The beauty in ife is the meaning we bring to it, the creative languages, nature, those we support and those we love. Beauty is the salve that vacillates our longevity, supports our will, shines a light for waning hope.

In the thick of adversity, one finds what matters, what uplifts and brings us to a place of clarity that eases the way forward. This profundity sheds light upon our darkest times, allowing us to see through the fog of mind and emotion, smoothing the truths of reality so that we may best move on. It is through times of hardships that we find who we are, where we see our strengths and better our weaknesses. To be still within the midst of beauty, be it nature, words or the hand created, provides us with the deepest opportunities of respite and resolve: pulling deep the intuitive universe within.

The evidence of the hand in creativity cannot be fully replicated, in fact it is expanded by the story of the maker, how they create and why. In this world of the instantaneous, the depth of the maker’s story brings a level of intimacy to the already physically intimate object, a connection of hand, eye and emotion.

Naming clouds and their shapes are a forgotten favorite, left to childhood pastimes and memories of a slower and simpler time, or seemingly so then. There is a forgotten simplicity that we unwittingly left behind, forsaken for the hopes of the new, complex and the quick. We know of what we’ve lost, its residue is still upon our lips, now only spoken of fondly as if unretrievable, as if because time moves forward we cannot look to the past, salvaging what we need.

Life behaves very much like water, it can be still and deep as night or thunderous as a Summer’s storm. We live in difficult times and seek out the opposite, the calm within the storm, solace within our homes. It seems as though we have little control, except for our selves and how we live, what we surround ourselves with, and whom.

Often I think about the work of creative minds, those who create physical work but also those who create with words. The creative mind inspires creative deeds, what has been created is not in fact in and of itself, it impacts those who use it, those who view and consume. The creative efforts of many, push the will of the mind and uplifts the spirit of mood, easing the body forward, moment to moment. We are biologically attuned to beauty and continue to build our world within it, while simultaneously trying to save it. We are creative beings, living in a created world.

If it brings you joy, go there, run.

We are living in very difficult times. I am tired of writing that but there it is, here we are and perhaps sadly, for awhile. I don’t like writing this nor do I like the way it makes me feel: frustrated, worried and even sad. My hope wanes. My good intentions seem to fade beneath the noise of media and my overactive brain that tries to keep me safe. I continually go back to what’s familiar, the traditions of family, the objects that I collect, my creative work, all the things that bring me joy .