Word of the Week - 99

Both illustrations by Wolf Erlbruch.

Word of the Week:  TEND

To apply one's self to the care of.  To watch over.

How do we see to one another, not allow any of us to disappear beneath the waves of ordinary misfortune?   That, I believe, is our Work.

My list of Those Most Dear leans toward the simultaneously blessed and cursed whose minds and works reveal them to be angels, possibly gods in human form to whom sorrow is no stranger.

Poets, musicians, writers, painters, performers, shamans, samaritans, cooks, teachers, healers, fliers at all altitudes, entrepreneurs, intuitives, we are all richer for what you bring to our days.  That your own days have been, and frequently continue to be filled with illness, loss, trauma, lack, terror, pain and bewilderment has not stopped you, has rarely slowed you down.

My tending, if such were possible, would be a continual disbursement of care packages filled with everything you need most:  health, peace, strength, optimism, guarantee of a desired outcome, the meeting of every possible physical, material and spiritual need, humor and music and beauty and light and love.   My tending would bring, to the outer edge of anyone's ability, safety.  The unknown will always be part of this existence but it would not be the lurking, crouching thing-behind-the-door that it has become.  A margin of security is not too much to ask.

I would walk you in your fishbowl, groom and stroke your dear warty head, smooth your collar and see that your necktie was properly knotted.   I would send what is warm (or cool) and bright, lend my own solid arm to lean upon, install elevators where needed and employ reliable, skilled craftspeople to fix whatever required mending.  Going without would no longer be the only option.

My life is continually blessed and illuminated by those who tend to me.  One profound reminder of such tending hangs on my bedroom wall, an assemblage that proclaims, "I get by with a little help from my friends."  So do we all.  xo

Word of the Week - 79

All illustrations by Wolf Erlbruch.

Word of the Week:  CREATURES

"Our task must be to free ourselves by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature and its beauty."    Albert Einstein

As I wrote this over the weekend, I believe experts are still trying to find again, then free a blue whale off the coast of Los Angeles who became tangled in fishing line.  To see the aerial footage of this 75-foot example of Earth's largest creature in our local waters is a remarkable experience, even from the comfort of the living room.  The rescue team admits they have no blue whale experience, they don't know what the response may be to divers swimming close.

Hopping from nature to the world of art, I am enchanted by those who turn to the animal, insect, etc. kingdoms for inspiration.  Last winter I found the work of felting artist Celestine and the Hare, her creatures and her humor which now brighten every day of my life.  The list of illustrators who have charmed me over a lifetime would take days to compile.  For now, I'll share the art of Wolf Erlbruch whose animals and others bring joy.   Mister Finch creates arachnids and lepidoptera of unusual size to help populate our imaginations.  Ceramic artist Midori Takaki has mastered the art of tapirs and softly-glazed polar bears.

I marvel at the ways in which the world can be both large and small simultaneously.  The great blue whale and the statistic that perhaps only 5% of ocean life has even been identified, side by side with great silliness in a tiny package.  Fall in love with as much as possible.  It is all so miraculous.

The felted art of Celestine and the Hare made weasel a household word.

A moth in vintage fabric from Mister Finch.

Ceramic tapirs by Midori Takaki.