Will 12/12/12 be a special day? I don’t know. Maybe we can call it the “Last Party” before 12/21/12… which will be the end of the epoch, or era… and hopefully the beginning of something happier. The 12th of December will be a Wednesday – and the 21st will be a Friday. I expect there will be a lot of partying going on that night, Winter Solstice, and probably we’ll have the same kind of party here in tiny Happy Camp that we did in 2011 – a bonfire, yule log burning, speeches, and music – under the Giant Dreamcatcher.
My friend “CoffeeBill” at YouTube (we call him JavaBob here in town) had a night vision movie camera and filmed me giving a speech on rebuilding the dream for American families at the recent Winter Solstice bonfire. This is that video. —>
The guy at the beginning of the video is Dennis Day, the man who built the dream catcher. He’s standing next to me during the speech too.
The Happy Camp Dreamcatcher, created by Dennis Day
As part of my speech I read a letter I’d written… well, it is hard to hear on the video but the entire thing is on the web at A Letter For Your Neighbors – If They Are Calling CPS.
These final days before the dawn sure are dark. I wonder what God has in mind for us, to put humanity back on the right path. Honestly I’d like to see humanity much more attracted to the Spiritual Source, to the joy within, the sharing of love, and the expansion of creativity. I’d especially like to see that expansion of creativity in me! In a way, I’m focused on creativity. But that’s a battle between me and me. There’s the me that wants to spend time being creative, more than anything. And then there’s the me that resists doing anything new. Perhaps that’s known as apathy.. a stationary force that resists whatever actions are good for us.
I wrote a poem about apathy a long time ago, and still have that poem here… so I’ll share it with you now.
Apathy
Apathy covers me
A weighty burden
I carry heedlessly
Just because I’ve grown
Accustomed to it.
Its dark weight
Prevents me from flying
Upwards to heaven
So I naïvely walk slowly
Contented with dust.
But now — is it time
To shake off this winter’s cloak
And stand bravely unburdened
In the warm mist of
Sunshine?
I fear — I fear —
To release myself
From this prison
That protects me
From the truth.
Linda Martin – October 21, 1985
1985 was 27 years ago! Well, I did say I wrote this a l-o-n-g time ago! I’m glad I still have it. A lot of my earlier poems I published on a few sheets of paper and gave away using the pseudonym “Alicia Maya”. I no longer have those poems. I wish I did. If you have them, please let me know!
Lost in time…. poems lost in time. I don’t expect to ever get them back again, but isn’t that the way of the world? All we are is dust in the wind….
Moving on.
The apathy… the resistance… they are real. A real force to keep us from progressing. I never fully understood that until I read Steven Pressfield’s little book, Do the Work
Bob came into my bedroom/office/art-studio today and saw my newest work of heart on the easel. He liked it! I loved getting the encouragement. It started with a doodle I did at our last writers club meeting. I was trying for a style of doodle I’d never used before… trying something different. At home I took that page and glued it to a large piece of brown shipping paper, and painted around it, adding ribbon and lace. It isn’t done yet but I’m adding a bit more to it each day. I’d like to have it done in time to take back to the next writers club meeting, to show them how avant-garde I can really be. ::brief laugh:: Can you picture that?
The Philosophy of Imperfection
This is awfully shiny! I will try another photograph when I can do it without a flash. This was an impromptu practice piece as I’m learning and developing mixed media techniques. I did this on a piece of brown package wrapping paper… starting with the notebook page and adding all the paint, ribbon and lace. I ended with a twine ‘frame’ which ties at the bottom with a bow. A good start, now hanging on my door, out in the hallway. It makes me happy to look at it…
It is called “The Philosophy of Imperfection”. The entire point of this piece was to free myself from perfectionism and to fall in love with the imperfect. The messages on the white waves of water and streaks in the sky all are planned to remind me that perfectionism is detrimental to my well-being, and to my art.
Here are my imperfection messages:
In the sky I wrote:
“There is no perfect in the human realm.”
“We are what we are.”
“You are perfect enough as you are.”
“It doesn’t have to be perfect, it just has to BE.”
Further down it says:
“Perfectionism be gone.”
“Perfection is a summer day without perfectionism.”
“Philosophy of imperfection.”
“Imperfection is as good as it needs to be – get it?”
“You are perfectly awesome right now.”
In the water it says:
“Joy is found.”
“In love for the imperfect.”
“In love.”
“Jump in – the water is fine.”
“We are looking for free-flowing words.”
“No more perfectionism.”
You could say this is a pep-talk for my self. One of my parents was a perfectionist and I am still struggling with the issue.
Leave a Reply