Last summer at this time, I was in Peru. This summer, I am home. What I decided to do was to name this summer “The Make Sacred the Ordinary Summer.”
So let me tell you about some of the ordinary things:
I attended a wedding in Boston and danced with my husband, daughter and friends until my feet hurt.
I read.
I walked and played with my dog more.
I visited museums.
(Chihuly Exhibit, MFA Boston)
I took a course. It was an intensive Photoshop Lab, every day for a week. The first day the teacher spoke for 41/2 hours while he did photoshop and we watched. Did I mention he was also gulping Red Bull, going off on tangents of the personal nature? He was annoyed with and quite frankly mean to anyone who questioned him. There was not a minute of the class when he was not talking.
By day two, the class went from thirteen to eight (“I am not going to pay to be abused”, the photo editor sitting next to me said, she did not return.)
I walked in on the second day and said to the teacher “___________, let me share how I learn with you. Yesterday, watching you do photoshop for 4 ½ hours did not work for me. In fact, I retained very little. Today, I brought my laptop and will be using it while you talk.”
I continued to advocate for myself and do what I needed to do to be successful. I also asked my son and sister to explain a few concepts so I could better understand the process. Here are some of my creations from the week.
“Why are there so many songs about rainbows, 2011”
(“Ojos de Dios”, 2011)
While I was successful, the class was not comfortable or conducive to learning. If I was not an adult, in an adult class, I would not had the power to direct my own learning. This experience reinforced my belief in hands on learning, facilitating learning and creating the space for both exploration and silence while learning.
This summer I also returned to my childhood hometown of Rochester NY for my 30th High School reunion. My family left in the 1980’s, so it had been a long time since I had been there. Besides the joy of reconnecting with old friends, I was interested in what memories came back. My best friend’s home, where her Dad still lives made me cry.
The kitchen, especially that blue green color of the counters, the smell of coffee, remembering her cat, and songs, and tiny nooks and crannies, a painting, the African violets, the swinging chair on the porch…so very rich.
(That’s my dear friend Tina in front of her childhood home, and with her sister Dee in the wonderful kitchen of some of my fondest memories.)
A sense of place holds so many fragments of sound, smell, touch, sight. These sensory fragments or memories make up the stories of life.
In my studio/atelier at SWS, kids often return as teenagers and college students. They also remember the small things that make a space more than a room. It is the reason that the Reggio belief exists that the environment is the third teacher. I was reminded of the importance of small touches.
I spent a lot of time with my college age son.
Yes, some of it was guiding him through the (often) frustrating necessities of organizing and functioning as an adult, but it also was filled with baking at 10pm because we craved something sweet.
Or sometimes it was watching old sitcoms off the computer on the sofa until I fell asleep. It wasn’t exciting, but I recognize that there’s a good chance we won’t have a whole summer of hanging out in nothingness again. I think for the first time in a long time, there really was a feeling of being present. And it felt good.
(small place in my garden)
As I return to the frenzy of school, I hope I am able to sustain great moments of being in the present, as a gift to my students and myself.
I returned to a center for incarcerated youth, to teach two more art workshops. What did I learn? Notice? Feel?
Children will go to great lengths to be seen and be heard, even if it is in horrible ways. Undiagnosed and ignored silent disabilities and family crisis create failure. Survival is a complex thing. In a group of 12, the boys had a pack mentality that was both predictable and sad. The girl’s group of seven showed amazing compassion for each other in between the stories of bravado (often inappropriate and tragic) born out of despair and bad choices.
Surprises…there was some beauty created out of clay. Whenever I offered help or some extra attention with the project, it was welcomed and appreciated. While language and topic was often out of control, I was always spoken to with politeness and care.
Facilities are a desperate and depressing environment for adolescents. It is essential to recognize children and families in crisis when they are very young, and support interventions and adaptations as much as possible so places like this do not have a population to fill it up. I can only hope that some of these youth find a way out of the path they are on.
The boy who would not touch the clay, but asked for pictures of wings to keep (a few weeks ago), ended up in my first group. He immediately came up to me and said, “Thank you for those drawings you gave me last time.”
Sometimes all you have is a wing and a prayer.
(detail, Wing and a Prayer, 2010)
I still have a few more weeks of ordinary. An Uncle’s 80th birthday party in NY, a cousin’s 30th. Lunch and shopping with my Mom. Full days creating in my own studio,
(in process, Blue Bottle Saints-Syncretism, 2011)
and moving my two children to two different cities. Marching in a rally to Save Our Schools. Keeping the flowers from dying on 100 degree days
and clocking in 7 or 8 hours of sleep every night.
(“Exit Peru”, 2011)
It might not be Machu Pichu, but it sure feels sacred.
(my home)
Oh Marla, you are a creator and translator of beauty. Every time I read your reflections I am transported to a place of hope and inspiration. You have such a strong voice. Where on earth did you get it?
Hannah
Hannah: from our mom and dad
(Marla’s sister speaking)
ps. great post! I hadn’t decided on my theme for this summer, but I am thinking it’s “Let it Ride” . Both in the gambling/risk-taking meaning and physical going with the path/on the boat/along for the trip way.
Marla,
Thank you for sharing part of a very sacred summer with me. Your summer art is so beautiful and magical. And your home – it looks so happy and welcoming.
I am going back to work on Monday -bringing with me and holding on to the taste, smell and feeling of summer for as long as I can.
I love you!
tina
There is one sentence in your post that is haunting me. You said:
“Children will go to great lengths to be seen and be heard, even if it is in horrible ways.”
It is haunting, but so true. How can someone find a constructive role in a destructive environment? We all need a voice and you were able to give them voices because even though language and topics were out of control you were always treated with respect and care. Amazing!
What a beautiful garden! Now that takes work.
Hi Marla,
This was a lot of run to read, but I really enjoyed reading your observations of learning from the teacher who wasn’t interested in seeing if the students were learning and about the kids in jail. Not many will try to see humanity in such destructive places.
Your garden is beautiful. I appreciated your reminder to commit to and take pleasure in the ordinary.
lovely.
Beautiful. (How could I have missed this entry?)
You experienced a rich, reflective summer that will lead to an extraordinary year of teaching, I have no doubt.
We would like to thank you once again for the wonderful ideas you gave Janet when preparing her post-graduate research in addition to, most importantly, regarding providing all the ideas within a blog post. Provided we had been aware of your web-site a year ago, we’d have been saved the unwanted measures we were employing. Thanks to you.
You can certainly see your enthusiasm within the paintings you write. The world hopes for even more passionate writers such as you who are not afraid to say how they believe. All the time go after your heart.
I have been browsing online more than 3 hours these days, but I by no means discovered any fascinating article like yours. It is beautiful price sufficient for me. Personally, if all site owners and bloggers made just right content as you probably did, the web will probably be much more helpful than ever before.
Great article! We are linking to this great post on our site. Keep up the great writing.
whoah this blog is magnificent i love reading your posts. Keep up the good work! You know, lots of people are searching around for this information, you could help them greatly.