For the Road

-

Today was a reminder that life is beautiful. I don't know why I forget that so very often. I went to Dublin today and went to The Hugh Lane Gallery and the National Gallery of Ireland. I love art museums; The calming atmosphere, the gentle whispers of admirers. I love how a single painting can bring tears to your eyes in a way you can't explain. I couldn't take pictures of most of the paintings, I only snagged one of a Renoir and I'm not even sure if I was supposed to. Looking at art has a special way of renewing the soul. All the stress and struggle of life just disappear and melt in to the canvas the longer you stare at it.
I saw for the first time today Jack Yeats' paintings. He's one of my new favorites. I might have been particularly inclined to like him since he is the brother of my favourite poet, William Butler Yeats.

"Grief"

"For the Road"

I just found myself staring at these paintings for what seemed like ages. These's pictures don't do them justice. In person they were absolutely breath taking. After one insane week of emotional instability a day of art was just what I needed. Walking around Dublin was therapeutic in and of itself. People watching is my favorite activity and my friend Arianne is incredibly good at creating stories and I feel like she wrote a short story about every person we saw on the train and in the street. 

I also wanted to share this photography project by Haley Morris-Cafiero, a Memphis based photographer. She recently completed a project called Wait Watchers in shich she captures the looks she gets from onlookers. She has been aware of people's reactions to her size, but in this project she captures the essence of their sneers, stares, and laughs. It's a thought provoking piece that makes you wonder if you've ever made such an ugly face at another person.  http://haleymorriscafiero.com/
Hope today finds you in as optimistic a mood as I've had.
-E


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A thankful note

-
Image
Today I am thankful for friendships that span hundreds of miles and I'm thankful for a God who never runs out of grace. This Thanksgiving finds me in a rough place. Life is an unpredictable mess sometimes, but I'm learning to be thankful for the messiness of it all. In moments of pain and fear I'm thankful for the raw reality that gets stirred up. I think I get complacent at times and forget how precious even the suffering can be. I'm learning to savor the sadness for what it gives- a new awareness of blessings. Everyday, God reminds me of the good things that hide behind the bad. Happiness is not so far away really, it's just out of my line of sight and until I can see it I will appreciate the suffering that will eventually break and breath a sigh of relief. So today, if you're struggling at all, remember that God is present and He is in control.  Happy Thanksgiving  -e
Read more

Room to Change

-
Image
It's no secret that "Drops of Jupiter" is my favorite song. I can't really explain why, but I just really love it. One of the best lines is "[She] reminds me that there's room to change" yea ehhh ehh ehh ehh yeahh.... I've always liked the optimism of it, there is no point at which you cannot change your mind, yourself, your life. But where in life is there this room for change? Today, in my Theatre and the Church class we were discussing how in acting, "what's true today doesn't have to be true tomorrow". Our choice for a character can change as we grow and learn more about that role. There is freedom to change and to mess up. This led to us talking about how society tells us not to make mistakes, that we have to do things perfectly the first time. Consequently, every time we mess up we throw ourselves into a trench of embarrassment and shame. Why is it so wrong to make a mistake? How do we learn? How do we change and grow
Read more

In defense of Creativity

-
Image
I grew up around creativity. My parents are both extraordinarily creative individuals and the phrase "artsy- fartsy" has been applied to my family on multiple occasions. So my pursuit of the creative began early. Theatre and music was my outlet of choice and I saw myself doing those things as more than a hobby once I achieved "grown up" status. But somewhere along the line I lost that desire for an artsy life. It seemed far fetched and unrealistic. I spent the first two years of college trying to figure out what major I could tolerate for two more years that would still get me a decent job. I chose communications for it's practicality and I've found that I'm not just tolerating it. I'm excited about it! It's no longer a battle to convince myself to go to class at 9am. I'm enamored by what I'm learning, but I'm also realizing that the classes I love the most aren't the classes that are teaching me "practical" and
Read more