Reposted from 2011, before social media ramped up the problem.
“Rather than child proofing the world, we need to world proof our children”
Todd Sampson panelist on Gruen Transfer statement referring to kids exposure to sexualised bill board images and mass media. See also, Phillips Adams article ‘Bad Times Stories’.
The Kiss .
Curiosity stimulates forward movement. Kindness keeps me warm . Water carries me away. Nature sustains my sense of wonder. Humour makes me rich. Music transports me to another place. Movement turns mind to muscle. Sensual experiences secure a connection to the present. Conscience a bond with purpose and meaning. Solitude an essential power source. Risk a window of potential. Critical thought the liberator. Talking a solvent when stuck. Hope the peacemaker. Self care my temple. Self reliance my faith.
(In My Room book. Art by Harley Manifold)
Some things just had to go.
Dump, dump, dump she did, with all the self defeating, nasty little habits she’d hoarded over time. It was time to take the hanky firmly by a thread and with pedal planted nicely under foot, claim herself a hanky free place where she would no longer need to rely on being picked. She also trashed the motion of skipping in dizzy circles to get to where she ‘d convinced herself she needed to be. Now, a short distance beyond the clean-up, she sits to catch the slowing of her breath – reviving her tired little shoes and socks. And puff went the world.
(Reposted from 2011. Find her in Clunk & Jam book 2019.)
Purple Porridge .
Sticky pot of oats / purple blooms on porridge blob / before morning eyes.
For a Poetic Breakfast …
Take one cup of oats whole and into its vessel pour one times the same measure of water and one again of milk, light on the heart. Fetch a small dish from draw or shelf to scoop berries mixed and frosty frozen for entry into the microwave hum. Listen for popping and spurting on stove to tell you, “It’s ready”. Make it a home in the base of a deep, deep bowl. Drizzle honey sweet upon its top, and let berries land just where they please. Circle the mix with a shallow mote of milk. Settle down somewhere snug to savour the show before it fills the inside warm and full.
“Drawing and visual media were his pain-relievers of choice … a response to conditions of disconnection and isolation.” (From book pictured). Tim Burton is the creator/director of Batman; The Corpse Bride; Nightmare at Christmas; Alice in Wonderland and more. “In spite of claims that he was an inarticulate youth who felt alienated from his neighbourhood environment, Burton’s point of view has always been humorous and high spirited. Burton made much of his disaffected youth as muse for his early work.
Burton has endeavoured to come up with new models for the beautiful. Skeletons, severed heads, and bodies and eyes that are stitched and pierced are recurring emblems whose twofold effect is to skewer conformist attitudes and affirm alternative ways of life. Disfiguring the body (not his, the characters) allows Burton to deliver metaphors of social dysfunction and psychological disintegration with sensual wit. In the end, creativity is the saving grace of Tim Burton’s heroes. Their example of imaginative activity, as a response to conditions of disconnection and isolation, is the overarching message of Burton’s work.”
(Words from ‘Tim Burton The Exhibition’ book).
Place for little me …
Personal footnote: Growing up is not so much about leaving the ‘little me’ behind and becoming something else – like a teenager or an adult. Our ‘little me’ is always part of who we are. Always going to be around in us – somewhere. But if you’ve had bad things happen to you when you were little, ‘little me’ it takes up a lot more space – leaving little room for play. The Army of Ink are perhaps the ‘little mes’, taking form. Coming back to life and playing on the page. And they’re really strong. Strong enough to keep hold of all those things that might have happened to ‘little me’.
