Identity | The Direction of Intention

Our Roots [David’s blog on KS Friday]

Posted on August 21, 2026 by davidrobinsoncreative

Kerri snapped this morning. “How can they support this…cruelty!” she cried. “They” are among those we call family who adamantly embrace the inhumanity of the current administration; those who vote for the cowardice of the republican congress, the enablers of the ruthlessness and corruption. Those who consider themselves righteous.

“Clocks, for some reason or other, always seem to be marching, and armies never march to anything but doom.” ~ Alan Watts via The Marginalian

This was the sentence I was reading when she snapped. I admit that I grew irritated. This is a conversation we’ve now had a thousand times and I was not ready to have it yet again. It is a conversation that only marches to doom. Loss. I suppose it’s like grieving a death; it’s not one-and-done. We lose people in pieces, again and again and again. Sometimes the grief jumps out of the forest. An ambush. Kerri was waylaid this morning.

Every story needs an antagonist. How painful and confusing is it when the antagonist captures the heart and mind of someone you love? “How can they support this…cruelty!” she cried. In the previous nine hundred loops through this despair I’ve found flimsy justifications: “They are in the Fox News bubble,” I say, or, “They don’t really know what they are supporting because they are being told that you and I are the enemy.” I gave that up a hundred loops ago. I have no more excuses to make or rationales to offer. Those are the tools of the third child, the peacekeeper-at-all-cost.

There is no excuse. There is no rationale. There is no common ground here. The word “family” has crumbled. We distance ourselves because we want nothing to do with this level of depravity, this dedicated ignorance.

When I was in my twenties I placed the Rocky Mountains between me and my family. I had to know who I was separate from them. My mental, physical and spiritual health required distance and disconnection from dysfunction as the only route to know myself as healthy. My Rocky Mountain Rule was life-saving but required a great deal of grief. I spent hours staring into the ocean. I spent years walking the shores of The Puget Sound.

“I think this is why I love the ocean. It’s the most difficult part of nature to mess up with emblems and symptoms of man’s dissociated consciousness. It’s an environment in which the awareness of our roots can awaken, in which space (so real because of the light and color) can be seen to be joining things instead of separating them.” ~ Alan Watts

Kerri is experiencing her version of The Rocky Mountain Rule, as are many, many, many people across this nation. In separating themselves out, they are finding themselves, joining themselves. In distancing herself from this level of depravity, in placing a metaphoric mountain range between her and those who share ancestral blood, she is finding and affirming the very essence of what she believes.

In arriving unequivocally at, “I am not that,” one steps solidly onto unambiguous ground of self-actualization, “This is what I believe.” And there is no going back over the mountain. The cry, “How can they support this cruelty!” is not about “them” at all. It is a cry of love as a north star, a rejection of institutionalized hate. It is a cry of humanity refusing to enable the selfish inhumane. It is a cry filled with the grief of loss, and the utterly profound recognition of the inseparable nature of moral conscience. It is empathy that cannot ignore the pain currently being gleefully inflicted upon others. Their pain is her pain. Her pain is their pain. A joining, “…the awareness of our roots.”

Kerri’s legacy is available on iTunes and streaming on Pandora

read Kerri’s blogpost about FAMILY

likesharecommentsupportthankyou!

Filed under: Awakening, Edges, Identity, KS Friday, Uncategorized | Tagged: alan watts, ancestry, artistry, awareness, corruption, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, dysfunction, family, grief, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, roots, self actualization, story, studio melange, the melange | Leave a comment »

What We Carry [David’s blog on Not So Flawed Wednesday]

Posted on August 19, 2026 by davidrobinsoncreative

Purples and greens, secondary colors on the color wheel, accented with pops of vivid red, a primary color on the wheel. It is a brilliant study of contrast principle. The arrangement of opposites creates visual interest, dynamic, and focus. In other words, beauty. Remove the diversity of color and world is rendered bland.

The same principle applies to ingenuity. To the generation of ideas. To entrepreneurship. To good governance. Remove the contrasting ideas and the world is rendered insipid. It is a paradox: originality is a collision of a diversity of ideas and influences. Creativity requires an ancestry of imagination, a community of influence to stoke the fire in the artistic forge.

