"We can shepherd the consciousness without seeing the sheep." ~David Spangler 9/29/08
Monday, September 29, 2008
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Island Journey - Shirley Jantz, Whidbey Island
Collage by Shirley Jantz. Digital image by Ann Johnson.
Island Journey
The energy that brought me to this Island
was playful Dolphin energy, that said,
"Go where the Mountains meet the Sea"
Reiki, T'ai Chi, Nature's Ways
put me on this path, following guidance of the Redwoods
A Lightworker for this Earth, this Island called for three years, or more...
to "Leap" from tradition, trusting in the Universe
Heron greeted me, Hummingbird delighted me
Whales came in dreams, beckoning me to Langley's Shores
Taking this 'life purpose' all too seriously, they showed a softness,
a letting go of carrying the weight of the world
Doing less, more is accomplished;
Life purpose still centering choices
Poetry and painting, singing, teaching and being,
this Island life allows balance and richness, community and quiet
that this Soul yearns for
~ Shirley
9-10-08
(***Note: Apologies to Shirley. The Blogger program reformatted her poem's alignment. ~AJ)
Friday, September 26, 2008
Island Women's Presence and Teachings
Digital images (Rose; Rose Hips) by Ann Johnson.
There are wonderful teachers on the various islands with lives in commitment to the green world and the gifts of elders. Until their voices arrive on this page, consider checking out the wisdom offered by Julie Charette Nunn at www.crowsdaughter.com/, Penny Bauer at www.bauerstudio.com/ and Mara Grey at www.natureweaving.com/. Traveling from Scotland to our island, Fionntulach, an anam cara and carrier of the Ceile De tradition, holds retreats during the year to bring spiritual teachings of the Ceile De order-www.ceilede.co.uk/ . Mhairi Killin's silver work on Iona is found at www.asodanaiona.com/ . For a pilgrimage to Iona, spend the time with Vivienne Hull, http://www.ionaretreats.com/.
Wild Ethics
Digital image (Druid's Cape) by Ann Johnson.
Quite awhile ago I read David Abram's The Spell of the Sensuous, and find myself returning to it occasionally. His website is a wonderful reference for me for considering sense of place, preserving oral tradition, change and transformation...... You may wish to check out http://www.wildethics.org/.
Quite awhile ago I read David Abram's The Spell of the Sensuous, and find myself returning to it occasionally. His website is a wonderful reference for me for considering sense of place, preserving oral tradition, change and transformation...... You may wish to check out http://www.wildethics.org/.
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Friday, September 12, 2008
Water, Land, Spirit, Creativity
Hi Ann,
You ask about living in a place surrounded by water and how that affects me. I find that my emotions are as the tides are, ebbing and flowing with my own mid-life tides. I find that I love being on the water, kayaking, swimming (especially in Maui, but also in Goss Lake) and being on the edge of water--standing at the shore. I just discovered that I thrive when I'm living on the water, as I did for three weeks as a cook aboard the Snowgoose Alaska in late July/early August. There is simply nothing like it and like a mermaid, I am passionate to return to life on a boat.
Regarding connection to the land here on Whidbey--we (being my husband Bill and I, along with our teenagers, when they join us) enjoy the land most when we can walk along the beach or on trails through the woods. The land at the Whidbey Institute and at the Whidbey Island Waldorf School, for instance, create a sense of peace, of nothing else existing but the place we are in. We feel noursihed by the green mosses during the gray months of winter. We are tickled to find leathery shelf mushrooms growing on trees like elf shelves. We find this great peace, too, at Ebey's Bluff, at DoubleBluff Beach, Maxwelton Beach, the Langley Waterfront, our local beaches along Saratoga Passage (especially in the full moonlight during clear February nights!) and in the Saratoga Woods. We simply cannot go long without connecting somehow to the wild land around us. Bike-riding is another way to enjoy the land here and feel the cooling breezes on your face as you fly downhill after hardwork uphill. I like to smell the sharp scent of cedars when the sun hits their bark.
