I just figured out how to read the comments people might post – slow progress is still progress.
In time I will find the way to make the site truly interactive, but in the meantime, yes, I will let you know if answers to the many questions present themselves particularly after my weeks and weeks of lectures and dialogue here at the Pari Center! The next step is the integration of all that insight and potentiality…
Today, one of the other participants in the Gentle Action event here in Pari told me that my story of LanaLana, grandmother spider, had caught in her mind. Above is a photo of the card I received over 14 years ago in Hawai’i, at the beginning of that stage in my life.
Wonderful words about the image are on the other side of it, and the card does live still in one of my journals, where from time to time I am called to remember exactly what those words were… but for now, I will just share that from where she sits in the middle of her web, LanaLana weaves the universe into a coherent, related wholeness.
I think we all do that.
If I thought it was challenging to point myself in a direction before, I’m getting taken to school these days. The obstacles to progress while intangible are nonetheless extremely effective in achieving their ‘obstacle to progress’ result. Should I try going in a different direction? Try harder? Try a different approach? Or just stop trying completely? Is it simple ignorance of how to execute tasks effectively, or genuine unsuitedness? Is there a realistic path between where I am, and the expression of the ideas I have in mind? Universe? You out there? It’s me, Jenn…
So, as I navigate what feels like a whole world(view) ending, let me see if I can make a little progress in the arena of personal sharing.
Part of the idea of this website is to archive images of journal pages from the past that I am particularly fond of. Here is one – do I have to date them, because I am not sure I can do that, and also maybe the jumbled presentation will jog something else into life. Who knows?
That funny black plant piece is something I did with Saskia (last year?) with her print making tools. It was really fun to choose bits of nature and then try to make them translate onto the page as something interesting/attractive/metaphorical. No metaphor in this placement, just the right size of space.
And though it seems obvious to me, I will state that writing is not mine, but rather a found piece which spoke really loudly to me, both as an expression of how I feel in the life I live, but also as a reminder of questions like ‘who writes the words that come from my pen?’ and ‘who set my goal of sharing life experiences?’
In the other vein… Sisyphus? Prometheus? Chiron? Mythic figures who face unending torment…
Have I mentioned I find this technology really frustrating? All of a sudden, I won’t be able to type anymore, edit things, because somehow I have moved ‘us’ into a different data-entry setup, and it is not obvious to me how to get back… there is a general movement away from simplicity in most arenas these day and I question its value.
On Teb. On.
begins…
Ideally, because I was clever enough, I thought, to take pictures of journal pages before I left them behind, I would just be able to upload them as media to any website work I was doing…
Apparently, wordpress has a media size limit of 2 mb (is any image that small anymore??) and the ipad doesn’t make it obvious how to resize photos… it requires setting up a shortcut, downloading an resize app, being bombarded with ads as you try to figure out how to use the app…
I got this far… one uploaded file , which is something, though when I go to the preview, it still says ‘sample page’ up in the corner… what is that about???
One step forward, 6 piles of dog poo to clean up before I can take the next step. Sorry; that is just what it feels like. I’ll keep trying. One day it will feel – some part of this anyway – will feel understandable and doable.
Welcome to Jenn’s second attempt at her own page, but her first at trying to replace standard social media tools with her own space.
I want to see if I can create the equivalent of a wall in that old media platform, or a whatever you call it in the hot new one I can’t seem to make work on my laptop.
Ideally, it will allow my friends to visit the site, and start a conversation with me about anything, or to comment on something I have posted, or to send me an email about something more personal directly from the website. That’s the dream…
Now comes – as with all dreams – the hard work of putting the pieces in place. Hang in there, I have more conviction this time. It seems more important.
There a lot of love in me right now for the wonderful people in my life. Thank you for all the ways you make my world better.
Wish me luck!
Oh an article I read which I found heartening…