Poor neglected bloggie

Oh I have just been so mean lately to not come and attend to my  bloggie!

Working on a rough first draft of the book has been taking up so much time,

as well as working on the website. Life has been good though.

Some sprites and spirits do come ’round and that’s always such a joy.

a face

a story                                                and then

a love

but not like the people in the village quite expected

a spirit

and a human

could dance with such abandon and precision

there is no English word for it.

 

Faces of the Unexplained News

Journal entry…

Nobody knows what happened to the aircraft. Families are suffering in agony wondering what happened to their loved ones. I listen to the news, continuously drawing. Who knows what comes forth with all this technology in the year 2014.

What if time is not linear at all? What if life is one big hologram?  One talented psychic medium speaks bravely while the other commentators present the characteristic amused smile. What if they can’t explain everything?

When another day goes by and there is still no word, a commentator rephrases  what the medium has said the day before. He wants his idea to save the day. We all want to be heroes. But this ain’t no hurricane. The families don’t want theories, they want answers.

The world of the illustrated journal is my way of dwelling in a multifaceted world. Evidence. Reality. Imagination. Vision. I listen to it all. Then the messages come in dreams. Maybe, just maybe, the answer is imminent if the spirits will come to us in our dreams with some semblance of finality.

Gratitude Journal Post 16: Innocence

I am grateful for innocence,

The deep eyes of a newborn.

A seedling,

A baby, a child.

The freshest gaze

A symbol of trust

Without sarcasm or badness or derision.

Before the ego’s haughty garb is donned

The new one

Summons our efforts,

The willingness to hope,

To try again

And creep out of the forest

Into the meadow like a fawn following its mother.

Journal prompt: What is your definition of innocence and hope?

Copyright © 2013  photos, text by Susan E. Rowland, all rights reserved

Faces

Faces are a gift and a treasure chest of writing prompts for journal keepers.  Artists, photographers, poets and dancers cherish the character of the face. The world of theatre and music is nothing without the actors and singers’ expressions. Think of silent film. The story lines evolve totally around faces and movement.  It works.

While plastic surgeons make millions on people unhappy with their looks, most of us enjoy what is real and nonetheless, flawed. How shallow and insensitive have we become in our modern lives where we have so much. Here’s a celebration of  art and normal beauty. Personally, I like the faces of the elders. I like the lines, wrinkles, and the unpretentiousness.

                                   

                   Emma Plenty Wolf Hollow Horn, 1982, at her birthday

Photo of Emma credit: Casey for Eyapaha 1987 Engagement Calendar

Produced by KILI Radio, Porcupine, South Dakota and Oglala Lakota College at Kyle, South Dakota.

What her face inspires and seems to say: I am one who has seen many things. My people are testimonies to my life.

Journal prompts:

•  Go out and look at people. Study their faces. What stories do you see in their expressions?
• Ask a friend or willing passer-by if you can take a profile shot and then write a story.
• Go to an open studio art class and draw the face of the model. What are your results?
•  Take 15 minutes and watch a TV talk show program without sound.  Free write on  your impressions.

Prayers for the family of Trayvon Martin and all concerned. Here is my statement below. We are not going away any time soon. I stand with the families of victims at Wounded Knee, Newtown, Aurora, and Sanford.

Collage composition by the author.