Metaphor | The Direction of Intention

Certain Distinctions [David’s blog on Flawed Wednesday]

Posted on May 20, 2026 by davidrobinsoncreative

There are certain distinctions that, although simple, reveal all you need to know. For instance, we sprinkle birdseed on the top of Barney-the-piano because we enjoy watching the birds. On the other hand, my maga-neighbor maintains a bird bath near a feeder, positioned low to the ground, to lure birds as bait for his cat. I am disgusted by his cruelty. He is disgusted by my empathy.

This is an irreconcilable difference. It is also a good shorthand metaphor for the contrast between maga and woke.

I visit this contrast every day as I try to understand the news-of-the-day. There can be no other explanation for the horrors of ICE, for the protection of the Epstein Class, for the bombing of fishing boats, for the dismantling of USAID, the incessant lies, the tax breaks for billionaires at the expense of Medicaid, SNAP and affordable healthcare…than this: cruelty is the republican drug. Like my neighbor who snickers every time his cat kills a bird, this confederacy of dunces gets a high with every atrocity.

And, to be clear, they are disgusted by democratic-woke-empathy just as we are disgusted by their maga-cruelty.

Here’s the problem: democracies are by their nature and definition empathetic. A government of, by and for the people is predicated upon the care and concern of elected leaders for their constituents. Service to the betterment of others. A capitalist republic such as ours cannot last when cruelty is in the driver’s seat. It collapses when elected leaders prioritize personal gain above the needs of the people they were elected to serve.

Autocracies, by definition, thrive upon the exploitation of the many for the benefit of the few. No brutality is too malicious. They applaud the “double-tap,” they cheer their leader’s swagger-brag that”A whole civilization will die tonight.” They protect the pedophiles and turn their backs on the victims.

It’s an irreconcilable difference. If you remain confused about what you believe. all you need do is ask yourself, “What is my reason for feeding the birds?” And then vote for what you believe.

read Kerri’s blogpost about BIRDS

likesharecommentsupportthankyou

Filed under: Flawed Wednesday, Metaphor, Perspective, Uncategorized | Tagged: artistry, autocracy, cruelty, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, democracy, empathy, GOP, government, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, republicans, story, studio melange, the melange | 1 Comment »

See Number Five [David’s blog on Merely A Thought Monday]

Posted on May 4, 2026 by davidrobinsoncreative

How do I start this post?

Choice #1: Although it is a platitude, it is never-the-less accurate: where you place your focus grows. I have come to believe that one of the few choices we actually have is where we place our focus. (yawn).

Choice #2: Among my many flaws is a hyper-focus. Kerri just rolled her eyes. Okay, I can be…obsessive. Once I start a project it is nigh-on-impossible for me NOT to think about it. Shortly after we moved in together, we were carrying a desk from the upstairs to the basement. The doorbell interrupted our task and we left the desk standing on its end. After our visitor left I started for the stairs and Kerri said, “Let’s leave it until later.” I writhed all night and into the next day…

Choice #3: Combine choice #1 and choice #2 and call myself out on my hypocrisy. Do I have a choice of where I place my focus or not? Am I obsessive, meaning that I have no control over my focus OR am I the zen master I imagine myself to be and masterfully place my focus on the flow? The desk be damned! It will happen when it happens!

Choice #4: On social media I can be whoever I want to be! It is, after all one big viewfinder! I may not be able to control my focus but I can place your focus on my zen master identity and lead you to believe all manner of positive things about me! I can retract my story about moving the desk! I need never betray my obsessive focus dilemma. In my concocted self, I can claim to move through life obstacle-free!

Choice #5: The impact of a glass of wine on obsession.

Choice #6: The great truth of my collaboration with Kerri, my wife, my 24/7 companion, my creative copilot, is that I can’t get away with anything. If you happen to swallow my blather, if you fail to recognize that I am an obsessive gasbag fixated on moving a desk, she will set you straight. She will put your poor abused-and-confused focus placement aright! About me, she will mutter, “…teaching what he most needs to learn…”

Choice #7: If I was a magician I’d be a master of deception.

Choice #8: See #5.

read Kerri’s blog about THE VIEWFINDER

likesharecommentsupportthankyou

Filed under: Merely A Thought Monday, Metaphor | Tagged: artistry, choice, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, deception, focus, focus placement, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, obsession, story, studio melange, the melange, viewfinder | 1 Comment »

As Old As Aesop [David’s blog on DR Thursday]

Posted on April 30, 2026 by davidrobinsoncreative

“Isn’t it funny,” she said, “that we trust what comes out of the government of Pakistan more than we trust what comes out of our own government.”

Habitual lying destroys credibility. It is the point of Aesop’s fable, The Boy Who Cried Wolf. It’s a story as old as, well, Aesop, who walked the earth and told stories in the 6th century BCE.

