I was watching a bird fly across the sky yesterday. He was stretching his wings wide, moving across the strong wind current that is created in the apex of where Manhattan, Queens and The Bronx all converge and the East river begins it's hectic current along the banks of Spanish Harlem and Western Queens. I felt his struggle. He need to get somewhere. His lonliness of no companions alongside to guide him or take the weight of the wind off of his feathers. But in my feeling I knew not what the origin of his struggle was. Was this bird taking flight away? On the beginning of his new journey. In that state of anxiety and determination that accompanies one when they know they have both moved onto an unknown path but with all their essense know that this unknown route is the most correct thing they have done in a long time. Or was he struggling to find his way back? Find his family, his village, his home. Was the intensity in his winged stroke not of determination but of desperation? Was his heart that beat so strongly that I felt it on the ground underneath him anxious for he understood how wrong his previous decisions were?
As I laid my head back listening to the sounds of intense dripping music I realized how similiar these feelings and routes were. How beautiful and desperate both routes were. That what I was conecting with was this bird's knowledge. His understanding of his next step. He knew where to go from here. He may have been on the right track last night or last week or he may have been on the wrong, but there was no mistaking that knowledge, the realization, the confidence in him that where he was going now was the correct route. And I became so intensely aware of how little strangers and friends really know where you are headed.
So much of success is dependent on others around us. We may carry our own lives but the people around us help in so many little ways each day. When you personify success, when you convince the people around you that you have taken that less travelled path on purpose, they will follow you. They will believe in your intensity and boost you up every boulder. They will carry your pack and splint your leg after you fall. It is the impression of the people around you that makes the difference. If they believe in you, you can be successful. Yes, people are sheep, but it's not that they desire to be eaten by the wolves, but they want a shepherd to guide them. So as you make decisions in life, make ones that exude confidence. Live life as if you know that what comes next is correct. We all change our minds at times, but it doesn't mean you have to go backwards. You just have to change directions. Live life with purpose and awareness of your success that is ahead of you. That is what will bring you success and happiness.

Porcelain

I watched the Discovery launch this morning. It's been the work of the NASA family for many years to fix the porcelain tiles that fractured on the Challenger launch and subsequently killed all the members on board. I have known and quietly admired the simplicity of the porcelain tiles since I was in high school. Back then I was just beginning my obsession with ceramics and loved to spill out all the spectacular uses that clay and in particular porcelain had for the world.
It's so simple in it's essence. Earth, Water and Fire. The three elements. I think that was what had attracted me to the medium in the first place. I feel humans don't spend enough time appreciating the earth they live on and any chance I get to move closer to the earth I grab with furtive desire. Before I worked in ceramics I used photography as my medium of choice. Although the technical innovation of the metals that create photos enchanted me I was always bothered by the damage that photographic by-products cause. So ceramics seemed like a wonderful new venue.
As I said before, I loved talking to people about the vast and long history of clay with humans. The way African, Chinese, Middle Eastern, and South American cultures all knew the vast uses and benefits of clay both before and after heating the material. The way that such a simple item, one that is found around the world in a complete and ready to use formula, can continue in this day and age to show itself as on the cutting edge of innovation. It's an item that is tested constantly in laboratories around the world, is used in computers, is beneficial to the human skin, and enhances the enjoyment of children at fancy "Make your own Pot" birthday parties. And of course pure porcelain keeps astronauts from burning up in re-entry through the earth's atmosphere.
So what of all this? Why does this matter? What can we as a culture learn from today's launch? Don't we have other more pressing matters to deal with?
Someone 50+ years ago looked at porcelain and saw past it's skin. Saw past how fragile porcelain is when you drop it. Saw past how limited it's uses were, saw past it's limitations and gave it the opportunity to do more than what it should be able to do. And now porcelain saves the lives of astronauts every time they re-enter the earth's atmosphere allowing these scientists to do research that has saved countless numbers of lives around the world.
So when our "First World" countries sit around in their board rooms talking at conferences such as the G8, discussing who to help and who not to help. Remember that these are just people like us. They have never has the opportunity to prove themselves. We have never given them the hope needed to prove themselves. We are the ones who can give them the ability to do more then even they have ever dreamed they could be. We are the ones with the power to transform the world. If only we could give the world that chance.

Love

Quote for thought

As we question what our government can and can't do to us. As we question what is inconvienent and what is obtrusive. As New Yorkers ask "What do I care if they search my bag, I have nothing to hide?" Remember these words.....

