DR Thursday | The Direction of Intention

Again and Again and Again [David’s blog on DR Thursday]

Posted on October 22, 2026 by davidrobinsoncreative

“All stories are ancient and all stories are new…”~ anonymous

A 4,700 year old shipwreck was just discovered off the coast of Turkey. It sank centuries before Homer recorded the epic oral stories, The Odyssey and Iliad, tales that we moderns consider ancient. I marvel that sailors 5,000 years ago looked at the setting sun – the same sun – with awe as I do. I imagine that sailors 5,000 years ago relaxed when arriving in safe harbor just as the pleasure sailors I watch slowly cruising down the channel toward the marina. Home.

The Iliad is a tale of the Trojan War. One of the major themes of the epic story, “How personal pride and petulant feuds among leaders destroy lives,” is relevant for us today. It is relevant in every age, across every culture. It is a human story and endures because humanity seems impervious to learning the lesson.

Or, perhaps the lesson is lost because the tale is a powerful mirror reflecting what makes us human. We do not consider the cost to others of our personal pride or the petulant feuds of our leaders.

And then, of course, there’s this bit of enduring nonsense: “The Olympian gods actively take sides, argue among themselves, and manipulate human events.” Petulant feuds. Personal pride.

Gods who are small enough to take sides are suspiciously human-like, aren’t they? They are used by humans to justify all manner of horror enacted upon other humans. The story never changes. Righteousness requires an endorsement by the god-of-the-day.

I read another theme from these ancient stories that is also very relevant to our times: “The heavy human cost of war and the short-lived nature of glory.” So much loss. So many people die. And what is gained that is more precious than life? Land? Oil? Prestige? Revenge? Was the life of the tiny, cherished Ukrainian child, who died in their stroller, worth the gain?

Time passes. I imagine myself looking at the same sun, asking the same questions, as Homer. We tell stories to impart wisdom or to illuminate past mistakes so we might not repeat them again and again and again.

It’s possible that my assumption is flawed. Perhaps we tell these stories so we might recognize, when standing amidst the current horror, that our horror is the same as horrors-past; we actually learn nothing. Perhaps it is not about learning or growing. Perhaps the human meta story, as told by Homer and revisited by poets across the ages, is nothing more or less than Groundhog Day.

An Instrument of Peace, 48″x91″ mixed media on canvas

read Kerri’s blogpost about THE CHANNEL SUNSET

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Filed under: DR Thursday, Identity, Story, Uncategorized | Tagged: artistry, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, Homer, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, story, studio melange, The Human Cost, The Iliad, the melange, The Odyssey | Leave a comment »

You Are The Sky [David’s blog on DR Thursday]

Posted on October 15, 2026 by davidrobinsoncreative

Breck is looking stressed and who can blame her. These days there’s plenty to be stressed about. I had a chat with her about stress reduction strategies. I even used a line from Pema Chödrön: “You are the sky. Everything else – it’s just the weather.” She shook her leaves in indignation and looked at me like I was an idealistic dullard. We both knew that the excessive heat and rain this summer was not the only cause of her stress.

“Back at you, brother,” she rustled.

If Breck is having trouble staying present amidst the onslaught of dangerous national depravity, then I suppose I can grant a bit of grace to myself as well. Just breathe. Practice presence and stop biting the hook of the daily outrage.

Breck was quick to point out that not all of her leaves are stressed. In fact, the majority are not. The vast majority are beginning their autumn change to vibrant yellow. She directed my attention to the edges of her leaves, olive-sage slightly rimmed in canary. “You might have noticed had you not had your head buried so deep in the news,” she quaked.

I hate to admit it but she’s right.

We watched a documentary about Timothy Olson, the man who set the fastest known time running the Pacific Crest Trail. He said a few things worth noting. First, adversity, the hard stuff, is what pops us open to the fullness of life. Second, joy is the point of running the trail so be careful not to lose the joy in the adversity. Those are not direct quotes but you get the gist.