To all the white christian nationalists out there who would scrub this nation of color, keep this in mind: uniformity is by definition unchanging. In nature, the absence of diversity is a guaranteed wasteland. Only a wasted mind would strive for constant bland as its highest ideal.

Original thought and critical thinking is dangerous to the cult of wasted minds.

We are among the most entrepreneurial nations that has ever existed precisely because we are diverse. We are a crossroad of culture where ideas collide, debate is welcome and insight explodes into form. We are a great nation because we carry the contrast principle in our national dna.

Individualism is not the absence of other colors. It is the pop of red made vibrant by the field of green and purple that give it context and meaning. If rugged individualism is what makes this country great then it is way past time to recognize that the individual right is only made possible by the dogged support of the diverse community that created, protects and believes in the sanctity of laws that guarantee individual rights. An individual right is a societal ideal.

Think about that as ICE sweeps up and deports people with no thought to the law. Consider the rulings made by the rogue Supreme Court that put one man above the law, suspended due process rights, habeas corpus and dismantles voter’s rights. Consider the threat on the contrast principle when you next hear the rabid dogs of of this administration bark at the law while stroking their white-uniformity-fantasy that demonizes women, people of color, and anyone who has an opposing point of view.

Think about the assault on the contrast principle when you experience the continued full frontal assault on voter rights from this administration. They make no secret that they will stop at nothing to remove the voice and power of the other party from governance. They want no contrast, no diversity of thought, no opposition, no free and fair elections.

Robbing any voter of their most sacred individual right, the right to vote for a diversity of representation, robs you of your most sacred individual right, too. If you care about your individual rights, you must first care about protecting those rights for all others. All others. No exceptions. That is how a societal ideal becomes manifest into action.

We are a great nation because we carry the contrast principle in our national dna. We have not come this far or fought this hard to give it all away to a cult of bland, wasted minds lost in a homogeneous control fantasy.

read Kerri’s blogpost about CONTRAST PRINCIPLE

likesharecommentsupportthankyou!

Filed under: Flawed Wednesday, Identity, Perspective, Uncategorized | Tagged: artistry, contrast principle, critical thinking, culture, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, Diversity, due process, entrepreneurship, free and fair elections, habeas corpus, ice, identity, innovation, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, Opposition, story, studio melange, the melange, vote | Leave a comment »

Our Naked Truth [David’s blog on Merely A Thought Monday]

Posted on August 10, 2026 by davidrobinsoncreative

“It’s been on my mind a lot lately,” she said. “The word veritas.”

Veritas.

Veritas is the Latin word for truth though it is more precise than the blanket word, “truth”. It denotes an alignment of words and actions with facts and yet it reaches beyond the hard science of fact into the metaphysics of morality . It is meant to be a core lived-value. One of The Four Agreements of Don Miguel Ruiz is “to be impeccable to your word,” say what you mean and mean what you say. Impeccability to your word is veritas.

Veritas is a Roman goddess “…often depicted as nuda veritas (naked truth), holding a hand mirror to show self-reflection and how things truly are without disguise.” (Wikipedia)

It goes without saying that Veritas is not high on the list of aspirations in these un-United States. We are awash in misinformation, propaganda, deception and lie. In Latin, our current value set is more Falsitas (untruth) than Veritas. In recent history we eschew the hand-mirror and bury ourselves in disguises.

Another yummy Latin word, Simulatio, meaning hypocrisy and deceit, brought a smile to me when I thought it could be the new name of GOP Elephant. It’s either Simulatio or a more considerate moniker: Mentis Morbum (mental illness).

We are in the midst of primary season, choosing the candidates that will run in the November midterm election. Veritas must be on the minds of millions of people. More than once I’ve heard a candidate say something like, “This is not a progressive or conservative issue. It is a human issue.” Hearing this phrase gives me some small measure of hope. It transcends partisan divides. Perhaps we-the-people are finally sick to death of Falsitas and are trying to find our way to common ground. Our shared values. Perhaps the distance between who-we say-we-are and how-we-act has become too vast. Perhaps the weight of the disguise has become to heavy to bear.

