Ariel's Room

Sunday Postcard Art: Houses

2010-08-12T20:28:00.001-04:00

Ahhh, another art challenge. This week's Sunday Postcard Art topic was Houses. Here you see my fantasy cottage, with the door open to welcome you home.

I pulled out my Prismacolor watercolor pencils for this little offering.Enjoy

Illustration Friday - Caged ... or Not?

2010-08-08T17:00:00.001-04:00

I decided to whip up a little something for this week's Illustration Friday theme: Caged.

A reminder to use our gifts, one and all!

Crusade No. 43

2010-08-06T14:25:00.000-04:00

After a wonderful week-long program in Book Arts at Stone Coast Writing Center (Wolfe Neck, Maine) I am diving in with both hands to make art. After a visit to Michelle Ward's Green Pepper Press Street Team I was inspired to share in Crusade No. 43, "Text Messaging." It's been a long time since I got glue and ink on my fingers -- too long. What fun I had last night clipping and arranging and pasting down text! Looking forward to seeing what the rest of the team put together.

The Time Has Come for Equality for All People

2010-05-03T08:52:00.001-04:00

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” With these noble and elegant words from our Declaration of Independence, the United States of America embarked on a revolutionary mission – creating a nation where all people are treated as equals.

Sadly, our nation has taken a long time to live up to the promise of equality. In 1868 – almost 100 years after the founding of our country – the 14^th Amendment to the Constitution was passed. It declared “no State shall deprive any person of life, liberty or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person…equal protection of the laws.” American Blacks have struggled long and hard to make that Amendment, the promise of equality, a reality. Women have struggled long and hard for their rights as equal citizens. Now, American citizens who differ from you only on the basis of their sexual orientation are asking for the same equality.

Legalizing same-sex marriage would be a recognition of basic American principles, set forth in our founding documents. It would represent the culmination of our nation’s commitment to equal rights.

Our highest court, the Supreme Court of the United States has repeatedly held that marriage is one of the most fundamental rights that we have as Americans under our Constitution. It has described the right to marriage as one of the vital personal rights essential to the orderly pursuit of happiness by free men;” a “basic civil right;” an expression of emotional support and public commitment.

The Supreme Court has further said that marriage is a part of the Constitution’s protections of liberty, privacy, freedom of association, and spiritual identification. Without the right to marry, there can be no true equality under the law.

It is true that marriage in this nation has traditionally been regarded as a relationship exclusively between a man and a woman. However, the underlying rights and liberties that marriage embodies are not in any way confined to heterosexuals.

The reason most frequently given for denying the right of marriage to same-sex couples is tradition. But simply because something has always been done in a certain way does not mean it must remain that way – otherwise we would still have segregated schools and women defined as the property of their husbands. Tradition hardly seems a rational justification for withholding the status of marriage and continuing to label same-sex relationships as unworthy or less legitimate.

The second argument heard against same-sex marriage is that traditional marriage between a man and a woman furthers the state’s interest in procreation – somehow opening marriage to same-sex couples would diminish that goal. If same-sex couples are allowed to marry, it would have no impact on the number of heterosexual couples who marry and have children. One thing has nothing to do with the other.

We do not ask of heterosexual couples if they intend to have children. We allow marriage by the elderly, by prison inmates, by people who have no intention to bear children. Procreation is not a valid argument.

Another argument, even less convincing, is that allowing same-sex couples to marry will somehow devalue heterosexual marriages. Again, there is no logical reasoning that supports this notion.

I understand, but reject, certain religious teachings that denounce homosexuality as morally wrong or unnatural. I also reject the argument by certain religions that marriage must be restricted to the union between a man and a woman because the scriptures say so. There are many Biblical verses that are ignored by even the most fundamental of Christians – such as the injunction against men cutting their hair and the duty of men to regularly beat their wives and children.

The bias against homosexuality is a cultural creation. If one is born heterosexual, it is not unusual to perceive those who are born homosexual as threatening. That which is different and unfamiliar is often rejected – too often leading to prejudice, hostility, and discrimination.

