Winter Solstice 2021

 

ANOTHER YEAR - BE OF GOOD CHEER— THE RETURN OF THE LIGHT!

Third Fig

Edna was blessed with two figs: 

Searing light of inspiration and 

delicate balance of temporal home. 

I feel gluttonous claiming 

a third fig just for 

it's tempting taste.

(In homage to Edna St. Vincent Millay)

https://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/millay/figs/figs.html

I am thinking of staging an art exhibit of my paintings and artist books in January at my home. If you are interested in attending please let me know.

  

Untitled — MixedMedia on Paper

October 2021 — 11” x 14” each

Ruth Ann Howden 

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I’ve read a lot this year, and I want to share a few notes from books that gave me hope.

This is not a passive hope that someone will save us, but hope for our being active together.

Timefullness by Marcia Bjornerud, (2020) I wrote about this book earlier this year, and I keep thinking about her incredibly long-range view of time/geological scale I know we would be acting far different if we could get free of our quarterly-profit mode of thinking. A shift in perspective. . .

Hope by Jane Goodall and Douglas Abrams (2021)

A survival guide for trying times is an easy read, well written in an interview format, listing four reasons for hope: 

1. the amazing human intellect. 
2. the resilience of nature. 
3. the power of young people. 
4. the indomitable human spirit.

What we nurture and encourage wins. A reminder of how much our words matter, even when we don’t know it; that hope is a socialist gift.

Radical Hope edited by Carolina De Roberts (2017)

“letters of love and dissent in dangerous times.” I liked how book was divided into roots, branches and seeds. Various authors writing about the time when #45 came to power based on racism, yet finding hope in indomitable human spirit. Horrendous stories of immigration and harsh reality of trying to make it in United States. Luis Alberto Urrea quotes Neil Cassidy as writing to Jack Kerouac, “Grace beats karma.” Katie Kitamura on distrusting certitude: “I need to believe in the value of the doubt I now feel, in its ability to create a space for the slowness of thought and conviction. I need to believe in it, not least because it promotes thinking before acting – – and if there is one thing we know about the president elect, is that he acts before he thinks.” And Celeste Ng’s family motto “ be kind, be curious, be helpful.” Goal is to be open always. Cristina Garcia, “ I hope technology isn’t holding you hostage the way it does so many of us today, fracturing concentration, keeping us neglectful of those we love, surrendering our time to eat empty seductions.” 

Saving Us by Katharine Hayhoe  (2021)

A climate scientist’s case for hope and healing in a divided world. Mostly she is talking about interpersonal connecting with values to establish understanding and trust. Individuals do not make much impact, except with their words and by banning together for action.

Feline Philosophy by John Gray (2020) — I am not a cat person, can’t explain why I read this, but yes it was enjoyable and thought provoking. “Human beings chase power in order to give themselves a sense of escaping death,… cats accept life as a gift. Humans are different. Unlike other animals, they are ready to die for their beliefs. Monotheists and rationalists regard this as a mark of our superiority. It shows we live for the sake of ideas, not just instinctual satisfaction. But if humans are unique in dying for ideas, they are also alone in killing for them. Killing and dying for nonsensical ideas is how many human beings have made sense of their lives.”

The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich (2020)

A novel based on her grandfather who successfully fought the US Government in 1954 to prevent their tribe’s termination.

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hopeful haiku

Reimagine hope -

proceed by questioning all. 

It’s still possible

Words

Language is our super power. yet

We toss out words carelessly, 

they can explode with sweetness, or fury. 

Words can console or cancel,

then regroup into exquisite bouquets. 

I* want to spread words like seeds and rose petals 

toward a future of good cheer. 

Examine and question

Read aloud, what do they say now, and now?

Listen 

(*I am not a robot)