Open hearts

Hard to believe a month has gone by... I'm gonna start out on a brave note, with a little bit of stream of consciousness writing again... vulnerability...

Well the thing is, it's becoming so clear how in sharing our stories, those most personal of feelings, the ones we sometimes find difficult or uncomfortable sharing with others, are the very ones that bring us such profound healing and connectivity... it's in those most special and meaningful spaces that we find the healing, the truth, the things that allow us to see ourselves in each other...

And those are the elements of true community building... the lasting stuff that relationships are built on, those kinds of bonds that are strong, lasting and as flexible as a spider web in a storm.

So much seems to be happening right now in the micro and macrocosm world around us, sometimes it feels difficult to keep up with all the changes that are happening. And yet all that change produces relatively little difference in the big picture, in the long term.

One of the interesting parts of living in a diverse urban area is that if or when one encounters the opportunity to share stories between cultures, the roots of many of our historical and contemporary experiences reveal uncanny likeness in experience and impact.

This month I was honored to work with the Broward County Public School Board on an intensely impactful art project encouraging anonymous personal reflections around the process of achieving equity in diversity.  A magnificent question for our particular geographic and demographic locale where no majority cultural, ethnic or racial group exists... here in the present, we are a reflection of the future.

It was so beautiful and also jarring to see a snapshot of what our educators and administrators may not be able or willing to share verbally as a matter of daily or even periodic conversation.  They were deeply personal "thought selfies" with identifying characteristics absent.

TRUTH.  FREEDOM. EQUITY.  In Action.

The process of co-facilitating the collaborative creation of the thought-quilt was quite spectacular in itself. The practice of engaging in art making, placing one's thoughts into action, the bravery of stating one's truth... each was incredibly varied in the approach, the level of comfort, and the amount of time each collaborator was willing to invest - if even they invested at all.

The end results of the collaborative work...well - the results in-process, or to-date... speak for themselves in attesting to the beauty, integrity and strength that is possible when we are able to share willingly, with our hearts open....

Florida Fall

Just a little stream of consciousness blogging this time - it's my birthday month after all! And that beautiful time of year when I get to enjoy avocados from the tree so generously planted by my mother in our almost non-existant back yard! It's amazing what you can grow, even with very little space.  The eggplants that sewed from seed at the start of summer have blossomed all month, but not a single fruit.  The leaves are beauties though - not sure why no one has them as houseplants! Maybe they're like squash and it takes a human touch to ensure pollination...

So many thoughts, so little time. One of the most exciting highlights of the month was seeing the bald eagle again across the street. Signs of hope. Hopefully. And of course knowing that we've entered a new era, according to the count of the moon. New is always good, at least if it's all natural - by the way, it may not be actually, if there's a label involved....

Okay, so now that I'm feeling all shy and embarrassed for providing a short glimpse into the raw, unedited mind of me... I'll close for now... Enjoy the beauty of the season!

Bawshkeengwabigun.

Full circle, once again

This is me at Lovitt's Point, a half-acre park at the edge of the Scarborough Bluffs donated by Mr. and Mrs. Lovitt after their 1940's post-WWII home "went over."  I had no idea these trees were so little back then.  The Point, as it came to be known, was my forest, my solace, my destination.  This was the wilderness I could access on my own, even when as a youngling, my freedom to wander was limited.  The Point was my static datum point from which I observed the changes and cycles of nature.  It was the place from which I developed and processed my ever-changing self-realization.  It remains the place to which I am forever connected as the geographic point on the surface of our Mother Earth from which my own mother opened her doorway of life for the first time, and allowed me a safe passage here to the realm of the living.

It was here that I watched the moon rise and set. Here that I witnessed the monarchs roost. And here that I learned I could climb whatever mountain I choose with careful planning, balance and strategy.  The black-eyed susans and milkweed flowers that filled the summer fields with sweetness and beauty are some of the very same species that belong here, at this very southern most tip of our North Eastern seabord. Not surprising since our bird relatives make their way back and forth along their natural fly ways.  I do miss seeing those beautiful warrior hummers and that field full of honey-scented milkweed, buzzing with bees and red with lady bugs by day; dotted with fireflies by night.


This week, though, we saw the bald eagle again, fishing at the restored Miramar Pinelands Lake.  Now this is my forest. My wilderness. My place to walk and process and plan the next phases of my life. This beautifully restored ecosystem, billions of years in the making, so I could walk through and introduce my little one to his first memorable glimpse of our country's emblem and protector.

Seasons and cycles are ever changing, but some things will always remain.

Assigning Value

Jam-packed, chaos-filled building from the ground up...