Perhaps our only route to survival – and health – as a democracy is by dropping the Falsitas and taking up the hand-mirror of Veritas and having a good long look at our naked truth. Perhaps we will have the courage to open our eyes see our full reflection. Perhaps we will deal honestly with our manufactured divide. Perhaps we will once-and-for-all put to rest the ugly white nationalism, the root of our Falsitas, the seed of our racial inequality, and at long last live without apology the Veritas at the heart of our foundational aspiration: a nation that believes to its core that all people – all people – are created equal.

Equality is not a conservative or progressive issue. It is a human issue.

read Kerri’s blogpost about VERITAS

likesharecommentsupportthankyou!

Filed under: Identity, Language, Merely A Thought Monday, Uncategorized | Tagged: alignment, artistry, aspiration, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, don miguel ruiz, hypocrisy, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, naked truth, story, studio melange, the melange, truth, values, veritas | 1 Comment »

Try It And See [David’s blog on Not So Flawed Wednesday]

Posted on August 5, 2026 by davidrobinsoncreative

If, like me, your were born without a green thumb and are adept at withering even the hardiest of plants, I offer this handy solution: grow basil and mint. Basil and mint are intrepid and prolific. They will grow beyond their borders even in the bumbling care of the below-average gardener. They will make any thumb feel green, green, green!

There are rippling benefits to the illusion of green-thumb-success brought about by basil and mint. They incite belief that I, too, might someday be a better gardener than I previously understood. Basil and mint help assail the idea that green plants are a mystery never to be solved. If I can grow basil, maybe I can grow tomatoes, too! Or jalapeno peppers! And, if I am successful with a vegetable or two, maybe I will green-thumb my way into flowers! I might bring forth some color and beauty into the world!

What if this is not a one way street? What if, as I tend basil, mint, peppers and tomatoes, they tend me, too?! (Let’s face it, some questions deserve double punctuation even if Ms. Hardesty would have circled my double-punctuation and drawn a frowny-face next to it.) Maybe basil and mint are like the kindergarten teachers of the garden. Maybe their whole job is to instill the thought, “Yes I can!” – in every thumb. “You can do it!” chirp my basil and my mint.

“Maybe I can do this,” I think as we harvest the basil and tomatoes for our pizza, the mint for our sun tea.

It occurs to me, as I rub a basil leaf and savor the scent, that all of those years directing young actors new to the stage, that my job in life might have been the same as basil and mint. How many times did I say, “You can do it.” How many times did I watch the vibrant blooming of a “Yes I can!”

“It’s all a laboratory,” I used to say. “Try it and see what happens.”

And isn’t it lovely that this wise old universe tossed me into a garden and suggested I take my own advice? Isn’t it profound that, as a first step to address my dedicated-disbelief-in-my-capability, some wise soul suggested that I start this life-experiment with basil and mint?

*****

(a note about the current state of the nation and the world: today I simply do not know what to say. There is fire. The ocean’s are heating. River’s are drying. Crops are dying. And, “Shell reported a massive surge in profits, posting second-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings of $9.84 billion, more than double the amount from the same period last year.” What is there to say about people setting fire to their neighborhood and then finding pleasure in profiting from it?)

read Kerri’s blogpost about BASIL

likesharecommentsupportthankyou!

Filed under: Creativity, Flawed Wednesday, Identity, Metaphor, Uncategorized | Tagged: artistry, basil, belief, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, encouragement, experiment, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, mint, story, studio melange, support, the melange, try, Yes | 1 Comment »

Have Reverence [David’s blog on Two Artists Tuesday]

Posted on August 4, 2026 by davidrobinsoncreative

The complete life cycle of the sowthistle captured in a single image. It’s akin to a family photo with 4 generations; the new baby sits on great grandma’s lap.

