Lani Hotch from Klukwan, says that an elder once told her that that the ovoids you see in all Tlingit art are the eyes of God, or “the ever present spirit”. Here’s the big question– which came first, the spirit or the art? Or are they perhaps the same? As Anne Lamott writes about why art– literary or otherwise matters — and why we keep creating it, “because of the spirit… because of the heart.” This morning I spoke to a friend who is back in the light following a dark spell. She looked great, I told her. She smiled, and said she was actually, “very good”– This much I know: suffering, and recovering, and the courage to forgive and the gratitude that comes from passing through all that awfulness to joy, is what I believe feeds the ever present spirit that Lani says is watching us through all those ovoid eyes, and that same holy ghost just may show up in a dance, a song, a mural on Main Street, or a little story typed with two fingers on a rainy May morning. As Anne Lamott writes at the end of Bird by Bird, “It’s like singing on a boat during a terrible storm at sea. You can’t stop the raging storm, but you can change the hearts and spirits of the people who are together on that ship.”
I know I’m sailing off into the ether here, blame it on coffee and last night’s chocolate birthday cake for Super Ivy. (As you can see no one sat very still. I thought Silvia Rose was in this picture, but she must have bolted– she’s quick– just before I snapped it.)
In other news, summer is here. Tomorrow the first cruise ship docks in Haines. Headstart is already done for the year, pre-school and the Haines school are almost over, and graduation is Tuesday at 7pm in the gym.
Mark your calendar for a fun time Saturday. There’s a community cancer connection fundraiser in honor of Chuck Mitman, 4-7 in Harriett Hall. Chuck has cancer, and says his financial situation is fine, but he wants to do something to help defray the costs of treatments and travel for other residents, now and in the future– The Uglys are sponsoring the event. If you’d like to, please bring a dessert to donate for the auction.
