“To Talk of Many Things…”

The time has come the Walrus said

To talk of many things.

Of shoes and ships and sealing wax,

of cabbages and kings.

Lewis Carroll

 

Good writing tends to be thematic. It makes a singular point, expresses a unified message, and leaves the reader with a clear understanding of a particular line of thought.

This post will fail in all those regards. The only unifying factor in this is its multiple lines of thoughts.  My mind, you see, has been going off in lots of different directions, discovering interesting things “here”, putting them together with things from “over there”, and thoroughly enjoying the process.

Although I’m not yet “doing art” again, I believe I am moving a few steps closer. As I was browsing around — somewhere — I came across a project for making a “River Goddess”, and I felt an undeniable excitement. Turning around and glancing behind me, I saw the Earth Goddess I’d made last year. She seemed to be smiling at me in approval, so I made a note to join in for this upcoming session. If you’re interested it’s from Ida Anderson Lang. Click on the link for more information.

Now, you’ll note that a River Goddess has nothing to do with shoes, ships, sealing wax, cabbages or kings, but let’s go on to talk of other things. One thing, you see, does lead to another, and thoughts of creating a River Goddess brought be back again to my Earth Goddess — you can see her here — and to the other feminine-related creations I’ve made. The concepts of femininity and motherhood seemed to be resonating with me in new ways.

So I began reading a bit about the divine feminine, and here my mind skips over a bit to my family genealogy. If you’ve read this blog for a while, you know that I’m learning Dutch, and one thing I’ve learned about languages is that a good approach is to work with source materials that pertain to personal interests. So, I’m reading and translating ideas of the divine feminine into the Dutch language.

The divine feminine is, however, only one part of a more metaphysical way of life. Through my creative expression, I’m finding myself drawn more and more to ideas of celebrating the seasons, connecting with nature, and doing it all from what might be called a rather “New Age” point of view.

Connecting with nature… connecting with nature. Verbinden met natuur… verbinden met natuur. 

Those thoughts led to Moeder Aarde, or Mother Earth for those who don’t speak Dutch. And Mother Earth brought me right back to my art studio and to the many landscapes I’ve painted. Maybe you remember my art “Mission Statement”.

“I love nature, and I seek to share that love through my paintings. My hope is that my art may inspire others to a greater respect for our Mother Earth, a greater appreciation of her beauty, and a greater recognition of our need to cherish, protect, and care for her.”

Now, at this point I should mention another line of thought that’s been running through my mind. It’s the idea of being of service in some way. My husband and I feel that we are very blessed. We want to give back in some way. As I read about Moeder Aarde, as I thought about connecting with nature, as I remembered my own mission statement, everything began coming together.

This is my purpose. This is how I’m meant to give to the world. I want to connect with nature at a deeper level and to share my love. In my “dagboek” — My Dutch journal — I wrote the following:

Het is mijn heilige plict om voor Moeder Aarde te zorgen. 

It is my sacred duty to care for Mother Earth.

Shall we jump around now to yet another idea? Take a look at this painting.

 

A Chill in the Air – Oil 8 x 10 by Judith Kraus

This was painted almost 2 years ago. Since then it’s been sitting here in my studio — unframed — and while I saw a lot of promise in this painting I wasn’t completely happy with it when I painted it. But over those last two years, I’ve looked at this painting many times and each time I’ve found myself liking it a little more.

The point here is that we sometimes fail to see the beauty in our own creations. Yes, I now consider this to be a beautiful painting. It’s not perfect. So… what? It was painted with love, my love for the earth, my love for nature.

And so I chose this painting to be a means of expressing the new meaning and purpose in my life.

I do contribute to a number of nature-related and environmental causes, and in the coming year I plan to do more. I also want to share this cause, so here are a few links.

Arbor Day Foundation

The Nature Conservancy

Audubon Society

World Wildlife Fund

There are many more worthy organizations, too. I have read about each of these, and I’ve found them to be responsible and highly-rated as non-profits. Perhaps you’ll consider making a donation to one of these.

All in all, yes, this is a post that rambles all over the place, but for me, it’s all coming together in exciting ways.