Take 5: Exploring Local Galleries

 

Jim Rose: Two Door Basket Weave Quilt Cupboard

(Gallery Victor Armendariz) 

Friday afternoon the weather was nice and cool so I went to explore the River North Gallery District since I have not been in a gallery in probably two years at this point for obvious reasons. (Though it is also in part all Talk Art's Fault for getting me on an Art kick LOL)

Talk Art has helped me appreciate art in galleries (and museums but that is next week's adventure) on new levels. I used to go mainly for occasional openings aka for the cheese and crackers and veggie trays LOL, and years ago to fill in my summer activity lists when I was trying to go/do/see 100 things over the course of the summer. And often found I just did not understand a lot of the contemporary art, I mean it was fine but did not sear itself into my mind or soul or anything.

This time through I went to get ideas for poems, put what I have learned via Talk Art into action, and to better understand what art draws me in. (I did take notes so many of the gallery owners thought I was there for a school project and I had to explain nope I am just taking notes for myself) 

One poem which has already come from today's adventure:

7/30/21 a

The echoes of art through time
A photo in a now long gone gallery
A boy with self harm scars on the wall

A photo in a now long gone gallery
I felt its echoes in other galleries
That now live in the same building

Why that photo? Why do I remember?
Now years and years after the fact?
Maybe because I saw the boy’s story*

Wondered if others would understand
The significance of what they saw

An understanding I had gained from
Other art, The Art called fanfiction

Art touches us all, our souls and spirits
And that photo made my heart ache

For all those lost to hurt or pain or sorrow
A photo in a now long gone gallery
The echoes of art through time

* An understanding I got from the stories of others NOT personal experience

So here is a play by play of where I explored today and when some of the pieces of art that caught my eye were online I am adding the art. (Clearly I did not make the art or take the photos :) ) In addition when my map etc. gave extra info I am sharing that too but many did not have such info.

Stop 1 Gallery Victor Armendariz: "The gallery exhibits compelling contemporary art in a variety of media by both established and emerging artists. Focusing on figurative art, museum quality works of Realism and Studio Furniture, including that of renowned steel furniture maker Jim Rose."

I really like the art in this gallery. Currently they have an Wet Paint Exhibit (which is focusing on new works). 

I enjoyed the Chris Hill sculptures such as Nightfall Dreams, Looking Back, and The Shortest Distance

Chris Hill: Night Fall Dreams

(Gallery Victor Armendariz) 

I also enjoyed the Christina Haglid's paintings of what looked like round illuminated lanterns floating on dark night time waters. 

Christina Haglid: Ocean Carrier

(Gallery Victor Armendariz) 

I also enjoyed the works by Jesús Curiá Perez, and the bright sculptures of Robert Segal.

Jesús Curiá Perez: Nintius

(Gallery Victor Armendariz) 

(In this case the one I saw was Atlante and Construction II but the above is close)

Robert Segal: Silent Hollow

(Gallery Victor Armendariz)

Stop 2: Zg Gallery

I enjoyed Duk Ju L. Kim's "Heaven", a bunch by Renee McGinnis such as "Flight of steal", "East Sheridan", "Lily", and "Santa Cruz", Justine Henry Miller's "Flight Plans" and "Bull Relic" (which looked like people to me, and Amy Casey's "Lonely Time"

Stop 3: Vale Craft Gallery "Contemporary American fine craft objects and sculpture. Works in clay fiber, metal, glass and wood"

I enjoyed the works by Doug DeLind, Chet Geiselman, the what look like fishes made of found materials by Stephen Palmer, and the three Girasol works by Linny Coale Freeman

Stop 4: Gruen Galleries

In this gallery I was not sure who the artists were (the works had signatures but no easy to read cards next to the art) but I liked the works on the main floor and the ones on the second floor that to be looked like looking under different colored waters.

