Showing posts with label death. Show all posts
Showing posts with label death. Show all posts

Saturday, April 19, 2025

memory + truth = medicine

Take a breath offered by friendly winds. 

They travel the earth gathering essences of plants to clean.

Give it back with gratitude.

If you sing it will give your spirit lift to fly to the stars’ ears and back. 

Acknowledge this earth who has cared for you since you were a dream 

    planting itself precisely within your parents’ desire. ~ Joy Harjo 


holding vigil

At the bedside of our dying grand/mother we said the ritual words: 

"I love you. Thank you. I forgive you. Please forgive me."

There is great power in these words, and rituals hold much healing - especially in times of need. 

Sunday, November 24, 2024

the fading light of autumn

In Pico Iyer's book Autumn Light, he writes about experiencing autumn in Japan after his Japanese father-in-law passes away. He takes up ping-pong with some elderly neighbours in Nara and visits shrines and talks about family with his wife.

Wednesday, September 20, 2023

Mabon, back to balance

Autumn Equinox is the start of the fall season where the day and night are equal in length. Also known as Mabon, it marks the official time where summer ends and fall begins. 


Mahala & Issa on our guided tour, London 2023


Autumn Equinox is a celebration of the harvest - the foods to sustain us through the winter months. It is considered the second harvest of fruits and vegetables. The first is the wheat harvest at Lammas (August 1), and the third harvest is for seeds and nuts at Samhain (November 1).


Thursday, June 17, 2021

inspirations

Lately wonder | wonder | women are back into the creative groove. We're in the throes of some really exciting work. But it suddenly reminded us...



There are people we'd love to share this work with who are now gone. People who inspired and shaped us, who in some way had a hand in making this work too. 



We want to sit down with them, have a cup of coffee or some wine, say "Look at this! What do you think?" and hear what they have to say.


We can no longer invite ourselves over for dinner or merienda. We can't call them and hear their laughter. But we can put our memories of them into our work.



Some of the people we lost were mentors and fellow artists. Some of them didn't practice art but were supportive and warm people that we drew strength from.



With art, we can say "I miss you", "Thank you", or "I hope you like this". We can share it with other people who loved them and say "Don't you think they would enjoy this?" "Do you remember when we went to see this artist (or this movie)?"



Author Terry Pratchett in his book Reaper Man wrote, “No one is finally dead until the ripples they cause in the world die away, until the clock wound up winds down, until the wine she made has finished its ferment, until the crop they planted is harvested. The span of someone’s life is only the core of their actual existence.”



The people we loved are departed, but we still love them and are grateful for their gifts and the time we spent with them.