Our current unfolding fable begs the question, “What happens when the wolf and the lying boy are one and the same?” Like the fern in our garden the story is unfurling right before our eyes. What moral lesson might Aesop have spun into our developing fable? This lying boy/wolf is certainly feasting freely upon the sheep, all the while crying, “Wolf!” – as if he himself was under attack from every quarter. Has the point all along been to blunt the villagers’ response to genuine urgent warnings? To so completely break down communal trust that the people refuse to believe what they see with their own eyes?

Of course, Aesop has a caution, a moral reminder prepared for our rescue: abuse of trust always backfires. It’s a consequence as predictable and as old as, well, Aesop. The lying boy/gluttonous wolf will have his reckoning. Yet, the villagers will suffer the greater loss. No sheep. Broken trust. A fractured community wondering how to put the pieces back together again.

read Kerri’s blogpost about THE FERN

likesharesupportcommentthankyou

Filed under: DR Thursday, Identity, Metaphor, Story | Tagged: Aesop, Aesop's Fables, artistry, authoritarian, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, gaslighting, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, lies, story, studio melange, The Boy Who Cried Wolf, the melange, trust, truth | 1 Comment »

What The Hell Are We Doing? [David’s blog on Flawed Wednesday]

Posted on April 29, 2026 by davidrobinsoncreative

Sometimes it pays to look up. Cutting the tall grasses, cleaning and preparing the flower beds, I was hyper-focused on the task at hand. A distant rumble caught my attention so I looked up from what I was doing. Dark dragons were flying around in the sky. They breathed lightning, a flash followed by thunder. I dropped the metal clippers and headed inside. I thought it best to finish my task another day.

Once seen, the dragons in the sky were obvious. The lightning they breathed was unmistakable and dangerous. The action I took – dropping the lightning rod clippers and exiting the scene – seemed prudent. Easy and clear choices.

This morning I heard a distant rumble and I peeked at the news. The danger to our nation is obvious. A single delusional man, a retribution dragon encased in sycophants. A convicted felon, found civilly liable for rape. Does anyone really believe that he does not figure prominently in the Epstein Files? The Supremes granted him absolute immunity from criminal prosecution for all official acts and one wonders why grift falls under the umbrella of official acts. Is insurrection an official act? Is obstruction of justice an official act? Is threatening an entire civilization with annihilation an official act? Is falling asleep on the job or slurring speech or incoherence covered under the umbrella? They’re not crimes but would certainly be grounds for removal from any other job.

One wonders when the republicans will stop pretending that the sky is blue when they can see – as we do – that it is filled with a dangerous swirling delusional dragon? Will they drop their clippers in time or will they continue to hold tight to their metal rod and wave it at the lightning-filled-sky? You’d think they’d have the good sense to head for the door. You’d think that they might consider that the lightning they tease could be – will be – the death of us all. One wonders what must be lost, what lightning must strike, what line must be crossed, before they ask themselves, “What the hell are we doing?”

read Kerri’s blogpost about STORM CLOUDS

likesharecommentsupportthankyou

Filed under: Metaphor, Perspective, Two Artists Tuesday | Tagged: absolute immunity, artistry, choices, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, Epstein Class, Epstein files, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, republicans, retribution, story, studio melange, the melange | 1 Comment »

The Blink Of An Eye [David’s blog on Merely A Thought Monday]

Posted on April 27, 2026 by davidrobinsoncreative

“What the head makes cloudy/ The heart makes very clear” ~ Don Henley, In A New York Minute

“It’s as if last week never happened,” she said. We’d prepared for weeks for the trip and in a flash, in a New York minute, we were back home. “So much happened but now it seems like I dreamed it.”

We stayed in the same place that we stayed during our previous trip six months ago. Climbing the stairs into the small apartment it felt as if only a few days had passed. “Weird!” I said and she nodded. “It’s like we never left.”

Our recent undertaking has necessitated some serious life review. We’ve reached back decades to find details, we’ve driven the streets and neighborhoods where she rode her bike as a kid, we’ve stood in places that she stood nearly fifty years ago. “Has it changed?” I ask.

She shakes her head, “The trees are bigger.”

It’s a marvelous thing to have fifty years of life to revisit. It is a marvelous thing to be able to reach across decades and touch innocence. Sometimes this task has seemed nearly impossible. Sometimes fifty years of time, fifty years of life, seems like a flash. The blink of an eye. A New York minute.

We stood on the beach. It was an unseasonably hot day. The last time we stood on this beach we needed extra layers. The wind was brisk. This day there was no breeze. We were slightly disoriented because it had been months yet felt as if we’d stood on this beach yesterday. “Something is different,” I said. She agreed. “What is it?” I asked. What’s different?”

