This blog features a variety of written work and visual art. I enjoy writing fiction and poetry as well as nonfiction. I also love photography and creating art from my photos. Feel free to browse. I hope you enjoy your time here!
“As symbol, or as the structuring of symbols, art can render intelligible — or at least visible, at least discussible — those wilderness regions which philosophy has abandoned and those hazardous terrains where science’s tools do not fit. I mean the rim of knowledge where language falters; and I mean all those areas of human experience, feeling, and thought about which we care so much and know so little: the meaning of all we see before us, of our love for each other, and the forms of freedom in time, and power, and destiny, and all whereof we imagine: grace, perfection, beauty, and the passage of all materials to thoughts, and of all ideas to forms.”
― Annie Dillard, Living by Fiction
A few new art pieces from the last week.
Apathy
And the Sea Shall Rise
Somewhere in Florida the Sun Also Rises
Cotton Candy
The Fountainhead
To be hopeful in bad times is not just foolishly romantic. It is based on the fact that human history is a history not only of cruelty, but also of compassion, sacrifice, courage, kindness.
What we choose to emphasize in this complex history will determine our lives. If we see only the worst, it destroys our capacity to do something. If we remember those times and places—and there are so many—where people have behaved magnificently, this gives us the energy to act, and at least the possibility of sending this spinning top of a world in a different direction.
And if we do act, in however small a way, we don’t have to wait for some grand utopian future. The future is an infinite succession of presents, and to live now as we think human beings should live, in defiance of all that is bad around us, is itself a marvelous victory.Howard Zinn
Some days
I think they are right, the ones
who fear the world outside,
taking aim at
all things different.
Perhaps there is an order that must be
maintained,
worshiped,
revered.
Perhaps there is an absolute
scheme
of things where some don’t fit,
like pieces found in the wrong puzzle box.
Perhaps there is.
In the Shallows
Starlight
I went through a long period where I wasn’t using the camera much at all. But I’ve been making an effort to use it every day now. These are some recent shots and manipulated images that I like. I hope you do , too.
Red-shouldered Hawk
Sometimes the feet are unwilling,
caught between fear and desire,
shadow and light.
So they stay,
immovable,
staking a claim to one spot as if that
will make
everything right.
Back before Christmas, I ordered a new hoodie from the Human Rights Campaign. It has a simple rainbow equality graphic on the front, a simplicity that I find appealing. I woke up to a cooler morning than we’ve had lately and decided to wear the hoodie on my morning walk with Mimi. I also decided to take a few selfies in the bathroom mirror before we left the house. I knew I wanted to post a new essay here and thought the shots might inspire me to add something to my self-portrait series.
Once upon a time, in another frame of mind, I started this blog as a way of rekindling my love of writing. I also had a desire to share my love of photography and photo art and to perhaps chronicle my personal journey in a way that might resonate with others.
Continue reading “The Power of Storytelling in a Time of Uncertainty”
I think it is safe to say we all have times in our lives that feel more like endings than beginnings. Generally these tend to be times when change is forced upon us rather than sought out. The passing of our parents, for example, can feel like the end of childhood with the loss of those who knew us and loved us most intimately as children. I have been spinning through one of those periods for the last couple of months.
Karen Lee Kleis 