This year . . .

This is a sample page from my artist's journal, a page I made a number of years ago. You may not be able to read my handwriting, so here's what it says:

Ahem . . . You aren't paying attention. You have all these ideas that you collect, that you write down, that you illustrate, but you rarely go back and follow up. Are you a dreamer or a do-er?

My years-ago writing holds true today. I never feel I'm doing enough, but I have hundreds of ideas for what I think I want to do.

Since moving to Whidbey Island, however, I'm actually making a lot of art.

So in my next post, I'll talk about what what I've made, and what I'm currently working on. And don't think that doesn't make me uncomfortable!

©Carol Leigh
All text, photographs, and other media are ©Copyright Carol Leigh (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from Carol Leigh.

May 2017 exceed your expectations.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!

A word for the upcoming year?

A word for the upcoming year? Many are giving it thought.

My friend, Laura Lein-Svencner, has decided on NATURAL, a word that, for lots of reasons, resonates with her, has meaning for her, and will be something that’s always in the back of her mind.

So I wondered, should I have a word? A meaningful concept always floating around in my brain, consciously, or sub-?

This past year has been a challenge. I’ve always been apolitical, far removed from the fray. But this year? It’s been hard to ignore, hasn’t it? Never has politics been so repugnant, repellent, repulsive than what we saw in 2016, no matter which side you were on.

Name-calling, misogyny, bigotry, pettiness — all shoved in our faces, every minute of every day.

Where was decency, empathy, kindness, and objectivity?

It all came to a head this past week when a crony of the president-elect said the most despicable and hateful things about the outgoing president and his wife.

It made me cry in despair. And it made the word I’d chosen for 2016 come into sharp focus:

RISE

The word RISE is nothing but positive. An “upward movement.” To ascend. To go up. To do a better job.

Hot air balloons rise upward. “A rising tide floats all boats.” Rise from the ashes. Rise above expectations. Rise to the challenge. Rise to the occasion. Boost. Prosper.

Get up, stand up. The sun also rises. Sunrise. SurpRISE!

So that’s my word for 2017. RISE. Rise above the bigotry, meanness, hate, pettiness, aggression, the ordinary, the stupidity, the average. “We rise by lifting others.”

It’s a short, monosyllabic word — RISE. How hard could it be to put into practice? We shall see. In 2017, we shall see.

Wishing you all the best of everything in 2017.

Carol Leigh
Chris Smith
Abby the Psycho Cat