“Each thing is of like form from everlasting and comes round again in its cycle.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

The Balinese believe that they are an ancestor reborn. In seven generations they will be reborn again. Consequently, they are more thoughtful of the world they create for future generations. They carefully consider the world they themselves will someday inhabit.

“The Buddha resides as comfortably in the circuits of a digital computer or the gears of a cycle transmission as he does at the top of a mountain.” ~ Robert Pirsig

Veneration is available when all things are understood as interconnected.

The current republican party is the Achilles’ Heel of The United States of America. Their primary driver is short-term gain. They view any form of regulation against their short-term gain as an infringement on their individual rights. There is no life-cycle in their calculation. There is no long view or regard for impact on the community. There is only exploitation for immediate personal gain. Future generations will deal with the mess. As Kerri has rightly identified, “They have no reverence.”

“Where reverence is lost, the soul becomes a barren desert.” Abraham Joshua Heschel

One could ask – one should ask- how did the soul of these men and women become a barren desert?

The infant on great grandma’s lap will one day be a mother and will treasure the photo of her ancestor. And, soon, she will be a grandmother and, if lucky, a great grandmother. She will adore the child on her lap, her descendant. In the child, she will see herself in the full cycle of life. She will have reverence for her life and the life of the child.

“A society without reverence for its past has no future.” ~ Confucius

read Kerri’s blogpost about SOW THISTLE LIFE CYCLE

likesharecommentsupportthankyou!

Filed under: Awakening, Family, Identity, Two Artists Tuesday, Uncategorized | Tagged: Abraham Joshua Heschel, artistry, Buddha, community, Confucius, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, future, generations, individual rights, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, Marcus Aurelius, republican, reverence, Robert Pirsig, soul, story, studio melange, the melange, veneration | Leave a comment »

Read The Rings [David’s blog on KS Friday]

Posted on July 24, 2026 by davidrobinsoncreative

“The “Lost Cause” is a revisionist narrative that emerged in the American South after the Civil War to romanticize the Confederacy and justify secession. It falsely claims the war was fought over “states’ rights” rather than slavery, portrays slavery as a benign institution, and asserts that Confederate defeat was caused solely by Union advantages in resources and manpower.” ~ EBSCO

In 2023 I wrote a play entitled DIORAMA that explores our nation’s inability to deal honestly with our history. Even after all of my research and immersion into the topic, I have been agog at the lengths the current administration has gone in the past 18 months to whitewash our history in order to reinvigorate The Lost Cause narrative. White supremacy cannot face the mirror of history so must selectively distort, assault and/or eliminate fact and truth.

Last week Stephen Miller labeled progressives – or anyone who does not agree with his white nationalism – as less than human. We were witness to the president of the United States call the democrats and progressives “a danger to our democracy” and dust off the tired-old-chicken-little-cry: liberals are communists! It would be sad and laughable if history had not taught us of the dangers of desperate dictators and their nationalist sycophants.

As we have previously written, a storm recently broke our mighty maple tree. Kerri’s relationship with this guardian reaches back nearly 40 years. She has a long and precious history with this gentle giant. I have only had a fragment of that time but felt deeply the loss of this near-century old spirit. It is part of our history. As I watched the crew quickly take it down, I couldn’t help but think about how long it took to grow. It seemed unfair how rapidly it was removed.

Destruction is easy. Growth takes time, nurturing, patience. Perseverance.

A healthy history – a healthy nation – relies on the strength of its roots – all of its roots. The rings preserve and tell the story of the good, the bad and the ugly. To attempt to cut out the bad and the ugliness of manifest destiny, slavery, the trail of tears…to eliminate the rings of diversity, suffrage, the struggle for civil rights…is to badly weaken the tree. Kill the history and you kill the root. Kill the root and the democracy will not survive. And that is precisely why they attack our history. To be successful, an authoritarian regime needs to weaken and then cut down the tree of democracy. Systematically. Efficiently. And the fastest route to dismemberment of democracy is to amputate its history, eliminate entirely the struggle for equality.

