Today on American Thanksgiving it seems like a good idea to talk about reversing
the domino effect of the strange year we’ve been living through.
Back in March we had no idea what we were getting into. People in my coffee group
who used to meet Tuesday mornings, talked about COVID-19 in a very light
way. We thought maybe people in the group wouldn’t want to travel because of it, but
we had no idea what would happen. For me the first big indicator of that negative domino
effect was when school at the college where I teach part time, went online and I had to
work through Zoom, instead of seeing my class in the classroom, which had been such
a pleasure for me. So how do you reverse the domino effect?
The idea came to me in the night that one way we could shift the course of our thinking
would be to focus on each happy thing, or idea in our lives. And we could spread love
and kindness out into the world as much as possible.
Jim Courtney who has written a book about Skype
Experience Skype to the Max
and who was the Canadian Skype Blogger,
visited a 2010 show Gill Cameron and
I had in the Wychwood Barns
and posed beside my Skype painting of
Tamara, a wonderful artist from The Netherlands
I met at the 2009 Florence Biennale.
And speaking of reversing the
negative domino effect, Jim contacted
me today, and wants to give me a drawing
commission! Yes!
It’s easy to go into doom and gloom with this pandemic. There are a lot of logical reasons
to be depressed. But that’s why creative people have to tap into what they do have on
this grey November day. For example I have a studio full of colourful paints. And I’m
going to use them. We all have friends who we can call, and we can try and brighten each other's
day, and I’m going do that. Instead of worrying about Christmas not happening, I’m going
to figure out what parts of it can happen bit by bit. It will be like a domino effect in reverse,
and happiness will build.
Happy Thanksgiving to everyone I know -- American, Canadian -- all over the world. Let’s be
grateful for what we have, and let’s try to operate the domino effect in the opposite way, while
wearing masks, social distancing, not going out unless we have to. We can still figure it out.
Thank you for all that you give to me every day.,
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