January | 2024 | The Direction of Intention

Stand At The Fork [David’s blog on KS Friday]

Posted on January 19, 2024 by davidrobinsoncreative

Once in a vision
I came on some woods
And stood at a fork in the road
My choices were clear
Yet I froze with the fear
Of not knowing which way to go
One road was simple
Acceptance of life
The other road offered sweet peace
When I made my decision
My vision became my release.

Nether Lands by Dan Fogelberg

It happened again. We were making dinner and, before she said it, I knew exactly what she was going to say. “I’ve been here before,” I thought. Deja vu. I understand these moments as affirmations of being on the right path. The first day we met was a festival of deja vu.

Most of my life I was terrified to sing. A professor in graduate school challenged us to walk into and explore one of our fears so I took a class: singing for the utterly petrified. That wasn’t really the title of the course. I can’t remember the title because I was in a heightened state of panic the whole semester. We had to choose a favorite song to sing. I chose Nether Lands by Dan Fogelberg because it was the first album I ever owned and I used to play it over and over and over. I knew the title track by heart. I figured I’d have a better chance of staying conscious if the song and lyrics were already beaten into my brain. The fact that I am writing this so many years later is proof positive that I survived.

When we met I told her, a consummate musician, “I don’t sing and I don’t pray.” Better to spill the beans upfront than to torture her ears down the road. Managing expectations, yada yada.

“That’s too bad, ” she said. A few short months later I was singing in her choir, band and ukulele band. So much for conviction! She told me that my problem wasn’t singing, it was hearing. I had to learn to hear. I loved the implication: walking into fear requires learning to hear. I’m still learning. Deja vu!

It happened again. Carefully opening the small step ladder between the piano and the cello to hang the lampshade in her studio. “I’ve been here before,” I thought, positioning the legs of the ladder. I knew she was going to tell me to make sure the feather clip was in front. I knew she was going to wrinkle her nose. I had no idea what would come next.

It’s what I love about a good deja vu – you’ve both been there before and have no idea where you are going. It stops you for a moment of appreciation. Affirmation. Always at a fork in the road: simple acceptance of life and sweet peace. I have a feeling that, no matter the choice, all roads eventually lead to the same place. Hanging a funky cool lampshade. A wrinkled nose. Learning to hear. A deja vu. An affirmation of being right where I am supposed to be.

Kerri’s albums are available on iTunes and streaming on Pandora and iHeart Radio

read Kerri’s blogpost about THE LAMPSHADE

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buymeacoffee is a path you’ve previously walked but only now remember.

Filed under: Awakening, Emergence, Gratitude, KS Friday | Tagged: a shred of hope, affirmation, appreciation, artistry, boho, conviction, Dan Fogelberg, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, deja vu, expectations, fear, hope, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, lampshade, Nether Lands, panic, shred of hope, singng, story, studio melange, the melange, voice | 1 Comment »

Count The Surprises [David’s blog on DR Thursday]

Posted on January 18, 2024 by davidrobinsoncreative

The weather by the lake is often different than a mile inland. While the rest of our area was buried in snow, we had slush fall from the sky. This was not graupel or sleet. It was as if the 7-Eleven-in-the-sky opened the Slurpee nozzle and it filled up our back patio with slushy like a kiddie pool. Only the color wasn’t neon lime. And then it froze. I grew up in snow country. I’ve lived all over this nation. I’ve never seen Slurpee pour from the heavens. It was a surprise.

The second surprise was even more curious and beautiful. When it froze, the slush formed into polka-dots. Ice circles similar to the phenomena that occasionally occurs on the lake. I’m certain there’s a meteorologist out there who can explain what happened in our back yard – and it’s on my list to investigate – but for now I want to sit in the awe of the tiny circles.

The third surprise came with the blizzard and deep freeze that followed the next day. Again, our area was buried in snow yet we had nary an inch. What we did have was a waterfall that poured in the back door. Lovely and cold. Definitely surprising. I opened the door to let Dogga out and stared through the streaming water – as if I was standing behind a waterfall. Only then did I realize that my feet were soaked. And then I realized that in the sub-zero temperatures, the waterfall was quickly freezing. Kerri met my soaking wet excitement, “We have a problem!” with her usual stoicism. It arises in crisis moments. She took one look at the waterfall, yawned and said, “Ice damming.”

And then she went to boil water. Focus on the solution and not the problem.

We spent the entire day on ladders, pouring the boiling water and using a hair dryer and rubber mallet on the roof of our house, breaking the dam, and draining the reservoirs that formed behind them. Ice damming usually involves the gutters but not this time. Those ice circles, the miracle delivered by Slurpee from the sky and subsequent freeze, made a perfect wall of ice running the length of the roofline.