That fact is that homosexual men and women fill your world, often without your awareness. Most of us do not wear Queer buttons on our clothing declaring our sexual orientation. Yet, we are your classmates, your teachers, your doctors, and your bankers. Our lives intersect yours in countless ways.

The antidote to prejudice, fear and discrimination is understanding. We once tolerated laws throughout this nation that prohibited marriage between persons of different races. These laws were deemed unconstitutional. I believe that in the not too distant future, the laws prohibiting the marriage of same-sex couples will also be deemed unconstitutional.

There is no rational justification for this unique pattern of discrimination. It advances no legitimate state interest. All it does is label gay and lesbian persons as different, inferior, and unequal. It brands our relationships as not the same, and less-approved than those enjoyed by opposite sex couples. As gays and lesbians, we are stigmatized by discrimination and caused needless pain, isolation and humiliation.

Today, in America, gay men and lesbians are kept from the institution of marriage even though the characteristic for which we are targeted—our sexual orientation—like race, gender, and ethnicity, is a fundamental aspect of our identity that we did not choose for ourselves.

To be discriminated against based on one’s inborn sexual orientation is wrong. To be denied marriage, this most basic of our constitutional freedoms is wrong. Blocking the right of individuals to marry a same-sex partner relegates us to “second class” citizenship, and tells us, our families and our neighbors that our love and desire for a sanctioned marital partnership is not worthy of recognition.

The time has come for Americans to redress these wrongs. Only when all people – gay and straight – have the right to choose their life partners will this country be able to proudly declare “We are a nation that values equality.” Only when “every mountain and hill of discrimination is made low, and the crooked is made straight and the rough places plain” will we be able to declare “America lives up to its promise of equality for all people.”

As American citizens, we must question the fairness and justice of our policy of discrimination. One day we must come to see that our brothers and sisters are all children of the one God, loved just as they are, for who they are. A nation that denies same-sex marriage while at the same time declaring equality for all is disjointed by its rhetoric and poisoned by its hatred.

Americans who believe in the words of the Declaration of Independence, who believe in the words of the 14^th Amendment, who believe in the Constitution’s guarantees of equal protection and equal dignity before the law cannot sit by while this wrong continues. With a powerful commitment to end discrimination, we shall boldly challenge the status quo with its unjust mores and speed the day when we stand up proudly to embrace this issue….guaranteeing the right of same-sex couples to join together in a loving commitment that supports and nourishes the values our country is founded on.

Science and Religion

2010-04-15T15:12:00.000-04:00

I am finishing up my senior thesis paper on Science and Religion, having learned much through the research and process of putting my thoughts down on paper. Everything is done but the conclusion. What can we conclude about the intersection of science and religion in the 21st century. Is there a place for traditional religions? How might they change - if they, in fact, have the courage to be flexible?

Robert Wright points out that historical religions are in trouble today because they were constructed during the time when agrarian and pastoral cultures reigned the landscape. The ethic, "Do unto others, as you would have them do unto you," is found in virtually every religion in one form or another. Is this enough?

I would promote the idea that we must acknowledge, deep within ourselves that the "other" is "us." We are integrally connected. What I do has repercussions for the rest of humanity and, ultimately, the cosmos. I am going to practice looking into people's eyes and smiling when I pass them. My step to letting folks know they are not alone.

Spring Has Sprung

2010-04-02T20:49:00.003-04:00

Spring has sprung and the daffodils are nodding their sweet yellow heads. The window is open to the crickets and tree frogs calling into the soft night air. Ahh, and all we have to do is live. Live this night. Live this day. Gently, joyfully, dare I say "exuberantly"!

For too long we've all carried around our backpacks filled with yesterday's news - its sorrows and fears, and all the other limitations that we have used to define ourselves. What if we let it all go? What if we just took a very deep breath, exhaled and declared right here and now "I am that I am."

Can you do it? Do you dare?