Has this sense of the land changed over the years? Certainly! When we first moved here eight years ago we longed for the sere, open space of Southern California and the Eastern Sierra; it took us probably six years before we could actually come to love the closeness of forests and the way the treeline looks against the sky. It wasn't until this summer that we could truly love the high country in the North Cascades. We still miss rivers here on Whidbey and drive to the mainland to get their energy when we need the river spirits.
I have been attuned to the natural world since I was a little girl. I always felt right when I was in nature. Now I need it to keep me sane and in tune with my own thoughts. If I'm away from nature for too long, I become scattered. Living here on Whidbey with forests and water all around help maintain that balance. Thinking about that now, I notice the breezes blowing in through our deck door and long to be outside!
Isolation vs. community? At 53, I need a little of both; we get community by going into Langley and hanging around Island Coffee, shopping at the Star Store, visiting the Post Office and the Library. There is community 'round the table at the salons we host. Isolation--I like the quiet times when I can ruminate on my own thoughts, look a the way light shines on a tree or watch the crows eat apples in our backyard. We head into Seattle if we want a bigger community--say a concert.
Social justice and sustainable practices? I read about them and think about them and like people and music who/which promote them. I want to visit the guy who converts cars to run on vegetable oil. I will compost. I'm riding my bike more. I'm not loud about it--I believe that folks have to find their own ways at the right time--sometimes I find that though it's the RIGHT thing to do, I find it refreshing to talk to folks who are politically incorrect. They can, at times, seem happier not going around serious all the time. I'm a big fan of the god, Bacchus, I confess!
A distinction between creative and spiritual? Hmm. Mainly my creative work is cooking and it's a spiritual feeling, too. I feel spiritual in nature and am inspired to create funny cartoonish postcards of what I'm seeing, such as fir trees reflected in the teapot on our Coleman Stove.
With regards to 'connections to other than human life,' I most certainly feel connected to the trees, the land, the plants, the bugs, the birds, the mammals, our pets. I don't even question that connection--it's what grounds me. Humans, depending on my state of mind, are puzzling and interesting to figure out. I am endlessly connected to their stories.
I feel the best when I know I can earn money creatively. That really gets my juices going! Thinking about finding new sources of income is a drain on me spiritually and creatively.
I'll make you up one of my postcards and get it to you before Nov. 1st. Thanks, Ann, for this rambling moment.
Love,
Kate
You ask about living in a place surrounded by water and how that affects me. I find that my emotions are as the tides are, ebbing and flowing with my own mid-life tides. I find that I love being on the water, kayaking, swimming (especially in Maui, but also in Goss Lake) and being on the edge of water--standing at the shore. I just discovered that I thrive when I'm living on the water, as I did for three weeks as a cook aboard the Snowgoose Alaska in late July/early August. There is simply nothing like it and like a mermaid, I am passionate to return to life on a boat.
Regarding connection to the land here on Whidbey--we (being my husband Bill and I, along with our teenagers, when they join us) enjoy the land most when we can walk along the beach or on trails through the woods. The land at the Whidbey Institute and at the Whidbey Island Waldorf School, for instance, create a sense of peace, of nothing else existing but the place we are in. We feel noursihed by the green mosses during the gray months of winter. We are tickled to find leathery shelf mushrooms growing on trees like elf shelves. We find this great peace, too, at Ebey's Bluff, at DoubleBluff Beach, Maxwelton Beach, the Langley Waterfront, our local beaches along Saratoga Passage (especially in the full moonlight during clear February nights!) and in the Saratoga Woods. We simply cannot go long without connecting somehow to the wild land around us. Bike-riding is another way to enjoy the land here and feel the cooling breezes on your face as you fly downhill after hardwork uphill. I like to smell the sharp scent of cedars when the sun hits their bark.