It was the fourth surprise, something I’d never seen before. The dam was my least favorite and the most labor intensive, but I have no complaints. In a world awash in “same-old-same-old,” I can say with confidence that this week was nothing less than a festival of the unexpected, a celebration of surprises. Who wouldn’t be grateful for that!

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read Kerri’s blogpost about SURPRISES

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Filed under: DR Thursday, Gratitude, Surprises | Tagged: artistry, blizzard, climate change, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, deep freeze, Gratitude, ice circles, ice damming, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, lake effect, polar effect, problem, sleet, slush, snow, solution, story, studio melange, surprise, Surprises, the melange, weather, winter | 3 Comments »

Look It Up [David’s blog on Not So Flawed Wednesday]

Posted on January 17, 2024 by davidrobinsoncreative

I find that I have a different definition than most people of the word ignorant. In the book of words it is an adjective describing the lack of education or sophistication. I’ve come to understand it as a noun, someone who ignores in order to shore-up their belief. So, in my book of words, someone who ignores information, facts, data, someone who refuses to question, is an ignor-ant.

I’m writing this post a few days ahead. It’s the day of the Iowa caucuses and, if the polls are accurate, most of the caucus-goers are dedicated ignorants. Thought-foundations built upon quicksand. It brings to mind two quotes. The first is from Isaac Asimov:

“There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there always has been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that ‘my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.”

And, isn’t that a proper summation of our times? A democracy can only survive over the long haul with an informed populace. Ignorance, ignorants, will be the death of our democracy. It begs a question that’s ever present and hard to ignore: what are we (they) afraid to learn? That brings me to the second quote that popped into my noggin. This one is from Robert Pirsig:

“You are never dedicated to something you have complete confidence in. No one is fanatically shouting that the sun is going to rise tomorrow. They KNOW it is going to rise tomorrow. When people are fanatically dedicated to political or religious faiths or any other kinds of dogmas or goals, it’s always because these dogmas and goals are in doubt.”

The ostrich buries its head in the sand, the monkey plugs its ears. The fate of the MAGA lemming is the trap of the dedicated ignorant. It makes possible the untenable: angry insistence of being the great defender of democracy while championing a fascist yet being completely incapable of discerning between the two. It requires a wee-bit of knowledge and study to understand the difference between fascism and democracy. Fanatical embrace is the only available path to those who fear facts, information and ideas that might call into question what they already surmise: what they believe, what they think, what they are told might not be true.

Ignorance is never the equal of knowledge. I’d never take my car to be fixed by a someone who calls him/herself a mechanic yet has no knowledge of how an automobile works. It seems basic. I wonder about the Iowans going to the polls (or any republican for that matter), exercising the great power of the vote, yet refusing to exercise the freedom of thought, the expansion of mind, that their democratic privilege affords them.

In my book, that is the definition of an ignorant.

read Kerri’s blogpost about KNOWLEDGE

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buymeacoffee is what you make of it after you investigate what it is and what it is not. try it!

Filed under: Education, Flawed Wednesday, Perspective | Tagged: anti intellectualism, artistry, cult of ignorance, culture, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, democracy, education, fascism, ignorance, ignorant, intellectual, Iowa caucus 2024, Isaac Asimov, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, knowledge, learning, politics, questioning, Robert Pirsig, story, studio melange, the melange, the power of the vote, vote | 2 Comments »

Stir It [David’s blog on Two Artists Tuesday]

Posted on January 16, 2024 by davidrobinsoncreative

Kerri explained to the woman at the shop that she rarely uses things for their intended purpose. For instance, we have a collection of old coffee pots that she uses as canisters in the kitchen. The end-table beside our couch is the drawer section of an old desk. It was sawed-off when she found it. Our walls sport old window frames and screen doors. We have a stack of old suitcases that we call “special boxes”. They hold the memorabilia of our life together: programs to performances, adventure day train tickets, cards from friends…

Things used as other things. It’s the hallmark of a creative mind. It’s the joy of her creative mind.

At the time, she wasn’t sure what she was going to do with the chunk of concrete. She just knew it had to come home with us. The woman at the shop had no idea what the chunk of concrete was originally used for – and the mystery made it more attractive to Kerri. It was signed and dated on the bottom. More mystery. More attraction. “What are we going to do with it?” I asked, wondering if I could actually lift it into the truck.

“I don’t know yet,” her eyes sparkled, the imagination-wheels turning. “Something.”

