by June | Sep 25, 2018 | Blogposts
The world is a Muddy Mess. Russia, China, North Korea – just say the words and people shudder. Think Syria and images of shattered lives jump out. Picture Guatemala and Hawaii and dangerous lava flows, rather than holiday-time on the beach, come to mind. Remember Puerto Rico and phrases like “still no electricity a year later!” and images of a President throwing rolls of paper towels flash into view.
Daily, we learn of fires, floods, tornadoes; unsafe drinking water, hurricanes; homelessness, addiction, mental health issues, poverty in developing countries and developed countries, and children who are being abducted, prostituted and held in prison-like conditions. Watch what is happening in the United States, and, well … it’s a muddy, Muddy Mess World!
And then something happens to remind us of hope … the kind about which poet Emily Dickinson wrote: “Hope is the thing with feathers That perches in the soul, and sings the tune without the words, and never stops at all, and sweetest in the gale is heard; and sore must be the storm that could abash the little bird That kept so many warm.”
That hope showed up for me when a neighbour’s child strutted past my front window in her mother’s high heel shoes … well, maybe ‘strut’ isn’t the right word … more like ‘wobbled’. A smile broke out on my face, hope filled my heart, and joy flooded my soul.
That hope showed up for me when I experienced barefoot, dirty, hungry little children standing (as there was no room for them to sit in a tiny room in an impossibly crowded refugee camp in Sri Lanka) and sang with glorious smiles on their faces as their eyes lit-up with excitement and happiness. I remember a smile breaking out on my face, hope filling my heart and joy flooding my soul.
As I think of the Muddy Mess this world is in, as I wonder what kind of a world we are leaving these children and their children and their children, I focus on those two images: the children in the refugee camp in Sri Lanka; the neighbour child in high heels crossing the street. They remind me to not give away my hope. Negative thinking doesn’t do me any good. Negative thinking doesn’t do any good for the children. Negative thinking doesn’t do any good for this Muddy Mess World.
So I look to hopeful images. They remind me of the power I have to make a difference in my little corner of the world … to vote … to pray …to be active in my community … to do what I can to keep this community safe … to stay strong and hope-filled and take a lesson from the children – keep playing, keep laughing, keep dancing, keep singing. In spite of the grief, in spite of the fear, in spite of the angst and stress and worry … there are children in this Muddy Mess World playing dress-up, singing, dancing, playing baseball with pebbles from the bombed-out buildings. We must not let negative energy cloud our ability to hope … and believe … that this Muddy Mess World *will* get cleaned up.
Photo & Text © June Maffin
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by June | Sep 18, 2018 | Blogposts
My name is UNFI. I’m not pretty. I’m not adorable. And I’m not finished.
Far from it. I am ‘unfinished.’ UNFI for short.
But I am “becoming” finished. So are you, dear reader … none of us has yet ‘arrived’ … none of us is ‘finished’ – yet In a way, we are all UNFI.
And just as the creator, who created me delights in me, so too does the Creator who created you … delight in you … just as you are … on the road to ‘becoming finished”. We are all UNFI. 🙂
An aside: UNFI is a puppet and in her ‘unfinished’ state, she was entered into the puppet category at the Fall Cowichan Exhibition and was awarded Second Prize. And no, I’m not going to ‘finish’ her for if I did, she would no longer be my teacher and remind me that I have not-yet-arrived, that I am in the process-of-becoming, and that I too am UNFI. 🙂
© June Maffin (www.soulistry.com/blog)
by June | Aug 4, 2018 | Blogposts
It’s been said that some things in life can’t be recovered:
a stone … after it’s thrown;
a word … after it is said;
an occasion … after it’s missed;
dessert … after it’s been eaten;
the time … after it’s gone;
a person … after they die.
Life is short sooooooo, let’s forgive quickly; kiss slowly; love deeply; laugh uncontrollably; express gratitude for the big and little blessings and never regret anything or anyone that makes you smile.
To life! L’chaim!
© June Maffin www.facebook.com/groups/soulistry
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by June | Aug 2, 2018 | Blogposts
I don’t understand religious intolerance. I don’t understand non-religious intolerance. If people are kind, compassionate and respectful to animals, the earth, the sky, the waters, other people, themselves, what harm is there if they choose to believe in a God, but do so in their own way – use different names, wear different types of clothing, worship in different structures, have different traditions, etc.? If people are kind, compassionate and respectful to animals, the earth, the sky, the waters, other people, themselves, what harm is there if they don’t believe in a God, or don’t know if there is a God?
But, it happens – and it begins with judgement. When judgement begins, intolerance isn’t far behind. And where there is intolerance … hatred can flourish.
There are those who believe in a Deity who may not experience or understand the Divine in the same way as others, and they try to live loving, kind lives. There are those who don’t believe in the existence of a Deity or don’t know if there is a Deity. Atheist or agnostic, they try to live loving, kind lives.