Stop 5: Jean Albano Gallery

This gallery had a collection of interesting and wide ranging art. I enjoyed the butterfly wings by Amy Perlmutter and Soul Meets Sky by Bonnie Star

Stop 6: Hilton!Asmus Contemporary "Specializing in modern and contemporary paintings, works on paper, mixed media and sculpture with a special focus on photography. featuring internationally known artists from the United States , Northern Europe, and the Mediterranean region"

When I went in this gallery I remembered past trips there since they still had the amazing photos of David Yarrow which capture wild animals, or place wild animals in other settings like a lion slowly walking down a bar. 

Stop 7: Addington Gallery 

I liked the works by Ronald Clayton and Brooks Anderson.

Stop 8: Zolla/Lieberman

Ok I thought these were just some random flowers but looking at their website I realize that they are actually works made with smoke and fire which is pretty cool.

Non-Stop 9: Carl Hammer Gallery

Even though the gallery should have been open the door did not seem to open so I just looked at the works through the window. They were large scale circus themed works and I was running out of gallery energy so it worked out well in the end.

So this afternoon I got to 8 or 9 galleries depending on how you count them. :) I am glad I decided to go on my own gallery tour (there will also be a formal river north tour in fall which I may attend depending on what else is happening in the world.) 

If you are in Chicago check out these galleries and if you are somewhere else look for your own local galleries. Galleries are wonderful because they are free art museums you can enjoy.

Simone Biles, Mental Health, and Courage

Simone Biles is strong.

Strength is being able to say you can’t.

Strength is working your whole life for something, dedicating yourself entirely for two decades, and being able to step back and cheer on your teammates.

Strength is feeling the weight of a country on your shoulders, and being able to see clearly that it’s not your duty to carry it if it will break you.

Strength is being able to see through the oppressive cloud of other people’s expectations, and doing what your body and mind are saying you need to do.

If Simone Biles convinces even one young kid watching her that it’s ok to say, “I can’t,” and prioritize their mental health, that will be more valuable to this country than any gold medals she could earn.

America has enough Gold medals.

We need more Simone Biles.

Facebook post by Leland Michael

  

Courage, Tenacity, and Grit

What it takes to stand up for Mental

Health, Thank You, Wise Simone Biles

Poem by Dreaming Ace

Simone Biles has shown tenacity, grit, and courage again and again over the course of her career and this week at the Olympics was no different. She realized that clinging by the skin of her teeth to her mental health and pushing through would not best serve her or her team. 

There have been a number of articles pointing out the importance of Simone Biles being able to create the space she needs in order to protect her mental health. 

(Note: All the quotes in this blog post are a sampling of quotes from throughout the articles listed, while I tried to maintain the context of the quotes, the block text are not single direct quotes)

Biles withdraws from gymnastics final to protect team (2021)

So rather than push through the doubts that crept into her head as she’s done so many times in the past, Biles decided enough was enough. She was done. For now.

Jordan Chiles, Sunisa Lee and Grace McCallum guided the U.S. to silver while Biles cheered from the sideline in a white sweatsuit, at peace with a decision that revealed a shift not only in Biles but perhaps the sport she’s redefined.

“We also have to focus on ourselves, because at the end of the day we’re human, too,” Biles said. “So, we have to protect our mind and our body, rather than just go out there and do what the world wants us to do.”

To Write Love On Her Arms posted on Facebook (2021):

Mental health is health. And every human—including an Olympic athlete—deserves to be able to prioritize caring for their mental health. Thank you Simone for setting this example on one of the world's biggest stages.

 

Many former gymnasts have come out to explain how serious the “twisties” can be to a gymnast's physical and mental health. Tokyo Olympics: Simone Biles has the terrifying 'twisties', NZ-based former US gymnastics champion says. (2021)

Simone didn’t withdraw due solely to an injury. She was assaulted by a sudden case of the “twisties”, a phenomenon peculiar to gymnasts

It can present itself in various ways, but the two most common are a loss of air sense while you are in the middle of a skill – a sensation not unlike vertigo – or the impulse to twist in the middle of a flipping skill.

There are many causes, but one of the most common is stress or PTSD, the symptoms of which Simone was starting to display over the last several days, not only in the way she overcooked her routines in the qualifying rounds, but also in her texts and Instagram messages.