“Something,” I gasped, hoisting the chunk of concrete to the tailgate of the truck. I was grateful that it was round and rolled it the rest of the way into the bed. “You are something. You will be used for something.” I sat on the tailgate, catching my breath as Kerri and the woman disappeared into the shop to look at things-used-for-other-things.

I remembered once, running a spotlight for a show, the light broke mid-performance and I fixed it between cues with a frostie cup from Wendy’s, duct tape, and the sleeve of a jacket. It’s a valuable skill in the theatre: things used as other things. Ask any prop-master. The entire art form is recognizing the multitude of potential uses inherent in the most mundane objects.

My artist group once challenged me to explore beyond of my known art form so I sculpted crows from found objects. Wood, clamps and wire hangers. I loved it. It stirred my imagination.

Stirring the imagination. It’s what I appreciate about the home Kerri creates. Nothing is what it was intended to be. Everything is a wonder and can be transformed. Even a chunk of unidentifiable concrete. After a move into the house that made me appreciate the toil involved in building the pyramids, the chunk of concrete has now met its destiny. It is a side table and sports an old-school iPod sounddock. It couldn’t be more perfect. “I love it,” she says every day.

Me, too.

read Kerri’s blogpost about the CHUNK OF CONCRETE

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buymeacoffee is anything you can imagine it to be.

Filed under: Creativity, Possibility, Two Artists Tuesday | Tagged: antique, appreciation, artistry, chunk of concrete, creative mind, creativity, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, decorating, design, home decorating, imagination, imagine, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, new life, possibility, potential, repurpose, reuse, second chances, story, studio melange, the melange | 3 Comments »

Stay Out Of It [David’s blog on Merely A Thought Monday]

Posted on January 15, 2024 by davidrobinsoncreative

Guitar Jim told me that he didn’t trust a world where inspirational phrases and hope-filled reminders were posted everywhere. He had several reasons. The signage works as an excuse not to do what’s written on the sign, as if posting, PEACE or BE KIND or some wisdom from Rumi was enough. Do as I say, not as I do. One does not need to live the message; one only needs to post the message on the wall.

Or, he suggested, the sign works as a kind of pedantic-passive-aggressive message. Pedantic (noun): someone who annoys others by correcting small errors, emphasizing their own expertise. “I’m the epitome of kind so you should be, too.”

He went on, asking, “Why must we constantly remind ourselves to be kind? Why must we constantly trumpet and tell ourselves to, “Seize the day!'” What’s wrong with hugging the day, or perhaps simply living the day as it comes?

I laughed heartily at his rant. I’m guilty of being a self-generating sign maker. On the wall beside my desk is an old-school bulletin board that is filled with post-it-note messages to myself, many are phrases I’ve captured from wise friends: “Offer calm to those who are agitated.” Or, “I feel better when I’m not complaining.” Behind my desk is my favorite message-to-myself. I bought it when I waded into the land of software start-ups. It reads, “What the f**k?” It served (and serves) to remind me not to take anything too seriously. Many-a-day it comes in handy.

Although they are not related, I’d swear that Kerri and 20 are siblings. They spar like brother and sister. Her favorite term of endearment for him is Turd. “Don’t be a turd!” she declares, laughing. “Oh, my god!”

“I can’t help it!” he responds. “What does she want from me?” he turns and asks.

I sip my wine, saying, “Don’t look at me! I’m staying out of it.” That, too, is one of my sage self-generated-post-it-notes-on-the-wall: Stay out of it.

read Kerri’s blogpost about DON’T BE A TURD

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buymeacoffee is a sign from the ether-sphere posted on nothing tangible so it both does and does not exist.

Filed under: Language, Random | Tagged: affirmations, artistry, be kind, carpe diem, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, inspiration, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, messages, passive aggressive, peace, pedantic, Rants, reminders, Rumi, story, studio melange, the melange | 2 Comments »

Forget It! [David’s blog on saturday morning smack-dab]

Posted on January 13, 2024 by davidrobinsoncreative

Words have become like socks in a dryer. With no reasonable explanation they simply disappear into space. Two socks go in. One sock comes out.

We’ve turned our word loss into a game. “ARGH! I CAN’T THINK OF THE WORD!” she says. “IT BEGINS WITH A THE LETTER C.” And so we commence a hearty round of word-hide-and-seek. And, inevitably, invariably, the lost word does not begin with C but is hiding behind any other of the 25 available letters in the alphabet. We know the game is over when the word jumps out of hiding and we declare, “YES! THAT’S IT!” followed by, “Wait. That doesn’t begin with C…”

The good news? I can’t remember it. But I know it’s here somewhere and begins with the letter “G”.

