Matches for: “light & shadow” …

May 04 2014
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Light & Shadow

“Where there is much light, the shadow is deep.” ― Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

In many parts of the country this year, winter has been unrelenting and even spring seems cast in darkness, cloudy grey days lingering like a bad mood. People I encounter in both my personal and professional life seem short-tempered and surly, or depressed and sullen. I’ve been experiencing a crisis of confidence in different areas of my life, questioning my choices, judging myself harshly, or needing reassurance. I’m projecting thoughts, motives, and perceptions onto others. I finally realized I need to face my shadow to find the light. Continue reading →

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Aug 08 2022
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For the Love of Movies (& Memories of My Mother)

“Ever since I was a child, films, like good books, served as windows to worlds sometimes unfamiliar or far away due to distance in time or space. Movies depicted characters both fictional and historical, unraveled mysteries or documented adventures; they always engaged my emotions and attention. Some films are more familiar and familial, memoirs or morality tales that act like mirrors to my lived experience, or road maps of my internal journey. I prefer non-fiction to fiction. Most fiction, in my view, is simply reality in disguise, employed to protect the innocent and the guilty. As a memoirist I am most interested in the stories we tell and the stories untold about our lives.” – Excerpt from Stories We Tell/Stories Untold 

Continue reading →

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Dec 31 2019
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Memories Are Made of This: Grief & Gratitude

“Memory is the diary that we all carry about with us.” — Oscar Wilde

“Sometimes it only takes one song to bring back a thousand memories.” — Unknown

It’s in fact a song that inspired the title of this essay and reminiscence. I don’t consider it a favorite in my playlist, however, the title captures the spirit of this blog post. It was a popular song about nostalgia. It’s been performed by country western singers like Jim Reeves, The Everly Brothers, and Johnny Cash, and covered by crooners like Dean Martin and Bing Crosby.  Full disclosure, for me, it’s the title that captures the essence of the song’s meaning. Our lived experiences create our memories.  Continue reading →

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Dec 31 2017
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Finding the Light in Dark Times

“There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it.” — Edith Wharton

It seems timely — that on the eve of the New Year and the eve of the January Supermoon — I take a look back at the past year and look ahead to the New Year, while I search for the light to give us hope in what can only be described as dark times.    Continue reading →

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Oct 10 2016
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Ferment: Distilling Culture & Politics

fer·ment– verb

1. (of a substance) undergo fermentation.
“the drink had fermented, turning some of the juice into alcohol”
synonyms: undergo fermentation, brew;

2. incite or stir up (trouble or disorder).
“the politicians and warlords who are fermenting this chaos”
synonyms: cause, bring about, give rise to, generate, engender, spawn, instigate, provoke, incite, excite, stir up, whip up, foment

The past month has been wet, stormy, and unseasonably warm.  The lack of sunshine began eroding my well-being.  The political climate continued to heat up too, becoming a category 5 shit-storm, casting a dark cloud on my outlook for the future. I realized I wasn’t spending enough time in nature during my favorite season of the year doing the things that feed my spirit. Instead I kept reading more online and watching commentators discuss the fermenting disillusionment of the electorate. Continue reading →

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Apr 27 2014
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Lost & Found

Finding Vivian Maier

Yesterday I saw the film, Finding Vivian Maier. It is the previously untold story of a street and portrait photographer. Ms. Maier’s portraits were not staged or styled. Her subjects were often captured surreptitiously as she marched out into to the streets of Chicago with the children in her care. Vivian was a nanny to some of Chicago’s upper middle-class and wealthy families who lived along the North Shore of Lake Michigan. She left her job as a seamstress in New York to become a nanny so she could find ways to be outdoors, to be out in the world yet still hide in plain sight. Vivian was an undercover artist. Continue reading →

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Jan 19 2014
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Beach Boys, Beatles, Bob Dylan & the Byrds

Growing Up in the Early 1960s

“Ah, but I was so much older then I’m younger than that now”   Lyrics from My Back Pages by Bob Dylan

A number of recent events and anniversaries coalesced this month, prompting me to reminisce. My birthday is in January and like the month’s namesake Janus, the god of beginnings and transitions, I’ve been looking back at mine. Fifty years ago, as a baby boomer growing up in the early 1960’s, my life was about to change in ways I couldn’t imagine. Continue reading →

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Oct 10 2023
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Dispatch from the Hideout: It’s Not Over, Till It’s Over!

“It ain’t over, till it’s over!” — Yogi Berra

This past weekend, the weather in the upper Midwest changed dramatically from unseasonably hot temperatures — 20+ degrees above normal — then dropped below normal for early fall. We went from wearing short sleeves and short pants to sweaters and sweats. We turned-off air conditioners, or closed open windows, we turned on the heat or used our fireplaces. Instead of outdoor social activities like dining al fresco, we began moving indoors.

Like the past three-and-a-half years during the pandemic which now can be classified as an endemic, most of us now get vaccinated in the fall. This year in addition to the annual flu shot and pneumococcal vaccine, there’s a new RSV (Respiratory Syncytial Virus) immunization, plus the updated COVID vaccine protecting us from the newest variant. Health experts suggest that moving forward we will receive an annual COVID vaccine like the flu shot.  Continue reading →

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Apr 26 2023
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Dispatch from the Hideout: Casualties

“Life seems sometimes like nothing more than a series of losses, from beginning to end. That’s the given. How you respond to those losses, what you make of what’s left, that’s the part you have to make up as you go.” ― Katharine Weber

“Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don’t resist them; that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like.” ― Laozi

This past Saturday night we planned an event, Last Night at the Hotel Bar, a reunion of sorts, a wake, and sendoff, not for a person but for a place, The Brink Lounge in Madison, Wisconsin. It was a gathering for Madison Indie Filmmakers, friends, and supporters. We referred to ourselves as the Barflies. The Brink Lounge was closing permanently on April 30. Continue reading →

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Mar 04 2023
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Dispatch from the Hideout: Endemic Edition

“When the physical threat of coronavirus subsides, as it surely will, we must address the impact to our mental health” — Luciana Berger

Endemic Definition: “…a disease or a condition, regularly found and very common among a particular group or in a particular area” — Cambridge Dictionary

Three years into the COVID-19 pandemic and we are the next stage of its evolution as the virus becomes endemic. It’s now living with us, and for some of you, living in you as Long COVID. To the best of my knowledge, I’m a Never COVID, COVID Virgin, or COVID Target. Yes, I’m still vulnerable, however, I’m grateful. It required three years of isolation including, social distancing, healthy practices, sacrificing time with friends and family, avoiding indoor restaurants, stores, and events, many of which gave my life meaning and pleasure. For some of the past three years, I worked remotely, and when in the office, masked. Continue reading →

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