Dancing Heart

Ol is a new friend from Australia and is in one of my graphic sharing groups. She made this beautiful header for one of her stationeries today and graciously gave me permission to use it. When I saw Ol's artwork, I remembered a book that I bought for Amanda years ago titled "My Mama Had A Dancing Heart" by Libba Moore Gray and illustrated by Raul Colon. Actually, I bought the book for Amanda, but I still have it because I love the story and am captivated by the illustration work which makes me reluctant to give it up just yet. Here is a link so you can see the cover illustration.

The story is a word dance as it unfolds the choreograph of how one mother passed along to her daughter the ability to maintain wonderment and find joy in life. Now, that having been said, it should be no mystery to you as to why I love this book so much, since on several posts I've been blathering on about "wonder", "excellence", "joy" and "thankfulness".

I'm firmly convinced that "wonder" is a concept which is easily lost somewhere along the trail of life. It is stolen from us by the bandits Bad Experience, Loss Of Hope and Unachieved Dreams. There was an unforgettable day when I held my infant daughter, Frances, and looked into her 4 month old eyes. For years I had heard the expression about the innocence of children, but I honestly had never seen it until Franny and I looked at each other iris to iris. I saw innocence in the depth of those eyes like I'd never seen it before. I saw wonderment. And Frances drew me into a new place with her; it is now a haven that I will never leave. I guess I was just too busy or had too many expectations to see it in the eyes of my own children. But now in my quest for wonderment, I am determined to claim a daily nugget, drop it into my pouch and draw the heart strings closed. Those bits of stored gold can never be taken from me - no matter what happens because I am not letting go of this quest.

Recently I edited a paper for another friend who is taking a Master's education class. It was a paper about determining ways for "self care" while in the ministry of hospital chaplain. She had done a fine job of writing the paper, but I wrote back and suggested that although she'd done well in stating the problem, the solution was too general. She wrote in her paper that she was going to journal as a means for understanding her needs. However, I can't see this friend finding much satisfaction in the journaling process.

Amy is a wonderfully disciplined and perfectionistic person. She said that she pushes herself and is too harsh with herself while, at the same time, she is very compassionate with others. And these things are true of her. But I wrote back and recommended that she not be too upset if she finds that journaling is not a good means for her to relax and understand her stresses. Instead I suggested these things as means for rewewing her own sense of wonder:

*To take one week and look for the perfect vase for her desk. She can shop anywhere she wants but the vase must be very pleasing to her. It is to be a very fun process.
*After she's found the vase and placed it on her desk, then each day for 2 weeks she can go to the florist shop in the hospital or the grocery store and buy one flower that she finds especially beautiful. Then she's to take that flower to her office, throw away the flower from the day before and replace it with the one. This is to symbolize that she is finding freshness and beauty in each day.
*She can go on a scavenger hunt all by herself and look for something unusual - something in nature that is normally overlooked. It could be a single feather. It could be a clover. It could be a uniquely shaped rock. Then when she finds that object to ask the Lord for a story about that object. She can use her imagination and simply play with the idea. Let the story grow in her mind.
*She can put up a bulletin board or poster board on her apartment wall and each day attach some small object of significance from that day. As her objects grow in number, a story of her life will begin to unfold because she has begun to allow herself to dream.

This may all sound silly, and she may not even understand the purpose for the individual components of this quest, but I firmly believe that - for all of us - freshness comes when we take time to examine the little things.

Should you want to contact Olwyn, you may leave a comment on my blog, with your email address, and I will forward it to her.

WOO HOO I Found It!

Remember back several weeks ago (Sept. 4) when I was jabbering on about Carl Larsson and how much I liked his artwork and how inspiring his wife was to me? But I was at a loss because I couldn't find the book that talked about Karin and her clothing style?? Well, I finally found the book! It was lurking in the back of my closet (don't ask).

The book is Carl and Karin Larsson: Creators of the Swedish Style edited by Michael Snodin and Elisabet Stavenow-Hidemark (click here to see the cover). I got the book, years ago and for a song, from a Edward Hamilton Books catalog. There are lots and lots of beautiful pictures of the Larsson home and Carl Larsson's work. However, the part that I was telling you about is on page 178 and talks about Karin's clothes and furniture.

Karin did not confine herself to weaving and embroidery. By 1890 she had designed a remarkable plant stand. She designed a chandelier and beds; in 1906 she designed a rough, heavy rocking-chair and a square table for the new studio, pieces in which the function was obvious and the construction was not concealed. According to a Larsson family legend, the local cabinetmaker, who produced the original pieces of furniture, was so ashamed that he delivered them after dark.... They were clearly home-made, but the style was new and avant-garde....
As regards clothes, discreet Karin Larsson was just as conspicuously modern as in her textiles. ...(S)he wears dresses in a flowing style so distinctive that it has acquired the status of a Karin Larsson model.... ...(I)t is surprising that she dared to go against the accepted fashion.... The cut of clothes around the turn of the century, which accentuated a tiny waist, required corsets. Karin misled the eye by adopting fashionable details of the period, such as stand-up collars and leg-of-mutton sleeves. This created a modest impression, which made the observer forget that decent women should be corseted; the loosely hanging dresses were associated with 'loose' morals.
Karin also created comfortable clothes for the children, suitable for family life in the country. She used simple, robust fabrics and was fond of mixing patterns in a modern way. She did not fall for fashion trends....

