A SENSE OF DISTANCE

The picture I painted on the left called Spring on the Kenai Peninsula. It sits in front of me in my office to remind me of the grandeur of Alaska. It is also a vision of distance. I love places where you can see a great distance, have no idea of how you are going to get there, but still have a feeling that there is a path for you to take.
This weekend I went to a lovely retreat at Asilomar....15 writers, 15 talented and creative people still traveling to get to their distant goals. I don't think many of us knew why we said yes to the retreat. We didn't know everyone going, we thought we were going to work at this retreat, accomplish the next chapter, the next book, set of illustrations, or the next talk for a conference, but all of us dropped our goals for conversation. What an amazing gift we gave ourselves. Long awaited naps on the beach, conversations by the fireside on how to balance careers with our artistic souls, how to balance family and career, and how to honor that fact that some of us have a new direction we need to take. And, for me, how to honor who you really are when it takes you out of the mainstream.
For many, they said it was the first time they had talked at that level, and I realized I have been fortunate. I have been with a variety of peoples that hold who they really are above what the rest of the world would like for them to be. Some of these people come from Northern Alaskans who have had to step out of their comfort zone to use their gifts and to share them with others. Some are other artists who pursue their arts regardless of income. Some are like my husband, who is one of the best general contractors, but saves time for hunting, gardening meat-making and cooking. These are the people I want to be with...those who have seen something in the distance, a feeling of space, of opening up, and are willing to get off the beaten path to take that trip.
I go back to places of space, like Alaska, or the oceanside retreat at Asilomar, to feel small enough to travel through the open space of ideas with a knowledge that I am headed through a beautiful landscape on my journey.
So what is the next space that I am exploring? I thought it would be outer space, but it is cyberspace, of course. I am behind, if that matters, but have finally found that it is much like living in Alaska. The world is so vast, the communications so great, that it is a bit like my kids described landing is a mosh pit. Something will bouey you along on my journey. I hope there are a lot of strong, open hands out there to bouey me along on mine, especially as I land with all the baggage I carry!