Of course, like our tree, they can remove the exhibits from the institutions, they can fire women and people of color, they can vilify DEI, they can ban books and force universities to suspend programs of study…but that will never cancel the truth of the history of our nation. It lives in us as powerfully as the history of our tree lives in Kerri.

The Nazis made the same mistake as did the Daughters of the Confederacy when they concocted their Lost Cause narrative. Whitewash only temporarily covers the substance; it is not the substance. We the people hold the history, not a made-up curriculum. History is lived.

We-the-people are the “burning point of our ancestral ship”and history teaches us that sooner or later, given enough time, these scrubbers of history, these fearmongers, will eventually scrub themselves. They will become a single ring in our tree, a marker of a bad time, a forest fire that we survived and transcended. A moment in time that ultimately made our democracy stronger and, hopefully, a ring that marks the time when we finally faced – without fear – the complete story of our nation’s history.

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

read Kerri’s blogpost about THE STUMP

likesharecommentsupportthankyou!

Filed under: Edges, Identity, KS Friday, Metaphor, Transcendence, Uncategorized | Tagged: artistry, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, democrat, dictator, fact, history, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, Lost Cause narrative, perseverance, progressive, story, studio melange, the melange, truth, white nationalism | Leave a comment »

Naturally [David’s blog on KS Friday]

Posted on July 17, 2026 by davidrobinsoncreative

“A purpose of human life, no matter who is controlling it, is to love whoever is around to be loved.” ~ Kurt Vonnegut, The Sirens of Titan

It used to really bother me that the squirrels ate all the birdseed, that they lapped up all the grape jelly meant for the orioles. And while I was sitting in my Adirondack chair twisting in my bother, Kerri would be laughing. “They are so cute!” she’d exclaim. One day it occurred to me that it probably felt better to laugh rather than to be bothered so I gave it a try.

It not only felt better but it also exposed the folly of my vexation. Imagine! I was putting food into feeders and exasperated that a critter was eating it. Oh, spare me from the desire to control all things!

In laughter I can see with amazement the acrobatics of these furry little ninjas. Every obstacle I erect is a challenge they accept. In case, like me, you find yourself lost in a frustrated bother, I can attest that delight is a much better use of your life than is irritation. Every obstacle they overcome is a challenge I accept. It is a dance. In delight, I have become symbiotic with my squirrels.

I can also attest that underneath all of that angst and aggravation is an attempt (a fantasy) to control the uncontrollable. It’s a fool’s errand. The squirrels will behave like squirrels. Naturally.

Humans will behave like humans. I have a choice! I can delight in the impossible or clench my fists until I am red in the face. As it turns out, an open hand feels much better than a tight fist. Naturally.

“We have to continually be jumping off cliffs and developing our wings on the way down.” ~ Kurt Vonnegut, If This Isn’t Nice, What Is?: Advice for the Young

*****

Kerri’s albums are available on iTunes or streaming on Pandora

read Kerri’s blogpost about SQUIRRELS

likesharecommentsupportthankyou!

Filed under: Awakening, Identity, KS Friday, Uncategorized | Tagged: advice, artistry, control, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, frustration, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, Kurt Vonnegut, laughter, love, open hand, story, studio melange, the melange | Leave a comment »

All Feminine [David’s blog on Two Artists Tuesday]

Posted on July 7, 2026 by davidrobinsoncreative

If the sun is symbolic of male energy, Apollo and his chariot, then the moon is all feminine. Artemis. Selene. Isis. Parvati. Yemaya. Durga. Cihuacoatl, Kali. Mary.

The moon provides a symbolic-something that the sun does not: it changes.

While we use both the sun and the moon to mark time, the moon shapeshifts in her cycle-path around the earth. She waxes and wanes. Hers is a more complex symbology. She will have you listen to your intuition. She will ask you to close your eyes and feel. She will point you in the direction of your heart. She will receive your yearnings and your whispered prayers and hold them close until you are ready to live them. She will slip through your fingers. She will have you drop the reins and allow the horse to run.

Not so much the sun. He’ll send you outside to play. He’ll send you to school to develop your reason.

