its a grilled cheese kind of day.Be a can opener in the supermarket of life.
- mission statement of Tom Robbins
Yesterday, I started a 5-week nature illustration class through Peninsula College. I will be learning to use colored pencils to draw "all things nature". I had the expectation that it would be focused on botanical illustration. Yesterday we drew ducks. Next week, the theme is pets. That said, I learned a lot about color in the first 2 hours and the instructor is also into botanical illustration, so we'll see where the next 5 weeks take us. If you receive a drawing of a duck, cat, deer, or chicken, don't be too surprised.
After the class, I was really excited to have started exercising the artistic side of my brain again. I called home to Illinois to express this glee. My mom remarked about all of the art projects of mine that still reside in a corner of the basement and how much I had always loved being creative. Its not that I have stopped using the artistic side of my brain, but in the last few years, I have really focused on learning the "science" behind the natural world. Naturally, that side of my brain has been more involved in interpreting the world around me. Recently, I've starting writing (okay, blogging) and drawing again. I feel like a part of me is waking up.
Today, I remembered that when I finished my first year at EarthCorps, I had an exit interview with my supervisors (now friends), Bob and Tokya. During the meeting, I unveiled--with such clarity--my personal mission statement. I saw it as something that would help guide me through my endeavors of life; something that I could look to when I needed a reminder of where I wanted to put my energy:
Connect people to one another and to the earth through food.
Those words still resonate within me. They don't paint a picture of a specific career or lifestyle, but they do serve as a general guide.
Hearing strangers connect to one another over a shared love of regional favorites (casseroles!), seeing people laugh and connect at a potluck or while cooking up a big meal, sharing family recipes and traditions with new friends, seeing people so grateful for the bounty that the land offers up year round, learning the ripening schedule and flavors that all of the native (and super invasive) berries have to offer, cautiously collecting stinging nettles with friends with visions of pestos and teas, seeing people deeply appreciate the farms and restaurants that work with the seasons...
What connects us to the earth more directly than the food that comes from it?
What nourishes our connection to one another and our own family histories like coming together to eat?
What is your personal mission statement?
I definitely felt connected to all things earth at your wedding - through that ridiculous gooey butter cake! =P
ReplyDeleteI distinclty remember that earthcorps-exit-interview...and your mission statement has stuck with me ..almost word for word ...because it is eloquent in its simplicity. It can be embraced passionatley in one's heart, held carefully in one's hands to be examined, and playfully tossed around in one's mind all at the same time. I love what you are doing with it!!! -Tokya
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