She returned to the sport after retiring in 2016, not simply for the love of it, but to “be an active voice” against the abuse hundreds of gymnasts suffered at the hands of now jailed team doctor Larry Nassar.

To her mind, if she remained active, the governing body of gymnastics couldn’t sweep this tragedy under the rug. This is called service. And she’s the finest example of it.

So … withdrawing from the competition in the face of all that – our expectations, her sense of duty, the hubris of USA Gymnastics – was one of the bravest acts I’ve ever witnessed, and I’ll be frank, it left me in tears because of it. 

 

Mental health is a subject that we talk much more openly about than we did even a handful of years ago but we can always make more progress. There is a lot of junk that we all carry and all have to find ways to process and deal with. We all have struggled or know someone who has struggled with mental health.

There is a recent push by sports personalities to bring mental health to the forefront. 

Naomi Osaka: 'It's O.K. Not to Be O.K.' (2021)

It has become apparent to me that literally everyone either suffers from issues related to their mental health or knows someone who does. The number of messages I received from such a vast cross section of people confirms that. I think we can almost universally agree that each of us is a human being and subject to feelings and emotions.

I communicated that I wanted to skip press conferences at Roland Garros to exercise self-care and preservation of my mental health. I stand by that. Athletes are humans. Tennis is our privileged profession, and of course there are commitments off the court that coincide. But I can’t imagine another profession where a consistent attendance record (I have missed one press conference in my seven years on tour) would be so harshly scrutinized.

Perhaps we should give athletes the right to take a mental break from media scrutiny on a rare occasion without being subject to strict sanctions.

Michael Phelps launches new mental health campaign (2018)

Michael Phelps faced many dark moments in his career, despite his unprecedented success as an athlete. Even now the retired swimmer is going through challenging times. The American openly admitted that he considered suicide after his six-medal haul at London 2012.

But the 23-time Olympic champion wants to use his own experiences to support others suffering from mental health issues. He retired for a second time after Rio 2016, but says he still suffers from depression and anxiety.

"I do break down and maybe have a bad day, where I'm not in a good mental state," he told the Associated Press. “I understand that. It’s who I am. I guess that will always be something that’s a part of me.”

These mental health challenges effect sports players from across the sports spectrum and each has had a different response and a different way of sharing their story with the public.  

1. Michael Phelps (Swimming) – Ask for help.

“I struggled with anxiety and depression and questioned whether or not I wanted to be alive anymore. It was when I hit this low that I decided to reach out and ask for the help of a licensed therapist. This decision ultimately helped save my life. You don’t have to wait for things.” – @MichaelPhelps via Twitter (2019)

 

2. Aly Raisman (Gymnastics) – Healing is not linear.

“I’ve definitely had moments where I worried I’m always going to feel like this, but I’ve learned through therapy that I’m not going to feel like this forever. And so hopefully, the more I speak on it, the more people I can help. Even if I just help one person it was really worth it.” via People magazine

3. Andrew Luck (NFL) – Make the right decision for YOU.

“The only way forward for me is to remove myself from football and this cycle I’ve been in. I’ve come to the proverbial fork in the road, and I made a vow to myself that, if I ever did again, I would choose me.” – Andrew Luck, at a press conference on August 24, 2019

4. Ronda Rousey (UFC) – Mental illness is not a weakness.

“It’s not a weakness we should condemn. I’ve never shied away from talking about suicide or anything like that. It’s really heavily affected [my] family, and anything that I could do to make sure it affects as few people as possible; I’d be happy to do that. I do not see why it’s looked at as a bad thing.” via HuffPost

 

5. Abby Wambach (U.S. women’s national soccer team (USWNT) – Do not be ashamed.

“It’s really hard to talk about things when you’re ashamed. And I’m not ashamed about what happened to me anymore because it led me to where I’m at right now. I’m proud of where I’m at.” via Associated Press

6. DeMar DeRozan (NBA) – No one is indestructible.

“It’s one of them things that no matter how indestructible we look like we are, we’re all human at the end of the day. We all got feelings . . . all of that. Sometimes […] it gets the best of you, where times everything in the whole world’s on top of you.” via The Star

7. Kevin Love (NBA) – Everyone is going through something.

“Everyone is going through something that we can’t see. The thing is, because we can’t see it, we don’t know who’s going through what and we don’t know when and we don’t always know why. Mental health is an invisible thing, but it touches all of us at some point or another. It’s part of life.” via The Players’ Tribune

Simone Biles showed her inner strength and courage when she made the choice to step away from the women's team gymnastics event and the women's all around event. She knew herself better than anyone else and was able to stop before she pushed herself to a point where she could have been seriously injured. 

