Loved, Inspired, Transformed 8/1
So much to share!
Welcome to my weekly-ish series where I share the art that passes through me and to pay more attention to their effects, both in my art and my life. From others, from me, to you—to us.
I just finished Bury the Dead, the sixth book in the wildly popular Louise Penny mystery series featuring Chief Inspector Armand Gamache of the Sûreté du Québec. I loved this one. We get to track down one crime through the snowy cobbled streets of Quebec City, while also jumping over to Three Pines (the village where most of the series takes place) to pick up the unsolved crime from Book Five—while all the time circling deeper into the past.
The reason the Louise Penny series is so popular, I think, is because we can’t help but fall in love with Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, while being transported to this colorful French Canadian region, while given a complex puzzle of a crime to figure out, while consorting with residents and detectives who begin to feel like old friends. With the 20th book about to be published, I have a long way to go to catch up with this series, but I will eventually read them all.
Two other mystery series I adored for the same ingredients. A charming but flawed detective, in an interesting and colorful setting/cast of characters, and of course well-designed crime puzzles:
The Tess Monaghan series by Laura Lippman featuring Tess, and unemployed journalist turned accidential P.I., and gritty but resilient Baltimore in the 80s and 90s.
The Royal Spyness Series by Rhys Bowen featuring Georgie, short for Lady Victoria Georgiana Charlotte Eugenie, daughter to the Duke of Atholt and Rannoch”, 34th in line of the English throne, and 1920s/30s northern Europe
Slowly savoring another episode of season four of The Bear and loved the finale episode in the amazing first season of Stick. Television story telling at its best!
I was inspired by Sasha Dichter’s moment of insight as he watched a dad at a park pushhis child in a swing. “It helps to remember that nearly everything only happens once.” (Very short and lovely read).
If you’re into sketchbooks like I am (see below), you’ll definitely want to check out Susan Yeates short video: Sketching Tiny Details: find inspiration hidden in plain sight. A refreshing way to see possibilities all around us—and another approach for a sketch any day.
It’s strange to say I was inspired by the sad message from two different people, but while very concerning, I am definitely inspired to take action and change the story—in my own life, in the lives of whoever I can persuade to make changes, and as part of a larger social change we all must make. We need to break through our screens into the real world and connect with others in community.
This short reel featuring Freya India “Girls” on Substack made me cry to think about what the youth particularly—but all of us—have lost.
This is a must read if you’re at all worried about our young people today:
Okay – going from receiving to action, what did I do this week?
Creatively, I worked in my sketchbook every day, firmly grounded again in my practice—and it’s been a good time.
I always forget when I wander away from it, but when I come back to a daily practice in my sketchbook I remember! A daily routine really works on so many levels. The first being that it drowns out that blaring internal megaphone. You know the one as a creative yourself, “Why bother! What are you doing this for? Why are you creating? You have no ideas! You cannot do this!”
With a daily practice, you have answers from yesterday’s work.. ‘Yes, I should create today because yesterday…was fun… or gave me an idea… or isn’t finished yet’ (an unfinished page is a great way to start the next day). And always, ideas come while working and not before.
Another thing I remember is that a daily practice brings fun into my day, and I for one believe enJOYment is a necessary ingredient for a good life (even more important in these dark times.)
However, I also need to remember that it is NOT fun to strive to achieve greatness--and when I do, it ends up shutting me down. Which is why my only goal is to show up each day to fill one more page, not one more good page—and then I get to the light work of experimenting, having fun and watching ideas grow. Or just feeling—and expressing—darkness.
Because, going down all the levels, filling my sketchbook each day turns out to be a damn good reflection of what’s going on with me at that time. It’s an expression of more than I necessarily understand consciously as I’m creating—but then I see it later and honestly, I remember that this is the magic of creating, how so much inside tumbles out.
I hope I will remember this time to keep going with my sketchbook practice. To remember that it doesn’t have to take a ton of time (another megaphone blast: You don’t have time!) AND that it’s worth it for the long haul too. All the creative daily experiences add up, of course. Preferences, themes, ideas begin to repeat and echo one another. All that experimenting adds new techniques to the possibility bag and build new skills naturally. And other art projects, big or small, seem to bloom, too.
I created the subheads in this post not directly from my sketchbook—but because I sketchbook, if that makes sense. Creativity begets creativity.
Finally, in my life, I took a few small steps towards finding community.
India and Thompson have inspired me to make changes. For lots of reasons in this season of life—exasperated by our world right now—my own local communities have dwindled over the last several years. I need to find others who enjoy what I enjoy and to find others doing what I want to do to heal and rebuild and create a healthier planet. So I took a few small steps this week. Reached out to a handful of people. Got myself outside with others…and it felt good. Turtle steps. I am resolved to do more, to Find the Others.
It doesn’t matter where we each find ourselves right now—young, middle aged, old or older—many of us are experiencing loss of In Real Life community and we need to get it back. I hope you will think about going out into your world to find others too.
