Day 347 PTSD and a Parade

November 21, 2015

(If we live with an open and grateful attitude, every day will bring a gift. This is one of 365 gifts during the year I turned 70.)

 

COMBAT, part of The New Day Campaign, took place at Area 405 in Baltimore. Graffiti on support beam reads Ship to Hell, which tied in with some of the stories told tonight and was a metaphor for the event's theme and art. Musical performance by Ellen Cherry.

Tonight our calendar held two events. The first was COMBAT, part of the New Day Campaign that focuses on mental health, addiction and the healing power of art. COMBAT looks at PTSD through the art of music and stories. Victim of a near fatal auto crash resulting in PTSD, one of my favorite musicians performed, ellen cherry. Storytellers Lisa and Nick Lutwyche spoke of their troubled experiences, she in an abused former marriage and he as a British navy veteran of the Falklands war. Fred Foote, retired U.S. Navy physician, presented poems, photos and plans for a physical healing space at Walter Reed Hospital in Bethesda, Maryland. Surrounding us on the walls, paintings and photographs told personal stories and the front room held a multimedia art installation—all powerful. 

We left early for the American Visionary Art Museum’s 20^th anniversary fun after-party, with a parade, food and music by 3AM Tokyo. At first glance, it appears that both events tonight are polar opposites. Not really. AVAM’s current exhibit is The Big Hope Show which includes survivors of personal traumas. Hope is the common thread for both events tonight. 

  

Hope is the acknowledgement that you are in a narrow space but you have had a glimpse, some flutter, of the possibility to transcend negative confinement and arrive at some more expansive, better, state of being. Hope is not simply wishful thinking, but rather a capacity to hold to the belief that change for the better can and will come, even when you can’t imagine what format that Dawn will take.” ~  Rebecca Hoffberger

My gift today is hope.

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Links for further information:
http://newdaycampaign.org       
http://ellencherry.com  
http://medicagainstbomb.com                  
http://zulfits.com                           
www.avam.org 

> Day 348: Morning Mistake

You can find links to my other posts on this project here:
http://bjschupp.blogspot.com/2014/12/365-gifts.html

Day 104 Saffron Stigma

March 23, 2015

(This is part of a 365 project during my 70th year where I write and illustrate a blog on each day's gift.)

 

Just four days into spring, I almost tread on purple hope today—well, not literally but what many recognize as a symbol of hope, the crocus. It is the time of year when we become weary of the confines of our winter tomb existence and begin to anticipate spring. Hope is defined as an expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen. No wonder the crocus is a symbol of hope. It is the first living color of spring, often poking through winter snow, appearing during our longing for change.

The name crocus comes from the Greek word krokos, which means saffron, a spice that comes from a crocus sativa species in the Mediterranean. Three stigmas from the center of each purple bloom yield just a tiny bit of saffron. It may take an acre to harvest one pound of saffron and 4,000 crocus sativa plants to produce even one ounce of saffron, which retails for as much as $500. A labor-intensive crop for sure! Spain and India are the top growers of saffron.

So today, bundled up warmly in 43-degree temperatures, I stopped to photograph purple buds glowing in the sunlight. Their blooms may last for only ten days but they awaken hibernating hope in all who see them. The cold will fade into the past and fresh color will soon surround us.  We will shed our goose-down jackets and bring the kite down from the attic.

And I will probably skip the saffron in the grocery store.

My gift today is purple hope.

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> Day 105 Unfolding of Wings

You can read my other posts on this project here:
http://bjschupp.blogspot.com/2014/12/365-gifts.html

Finding Love on Facebook

Stephanie donated a kidney to her father.

Say what you will about Facebook, but today I just experienced some exceptional humanity through this networking tool.

Stephanie Wills, a young woman in her early 30’s, donated one of her kidneys to her father who is coming home soon from the hospital. 

Ben Morris, a young man I taught in middle school and who I was often at odds with, cried at the birth of his new daughter.

Jiho, originally from Korea, wrote a wonderful tribute to his mother who just passed away. 

Facebook does more than let me see who’s drinking what coffee and where. If you look, it exposes us all as a community to our shared humanity. Anyone who thinks the younger generation is a lost one, full of self, has not looked beneath the surface. Of course, there’s the partying, profanity and general foolishness, but that’s all part of life and our common experiences. 

Look further and you’ll see compassion, caring and real feelings. As my 90-year-old father just told me today, “LOVE (his capitals) is the real purpose to life.”

Words and Gardening

Looking graphically at words in history presents a new perspective on words. Above are four speeches shown as "Wordles." The larger words are the most used words in these speeches. These speeches are represented:

Abraham Lincoln's second inaugural address, March 4, 1865

Franklin D. Roosevelt's inaugural address, March 4, 1933

Martin Luther King, August 28, 1963

Barack Obama's inaugural address, January 29, 2009

Can you match the word pictures above with the person who gave the speech? If you click on the picture, you will be linked to a gallery that has the answer and larger images.

Today we pulled up the bush and sowed seeds of hope. What a great day for gardening!