Perspective | The Direction of Intention

The Best Way [David’s blog on Merely A Thought Monday]

Posted on October 20, 2025 by davidrobinsoncreative

It’s a common misconception that in order to succeed in life it is necessary to climb over the bodies of the competition. Dog-eat-dog is among the saddest philosophies in the human canon. Not only is it a poverty mentality (there’s not enough for everyone), it’s a lie all dressed up in gold-veneer. It assumes achievement (of any kind) happens in a vacuum. No support. No privilege. No mentors. No relationship at all with circumstance. To be clear: “Every man for himself!” is a cry issued from the bridge when the ship is going down. It is the mantra of the mentally vapid and morally vacant, the desperate, the drowning. It is antithetical to thriving.

No one thrives in isolation.

The people I admire most are those who rose in life because they helped others rise. They invested in the betterment of their community because they understood that they lived in community. They understood that prosperity is something that is best created when it is created for all. My mentors understood that to suppress, undermine, exploit or demonize members of their community might bring momentary success but it inevitably fractured the foundation: all houses crumble. The best route to thriving is to make certain that the ship is solid and the course is beneficial for all on board. Taking care of others is the best way of taking care of yourself. Work hard. Be kind. Thrive.

As I write this, people across the nation are assembling for the No Kings protests. They know, as do I, that in order for a community – for a nation – to thrive it must protect the rights and values of all people, not only of its citizens. It’s a philosophy called democracy. Of the people, by the people, for the people. They are taking to the streets to push back against the authoritarian assault on our democracy by those who adhere to the dog-eat-dog philosophy otherwise known as fascism.

It’s been less than a year since the authoritarians took the reins of power and we’re already seeing the nation’s foundation crumble. When we suspend the rights of due process to immigrants, we suspend due process for all of us. When we suspend the rule of law for one man, we suspend the rule of law for all of us.

We are at the crossroads. It does my heart good to see millions and millions of people take to the streets as a peaceful community – in service to their community – to protest the outrages we now witness each day – and attempt to protect the rights of all people – all people – before they are lost, before this listing ship starts to sink, before the oligarchs, crooks and cowards on the bridge crow with delight, “Every man for himself!”

read Kerri’s blogpost about BE KIND

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Filed under: Merely A Thought Monday, Metaphor, Perspective | Tagged: artistry, betterment, community, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, democracy, dog eat dog, fascism, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, kindness, No Kings, rights, service, story, studio melange, support, the melange, thrive, values | 1 Comment »

The Way It Works [David’s blog on KS Friday]

Posted on October 17, 2025 by davidrobinsoncreative

She looks for hearts so, of course, she sees them everywhere. That is the way perception works. We have it backwards: we do not “believe it when we see it,” rather, “we see it because we believe it.” We see what we expect to find.

In these un-United States we are witness to the power of propaganda to shape belief. The Fox has millions believing that they are victims of a scary monster named Woke. They are steeped in the illusion of an imagined immigrant invasion. They are choking on the belief that our society is rotting from progress, under assault by the learned. None of these threats exist but that has no bearing on what the fox-mesmerized-audience perceives-and-believes. They look for boogeymen everywhere and, therefore, that is what they see. They see it because they believe it. No facts necessary. Reason cannot punch through the blindness of their hard faith. Heart is nowhere visible in their dark, mean-spirited perception.

Last night we made a pact with our pals. We vowed to slap each other awake if we grow rigid as we age. “I want to stay curious. I want to keep learning. There’s so much to learn.” Yes. And, again, yes.

I left our evening together so grateful for the people populating my life who are, like me – like us – dedicated to seeing miracles in the everyday. They look for possibility and, so, they find it. They are not afraid to challenge what they believe. They question. They step into the unknown. Their belief has not calcified, rather, it remains fluid and expansive. They grow. They check the veracity of what they are told. They do not seek to blame others for their obstacles. They seek the best in others and – you’ll not be surprised – they find it. That is the way perception works. That is the way a healthy society works.

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

read Kerri’s blogpost about HEART

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Filed under: Gratitude, KS Friday, Perspective | Tagged: artistry, belief, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, growth, heart, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, learning, legacy, legacy from released from the heart, perception, possibility, questioning, seeing, story, studio melange, the melange | 4 Comments »

Listen To The Plumes [David’s blog on DR Thursday]

Posted on October 16, 2025 by davidrobinsoncreative

The plumes came early this year. The tall grasses are signaling to us that winter is coming sooner rather than later. 20 concurs. He insists that the almanac foretells of a long winter. I’ve not checked out the almanac for myself but am sufficiently satisfied to listen to the plumes.

