Clear Horizons

It struck me the other day that some people hardly ever see the horizon. There’s a metaphorical take on this, too, but right now I’m talking literally. Unless the landscape around you - built or natural - has wide open space or a way to get above the local treetops/buildings, you’ll never be able to let your eyes rest on the horizon line.

This year has been nothing but change for me, no part of my life has been untouched. I’ve found a lot of comfort and grounding in the horizon, not just because staring out at it is a great way to brood, but because I keep reminding myself that you never know what’s coming over the horizon. It's incredibly hopeful, I mean even on the clearest day on the open vastness of Lake Superior you can only see a few miles in any direction. It's a big world, who knows what else is out there, just beyond our field of view?

Thanks to everyone who stopped by the Bayou Art Walk! It was a beautiful day to hang out in the woods. I met many dogs, chatted with friends old and new, and even got to lay in the sun on a bed of pine needles for a few minutes. Bliss!

I’m still amazed that this press crossed my path. A young couple flipping a foreclosure found it; apparently the previous owner was a hobby printer and it was left behind after he passed away. I've seen people mount presses like this on the back of a bike, like this guy in Argentina.

Finding this press has begun a process of me downsizing. Working at the Community Foundation has been an absolute dream, but it’s also cut into my studio time, so I need to pivot to a setup that’s more nimble, fits my life better, and allows me to focus on the stuff I want to make, not just the stuff that pays the rent. More to come!

I recently came across a couple old journal entries referencing an essay called Playing in the Ruins by Sasha Chapin. He talks about letting go of our frenetic planning for the future and embracing the actual path in front of us as it unfolds.

When this destruction happens enough times, what perishes is not you, but the ridiculous idea that any of this would conform to your napkin-sketch plans of the future. Your dreamed-of identity was a caricature. Your supposed path in life was a snare. All of your preconceptions were just a limitation you were placing on everything. And maybe there’s something grander than those preconceptions, it’s just a grandeur you wouldn’t have previously accepted as such.

When I re-read the article, I realized that this is a posture I've truly adopted over the last couple years. Don't get me wrong, I daydream all the time. I have values I orient myself by and work hard to keep moving forward, but my focus is on trying to stay present with what's in front of me, rather than putting my energy into wrapping plans around a hypothetical future. Because, again, you never know what's coming over the horizon.

But my hunch is it'll be way cooler than you'd imagined.

See you out there,

PB