Just one more …
It’s hard when things end. When you really, really want them to keep going. To last forever.
Footnote: This ‘Ink’ could be suggesting an eventual shrinking of the loss. An end to the slide. And perhaps even new growth – in herself. Her arrival and the hopeful spin on her meaning was influenced by the music and message ‘Never Give Up – Find Your Own Way Home’ by Sia. Suggesting … the secret to change could well be in the building?
As the catch of responsibility drifted out of the saving, there was little left for Flipper Girl to do except wonder beyond the fishbowl of seriously fogged goggles.
(Flipper Girl Series appears in Clunk & Jam book, 2019).
Footnote:
Flipper Girl arrived in 2015. Taking responsibility for others, or when others don’t take responsibility for what they’ve done, can be heavy business. Until someone like Flipper Girl taps you on the shoulder and says; “Hey, it’s not your fault.” And takes you on a trip to a new place….
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Kindness makes a difference … and you may not receive anything in return for your kindness – but don’t let that stop you being kind. We all know how good it feels when we experience kindness. And how on a bad day, it can turn things around. Revive our faith in the world. And it’s not always obvious who’s struggling. And if you are, coming up against someone who is being unkind can feel like the last straw. And that straw isn’t always outwardly visible. So it’s just safer for everyone if we all just be kinder.
(Clunk & Jam Second Edition, 2019. Reposted from January, 2022)
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Art by Philip Guston (Original in Colour). Story from The Red Hand Files by Nick Cave.
Dear Valerio,
You are right to be worried about your growing feelings of cynicism and you need to take action to protect yourself and those around you, especially your child. Cynicism is not a neutral position — and although it asks almost nothing of us, it is highly infectious and unbelievably destructive. In my view, it is the most common and easy of evils.
I know this because much of my early life was spent holding the world and the people in it in contempt. It was a position both seductive and indulgent. The truth is, I was young and had no idea what was coming down the line. I lacked the knowledge, the foresight, the self-awareness. I just didn’t know. It took a devastation to teach me the preciousness of life and the essential goodness of people. It took a devastation to reveal the precariousness of the world, of its very soul, to understand that it was crying out for help. It took a devastation to understand the idea of mortal value, and it took a devastation to find hope.
Unlike cynicism, hopefulness is hard-earned, makes demands upon us, and can often feel like the most indefensible and lonely place on Earth. Hopefulness is not a neutral position either. It is adversarial. It is the warrior emotion that can lay waste to cynicism. Each redemptive or loving act, as small as you like, Valerio, such as reading to your little boy, or showing him a thing you love, or singing him a song, or putting on his shoes, keeps the devil down in the hole. It says the world and its inhabitants have value and are worth defending. It says the world is worth believing in. In time, we come to find that it is so.
Love, Nick
Sometimes you have to find a way of separating the badness from your self .
There are so many of us who have been given a bad apple. It is the worst thing in the world to receive. Just like having a bad apple in your bag, it rots – eventually ruining everything. This little soldier has a story about ‘outing’ bad apples – and rising from the ruin …..
… Someone put a bad apple in her bag once, and although she was sure people could tell something was wrong, she didn’t show anyone the apple because it was so bad – and she worried it would make them feel bad too.
The little girl’s greatest fear became that if she ever took the bad apple out, or someone discovered it, they wouldn’t want her anymore. They’d think she was bad. She forever longed for someone to get rid of the bad apples for her.
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As bush fires rage throughout Australia and news feeds take us live into the tragedy unfolding, its heartbreak and suffering, be mindful of protecting children from the trauma of these scenes. And yourself too. Those affected will need very sensitive care for a very long time to come – and this is already happening through the heartening swell of human kindness that has emerged in response to this tragic time. Keep safe.
There is strength, comfort and hope in art and stories ….
These beautiful image are from a book called ‘The Mysteries of Harris Burdick’ by Chris Van Allsburg. The artist has never been found, nor the stories he wrote about the 14 beautiful drawings (with titles only). They were published as a collection of drawings in the hope that children will be inspired by them – and write their own stories.
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