I wonder at the long-ago people who looked to the sky and understood the direct relationship between their survival and the primal forces called sun and moon. The stars. They slowly developed their relationship and participation with these energies, recognizing the movement of the celestial forces that also moved within their bodies. They associated. They identified. They engaged.

They symbolized, assigning identities and attributes that aligned the deep mystery of their existence with the celestial bodies that oriented them to the seasons and cycles of life. They mythologized. They worshiped. They personified, projecting themselves into the dance of it all. Storying.

Yin and yang. Outer focus and introspection. Birth and rebirth. Male and female in balance.

Theirs was an experience of direct connection. Their symbols were not intellectual abstractions like ours. Their symbols were alive, open gates to the mystery. They cast themselves as part-of rather than as removed-and-above-it-all. Their relationship with the crescent moon or the summer sun would not allow them to treat the earth as resource to be exploited. They had more respect for themselves than that.

They did not fear the power of the feminine moon. They did not fight to control the tides.

read Kerri’s blogpost about THE MOON

likesharecommentsupportthankyou!

Filed under: Identity, Intuition, Metaphor, Two Artists Tuesday, Uncategorized | Tagged: artistry, connection, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, feminine, identity, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, masculine, moon, story, storying, studio melange, sun, symbol, symbology, the melange | Leave a comment »

Sit-In [David’s blog on KS Friday]

Posted on July 3, 2026 by davidrobinsoncreative

It’s not that we are sitting out of the 4th of July celebrations this year. We are having a good old-fashioned sit-in. Defiance in the face of an increasing hostile and corrupt administration. We are sitting-in our defiance of maga-authoritarianism from now until the threat to our democracy is eradicated.

We are both old enough to remember our nation’s enthusiastic celebration on its 200th anniversary. It was moving: tall ships sailed into New York Harbor, reenactments, parades, fairs, people coming together…Gerald Ford, the president at the time, signed presidential proclamation 4411, an affirmation to the Founding Fathers of the United States principles of dignity, equality, government by representation, and liberty.

In the subsequent 50 years the nation has gone off the rails. We’re a hairs-breadth from autocratic rule made possible by a republican party that has completely betrayed the principles of democracy affirmed by Gerald Ford. It’s difficult to wave sparklers and flags when thousands of people are wrongfully suffering in concentration camps, when the Supreme Court is actively – astonishingly – elevating a tyrant-king above the law, when citizen’s rights are under attack, when the wealth of the nation is by design moving into the pockets of the very few, when the-party-in-power is actively protecting the Epstein Class, the largest pedophile and human trafficking ring perhaps in world history.

It is only proper, truly the most American thing I can imagine under the circumstances, to sit-in. We celebrate by sitting-in the ideals of the nation, no matter how imperfectly executed to this point. We celebrate by sitting-in the intention of the nation – a government of, by, and for the people that strives for equal justice, a nation of laws and not tyrants. We sit-in the promise of equality. We sit-in the radical paradigm of freedom-and-justice-for-all. As we sit-in we will tell stories of Kerri’s dad, a prisoner of war in WWII, my uncle Del who fought in the same war, both of our ancestors fought against fascism. Both nearly perished. They were hardy people that held the line against a fascist takeover of the world. In their lives they pushed back against the likes of Joseph McCarthy and his chicken-little-cries of “Communism!” We hear the same chicken-little-cries today from fox-and-friends and an administration that has grown so fearful of the vote that they would control it, politicians choosing their voters rather than the other way around. In an act of cowardice. absent of ethic and integrity, they dust off their old strawman communism in the hopes that fearmongering will save them from accountability.

It is our turn to sit in the fire. It is our turn to hold the line. We will sit-in and write and call our legislators. We will sit-in and talk with our neighbors and friends. We sit-in and have hot conversations, calling out the lies, refusing complacency or normalizing this horror show. It is our turn to reaffirm the promise of democracy, a promise currently slipping through our fingers. We will challenge gaslighting. We will call out the grift. We sit-in the truth of our diverse nation and support the long-term health of the people of the nation. We will sit-in the legacy of courage of our ancestors.