We are living in extraordinary times. We have a cup brimming with adversity so we must also have an ocean of life awaiting our attention. I just finished reading Paulo Coehlo’s book, The Zahir. There’s a quote that lines up well with Pema Chödrön’s:

“Welcome, nomad who crosses the steppes. Welcome to the place where we always say that the sky is blue even when it is grey, because we know that the color is still there above the clouds.”

“You are the sky,” Breck winked and swayed.

I nodded. “Back at you, sister.”

Don’t you love it when you discover that your trees are smarter than you?

read Kerri’s blogpost about STRESS

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Filed under: DR Thursday, Metaphor, Uncategorized | Tagged: artistry, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, story, studio melange, the melange | 1 Comment »

Think About The Words [David’s blog on DR Thursday]

Posted on October 8, 2026 by davidrobinsoncreative

“O beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain…”

~ Katharine Lee Bates, America The Beautiful (1893)

Have you read the poem or thought about the words in America The Beautiful? We learned them in school. We sing them or hear them sung in moments of national pride. Consider this stanza:

America! America!
God mend thine every flaw,
Confirm thy soul in self-control,
Thy liberty in law!

They liberty in law. It is not a random phrase meant to fit a rhyming scheme. It is a celebration of our difference, the foundational guarantee that separated us from kings and opened the path to equality for all people, regardless of race or religion or gender or sexual orientation. Our liberty is a function of the law applied equally to all.

Think about what it meant when John Roberts, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, elevated the president above the law. It is not a mistake that we are now struggling to maintain our grip on our liberty. It is not an accident that our right to vote or the freedom of the press is under attack.

Liberty means “the quality or state of being free, including the freedom to live, act, and express oneself without unnecessary or oppressive control by an authority.” ~ Merriam Webster Dictionary

America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!

This not a lyric celebrating mass deportation or the ruin of our alliances. It is not a rousing cry of division. It is the opposite. It is a prayer for innate good that inspires brotherhood – friendship, loyalty, support – as a defining characteristic of the diverse people and leaders of the land.

Think about the ugly divisive rhetoric pouring out of the White House and amplified by the fox. Then consider these famous words:

“A house divided against itself cannot stand” ~ Abraham Lincoln

We watched the maga dairy farmer weep. She is in danger of losing her farm. Her work crew has been deported or gone into hiding. She has no help and can’t afford to pay potential employees a living wage. I indulged in a predictable rant and Kerri was generous enough to listen throughout. Here’s the nutshell: She voted for it. She cheered and waved a sign that read “Mass Deportation”. Why is she surprised?

I’ll never understand why working people EVER vote for a republican. For the majority of my lifetime, the Grand Ole Party has exploited working people, demonized immigrants and the poor using vile stereotypes. It is a strategy meant to divide people in order to move the nation’s wealth to the upper 1%. It is not a mystery that the majority of Americans can no longer afford to live. Leo Tolstoy‘s words perfectly capture my belief about republicans:

“I sit on a man’s back choking him and making him carry me, and yet
assure myself and others that I am sorry for him and wish to lighten his
load by all means possible… except by getting off his back.”

America The Beautiful. It is penned with words – and beliefs – like Grace and Freedom and Nobleness and Brotherhood and Mercy, inspired from the moment a poet – a woman – stood atop Pikes Peak and glimpsed our nation’s potential. An aspirational poem for a diverse nation, written by a social reformer, and made into a song for all people – all people – to sing.

Think about the words – really think about the message carried by those words – and carry those words with you when you step into the voting booth next month.

(the largest voting block in the USA are people who do not vote. Please help people find their way to the polls. Help them to protect their rights, to ensure their liberty through law)

Earth Interrupted 1, 48″x53″, mixed media on canvas

read Kerri’s blogpost about GLOWING PLUMES

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Filed under: DR Thursday, Identity, Language, Uncategorized | Tagged: America The Beautiful, artistry, aspiration, brotherhood, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, Diversity, grace, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, liberty, republicans, story, studio melange, the melange | Leave a comment »

For The Sake Of Beauty [David’s blog on DR Thursday]

Posted on October 1, 2026 by davidrobinsoncreative

“It is quite probable that the most original problem solving activity students engage in school is related to the invention of systems for beating the system.”~ Neil Postman, Teaching as a Subversive Activity

This just crossed my screen: rebellion is when you turn off the television and start thinking for yourself.

