loving art, science and creative kids
1/23/2021 6:53:37 PM
During Covid-19 sequestering, I sent letters to my "adopted" African American grandchildren, talking about what it was like when I was a child and comparing those times to today. Before sending them, many of you have kind enough to give me feedback. I ask for your help again this time. Though one girl is five and the other nine, most youth who enjoy the letters are about fourteen. I read them to my grandchildren and use them as a way to introduce them to history. I will eventually assemble the letters in a book so they will have them to look back on.
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Dear Hanan and Mirna:
Electing a president this year was scary. Donald Trump and many of his friends told so many lies it was hard to know what was the truth. That is why Mama and Baba and I tell you not to lie even when you do something wrong
Part 20
When I was your age, elections that happened every four years were exciting. All my neighbors watched the Democratic and Republican Conventions on television to see who would be selected to run for president. Friends wore big buttons and waved flags with the name of the person they wanted to win. In school, we learned about democracy and why voting is important. On election day, we all voted to see which candidate our school favored.
This picture is of a Republican named Dwight D. Eisenhower putting his ballot in a box in 1953. Do you think he voted for himself? For a nickname they called him IKE and his followers would shout, “I like Ike,” over and over again.
He was very happy when he won.
Democracy really starts at home. When you are young, your parents and grandma rule over you like kings and queens and tell you what to do. But, when you are older and know more, your family will ask for your opinion about what you like and don’t like. Before you tell them, you have to consider the good and bad parts of what you are being asked to comment on.
For instance, if I ask you girls if you want to go the river to feed the geese, and Hanan says yes and Mirna says no, then a third person will be needed to break the tie. If that person is me, and I agree with Hanan, it becomes two yes votes and one no vote. We are practicing democracy. Though Mirna may not be happy, if she is democratic, she will go along with the majority. The next time we go out, she might give us a reason to vote for the playground instead.
The same voting happens in a democratic country with over three hundred million people. The only way it can be managed is by having groups of citizens vote for someone to represent them.
Imagine being in a group that has clubs all over the country. The club in your town club has ten girls in it who vote for one person to be their leader. The leader will represent them when all the clubs in the country decide to gather. It would be too expensive and too confusing if every girl from every club went to the meeting. The people sent to represent each club will make the rules everyone agrees to follow. After a lot of talk and arguments, they will vote on whether the rules are ones they want by marking yes or no on a ballot. If most people say yes then the rule is accepted. Your leader will come home and share what she learned at the meeting.
Though not all club members will be happy with the rules, if you believe in democracy and not in fighting to get you way, you will accept and follow what most people want. If you wish the vote went a different way, you have to figure out how to get the leaders to change their minds and vote your way during the next election. That is how democracy and politics (running a government) work.
Problems occur when citizens forget that we live in a country where we follow the rules most people think are good. Instead, they decide their way is better and they know what is best for everyone else. President Donald Trump thought that way. He did not want to give up his power, so in 2020, he acted like a dictator who didn't care if people wanted him as president. During the election, he lied to everyone in the country and told us that our votes were not fairly counted, even when they were recounted several times and proved to be correct. He wanted votes for Joe Biden, the man running against him, to be thrown away so he would win. By repeating the lie over and over again, some people started to believe him. Trump was president, after all. They got angry even when they were told the truth. A big ugly mob with weapons went to the capital in Washington, planning to take over the government. They smashed windows and stole souvenirs from offices. Men beat up the police and tried to capture and kill lawmakers they did not like.
These men and women were traitors to democracy and caused five people to die and many to fear for their lives. Taking over the government by force is called treason. January 6, 2021, was a horrible day in the history of the United States, a country that is proud that we transfer the power from one person to another without a fight. Though you are only five, Hanan and you nine, Mirna, it is an important day to remember and make sure it will never happen again.
I was very worried when our democratic country almost became a dictatorship. It showed me how important it is for leaders to be honest and voters to check to make sure what they are told is truthful. Politicians who lie, cause many people to get hurt.
Thankfully, democracy survived, and on January 21st, a man named Joseph Biden became the country’s new president. Kamala Harris became the first woman to be elected vice president. She, like you, is a girl of color and proof that if you study hard and decide you want to govern the country to make it a better place, it is possible to get people to vote for you. You might even become president one day.
I look forward to your comments below.
1/16/2021 6:32:20 PM
The Studio
Freedom Through
During these dark days of January, many Americans are asking what it means to be free. Does freedom involve breaking into The People's House and threatening to put a noose around the neck of Vice President Pence? Does it mean bowing to Christian nationalists and conservative militiamen who profess it is only for those who believe as they do. Can it exist in a pluralistic society where one person's freedom doesn't impinge on anther another person's rights? Many of my thoughts around this issue evolved from experiences I had with dance.
