, we DID always have bedtime stories and together time before sleep.
- The Boundary between my Live/Work space
- Accepting the Artist I am and letting go of the Artist I thought I was going to become.
- Better communication and the skill to truly articulate that which matters most when we are face-to-face.
These are the seeds that will Grow My Own Glow and perhaps, drop a few seeds for theirs.
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