I was on a text thread with two friends, both life-long educators in the public schools. Both are brilliant teachers. One is retired. The other is nearing retirement and currently teaching math at an elementary school. He is struggling because, after a lifetime in the classroom, he’s not allowed to teach. His classroom “coach” demands that he be more concise, more regimented, that he transition on time…

It’s possible to turn off the television and not be allowed to think for yourself.

When I was a consultant my number one hidden agenda was to surface hidden agendas. How’s that for confessing hypocrisy! My favorite hidden-agenda-to-surface was a teacher’s: in contemporary education, control is much higher in import than learning. Don’t get me wrong, the teachers were always shocked-into-silence when their agenda was surfaced. They didn’t know. Their rebellion began the day they realized that they’d been duped into believing education was akin to force-feeding, that their job was to stuff context-free-answers into young minds according to a rigid schedule. To control. Note: the living, breathing, curious being, sometimes known as “the student” is nowhere in the equation. The living, breathing, caring, curious being, sometimes known as “the teacher” is also nowhere in the equation.

It’s possible to turn off the television and be afraid to think for yourself. In our current paradigm students and teachers face the same obstacle.

This brilliant Canna Lily brings David Hockney to mind. It’s a color found in many of his paintings. He was not afraid of color. He was a brilliant artist, an explorer. He once said, “The moment you cheat for the sake of beauty, you know you’re an artist.”

I believe that all kids are artists until the day that they are strapped into a desk and made to learn that control is more important that questioning and exploring and experiencing and expressing. The lucky ones keep the pilot light burning through the force-feeding until one day, they create beauty and it feels like cheating. And they know they will do it again and again and again. It’s a moment of rebellion, the moment when they unstrap themselves from the desk and the answers, turn off the television, and question…and wonder…and listen…and reach…and challenge…and discard…and willingly step into unknown territory. They begin learning.

“There is no learning if thought originates from conclusions.” ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti

“One way of looking at the history of the human group is that it has been a continuing struggle against the veneration of “crap.” ~ Neil Postman, Teaching as a Subversive Activity

read Kerri’s blogpost about VIBRANT COLOR

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Filed under: Art, Creativity, DR Thursday, Education, Uncategorized | Tagged: artistry, beauty, challenge, david hockney, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, education, exploring, Jiddhu Krishnamurti, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, learning, Neil Postman, questioning, story, studio melange, teaching, the melange, wonder | 1 Comment »

Life Carpentry [David’s blog on DR Thursday]

Posted on September 24, 2026 by davidrobinsoncreative

I teased Kerri that this morning that the first thing on my to-do list was to build the ark. It rained again last night. It’s raining now. I’m not talking about gentle downpours; this is an Alabama rain, tropical, an incessant dumping after yesterday’s dumping preceded by the dumping of rain the day before that. Kerri reminded me that my carpentry skills are lacking so, even if I built something that resembled a boat, no animal with good sense would get on it. I have to admit it, she’s right. I’d never set sail on a boat of my own construction.

A few days-that-feel-like-months ago, the sun came out. In the early evening we sat outside so Dogga could sniff the fence line and bark at random sounds. He’s an old dog now so it makes him feel good to bark into the universe. While he investigated the backyard and the greater galaxy, we sat in our Adirondack chairs and watched the clouds. They glowed, putting on quite a show for us. While the beauty of this world evokes a rowdy bark from Dogga, it does the opposite for us: it invites quiet appreciation. It was one of those rare moments when I knew to my bones -at least in that moment – that all was right in my world.

In that moment. Every spiritual tradition on the planet warns of the folly of trying to hang onto the feeling of a moment. The best we can do is savor and move on.

It is good practice to regularly step back from a canvas and from a distance look at the painting. It brings the whole composition back into focus. Stepping back exposes what is invisible when working close-in. “What’s next” becomes readily apparent when standing back. It’s route finding.