My mothered used to say that I was a clumsy child who tripped and fell most every time I walked across the room. As an antidote, she enrolled me in Miss Dorothea's dance academy to learn balance and grace. Mom also took me to performances where ballerinas moved on stage as though they were feathers caught in the wind. The light and playful way they comported themselves as they twirled without getting dizzy and lifted a pointed toe higher than their heads, made what they did look easy. When running across the stage to sail into a waiting partner's arms, I could imagine what it is like to fly free.
It took me years to understand that being free to move as they did came after years of blending mind and body in a symbiotic relationship. Without having stretched and toned muscles and a trained brain able to direct how the body moves, the dancer is restrained. Dancers also have to know how each limb functions and how various body parts interact with each other. They become practitioners of mind, body, spirit connections through meditation and focus.
Historians who study international dance gain insight into the way different societies use movement to celebrate the cycles of life. Each culture's approach becomes intrinsically beautiful with no singular way of expression more correct than another. Life becomes more vivid, complex, and fulfilling to students willing to imbibe the ways various people dance in celebration.
Freedom for a dancer is a nuanced concept responding to music. It means focusing on rhythms and cadence in a score that is usually composed by a stranger. It requires getting into the musician's head, feeling the emotions the composer wants to impart, and expressing them through movement. This is why young people who dance at rock concerts often seem to be in a trance. In truth many are--for as they listen to the melodies and feel the beat, they are freed to display unexpressed feelings bottled up inside.
Dancing is an activity that is rarely done alone. Producing high-quality works of art is a cooperative effort by performers, choreographers, lighting experts, costume designers, etc. Line-dancers in a Texas bar and ballerinas on stage in the corps de ballet, develop a sixth sense about the person dancing next to them. They learn to move without invading their space, making them uncomfortable, or causing an accident. Becoming aware of others, working in a team, and creating a strong supple body, are skills acquired through discipline, commitment, and a work-ethic. The process develops a self-confidence that helps dancers overcome challenges when mastering new goals.
Tolerance, connectedness, and disciple grow from having passion about what you are doing and wanting to share your joy with humanity. For this blog, I could have written about basketball players, Latin, hip hop or classical dancers. I might have chosen musicians, writers, painters, gardeners, or computer programers, those who become expert enough in their field to create unencumbered.
But it was dance that showed me the way to freedom. I saw it as a gift that brings people together in a creative, joyous way. Dancing produces feelings of unity and connectedness, and once your body is trained to react automatically, it brings freedom. And, with freedom comes a power that when shared with others is a positive expression of love.
But power must be used cautiously. To reside in a country where individuals can express themselves creatively, there has to be respect and honor of personal boundaries. Embracing your neighbors' uniqueness, learning to hear and understand their music, and feeling their presence are not things to be feared. Learning how no not step on toes and to search for beauty in someone else's dance are life affirming actions that make individual freedoms possible. With more tolerance and less "my way or the highway" thinking, we might be able to live up to the tenants of the constitution and avoid another civil war.
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Art works are always for sale. For additional information contact me at [email protected]
The Studio / Acrylic painting on canvas, wood frame, $ 399.
1/9/2021 6:18:40 PM
Twin Stars Exploding
Pandora’s box opened to reveal an explosion of reality? Can it be turned into something of beauty or will we feel scars for generations to come?
My America
I slid from my mother's birth canal into warm arms
and smiles of relatives cradling me through childhood
Where people lived proudly free from tyrannical rule.
This country of opportunity, I was taught, welcomes
those fleeing oppression to achieve impossible dreams.
It's an America for you and me and them and slaves.
Those captured and tyrannized need help father said
as he waved us good-by to keep fascism at bay.
In our country, we believe in democracy, not dictators.
Founders fought subjugation by wealthy aristocrats
who step over indigents begging from the streets.
Citizens should vote and elect leaders who care.
Learn not to make mistakes of the past, mother implored
as she bent my head to study with more fervor.
You can reach the moon if you try hard enough.
But, stick with your own kind Grandma added.
You are my kind, I shouted back.You and you and you.
But, said Grandpa, these spacious skies from sea to shining
sea only bless the heathy, wealthy and white.
Not good enough, I replied chanting that Black lives matter,
Women have a right to choose, Gay pride gives dignity.
America will evolve, I thought. Youth and time will make it so.
Love will be practiced, children taught not to lie nor bully,
cheat, steal or kill. Neighbors will live without fear,
and keep doors unlocked with no need for guns.
But then,
Wednesday, January 6th taught me otherwise.
Hope, shattered on the Capitol's steps, was replaced by reality.
Intolerance and hate grew from lies of a despot we chose.
My America. I won't have it so. . . Yet, I'm afraid.
Art is Always for sale. Acrylic on canvas paintings.
- Twin Stars Exploding, Twin Stars 16” x 20”, $299
- Fractured America 24” x 24”, $425
Please comment below. During these uncertain times it is important to share your thoughts.
