We can attempt to teach the things that one might imagine the earth would teach us: silence, humility, holiness, connectedness, courtesy, beauty, celebration, giving, restoration, obligation and wildness.
David Orr from "Earth in Mind"

Jan 18, 2008

Inspiring and Living Well

I've been busy at nights making things for the spring. When the tourists return, they are like the birds. Every night I finish one project, the last few nights it has been tote bags, each one different and slowly I am learning to create the objects that I imagine. It has taken a while to pull myself away from the temptations of imitation only. I now feel comfortable knowing that I work with inspiration from others.

There is a lot in this world to be inspired by, places and people, nature itself and others projects (yes almost every word in this sentence is a link). I am realizing that I am very lucky to spend so much time creating and being around things that others have created with their own hands.

Every night as I sing Alder to sleep in the big bed with his head burrowed into my neck I realize how lucky I am. Each night I sing the same songs, I add some over time take away ones I am tired of but there are a few that always remain. We start with Twinkle Twinkle (*see alternate verses below) and then The Riddle Song, then Michael Row Your Boat. We end with Dance With Me with is a song I made up for Alder about a mother holding her child and dancing down from the mountains to the ocean, it's lyrics are changeable and the song never turns out quite the same except the chorus "Dance with me, dance with me down to the ocean. Dance with me down to the Sea."

Once he is asleep or drifting off I go to my studio and have uninterrupted time for working on projects. We may not be wealthy, I know we are far from rich, but I have time to myself everyday to be creative, that is worth millions of dollars.

*Alternative Twinkle Twinkle Verses

Are you a squid or are you an octopus,
Do you hide in the darkness,
Or do you hide in a space so small,
It's only the size of your eye ball,

Are you a squid or are you an octopus,
Do you have eight legs or are you enormous?

2 comments:

Gone said...

Stacey, you guys are so rich it's untrue, it may not be money but what you have is worth much more as you know.

Sorry about the sports stuff, sometimes something really big happens in our little fishpond up here in the top corner of England and I get a little over excited.

Jimin said...

thank you for visiting smallville blog. i love the new verses of twinkle song. english is still my second language so i am not a good writer. it always amaze me people who write and inspire people. i enjoyed reading this story. i feel same way, too.