The book goes on to talk about how Karin left nothing to waste and patched, mended and re-used everything. The furniture which she and Carl had was innovatively altered or painted which gave their home its distinctive and inspiringly fresh look. She was also not concerned with perfection. The end result seemed to be more important to her than the perfection of method in attaining her vision.

It is encouraging to hear or read about people who are not consumed with the herd instinct of needing to "fit in". I came across a Michael J. Fox quotation one day:

"I am careful not to confuse excellence with perfection. Excellence, I can reach for, perfection is God's business."

I suppose I will forever be on my quest for understanding excellence and quality. Karin Larsson did not superimpose perfection upon her creativity which therefore enabled the things she made to remain fresh, displaying a portrait of her own style, her own life.

Bohus Knitting & Excellence

"One critic aptly reported that 'Emma Jacobsson's special mark is the finicky way she chooses colors. She is acutely sensitive to colors and this is what has given Bohus Stickning its special artistic value...
"Emma's attention to flawlessness was ingrained in her personality....
"Ultimately, it was Emma's unrelenting purusuit of quality that enabled Bohus Stickning to achieve the high praise it received. She demanded and expected an enormous amount of dedication from her workers, designers, and knitters. But in return, she gave them respect, empathy, and a sense of pride. Because Emma was highly respected, she was able to make suggestions and changes in the designers' patterns without alienating them. She stimulated their creativty and encouraged them to experiment with colors, yarns, and patterns. Above all, Emma was an inspiration and friend to her colleagues." (from Poems of Color p. 26)

It is challenging to read of a personality which was strong enough to stand against mediocrity and compromise no matter what the cost may have been to her personally. She could not give in to mediocrity. She could not. She would not! In the process, even though she may have been difficult to work with at times, in her inate fairness, she also impelled those who worked with her to higher levels of excellence.

As I posted some days ago, I have been pursuing the concept of "excellence" and "quality" for some time. What are its hallmarks? What are its earmarks? How is it that we can separate out from the crowd those things which are excellent and of great quality?

I remember watching a T.V. show many years ago now. I did not know anything about ballet and this PBS special was about some ballet thing. I sat down to catch a few minutes of it and I saw a group of dancers come out onto the stage and begin to twirl and pirouette in the beauty of the dance. Suddenly, a dancer exploded out of the group and began to leap with such power that I was drawn in to his persona immediately. I felt goosebumps rise on my arms and I whispered to myself, "Just WHO is that man?!" It turned out that "that man" was Mikhail Baryshnikov.

Even though there are other great YouTubes of Baryshnikov dancing, I selected this one because I liked the contrast between him and Gregory Hines (who is also a very good dancer). Yet, even though Hines is very good, I love the restraint and control that is apparent with Baryshnikov. There is a tightness, an intensity, an almost imprisoned sense of power that is only released in momentary couplets which add to the movement's enormity and which entraps the viewer and draws him into a unity with Baryshnikov as he dances. Even though I am not dancing when I see Baryshnikov dance. I am dancing when I watch Baryshnikov dance, for he pulls me into himself and I no longer an impartial viewer; I am dancing with Baryshnikov.

While looking at Mikhail Baryshnikov YouTube clips, I found this one with Alice Waters. The things which she said encapsulated the concepts that I so appreciate and long to do: to impel others to excellence and quality in their own way.

So, just what is it which is the hallmark of "excellence"; the earmark of "quality"? The word "excellence" contains within it a timbre unlike any quality that surrounds it. Perhaps, ipso facto, it is the bearing which comes from the commitment to the process itself. If the process is seen as a job, it loses an aspect of its life. If it loses its life, it loses its excellence.

Thoughts on Children and Excellence

I've been thinking lately about whether young children have an almost instinctive ability to recognize excellence. One of our granddaughters has just turned 4. I grant you that she is an "old soul" who has a tidy as well as a pensive personality. She loves her books and gathers an alpine mountain to take with her when she is called upon to nap or prepare for a night's sleep. This child went to a friend's house and when she came home she said to her Mother, "Mama, ____ doesn't have any good books. Mimi (that's ME!) has good books."

What kind of books do I have for her when she visits? I have the classics with great pictures and rollicking stories. I am determined to spark a desire in all my Grandchildren to continue to pursue excellence in their lives and to be alert to those things which are commonplace or ordinary so that they will always desire to reach for the best that they can afford.

This has been a quest of my own for many years. What constitutes excellence? What is it about an object that denotes "quality"? I found a book many years ago entitled Art In Everyday Life by Harriet and Vetta Goldstein. Granted, it was an ancient book. The book's photographs went back to World War I. Yet, many of the concepts within this book were timeless. The Goldstein gals believed that those things which surround us in the dailiness of our lives influence how we think. If we pursue artful beauty, even in the smallest detail, we will become enlarged in our conceptual thinking. They also maintained that the lack of money does not militate against surrounding yourself with things which are beautiful. I really appreciated the comparison photographs they used which juxtapose good design against bad design, even though the photos were ancient. It still helped.

Because I have been largely self-taught and find that I have to be alert in order to stumble across helpful information; this book has been a help to me. I'm sure there is a book which is more contemporary that deals with the same topics and is filled with even more helpful information, but I'll have to inadvertantly amble over it! My husband's homily expression: "Even a blind sows finds an acorn every now and then.", conveys my own not-very-scientific process!