‘Robin Small wandered wide in avoidance of – all things hard to touch.’
(Reposted from 9.10.2018)
Footnote: The initial thread of Robin’s story ‘avoidance of all things hard to touch’, might elude to the trouble he has getting close, or being close with others. Touching – or being touched. Feeling the pain of loss or disappointment. His avoidance of feeling things at all? Maybe Robin Small finds it difficult to connect with things deep within himself? But maybe he’s also contemplating taking a small step towards trusting again – taking a risk?
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Once Upon A Dark Time …
…in a land of smiles, bad things happened. Children were broken into. Nothing said. Nothing done. And so the innocent grew, not up, but small. But this was not to be the end. In the darkness little helpers gathered spilling rich black into soft white sheets. Tailoring picture books to fill empty spaces. Telling truth that grew much taller than a world too big to fit. Until size no longer mattered and little souls were reawakened by the rhythms and rhymes of songs that carried them all the way home – ensuring they’d never be beaten again.
Footnote: This story (from 2014) reflects The Black Dog Project’s focus on the safety, well being and rights of children and young people – and the idea of making books and gifting them to young people in the community through sponsorship. Find in Clunk & Jam 2019 book. Original story in handmade book, ‘Rock The Boat’, 2009. Handwriting by Maggie).
Imagine having wings on your feet….
You’d never be trodden on again. You’d be able to see exactly what was coming. Where you were going. And always have a safe place to fly up, up and away from it all.
Footnote: Sometimes imagining we have super powers or a super power watching over us can get us through a tough spot (Mary Poppins ‘spit, spot’ comes to mind). Wings on feet? Astro Boy? Maybe it leaves her hands free? To do what? Take the world off her shoulders perhaps? But there’s no world in the drawing? Maybe others can’t see how much the weight of the world affects her – she feels it alone. Or could it be a muscle man (woman) pose? Flexing her muscles and being strong? Or it could be a shrug – ‘I don’t know, don’t ask me? I don’t have all the answers.’ And with wings on her feet she’s forever safe from falling – being hurt. Up, up and away is such a comforting thought when things get tough.
(Clunk & Jam book, 2019. Reposted from 2014).
Amelia Bloom understands how broken everything is, yet she remains invested in her dreaming, not only for herself, but for everyone else.
Amelia Bloom’s French flavoured imagination paints a beautiful picture of a world full of hope and peace. She gently reminds us of the magic of dreaming and its ability to create a better world – both real, and imagined.
Amelia Bloom dreamed every street corner had a worry bank so everyone felt safe.
Amelia Bloom dreamed flowers grew in clouds and their petals flew to all the dark corners of the world.
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It began with a Black Dog who, much like the fabled little black duck – was different.
Unaccepted for his difference he sought refuge in dark places.
In time, the darkness revealed others sheltering in the shadows that drew reflections of himself.
In the belonging, he gained the strength to raise a hand above the nodding and question why suffering souls too often go unheard.
Burdened by the silence and neglect, he began to bark loudly despite those troubled by the noise.
And when backs were turned to bury all that had been found – Black Dog continued digging for all that had been lost.
Hope grew from every hand that gave purely for the giving. And so, despite colour and size and the absence of wealth, and with the friends that followed…
…Black Dog claimed a space for those who may never fit, in a world too big for most. Those who seek to move beyond minds too small.
Those who seek freedom from the relentless pace of a world spinning way too fast to catch.
Now, as the world continues to turn away from the darkness in favour of, “Have a nice days”‘ and all that’s shiny and new…
…Black Dog continues to hold a place for all that’s lost and found .
The Black Dog Project Story.
Clunk & Jam Book.
Ever wished you were a Super Hero and could save the world, but you can’t, so you’ve all but given up on yourself. Then someone tells you a story about a French tightrope walker who strings a wire between the Twin Tower buildings in New York. As her prepares to step onto the wire, he turns to his loyal companion and says;
“This is impossible – so let’s get started.”
An you string that wire across the gap between your dream and reality – and it forever holds you in your dreaming.
Then you watch a Batman movie, ‘The Dark Knight’, and the Super Hero himself succumbs to the darkness. But it is the wise words of the loyal Butler that serve to resurrect the Bat;
“Master Wayne – we must endure.”
And you slip them into your back pocket.
Poem in building ?
It is the Joker who hides behind powder and paint. Wearing boots too big to move too far and an endless grin that sucks you in. It is the night so black that brings the bat to beat some sense into a head so full it takes on the form of another.
Find in Clunk & Jam book. True story about the French tight rope walker here.
