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Hello one, hello all & a special hello to the wild flock who joined the mailing list from the Mary Lambert show last week–––welcome! Because of you & your gorgeous queerness & basically best-audience-ever-ness, the last song I played at the show ("Splashhh") is up for free download this month for the whole mailing list. Get it! If you're more of a visual listener (LOL) here's a fun live video of me playing it on the subway.
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a month of daily painting
I wanted to start 2018 by having a steady, daily creative practice. You heard my call & in January, I made you 23 personalized paintings based on "fortunes" you wanted to manifest in the new year.
Your hopes were beautiful. You challenged me to paint forgiveness, sovereignty, light(ness), wild peace, patience, & curiosity, to name a few. It was a pleasure to find colors to match your wishes & a privilege to hold in my heart (& my paintbrush) your intimate resolutions. Before sending off your paintings in the mail last week, I jotted each of you a private note––revealing a little something extra about my process, plus a little poem-y push to keep you moving toward your dreams.
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Caroline requested "POWERFUL / EMPOWERED." My note reads:
"Here you have the power of 93 year old grandma Emiko modeling her granddaughter's colorful clothes. Mori, the clothes-maker, explains 'There are no rules.' Harness this vibrant link between G'Ma & G'Daughter. In order to be big & powerful, we allow ourselves playfulness & connection & the rest comes."
In this spirit, I titled Caroline's painting I Let Myself.
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Kylie bought a painting for her dear friend Keesee & requested "Light," to which I responded with Tending My Light which shows a vendor selling tulumba (Turkish fried dough covered in syrup––droooooool much).
"He keeps a square of sweet light, while a bigger light sets behind him. This is what we must do: tend our bright, small patch of sun, in congruence with the patterns of our planet. Never doubt your tending is just as meaningful, just as necessary. It is."
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I'll be doing another round of Fortunate paintings later this Spring.
If you're looking for personalized art to hang on your walls before then, check out my brand new "Four Seasons" poster collection.
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like a plant toward the light
Every day since the mass shooting in Florida, I've been waking up thinking of those teenagers & when my head hits the pillow at night, they're what I'm thinking about before sleep. It feels impossible to hold all this awful––& too, to feel the numbing consistency of these events.
In the midst of aching for these kids, I've been following a few of them on Twitter ( @emma4change & @longlivekcx) & it truly feels incredible to me that of all things to bring me light in this time, it's them. They are organizing. They are bending toward the light. They are using this unfathomable pain & injustice as fuel. I'm ruminating on ways to show my support to them, directly, indirectly, in small ways as well as larger ones. Even just saying, "I see you, I'm so thankful, keep going" via social media is a powerful start.
To each of you also gently, slowly, sometimes achingly embarking toward your own freer & more empowered self in the midst of so much trouble & awful, I send a bolt of encouragement. Too, I send a small reminder, the reminder these teens have gifted me.
Remember, we must act like a plant toward the light. If we don't seek light, if we don't bend toward it, we'll wither. If we retreat, if we withdraw from pain, from ourselves, from each other, we can't be nourished. We need each other. We need acts of gentleness. We need the sanity of love.
It is so important to take care of ourselves, so as to best show up for others in this world. I challenge you to take this moment to grab a pen & paper & consider:
• How do you recharge?
• Can you give yourself one delightful recharge this week?
• What's your body's (not your mind's) favorite meditation?
• How do you show yourself that you love yourself?
• What does justice-in-action look like to you? How can you take a small step toward it?
• Who draws you away from the wall, even just a little, toward the window...toward the world? What can you create with them? & How might you thank them?
• What are small acts of support you can enact to show those that are suffering that you are listening, present, ready to listen some more, & when the time comes, show up for them?
Thank you for letting me into your world. If you're interested in supporting the Florida teen survivors in their journey for a safer world for all of us, check out the hashtags #NeverAgain & #Enough on Twitter & consider donating to their GoFundMe.
May we keep fighting for each other. & Watching the Queer Eye reboot together (my personal recharge). & Eating grapefruits with sugar that our friends slice & sweeten for us (Hi Haley, Hi Eric). & Dancing while we wait for take-out. & Holding each other close. & closer.
With maple syrup,
Shira |
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