stretching within

I signed up for Misty Mawn's stretchinng within online workshop that starts on Monday....what a great way to start the new year.  The thought of painting is a bit intimidating, but I have the book made and all the supplies are ready.  Our first unoffical project is to write a "poem" that starts with "i come from"....the postings so far are amazing.  It's been a bonding experience and i think it really illustrates how alike we all really are.  it is also pretty amazing how you can learn so much about someone from the collection of words they have chosen to represent where they come from.  The other thing that I really find interesting is that you can't be critical when you are reading these poems, none are better than others, none are right or wrong, they just are what they are meant to be...
Here is mine


I come from a place where stretching within is dangerous, it's best to remain perfectly still.

I come from a place of soft lights and music and comfort and safety within.

I come from a place where it is okay to be a bit messy.

I come from a family where creativity was encouraged, and invention was expected

I come from a place where I know what grass, clover, white paste, and darkroom chemicals taste like

I come from a time when it was okay to feel the wind in your hair when you rode a bike

I come from a place where mother's were not allowed to cry or show weakness or fart

I come from a place where actions spoke louder than words

I come from a time and place and gender where body image messages abound, sometimes subtle, sometimes not.."she has her mother's thighs" - not a good thing?  really? they carried me for 42 kilometers just to prove they could...

I come from an oak and a perennial

I come from a place where I am neither one nor the other

I come from airplane trips, warm raspberries, dusty talcum powder grandmas, fear, open eyes underwater, galloping horses, silky dogs ears against my upper lip, sleeping under blankets made with love....

I come from the ocean

I come from being too sensitive, always afraid, a predisposition to depression, knowing the importance of being kind...not always being kind

I come from raising 2 boys into strong young men, sometimes in spite of myself

I come with a longing to be stretched  and make connections and grow into who I am to beccoming now.