Creations by Lois Gallagher at Redpandot.com – Photo by L. Weikel
Drawing a Blank*
Like my I Got Nothin’ post, I’m drawing a blank. I’m starting this post with a blank mind. I would’ve said a blank page, and in fact I did say that originally, but deleted it because once I wrote that sentence it was no longer true.
That’s kind of fun to ponder, though. When I wrote that first sentence, or at least when I thought I should express how utterly devoid of ideas I was to write about, it was true. The slate was blank, the page was bare.
But by the very act of declaring that truth, its existence was negated.
I’m sure there’s a word or phrase that describes this philosophical condition. And I’m equally sure I don’t know it. Although if you hum a few bars… No seriously – if you tell me what it is, I’m sure I’ll recognize it (and feel like a dumbass for not being able to think of it right now).
Sparking the Need to Pack My Bags
Well, that’s all fine well and good, but it doesn’t change the fact that, in spite of the fact that my page no longer being blank, I’m still finding myself having nothing particularly interesting to share with you.
And the truth of this makes it even more painfully obvious to me that it is time for me to pack my bags; take a trip somewhere. Blow the proverbial dust off. Hit the road.
Quite honestly, I feel it is almost a responsibility I have to you, my readers, my compatriots on this 1111 Devotion journey, to go forth and muster up some adventures.
And while this, too, is true, unlike my statement at the top of the page, it only becomes truer and more urgent the more I write and think about it.
Adventures in Bali/Artistry in Brooklyn
This yearning to travel, which hits me hard every seven years or so (sometimes more frequently), is probably being tweaked by reading the adventures of my niece, Lois, in Bali, as she chronicles them in her blog on redpandot, her website devoted to her artistry with earth and kiln.
Indeed, her pottery is exquisite and I highly recommend you take a look at what she has to offer. You will find amazing pieces that beg to be displayed as art, even though they are designed to be used as housewares. Lois also creates an array of one-of-a-kind, distinctly unique rattles, which many of my clients and students have purchased to use in their own shamanic journeying.
As I mentioned above, though, as I write this, Lois is in Bali, where she is merging and melding her communion with the spirits of that place with the opportunity to work ‘hands on’ with the clay unique to the land of those spirits. All of which makes my own heart yearn for some more direct experiences of other cultures, particularly shamanic ones.
I hear Spirit calling my name…
* As this post ended up taking a turn toward Lois’s work, it makes me smile to consider this allusion to the act of ‘drawing a blank’ rune. I’ve been bugging her for quite a while to create a set of runes for me. For you. For all of us.