Simone Biles is part of a growing movement of sports professionals who are opening up about their mental health struggles. We need individuals from ever walk of life to be open about their mental health challenges. 

Simone Biles is showing great leadership and helping all those who were watching her have the opportunity to understand how important it is to take care of themselves even if that means stepping away from something that has been their dream for decades.  

Simone Biles we all, fans, sport casters, and athletes alike much say we see your courage, we see your tenacity, we see your grit, and we see your leadership and we say Thank You. Thank You for all you do and for all you are. I am assuming you understand how important what you did is but in case you have any doubt what you did is one of those moments that will be remembered for years to come and which will make the path for many others just a little easier. 

Processing Challenging Info About Others

 

This post is about me processing some surprising and challenging news about the leadership of a student group I was a member of and getting some of the emotions, feelings and thoughts I am having about the news out of my head.

This weekend I heard that someone who was an adult in a leadership position* for one of the clubs/organizations I was part of in undergrad (so we are talking 15 years ago) is being sued for sexual assault. I do not have any details of the case other than it involved a situation that occurred before my time and we are talking close to 20 years ago. 

My first response was surprise because this individual did not make me personally feel uncomfortable when I was in school, but I also know that my experience could be very different from someone else's experience. I also learned that this individual left their role at my undergrad institution under somewhat mysterious circumstances, where as I though they just had moved on to their next adventure.

My second response was seeing a wider context where things could have logically gotten murky and messy. I remember a conversation about a time where the individual had driven one of the students (who lived off campus) home and had them wait in the car for a few mins while the individual grabbed something from the individual's apartment and the student was saying that the individual needed to be careful because giving rides home to students and making a stop by the individuals apartment could be seen in a bad light. 

I did experience a few of these nothing wrong was done but still could be interpreted oddly situations. At the time these situations did not even ping my radar but now I am recontextualizing the larger picture that they might have fallen into or how they might have been experienced differently by others who were also there. This wider situation is also reminding me of a handful of unrelated sketchy situations with other people in the years since undergrad which did ping my radar but which I dismissed at the time for a number of reasons. 

My third response was one of a triple level of grief or mourning:

Mourning for the person who brought up the charges and others who have spoken up with similar stories who feel like they were sexually assaulted and that their concerns have not been listen to by the university etc. over the past 20 years (and anyone else who felt the same thing but have not come forward) 

Mourning for my past relationship with the individual, because it is personally challenging when someone you were friendly with, who you have good memories of, and whose wisdom you still remember is accused of sexual assault. 

Mourning for the individual accused or at least mourning for the version of the individual who I knew in undergrad. 

On one hand from what I have heard it feels like an issue with boundaries, very poor decision making, and clearly not understanding the expectations of someone in a leadership position.  

On the other hand having any sexual/romantic relationship with someone under your leadership (especially a student) is always a bad idea no matter the context. 

It does not matter if you are both adults and both close in age such relationships are just asking to get blurry and messy and potentially lead to confusion about if all parties were able to fully and freely give consent.

Hearing about the lawsuit has led me to process this particular situation, my own experience of undergrad, and my own radar for iffy situations. I am looking at the behavior of those I have known in a different light as well as my own gut reactions to hearing challenging information about those I know.

It also hits doubly hard because the individual and the group they were an adult leader of changed the trajectory of my life in some overall very positive directions. But that does not mean that the leader was not creepy towards others even if I did not see such behavior or did not notice/identify such behavior at the time. 