Has this sense of the land changed over the years? Certainly! When we first moved here eight years ago we longed for the sere, open space of Southern California and the Eastern Sierra; it took us probably six years before we could actually come to love the closeness of forests and the way the treeline looks against the sky. It wasn't until this summer that we could truly love the high country in the North Cascades. We still miss rivers here on Whidbey and drive to the mainland to get their energy when we need the river spirits.
I have been attuned to the natural world since I was a little girl. I always felt right when I was in nature. Now I need it to keep me sane and in tune with my own thoughts. If I'm away from nature for too long, I become scattered. Living here on Whidbey with forests and water all around help maintain that balance. Thinking about that now, I notice the breezes blowing in through our deck door and long to be outside!
Isolation vs. community? At 53, I need a little of both; we get community by going into Langley and hanging around Island Coffee, shopping at the Star Store, visiting the Post Office and the Library. There is community 'round the table at the salons we host. Isolation--I like the quiet times when I can ruminate on my own thoughts, look a the way light shines on a tree or watch the crows eat apples in our backyard. We head into Seattle if we want a bigger community--say a concert.
Social justice and sustainable practices? I read about them and think about them and like people and music who/which promote them. I want to visit the guy who converts cars to run on vegetable oil. I will compost. I'm riding my bike more. I'm not loud about it--I believe that folks have to find their own ways at the right time--sometimes I find that though it's the RIGHT thing to do, I find it refreshing to talk to folks who are politically incorrect. They can, at times, seem happier not going around serious all the time. I'm a big fan of the god, Bacchus, I confess!
A distinction between creative and spiritual? Hmm. Mainly my creative work is cooking and it's a spiritual feeling, too. I feel spiritual in nature and am inspired to create funny cartoonish postcards of what I'm seeing, such as fir trees reflected in the teapot on our Coleman Stove.
With regards to 'connections to other than human life,' I most certainly feel connected to the trees, the land, the plants, the bugs, the birds, the mammals, our pets. I don't even question that connection--it's what grounds me. Humans, depending on my state of mind, are puzzling and interesting to figure out. I am endlessly connected to their stories.
I feel the best when I know I can earn money creatively. That really gets my juices going! Thinking about finding new sources of income is a drain on me spiritually and creatively.
I'll make you up one of my postcards and get it to you before Nov. 1st. Thanks, Ann, for this rambling moment.
Love,
Kate
Sunday, September 7, 2008
Voices from the Islands: Whidbey, Bainbridge, Iona, Lopez and Orcas
Digital image by Ann Johnson.
You are invited to share with other island dwellers. In this collaborative process, you will also be assisting me in my semester's work. I am working on a Masters of Fine Arts in Interdisciplinary Arts through Goddard College's west coast cohort.
Thank you, thank you, thank you!
We share a sense of living in a place surrounded by water. How does that force work in your life? How connected do you feel to the land and in what ways? Has this changed over the years? Do you attune to the natural world more or less than before? You may want to consider isolation vs. community and how that is for you on your island. What are your concerns right now about social justice and sustainable practices? In what ways do you make a stand? Loudly? Quietly, behind the scenes? Do you make a distinction betwee creative practices and spiritual practice?Most of all, I wonder how creative processes, connection to other-than-human life, and spirituality work in the daily lives of Island Women of all generations.
Let's begin from a non-verbal place for the Island Invitational. The other phase of the project is "making." Please make something small - 2" x 2" up to 12" x 12" - using color, collage, assemblage/found objects, clay, sculpture, digital image, woven natural materials, painting, drawing, poetry, writing........you get the idea. Something that expresses you in a way that words cannot. I would love to have objects for an installation piece. If I can exchange mail information, maybe that could happen. Otherwise we can create a virtual gallery. Please post the results here with your thoughts by November 1.
Several people are concerned about posting directly online as a contributor. I will contact people with the option to bring, email or mail the Island project to me.
I will be adding names in continuously, so that we can have many islanders take part.
Thank you for being part of the process!!! More later.....
~~~ Ann
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