Our cities are filling up with the military and ICE. They are signaling to us that a fascist winter is coming sooner rather than later. As Steve said, “Most people I talk to are now in agreement: there may not be another election, at least not one that’s legitimate.” I’ve not seen the masked militiamen myself but I recognize what they bode.

Responding to a post about my confusion, Linda recently wrote, “These are actual Nazis now, David. You have not been wrong…” She thanked me for speaking up. I remember in 2016, sitting at her kitchen island, she warned that this man in the White House was a fascist. “He’s no different than Hitler,” she said. At the time I wondered if she was being too extreme. I thought our democracy was strong. I had faith that, if pushed, the republicans would side with the Constitution. Now I know that she was like a plume, she saw the signals and was warning of the coming storm.

Our challenge now: how to meet this storm and keep our humanity intact? How do we combat this level of abhorrence, this degree of corruption – and not become the thing we hate?

read Kerri’s blog about THE PLUMES

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Filed under: DR Thursday, Perspective | Tagged: artistry, augury, Constitution, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, democracy, elections, foreboding, free and fair elections, humanity, ice, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, Nazis, story, studio melange, the melange, winter | 1 Comment »

Jump! [David’s blog on Two Artists Tuesday]

Posted on October 14, 2025 by davidrobinsoncreative

If you look closely at this grasshopper you’ll see a miracle of pattern and color. It was particularly easy to marvel at this wonder of nature because this grasshopper was HUGE. It was almost worthy of a saddle.

Grasshoppers can only move forward so they are symbolic of jumping over whatever life throws at you, jumping over big obstacles with great grasshopper-gusto and courage.

I’ve heard again and again that courage is not the absence of fear, it is what we do in the face of fear. Now is the time for all of us believers in goodness and the rule of law to evoke our inner grasshopper, to saddle up our jumpers since life has thrown in our path an abundance of masked and unmasked fearmongers.

There’s no going back, there’s no running away. Grasshopper-gusto is our only choice in the face of this fear.

Let’s call each grasshopper-ride a leap of faith – another positive aspect of grasshopper symbolism – trusting that we have the wisdom (and each other) to overcome this – or any – challenge that stands between us and the fulfillment of our great promise and our dreams.

read Kerri’s blogpost about the GRASSHOPPER

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Filed under: Metaphor, Perspective, Two Artists Tuesday | Tagged: artistry, courage, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, democracy, faith, fear, government, grasshopper, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, leap of faith, obstacles, story, studio melange, symbol, the melange, wisdom | 1 Comment »

It Is The Time [David’s blog on KS Friday]

Posted on October 3, 2025 by davidrobinsoncreative

Yesterday I painted the rail on the front porch. I sanded the small windows upstairs; they need repainting. One of the window sills in our bedroom has water damage. It is next on my list to fix before the snow returns.

I realized what I was doing; what we are doing. Since we cannot control or impact in any way the rapid destruction of our democracy – at the hands of those sworn to preserve it, no less – then I will do my best to attend to what I can control. I will be a good steward of our home. I will fix what I can.

She said, “We have to do something to pull our heads out of this madness. At least for a little while.” Yes. We bumped into them on our walk around the neighborhood, a couple who we admire. We shared our concerns and dismay. We have to do something to remind us of goodness, that people of good intention are all around, even when it feels hopeless. Our brief sidewalk chat gave us hope. We are not alone in our worry. We are not alone in our belief in goodness.

We harvested the last of the peppers. This summer our garden was prolific. The basil exploded. The tomato plant is still producing. The garden, the yard, the pond, the appearance of the frog…the exercise of intentionally coming into the moment, the place were common sense can be found when it is otherwise absent.

I had a revelation, the release of a judgment. David Neiwert told a story of the German people, living in villages just outside of the concentration camps, each morning sweeping the ash from their sidewalks and window sills. After the liberation the villagers claimed that they had no idea what was happening in the camps. How could they not know? Sweeping their steps, picking their peppers, painting the rail on their front porch…doing anything possible to pull their heads out of the madness.

