Stepping out in my new town is the news of the week. I would say mine are baby steps but that just might be my judgmental self, because any forward motion is still forward, right? By discovering my new neighborhood via foot, bike or car, I am expanding my sense of place and today that feels hopeful and hopeful feels good for sure.
Open Facebook on any given day and you will find someone, particularly unqualified, posting or most likely reposting, an opinion or article or tirade that they are momentarily passionate or incensed or preaching about. The decade of social media platforms open to just about everyone has given way to just about everyone pulling out their soapbox and proselytizing their viewpoint. I am not immune from this behavior, as is well documented through my blog, I too have voiced over-zealous opinions from time to time. But I am not speaking of personal posts where no one should mistake my vantage from science or fact; I am referring to those who dig up some unreferenced study and pronounce it as truth, or those who announce they have uncovered some injustice that only they, and the undocumented thread they followed, know about. This behavior makes all of Facebook a dangerous and misguided place instead of a platform to share photos and celebrations with friends and family. What is it that makes people want to preach? Throw in the smoke and mirrors that shift and trick every angle shot and you really have to struggle to stay in your own lane and ride your own joy in life. But that is what I do intend to do, just focus on the day to day living and use my voice to sing a tune that is original.
Never easy, the transitional times in our lives, when you arrive somewhere new but still feel like you live elsewhere, the going forward part incremental much akin to labor. Most every essential box we packed-up is now opened and objects are finding their own place in the new space. Paintings, of which we have many, offer decisions we don’t want to rush, so for now we let them elbow out spaces here and there, forming alliances, marking their territory, feeling their way in this new airy and bright little space we attempt to call home. Everything is still unsettled and chaotic but we allow for that knowing that art demands we slow and observe. As my dear friend Jess reminds me, “Art needs to be everywhere because it is the inside of the world” (Bread & Puppet Cheap Art Manifesto).
Nine Cent Girl 