While I don't have any conclusions about the case or know what will happen to it as it is progressing through the courts I do feel it was important to take some time to work through my own response to the case. Sometimes when we are presented with challenging information about people we know/knew all we can do is wrestle with that information and consider how that information might impact us.

*Because I do not have the details I am keeping which individual really vague because this post is about me processing the news not taking a side in the case. 

Magenta an Interesting Story

 

I have started to listen to the Talk Art podcast with Russell Tovey and Robert Diament and so far it is very interesting. It has been running for several years but since I just learned about it, I am listening to the podcast from the beginning. 

Yesterday I listened to their conversation with Sir Michael Craig-Martin CBE and among other things learned about the history of Magenta.

Fact #1 

Magenta was only created in 1859 by the French chemist François-Emmanuel Verguin.

Fact #2

According to Sir Michael Craig-Martin CBE, Magenta makes all other colors around it look better/more colorful. 

I would have to say that before listening to the podcast I had no idea that Magenta had an interesting past I just thought it was a color. Listening to these Talk Art conversations also means since I have some time this weekend I am inspired to think about different ways I can style my own room/apartment. 

Nothing too wild, more changing some of the posters on the wall, grouping them differently, finding a few new ways to incorporate some of the odd and ends of scrap cloth I use around my room etc. But I am looking for ways to add pops of color in my room and in general just have a space that feels refreshed.

Since I already have materials I can use, posters, art I have created, cloth, …  I am letting my creatively flow and thinking about my space as if it was a curated exhibit at an art gallery or museum. Sometimes a change of view is exactly what is needed. 

So if you have some time consider either listening to someone talk about art, going to see art, thinking abut your own space as an art gallery, or even creating your own art. As was mentioned at a different point in the conversation with Sir Michael Craig-Martin CBE,  allowing a piece of art to be a piece of art is an act of faith and art is about self knowledge and learning how to express yourself. 

May you have an art filled weekend.

Ways Of Reframing Media

 

An really interesting post was shared with me that reframes the Loki TV series as a Black Lives Commentary on our society. As Dr. Jason Johnson states:

Loki’s finale frames the whole season as a parable of whiteness in America, how Black people fight and toil to hold this whole dysfunctional country together only to see White America tear it all down if they don’t get what they want, even if it dooms us all.

I found I was amazed at this interpretation of Loki and how this interpretation make the finale feel like it had a purpose and was not just tedious ramblings. The meaning behind stories can be very complex and everyone can take a different meaning out of the same work but I found Dr. Johnson's interpretation to feel like it made sense. 

I also was aware that it was not the frame I had used while watching Loki in part because my own cultural background can make it a challenge to notice and be aware of many of the possible deeper levels of meaning of a creative work. 

Sometimes I find metaphorically that when Clark Kent takes off his glasses I do notice it is Superman for the first time. This is part of the reason I love being part of wider fandom communities because when you have a whole fandom there is someone who catches a lot of the details I had forgotten about, that I did not notice the first time through, or simply don't have the background to understand.

This reminds me of many of the amazing articles that came out when Black Panther came out which were able to share the significance of every choice made in that film. Many of those explanations included information I would never have known otherwise because I am not seeped in that particular culture so on my own I don't know the significance of say the colors used or the hairstyles I just go it looked amazing.

After reading Dr. Johnson's piece I have a very interesting new lens to reframe Loki, from how the TVA was an epic Black Owner business, to how Sylvie could be seen as a Karen figure asking for the manager. We all need to find new ways to look at the media we enjoy and explore new interpretations. We all are variants with different experiences and expectations. Thank you Dr. Johnson.  

The Problem With Snake Oil Salesmen

 

I was talking with someone in a mental wellness program I'm in and I mentioned how for fun I was trying lots of new things that are supposed to help with mental wellness but had run across some wild claims the felt like they were just mudding the waters and had the potential to cause health misinformation to propagate. For example some music I was listening to said that music at 285 HZ can heal organs and 528 HZ can repair DNA. 

