Tired of moving mountains, Flipper Girl settled for being strategically productive, leaving all responsibility (not of her own kind) up the muddy creek.
(Clunk & Jam book, 2019 Edition).
Read the rest of this page »
There was no turning back.
It felt like a painful split but in reality it was a gradual manoeuvre she was sort of certain of pulling off.
(Reposted from 2016. Clunk & Jam, 2019 book).
Rose was a complete stranger to rejection because she never gave anything away – and what she had wasn’t up for grabs .
Rose keeps close to chest the many varied and precious pieces that make up her belongings – and herself. This commitment and loyalty she exhibits ensures Rose remains a one and only, high creative traveler of poetic and art-filled paths – to wherever she happens to arrive. Long Live Rose.
(Wisdoms of Rose and Clunk & Jam, 2019 book. Reposted from 2013)
Virtual Cake Shop .
Wonder about the disconnect within the world of screens …
Imagine….peering through a cake shop window. The longing. The want. The drool. A space you desire to enter – and know you can. Through the glass, see the temptations before you. Grasp the definite depth and dimension of space occupied by cake on tray and shelf – in mind. Feel the common ground you share – the inside and out. The reality of the moment, not before or beyond, but right before your eyes.
Stand fixed to the common ground between you (cake and mouth), in a world you both belong – sliced in temporary two. Now imagine … the shelves begin to move towards you. The box space of the window flattens to a screen. And the place through which you were once connected, narrows to nothing.
Gone…. is the act of entering through a welcoming door into the warm space of another. The possibility for taste, sniff and touch. Gone … are we on a ‘pie crust promise’ from an endless space. Gone … is reality. The time and space to sit and wonder. And wonder we should, if the loss includes the joy of personal discovery. The capacity for the mind to bend, stretch and strengthen through real lives fully and truly lived. Going, going, gone is the wisdom once held by the earth and sky of a planet in no rush.
Then….’Ding-a-ling’ goes the bell on the cake shop door and you step into the faithfulness of the sniff and taste – and touch.
Footnote: Photo taken in St Kilda, Melbourne. A ‘pie crust promise’ is a Mary Poppins line – ‘Easily made – easily broken’.
Find in Clunk & Jam book.
Sometimes I Wish I Wasn’t Me .
This little soldier finally realised that being the fairest isn’t all it’s cracked up to be and looking up to stars can be dangerous – especially when they fall. And that ‘way up high’, ‘over the rainbow’ and ‘climbing the ladder’ are sometimes dangerous places to try and reach. And too far away to possibly get there on time.
Footnote: It’s such a competitive world. There’s a strong current drawing us up, up and away from who we are – or are comfortable and content being. Acceptance, popularity, success and fitting in, can feel so out of reach. It can feel impossible to meet the expectations of others. Until the question arises – what and who determines our worth? It’s also wise to question the notion that a sense of belonging exists somewhere outside ourselves. And that bigger and the better and more determines if we are – ‘enough’. It’s potentially a hothouse for discontent. Home? Home can be a building, a place, but it can also be a secure feeling within yourself.
The feather? Perhaps a reminder to hold tight and true to our uniqueness, strengths and even strangeness, despite the world’s mirror reflecting back little to support diversity and difference. (See the film, ‘Dumbo’, original movie trailer below. Tim Burton’s adaption was released in 2019). The pumpkin? Maybe that’s about Cinderella. Her tenacity and creativeness in getting to where she wants to be – on her own terms.
(Reposted from 2009. Originally in ‘Rock The Boat’ handmade book, 2009. Handwriting by Mags. Now in Clunk & Jam book, 2019)
This is Impossible – So Let’s Get Started.
Below is an excerpt from a student’s exploration of the book, ‘Clunk & Jam’, for an English assignment. Thank you RB for choosing Clunk & Jam to review and the personal insights you’ve written about and kindly (bravely) shared …
‘The Super Hero series stems from Browne always having had a strong social conscience and being very sensitive – particularly to the suffering of others, or bad things happening. There was a part of her that wanted to save the world (the child/teenage) – knowing full well she couldn’t (the adult self). “I was one of those kids who felt really responsible for people around me and what was happening. And then I had experiences where no-one showed up for me, so I lost faith in the notion of real life Super Heroes.”
Read the rest of this page »
