Today is Earth Day. The first time I celebrated this day as an adult I was living in New York City. They closed down 6th Avenue/Avenue of the Americas for several blocks in Midtown and booths abounded everywhere about everything. Much was about recycling, planting trees, alternative energies, philosophy, politics and spirituality. It was an amazing day for these young eyes that felt like they were at the best feast of knowledge one could find. I bought several books, signed up for countless newsletters, and headed to Central Park to watch the free concert put on by the B-52's. Not one arrest that day, and everyone was in such a joyous, festive mood. It was fantastic!
As a kid I was always hiking in the canyon behind my elementary school looking for the mountain lion that everyone talked about, exploring the plants, smelling the wild flowers, and simply sitting and watching everything. My parents often took us caming in Oak Creek Canyon, and for me that was like heading into the mystical forests created by J.R. R. Tolkein. Of course lets not forget my beloved ocean that I spent countless days of my childhood exploring. To this day I can never get enough of simply closing my eyes and letting my other senses take over; the sounds of the waves, the smell of the salty water, the sounds of the seagulls, the natural pull and push of the ocean...I may have grown up in a city, but I was always an outdoors type of person. When I went to that Earth Day Festival in New York City, I got the itch to one day live in the woods, to let all of those concrete towers go in favor of lush trees, bears, soaring eagles, and the mountain lion that I was always trying to find.
I just got back from my daily hike into the Colorado woods, and I can't even begin to tell you my love for trees. Yes, I am a tree hugger through and through simply because I love them. They are amazing, and every time I gaze upon them, I think of our interconnection, how everything in this world needs one another; that mystical, spiritual web of life. Those beloved trees of mine create oxygen (as do all of the trees within the ocean), so we can continue to breath, and what we exhale keeps them alive. We need one another. We are part of Nature whether you want to accept that or not. We might seem so different from it all, but if you really spend some time in a park, at the zoo, in the woods, or by the ocean you will see how similar we all really are.
My art has always been about this connection, whether I knew it or not. The seeds were planted in my early childhood, and they didn't begin to grow until after my divorce from my first husband. That is when I finally gave permission to that little kid in me to start talking and expressing herself. I think ever since then I tried to show the similarities that we all share rather than the differences in hopes that it will create more compassion and loving kindness as we walk upon this Earth. Maybe someone will start recycling, maybe someone will donate money to protect the lions that are losing their habitats and are endangered....maybe someone will install a flourescent light bulb instead of the old fashioned kind. These are some of the hopes and prayers that I put into my paintings.
The differences? Oh, how these need to be appreciated and loved. What makes us different is where we can learn the most...where that compassion we just developed gets put to the test and grow stronger and stronger. The differences are where we develop true appreciation. They are nothing to be frightened of or anything that needs to generate hate or violence. They simply are there to help us broaden our horizons, explore and accept. That is when we truly walk back into our natural skins.
By the way, I came face to face with that mountain lion many years ago, and she was more beautiful than I ever imagined as a child.
So on this Earth Day what will you do to put the Earth first?
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