five things friday: train rides, stitched bags, mythic views
Published: Fri, 11/10/23
November 10, 2023
Hello there,
Whew! As soon as November hit the amount of email coming through has skyrocketed. I am getting more sales offers, pre-Black Friday and holiday stuff, which is
expected. 'Tis the season and livelihoods need to be made. It's fine. It's the explosion in spam that is getting to me. So much ridiculous spam and an uptick in being put on mailing lists I never signed up for. Is there a new marketing trend that says ignore consent and the law and just send people stuff?
I know the state of my inbox is a small thing, especially with all that is going on in the world, but sifting and deleting what doesn't serve and was never asked for drains energy and capacity to be with and respond well to the world. -end rant, harrumph!-
All this to say, I appreciate you reserving space for these emails in your inbox. Thank you for taking time and reading these humble musings. I know your mail box is packed too, and your world is filled with things to tend and care for also. I hope you find a bit of something that has meaning for you here. I hope it expands your capacity in some small way to be more in your
world in good ways.
It's a pretty chatty five things today, so let's get started, shall we?
1. This from Michael Meade. Especially if you are struggling with the atrocities happening in Gaza. Having a mythic perspective helps me feel into what is wanting to
happen rather than cycle in distraught helplessness. It is time we bring The Furies into the temple so they can do the work of bringing healing and justice to us all.
2.
I am continuing to make stitched bags. Two of my oracle decks now have new homes and I am besotted.
I noticed a wee
voice telling me that I should be working on my "real" art, my "real" writing and poetry, and if not that there are dishes to be done. Stop wasting time with this scrap busting thing, which by the way is merely a drop in the scrap stash ocean. This voice wanted to hold me accountable to my desire for creative growth and skill, which is noble, but the tone needed renegotiation and reeducation.
First, this is my "real"creativity. Making useful, beautiful things is soul expression for me and always worthy. What is here also is a false hierarchy of creative value. This idea that somehow "real" creative work, whatever that means, is more important should always come first. Anything else is trivial and a
waste of time. Ouch, and useful to bring this shadowy belief out into to be seen and challenged.
This false hierarchy keeps so many, me included, from claiming the creative beings we are. The artists we are. The truth
is it all has value and purpose. In the case of the stitching, the color and texture play, the meditative calm, the useful outcome, it is all creative process.This space for the muses to whisper and be heard enrich me, my creative skill, and the way I am in the world. Even if it all ends up in the trash at the end of the day, the process has value and purpose.
Our creative urges are always meaningful, always worthy of exploration. By "ours" I mean yours too.
3.
I took myself on a little wander yesterday afternoon up to Santa Rosa with the intention of having tiny adventure. Adventure is too big a word. I wanted a change of routine. I am quite the homebody and I need to remind myself to leave the house sometimes and be part of the larger
world. I wanted to get a new perspective on, well something, was feeling antsy so decided to take the 12 minute train ride up to Santa Rosa for the afternoon.
I grew up in Santa Rosa, worked for many years in the part
of downtown the train stops. Taking the train some place that I always drive to revealed scenery not seen from from a car window. Not having to worry about traffic or parking let me ease into a kind of liminal space. Trains are like that I think. Like airplanes.
I came with visitor eyes, noticing small things newly in a familiar place. Arriving at the station brought to mind the scene where Uncle Charlie arrives in the Hitchcock movie "Shadow of a Doubt" which was filmed in town. The old train station is the same, as are many
of the buildings, but also things are so different. Not the least is I arrived on a local commuter train rather than a billowing steam engine.
A bald, elderly man was wearing shorts and a Charlie Brown yellow
shirt with black zigzag, an homage I am sure to Charles Schulz who lived here for many years. Peanut statues grace the area, the whole town really. I walked past the restaurant (different restaurant, same building) I worked in after high school. Mr. Schulz drew me a Snoopy on a cocktail napkin when he came in for lunch one day.
I went into the mall where I use to go multiple time a week, but have only been to once since Covid. It was pretty empty being mid afternoon but still too loud and bright, and no one seemed very happy except the after school teens hanging out.
While the mall was weird and left me feeling empty, these trees on my way out where in their glory and happy to show it. I love how the trunk and branches create a web of negative space that contrast the oranges, reds and blue.
4. My new perspective? More of an observation really. It is worth taking a new look at old haunts. Those spirits from the past like sharing stories and sometimes they are good ones to remember moving forward. My naive teenage self who liked to go off on her own to wander around town thinking and noticing is still inside and deserves more adventures. Present me
deserves more impromptu tiny adventures too, more train rides and breaks in routine. I got off the train at home in Cotati feeling a bit timey wimey, having time traveled while being firmly in 2023. Completely worth the train fair.
5.
A blessing for your week:
(John Bauer Tarot by Lo Scarabeo)
May you slay the dragons blocking your path, past or present, with clear thinking, decisiveness and a spirit of
adventure.