1/1/2021 9:24:24 PM
Red Pine Trees by the Atlantic.
My hope is that they will be alive for hundreds of years after my death.
Takeaways to Move Forward
"The unexamined life is not worth living," is a statement attributed to Socrates at his trial for impiety and corrupting youth, for which he was subsequently sentenced to death. It implies that life won't be fulfilling if you live under the rules of others without examining what you want out of it, and that each of us has a choice in how to act. Socrates considered the love of wisdom as the most important pursuit above all else and was willing to die for his belief.
Many philosophers and psychologists who came later consider his statement too narrow. They say there are factors to a satisfying life that don't come from examining it, such as being with family, having experiences, building memories, and achieving success. I do agree with them, but I also believe with Socrates that there is merit to reviewing and examining your life periodically in order to get the best out of it. Living well, involves identifying heights and goals and aspiring to them. It means seeking the truth and not accepting blind conspiracies.
Curiously, 2020 gave us a gift to help us evaluate our lives. The pandemic, protests, fires, a fraught election, and floods provided plenty of opportunity to get to know ourselves better. They tested our ability to thrive in the face of rapid change and adversity and compelled us to manage our own mental and physical health. We've had to look inside our minds and bodies and figure out what skills we could call on to help us survive.
Some had to reach deep for they lost jobs, property, dreams, and housing. They went hungry and became homeless. Those more financially stable looked inward to avoid depression and loneliness. We listened to politicians, medical professionals, and newscasters with hope that conditions would improve, only to see our optimism shattered. For most of us there came a moment of realization that we were on our own. It was a wake-up call to convey that hope is meaningless without action. We had to come to grips with the present reality and do what we had to do to survive.
Though many complained, for the first time in generations, children spent hours of at home with their parents. Not being pushed out the house to school or to join sports teams, go to dance classes or scouting clubs, the children had learn how to occupy themselves. Adults in their households became role models in how to organize time, cook, clean, play and interact as a family. Sequestering forced each person to lean how to be happy when alone-gardening, hiking, art, writing, cooking, coding, and gaming projects abound.
Seniors set in their ways, surprised themselves by learning new skills. To communicate with friends and family and in order to shop, they were compelled to overcome their fear of the computer. And, they registered to vote, doing so by mail-in ballots in record numbers. Finding capabilities they never thought possible will have beneficial ramifications to how they spend their time when the pandemic ends. Life, even for those sequestered, can be enjoyable with the right mindset.
Many friends tell me they vow never to return to the frantic life they left. Slowing down gave them a chance to see what they are made of. After getting over the shock of being controlled by a virus, they began moving through day and night in accord with the circadian rhythm that regulates their sleep-wake cycles. Finding it easier to get a good eight-hours of sleep each night, something the medical community has pushed us to do for years, provided energy needed to meet unforeseen challenges. Breathing cleaner air, walking instead of driving, and depending on doctor's less helped them feel better.
I learned that I like being alone so I have uninterrupted time to expand on ideas to add to my writings and paintings. I discovered I'm more of an introvert than I thought I was, that I don't enjoy marketing art, but have a great respect for those who do. When pushed to give a Zoom book talk in Lake Oswego, I was taped for the first time. The feedback I received by watching myself showed I did a tolerable job, but there is much I can do to improve.
Though, the virus is spreading rapidly by a citizenry weary of following directives, and economic hardships continue for many, we were bound together by a common enemy- a microscopic virus no-one can control. It was heartwarming that more of neighbors than ever, honored us with homemade cakes and cookies this holiday. I haven't received as many Christmas cards in decades.
What are my takeaways at the moment?
- Despite political differences, most people are compassionate and caring. They help people more needy than they, are funding food banks to record amounts, and concerned for the homeless.
- After an initial shock, most of us are mentally and physically able to find ways to adapt to a change in circumstance. Those without the inner resources to do so, may need social and psychological counseling to prevent them from harming themselves through drink, drugs or suicide. They must not be forgotten, for they are brothers and sisters, children and parents who deserve our compassion.
- We all have creative resources within.Those interested in improving their circumstances dig for them and take action.
- There is much we do to stay busy so we won't have to think, in-part, because thinking can lead to hope and trying something new outside our comfort zone.
- The virus proved that we can change our ways and that we have the ability to change how we treat the planet. We need the will to do it. Having a healthy environment, the major challenge of the century, is a task must be embraced if we are to live well. My hope is that the trees I paint on canvas will outlive me by hundreds of years. But, to insure that happens, I must take action now..
What are your takeaways from the past year? What do you want out of life and what will you do to make it happen? Do share your thoughts on my blog site.
References:
Philippus,D (2019) What did Socrates mean when he said, “The unexamined life is not worth living”? Quora. retrieved from https://www.quora.com/What-did-Socrates-mean-when-he-said-The-unexamined-life-is-not-worth-living
