One of my favorite moments that came out of attending the Squam Art Workshops last week in New Hampshire actually occurred while I was on my way home. On the plane from Boston back to Portland, Oregon, I sat by to two young men who were on their way home after running a half-marathon in Boston. The one sitting next to me asked (while I was reading the article on Squam in Taproot, ironically) if I had been on vacation or visiting friends in Boston, and I told him that, no, I had actually been attending an art workshop in New Hampshire. He looked surprised (or maybe intrigued?) and asked, “Oh, so are you an artist then?” And for the first time in my own recollection, I replied with a smile, “Yes, I am an artist.” And it felt really great to say it out loud, to a total stranger, and feel validated in that realization.
I am an artist.
The following is a little poem I wrote on the last morning while sitting in our screened-in porch and watching the sunlight sparkle on the lake. Below are some more photos from my journey. Enjoy!
Squam is…
this quirky little kingdom that is nothing like the real world,
yet how we wish the real world were more often.
perfect in its imperfection
a place of rest and acceptance
the lost hoping to be found
the found wanting to get lost
a lake filled with hope and untapped potential
the discovery of self
the start of a journey
the end of wishing you could…
…and finally doing.
16 September 2012
My hope is that you will all one day find a place like this, where you can settle in and feel free to be yourself – as you were created, in all the ways that make you unique.
xo, me
Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful!!
Ok, now I feel more caught up and I love reading your writing and seeing your pictures 🙂 And now that we have finally watched our movie, we need to catch up more in person…before you start your NaNo-whatever it is…for a split second I considered doing it also…haha, random. Anyway, I’m feeling all inspired and encouraged, so I will be doing something, not sure what yet, but remind me, I am doing something.
Aw, thanks! We definitely have more catching up to do, but I’m glad we finally saw our movie. So good. And, you should definitely do NaNoWriMo with me! It’d be a crazy adventure, but that’s totally the point! We could go sit in Peet’s together and write. 🙂 Or, there’s also this thing called Art Every Day month which is also in November. I wanted to do that, too, but I don’t think I can undertake both challenges this year… check it out: http://creativeeveryday.com/art-every-day-month