The same thing is true in life. It’s why people take vacations or go on retreats or simply take-a-break. To get some distance from our close-in lives and feel what we do not allow ourselves to fully feel, to re-consider, to open the door and invite in the dreams that have been waiting patiently in the lobby.

Sitting in the Adirondack chair, watching with awe the cloud-spectacular, I heard Joseph Campbell in my mind, saying, “No one lives the life they intended.” Had the younger version of me actually built the boat of my intentions and successfully sailed off toward the horizon, I would have missed this moment, Dogga bark-communing with the universe, Kerri and I reveling with the sun on our faces after days of rain, holding hands, shaking our heads at the impossible beauty of the glowing clouds. I thanked all the powers-that-be that my carpenter skills were-and-are lacking, that my life-ship sank in the bay and required me to step back, take a look and live a life of route finding. My path meandered to a place I never imagined, to a moment I did not think was possible. Simple awe. Had I been a better life-carpenter I would have missed it.

read Kerri’s blogpost about THE GLOW

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Filed under: Awakening, DR Thursday, Gratitude, Uncategorized | Tagged: appreciation, artistry, awe, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, dogga, Gratitude, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, presence, savor, story, studio melange, the melange | Leave a comment »

Amazing Shapeshifter [David’s blog on DR Thursday]

Posted on September 17, 2026 by davidrobinsoncreative

Corking: white linear scars that indicate sweeter, fully ripe pepper with good flavor

To me, corking is a term exclusive to wine bottles. It comes at the moment when, sadly, you decide that one glass is enough. And then, recently, I found myself at a farm stand gaping at the beautiful markings on a basket of jalapeno peppers. “What is that?” I asked, pointing at the peppers.

“Corking.” While nature is a crazy good designer, people have a genuinely hard time creating words to express the beautiful.

In times gone by, “corking” meant “wonderful” or “splendid”. In a past century I might have written, “Nature is a corking good designer.”

Corking precedes “rad” by a few generations but means the same thing. Today you might hear “slaps” or “fire”. Language is an amazing shapeshifter. I’d have completely misunderstood a Gen Z-er, admiring the basket of corking peppers, who said, “Those peppers are fire!”

Do you remember when “bad” meant “good”?

Sometimes I think it is a miracle that we can communicate at all.

When I was young my grandparents used the phrase, “She’s a corker!” It meant “very funny”. We boomers might say, “She’s a riot!”

I bumbled upon this quote from a 16th century French writer, Michel de Montaigne, and thought it more relevant today than when he wrote it: “The greater part of the world’s troubles are due to questions of grammar.”

We currently communicate by text. Condensing our grammar inflates our troubles. We somehow believe language efficiency produces effective communication. We have eliminated time for complexity. We live sound byte to sound byte.

We are learning that governance by text is an especially dubious affair. Efficient word count is provocative but certainly less-than-effective.

These days I might text, “The world is on fire!” and a Gen Z-er might misunderstand me completely. They’d understand the opposite of what I intended. For me, the “world is on fire” does not mean that it is rad or the bomb or slaps. It is definitely not corking.

***

Bonus Snark Addition: We consistently invent new words for old concepts so the mistakes of the past seem like new territory. Perhaps this is why history repeats itself? Today, instead of “Schutzstaffel” (condensed into SS), we say ICE. Instead of Nazi Party, we say MAGA Republican. Different words, same meaning. Neither is corking.

read Kerri’s blogpost about CORKING

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Filed under: DR Thursday, Language, Uncategorized | Tagged: artistry, communication, complexity, corker, corking, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, efficient, grammar, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, story, studio melange, the melange, words | Leave a comment »

A Shape In Nature [David’s blog on DR Thursday]

Posted on September 10, 2026 by davidrobinsoncreative

Staring at the tree in silhouette against the sunset I was struck how much of our written language is pulled from shapes in nature. the runes and glyphs en route to alphabets. A sound associated with a mark on paper. Black ink on white fiber.

