the oral tradition is a powerful shaper of our identity and our culture.
Story contains within it the essence of what it is to be human.
Heartfelt Dolls |
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I love listening to stories ... the oral tradition is a powerful shaper of our identity and our culture. Story contains within it the essence of what it is to be human.
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I am mesmerised by model trains. From simple circuits on a living room floor, to layouts that fill a warehouse! They represent creativity, commitment and attentiveness. Each layout, no matter whether they are crude or sophisticated, details a moment in time and place - a snapshot, so to speak. And they draw upon so much talent and craftsmanship: engineering, joinery, metalwork, mathematics, painting, signwriting, carpentry, stone work. Sounds, smells, memories, dreams, all encapsulated in a model train layout. If any single scene depicts the futility of war, it is one in "War Horse".
A horse trapped in barbed wire in no-man's land. Two strangers, one a British soldier, one a German soldier, leave their respective trenches and join forces to remove the ensnared animal from the wire. Can there be any justification for strangers slaughtering strangers? I think Mark Knopfler is one of the finest guitarists in the world.
Music has the power to motivate and empower and soothe. It can also transport us to another time or place. Listen to Golden Heart. Labyrinths - an invitation to walk to the centre - of our selves, of our anxieties, of our frustrations, of our need for control. Labyrinths - a place - to empty yourself, to replenish yourself, to empower yourself, to refocus yourself. Labyrinths - an opportunity - to step outside of time, to encounter the divine, to be attentive. "My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think that I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road though I may know nothing about it. Therefore I will trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone." Thomas Merton 'Thoughts in Solitude' Walking is always a source of inspiration. The way our body moves. The seasonal weather and micro-climates. The sounds of vehicles and people and animals and footfall. The scents that fill the nostrils. The long-distance vistas and the minute surprises close-by. The opportunity for encounter - with self, with others, with the divine. What are thin places? Are they places I should seek? How do they contribute to my search for a meaning to life? |
Liz PearceI am a doll-maker; a doll interpreter; a doll activist, perhaps, using this medium to reflect on the human condition. Archives
August 2020
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