The Direction of Intention

Savor The Words [David’s blog on Merely A Thought Monday]

Posted on October 16, 2023 by davidrobinsoncreative

Her delight in finding the stack of Nancy Drew novels, her girlhood favorites, sparked a question. She asked, “What did you read as a kid?” Instantly, I was a deer in the headlights. I muttered something incomprehensible and changed the subject in order to dodge the question.

It’s not that I didn’t remember. The truth is that I wasn’t a reader until I was in my mid 20’s. It’s as if someone threw a switch and I was instantly transformed from dullard to a voracious reader. I generally have two or three books going at the same time, making up for lost reading time.

A few years ago it occurred to me that I was reading like a starving man at a smorgasbord. I was gobbling words without breathing or tasting. So I decided to try an experiment. Read books like they are poetry. Savor a few pages at a time. Consider for a full day what I have read in my few pages. Re-read it if I am unclear. Re-read it if it is gorgeously written.

My experiment is going well. I’m living in the books rather than blowing through them. I delight in the phrases, the way words are put together to invoke images and sounds and tastes. Sometimes a phrase is so beautifully written it makes my eyes water. I feel as if I’ve pulled off the freeway, stepped out of the car, and am walking through a meadow. I see more. I appreciate more.

I credit the age of information with my new reading practice. I’ve been studying how people engage with their screens, how I have been engaging with my screen. We skim. We jump. We tab hop. There’s so much information demanding our attention, stuffing the nooks and crannies of our minds. Emails, texts, slacks, social streams…

I’m finding my peace, out of the stream and off the info-super-highway, turning paper pages with intention, paying full attention to what is written there, no more than a few pages at a time.

read Kerri’s blog about NANCY DREW

like. share. support. comment. savor. sample. contemplate. replicate. all things we appreciate.

buymeacoffee is an online fictional book repository where you can lose your ever-loving-mind and fall into strange lands where you find yourself supporting the work of artists you appreciate. Ridiculous!

Filed under: Language, Merely A Thought Monday, Navel Gazing, Uncategorized | Tagged: appreciation, appreciation of language, artistry, consider, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, experiment, information age, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, Nancy Drew novels, peace, peace of mind, poetry, ponder, reader, savor, savor words, story, studio melange, the melange, young reader | 4 Comments »

Face Downwind [David’s blog on saturday morning smack-dab]

Posted on October 14, 2023 by davidrobinsoncreative

Mighty regrettable breath! I laughed so hard when I read this that tears came to my eyes. She didn’t back up when I laughed so I’m fairly confident that I’ve taken care of the problem. Either that or I’ve permanently damaged her sense of smell.

Note: She also ate the dip. That I didn’t write a cartoon about my point of view (smell) is why she loves ALMOST everything about me. Well, okay. She probably likes a lot of things about me. I think. I know she tolerates a very long list of eccentric character traits and quirks. All-in-all, I generally get a passing grade if I point my mighty regrettable breath downwind. And open the wine. And make the coffee.

read Kerri’s blogpost about MY BREATH!!!!!!!

(Oh great. She just said, “You don’t really have bad breath.” And laughed raucously.)

share. support. like. comment. brush your teeth. we thank you!

buymeacoffee is a tooth-extraction site where we can trade your old fillings for support of our continued creative work. We appreciate your desire to eat soft foods on our behalf.

Filed under: smack-dab | Tagged: aarp, artistry, bad breath, breath mint, breather, brush your teeth, cartoon, cartoon about middle age, composer, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, food trauma, garlic breath, halitosis, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, love, middle age cartoon, middle age romance, onion breath, painter, regrettable breath, rogue rattler, sense of smell, smack-dab, snack warning, story, studio melange, the melange, two artists breathing | 4 Comments »

Meet Your Destiny [David’s blog on KS Friday]

Posted on October 13, 2023 by davidrobinsoncreative

I appreciate phrases like “As luck would have it.” The personification of Luck. It comforts me to imagine what Luck might look like. Somedays he dons a bowler hat and cane and wiggles his eyebrows when questioned. Sometimes Luck is a lady in an evening gown and Doc Martins; a swirling contradiction who laughs at our predictions.

