Making Music & Life happen….

So my writing is now started up again – very stilted, but I am making time to stare at the page, if not fill it with all kinds of erudite thoughts !  Went looking for my MsLexia Diary this morning, to find it wasn’t just one year out of date but TWO…. how did that happen – where did all that time evaporate?

Nothing useful to show for my blood, sweat and tears?  Well actually there is – a house in a bloody mess, crafts half-started – half-finished and some just simply abandoned until I go past them again and they link in with current interests…

So - I am reviewing a book at the moment for another project – Craftivism – The Art of Craft and Activism by Betsy Greer. It is a cracking – dip and out format and I keep finding all kinds of bits and pieces of interest and statements that intrigue – I am after all an craftactivist !!  well I am crafty and active (sort of !!).

One particular essay has stirred my thoughts this morning “Don’t Get Angry – Get Cross-Stitch!” by Jamie Chalmers.  He refers to another blogger and craftivist - Rayna Fahey and her work on Noelle Mason (bear with me – I feel it is important to reference all those involved in this conversation on a page – all their sites are incredibly thought provoking).

Rayna cross-stitched a media piece by Noelle of a person totting a gun on CCTV footage from the 1999 Columbine Massacre – entitled Nothing much happened today.  The cross-stitching could easily be mistaken for pixels on first, second and third glance…but it took the person five years to undertake this project.  Much kudos – but why? what prompted her? what was she saying?

Quoting from Rayna

“Noelle offers no explanation on her site as to why she did this piece……… “

“In many ways, the act of making this piece is enough – further explanation from the creator would limit the responses and by saying nothing, Noelle allows her work to speak volumes”

Ah – so I can fill in the blanks myself and find my own understanding – well that works….

This is the learning I took away from this and what I shall bear in mind and apply to other areas of my world – not just crafts and writing.

“We” all spend a lot of our time explaining, justifying, stating, explaining again – correcting and controlling mistaken understandings.  I particularly spend a lot of my time – which unfortunately much I consider to be wasted -  as the person I am trying to hold dialogue can never enter my world and understand what has informed my thoughts or decisions – there are many days I can’t understand me !! so how can anyone else !!

So give up – lets just agree to differ peacefully

and I am going off to use the time more productively – the guitar beckons today – we can made music – sweat music – and don’t have to explain or justify our out of key twanging to anybody – Toby nor I –

What we are trying to achieve? – bugger all -  just letting it happen and enjoy the melodic twanging for what it is… fun…and bringing a smile to peoples faces – I am grinning just thinking about it !!   Where we end up – I care not a Jot… it will be good and might even be repeatable – but then not – we can enjoy the journey whilst trying !!

Oh and off to find my cross-stitch pile for later – I know I had one here somewhere…