Fireflies
11/28/22
Although the News Gives Us Reasons for Despair
We Remember Henri’s Story:
Henri’s Story
Accomplished artists evolve their craft over decades of sequenced development. It is soul work, learning just what approaches convey an idea to others when those ideas are themselves in constant evolution. Henri Matisse was one of those emergent geniuses — his experiments and collaborations in concepts, media, methods, and priorities became fuller and more articulated through the course of his pivotal career. This all nearly came to an end when two disabilities struck in later life. He developed cataracts which prevented him working close, in detail. Then radical surgery confined him to sitting in a wheelchair. Yet Henri, unable to grasp brushes, unable to stand far enough away from a canvas to focus, somehow found his way forward in the midst of this darkness. Rather than give up in the face of adversity, using assistants to reach, carry, place, and manipulate, Matisse spent the last fifteen years of his life developing the important innovations for which he is now recognized and famous.
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planets break orbits
gravitational pull throwing
neighbors in chaos
* * *
Amidst narratives of despair, we must refocus on the small points of light all around. I’m a former trauma therapist and on-scene disaster consultant, a teacher, a painter, and now a writer. Last year I found hope in gathering stories of individuals persevering against all odds to overcome despair. Fireflies Against Darkness was my first collection of such stories, and More Fireflies, just released, the second. As current events become the spectacle of darkness for another year, I find myself working on a third collection. I want to share them with you.
Adapted from:
More Fireflies
Arroyo Seco Press
www.arroyosecopress.org/books.html
www.layeredmeaning.com