The Last of the Eyak - Annie's Lament

2010-02-07T10:52:00.002-05:00

Annie was the last living member of the Eyak, a people who lived in Northwestern Alaska before the influx of American salmon canneries. Her people were displaced and died from exposure to western diseases. Old and frail, Annie walks along on the beach at low tide, wailing the tragic fate of her people.

My poor aunt - I couldn't believe you were going to die.
How would I hear you?
I wish this - to go back to you there.
You are no more.
I just break out in tears and lament.

All along here I'll go around
Life Ravens I'll live along.
My aunts are dying off on me and
along I'll be living.

[In Honor of Eyak: The Art of Anna Nelson Harry. Alaska Native Language Center, University of Alaska: 1982]

Anthropology?

2010-01-28T10:47:00.002-05:00

I have attended the first session of Dr. Dobres' course on Cultural Anthropology. Someone asked what types of careers anthropology might lead to; Dr. D responded by describing the various types of anthropology: cultural, archeology, social. I was intrigued by the idea of anthropology that considers the cultural impact on psychology. More directly, how has culture, especially the religious beliefs of a culture, affected the psychology of its members? This sounds fascinating. I've made an appointment to meet with Dr. D next week. More to come . . .

Happy 2010 - Expect the Best

2010-01-01T17:02:00.004-05:00

2010 is going to be a wonderful year - and I am expecting the BEST. I suggest you do so as well. To what purpose do you expect the worst, looking forward to tragedy and calamity? None whatsoever. You will in no way be more prepared, for we do not prepare ourselves by worrying, but by taking action when there is action to be taken. Are there things in your life that you need to act on? Then do so. Or if you decide they are not worth doing, then let them go. Get them off your list and out of your mind.

I have a some wonderful things to do this year (in no particular order):

Sew a black woolen skirt with woolfelt applique
Make a beaded necklace for Trobie
Finish Steph's cross-stitch
Create a wall hanging with gelatin mold painting
Complete my portfolio for 15 credit hours
Do my internship
Do my senior seminar
Start my Big History book
Develop three workshops for health and self-development
Get business cards printed by MooCards
Continue this blog
. . .

I'm so excited! This will certainly be a wonderful year.

The Evolution of God

2009-12-16T10:21:00.000-05:00

In his latest book, The Evolution of God, Robert Wright effectively argues that the moral imagination (e.g., the ability to put oneself in the shoes of another person) has evolved as a natural product of humanity’s evolution. He writes:

[A]s natural selection ground along, creating more and more intelligent forms of life, it eventually created a form of life so intelligent as to give birth to a second creative process, cultural evolution; and as cultural (especially technological) evolution proceeded, the human species exhibited larger and larger expanses of social organization, and eventually this expanse approached global proportions, and in the process there appeared a moral order, linkage between the growth of social organization and progress toward moral truth. (450).

Wright’s book provides a strong suggestion that the “purpose” and meaning of human history included the development of the moral imagination which itself, works to ensure the survival of the human species.

To Throw Away

2009-11-17T14:02:00.000-05:00

-- a poem by Chase Twitchell

A smudge of flames takes the twigs,

the dry sisters of the leaves.

It's time to ask for the teachings.

From this high rock I can see

the granite faces of the mountains.

My thoughts are like the smoke

that begins in a heap of oak twigs

and ends diffused in the sky.

There's a Japanese expression,

"to throw away the world."

I can smell the balsams,

resinous in the first long cold.

In my mind I walk out into them.

The sound of boots in light frost -

my breath, feeding the fire of my question.

This short poem is one I am presenting with Robyn Dumont in my Transforming Words class tomorrow. The poem is the result of Twichell being bored with the poetry she had been writing, resulting in her dumping fifteen months' of work into the fire that her husband was burning outside. She grasped onto a new "frontier" for her poetry, answering what she said was the only question that is worth asking, "What is self?" She goes on to say that her test of her writing is how it reveals the mind changed by its mission, to answer the question of self.

