I am still continuing to work through my ideas of reciprocity and seeing oneself in others and in the world around us. Can you imagine what our world could look like if we truly accepted the words “we are earth” as an irrevocable truth?
I was hoping I could get this finished before I shipped out a bunch of work for a show in North Carolina, but I ran out of time. I created a mirror image of a wild grass photo I took many years ago in the bird sanctuary in Chicago. But looking at the image of the tall wild grass reminded me of a moment in time.
I was around twelve years old visiting family in Honduras. My cousins and I were running though a field of tall grass. I remember thinking to myself, I never want to forget this feeling- running through wild grass, laughing, feeling lost, but safe, the earthy smell, the textures around me, the sound of laughter and Spanish that I didn’t fully grasp because I was the oddball American cousin visiting for the summer with her Tide smelling clothes and bad Spanish, but it didn’t matter. It all felt right and good. In my memory though, the light was different, it was bright and clear and the grass was more golden.
I was trying to think of a title for almost a week now, but lately I have been at a loss for words. We in the States are living in distressing times, to say the least. Today, while I was processing the photo on photoshop I was thinking about how the image is haunting and it pulls me in, but it’s also a little foreboding especially when you see that it’s a mirror image. If I follow that tunnel in the center, where will I end up? Do I want to fall into the wildness and hope that the earth will hold me? But what if it doesn’t? Am I safe? Or am I in danger?
Then I looked at the salvaged wood and metal and how it gives a stable foundation…maybe that’s what my instinct while I was creating was trying to tell me. Go back to grounding techniques during times of distress. Grounding techniques are exercises that may help you refocus on the present moment to distract yourself from anxious feelings. I’ve also heard it called Earthing. I’ve heard people say- take off your shoes and let your feet feel the earth. Or sit under a tree. Or go outside and listen, really listen to the birds and the wind. Focusing on things that we can see, touch, feel, vocalize, and taste with our senses can help ground us, give us a sense of stability when things feel uncertain.
I am not an expert on this. Just things I’ve heard and been told. I forget about this technique myself. My grounding techniques are usually the act of making. Just getting my hands moving, gluing, sewing, drawing…calms my brain down. Being outside always helps me.
Now, do I title it simply “Grounding” or the full title in my head ” Grounding to Help With Distress”? Hmmmmm.
Since I was hoping to get it done for the show, I already had a frame. I have it hanging above my table in my studio. It calms me.
“Hold on to what is good even if it is a handful of earth. Hold on to what you believe even if it is a tree which stands by itself. Hold on to what you must do even if it is a long way from here…” – Nancy Wood