And then there’s “Meet your destiny.” A place. A location in space and time. A spot on the road that you probably did not intend to visit..but there you are. A person as a destination. I feel that way about Kenosha, Wisconsin. Not in my wildest imagination did I think I would live anywhere in the midwest, especially a place called Kenosha. And then, as luck would have it, I met my destiny.

My destiny and I both love the fall. It is our favorite time of year. We like to take long walks. We lift snakes off the trail with sticks so bikes don’t run over them. We stop and stare back at the deer. We count the turtles that we spy. Yesterday there was a train of turtles sunning themselves on a single small rock. Four in a row. A hawk flew overhead. A heron high-stepped through the shallows. She stood guard over a fuzzy black caterpillar so the approaching hikers would see it. We laughed heartily as she stayed with the critter until it disappeared into the tall grasses. Caterpillar crossing guard.

I was not around when Kerri was on the road performing. I’ve seen her run rehearsals and play for services. I was her roadie for a house concert or two. I treasure the night she played the piano on an empty stage, in an empty theatre. It was enormous. It was heartbreaking. I’ve sat with her in her studio many nights while she played for me songs that are not yet recorded.

Time flies. Time as a bird or a plane. A rushing current of air.

As Luck would have it, Kerri stumbled onto some video from 1996. The release concert for her 2nd and 3rd albums. What a gift to see even a few minutes of her performance. Twenty five minutes of footage, early in her career. One thing was abundantly clear as I watched. She was doing exactly what she is on this earth to do. It’s visible. I could see it. Sitting at her piano, easy and sure, she was meeting her destiny.

I watched her watch the footage. Reaching back to move forward. Time flies. As luck would have it. A twist of fate. In the fall of our lives, she turned and gazed hard at the horizon.

Kerri’s music is available on iTunes and streaming on Pandora and iHeart Radio

read Kerri’s blogpost about SUN THROUGH AUTUMN TREES

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buymeacoffee is an online “tip jar” where you can support the work of the artists you value.

Filed under: Art, KS Friday, Language, Uncategorized | Tagged: artistry, autumn, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, destiny, fall, fate, intention, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood at parkside, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, kismet, luck, performance, personification, story, studio melange, the melange, time, twist of fate | 3 Comments »

Circle Back Again [David’s blog on DR Thursday]

Posted on October 12, 2023 by davidrobinsoncreative

I could have sworn a famous John Singer Sargent painting featured hibiscus. He painted poppies and roses. There is his famous Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose. Google isn’t helping me very much – or, today, I have very little patience.

The truth is I want to dig out my old art books and have a full analog experience. I want to turn pages and smell the ink and the dust. It’s a cold wet day. Dark. I want to sit in my studio rocking chair and revisit the version-of-me that used to sit for hours studying the paintings of masters. I have traveled full circle. I am back to believing that I know nothing. I am a beginner again.

In Scotland, a long time ago, John Singer Sargent’s portrait of Lady Agnew stopped me in my tracks. I wasn’t prepared for what I was about to encounter. Rounding a corner I saw the portrait hanging at the end of the hall. The brushstrokes were easy and free. Get close to it and you’ll discover there is no wasted motion. The paint speaks. It’s not a large portrait yet I felt it as a gut punch. Had I not been blocking the view of others, I would have stood before it all day. I left the museum certain that I knew nothing at all.

I’ve learned to appreciate these phases of not-knowing. They are not necessarily comfortable. Yearning never is. There’s nothing like empty space in your chest and a lump in your throat to set in motion a walk toward the next horizon. What’s over there?