Twichell is a practitioner of zen and lover of haiku. The poem, To Throw Away, is written in the form of a tanka: alternating stanzas of triplets and couplets, and alternating nature images with more contemplative elements. (Traditional tanka are written by two people, taking turns writing stanzas.)

I was initially drawn to the form of the poem and its nature images. Later, when I read Twichell's commentary about the poem, I appreciated the transformative impact of her burning her work - literally, throwing away the world of her last 15 months' of writing to reach a new space of centeredness in her work.

Women on the Edge of Evolution - Jean Houston

2009-11-16T13:14:00.000-05:00

I've just finished listening to an amazing interview with Jean Houston as the second part of the teleseminar series, "Women on the Edge of Evolution." If you have not registered for this free series it is definitely worth your time and attention.

To sign up, simply go to http://womenontheedgeofevolution.com/ . If you can't listen at the time of broadcast, all interviews are archived and available immediately following the session. The entire series is focused around the idea that women all around the world are feeling the push to be part of the sweep of changes that are forming our future. By the second week over 15,000 women were listening in!

Anyway, back to Jean Houston. She is one remarkable woman, and she has some wonderful advice for those of us who are feeling the push to make a difference in the future, to be part of the evolutionary changes that are happening NOW!

Houston said:

I like to mythologize rather than pathologize. Women get caught, at the psychological level in western notions of ego. This is but one image of the self. Polyphrenia, the orchestration of our many selves is our expanded health. We live 5 or 6 different personalities, different roles during the course of the day. We also have a whole crew inside ourselves. We can take on different inner personas when we need their strengths. Women need to get to know the different people inside – the many different faces. As you begin to take on aspects of the crew of yourself, you will be able to access their strengths and wisdom. Make a list and become comfortable with these qualities of your aspects. These qualities will give a different perspective, different power and genius. Self-evolvement happens in accelerated fashion when women tap into polyphrenia.

So, my suggestion for today is to take some time today to begin to list and get comfortable with your personal crew.

Hugs and Star Sparkles, Ariel

The Leaves are Down

2009-11-15T10:54:00.000-05:00

I just had the pleasure of rereading a portion of Annie Dillard's wonderful book, A Pilgrim at Tinker Creek. (A side note here - I first read this book when I was living just a few miles from Tinker Creek in Fincastle, Virginia).

One section, particularly apropos of the season, was about the falling leaves; and this lead to my picking up on an NPR article about leaves being pushed off their branches, rather than being pulled by the wind. It seems that deciduous trees have an "abscission hormone" that actually loosens the leaf from the branch. Then, when the cut becomes long enough, or a strong wind or scampering squirrel passes by, the leaf falls from the branch to the ground, gathering with its hundreds of thousands of fellow leaves in piles for children to run and jump in -- and families to rake into the compost heap.

Raking has become an annual family affair here at the Gills. We take turns raking, hauling to the back compost, and handling the leaf blower. Last year I was so greedy with the leaf blower that my hands were numb for about six hours - carpal leaf syndrome? This year Carla pulled out the lawn mower and plowed through the piles of leaves, chopping the little suckers into tiny bits. But, by the end of the day, the leaves were down and done for another year. . . as long as the huge piles in the neighbor's yard don't blow eastward into ours. (Is it too late to build a fence?)

Below Zero and the Furnace is Roaring

2009-01-15T21:21:00.000-05:00

Isn't this a great pic? It is from my Facebook friends. A shot of sunset at the North Pole. The smaller glowing circle is the moon. That was just to get you in the mood.

I am so grateful for a warm home and lots of sweaters and snuggly blankets. The temperature has dipped below zero today -- even lower forecasted for tomorrow. But it's all good. After all, I am living in Maine and it is January.

I sent both Annie and Noah to school this morning with hats and gloves. This afternoon when they came home there was no evidence of gloves or hats on those warm bodies. I remember walking to high school in my mini-skirt (no pants allowed back then) and white canvas sneakers - no socks or stockings. By the time I got to school my knees were bright red from the cold. I suppose my feet were numb; I don't recall feeling them at all. Ahh, the vanities of youth!