Possibility | The Direction of Intention

Offer Pie [on Not So Flawed Wednesday]

Posted on November 21, 2018 by davidrobinsoncreative

lincoln quote copy

Kerri flew through Denver on election day and stopped to snap this photo. These days the papers and airwaves are filled with stories of our national dedication to division. They are rife with incivility. We are rife with incivility.

A house divided cannot stand. It reads like a cliche’ – because it is – yet, apparently needs to be put to the test (again). There are a few more things true of a divided house, the reason they cannot stand: They are easy to manipulate. They waste their best energy on division (the tail wags the dog). They are deaf to the obvious paths out of division (when the only tool in your box is a hammer…). The foot they shoot is their own (the house they destroy is the one they are living in).

Above all it infects us with a bad case of Chicken Little Syndrome.

Sometimes the absence of middle ground is made civil when we step into the commons with a dedication to politeness. Courtesy. Graciousness. There are other words that probably sound like so much impossibility. Cliches? Pie in the sky?

Well, tomorrow is a day of thanks giving that usually comes with an abundance of pie! Perhaps the sky need not fall if we can sit still for a moment and reach across the table with an offer of pie. Nothing else need be decided. Just pie. And thank you. There are few better places to begin the mend.

read Kerri’s blog post on CIVILITY

Filed under: Flawed Wednesday, Language, Perspective, Possibility, Uncategorized | Tagged: A house divided, Chicken Little, Chicken Little Syndrome, civility, courtesy, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, graciousness, incivility, Kerri Sherwood, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, Lincoln, middle ground, pie, politeness, Thanksgiving | Leave a comment »

Put It On A Post [on Not-So-Flawed Wednesday]

Posted on October 23, 2018 by davidrobinsoncreative

littlefreelibraryBOX copy

Paul often told the young actors he taught: never underestimate your power to influence or impact another person’s life. Stepping onto a stage comes with a responsibility. I loved his advice and thought it was much more universal and should be heeded everyday. What you do matters and it matters in ways you probably will never understand. We are always and in all ways participants in the butterfly effect.

In a short walk around our neighborhood you’ll discover several Little Free Libraries, an idea that came from Todd Bol as a tribute to his mother. She was a lover of books and his idea to honor her caught on like wildfire. In 2009 he built a little schoolhouse shaped box, put books in it, and stuck it on a post outside his house. He invited his neighbors to borrow them. He had no intention of creating a worldwide movement yet in the 9 years that have elapsed since he built his box, Little Free Libraries have popped up in over 80 countries. It became a movement. An entity with a mission. People borrow books. People share books and ideas. Neighbors stop and check out what might be new. The boxes themselves are often little pieces of art that Joseph Cornell might have assembled. Little Free Libraries are community connective tissue.

Todd Bol died last week. It seems only right on this Not-So-Flawed Wednesday to stop and take note of the very big ripple one small box on a post set into motion.

read Kerri’s blog post about Todd Bol

book/hire/buy

Filed under: Flawed Wednesday, Gratitude, Possibility, Uncategorized | Tagged: books, butterfly effect, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, impact, Kerri Sherwood, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, literacy, Little Free Library, mattering, readers, small actions, small things, studio melange, the melange, Todd Bol | Leave a comment »

Infuse Them With Hope [on Two Artists Tuesday]

Posted on October 16, 2018 by davidrobinsoncreative

THIS AsYouIs copy

Go to the AS YOU IS website and this is what you will find:

As You Is® was created to start conversations… to cause total strangers to smile… to make people think… to get others to feel so accepted they break out in impromptu dance… and to put a serious chink in the armor of racism.

Our hope is one day children can embrace being uniquely themselves, where they feel safe being different and where old people —like our founder Michael Fornwald — can age gracefully or ungracefully sans self-contempt.

Please join us by infecting others with hope one hella cool t-shirt or cap at a time.

It happened to us, just as Michael intended. Strolling down the aisle of the farmer’s market, we saw the shirts and stopped in our tracks. “What is that?” I asked Kerri. She smiled, and then laughed, and finally said, “Let’s go find out.” We talked with Michael for the next 20 minutes. He shared his story. We shared ours. We talked about acceptance of self and others. We talked of the need for hope in these ugly, divided times. And while we talked, others saw the shirts and stopped in their tracks.