Making something from nothing on two very different projects; both unexpectedly challenged my own internal assumptions about value.  Particularly, negotiating that delicate balance between self assessment and the expectations of others.

So many factors come into play! Self esteem, self worth, the racism, sexism and classism that we know influences the value the others assign to our work, and which we ourselves have also internalized.

It is such an act of will and bravery to even attempt to proceed through these murky waters, fraught with emotional reaction to these points of lifelong sensitivity!

Perhaps it's just easier to let others assign their value and just go with that...

But no, not for me... I had to be the child of a rebel mom - challenging every possible notion of mediocrity, status-quo and assumptions wherever possible.

And so, I inherited the obligation to continually learn how to stand up for myself... to be proud of who I am... and to teach the value of what I do... the value of what we all do, when we bring our whole, complete selves to the table.


Our future is inextricably linked to our past and sharing with each other who we are is not only valuable but invaluable to the success of our collective future.

 

Time for everything

Everything is relative.

Time and space as we know them have such special and interesting qualities when we look at them from the perspective of human memory, will and intention.

Timing is everything.

Chronology, the sequential count of units of measurement, is only one of the many characteristics that compose the observable concept of time.  While this chronological sequence may represent points along a line, that line does not necessarily present itself in a linear form.

Reflections of my personal human condition are much more akin to abstract patterns that move like a honey bee tracking nectar producing flowers than a predictable geometric construction.

This month in particular I am experiencing an interesting array of "time warps."

The first was an announcement by the Belize Institute of Archaeology of the uncovery of what is possibly the second largest piece of carved jade in the Maya area at Nim Li Punit where I developed and curated the Visitor Center and Stela House exhibitions 17 years ago!


The second was a return to the summer camp classroom after a 24 month hiatus from educator duty, reminding me of how much I love to share my learnings with the young people beyond just my sons.

And finally, beginning to realize that regardless of how long it takes or how far we travel or don't, we each have the capacity to improve our skills, strengthen our families, and build our communities wherever we are because our human family is interconnected with all of  life as we know it, and we are all depending on each other to be and become the very best of who we are.

Holding Silence

Full moon tonight/ tomorrow. Perhaps it’s true what they say… that you can create the life you want for yourself. But I’m just wondering… is this a superpower we’re all just gaining access to? ‘Cause I think I can believe it, when things are going great. But when everything seems like it’s falling apart… I’m not so sure I possess this power. And I’m pretty sure my great, great grandparents didn’t want to see themselves in the midst of an apocalypse we now neatly box and label “slavery” in our tidy file cabinet of life and human history.  Nor do I think it was the life intention of my other great grandparents to release a child into indentured servitude as a coal miner. This whole concept of “creating one’s own life” seems a little loaded given the hefty weight of history upon my life story…

But that in itself is something we do have the power to create.  The way in which we choose to reflect, remember and recount our own life his/her/our-stories is something that falls entirely within our own grasp.

Our audience, our listeners, the other half of our circle plays as much of a role in the stories we choose to form, shape and weave into the context of a dialogue or monologue, prologue or epilogue as we ourselves have. Learning, sharing and growing is a cooperative venture… a reflection of the community as much as the individual or family. All of our voices are valid and necessary… each of our dreams need to be realized and our potential attained in order for our collective well-being to reach its maximum.

Perhaps, in retrospect, it is easier to identify those paths or practices that did not lead to the results we anticipated.  In these cases, knowing and acknowledging what does not produce desired outcomes is just as important as knowing the steps to success. That is I suppose where exerting positive pressure on one another, like first aid to an open wound, is effective in encouraging each of us to take a step into the limelight, whether at the kitchen table, on the playground sand, or in the boardroom.  We must hold each other to the task of finding, knowing and sharing our own truths – even when that means holding silence so that something more might be heard….

Conscious design - present, past, future!

History - Rage - Creativity - Design - Future

Knowledge - Awareness - Understanding

Working to educate not incarcerate

Consolidate not incinerate

Learning how to listen

for OURstories in hisSTORY

Through the recycled

building materials

of life

Carbon

Hydrogen

Oxygen

Iron

We renew our commitment

to being human

every time we raise our

question

who are we

what have we come through

and where are we headed...

Each time we ask

why, how or what...

on every occasion when we feel the desire

to act, heal or change...

there is a spark

of creativity

of potential

that we all have

to return

to our true

sane

original

selves

and to go together

through

endless work

of being

of becoming

human

together

through smoke - fire - water and drought

We have that spark

of hope

that will burn

into a fire of

accountability

of truth

resting on a foundation

of justice

that is not the

weapon of war

but the bedrock

of our mother

earth