On the trail yesterday I re-remembered the-one-thing, the one-essential-ingredient that makes a walk toward the horizon and away from the safety-of-the-known an adventure: under no circumstances must I take myself too seriously. Do not eat the ego-illusion that my work must or will change the world. It won’t. The world does not need changing. It only needs to be experienced. And I only need to express what I find as I circle back, sharing what I discover.

Visit my gallery site

read Kerri’s blogpost about Hibiscus

share. like. comment. support. many thanks.

buymeacoffee is an online “tip jar” where you can support the continued work of the artists you value.

Filed under: Art, DR Thursday, Edges | Tagged: adventure, artistry, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, discomfort, discovery, horizon, illusion, john singer sargent, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, mastery, not knowing, painter, paintings, story, studio melange, the melange, yearning | 1 Comment »

Play Well [David’s blog on Not So Flawed Wednesday]

Posted on October 11, 2023 by davidrobinsoncreative

“It takes a very long time to become young.” ~ Pablo Picasso

Early in our collaboration, when my plan seemed too fun-loving for our corporate clients, it struck fear in the heart of my business partner. I was fond of telling her, “Everyone really wants to play.”

And, I believed it. I believe it still. Everyone really wants to play. The challenge of stimulating entrepreneurship or innovation or creativity is never about opening minds; it is to scale the fortress walls we erect around our light hearts. The same is true with change initiatives and diversity-equity-inclusion. The heart is the target and playfulness is the path.

In general, the epicenter of what ails us is that we take ourselves too seriously. The cure: play. When the mask of seriousness falls, there’s nothing left to do but play well with others.

I am reminded of the cure every time we assemble at the cabin with The Up North Gang. The overriding intention of our gatherings is to take nothing seriously. To play. We eat too much. We snack with abandon. We adventure. We make space for fun and eschew all serious pursuits. We laugh. Spirits are lifted. Eyes and hearts open. Ideas and imagination flow like a raging river, so warm, safe and impish are our companions.

Play is an action but it is also the fruit of an environment. People cannot play if they do not feel safe. Another truism I learned during my walk in the organizational wastelands: environment creates behavior. So many serious faces; so much fear of being seen “as”… There’s nothing like a safe space to foster a hotbed of creativity.

A warm autumn day, a blue-blue sky, the leaves vibrant with fall color. A quiet mind. An open heart. A great relief. I realized that over these many months Kerri and I have not felt safe, swimming as we are on the bottom of Maslow’s Hierarchy. I was suddenly and profoundly overwhelmed by the lightness in my heart, the ease in my being, the great gift of our Up North Gang.

A gentle reminder that the path forward is rarely found by squeezing together synapses and figuring-it-out in-the-mind. The path becomes clear when illuminated by the lively spirit of play. Heart-paths become visible. I smiled at all that I know and too often forget. Everyone really wants to play.

read Kerri’s blogpost about AUTUMN UP NORTH

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Filed under: Creativity, Flawed Wednesday, Play | Tagged: adventure, artistry, change, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, DEI, ease, entrepreneur, entrepreneurship, environment, heart path, imagination, innovation, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, light heart, light hearted, masks, play, playfulness, safety, spontaneity, story, studio melange, the melange | 3 Comments »

Eternal Thanks [David’s blog on Two Artists Tuesday]

Posted on October 10, 2023 by davidrobinsoncreative

Eight years ago today, 10-10, at 11:11am, Kerri and I were married. Our guests teased us that our reception started at 12:12. The food truck was delayed in showing up and arrived one minute late at 1:02.

The altar was awash in daisies. Susan made daisy cupcakes. The first day I met Kerri she was holding a daisy so that I might recognize her at the airport. Daisies have been our flower ever since. She carried a bouquet of daisies as she walked down the aisle to join me.

Kerri wrote and recorded a song for me that played when I entered the church. It was a blue jeans wedding, our guests wore white shirts so we could wear our beloved black.

