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The 2005
collection
Dear Readers:
The 2005 collection is
titled bounding of Elements.
Wandering the Southern
California deserts for sometimes weeks at a time, I’ve often wondered what our
element is as human beings. Bound closely to the earth that holds us, yet so
inspired by the open sky above in our awareness, aspiration, legends and
symbols, which element can claim us as our home? Although we must painfully
scale the sides of mountains (or stand in line at the airport check-in) for
height, we have, since the infancy of our civilizations, charted the course of
birds, clouds and stars while seeking to travel our ocean’s currents, learning
the intricacies of navigation as we went along. Are we creatures of the earth,
bound by the sternness of gravity or can we claim our home in a different
element, one that we seek and aspire to?
Having (finally) finished
graduate school, I started a new job where I am now creating a curriculum on,
essentially, change within an organization. Having done my graduate emphasis in
Organizational Change and Conflict Resolution it’s a wonderful fit for what I’ve
wanted to do. Stories are a key ingredient of human change and of
reconciliation. Maybe our ancestors, shivering on the open plains and
constantly in fear of predators, already shared stories of how they envisioned
their society could be without constant hunger or fear. And in the process of
human change, our understanding of seemingly irreconcilable viewpoints depends on each
side listening to the other’s stories in order to begin to understand the person
behind the issues. And we continue to tell stories to this day. Stories are
composed of words, so words are important. As a writer I’ve always been
fascinated how people relate (and sometimes fail to relate) to each other. So,
yes, since words and stories are my tools, I like my new job very much even if they won’t let me do poetry readings
there.
Someone also once said that words are the gifts we humans can give each other
if we choose to view them that way, because words at their best can move
us, inspire us, heal us, bring us together. Being a wonderfully human
creation, words inherently seem to reflect the complexity within us,
their creators. If words bond us and commit us to those we consider
important to us, do their sometimes ambiguous meanings allow us the
freedom to explore and meander within their gently flowing boundaries -
ambiguities that we, as explorers and restless travelers, crave?
bounding of
Elements
may then be about a seeking of home, of our element, within the words we
create and share - whether it’s a comfortable harbor, an open sky, or
the safe and familiar boundaries of the earth. Ultimately, I believe
our home is where our spirit chooses to dwell. The stories we create
will follow.
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