Remembrances
Being Flexible: Children at Weddings
Sunday, November 9th, 2008Little boys seemed to be everywhere at my nephew Matthew and Lindsay’s outdoor October wedding. Her two nephews — Eamon, six, and Brendan, four — and Matthew’s one and a half year-old nephew, Harrison, especially enjoyed the lawn’s open space to run and play.
Toddler Harrison needed a bit more “looking after,” although I understand that [...]
Family Wedding Trip
Wednesday, October 22nd, 2008I recently attended my nephew Matthew’s wedding in Angier, North Carolina, near Raleigh. The ceremony was outside on the farm of the bride’s parents…right before sunset, under an arbor built by Lindsay’s father. Chairs were set up in the backyard for a full view of Mother Nature at her best.
In the perfect early October [...]
A New Dress Goes a Long Way
Sunday, September 21st, 2008On an early morning walk recently, with the first glimpse of goldenrod in bloom and the smell of autumn in the wind, I was transported to the childhood ritual of “going back to school” — even accompanied by a knot in my stomach. The twinge came from recalling a sense of regret that the seemingly [...]
WITHOUT LIMITS
Tuesday, August 26th, 2008[Inspired by the recent Olympics in China, I was reading some "memoirs" from my life changing spiritual journey there several years ago. My trip to China in the autumn of 2000 with a group of Qi Gong buddies and teachers was a "break-open" experience for me: I left my perceived 'limitations' as a writer at [...]
Coming Into Your Artistic Expression
Monday, July 14th, 2008The defining function of the artist is to cherish consciousness.
-Max Eastman
If you talk to an artist about their inspiration, new worlds open up! As I continue exploring where our inspirations come from and what it takes to shift our limited belief of what we can accomplish and who we can “be,” I find artist Genie [...]
MASQUERADE: WHAT IS YOUR MASK?
Monday, June 23rd, 2008I’ve just returned from New Orleans — the city of masks and disguise and carnivale. Along with museum curators, teachers, collectors and designers, I attended the annual symposium of the Costume Society of America.
Our delightful keynote speaker from New Zealand, James Acheson (costume designer for films such as The Last Emperor, Dangerous [...]
FRAGRANCE & CONNECTION
Thursday, June 12th, 2008I love how a certain scent can bring a sweet distant memory into focus. On a walk the other morning, the smell of honeysuckle took me on a childhood journey of adventure with my father. I remembered how we would pick armloads of wildflowers in the piney woods of our Alabama farm, and then surprise [...]