So many of our friends and family made food, decorated the beach house for our reception, fetched wine and coffee, built the bonfire on the beach. Kerri’s choir circled us and sang We Are Family. I like to think of our wedding as a barn-raising. My sister and niece jumped in to organize the moving pieces. So many people showed up and pitched in. Judy played her magic harp. Jim played his guitar. The ukulele band sang What A Wonderful World. Kerri and I shared words from our Roadtrip. Arnie and 20 were at my side. Kirsten and Craig stood beside Kerri.

We skipped out of the church just as we skipped out of the airport on the day we met.

Each day, every single day, I am grateful for the second chance that life brought to me. I. Am. The. Luckiest. Man. Alive.

If for a moment you doubt that this universe is generous, all you need do is think of me. Think of us.

read Kerri’s blogpost about OUR ANNIVERSARY

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Filed under: Gratitude, Love, Two Artists Tuesday | Tagged: And Now, anniversay, artistry, barn raising, bloggers, cartoonists, community, composer, daisies, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, friendship, generous, grateful, Gratitude, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, painter, second chances, story, studio melange, the melange, wedding, wedding song, writers | 3 Comments »

Peel The Layers [David’s blog on Merely A Thought Monday]

Posted on October 9, 2023 by davidrobinsoncreative

We lay awake deep into the night. The window was open and the crisp fall air drove us deep beneath the quilt. And we talked. Lately, for reasons too complex to explain, we’ve been steeped in a comprehensive full-life review. Gently peeling back the layers and bandages of our lives, uncovering the hard choices and left-hand-turns that led us to this place, this cold sleepless night, with the rhythmic rumble of trains in the distance, the lake lapping the shore.

The dark of night rolling into dawn is an ideal time to soul search.

We talked of the times in our lives when we didn’t speak up. We talked of the times when we couldn’t speak up. Fear is a great silencer. We told stories of running from our voices.

We talked of the times when we spoke up and paid a heavy price. We shared the times when we refused to speak up, when we stood in the self-made-fire and balked at screaming. We’ve had our share of fire but do not be fooled: fire does not always purify. What works with minerals does not necessarily work with people.

“It’s like a Viewmaster,” she said. The toy from childhood. “My memories are sometimes like clicking through a wheel of static images.”

More than once, as we shared our memories, I thought of a quote by Hermann Hesse:

“My story isn’t pleasant, it’s not sweet and harmonious like the invented stories, it tastes of folly and bewilderment, of madness and dream, like the life of people who no longer want to lie to themselves.”

As the sun rose on our conversation I understood that our searching souls had at long last arrived at a place of truth-telling. We no longer want to lie to ourselves. It is easy to speak up when there’s no need to hide or run or ignore what we know is true. In loss personal truth is found.

And we both know what is true for us. We know what is ours-to-do.

We lapsed into silence as the light through the window slid from soft grey into subtle pink-and-purple-blue. “We’ve both come a long way,” I thought-but-did-not-say, as we finally slipped into a deep dream-filled sleep.

read Kerri’s blogpost about SPEAK UP

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Filed under: Awakening, Identity, Merely A Thought Monday | Tagged: artistry, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, fear, fire, folly, give voice, Hermann Hesse, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, life review, memories, purify, silence, soul searching, speak up, story, studio melange, the melange, Viewmaster | 3 Comments »

Follow The Rules [David’s blog on saturday morning smack-dab.]

Posted on October 7, 2023 by davidrobinsoncreative

“Do you remember when you used to stand up without sound effects?” she asked. We burst out laughing at the truth of her question. A gathering of friends comparing the aches and pains of simple movement.

Kerri and I have initiated a few new roadtrip travel rules. First, we stop before the sun goes down. The days of seventeen hour long-hauls are over. Diminished night-sight made that rule necessary. Next, we stop every few hours to stretch our legs. We’ve found that if we don’t stop, the only way out of the car is to roll off the seat and crawl to the curb. Social grace and the aesthetics of aging made the stop-every-few-hours-rule essential. People at rest areas get nervous when our car door opens and I fall groaning to the ground, crawl with my elbows around the car, reach up to open Kerri’s door, and pull her moaning to the pavement.