For some reason this silhouette brought me to ensō, the Japanese art of ink circles. An open or incomplete circle symbolizes impermanence, the beauty of imperfection. Wabi-sabi. The beauty found in life as it is, not as we want it to be.

Impermanence is a theme of our conversations this week. We walk through the park at sunset and talk about the transitory in ever widening circles of experience, beginning with our own lives, moving out to the government and reaching further to the climate. Nothing is fixed.

I have been playing with shape/symbol as if it was en route to becoming an alphabet or perhaps a long lost written language newly discovered. Like all language symbols, I am making it up. These symbols hold no deeper meaning other than I find them beautiful and making them is mind-freeing and fun.

Sometimes I “write” from left to right and sometimes the other way around. Sometimes I do not pay attention to the direction and break the line. It is easy to paint my “runes” from left to right because I’ve had a lifetime of patterning to read and write in that direction. It seems natural even though I know it has nothing to do with nature and everything to do with acculturation. I’m trying to forget all the rules and, rather than create something, I hope to discover a new promised land: an open mind.

In pursuit of my open mind I’ve made new rules to break the old rules. No brushes allowed (except to wet a surface). Try something new every day, scrapers or sandpaper or rags. Use more paint (I have a poverty mindset where paint is concerned. It’s expensive so I have developed a lifelong dedication/necessity to-make-the-paint-last rather than working freely. To help bust my poverty I’ve purchased cheap-cheap-cheap craft paint in bottles and am using up old house paint).

The most useful new rule is Don’t Think About It. Let it be beautiful as it is, not as I want it to be. Ensō. Wabi-sabi. The beauty of imperfection, a mark on paper or board, maybe or maybe not associated with a sound but certainly inspired by a silhouette or some other shape in nature.

read Kerri’s blogpost about THE TREE SILHOUETTE

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Filed under: Art, Creativity, DR Thursday | Tagged: alphabet, artistry, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, enso, imperfection, impermanence, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, language, open mind, shape, story, studio melange, symbol, the melange, wabi-sabi | 1 Comment »

About Icky [David’s blog on DR Thursday]

Posted on September 3, 2026 by davidrobinsoncreative

I knew something was up when she emailed the photo to me. She was watching me out of the corner of her eye when I clicked on the file to open the photo. That’s never a good sign. Then, she was just a smidge too intense, one step away from a giggle, when she asked, “Do you notice anything odd about this photo?”

Some dads nickname their daughters “Peanut” or “Princess”. Kerri’s father nicknamed her “Brat”. I take some small comfort knowing that her tendency for mischief was known and acknowledged early in her life. I imagine – check that…I know her brat-hood has only grown more sophisticated over time.

“When I look at this photo, it makes me feel icky; motion sick,” she said, staring at me. That’s called blow back. Since meeting Kerri I’ve only driven the car a handful of times. She suffers from extreme motion sickness; riding in the passenger seat strikes terror in her heart. Sitting in the backseat of a car is more than she can bear. Driving the car is her only option. I have become an excellent passenger. Also, since I never drive, I’ve taken no responsibility for knowing where I am; I’ve lived in this town for 13 years and rarely know how to get from point A to point B. It’s been a zen-lesson in giving over. The photo was upside-down which stirred her motion sickness – but I pretended not to grok it.

Side note: It is too tempting to draw a parallel between Kerri’s marina-flip and the state of the nation. So I won’t do it other than to ask, “Do you notice anything odd about the government of this country?” It definitely makes me feel icky. Democracy upside-down is fascism and that can’t feel good to anyone with a soul.

Brat studied me as I studied the photograph. “Does it make you feel icky?” she asked, a bit too enthusiastically. Schadenfreude.

“No!” I replied. I’ve learned that the best defense against a brat-moment is to feign nonchalance. “It’s odd but it doesn’t make me feel icky.”

“It’s flipped over!” she cried! “It’s upside down. The reflection is at the top! How can that not make you feel icky?” She cried, indignant. “Didn’t you notice?” she frowned.

“Oh, wow!” I pretended to notice for the first time. “That’s cool. Why does that make you feel icky?” I asked.

“Because it’s upside-down!” she declared, outraged. Disappointed.