This is not the time to look the other way. This is not the time to normalize the obscenity that is erasing our nation. People are already disappearing into camps. Due process and habeas corpus are gone. The Supremes ruled that racial profiling is lawful: it’s no different than sewing yellow stars on clothes. Now, we hear from the dictator wannabe that “the enemy is within”: the enemy is anyone who disagrees with the fascist fire raging across the nation. Anyone who protests or questions. My revelation? I do not want to someday sweep ash from my walk while telling myself that I have no idea what’s happening.

We know. So do the republicans.

This is not the time to normalize the obscenity. This is not the time to look the other way. It is the time for all people of goodness to join hands in the commons, to stand together, to call out the lies, to push our elected leaders to push back against this corruption, this out-of-control authoritarian regime.

It is the time, our time, to be good stewards of our nation-home.

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

read Kerri’s blogpost about THE LAST PEPPERS

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Filed under: KS Friday, Metaphor, Perspective | Tagged: artistry, authoritarianism, Bridge on AS IT IS, David Neiwert, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, democracy, distraction, fascism, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, normalization, republicans, revelation, story, studio melange, the melange | 1 Comment »

Meeting The Madness [David’s blog on Merely A Thought Monday]

Posted on September 29, 2025 by davidrobinsoncreative

Act 2 of Stephen Sondheim’s musical, Into The Woods, delivers a healthy dose of reality: there is no happily ever after. There is, however, a full-life with bumps and barnacles and growth and messy challenges and change. There is heartbreak and jubilation. There is a full-palette of feelings. There are bright days and dark days. A life without obstacles is a very boring affair.

In my past, when facilitating groups, I used to love proving to people that they like challenges, that they adore obstacles. If we don’t have hills to climb we create them. They are called hobbies. Or workouts. Or volunteering. We set goals that seem impossible and then meet them. And, among the greatest challenges we eagerly embrace is called “relationship”.

I knew how to teach about the challenge called “relationship” because I was once under the spell of happily-ever-after. I thought something was wrong with me when all of the colors of the relationship rainbow demanded attention. What was wrong with me was my unrealistic expectation, my dedication to a life without obstacles.

It’s what I love about this life: things flip over when illusions are popped. Happily-ever-after is no way to live. Each day I step out of bed looking for the miracles and find that they are always right in front of my face – and often they initially look like stumbling blocks. I can say with confidence that the road ahead looks to be riddled with hurdles and though I may grouse and complain, secretly I recognize and welcome the full-spectrum of color these hindrances will evoke.

My friend, Robert just wrote that, “…sometimes life throws big surprises at you.” We are living in a time when life is throwing big surprises at us in rapid fire each and every day. It seems that we are in an impossible situation with a government spiraling into authoritarianism. The vast majority of the people of this nation have had enough of the clown show and are turning out to meet the challenge.

There is no happily ever after. There is no return to a fantasy past. There are, however, millions and millions of people who are up for meeting the challenge, with all its bumps and barnacles, ready – more than ready – for the growth that meeting the madness will evoke.

read Kerri’s blogpost about I TOLERATE

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Filed under: Merely A Thought Monday, Perspective | Tagged: artistry, authoritarianism, challenges, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, hindrance, Into The Woods, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, madness, obstacles, relationship, Sondheim, story, studio melange, Surprises, the melange | 1 Comment »

The Heat [David’s blog on DR Thursday]

Posted on September 25, 2025 by davidrobinsoncreative

“One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the darkness conscious. The latter procedure, however, is disagreeable and therefore not popular.” ~ Carl Jung

If you have not yet seen it, the short 18 minute documentary of Bernie Sanders in red-red-red West Virginia is worth watching. It is illuminating to witness what is possible when the misinformation bubble is breached. Though we’ve been pitted against each other, our division is not between the red and the blue. Not really. We are united in wanting a government that works for us.

I shuddered last night when I heard Mark Elias say that he no longer believes that media, universities, law firms…are capitulating to the demands of the dictator-wannabe. He now believes that they are collaborators. They offer no resistance because they are collaborators. Who would willingly sacrifice their first amendment right to free speech, freedom of the press…unless it profited them mightily to do so? Mark Elias’ contention certainly answers my question about the missing congress: over the weekend we read a public message from the president to the attorney general instructing her to prosecute his enemies. No actual crime needed. That he was not immediately impeached is sad proof of Mark Elias’ assertion. Profit over Constitution. Personal interest over sacred values. We heard more than one commentator say something akin to, “This makes Watergate look like kindergarten.”