Now I can accept that certain frequencies can help regulate your breathing or heart rate, can make you feel calm, and can help you focus or refocus in such a way that you are better able to handle stress. I also accept that stress can cause all sorts of damage in the long term and if you are better able to manage your stress you may find you feel better and your body works better than before. 

BUT your DNA is not going to be rewritten (sorry neither will you gain superpowers nor will you change your genetic makeup) and listening to music is not going to heal any organs. For example I know people with congestive heart failure and diabetes and listening to all the 285 HZ music out there is not going to suddenly fix their heart or make their bodies produce insulin. 

And this over promising of benefits is not isolated to this particular YouTube video for example over the years I have seen many superfoods come and go which were not shared as simply a good way to get x or y vitamin or a good source of omegas but instead in terms of something that pretty much would cure every ill from cancer to male patterned baldness. Unless you have low levels of a particular nutrient no one really needs to take say cinnamon in pill form. 

The problem is this all feels like snake oil salesmen which seems like a disservice to us all. There is a lot of good that comes from yoga, calming music, mediation, visualization, journaling, drinking a nice up of tea, ... and some of these benefits boil down to the hard to quantify "it just makes you feel better and calmer" but when they make false scientific claims such as rewriting DNA they just make it harder for people to know what health sources to trust which can lead to problems such as anti-vaxers whose choices do not simply affect themselves but their whole neighborhoods. And this riles up the biology degree in me :)

So in the end try these practices as ways to spend time with yourself and be your own best friend, as a way to be more mindful and centered in your life, as a way to stretch yourself physically, emotionally, and spiritually, or simply because it is something fun to do with friends. But not because someone has come up with some wild pseudoscientific claims.

Being Called a "Rare and Excellent Breed"

 

This week I was part of an extend conversation with someone else who had different feelings about the Loki season 1 final and we disagreed on like everything LOL.

I thought the final did not focus on Loki enough since the show is called Loki not called random bad guy in next wave of marvel movies, I thought both Loki and Sylvie were not given the space to process the moral choice they were given, I thought it was all telling and no showing, I even thought it felt a bit like a full day zoom meeting. 

As you can tell I though the final was not up to my standards and basically in my head the season ended with the 5th episode. But as you can see from the conversation above even though we disagreed about the episode and went back and forth for quite a while in the end we both felt like we had had a good conversation and others noted that they agreed with us that we had had a good conversation.

The fact that a simple conversation impressed someone else to the point they called us a "rare and excellent breed" just highlights how often such conversations fall apart into name calling and general meanness. Different people are always going to see different stories in different ways, some will like a show that others hate, some will think a work is well written, others will think it had structural issues. 

But that is why we have so many different stories to read or watch or explore. That is why there is more fanfiction than your could imagine. This is what a conversation around fandom should look like.

My 250th Post

 

Two-Hundred Fifty

Reflections and Posts and Adventures

This is a Two-Hundred Fifty Word Poem

To Celebrate Two-Hundred Fifty Blog Posts

Seems like as good a reason to celebrate as any

So we bring out the balloons

So we bring out the tea

So we bring out something sweet

No matter what time you are from

No matter what place you are from

Two-Hundred Fifty Blog Posts

Exploring the edges of fandom

Exploring the edges of multiverses

By ship and magic carpet and dragon bone

Seeing where fandoms meet

Seeing where stories are born

Two-Hundred Fifty Blog Posts

Reminding others that they are loved

Reminding others that they are important

Reminding others they are beloved

Reminding others they are amazing

Reminding others they belong

Two-Hundred Fifty Blog Posts

Exploring heavy topics

Exploring important topics

Exploring Life

Exploring Hope

Exploring

Two-Hundred Fifty Blog Posts

Processing identity

Processing community and belonging

Processing hopes and dreams

Processing hurts and hardships

Processing the process of processing

Two-Hundred Fifty Blog Posts

Two-Hundred Fifty journeys to …

Wait that is the wrong number and the wrong song

Oh well sometimes delight/delirium of the Endless

Likes to guest post on this blog

So we bring out the balloons

So we bring out the tea

So we bring out something sweet

No matter what time you are from

No matter what place you are from

This is a Two-Hundred Fifty Word Poem

To Celebrate Two-Hundred Fifty Blog Posts

Seems like as good a reason to celebrate as any

Self Compassion and Emperor Norton I

 

This week in a program/course I am doing on mental wellness we are exploring self compassion. Self compassion or being your own best friend is pretty easy for me. I am grateful for that. My inner critic is not mean or cruel like so many people face and really the worst it gets is being the inner critic of indifference. If anything my inner critic will just say something like "ok, so what?" which is much kinder than many other people's inner critic.

