I’ve not posted anything in a while.
I’ve not had anything to say that wasn’t angry criticism of the country’s management, AKA Donald J. Trump. I don’t understand how a third of the nation actually believes him, mimics him, follows him… right off the edge of a viral cliff. Our nation has gone stupid. But I don’t want to talk about that. It’s too debilitating and it won’t change minds. Renewal is coming. That’s the light I look to.
My eight city tour got postponed until 2021. My business temporarily closed. So I’ve been hibernating in the aesthetic universe.
Each morning I take my dogs out, and I look up at this opulent tree. It’s perfect, the way the branches reach out, the way the leaves dance with an endless sky. The tree is old, and grand, with perfect balance in its asymmetry. I look up at its imperfections and it tells me stories of grace, patience, power, wisdom and kindness. I call it the God Tree. Then I go back inside and create.
We are soon to ascend into a more perfect era. The nation has been burnt to the ground. Rebuilding will have a cleaner, honest, more just world in mind. To achieve that we will need a feeling of spiritual comfort. We will need to recharge, after fighting the last bitter battle of World War C, so we can rebuild. But how?
Amistad is one of my favorite movies.
It’s about freedom, inner strength, courage, and the tangled road of obstacles one must travel to attain it. To me, that’s the same road one travels when you follow your dreams, which I guess is where freedom lives. I especially love the sequence near the end of the film, where John Quincy Adams tells Cinque the battle before them (as they present their case before the Supreme Court) is a rough one, one that they might lose, but stand tall… Here is the dialog:
Isn’t that perfect? The thought that the power of the past marches beside us? I love the idea of calling into all that came before and leaning on it, learning from it, being empowered by it, as we face what’s before us. That’s where spiritual comfort will come. That’s how we shed the sadness, depression and fear this battle has left us with.
So my thought: let’s drape ourselves in fabrics and fashion that help fuel the journey before us. Build your special armor, whatever that means to you, whatever empowers you, whatever draws into you the light of those who came before and won.
I began this journey by finding fabrics that did that for me, then I let them speak to me.
I was on this weird spiritual sojourn into fabric. It kept me sane, and made me broke, although spending money did help support the economy. ? Together the fabric and I found styles oozing with lessons learned from warrior acts of both greatness and ugliness. I followed where it lead.
Each day, while the dogs did their business, I sat on the stoop drinking in the God Tree’s wisdom. She’s old with deep roots and branches broken off by heavy winds. Each spring she fills with green, then sheds it come fall with the same fury. Humanity is a lot like that. I let the power of all that speak to me, becoming infused with its wisdom and wishes. That’s what has kept me going through this surreal and insane time.
I’m almost finished with this adventure. I hope to reopen my business soon, and (virus permitting) my shows will begin again in 2021, where I will reconnect with humanity! I can’t wait to meet everyone, to see smiling eyes––and actual smiles! And to laugh out loud agaIn. Please wear a mask so we can ensure that happens!
xoxo
Lola