As a young girl, one of the many backward blessings of my life was that one of my sisters and I spent long hours each week in the public library. Thank goodness we liked to read!!! And read we did! Books from that small local library saved me. They introduced me to people and places I had never seen, taking me far from the chaos of my home in the swamps and piney woods of that small Alabama town. I read Pearl Buck's "Pavilion of Women" looooong before I had any idea what a concubine was! Still, the bowls of rice, chop sticks, dark blue tunics of workers in the rice paddies, and beautiful silks of kimonos were brilliantly etched in my mind, despite not having an opportunity to experience Chinese food until I left that town at the age of 19! The vivid characters from Aldrich's "A Lantern in her Hand", Cleaver's "Where the Lilies Bloom" Ellison's "Invisible Man", Giles' "Johnny Osage", Hemingway's "For Whom the Bell Tolls", Jackson's "Ramona", Llewellyn's, "How Green was my Valley", all of Steinbeck, Stowe's "Uncle Tom's Cabin", down to Whitman's "Leaves of Grass" colored my world. Yes, in the end I read through the stacks in alphabetical order, cause that's how I roll. Initially, the librarian looked at me and my sister quizzically, but soon abandoned attempts to curate or limit our selections. Those early introductions to people and places so different from the world around me allowed me to see beauty in the "other", in those "different" from me and mine. We all need that.
And so it is in the world of makers. We like to be seen for what we do and who we are. But... We need to SEE others!!! Luckily, technology provides access to the beautiful lives and creations of makers across the globe with the touch of a button. All the colors of the rainbow, are right there, if I but look. And by working together to build one another up, to highlight those who, as I noted yesterday ~ "bring greater equality and diversity into our lives and our shared making with kindness and light" we can experience all the shades of beauty from red to violet!
Here I'd like to commend and thank a few of the makers (beyond those I mentioned yesterday) who share the colors of the rainbow with me and so many others:
The exuberance of Yasmeen @_ym.sews_ always brightens my day!
The kindness and love of life that Mari (not to mention participating as a #sewistover50 - Me too, girl, me too!!!) shares on her blog and @dedalagujayvino has been a bright spot in many of my days.
The brilliance, political conscience, and cool girl, modern style Ebony contributes through her blog and @ebonyh never fails to inspire.
The writings Huma presents on Our Story Time takes me back to my experiences as a busy mom of little people and provides quiet inspiration.
Though I am not very crafty, the lovely photography and makings Lucy posts on her blog and @lucyludreams makes me believe that perhaps I could be!
And just recently, I discovered Abolaji (@abolajiooo) whose style and attitude are nothing short of fierce!
It takes a village...and a rainbow.
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| Yep, indigo is in there, too!!! |
I still remember the exact layout of that library! We went by it when we were visiting Frank's mom at Christmas as we drove around looking at Christmas lights. I should go in sometime and see how much it has changed... or remained the same!
ReplyDeleteI feel like I should make a monetary donation!!! There may be others who need to be saved as we were!!!
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