Monday, November 24, 2014

No little love




Hard to believe it's been a year since I posted here...and a year since I've painted. A dear friend asked me a heart-rending, and very real, question the other day, "How do you do it? Why should I keep trying, why keep living"? It's a reasonable question to me.

There are surely as many answers to that as there are people who might ask it, but there's one answer that is always sure....love. Love of someone, love of self, love of art, love of trees that are never truly straight...It's not the who or the what that matters. It's the act of loving, which for all time has always been the one act that can transport us, and heal us, and make of us more than what we are, no matter where we are or what hardship we bear. Love that breaks us out of the prisons of ourselves, and our self-conceptions. There is no little love. Maybe we grasp and hang on to what we think of as a small love, then another, but then someday, we find those little loves are branches springing from the tree of life, they are fundamental to our being, our lives.

And as Anna Nalick sings in 2 am (Breathe)...Just breathe.



Aloha!

8 comments:

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    1. Thank you so much Linda! I'll look forward to reading your blog too!

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  2. A year...I am glad you are back,
    The light on this is so beautiful with the red cherries against the grays. Great job on the silver and basket.
    I enjoyed your words on LOVE. Quite profound. I agree that it is fundamental to our being.
    Thanks for visiting my blog.

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    1. Thanks Julie! Not being able to paint has been the hardest part of the year (of having adhesive capsulitis) because it's my main coping mechanism!! It hurt to do this because I wanted to try using an easel again, but looks like I'll go back to the lap. The best part of being "back"? Catching up on your blog and the others I used to read daily! Sooo good to see-really such a great gift.

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  3. Hi Melle, so glad to see you painting again, this is beautiful, love the highlights on the cherries and the shine on the silver! I know exactly how you feel as I have been through the frozen shoulder pain, I've learnt to manage it with exercise and herbal remedies.

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    1. Hi Azra! Sorry to hear about your shoulder issues...I've had adhesive capsulitis in my dominant shoulder for almost 2 years. It's "thawing" now but the left shoulder has it now!! Physical therapy has been the most helpful thing for me. You continue to inspire me and I so enjoy swing your work.

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  4. Just re-visited your site. Glad to see you firing back up again. Come visit in GSO when you can.

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  5. I really miss class!!! even an evening might be a little challenging but I will try to get back. I am going to the Portrait Conference and really looking forward to that! Thanks for dropping in on the blog, Tom!

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