Read Kerri’s blog about LOST WORDS

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buymeacoffee is the secret potion capable of keeping our vocabulary intact.

Filed under: Language, smack-dab | Tagged: aarp, aging, artistry, cartoon, cartoon about middle age, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, grocery shopping, hide and seek, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, language, mind blank, old record, second chances, smack-dab, story, studio melange, the melange, two artists, word drops, word loss, words | 1 Comment »

Clean Inside And Out [David’s blog on KS Friday]

Posted on January 12, 2024 by davidrobinsoncreative

And by the grace of some unseen internal trigger, the long-awaited-often-discussed-house-cleaning-out has commenced. I have no other explanation than the time must be right.

The time is right.

In truth, I’m just beginning to understand that the external house cleaning is an extension of the internal house cleaning that has been going on for some time now. It just finally hit the surface. The bags I take to the trash, the boxes readied for the Goodwill, are extensions of that ongoing internal process.

Making space on the outside is labor intensive. It takes some sweat and muscle. Dedicated time. Making space on the inside begins with the intense heat of disruption. Discomfort. The disorientation of masks falling off, the scary peel of protective layers. Exposure. Loss and lost.

Kerri introduced me to a phrase that I at first resisted: People don’t change, they just become more of who they are. Now, I think she is spot-on with one slight adjustment: People don’t change, they just reveal more of who they are.

It turns out that I am none of the labels that I so eagerly apply to myself. I’m not a winner or loser, an artist or an educator. Those designations are either things I do or fleeting judgments about the things I do. It’s very easy to get lost in the dark forest of self-stick labels. I love what I do. Even so, the labels are not who I am.

Talking about Abe Lincoln – who knows how we got there – Horatio hit me with some of his usual uncanny insight. “His fame is a fluke but his good works are not,” he said, “We often confuse the two.” Good works are intentional. Fame is circumstantial.

As the onion peels and the layers of circumstance fall-off, I discover more center. Or, said another way, applying Kerri’s rule, I become more of who I am. Less peel. More heart.

The river keeps moving. Neither hard times or easy days are permanent, nor are they entirely one thing or the other: hard times hold easy days. Easy days invite hard reflections. In the cleaning-out, in the opening of space, there is one thing that is becoming abundantly clear: Bob Marley has it right. No matter what, “Every little thing is going to be alright.” Because it already is.

Kerri’s albums are available on iTunes or streaming on Pandora and iHeart Radio

read Kerri’s blogpost about EVERY LITTLE THING

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Filed under: Identity, KS Friday | Tagged: Abe Lincoln, artistry, Bob Marley, center, centered, circumstance, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, designation, ease, Every little thing, fame, good works, house cleaning, intention, internal work, judgment, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, labels, story, studio melange, the melange | 2 Comments »

Carry The Impression [David’s blog on DR Thursday]

Posted on January 11, 2024 by davidrobinsoncreative

Leigh is an authority on rock art, the pictographs and petroglyphs found in caves and on rock walls around the world. People, for whatever reason, leaving a mark. Leaving their mark. Ritual? Aesthetic? I relished conversations with him as I peppered him with questions, speculating about their reasons.

Brad once said – that when he passes someday – he wants a plaque on a bench so that people will know that he was here. Future bench sitters will read the plaque and wonder who he was and why his name is on the bench.

Recently 20 brought to our house several drawings, conte crayon on newsprint. They are figure studies Duke, his father, did years ago when working with a model. They are gorgeous and free, the drawings of a master. Most are signed. I sign my paintings, too. I want people to know that they are mine, that I created them. Looking at the drawings, now that Duke is gone, I was taken by the power of the marks on the page, his signature, reaching across time to tell me, “This was my work. I was there.”

When BabyCat passed the vet made an impression of his paw for us. A keepsake. A reminder. I doubt BabyCat cared at all but we did. It helps us stay connected. It prompts us to tell stories.

Dogga’s beard is as grey as mine. He sometimes groans when he stands. He snores at night and we smile, knowingly. A few weeks ago, for a day or two, he was in pain, limping for unknown reasons. Although I knew it was not serious, an achy joint or pulled muscle, I was terrified at the depth and scope of what I was feeling. Love is like that. He stepped through the snow and left a print. I stared at it, taken by it, like Duke’s signature or a petroglyph scratched into stone. I watched him prance his circle-of-patrol and was utterly grateful for my terror, for the depth and scope of what I was feeling.

