158 Words to Try an Explain 10,000 Words

I have had lethal force applied to me twice, and nearly, twice more.  The first two were boiling water and a 150hp Evinrude boat motor.  These were violent and painful.   The second two were tornadoes, striking some 500 yards from me.   They were violent but not physically.  I am thinking about these because I am reading Revelation and the powerful and deadly forces that will be released on the earth and humans.  It is scary to me, but I am not fearful.  I am spared from these forces by Christ’s blood through faith, He has saved me.  So, the events in these passages are scary, but I am not fearful.  Nothing can separate me from Christ’s love, not even the end times.  As an artist, I can find no greater inspiration than the forces allied against me and those for me.  This is the story all art seeks to declare, a sculpture is worth ten thousand words.   

"Hurrican't Come Here No More," my sculpture 
that many years ago won Sculpture Key West.  It was 
inspired by the hurricane that had hit Flordia.

   

Meaning, Sadness, Sculpture

Sometimes, I am so filled with meaning I feel an overwhelming sense of sadness that I cannot express.  If I could sing, play the piano, throw a ball a million miles, or “fly like an eagle,” I would do it.  Making art is the only way I know how, but it is such a slow and achingly hard process that the instantaneousness of these moments of meaning is long gone by the time I consider going to my studio.  

 

Meaning prompt.  Sunrise in front of me.

Looking Forward to the Next 63 Years

I turned 67 yesterday.  I told my lover, “It sure doesn’t seem like it took me 67 years to get to be 67!”. 

She laughed and said, “How long does it seem, 10 years?”

“No,” I said, “more like…”  And I stopped to think.  How long did it seem like it took me to get 67 years old?  My first thought was maybe 20 years or so, but then, as I thought about it, I surprisingly realized it seemed more like a year or two.  It really felt that quick.   So I asked my lover the same question, and she said, “Well, since we had children, it just flew by, but growing up, it feels like it took a long time, so I’d say maybe 60 years!”  

I said, “ You really feel like it took you 60 years to get to be 72. I feel like it just took me a couple years, like one or two to get 67!”.

“Well maybe you have to wait till you get to be 70,” she said.  

I guess it took me 2 years to get to 67 and 63 years to get to be 70.  I look forward to these next 63 years.