One of the symbolic meanings of a pyramid shape is integration. Bernie Sanders sat at table with people who are economically drowning. They want the same things that I do. They want their rights protected. They do not want to be lied to by their government or their media. They want to be represented and not exploited.

This hot fire in which we live has the power to reduce this nation to ash. But it also has the possible power of alchemy, to forged a union of the red and the blue. The heat might wake us up. We just might realize that we are being distracted by demonizing each other. It might wake us up to how thoroughly we’re being exploited by those who claim to be representing our interests while simultaneously selling us down the river.

Pie in the sky? The corruption isn’t being hidden. The cowardice isn’t being masked. The voters in West Virginia are sitting at a table with Bernie Sanders and recognizing they have much more in common than they’ve been led to believe.

Prayer of Opposites, 48″x48″, acrylic on board

read Kerri’s blogpost about THE PYRAMID

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Filed under: DR Thursday, Perspective, Possibility | Tagged: artistry, Bernie Sanders, Carl Jung, Congress, conscious, Constitution, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, distraction, First Amendment, impeachment, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, story, studio melange, the melange, Watergate, West Virginia | 1 Comment »

It’s Only Natural [David’s blog on Two Artists Tuesday]

Posted on September 23, 2025 by davidrobinsoncreative

This is a photograph of diversity: thriving tomato plants, basil, rosemary, cilantro, parsley, peppers, and autumn clematis. Look closer and you will spot bees, caterpillars and garden spiders. The chipmunk trail runs directly behind the bench. It is a tale of interconnectivity. Biodiversity is nature’s secret of success. Symbiotic relationships make the garden flourish.

Monoculture, on the other hand, all but guarantees a system’s collapse. It is true in nature. It is true of us as well; as human beings have learned again and again when soiling the nest, we are not separate from nature. We are not above it all. We are one thin ozone away from annihilation.

The word “symbiotic” comes from the Greek word for “living together.” Our democratic experiment is a test of human cultural symbiosis. For those of us who value actual history over made-up dross, it is undeniable that innovation has always thrived at the crossroads of cultures and the USA is an intentional crossroads.

White supremacy has been an ugly thorn in our democratic saddle since the nation’s inception but thankfully, until now, has never held the reins of power. As we watch the ICE horror story of racial profiling – astonishingly permitted by the Supreme Court, the assault on DEI, the erasure of people of color from our history, the vilification of Democrats (the party of diversity), we are witness to the insane attempt to force a monoculture into existence. And, as the insane – and inane – attempt at whitewashing our very colorful nation progresses, we step ever closer to our system’s collapse.

White fragility is at the epicenter of white supremacy. It claims to be a master race but fundamentally fears looking at its face in the mirror. It flees criticism. It touts being atop a pyramid built upon the labor and innovation of everyone else. It purports to represent the average citizen while embracing the economics of oligarchy (neoliberalism) and the politics of division. It knows how to pillage and rape and rig the game but understands almost nothing of building true strength, power, community and unity. It doesn’t have the first idea of the reality of symbiosis; it swirls in the fantasy-strut of mythical cowboy independence.

It is not a mystery that our democratic garden is in danger of dying. Perhaps, if we survive this race to destruction, we will at last be able to look in the mirror, see-embrace-and-deal with our full history. We will insist on building our home on the truth. All of it. Perhaps we will rise from the ashes without the idiotic idea that any race is superior to any other and truly, fully embrace the beating heart of our democratic union: that all people are created equal, that all people are protected equally under the law, that it is our experiment in diversity that makes – and has made – this nation great all along.

Symbiosis. Diversity. The same relationships that make our garden thrive will make our nation thrive. It’s only natural.

read Kerri’s blogpost about THE GARDEN BENCH

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Filed under: Identity, Perspective, Two Artists Tuesday | Tagged: artistry, biodiversity, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, DEI, democracy, Diversity, history, Kerri Sherwood, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, monoculture, neoliberalism, oligarchy, relationship, story, studio melange, the melange, unity, white fragility, white supremacy | Leave a comment »

Black and White [David’s blog on KS Friday]

Posted on September 19, 2025 by davidrobinsoncreative

“Despair is a narcotic. It lulls the mind into indifference.” ~ Charlie Chaplin

It turns out that there are some things that are black or white. For instance, we either have free speech or we don’t. We either have the protections of due process and habeas corpus or we don’t. We either adhere to the Constitution or we don’t. We either have a free press or we don’t. We either champion the truth or we don’t.

