Category — Polaroids

“When I think of the incredible, incomprehensible sweep of creation above me, I have a strange reaction of feeling fully alive. Rather than feeling lost and unimportant and meaningless, set against galaxies which go beyond the reach of the furthest telescopes, I feel that my life has meaning. Perhaps I should feel insignificant, but instead I feel a soaring in my heart that the God who could create all this - and out of nothing - can still count the hairs of my head.

Our tininess has nothing to do with it. The peculiar idea that bigger is better has been around for at least as long as I have, and it’s always bothered me. There is within it the implication that it is more difficult for God to care about a gnat than about a galaxy. Creation is just as visible in a grain of sand as in a skyful of stars.”

- Madeleine L’Engle, The Irrational Season  

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I started dabbling with paints this past year. Here is one of my first attempts, in process. It was inspired by the sense L’Engle describes above.

My latest column exploring fashion and theology is up in Comment Magazine. Madeleine was my inspiration as I considered ‘The advent of personal style.’ Enjoy!

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Also, speaking of fashion, the following invite arrived in the ‘ol inbox this morning. Paul Hardy presents at Vancouver Fashion Week tomorrow. I can’t wait! Paul’s shows never disappoint. 

I hope to bring you back pictures…

Dear One,

I feel like I am in a holding pattern. Waiting for you. Waiting to see your face, smooth as milk. Your almond eyes, bright as the sunset, blue.

The heat is unbearable. I spend my days finding creative ways to escape swollen ankles, upset stomach, sweaty brow.

I wish we were together, you and I. Sitting by water’s edge. My feet dipped in the shore. You, nursing. I long to know you, my dear one. The longing calls out from the bowels, deep. I feel my womb, groaning, to birth you into the world. The thought of it calls me to tears.

Believe me Dear, I have all the love in the world for you. Your eyes will be my treasure, forever. I fear ever letting you go, ever letting the world reach out its blackened hands to touch you.

I imagine your tiny fingers curled, clasping my pinky. Your gentle eyes combing my face. Pure joy. I long to meet such innocence. To meet you, my dear one. Our angel.

We are reaching out our hands. Won’t you come to meet us?

Love Mama

– July 30, 2009

I read this wonderful article the other day. I wanted to share it with you.

“Because that’s what a manifesto is really. It is something you sign on to. Something you shout from the top of a statue while waving your flag; it’s the belief you want everyone else to believe as well. And yet whether they do or not, whether your heart feels it or not, you choose to believe it anyway.”

Through the windowpane I watch him work is magic.

He’s sitting with Mike, patiently. Waiting for the silence to break. Content with his own thoughts. The sun peeling any closet anxiety from his face, gently.

He’s waiting.

His purpose is sitting. Listening. Being. With others. Extending a hand. A word of encouragement.

And he’s smiling.

Mike’s simple words serving as Monday morning treasures.

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My friend Steve works with the disabled. I ran into him at a market a few months ago. He and his friend sat out on the patio. I penned these lines from my table inside as I watched this beautiful scene unfold.

I’ve decided to give my typewriter a place of prominence in our home: on our coffee table. Part aesthetic and part practicality, I think it is a lovely statement of the centrality of words in our world. Many more letters will be written this way, I think. 

A side note about our home: We are moving. But not far. We are selling our condo but are staying the neighbourhood. We have worked so hard to make this area feel like home. We are falling in love with our new little church, we run into more neighbours each day, and we’ve developed a rhythm here in our little neck of the woods. Speaking of woods, we will be living closer to the ravine where Madeleine and I take our daily walks!

Stay tuned about the details of our new digs…

I love this child.

“When you write, it’s a much more crystalline, compressed version of the voice you think with - though not the one you speak with. I think your writing voice is your laser-guided missile. It’s the poetry part of you.” 

- Douglas Coupland (Coupland’s Next Generation, The Georgia Straight, September 17-24, 2009)

Madeleine wakes with a stumble of pure joy. All squeals and wild giggles. Face ablaze with laughter, peering through whispers of moonlight. A toothless flurry of smiles, all for me. Mama, I see you…

I hear of newborn babies sleeping through the night and for a moment my mind flickers with jealousy, but the picture of my daughter’s saucer eyes eclipses the emotion. My heart crests. A gentle ache. Darling, I see you…

It’s our moment. This 3 AM love.

The UN announced yesterday that talks towards a new global climate deal — set to wrap this December in Copenhagen — are now in serious jeopardy. Realistically, they said, only a massive show of public support over the next few weeks can sway the outcome, showing our leaders “they have their populations behind them” for bold political action.

Could it happen? Just maybe. This summer we were approached by a remarkable coalition within the climate movement, now representing more than 200 leading NGOs including Greenpeace, Avaaz, OXFAM and Christian Aid. Together we designed a global campaign called TckTckTck tailored for just this purpose — showing our leaders that “the world is ready”.

You can check out the TckTckTck.org campaign here — and all the action leading up to Copenhagen.

Since we launched the site in August it’s grown like wildfire. Today we surpassed an incredible 2 MILLION PEOPLE ready to lobby as Copenhagen nears — and this could be our best chance at influencing a deal.

What explains the massive response? The urgency of the issue? The simplicity of the ask? The theory of change and outreach? Yes. But more than anything, it’s about Tck’s powerful model of online organizing. It’s about well-established groups setting aside their brands and egos to collaborate openly for the movement — focused on giving people a powerful platform to impact an issue they care about. That’s promising stuff indeed.

Again, you can check out the TckTckTck.org site here. 

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From the good people at Biro Creative.