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Transition spaces and times fascinate me. They are a little of this, a little of that, and there is always a crucial pivot point where life might go one way or the other.
Here we are on transition day. Bye-bye, 2013. Hi there, 2014. I see you peeking around the door. Come on in, I’ve got the tea on. Here’s my wish for all of us as writers in the coming year.
Last quote of 2013
There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all of time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and it will be lost.
The world will not have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is nor how valuable nor how it compares with other expressions. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open.
You do not even have to believe in yourself or your work. You have to keep yourself open and aware to the urges that motivate you. Keep the channel open. … No artist is pleased. [There is] no satisfaction whatever at any time. There is only a queer divine dissatisfaction, a blessed unrest that keeps us marching and makes us more alive than the others.
~ Martha Graham (1894 – 1991), American modern dancer and choreographer
6 comments:
Hi, Sharon. Loved your post and quote from one of my favorite people. I studied dance under one of her own troupe dancers, Eleanor Struppa, at Randolph-Macon Woman's College and accompanied her longtime "friend " Louis Horst over to a dance conference at SweetBriar College. A naïf then, I did not know who he was and asked him " Are you involved in modern dance??" Thelma
Is that your drawing, Sharon? It's marvelous: Martha Graham as Wonder Woman. :) I saw Graham perform in her old age (Clytemnestra). As I remember, she struck poses more than she moved, but it's always fascinating to see a living legend.
I've always loved that quote. Never been able to take the advice, but I love the idea. The older I get, though, the more urgent it becomes that I stop worrying about who's watching and just dance my own dance, for better or worse.
Happy new year to you, Sharon, and all my sisters here. Your friendship is a bright light in my life.
Happy New Year to you and yours. Have enjoyed PDD this year.
Thelma and Elizabeth, I so envy you for your contacts with Martha Graham. Seeing her strike poses would have been just fine with me.
World have sent return New Year's greetings on New Year's Eve, but I was in bed with bronchitis. Much better now.
Hope you get to feeling better. I've had bronchitis and it is no fun.
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