“It’s mine, again,” she said. “After so long. It’s mine.”

read Kerri’s blog about A NEW YORK MINUTE

likesharecommentsupportthankyou

Filed under: Merely A Thought Monday, Metaphor, Transcendence | Tagged: artistry, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, heart, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, life review, memory, story, studio melange, the melange, time | 1 Comment »

Dancing On The Periphery [David’s blog on Two Artists Tuesday]

Posted on April 21, 2026 by davidrobinsoncreative

The light plays on the water. I imagine it is the quick glimpse of a spirit, shimmering at the corner of my vision and then vanishing when I try to look directly at it. It was our last night in the village so we walked on the dock to wish it farewell. My imagination of spirits was not random; all day I’d been saying things like, “We have good angels,” or “That was more than serendipity.” Helping hands seemed to surround us.

I also imagine that the very real good angels in our everyday-lives do not like to be seen. That must be the reason they hover at the edges of sight. They prefer to stay out of the limelight. Service is its own reward. I learned this from a lesson I used to adore assigning to my students: be an angel for someone with the single strict caveat that their angel-ness needed to be a secret. “What does it mean to be an angel?” they’d ask in a panic. I’d shrug.

“Figure it out.” And they always did. Their angel experiences were electric, eye-opening. Dare I suggest life-changing? It is profound to intentionally focus goodness on another human being with no expectation of reciprocity – and discover that goodness itself is intensely fulfilling. Life is empty if self-serving. “Find a need and fill it,” Ann was fond of saying.

Hovering at the edge of sight.

We’d returned to the village to reclaim a piece of the past and, standing on the dock, I was suddenly overcome with the realization that the good angel might be – just might be – that long lost piece, that younger version, beckoning, “This way! I’m over here.” The older version and the younger, angels to each other, each responsible for guiding the other home. Dancing on the periphery of sight, reaching through time.

‘It feels different now,” she said and I smiled. Surrounded by warm memories of our days in the village, we stood still on the dock. The sailboats swayed in the harbor. The light played on the water.

“It feels like coming home.”

read Kerri’s blog about THE VILLAGE

likesharesupportcommentthankyou

Filed under: Identity, Metaphor, Two Artists Tuesday | Tagged: angels, artistry, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, goodness, guides, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, northport, service, spirit, story, studio melange, the melange | 1 Comment »

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

Posted on April 14, 2026 by davidrobinsoncreative

In our house it is possible to accidentally lock yourself into the bedroom. It is simple, really; there is an old doorknob on the outside of the door but the matching inner knob is missing. Close the door too hard and the door will latch just as the old knob falls. Instant bedroom prisoner. We used to keep a screwdriver in the bedroom for face-saving escapes but I looked for it after the last lock-in and couldn’t find it.

It is useful to keep in mind that our house is nearing its 100th birthday and is alive with the quirks and issues of age. I admit that we could fix the bedroom door problem but we see it less as a problem and more of a character trait. Besides, it gives the person on the outside the satisfying opportunity to play the role of rescuer. Note: the rescue always comes with the mixed message of a smirk and an admission. We’ve both been on the inside in surprise lock up.

We keep a knob on the kitchen shelf. It is placed near the antique coffee pots that serve as tea containers. The knob is beautiful so it serves as a decoration. Another glass knob sits in the hole next to the kitchen faucet that once was a soap dispenser. The dispenser was problematic so it was retired but that left a hole. One morning I found a knob plugging the hole and knew Kerri was trying it on as a solution. It catches the morning light and occasionally casts a rainbow on the backsplash. Kitchen performance art; it’s a keeper.

You might be asking why we use the extra knobs as decoration or as sink-hole-fillers instead of fixing the bedroom door – and it is a fair question. Neither knob works as a knob; the inner threading is stripped. They have no internal grip so have transcended mere function and live beautifully in form. You know the old saying: form follows function. Isn’t it glorious when the function of a form evolves finally to become beauty in the world? Or, maybe it is better to ask, isn’t it glorious when we evolve and see beyond mere function and at last are capable of seeing the beauty available in our lives?

read Kerri’s blogpost about KNOBS

likesharecommentsupportthankyou

Filed under: Metaphor, Seeing, Two Artists Tuesday | Tagged: artistry, beauty, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, form, function, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, old house, quirks, story, studio melange, the melange | 1 Comment »

Ready For It [David’s blog on Two Artists Tuesday]

Posted on March 24, 2026 by davidrobinsoncreative

For a bit of context it’s important to note that last week we were pummeled by ferocious winds and freezing rain, followed hard upon by a blizzard and icy cold. And then, for a few days, the temperatures rose. Stepping out the front door we were surprised to find Day Lilies poking their tiny green fingers above the ground. How is that possible?

Yesterday, driving home from the trail, Kerri said, “It feels like spring is trying hard to punch through.” During our hike the sun was warm but the breeze still carried the winter cold. Not so long ago the winter cold was dominant but yesterday the spring sun definitely took the match.

