Happy brand new week! New weeks start with Mondays, which means,true to our goal, it's time for a new blog!
Apparently, for a while at least, these blogs are a way for you to get to know.. Er.. Me, better. I hope this is ok! I love nothing more than when Giving Tree friends share some of their life/experiences/joy with us.. So maybe all this "blogging" by me will inspire more of that! (hint,hint)
Also, I can't seem to help having things to write about! This is turning out to be a really interesting time for me- basically equally dividing my weeks between NYC and Cape Cod. And I just keep noticing, all this "balance" I feel these two places together bring to me, and to Giving Tree!
Last week, the blog came after a long and arduous but inspiring day in the bamboo gardens..which "naturally" (pun intended) opened up all sorts of thoughts on rejuvenation (bloom) as well as its opposite.. The necessary passing of things to allow new growth, both literally and figuratively. In a word or two, "letting go".
This week, I am writing this blog on my blackberry, sitting on a bus currently stopped at 81st and Madison, making the journey home to Cape Cod.
The things I experienced, and felt in NYC this past week, prove to be in beautiful, effortless balance and harmony with my musings in the bamboo just a week ago. This feels like a gift to me.
This week in NYC, I realized the importance of "holding on". See, I spent a lot of time with two friends of mine, both of whom I first met in l.a, over 10 years ago, and now we all find ourselves in NYC!
Long term friendship is an interesting thing. Not easy, but when nurtured, amazing. Ten years is a long time for living and CHANGING. And sometimes, sadly, so much changing can lead to a "growing apart"... not because love is lost, but just because two peoples interests and day to day realities have really changed.
One of these long-time friends, Kristin, (an amazing artist www.kristinjaiklosterman.com) is what made me think specifically on this topic. I can see very tangible, obvious ways that we have both changed. And Kristin is a tough one because she is exceedingly physically beautiful (a cover model through her teens and 20s) and overwhelmingly gifted as a painter. Yes, an embarrassment of riches. But after spending 3 evenings, dining, dreaming and "art-ing" with her, (yes I made that word up.. Def: "The act of seeking, seeing, imbibing all the art the world has to offer!!"). I felt compelled to tell her that she is not only a truly special woman, but also, an exquisite friend. She does "right" by my still healing and learning heart, and by my dreams of provoking small but significant change in the world. She supports me, as a human being.
Point being, last week, as I found myself pulling the half uprooted, deceased bamboo from the hard ground, I would hold the smooth stalks in my hand and think..."It's ok, let go"
Looking at Kristin, seeing her, always arriving before me to a destination, always alert and interested and considerate, I kept looking at her and thinking "hold on". Hold on to the people that honor your highest possibility of yourself..


(KJK ridiculously happy at Oyster Happy Hour!)


Whew! That was a bit heavy! But it came from the lightest place. :)

And as for the other balance.. Wow is there a lot of fabulous art in this city! Everywhere!! One of my favorite moments of the week was "art-ing" with Kristin and Anna,(Annasheffield.com our newest addition to Giving Tree Jewelry, coming so soon!) We are all huge fans of the painter Mark Rothko. I was literally made breathless seeing his giant red painting at the Whitney museum a few weeks ago. Now, there is a fabulous play on Broadway called "Red" starring Alfred Molina.


The three of us were talking about Rothko, about being artists, making art, when I wondered aloud whether it wasn't often a sad, or at least very lonely, endeavor. (Rothko committed suicide in 1970) both Anna and Kristin disagreed. (Phew! :)) Anna went on to say that some of her favorite moments, to date, in her life, are when she has a brand new idea, when she thinks of a thing, or a way of creating, that has never been done before. She put her hand over her head and made the motion of turning on the light-bulb as she described the incredible excitement, and joy in those moments, that she has come to live for as an artist. I looked at the hand she was holding above her head. She was wearing one of her two finger rings. The design I had first seen years ago, and thought to myself "THAT IS INCREDIBLE! I've never seen anything like that before!" When she put her hand down, I asked her if the ring had been one of those light bulb/joy moments. Indeed. It had been!


(Two-Fingered Ring By Anna Sheffield!)

And look at that! In my blackberry on the bus, silly, esoteric ramble of a blog, I even found a way to tempt you with some amazing jewelry.. coming oh-so-soon To Giving Tree Jewelry!
So in closing this weeks blog, I say... to all of this, ART, INSPIRATION, FRIENDSHIP, AND LIFE- balanced and utterly enhanced by all of these things... Letting go, and Holding on... city and nature.. and of course to breathtaking "brand new/light bulb lit" baubles,
To all of these wonderful things I simply say... YIPPEE!!!

Xxx (and Thank-You! for being a part of so much fun and celebration!)
Rachel
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