*k's words:
As I sit reflecting on a year of my life, I realize this process has been neglected until now. How we as humans so quickly forget how to stop looking forward to the future…Ignoring the past, surpassing the present and ending up in a constant abyss of time lines, check lists, to dos, schedules and lets not forget…life. How often do we then, amongst the madness of these spiraling days, take a moment to be, just be, and god forbid, reflect. I know I avoid reflection because sometimes the past isn’t always rosy. Sometimes when we look back, memories flood in like infusions of darkness or rays of light. Either, in retrospect, can cause an emotional reaction and an innate response. A response that at times feels upsetting, awkward, and tragic… Yet, aren’t all of these moments actually pieces to the puzzle of life? The good and the bad, aren’t they all the essence of our being? And if yes, what are we rushing to see, to know, to do? When all the questions sometimes are better left unanswered, put off for another day. Reflecting upon life, being with oneself in the moment, provides a spiritual growth unattainable with a planner full of to do lists and future engagements. It comes from within, the heart and soul. Why do I apply such rigor to a day of reflection? Because today is more than merely remembering but it is an awakening to a certain way of life – a ritual, a gift of words and art, and friendship that without this project – would only be a “future plan”. It is a realistic to do list, one we have turned into a present moment, yearlong, project with limitless possibilities and overwhelmingly amazing outcomes. It has been what I look forward to every month on the same two days…
*k 1.22.10
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above photo by *s. old picture that was the original inspiration for two days in july (see above in header)
the little sepia toned snapshot above (see detail of photograph in our header) was my visual inspiration for what two days in july was to be all about. there is magic in that photo, that story, and our story as well. i was given the photograph by my mother-in-law, just around the time when we were dreaming up our first posts for the blog. the snapshot is from the summer of 1934, when her relatives were vacationing on the new england seashore. the very first thing i noticed in the photo was how the two figures in the center had been circled in pencil... two friends, walking on a beach, together. for me, those two women came to represent our friendship, and how we've been circled together since those first two days in july.
we are two friends, born a day apart, a collaboration
until next month,
xo *s
