So, I’m a bit of a strange dreamer.
Here’s my response to our latest #CreativeNeighbor prompt: a recent dream.
she lifts her fingers to wipe the dream out of her eyes
gently, to keep herself from clawing her lids apart,
but the doors don’t open.
she’s in a small room with a calm tiger, next to a strange
man that looks like a liar, eating food that tastes like something bad happened
she lifts her fingers to wipe the dream out of her eyes.
then a flood of yellow wipes out her sight, she is flying in light,
it is light mixed with bright paint, like the moment before waking,
but the doors don’t open.
is it a nightmare when your legs feel like dead snakes, sinking
into quicksand as you crawl one elbow in front of the other, up an impossible staircase
she lifts her fingers to wipe the dream out of her eyes.
she tries a scream, a flood of weightless tears,
a prayer she shouts over and over again,
but the doors don’t open
she misses the hallways that lead her to places she knows,
aches for sounds to call her back to the surface
she lifts fingers to wipe the dream out of your eyes
but you won’t open the doors.
Join our weekly creative prompts by Art in the Neighborhood here. Or look us up on Facebook or Instagram.
Dad and me by Lake Tahoe. Brothers playing in the background. It was dad’s birthday yesterday – happy birthday, Dad!
Do not forget when you were little; a lifetime shorter than all the rest.
Today we hold our egos high, stuck out like scrunched-up chins set on stone-cold jaws, taunting the world to hit us with something good. There’s a pride in us, webbed into our very bones, our childhood growth spurts dictating how much of the pride is faulty, how much of it is made of honor.
Do not forget when you were little; tiny hand reaching out for direction, for love.
As children, we held out our hands for guidance and just knew that someone would hold it. We trusted that we would be led to something good. Doubt was still a game then; not yet the crutch, nightmare, or dirty secret that it later morphs into.
As children, we didn’t second guess our need for someone else to be there for us. It was fully part of our flesh, this affection. We didn’t resist the arm of a loved one reaching out to hold us. For a loved one to turn away simply confused us. There was yet no shame in reaching out first.
Today, we hide in reflection and conclude that perhaps to reach out is to be needy, or worse, to reach out is to be selfish. When did love dress up as weakness? Deconstruct what strength and worth you have in this life, and you’ll find that there is no you without love, whether a trace or a flood of it.
Do not forget when you were little; because everyone says this life goes by in the blink of an eye.
When we were young, we hurried to grow up. We held precious moments with a clumsy, absent-mindedness, interest always lost to the next distraction. Thankfully we were born with memory. It was not a switch we needed to turn on, a skill we had to learn or a trophy to deserve. If it were, we’d be scavenging for our history. Our biology keeps record of who we are, where we’ve been – in the tangles of our mind or in tracks left on skin. In adult life, we salvage what snapshots our memory can bring to mind, but at that point we can no longer choose what moments endure as milestones. What kind of story does our memory preserve for us?
Do not forget when you were little, because no matter how old we are, we are still and always not yet fully grown.
To be human is to be flawed, to be small in the universe, to be complex and never fully unmistakably understood. We are little beings in this grand world. Little beings not meant to be alone.
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This post is in response to our #CreativeNeighbor prompt by Art in the Neighborhood: a photo from your past. Join us as we make room for creativity and community.
If you’re like us and need a push to get those creative wheels turning again, join our weekly art challenge! Here’s how it works:
Every SUNDAY, we’ll post a creative prompt.
Take the week to respond in your own medium and style. Write, paint, sing, dance, shoot.
There are no rules, but we challenge you to slow down your creative process. Think less digital and more analog.
On SATURDAY, share your work. Post your response online along with the hashtags #creativeneighbor and#neighborhoodph. Read, watch and listen to what others have shared. Then look out for the next prompt on following Sunday!
Earlier this year, I started an initiative called Art in the Neighborhood, with the vision to make creative activities an important presence in our everyday spaces. Here’s our latest project.
If you’re like us and need a push to get those creative wheels turning , join our weekly art challenge:
Here’s how it works:
Every SUNDAY, we’ll post a creative prompt.
Take the week to respond in your own medium and style. Write, paint, sing, dance, shoot.
There are no rules, but we challenge you to slow down your creative process. Think less digital and more analog.
On SATURDAY, share your work.
Post your response online along with the hashtags #creativeneighbor and#neighborhoodph. Read, watch and listen to what others have shared. Then look out for the next prompt on following Sunday!
Let’s see where we go! Share this with a friend who’d be a great #CreativeNeighbor! I’ll be posting my responses and sharing the weekly prompts here.
First prompt goes up on Sunday, October 9th! Make sure to follow Art in the Neighborhood on Facebook or Instagram to get updates.
speak soon 