Follow The River, abstract by Suzanna Leigh. Prints available.
Is this a panic headache? Today I am laid low with pain. This has happened in the past, when I was faced with a major change, like a move, or when some fear in my subconscious is trying to get my attention, but what big move am I facing? What am I afraid of?
Last night someone gave me the image of Ouroboros (the symbol of a snake or dragon devouring its own tail,) and asked me, "What aspect deep inside yourself do you need to feed yourself more of?" Several things came up, and the last one, the deepest one, was "Force!". Wow! I think I scared myself. I saw Force presented in deep indigo, a strong color indeed! Yikes!
I don't see myself as a forceful person. Force to me means war, death, or, at best, imprisonment. Antagonistic. I see myself as a soft, gentle person. I try to live compassion, respecting other people's freedom. But maybe Force doesn't have to be antagonistic. Maybe force can be soft and gentle and still be powerful?
When I studied Human Development, I learned that there are three kinds of power: "power over", "power for", and "power with". I liked "power with" best, collaboration. Might the same be true of force? Wait, what IS "force" vs "power"? Hmm.
"Power" is "the ability to do something or act in a particular way", according to the Oxford Dictionary.
"Force" is "coercion or compulsion, especially with the use or threat of violence" Oh no, not me! Definitely not what I want in my life!
Wait, here's another definition for force: "strength or energy as an attribute of.....movement". I like that one better. "Strength or Energy." Yes!
In my experience, "power over" someone, or attempting to force them by coercion, "force against" them, leads to push back. No one wants to be forced to do something. In the long run, that just isn't effective.
I'm thinking force is like water; the force of water can be destructive, or it can be beneficial. It can be as powerful as a flood, sweeping everything away as it rushes through, without distinction. Or it can be like a gentle rain seeping into the earth to bring life. Then the water has "power over" the land. A stream can turn a millstone to grind grain for flour. That would be "power for". People can "join forces" to accomplish great things, like two streams coming together to make a mighty river. That would be "power with".
In the human world, I think of war, which destroys everything in it's path, like a flood, as"Force against. "Power "for" or using force "for" is when I lift up a child to see the parade, or when I use my white privilege to lift up my friends of other cultures or races, honoring them publicly, or using the advantages given me to make things easier for them.
Using force or power "with" takes more finesse. It requires truly honoring the skills and feelings of the person you are working with, and blending yours skills with theirs, each working to their strengths, to accomplish a mutual goal. I use my illustration and publishing skills with Rich's writing to accomplish our common goal: books you can hold in your hands.
Ok, I'm better now. It took 500 words to convince me that I can use the Force in me in a compassionate and responsible way, but I can do it. My headache is gone.
I am taking a little break from “serious” work, while I figure out what my priorities are this year, what direction I want to take. I am doing a 30 day drawing challenge, Draw Together WithWendy Mac
This is a blind contour drawing of my beloved and the spices he uses to infuse his honey. “Blind” means I don’t look at the paper while I am drawing.
I am inspired by Judy Chicago’s “The Dinner Party”, with her plates honoring influential women of the past, many of whom have disappeared or been relegated to the dustbin of history in spite of their accomplishments. It was quite a project, involving hundreds of people: weavers, ceramic painters and clay workers, embroiderers, reasearchers!
Each plate was designed to represent a different woman’s life, and was set on an embroidered cloth with further symbols of her life and times. Judy began with the primordial goddess and traced the development of mythology from a time when women were powerful and honored, to the patriarchal mythology and the reduction of women to essentially slaves.
The plates are set on a triagular table; 13 plates on each side. Thirteen represents both the 13 apostles of Jesus and the 13 people in a coven. The floor is tiled with the names of 999 other influential women throughout history
I hope I will be forgiven for using this image. Unfortunately, I have lost where I got it from. It gives you an idea of what each place setting was like and I hope encourages you to go see the exhibit if you ever get the chance!
Judy Chicago wanted to bring back the memory of our heritage as women, at a time when we only were taught about the accomplishments of men.
I remember when I first heard about The Dinner Party, it was trivialized by the media I was exposed to with the comment, “The plates all look like vaginas.” Now, when we are seeing misogyny on the rise, The Dinner Party is particularly relevent.
Chicago’s words from decades ago stun with their relevance today:
Women had always made a significant contribution to the development of human civilization, but these were consistently ignored, denied, or trivialized.
The Dinner Party is at the Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art, housed in the Brooklyn Museum.
The Dinner Party at Brooklyn Museum
The Dinner Party: Artist Judy Chicago’s Iconic Antidote to the Erasure of Women in History