Let’s face it. It’s not pretty. It’s always a better idea to stop while there’s still some feeling in our legs.

read Kerri’s blogpost about LONG DRIVES

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Filed under: smack-dab, Uncategorized | Tagged: aarp, aging, artistry, bloggers, cartoonists, composer, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, getting older, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, middle age, middle age cartoon, musician, night sight, painter, road trip, second chances, smack-dab, social grace, story, studio melange, the melange, travel, two artists | 2 Comments »

Choose The Shape [David’s blog on KS Friday]

Posted on October 6, 2023 by davidrobinsoncreative

Kurt Vonnegut posited that stories have shapes that can be graphed. According to his graphs, there are only eight story shapes. His story graphs work on a horizontal axis, from Beginning to End, and a vertical axis, Good Fortune to Ill Fortune.

Stories are journeys. Life is a journey. Over the course of every journey, fortune flips. Robert McKee writes that fortune flips are central to making a well-made screen play. What looks like a gift becomes a disaster and vice-versa. Just like life.

Kerri calls this photo of a mushroom A Table For Two. It reminds her of our pop-up table. We’ve celebrated anniversary dinners at the beach around our pop-up table. We’ve had pop-up snack time in the woods. The pop-up table was a great idea that came during pandemic isolation. For me it became a visible symbol of a fortune-flip. How to bring light into a dark time? Make a special meal pop-up in any location: a beach, the woods, a park, a trail…

There are circumstance-driven fortune-flips. There are fortune-flips brought through intention. When circumstance brings ill fortune, there is no better response than to pack a special meal and celebrate the day from a surprising location. Flip the circumstance through intention. Choose the shape of the story.

Disaster strikes? “A table for two, please.”

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

read Kerri’s blogpost about A TABLE FOR TWO

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buymeacoffee is an “tip jar” where you can support the continued work of the artists you appreciate.

Filed under: Gratitude, KS Friday, Story | Tagged: artistry, celebration, circumstance, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, fortune, fortune flip, good fortune, ill fortune, intention, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, Kurt Vonnegut, robert mckee, story, story shape, story shapes, studio melange, the melange | 2 Comments »

Have Second Thoughts [David’s blog on DR Thursday]

Posted on October 5, 2023 by davidrobinsoncreative

A comment on how my brain works: I saw this photo and thought, “This is a record of a life path.” What? Where did that come from?

Note: I didn’t think “My life path.” My random reflection was in no way personal. Though, to be perfectly honest, I am only familiar with one life path and it is mine. This jumble of hose, running this way and that, lines running over and under, does vaguely resemble my movement in the world. Or a freeway interchange as seen from the air.

Note on the note: No life path is straight. Circumstance has a way of making lines into loops. Growth has a way of revealing side paths that surprisingly become main roads. Yes, I’m making the assertion that a straight life path indicates a boring-no-growth existence. It would be an excessively mean assertion except, to reiterate, no life path is straight. Loops and surprises. Forces beyond control, leading to the wild eye-and-heart-opening recognition that very little is under our control. Fantasies fall revealing a life that shimmers in its day-to-day-ness as it spirals uncontrollably through the universe.

My second thought: “This reminds me of a Jackson Pollock painting.”

Another comment on how my brain works like most other brains: Second thoughts usually make more sense than first thoughts. That’s the key to sense-making: second thoughts respond (or recoil) from the nonsense of first thoughts.

A note on first and second thoughts: It’s best not to give voice to first thoughts. Wait for the second, more sensical thought for show-and-tell. Editors are involved. You’ll have more friends that way. Also, the authorities won’t need to lock you up. So, forget what I said about life paths and selectively remember my second thought about Jackson Pollock.

Remember: I warned you. This is how my brain works.

[I wish you could see Kerri’s eye-roll as I read to her this post:-) ]