In these difficult days of fear-mongering threats by world leaders, I find it is good to believe that, regardless of ascription or non-ascription to a religion, there are people who try to live loving, productive lives. Why can’t the focus be on the way people live loving and kind lives of thoughtfulness, gentleness, self-control, patience, goodness, compassion, gratitude rather than their belief, or disbelief, in a Deity? Why can’t the focus be more on the Good that unites, than that which divides?
I don’t understand intolerance of people who believe in a Deity. I don’t understand intolerance of people who believe in a Deity, but believe differently. I don’t understand intolerance of people who don’t believe. And I don’t understand intolerance of people who don’t know if they believe. I just don’t understand.
Text & Photo © June Maffin
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by June | Jul 24, 2018 | Blogposts
I’ve just returned from an art workshop with artist Madeleine Durham where I had lots of fun making Modern Paste Papers following Madeleine’s oh-so-creative technique using some remarkable Japanese papers. It looked so easy! But, it wasn’t. Even though I had fun, I couldn’t ‘get it’. And then, in the final twenty minutes of the workshop, I came close to Madeleine’s technique. But, the workshop was over and it was time to pack up.
Now I’m home and when the schedule clears a bit, in the tradition of W.E. Hickson (who popularized the proverb: “‘Tis a lesson you should heed: Try, try, try again. If at first you don’t succeed, try, try, try again”), I’m going to “try, try, try again.”
In the meantime, I’ve hung some of the papers I made, the Studio, to give me ideas about colour, design and paper selection.
* Will I … use the ever-reliable Arches Text-Wove or will I … use some of the wonderfully versatile and lightweight Washi (wa= japanese; shi = paper) Japanese papers that Linda of Washi Arts brought?
* Will I … stick with my favourite colours of blues/turquoise/purple/deep burgundy or will I … experiment with colours that are anything-but my favourites? * Will I … focus on the selection of pattern or will I … just let things happen?
Life is a little bit like that. There are questions with each dilemma we face and often the presenting question is … “Will I … ?” There is freedom in that question for me … freedom in considering the options … freedom in choosing one of the options … freedom in making a decision … freedom in following a certain path.
Summer is a great time to think and plan and while I haven’t made a decision about any of the options yet, before the summer ends … I will!
© June Maffin www.facebook.com/groups/soulistry www.soulistry.com/blog
Thanks to
Paste Paper Artist: Madeleine Durham
https://www.facebook.com/madeleinedurhampastepapers/
Washi Paper Artist: Linda of Washi Arts
https://www.washiarts.com/
by June | Jul 21, 2018 | Blogposts
She was a child who loved to create! Colours in her paintings, unusual shapes in her designs, squiggles on paper that became flowers and patterns and who-knows-what in her young imaginative mind, brought her great delight and satisfaction.
But when her teacher didn’t “see” what the child saw and said “Why can’t you colour within the lines? Why can’t you do the assignment as I gave it to you?”, that all came to an end. The little child interpreted those comments that she was a failure and carried that feeling with her throughout her adult life. She hardly ever uttered the words “I’ll try.” And if she did try, it was always stated as “I’ll try, but …”
One day at coffee during a workshop I was facilitating, Elspeth began to explain her frustration telling me that she was not creative, she could not draw or paint, she had no artistic ability, and she was going to leave the workshop. “I’m such a failure!” she said, staring at the blank sheet of paper, unable to put any mark on the sheet of paper in front of her. Failure? Not in my eyes. But in her eyes, yes, failure.
Elspeth was not looking at her work that day through the eyes of the happy little girl of long ago who took a pattern and played with it using paints and crayons and coloured pencils and her creative imagination. In her creatively extended pattern beyond-the-shapes’-boundaries, she was anything-but-a-failure. When Elspeth grew up and remembered her childhood teacher’s comments, her spirit was stifled. For decades, she saw herself as a failure, not just in artistic endeavours, but in many areas of her life.
As we chatted, she began to realize that a comment made long ago had crippled her adult self-image. Right then and there, she made a conscious decision to no longer give her power away to that memory and she decided to remain in the workshop. Before she knew it, she was creating incredible pieces of marbled paper which she later turned into envelopes, greeting cards and wrapping paper. “I didn’t know I could do anything like that” she said with a big smile as she left that day. “But I can! And I will!” And, she has!
How often do we let the negative words of the past flood our present and restrict our creativity? How often do we allow others or memories of the past have power over us? How often do we put limits on ourselves and don’t risk, don’t travel, don’t take workshops, don’t step out of our comfort zone and try something new. We’ve all done it at one time or some way or another. There are places I have not travelled – yet. There are books I have not read – yet. There are dreams I have not realized – yet. There are things in the technology world I cannot do – yet. There are crafts and skills I cannot do – yet.
One thing I know … I won’t let negative thoughts, memories, people stop or limit my forays into learning and growing. So, this weekend, I’m off to learn a new Paste Paper technique … removing another thing on my “Yet-List.”
© June Maffin
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