We either have a democracy or we don’t.

Right now, in this moment, where all of the above are concerned, we don’t.

I’m still shaking my head at the 90 million voters who did not turn out to vote in the last election. Were they indifferent? There is certainly enough despair to go around given the sucking of wealth from the many into the hands of the few. We either exercise our power in democracy by voting or we don’t.

The system is either built for all of us or it is tilted toward the privileged few. And that seems to be the line of discord in our short history, the rope that we perpetually tug in our incessant internal war: who do we mean when we say, “We the people”? It either includes all of us in the promise or it doesn’t.

We either protect the dream or we don’t.

Lately, in a mass capitulation of courage by corporate America, the legal profession, universities…we’ve learned that despair is not the only narcotic that lulls the mind into indifference. Profit might be mightier than despair in producing indifference. We’re literally seeing our nation sell its soul. It’s become abundantly clear what is valued and what is not.

Democracy, for the morbidly wealthy, seems no match for private gain. It’s up to the rest of us to wake up, shake off indifference and loudly remind the gluttonous few that fascism has no place in a democratic republic, that our rights and protected freedoms are not for sale or to be used as leverage for the corporate merger.

We either protect the dream now or we lose it. We’re standing at the line. All of us. It makes no difference if you are on the blue team or the red. The orchestrated collapse of our democracy, the loss of protected freedoms, of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, the erasure of our nation of laws and not men…applies equally to all of us.

It turns out that somethings are not black or white, they are black and white.

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

read Kerri’s blogpost on BLACK AND WHITE

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Filed under: KS Friday, Perspective | Tagged: artistry, black and white, Constitution, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, democracy, fascism, free press, freedom of speech, freedoms, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, liberty, rights, story, studio melange, the melange, vote | 1 Comment »

Silence [David’s blog on DR Thursday]

Posted on September 11, 2025 by davidrobinsoncreative

It is 9/11, the 24th anniversary of the terrorist attacks on our nation. I remember the day like it was yesterday. The assault on our nation (mostly) brought us together.

On the eve of this anniversary, the current occupant of the White House, in a speech to the nation, used the murder of Charlie Kirk, a right wing provocateur, to incite violence on his political opponents and the “radical left”. Keep in mind, no one knows anything about the assassin. Statements of empathy poured from the left, statements of violence poured from the right.

Keep in mind that there was yet another school shooting in our nation, in my home state of Colorado. There was no mention in the president’s speech about the latest example of the continued and incessant violence enacted on our children.

In the past several months, the conservative justices of the Supreme Court of the United States have suspended due process, habeas corpus, and just this week, the conservative justices ruled to allow racial profiling. They’ve elevated the president above the law.

All of these rulings are in direct violation of the oath they swore to uphold The Constitution. They are systematically dismantling our constitutionally-protected freedoms.

Along with a feckless congress, the Supremes deconstruct the checks-and-balances of our democracy, and are consolidating power in the executive branch. This is fascism. I do not use that word as an insult. I use that word – a word with a specific definition – to ring the alarm.

On this anniversary of 9/11, it is imperative to recognize that the current attack on our nation is coming, not from outside, but from within. A rogue Supreme Court and a republican Congress enable the authoritarian desires of a serial criminal. They support the absolute suppression of opposition and are moving to militarize the clampdown on democratic ideals.

And,sadly, a mainstream press long ago abdicated its responsibility to inform (rather than entertain) the public. They’ve worked hard to normalize the violent rhetoric of the current administration. The media on the right has worked hard to create a straw man, an enemy in the democratic left.

The current threat to our democracy is far more dangerous than the attacks on 9/11. On that day, planes took down buildings.

On this day, on this anniversary of an attack on our nation, an authoritarian and his enablers are taking down our democracy.*

Soon, if we do not stop this assault on our nation, all that will be left to us is silence.

(*again, I do not toss the word “authoritarian” as an insult or to provoke. I use it to describe the actions of the executive and his enablers).

***

During the Jacob Blake riots and martial law in our town, we learned that we could not get up-to-date or factual news on mainstream media. We had to seek independent media if we wanted accurate and immediate information. The same is proving true now.

Democracy Docket (Mark Elias)

Brian Tyler Cohen

Historian Heather Cox Richardson