We stepped aside and watched as people did double-takes. Some hovered and talked. Some danced and laughed. And talked. Some ventured into the center to talk, as we did, with Michael. The shirts started conversations.

Call it a brand or call it a mission, in Michael’s case, it is both. It’s genuine. It’s based on the premise that acceptance of others begins with acceptance of self. You’d be a fool to argue with the premise.

Amidst our divided national narrative it is a serious and legitimate question to ask: would you rather infect others with hatred or with hope? Michael’s answer is clear and he’s doing more than talking about it.

We are the proof that it’s working. We walked away infused with hope, stepping just a little bit lighter, and the conversation he inspired in us hasn’t stopped in the weeks since we happened upon his shirts.

GO HERE. BUY SHIRTS. SUPPORT THE INFUSION OF HOPE

read Kerri’s blog post about AS YOU IS

SHOP KERRI’S ‘Be Kind’ DESIGNS

be kind designs ©️ 2018 kerri sherwood & david robinson

Filed under: entrepreneur, Language, Possibility, Two Artists Tuesday, Uncategorized | Tagged: acceptance, as you is, be kind, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, hope, inclusion, Kerri Sherwood, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, racism, safety, self-love, smiles, society6.com/kerrisherwood, tolerance | Leave a comment »

Believe In The Impossible [on Chicken Marsala Monday]

Posted on September 3, 2018 by davidrobinsoncreative

All of my life I’ve been surrounded by people who believed in the impossible. At a school for developmentally disabled children, there were therapists who believed against all odds that they could help a child catch a ball. And, one day, after ten thousand tries, extraordinary therapies on frozen muscles, endless encouragement for the child and for each other, those little hands closed around the ball at just the right moment. A catch. Cheers, celebration dances and tears erupted, this feat greater than winning a Super Bowl. The impossible became possible. And then, as if there was not a moment to waste, the next impossibility was named: ball catching could become routine!

Artists, who go day after day to the studio or the stage, their lives an impossibility of economic headwinds and community disinterest. They create. They find a way. They keep the doors of deep humanity open, mythology alive. In this age of dedicated differences and echo-chamber-information, they reinvigorate the experience of a shared story. The impossible becomes possible, even if only for a moment. And the next day, they do it all over again, refreshed with inspiration and improbability.

Teachers who walk into classrooms every single day, their budgets cut, their student load swelling, their hands tied with standardized-testing-madness, and yet they reach. They try. They inspire. Like icebreakers, they cut new paths through impossibly frozen circumstances to locate and nourish the minds and hearts of their students. To free them from disbelief. To embrace the challenge of an obstacle. To encourage discovery of self and other. The impossible becomes possible. And, the next day, they do it all over again.

Inspiration. It’s all around us. It makes people do crazy things.

www.kerrianddavid.com

like us on facebook

inspiration makes people do crazy things ©️ 2016/18 david robinson & kerri sherwood

Filed under: Art, Chicken Marsala Monday, Creativity, Edges, Possibility, Uncategorized | Tagged: artist, artistry, artists, classrooms, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, education, hearts, impossible, inspiration, Kerri Sherwood, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, minds, obstacles, opportunity, society6.com/chickenmarsala, studio melange, teachers, the melange, the possible | Leave a comment »

Be Kind [on Two Artists Tuesday]

Posted on August 21, 2018 by davidrobinsoncreative

Guitar Jim told me that he doesn’t trust this world littered with aphorisms. Words are so easy to say. Papering the walls with happy sentiments of love, kindness, community, teamwork,…, can mask the absence of those qualities. I translated his adamant adage-doubt into a pithy phrase (just to torture him): actions speak louder than words. His point: if we tell ourselves often enough that it takes a village to raise a child we might just believe this village actually cares for its children. All of its children. Despite abundant evidence to the contrary.

He has a point. Adages are everywhere, placed in stores, office walls, kitchen shelves. Begin anywhere. This life is not a dress rehearsal. Life is short, break the rules. For fun, first take a quick scroll through Facebook. It is an immersion into Gandhi, Maya Angelou, Martin Luther King. We’re all in this together. Then, open your news app. Fall from grace. Try your best to be a saint and see how far you’ll fall.

