Being The Light

 

These past few fraught days, my mind's been on subject of community, and what we can do as individuals, as caring, creative,  intelligent people to, if nothing else, leave where we've been a little bit the nicer for our having been there. It's the responsibilities that accompany freedom that get overlooked, and sadly as well, it seems simple common decency is being left by the wayside too.  It's not a good way to go forward, divided like this, over what boils down to the fear of those different from us, and our failure to confront  some awful and tragic factors in the equations of our nation's history. Among myriad other explanations for this sorry state of affairs is a failure in education. And that failure has its roots in a lack of honesty, like too much else these days. 

What we can do is to conduct ourselves well.  

Be honest. Be Kind. Be Open. Live your life as a good example. There seem but two types of people anymore, good guys, or assholes. And nobody really wants to be an asshole, do they? Really? Of course not, but sometimes the odds are stacked pretty high, one way or another, and what seems like it should obvious to many, is perceived--or likely, simply not even considered--by as many others, as something entirely different. Generally filed under  cognitive dissonance..  And that's a tough nut to crack.

But it's crackable. Not always, but sometimes...as long as there's meat left inside tender enough to be usable. The question is how to crack said  nut. And a sort of 'subliminal re-education' is the answer...influencing through example. Sounds pretty nebulous, but it's not really. We're back to leading by example, and being the light.

Examples 

These two shots showed up as memories on Facebook recently. They are old images of celebration: Irie Sol above, and the women who were the crew at Saylon Seven, back in 2013.

These shots showed up in the days following the Express Yourself October Extravaganza at the Owl's Hill Arts Center--an imaginary celebration at an imaginary place of wonders, that celebrated community, creativity, collaboration and the out-of-the-box entrepreneurship that is a hallmark of such ventures. Which is just what these two images are celebrating.

Irie Sol played on nice night at Artisan Forge Studios in Eau Claire. They were helping us celebrate something special: the Forge and the arts community here, for a group of travel writers. We were showing off, all of us there, and it was beautiful, true and fun. The band draws across cultures and genres, joyous, impassioned, righteously outraged, singing songs of the one true love and setting the children to dance away the night. It was sweet, and these gentlemen have been at it a long time. The message doesn't change.

I don't remember the occasion of the Saylon Soirée, but that was a fun one too, and likely in celebration five years open. Don't quote me on that, though. My friend Sabrina realized a dream in opening her own place, and she's still going strong. Her salon has been a mainstay now for many years, a community unto itself, interacting with clients, the business community, the city and whoever else may come along.  Saylon Seven is one of many local businesses run by women that rock. It's the vibe. It's the inclusivity. It's the way they do what they do, big picture and small. And as a by-the-by, of that group of women shot seven years ago, at least six of them are presently in business for  themselves.

So yeah, you can look at these images and feel the backstory. It feels like something cool, just looking at it. It's an energy, and it can be shared. It needs to be shared. And that, brothers and sisters, is our job as creatives: how to make these messages and the values they carry so fucking cool that no one will not want to be a part of something so awesome & real?