There's a thread you follow

… It goes among

things that change. But it doesn’t change.

(on art inspiring art. and other things.)

I wish I could remember which Instagram post introduced me to the poem The Way It Is by William Stafford. It didn’t write the poem out, so I looked the poem up, and found it here, and here, and I’m sure there are other places to find it (the library?). I don’t know what William Stafford’s thoughts were when he wrote the poem, but it invoked in me two strong images.

The first was something like this one:

The second was of my brother Brandon, who died a little over 8 years ago (1) after a long struggle with addiction.

People wonder about what you are pursuing.

You have to explain about the thread.

The Thread was created as part of the Things Took a Turn anthology created by Andrea Schmitz. This is the fifth year for TTAT, and this year's theme was At the End of the World. I have admired it for years, so when she put out the call this time, I submitted a messy half-baked idea to (fingers-crossed-fingers-crossed-fingers-crossed) be a part of it this time.

They say timing is everything. A few weeks pass and a few false starts getting my mess of an idea into shape, a few more weeks pass and a few more bad ideas, and then I sketch this polar bear, and kind of fall in love with it, and I finally had my fully-baked idea - The Ends.

I wrote, I drew, I tested and I even rigged. And then I landed a project I hadn't expected to land, and all of my time and energy for animating was funneled into that (very fun and fulfilling) project. (2)

When I tried to jump back into The Ends afterward, I realized that I didn’t like the rigs and it didn’t look the way I wanted it to. And I really wanted to do it right, and I definitely didn’t have enough time. (3) And this was the last time to participate in Things Took a Turn for a while because they will be taking a break after At the End of the World.

I may or may not have panicked.

They say timing is everything. Some good luck in the algorithm - a thoughtful poem - a flash of inspiration.

And a memory of the end of a world.

With enough time to complete this idea (thank you, Andrea, your timing was everything), I’m so thrilled to be a part of this anthology.

I love the way each video has a different take on the theme. And if you watch it more than once, like I did, you’ll see amazing little details that you missed the first time. These animators are so so talented.

While you hold it you can't get lost.

I often wonder about what happened that night.

Before everyone who loved him woke up. None of us knowing that we could never see him again.

Even in that terrible end, I hope he never let go.

Tragedies happen; people get hurt

or die; and you suffer and get old.

Nothing you do can stop time’s unfolding.

You don’t ever let go of the thread.

(This postcard's for you, little brother.)

Thanks for staying with me here. Once a month, a new postcard, and some words to go with it. (I promise they won’t all be sad.) And hoping to expand this to additional things like maybe even real postcards in the mail?

I’m already experiencing the learning curve this will be - fun fact: embedded video is not the best way to do an email newsletter! (what am I thinking?!) But I do hope you’ll come along with me and share your thoughts along the way. And if you do choose to get this by email (thank you!), you can always click that "view in browser" link when it arrives in your inbox. (again, what am I thinking?!)

'til next time -

Footnotes

(1) 8 years. Is that a few years ago? Some years ago? This calendar says it’s several years ago, but it doesn't have all the context to know that it’s too many years ago. It’s a number I wish I didn't have to count at all.

(2) That project was for the New Jersey Council of the Humanities, What Does It Mean to Be a Good Citizen?, featuring thoughts from the citizens of the great state of NJ and another thoughtful poem: The Unknown Citizen by W. H. Auden.

(3) But hopefully sometime in the future. Maybe even here?