Don't go there. That's what I keep telling myself, but it's impossible not to go there. "There" meaning another lockdown. Just when we thought it was safe to remove our masks for ten minutes while inhaled a burger, there's a new strain.
WHEN WILL IT FUCKING END??!! Possibly never. Or, at least, in the next five years.
If you're an anti-vaxer STOP READING THIS. I don't want you on my website. YOU are, in part, responsible for why this continues to spread. To be creative you must embrace truth. There's no room for ignorance in the arts. Think about it. How many right winger Trump supporters believe in science? Or support the arts? Or been to the theatre? Or a concert? When people are denied or turned away from culture societies perish. Look at Germany. Considered the most culturally advanced culture in the world, during the build up to Hitler.
Nothing destroys civilizations faster than ignorance, bigotry and hate.
What I've taken away from the pandemic and the last two fucking years, is the depressing realization I can't control ANYTHING except my own head. My own psyche. My own feelings. My own creativity.
"The future's uncertain and the end is always near" said Jim Morrison. And that has never been more so than in recent years. The few things I can control: my writing, my teaching, my painting have saved my mental health, spirit and belief in humanity.
Most of us will make one or more resolutions for 2022. I urge you to put YOURSELF at the top of the list. Commit to exploring yourself. To re-discovering your fearless inner child. Try something new. Sign up for Storytelling Lab...or an art class....or learn the harmonica.
It doesn't matter WHAT it is. What matters is that you enjoy it.
If/when you do that, you'll not only get through our current hell, you'll get through your entire life.
As for this picture, it is three of the six women from a Storytelling Lab class. Each of them is extraordinary in her own right. Each is incredibly accomplished. Each has lived a fascinatingly enviable life. Each has an amazing story to tell.
Who wanted want to be on a journey of self exploration with these women?!