Love is like that. A bottomless impression he has left in me that I will carry to the end of my days.

Nap with DogDog & BabyCat, 36x48IN, mixed

read Kerri’s blogpost about DOGGA PRINT

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*buymeacoffee is patronage. an indelible mark. it’s as simple as that.*

Filed under: DR Thursday, Gratitude, Love | Tagged: aging, artistry, BabyCat, cats, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, dogdog, dogga, dogs, Gratitude, impression, keepsake, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, love, make a mark, painter, petroglyph, pets, pictograph, reminder, signature, story, studio melange, the melange, two artists | 1 Comment »

Listen To The Cookie [David’s blog on Not So Flawed Wednesday]

Posted on January 10, 2024 by davidrobinsoncreative

We take our fortune cookies very seriously. I mean, it’s a fortune that arrives through a cookie! Some fortunes arrive through crystal balls, others take shape through the tarot, a roadside medium or a toss of the I Ching. Any bit of advice or prescience that comes through a cookie cannot be ignored.

This particular cookie-delivered-fortune was dubious because it had an advertisement for Jockey Underwear printed on the other side. How can I take seriously the advice to do nothing when the shadow side of the paper tempts me to buy underwear? There’s a bit of an angel/devil game going on in my fortune cookie. I suppose all of our fortunes are now, in one way or another, tied to advertisement. I, for one, understand that I will never achieve full manhood until I have a Porsche in my multi-car garage, a closet filled with Eddie Bauer and am scented by Calvin Klein. Of course, now that I am wrinkling at a rapid rate it may take anti-wrinkle cream and Just For Men hair dye to fulfill my destiny as advertised.

And what if I ignored the advertisement and decided to heed the cookie-advice to do nothing? We’ve all witnessed the power of a small decision or random choice to alter the course of a lifetime. The flip of a coin can alter a destiny. I’ve seen a single step-off-a-curb end a life. My life was forever changed by sending a single email newsletter that at the time seemed tiny.

What if I decided not to fill my day with tasks but instead to smell the roses? Feel the sun? Walk for the sake of walking. Hang out with Dogga? Hold Kerri’s hand? A single day dedicated to appreciation without the need for achievement. One day of rest without the anxiety imperative to do or to be…something.

When viewed through that lens, it’s a momentous and worthy fortune. And, It cannot be ignored because, after all, it came through a cookie.

read Kerri’s blogpost about FORTUNE COOKIES!

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*buymeacoffee is a fortune delivered through an electronic cookie to the artists you appreciate.*

Filed under: Flawed Wednesday, Random, Story | Tagged: advertisement, advice, artistry, choice, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, do nothing, fortune, i ching, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, prescience, story, studio melange, tarot, task list, the melange | Leave a comment »

Be Where You Are (David’s blog on Two Artists Tuesday)

Posted on January 9, 2024 by davidrobinsoncreative

“Your soul knows the geography of your destiny.” ~ John O’Donohue, Anam Cara

A picture of Joseph Campbell floated across my stream. It included a quote, a reference to Nietzsche: “the love of your fate.” “It may look like a wreck, but go at it as though it were an opportunity, a challenge. If you bring love to that moment–not discouragement–you will find the strength is there.”

Love your fate. Bring love to the moment. You will find strength there.

When I was a teenager I was on a bus trip to camp. Imagine it. A bus filled with excited teens, bristling to hit the mountains for adventure and mischief. And then the bus broke down. A tsunami of disappointment was rolling through the bus until the counselor laughed at us. He challenged us to embrace this, our fate, part of the adventure. “This is it! Your adventure has already started.” he said, “Why resist it because it doesn’t fit your picture?”

Kerri and I are addicted to watching mountaineering documentaries. They boggle the mind of the average homebody because the conditions for the climb or the hike are often miserable yet there are smiles and laughter amidst the misery. In a recent film, a trek through extreme circumstances and conditions, one member of the team said, “You have to focus on the adventure and not the plan. If you fill yourself with expectations of good weather and an easy path you will be miserable.”

On the broken-down bus or the trail with the adventurer, the message is the same: get out of resistance of the reality of the moment. And, maybe, that is what it means to bring love to your fate. It’s great to have a plan. It’s necessary. But when the bus breaks down or the snowstorm blows in unexpectedly, when the job falls away, when the wrists break…As philosophers, poets, and sages across the ages have advised: be where you are.

We daily remind ourselves: the adventure has already started. Why resist it because it doesn’t fit the picture.

read Kerri’s blogpost about LOVE YOUR FATE