"Those who would give up essential liberty, to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety." Benjamin Franklin

I have often felt myself say I don't mind our government taking a closer look to insure my safety but then I realize what this really means. Does looking in my bag really stop a terrorist. Maybe for the first couple of weeks. Maybe for a stupid terrorist. But as many New Yorkers realized in a matter of moments you could deny your bag being searched and walk the ten minutes to the next stop where there are no police checking bags.

We must think about what our government is doing. We must make them accountable for their actions. They must being able to explain the real reasons for the things they do. They must be able to prove the beneficiary value of the liberties they infringe upon. We must make them prove these things.

To quote the wise forebearer of our country again "Make yourselves sheep and the wolves will eat you." B.F.

I will not lose this country without a fight.

Sincerely,
cat

The zebra meeting

As I stood on the Zimbabwean plain, the grass, greener than I had expected, was tickling my ankles in the back of my brain, I felt the immense power and intelligence of the zebra in front of me. We stood maybe 60 feet apart watching each other for a moment, assessing ones’ reasons for being there. The sun beat intensely upon my back, pushing me to move first. Slowly approaching this zebra asking to be let into his world he allowed my entrance. I remember the tension in my body. My left thigh kept twitching not being able to fully conceal my anxiety and excitement. I don’t remember how long I was there, it seemed like a moment and a lifetime at once. I felt my heart beat with all the work I had done to get here. All the sacrifices I had made. All the evenings I spent alone to further my work and this trip. All the things I had given up and taken on to build my soul into one that was ready for this moment. I knew he felt it too. He could smell my pride. He could see the adoration in my eyes. He could feel my respect in each gentle chosen step upon his living room rug. He waited for me. He allowed me to control the movements but in doing so he had control over me. His aura of strength and pride swelled around him, sending fear into those who stood behind me but sending a sensual calmness into me. I was maybe twenty feet from this beast. I could see his lungs expand and compress. I could feel the beauty and wild nature behind his eyes.

Unfortunately my guide got nervous and stepped out of the jeep. In an instant he veered his eyes from me to the guide and turned from kindness to fear and anger. Then he was gone. Later my guide said he got out to “protect me” if needed.

I place this here to express how important wild nature is to me. I have always felt I’m a wild person. Someone who isn’t designed to be “broken”. A wild horse should run upon the land, not be penned on a farm. A panther sits upon a branch of a tree to create distance and force respect of its space. And there are only a few people, who truly understand pride, strength, and love that can enter the world of these beautiful animals. Who can see and feel the true nature of wild. Who shows respect for and believes love and kindness are paramount in this world.

Love

Welcome

Welcome,

I come to participate in the oh so exciting world of blogging. As of late I've found my head bursting with things that need to be said. Ponderings of the world, thoughts on relationships, or anything that seems to grow out of my head etc. etc. I hope that people will find my ponderings worthy reading on a regular basis. Maybe they are, and maybe they aren't. But I'm not out here to make a name or to make a living. Just trying to find a peacful, cathartic, intelligent way to express my own special blend of life.

And off we go......

I'm going to start right off with what is most important to me. Love. There is nothing more important in this world. There is nothing that should be more given to and applied in this world than love. I will reiterate this is so many ways in so many blogs that I'm sure people will get sick of it. But it is what I live my life by.
When is love not important?
Never
We feel love in the smallest of moments, an extra hand to hold the door for the next person coming through, a slight of turn as we pass by strangers, a smile to the newest of the world, a moment to acknowledge each other's pain and as the size and encompassing abilities of love grow we feel it's strength and power over us all. To see the love in it's larger scenes is harder though. For in seeing this love we also see the pain. There is always pain connected with love, black against white, curves against rigidity, cold against heat, and the same way the wind swirls heat around the world pushed through one space by cold and back again, we feel the glowing beauty of love pressed against the piercing daggers of pain.
So many spend their life hiding from pain and by colaboration hide from love as well. So many are scared of their feeling that neutrility is the best answer. Such a pedantic view of emotions has becoming so damaging to our society. We can no more eliminate pain then we can stop the wind from blowing. Yet we create walls around our heart, around our lives, around our soul to protect ourselves when all this really does is stiffle all feeling. We sit in our cage recirculating our exhaled air until we sufficate because of our own nessecity to breathe. NO more can we grow and thrive in this cage then a coral can grow without it's seawater. No more can we show our true colors to the world, our beat in the rhythm, our sensile pattern in the quilt, without our emotions exposed to the elements. And as the tree grows knots and curves it's trunk when damaged so do we, but in the end the tree has a story to tell, the tomato that is bruised is all that sweeter, and the person who has felt crushing earthquakes of pain and exhalting rhythms of love is all that more beautiful for experiencing life.

Love