One small thing

then another small thing and bit of string

I’ve been thinking lately that we can’t help being in this era that we’re in and so we have to respond to it, as it is, while also looking at it pragmatically and realistically. But yet, at the same time, we've also got to daydream and we’ve got to state our wishes and hopes and work towards those things. We can resist¹ what we don’t want and we can participate in what we do want and hope to have more of. Hope, itself, is not a plan - but we get to the planning stage by having hopes and dreams.

They’re small fragile seeming things, hopes and dreams, but our human world is made out of them. Together we supply our own light in the darkness.²

Our friends and people we know often show us ways to hope, cope and dream. While standing in solidarity with our friends we can witness the results of their hoping and dreaming: the stalwartness of that friend in an adversity, the intelligence of this friend, the generosity of another friend, the willingness of yet another friend to be vulnerable…

It is essential that our hopes and dreams be rooted in real life - something tangible we can be inspired by - because then we can identify small practical steps we can take towards our own ideals. The planning stages are where we work out the action steps to take towards the possibility of realizing our hopes and dreams.

But every plan starts with hope… even something vague like “I hope it's different than this someday.”

Art making is an emotional response both to life as it is and a vision of how life could be. Just as technology is the practical response to our bodies and our physical needs and helping us meet those needs. By “technology” here I mean Ursula K. le Guins definition: Technology is the active human interface with the material world³.

Both art and technology are tactile, tangible, hopes and dreams in action. Art is where we practice imagining; which is having hopes and dreaming them out loud. Art is where we can ask “what if…” and play with the possible answers.

We daydream and state our hope-wishes, though knowing we might not get them. We do that stating and wishing in the same way that we weigh information. It’s the careful sifting and weighing of information that gives us the best chance to make informed choices and not have an error. While remaining ignorant almost certainly leads to error. So, while hoping doesn’t guarantee that we will get what we hope for, it does give us a better chance of getting it.

If we don’t do the wishing, and we don’t do the hoping, and we don’t do the daydreaming, and we don’t do the choosing and working toward… then somebody else will. And whatever they wish and hope and choose might not be what we're willing to accept.

This week had St Patrick's Day in it - and I found a book of Irish Stories in a local bookstore and have read, now, several of the short stories and enjoyed them. Reading is where I regularly see, and can be inspired by, people hoping, coping with and overcoming adversity together⁴. Books are where I daydream and renew my hopes.

Speaking of books: Here's a video look at one of my one-of-a-kind artist books, titled “On A String”, in which I thought a lot about little things, the interrelationship between small things… its me daydreaming and playing with my usual humor. 😁

I hope you'll enjoy seeing it.

Here's the featured art mug this week: link here

Thank you for being here in this small moment with me. I hope your day is gentle.

1. No Kings protests

No Kings: Myths and Facts

2.

3. Here's Ursula K le Guins full rant about technology - well worth a read. https://www.ursulakleguin.com/a-rant-about-technology

4. Hopepunk: because of, and in spite of, everything we still need hope Hope is rebellious.

We need you, hopepunks.