Collecting (and connecting) text, objects, images, videos, what someone said, etc., has been a practice of mine for many years—notebooks and notebooks of quotes, images, lists. A form of self-tending, too.
Assemblages will house personal writings, interviews, and images (old and new).
It brings me so much joy to start.
John Berger’s Ways of Seeing Parts 1 & 2 of a four-part BBC series. I have the book version, but for some reason found it hard to read... Anyway, this watch was a good refresher on context and gaze.
I have been inviting people over to Workroom for a portrait session, and one point of conversation is always, it’s important who you allow to “see” you because it influences your self-perception.
And so, the lingering questions are: what is my gaze? Am I doing my best to make people feel comfortable, confident, and beautiful when being seen by me?
I find myself praying for discernment most at this time.
In February, Sarita Walsh sent out a newsletter prompting her subscribers to write back with a question, and I asked this,
“Discernment is one of my favorite practices, so it’s a pleasure to sit with this.
For me, discernment begins not with thinking but with space.
I slow down and come back into contact with what is actually here.
In my body.
In my breath.
The sensation.
My truth.
Debussy once said, “Music is the space between the notes.” That’s where discernment lives for me. In the space between impulses.
So pausing and listening, taking a small step, then listening again is how I practice discernment in my life and in my work.”
I suppose in action, we build a knack for specificity. Why we like what we like. Specificity can combat shame. Specificity is kindness. Supporting your references, building your wardrobe, deciding where your money goes. All these are refined by commitment to action. Anyway, and in spite of.
New York City
A better question is—how do I want to live the rest of my life and what am I going to do to ensure that I get to do it exactly or as close as possible to how I want that living to be?
I want to live the rest of my life, however long or short, with as much sweetness as I can decently manage, loving all the people I love, and doing as much as I can of the work I still have to do. I am going to write fire until it comes out my ears, my eyes, my noseholes—everywhere. Until it's every breath I breathe. I'm going to go out like a fucking meteor!
Audre Lorde, A Burst of Light
Tiny, Beautiful Things (Series) / We Live in Time (Film) / How to Live an Artful Life (Book) / QC Stories (Book) / Sarah Moon’s body of work (Photographs) / Let me carry your voice (Video Campaign) led by Francesca Albanese. This one is heavy.
and lastly,
This was sincere, cathartic, fun,
Colin
Colin