"The sun was gone, but he had left his footprints in the sky."
(from Their Eyes Were Watching God)
"She jumped at the sun."
(from the narration of the excellent PBS documentary)
"Woman Looking Up," from 1984, was inspired by having read one of Zora Neale Hurston's books. I'm grateful to have read Their Eyes Were Watching God in the 1980s at a time when I needed a perspective on life that could sustain me for years to come and then to be reacquainted with Zora Neale Hurston through this documentary.
One day in 1987, while skeptically listening to a Lummi woman speak of God's loving presence in her life, it occurred to me that a person doesn't have to believe in God to order to believe that another person not only believes in God but has had the experience of feeling loved by that presence they refer to as "God."
Just now, in an email from Daily Celebrations, I learned that Martin Luther King, Jr. and Etty Hillesum share the same birthdate. Today. January 15.
Etty Hillesum was born in 1914. Martin Luther King, Jr. was born in 1929.
From Daily Celebrations, about Etty Hillesum:
"Sometimes the most important thing in a whole day is the rest we take between two deep breaths, or the turning inwards in prayer for five short minutes." ~ Etty Hillesum
Dutch writer Etty Hillesum (1914-1943) was born on this day and studied law and psychology in Amsterdam.One of the millions of Holocaust victims, she was best known for the insight and inspiration of her diaries.
She said, "One must also accept that one has 'uncreative' moments. The more honestly one can accept that, the quicker these moments will pass."
Her diaries and letters, from 1941-1943 were published in An Interrupted Life (1982). Describing feeling like a "soul without a skin," Hillesum captured her thoughts about God and humanity in eight hand-written notebooks which she began writing nine months after Hitler's Nazis invaded the Netherlands. She continued writing until her death two years later.
"We should be willing to act as a balm for all wounds," she observed. Called the adult counterpart to Anne Frank, Hillesum's writing passionately celebrated life, the human spirit and the power of love.
In 1943, she and her family were sent to the gas chambers of Auschwitz. "God is not accountable to us, but we are to Him," she wrote. "I know what may lie in wait for us.... And yet I find life beautiful and meaningful."
~Give yourself a moment's breath.
After reading that, I found this quote by Martin Luther King, Jr.:
"Human salvation lies in the hands of the creatively maladjusted."
When I did this drawing, I was not feeling confident or strong in any area of my life except as an artist. People frequently expressed astonishment when they saw my drawings, saying things like "you are such a quiet and reserved person, it is surprising that you come up with these bold images."
Around the time I did this drawing I read Zora Neale Hurston's book, Their Eyes Were Watching God, which ends in the wake of a storm of Hurricane Katrina's magnitude and devastation:
"It was the meanest moment of eternity. A minute before she was just a scared human being fighting for its life. Now she was her sacrificing self with Teacake's head in her lap. She had wanted him to live so much and he was dead. No hour is ever eternity but it has its right to weep. Janie held his head tightly to her breast and wept and thanked him for giving her the chance for loving service. She had to hug him tight, for soon he would be gone. She had to tell him for the last time. Then the grief of darkness descended."
How can I be useful, of what service can I be? There is something inside me, what can it be? -- Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890)
Welcome to "37TH DREAM (RUMORS OF PEACE)".
The photograph currently at the top of my blog was taken from my porch before sunrise on October 29, 2023.
"OLD GIRL OF THE NORTH COUNTRY" (the earliest name for my blog -- http://oldgirlfromthenorthcountry.blogspot.com
) came to life in early December of 2006 so that I could post a 42-year retrospective of my paintings and drawings and through that action, create a new relationship with the day the man I loved returned from Vietnam in December 1970. For a while (sometime after spring of 2008, which is when he died) my blog was "TALKING 37TH DREAM WITH RAINBOW (RUMORS OF PEACE)". For a number of years, it's been "TALKING 37TH DREAM (RUMORS OF PEACE)." As of April 12, 2017 my blog was titled "37TH DREAM / TALKING 37TH DREAM (RUMORS OF PEACE/LOOKING UP)". Somewhere along the way it became 37TH DREAM (RUMORS OF PEACE).
To begin viewing the retrospective with narrative, scroll down to December 8, 2006, on this page:
I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. This is why right temporarily defeated is stronger than evil triumphant. -- Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968)
All journeys have secret destinations of which the traveler is unaware. -- Martin Buber (1878-1965)
It is only a little planet, but how beautiful it is.
-- Robinson Jeffers
The true end of a war is the rebirth of life; the right to die peacefully in your own bed. The true end of war is the end of fear; the true end of war is the return of laughter.
-- Alfred Molano
Enjoy every sandwich -- Warren Zevon (1947-2003)
Not in God's wilds will you ever hear the sad moan, "All is vanity." No, we are paid a thousand times for all our toil, and after a single day spent outdoors in their atmosphere of strength and beauty, one could still say, should death come — even without any hope of another life — "Thank you for this most glorious gift!" and pass on.
-- John Muir (1838-1914)
Philip Henslowe: Mr. Fennyman, allow me to explain about the theatre business. The natural condition is one of insurmountable obstacles on the road to imminent disaster. Hugh Fennyman: So what do we do? Philip Henslowe: Nothing. Strangely enough, it all turns out well. Hugh Fennyman: How? Philip Henslowe: I don't know. It's a mystery.