I should have confessed that the photo made me feel off-balance because, the top of the list in Kerri’s Brat Book of Rules is this: “If at first you don’t succeed, escalate.” Now I have to watch my back.

Side note: Oy! It is way-too tempting to draw a parallel between rule #1 in Kerri’s Brat Book of Rules and the state of the rogue government as we roll into the midterms. So far they haven’t succeeded in rigging the election so they are escalating. If we want our democracy to emerge intact, right-side-up, we have no choice but to watch our backs.

It all makes me feel icky.

read Kerri’s blogpost about THE MARINA FLIP

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Filed under: DR Thursday, Random, Uncategorized | Tagged: artistry, blow back, brat, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, icky, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, mischief, motion sickness, story, studio melange, the melange, tricks, upside down | 1 Comment »

Who We Are Not [David’s blog on DR Thursday]

Posted on August 27, 2026 by davidrobinsoncreative

For a few short weeks, peeking from beneath the tall grasses in the front yard, we had a single yellow flower. A volunteer. A bright yellow visitor that perked up our days. The question of what type of flower remains. “It’s definitely not mules-ears,” Kerri said, comparing the results of her Google search to the photograph.

We do not know what it is but we do know what it is not.

I’ve often heard that in our democracy, we must redefine ourselves every day. Democracy is a living thing. It is a relationship. Governance of, by and for the people is, well, dynamic. We rarely know with certainty who we are – by design. We are, by design, a diverse nation, fluid in our aspirations – not fixed as is the case in authoritarian regimes. However, in these times, it is increasingly apparent, and vitally important, to know who and what we are not.

We are not maga. We are not a cult of personality.

We are not supremacists, white or otherwise.

We are not fully conservative or wholly progressive.

We may currently be lost in the woods but we are not arsonists who would burn down the forest.

We may be gullible but we are not stupid.

We pride ourselves on our individualism. It is high time that the party of red, those who tout themselves as the guardians of individual rights, recognize what they have become. They no longer know who they are. They most certainly have become what they claim that they are not. Afraid of speaking truth. Afraid of acting independently. Followers of a man rather than stewards of a nation of laws. They followed a liar into the swamp but are they lemmings who will follow him over the fascist cliff?

Those wearing red hats with hearts full of fear have helped me know who I am by showing me unequivocally what I am not. I believe they are doing the same for the majority of this nation. At this juncture, amidst the wreckage and global humiliation, we may not know who we are but we are rock-solid certain in knowing who we are not.

In Prayer, 67″x64″ mixed media on canvas

read Kerri’s blogpost about THE YELLOW FLOWER

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Filed under: DR Thursday, Identity, Uncategorized | Tagged: artistry, aspiration, contrast principle, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, democracy, governance, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, MAGA, story, studio melange, the melange | Leave a comment »

Weird Sh*t [David’s blog on DR Thursday]

Posted on August 20, 2026 by davidrobinsoncreative

Two weeks ago we popped a sweet potato into some soil. Today its vines reach nearly halfway across the deck. The message is clear: don’t sit still next to the sweet potato plant if you value your freedom. We don’t think it is a carnivore but neither of us is willing to test the theory.

Over the years we’ve developed a shorthand phrase, a catchall for the unexplainable stuff of life. Our phrase is a leveler, a way of making the edges less edgy. For instance, after a particularly harrowing medical emergency, Kerri looked at me, knowing I was scared, and said, “Weird sh*t.” I laughed. My blood pressure dropped several floors. Suddenly, the unknown, the terrifying, the mind-run-amok-with-fear had a solid anchor. A simple explanation. Nothing to worry about, it’s just more weird sh*t.

It’s a phrase that comes in handy with the news of the day, the family zoo, the unexpected stuff of life, and the sweet potato plant that is rapidly entwining the house. “What do you think of that?” I ask, amazed at the plant reaching for my feet.

“Weird sh*t,” Kerri says, stepping back.

And with that pronouncement, the unexplainable is explained. Sense is temporarily restored and we allow ourselves to believe that all is right with the world.