Journal: The Spirit Of Art

(Friday, November 15, 2024) full moon Taurus / tarot three of cups

On Tuesday I went to the MIA, ostensibly to view the clay exhibit Patrick J. recommended, O’ Powa O’ Meng: the Art and Legacy of Jody Folwell, a gifted indigenous artist from New Mexico. But what I really loved was the Tibetan Buddhist Shrine Room, filled with more than two hundred gilt-bronze sculptures, paintings, silk hangings and carpets that were created in Tibet between the 1300s and early 1900s. A recorded chant by monks with their deep Tibetan voices made me sit and listen for a while. Such a beautiful meditation. It reminded me of the chanting we did with Jill Purce at her retreat in Glastonbury. And the white silk scarves (kataks) tied around a railing in the exhibit are the same offerings Jill gave each of us when we completed her week-long ceremony. I still have mine.

Although I need to paint our entryway and my bedroom upstairs, I am winding down my 2024 New Year’s Resolution. Six rooms are done. Today I focused on my 2025 Resolution (art and writing). I drove along Minnehaha Parkway to a ceramic studio near Nokomis called The Workshop Mpls (woman-owned). Last year I asked them about their firing services but never dropped off any of my pieces. Until now. My sculptures are supposed to get fired this weekend in their smallest kiln. A little more expensive than I prefer at holiday time, but worth it. This makes me feel like I am moving on to a more creative part of my life.

Visitation: Mama Kay

(Saturday, November 9, 2024) first quarter moon Aquarius / tarot Sun

After midnight I dream of putting on a thin, long old raincoat that doesn’t feel right. Too light, not warm enough. I walk up a flight of stairs to a large closet and try on fancier, furry winter coats that once belonged to my mother.

I wake up at two and fall back to sleep an hour later, entering a dream about family:

I am in our large ancestral home, made of multiple layers. I walk outside, across a tiny pond to meet Cullan inside the open garage, which is separate from the house. He gives me information about our upcoming travel and asks me to head upstairs to pack my suitcase.

Once in my bedroom, I fall back to sleep in my dream. Just for a little while. When I wake up, I panic because I know I am late for our trip. I run down the stairs and meet Chris’ mother Kay, who passed away in 2014. A huge surprise. She tells me she is back from a long journey, including a city or country whose name she tells me but I have forgotten.

There are vanished details of both dreams. But the plots are accurate.

Day notes:

I am a person with nearly empty closets. My mother’s are packed full of things she hasn’t worn in years. She met with a surgeon on Thursday and needs to decide if she will have her knee replaced or not. The doctor told her that using the stairs helps keep her muscles stronger. I use two sets of stairs at least 20 times every day.

It felt so good to have Kay visit me in my dream. Chris was affectionately complimentary yesterday.

Kay in 2013 at her assisted living facility for dementia. The photo on the left is our Plymouth house and the painting of the geese was made by her mother, who attended The Art Institute of Chicago.

11/6/24 Two short dreams: !. Cleaning up someone’s shit 2. Not cleaning the inside windshield of a bus

  1. I go to the bathroom at a public place. The toilet hasn’t been flushed. There is lots of BM in it. I flush it. I touch the toilet paper and get BM on my hands. I go to the sink to wash them. Another woman comes in. I tell her, “This is disgusting!

2. I am on a bus. It stops at a rest stop. I start to clean the inside windshield with a paper towel. I think I will come back with some windex and clean all the inside windows. The driver is an older Latino man. I go outside, sit in the sun and read a book. I am almost done with the book. A young man comes up to me and tells me school is about to start and I know the bus will now be a school bus. I realize I will not have time to clean the windows before the driver has to take off. It doesn’t bother me.

Incubation question: What thoughts, values, or beliefs have I outgrown?

I think these dreams are addressing my co-dependence. I am not responsible for other’s shit and/or their inner work.

The Dreamsters Union