There is another side of this bleak coin. We live in the age of the sound byte. The short attention span. The eCommunity. Sometimes while rushing to the next thing I stop for no apparent reason and stand still on the street. Something divine intervenes and asks me to step out of the play and, for a moment, breathe and simply be the audience. Every time I step out I see more kindness than aggression. I hear more laughter than shouting. I see people wanting a different world but armored against the threat of the moment, the fear of the day. Lost in a story of division. And, so, on the walls and in the subways they (we) post aspirations. Yearnings for more experience of our better nature. Hopw wishes. Possibility mantras.

Beaky’s parting words were always, “Be kind to one another.” It was her maxim and she meant it. This powerhouse woman would look you in the eyes and send this phrase-arrow to the center of your being, “Be kind.” To one another. An action, not an empty sentiment.

“Yes, ma’am.”

this link will take you to the BE KIND large print t-shirt options. scroll down to see the entire line of good stuff.

read Kerri’s blog post on BE KIND

www.kerrianddavid.com

be kind product line ©️ 2018 david robinson & kerri sherwood

Filed under: Possibility, Seeing, Two Artists Tuesday, Uncategorized | Tagged: adage, aphorism, be kind, Beaky, beakysbooks.com, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, Kerri Sherwood, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, maxim, society6.com/kerrisherwood, society6.com/twoartists, studio melange, the melange, Two Artists Tuesday | Leave a comment »

Imagine Peace [on KS Friday]

Posted on July 20, 2018 by davidrobinsoncreative

When I first met Kerri I was still pitching ideas to Yaki, a conductor/artistic director of symphonies. We’d created a few projects together. Yaki is a visionary, one of my favorite past-collaborators. He knows that symphonies, like all performing art forms, must reinvent themselves to attract the next generation audiences. Our projects were rooted in both new and traditional compositions. They were multimedia story-tellings, explorations of arts crossing disciplines.

So much of Kerri’s work lends itself to a symphony. Listen to the strings in PEACE! There is a cello line that breaks my heart every time I hear it. I sent PEACE to Yaki with two statements and a question: Listen. Imagine the possibilities. What could we do?

It was a different time then, or, perhaps, it is a different time now. Have we ever needed peace more than now? And so, on KS Friday, I send you this PEACE with the same two questions I asked Yaki but with a much greater imperative: Listen. Imagine the possibilities. What could we do?

PEACE on the album AS IT IS available on iTunes & CDBaby

read Kerri’s blog post on PEACE

www.kerrianddavid.com

peace/as it is ©️ 2004 kerri sherwood

Filed under: KS Friday, Possibility, Uncategorized | Tagged: AS IT IS, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, imagine, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, peace, portland chamber orchestra, possibilities, society6.com/kerrisherwood, studio melange, symphony, the melange, walla walla symphony, yaki | Leave a comment »

Split A Second [on KS Friday]

Posted on July 6, 2018 by davidrobinsoncreative

Earlier this week I wrote about our visit to Arches National Park and the paradox of presence: it is only when we recognize how very small we are that we are capable of standing in the immensity of this moment, the present. I called it a joining. In her song, In A Split Second, Kerri calls it, “walking that thin line.”

It is possible to put down the list of to-dos. It is possible to stop dragging along that big bag of the past. It is possible to be here, where you are, in the immensity of this moment of life. Give yourself a gift, be where you are, and let Kerri help you walk that thin line.

IN A SPLIT SECOND on the album AS SURE AS THE SUN, available in iTunes & CDBaby

read Kerri’s blog post about IN A SPLIT SECOND

www.kerrianddavid.com

in a split second/as sure as the sun ©️ 2002 kerri sherwood

Filed under: Awakening, Possibility, Uncategorized | Tagged: arches national park, artistry, as sure as the sun, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, future, in a split second, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, paradox, past, presence, society6.com/kerrisherwood, studio melange, the melange | Leave a comment »

Complete The Trilogy [on DR Thursday]

Posted on July 5, 2018 by davidrobinsoncreative

Just before she passed away, Kerri and I rushed to illustrate and publish a trilogy of children’s books that Beaky had written years earlier. Beaky saw the first of her books published, Shayne. We held a release party and author reading of the first book. She was a rock star. Her first sale was to someone in The Netherlands and I teased her about being an international author. Beaky was both thrilled and ever humble. She died 18 days later while we were racing to lay out the pages of the second book in the trilogy. We published it, Shayne & The Yellow Dragon, soon after, for what would have been her 94th birthday.

