having ground under your feet - Remember — having ground under your feet is a privilege. Do you know what you would become without it? This is Paddy Roe. He was an elder of the Gularabulu tribe of the Nyigina aboriginal people from Roebuck Plains in Australia. He is telling a dreaming story. It is a story about the migration of … Continue reading having ground under your feet 
every ship has a rope - “It’s an old sailor’s idea that every ship has a rope with one end made fast to her bows and the other held by the loved ones at home.” — from one of Charley Milward’s stories told by Bruce Chatwin in his book, In Patagonia
floating along on the great pacific garbage raft - Sometimes I close my eyes and see myself living on a raft that follows the currents of the ocean, slowly making its way across the liquid surface of the planet. The storms come and go reminding me of how tiny and resilient I and my raft are, punctuating the calm, steady boredom of time’s passage … Continue reading floating along on the great pacific garbage raft 
remembrance - a series of 11 cards, an accumulation of elements, a collection of thoughts, remembering a mentor
unfamiliar wonder - About a month ago, the universe decided to remind me of the precariousness and uncertainty of the human condition. Since then, I have been burrowed down deep, nursing physical and emotional wounds, glad for the protective cover of trees and distance from civilization. Eventually though, the promise of unfamiliar wonder just over that far away … Continue reading unfamiliar wonder 
and the sky said to the ocean, I could be nothing without you - I learned a new word a few days ago, “porteño”. Basically, it means someone who lives in a port city....
ethics of place walk - Deer Jump Reservation, July 2019 The second walk in the Artist Walks (3) series created a context in which participating artists could consider the ethics of place, particularly the ethics of making a piece of art for a particular place. On this woodland walk, participating artists moved together starting at the Albert R. Retelle wetlands reservation, … Continue reading ethics of place walk 
remember, the world is big - Remember — the world is big. You are very small, and yet you are of this world. The world calls you. You are not insignificant to it. As SU EN says, “everything is integrated in a dynamic balance.” Which contradictions, which tensions, which desires do you respond to? These choices — intentional or incidental — … Continue reading remember, the world is big coastal elevators - Imagine an elevator A creaky one Perhaps a broken-down one, whose door still works, but not the up and down of it So the creak comes from the door as it opens out into the vestibule It is an old-timey elevator not a new fangled one with a sliding door that opens sideways an old … Continue reading coastal elevators
potatoes and pirates - Just thinking about how one’s perspective on the world changes when one’s farmland has been contaminated by geopolitics, economic adversity, governance failures, toxic waste and millions of unexploded ordinances or when one’s fishing waters have been contaminated by geopolitics, economic adversity, governance failures, toxic dumping and illegal foreign trawlers. The small harmless things begin to … Continue reading potatoes and pirates 
dance destroys floors - Wisdom to remember: ‘dance is gentle and beautiful AND it destroys floors’ — @cannupahanksa ‘dance has brought down entire regimes’ — @criticalnish Like water, dance can nurture life and transform obstacles in its path. It connects us to the earth and the sky. It helps us dream and understand. It reminds us of our humanity. It teaches … Continue reading dance destroys floors 
trying to hold the sea and the desert - I am trying to hold these two images in my mind simultaneously. The siren’s sea and the wanderer’s desert lulling me into dreaming.
slow walk - Deer Jump Reservation, June 2019 The first walk in the Artist Walks (3) series was a play on the recent phenomenon of “Slow Art”, in which visitors to museums are encouraged to spend more than the average 17 seconds viewing a piece of art. By lingering with a single piece for longer periods of time, … Continue reading slow walk 
the mushroom and the tree - What if I made a little dance just for you Said the mushroom to the tree What if I did this dance in the early morning Just as the sun was peaking above the earth What if as I did this dance a little drop of morning dew Fell from my curved top and landed … Continue reading the mushroom and the tree 
land-sickness - Sometimes I wonder if our evolutionary origins in the ocean make some of us more susceptible to a general sense of unease on the land, a kind of perpetual mild land-sickness. One that drives us to move, to wander, to prefer the islands to the inlands, to dream of being in and on the water, … Continue reading land-sickness 
the lonesomeness of the ocean - “Then we set down on the sandy bottom where the water was about knee-deep, and watched the daylight come. Not a sound anywheres — perfectly still — just like the whole world was asleep…we would watch the lonesomeness of the river.” – Mark Twain, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. There are so many pans clanging … Continue reading the lonesomeness of the ocean 
puzzle factory - This is a space where I can be confused by the world, think hard about its mysteries, and work out how a myriad of reclaimed and seemingly random pieces could all fit together in some fashion that can make some kind of a sense. Because I know others are as flummoxed by existence as I … Continue reading puzzle factory 
sometimes empires collapse - Sometimes empires collapse Civilizations fail Ways of life deteriorate in pools of neglect and forgetfulness And yet something beautiful remains that can be reclaimed If someone chooses to give it new life
lobster bishop - The lobster, his inner parts are his embarrassment, his weak spots, the vitals he protects, his abject soul. Ball is supposed to be dressed up in a bishop’s costume, but he has always looked to me like a lobster – hard protective shell, sharp dangerous claws, soft slightly nervous green innards of incomprehensible poetry stepping … Continue reading lobster bishop 
margins have two sides - In case my writing is hard to decipher… earthskyhorizon is where they meet sandwatershore is where they meet meuniverseskin is where we meetwhat shape might a dance in that landscape take?
131 questions - Recently, I was tidying up my library and I came across this stack of cards. These cards come from a time a few years back when I was working on a sustainability framework for a Lower Manhattan-based arts organization. Some of the questions likely came directly from Arup Foresight’s Drivers of Change card set and … Continue reading 131 questions 
interdisciplinary walk - Deer Jump Reservation, August 2019 The third walk in the Artist Walks (3) series invited participating artists to share aspects of their own practices and ways in which their creative practice influence how they perceive, experience, and understand the world around them. At regular intervals along this woodland walk, participants were asked to share prompts … Continue reading interdisciplinary walk 
grieving in the ocean shallows - “ Grieving for someone is like standing in the shallows of the ocean. You are always kind of standing in it, but every so often a wave of it washes over [you]…” — Susan Bro, interview on BBC Global News Podcast August 5, 2018 There I was in the groove of the morning routine, water … Continue reading grieving in the ocean shallows