You Tell Me
It cannot be so you say…
Simple hands cannot change the fate of humanity.
I say humanity is a boundless, absorbing heart,
Transcending death, and generations, and centuries,
Absorbing bullets, and stitches, and tear gas,
Enduring humiliation, and illegal abortions, and thankless jobs.
I say to you, the heart of humanity has not and will not be broken.
And let us raise ourselves like lanterns.
With the millions of others,
With the mad, and the forgotten, and the strong of heart,
To shine.
– Jewel
I’m a huge Jewel fan. She is my favorite female artist of all time, and I feel that this poem, much like her song Hands, has a very beautiful message–one I think we can’t be reminded of enough. That the human heart can endure the unimaginable and has done so for centuries. That we are never broken. And that in our humanness, with our own hands and with great love, we have the ability to transform the world.
Speaking from my own perspective, and taking my own small hands, with great love, I am assuming the duties of being a Parelli Natural Horsemanship Ambassador. I received the promotional materials today: 12 Parelli Horse and Soul Tour posters and 50 tickets. For those unacquainted with Parelli, their mission statement is: “To make the world a better place for horses and the people that love them.” They are all about the fusion of human and horse psychology and putting the relationship between horse and human above every other goal–something that can and should be transferred to human relationships with other humans as well! The program is taught in levels with a set of core principles that will transform all areas of your life if you embark on this journey with your horse. It is a truly remarkable program! And as a natural born horse-lover from birth, I can’t be more excited about doing my part to help spread this message.
Furthermore, today I decided to reorganize my art studio (also known as the dining room, ha!) and ended up just turning on my music and repainting my artful shelf/wine rack (can’t seem to remember what it’s actually called). It was an ugly brown and it is now almost all white. It’s become quite a project with all the swirly, curly metal to paint! But hopefully I’ll be putting my studio back together later tonight. I have a lot of work that I’m excited to do, but at a certain point… areas of creation need to be reorganized and revamped for optimal creating to be able to take place! My makeshift studio had definitely reached that point! Though I like being surrounded by wine in my work, the wine fridge just needed to be out of my creative space and has been happily moved to the kitchen, giving me a little much-needed extra space. At first it seemed like a daunting task, but who says cleaning can’t be a creative act also? Perspective is everything.
For instance, today was just another seemingly ordinary day. I woke up, took a shower, and ate breakfast. The sink was full of dishes from making dinner the night before. Pieces of my boyfriend’s beer-brewing/equipment-making materials were strewn about the living room floor and abandoned for the next five days. The dogs had tracked in mud, leaving muddy paw prints sprinkled across the linoleum in the kitchen. Laundry was waiting patiently in baskets. But in pulling myself out of the thinking about how much never-ending work cleaning the house is, I took a breath and realized, this is really sacred. The life and joy the dogs bring to the house… is sacred. Having a loving life partner who is so passionate about his hobbies, is sacred. Having food to eat and nice dishes to wash, is sacred. It’s finally April and the rain from the past couple of days has brought the grass to life again, sprinkling the yard with spikes of vibrant green. Buds are swelling on the trees. That fat squirrel is back stuffing his face with the sunflower seeds I threw out in the front yard. There is no ordinary day. Every day is extraordinary whether we notice it or not, just as there’s no such thing as a gray day. The sun is always shining, the sky is always blue, it’s just that sometimes there are gray clouds in front of the blue sky. That said, not only will I do the work necessary for my art business and excitedly plan my Parelli marketing goals today, but, with great joy, I will also go let the dogs outside for the 97th time today, clean up my boyfriend’s mess, and once again partake in the sacred washing of dishes!
So for all of us with our boundless, absorbing hearts, I hope that we can all see a way to transcend the gray skies in our lives (in whatever forms they may take), remember that we are never broken, and raise ourselves like lanterns!… and SHINE.
The ART of Life 