Now some of my strength in self compassion comes from the fact that I have an almost uncountable number of compassionate voices in my head. And while the faces change over time they include a collection of characters, creators, places, actors, public figures, etc. Here is a list of 20 just off the top of my head, in no order at all.

1. The Doctor
2. The Tardis
3. Babylon 5
4. JARVIS
5. Gideon (from Legends of Tomorrow)
6. Neil Gaiman
7. Robbie Thompson
8. Lin-Manuel Miranda
9. Graham Moore
10. Wentworth Miller
11. Kay Spiritual Life Center
12. Holy Covent UMC
13. Chicago itself
14. Pete Buttigieg
15. Chasten Buttigieg
16. Loki
17. Ganesh
18. The universe herself
19. Gods in all of their shapes and sizes
20. Stories and Myths and Dreamings

But part of me wonders if some of my self compassion comes from something outside of simply having so many compassionate voices in my head. 

I am reminded of Emperor Norton I (the Sandman Comics version) who was born Joshua Abraham Norton (c.1818 – January 8, 1880). and was a well-known character in 19th century San Francisco, he issued his own currency which he sold to tourists, and published decrees.

In reality and in Sandman, Norton was a failed businessman on the verge of ruin and despair. For the purposes of the Sandman story, his delusion that he was, in fact, Emperor of the United States was instilled by Dream in the course of a wager with Desire and Despair.

In Sandman the lesson was without dreams Norton neither experienced desire nor despair. On the other hand I am pretty much the complete opposite and have so many dreams that I often times am made up of more dreams than reality which seems to work out to be about the same thing.

I am not sure how I got the keys to Dream's Library (which contains every story that never was, such as that novel you dreamed of writing but never did, sequels to books that were never published, etc.) but I think I have, or if not the keys I have found a window I can climb in. And I have to wonder if frequenting Dream's Library so much is why my inner critic is so gentle.

All I have to say is if you have a mean inner critic I home you find the compassionate characters and compassionate stories about yourself so that you can become friends with yourself.

What We Notice, What We Don't

 

Now I do not claim to normally pay much attention to the nation of Haiti but last night the President of Haiti was assassinated and the First Lady of Haiti was also injured and has been flown to the US for treatment and except for looking into it after seeing one post online I would never have known.   

There is a little coverage if you look and a few people using "Haiti is in our prayers" type of language but considering a president who was president of a country in our back yard (not that that should matter) just was assassinated full stop there is very little coverage.

(And some of the coverage just feels out of place when it basically says "well politically it has been complicated for a while, lets get our popcorn and see what happens next." That is not a proper response to an assassination in my opinion.)

For me it highlights how blind we often are to what is happening in other countries or other parts of the world. I do not know the political situation in Haiti right now but I do know that in general assassinations of any type tend to end up hurting those on the margins the most if only because law and order tends to sweep up more people.

So my heart goes out to Haiti as they navigate this crisis and my hope is that those on the margins are not the ones who are made to suffer because of this. 

 

Independence From being Held Back

 

In Honor Of 4th Of July

May you find Independence 

From what is holding you back

From all that is toxic in your life

From your stress and worries

From your pains and fears

From that which no longer brings joy

From that which never brought joy

May you find in Independence 

You feel like a firework

You feel fantastic

You feel belonging

You feel respect

You feel bold

You feel joy

May you find in Independence 

May this Independence day

Set you up for something wonderful

Set you up for some wilder than your dreams

Set you up for loving yourself

Set you up for being your own best friend

Set you up for a grand adventure

Set you up for a new chapter

My wish for this Independence day