“I’m ready for it,” I responded.

I sighed with relief when I saw the tender green Day Lilies break through. This winter’s siege has been metaphoric as well as actual. ICE. Epstein. A war of choice. Nonsense tariffs. The ugly return of 19th century imperialism, the whitewash of history, the eye-rolling invocation of the man-o-sphere and equally brain-numbing summons of the return-of-the-tradwife. An icy wind. A hard brain freeze. A fantasy fit for the stunted mentality of middle-school-bullies or white nationalists (same thing).

With the sun, sense is returning. Eyes dedicated to being closed are at last blinking open. Lies are fragmenting. Truth is breaking through the crusty soil and reaching for the warm air. It is a promise, a hope, that will one-day-soon blossom, a vibrant garden of veracity. The people have had enough of winter’s nonsense.

I don’t know about you but I am ready for it.

read Kerri’s blogpost about DAY LILIES

likesharecommentsupportthankyou

Filed under: Emergence, Metaphor, Two Artists Tuesday | Tagged: artistry, cold, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, democracy, hope, ice, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, metaphor, promise, sense, story, studio melange, the melange, truth, veracity, warmth, winter | 1 Comment »

The Naked Truth [David’s blog on DR Thursday]

Posted on March 12, 2026 by davidrobinsoncreative

Watching a time-lapse of the vine you’d swear it was a conscious creature. Tendril arms search for supports, stretching. seeking and grasping, it knots itself around leaves and stems of competitors, twisting to strengthen its grip, competing to secure its place in the sun. It begs the question, how might we humans be in the world if we understood that plants were conscious, like us, awake and aware of their surroundings? Would we be more awake and aware of our surroundings? Or would we fear green consciousness and fill our mythos-minds with a Little Shop of Horrors? Feed Me!

This vine evokes The Gordian Knot. It is a tale in three parts. The first is the existence of an impossible problem. The second is the ease of the unforeseen solution. The third is the fulfillment of promise and prophesy. It seems in these times we have in these un-United States a substantial Gordian Knot. I am anxiously awaiting the unforeseen solution.

A Gordian Knot suggests that bold action is necessary to cut through a complex problem. In our case bold action is not a sword but the voices of innocence: in the story an innocent punched through the chorus of enablers by telling the emperor the truth. He is, in fact, naked. His majesty is make-believe. Our emperor already knows he is naked but surrounds himself with loud sycophants and bullies his fear-driven court to sing the praises of his imaginary cloak. The decades-long rape of innocents, the recent bombing of innocents, is a sharp sword cutting through the illusion.

Truth-telling in the face of rampant pathological lies is a bold action. It fits the bill. Truth-telling is, after all, surprisingly easy and, in time, always slices the hard knot of misinformation. It is now the only way for us to protect and fulfill the promise of our democracy against the would-be-fascists (republicans). The sharp truth, the voice of the innocents, calling out and cutting through the Gordian Knot of the Epstein Class and those who are afraid of shining light on the naked truth.

read Kerri’s blogpost about THE VINE

likesharesupportcommentthankyou

Filed under: DR Thursday, Heroes, Metaphor, Seeing | Tagged: artistry, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, democracy, Epstein Class, fascism, fascist, gordian knot, innocence, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, lies, promise, prophecy, solutions, story, studio melange, the melange, truth | Leave a comment »

Tiny Yearning [David’s blog on Merely A Thought Monday]

Posted on March 9, 2026 by davidrobinsoncreative

An owl feather “…symbolizes wisdom, intuition, and the ability to see beyond deception or hidden truths.” ~ Mr. Google

We found an owl feather on our trail. I said, “It’s a good omen.” Even as I said it I knew that endowing the feather with the power of an omen is one way, my way, of giving meaning to my life. This grand old universe is winking at me and wants me to know that all is well. Or perhaps I am winking at this grand old universe in the hope that there is meaning beyond what I make.

Maria Popova wrote that omens “…are a conversation between consciousness and reality in the poetic language of belief.”

Some might scoff at my owl-feather-omen. I don’t mind. I see no difference between my conversation with something greater by finding a feather on a path – and the route others take by sitting in pews reciting prayers together. Although we find our feathers and hold our conversation in different ways they are, after all, the same conversation.

The language of belief is poetic. It is referential. An allusion.

We get into trouble when we believe that there is only one way of conversing with the universe. We miss the point. If you think about it, my owl omen and your whispered prayer have much in common. Your Bible, your Quran or your Vedas, the sutras and mantras and psalms, the I-Ching and astrology, astronomy and quantums…are matter and energy talking to each other. The tiny yearning reaches for communion with the greater whole.

We found an owl feather on the trail.

read Kerri’s blogpost about the OWL FEATHER