the author

It’s been three years. Today would have been Beaky’s 97th birthday and we are certain she is tapping her foot wondering what is taking so long. So, we decided that it was time to complete the trilogy. The illustrations and scans are back on the table. In short order, someday very soon, we look forward to announcing the publication of Beaky’s third book, Shayne & The New Baby.

read Kerri’s blog post on Shayne

the creative team

www.kerrianddavid.com

Filed under: Art, Creativity, DR Thursday, Family, Heroes, Love, Possibility, Uncategorized | Tagged: Beaky, Beaky's Books, beakysbooks.com, children's books, dachsund, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, heart projects, illustrations, Kerri Sherwood, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, shayne, shayne trilogy, society6.com/davidrobinson, studio melange, the melange | Leave a comment »

Give Full Reign To Your Imagination [It’s Chicken Marsala Monday]

Posted on April 23, 2018 by davidrobinsoncreative

A Chicken Nugget from studio melange for the start of a new week.

Wearing her yellow flower girl dress, fresh from her triumph as flower girl at her cousin’s wedding, my niece Tory sat on my lap and told me a story. It was a deluge of imagination. A breathless tale that took me through magical meadows and soaring to great heights, like Virgil she guided me through worlds, forests, oceans and space where I met amazing creatures, tasted foods both “yummy” and “yucky” and shape-shifted to meet the necessities of the planets we visited. There was a beginning to her story but there was no end. Even after her mother came to retrieve her, Tory’s story stream gushed on, now transferred to her new audience. Her imagination, like all little humans, was boundless.

Imagination is boundless. And, it doesn’t go away. We may learn to put brakes on it or filter its color. We may fear it and drive it underground, misdirect it or malign it, but it gushes on and on. Fear the future? That’s imagination at work. Regret the past? Yep. Imagination at play. Meaning making, making meaning. The story-making-imagination is a rushing river. How often have you said or heard said, “I can’t imagine…!” Not true.

Imagining is what we humans do, regardless of age. The proof is all around you. Stand still and look. Everything you see, if it was constructed, was first imagined by someone trying to make life better. Lights, cell phones, automobiles, pencil sharpeners (pencils), purses, personal computers,…, were imagined and are, at this moment, being re-imagined. Look in the mirror. What you see is an expression of imagination. Imagination is, after all, a team sport.

Look at the cool new wall murals from society6.com

There isn’t a moment of the day that our imaginations aren’t running apace or bursting at the gate trying to get out of the doubt-corral. Give it full reign. Give it full rein and like Tory, let it take you – and me – to new and surprising worlds.

GIVE FULL REIN/REIGN TO YOUR IMAGINATION gifts & reminders

read Kerri’s blog post about GIVE FULL REIN/REIGN TO YOUR IMAGINATION

www.kerrianddavid.com

Filed under: Chicken Marsala Monday, Creativity, Possibility, Uncategorized | Tagged: boundless, chicken marsala, Chicken nugget, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, give rein to your imagination, imagination, Kerri Sherwood, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, meaning, meaning making, possibilities, society6.com/chickenmarsala, story, studio melange, the melange, unicorn | Leave a comment »

When Sled Dogs Dream [It’s Flawed Cartoon Wednesday!]

Posted on April 18, 2018 by davidrobinsoncreative

From studio melange, a giggle to lift you over the hump and share with pals.

our flawed homage to winter and its passing

Tripper Dog-Dog-Dog dreams. Late at night I hear his paws flicking the floor of his crate, the echo of his dream-bark breaks the surface as a yip. I imagine he is dreaming of chasing squirrels or racing after birds, two of his favorite real-life activities. But what if…. Maybe he dreams of having opposable thumbs, of scooping kibble from the bin whenever he wants to! Maybe he dreams of taking me on walks, and yanking my leash when I pull to greet other humans! “Sit!” he barks. “Look at me!” he commands. Perhaps he dreams of tossing me a cookie when I am good, or making me do tricks to earn my cookie!!!

And so, I imagine that sled dogs must also dream.