We will sit-in The United States of America – and not allow it, without a fight, to become the land of the privileged-few and the home of the afraid.

Sometimes an act of defiance looks like celebration and celebration looks like an act of defiance. Our nation’s celebration is rooted in an act of defiance, a Declaration of Independence from a tyrant king. Sometimes protecting one’s home requires a good old-fashioned sit-in, a living protest, the exercise of a fundamental right of a free citizen. Sitting-in-the-fire, speaking up, pushing back, guarding the vote, protecting civil rights…: the best possible way of celebrating the dream and founding principles of this nation.

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

read Kerri’s blog about FIREWORK FLOWER

likesharecommentsupportthankyou!

Filed under: Heroes, Identity, KS Friday, Perspective | Tagged: 4th of July, affirmation, artistry, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, defiance, democracy, dignity, equality, fascism, justice, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, liberty, sit-in, story, studio melange, The Epstein Class, the melange | 1 Comment »

Cosmos Questions [David’s blog on DR Thursday]

Posted on July 2, 2026 by davidrobinsoncreative

“Named after the Greek word kosmos (meaning “harmony” or “ordered universe”), cosmos flowers symbolize peace, balance, tranquility, and the harmonious arrangement of the world.” The Everpresent A-EYE

I am having an existential moment. That means that I am swimming around in the notion that there is no meaning or order in the universe and it is up to me to make it for myself. That’s a lot of responsibility! What if I am responsible for my own happiness and I screw it up!

I was not having an existential moment until I looked into the symbolism of the Cosmos – the flower – and bumped into the etymology and meaning of the word “cosmos” which is “the universe viewed as an orderly, complex, and harmonious system.” There’s plenty of science to support the orderly, complex yet harmonious system we know as the universe. I appreciate actual science that begins with a hypothesis, experimentation, observation, test upon test, verification, and drawing conclusions…and knows with each evidence-based conclusion, with each answer, bigger and bigger questions open.

I’m convinced that, unlike the spiritual traditions of the east, the three great western religions fear the absence of meaning (what happens after I die?) so they’ve constructed a very simple answer (I go to heaven if I’m good and hell if I’m bad). They’ve learned that people are more malleable and easily controlled if their cosmos is organized around fear, particularly the fear of breaking a rule and falling out of favor with an angry old father. Fear is an organizing principle that produces conflict. It is possibly why we have, as Joseph Campbell said, “3 names for the same god so we can’t get along.” This god is a colonist for sure: the shepherds of his flock control by pitting one group against the other. In this vast unknowable universe the shepherds claim the cranky old father chooses favorites. His is an autocracy made complex by his fickle love, contradictory rules and penchant for punishment. Sound familiar?

But that’s not what threw me into my existential crisis.

On our walk through the neighborhood we passed a house with brilliant cosmos. “I love those!” I said. I do. Cosmos may be among my favorite flowers. Kerri took a picture. I was not surprised when I investigated the symbolism of the simple cosmos-flower and found harmony, peace and tranquility. I was surprised to find, at the bottom of my screen, a box with this siren-call: Ask Me Anything.

Anything? A little cocky A-EYE box that promises an answer for anything?

I am suspicious of a little box that promises easy answers just as I am of religions that promise heavenly solutions – just as I have rolled my eyes for a decade at a bloated man in a blue suit who daily trumpets, “Only I can fix it!”

Ask me anything. Only I can fix it.

What if there isn’t an answer? What if it isn’t broken?

I find that it is more meaningful – and helpful – when my gods are silent, like a good parent, who, rather than dosing me with easy answers, helps me to find a better question. It may be frustrating at times but working and searching for my answers helps me grow.

Just so, the best leaders do not elevate themselves with boastful guarantees that they alone have all the answers. The best leaders elevate others. They seek answers with their constituents, answers that open doors to better questions. They welcome debate. They unify and facilitate. They focus energy into a common direction, making life better for all.

I stared at the box: Ask Me Anything?

“Okay,” I thought and smiled. “Two can play this game.” Into the A-EYE box I typed, “What’s your question?”