On Generosity

Hello Friends!

Good news: There are baby chickadees back in the nest! Parent chickadees are busy feeding them. I’m hopeful for this batch because we’ve been steadily back at ordinary Portland summer temperatures. Fingers crossed.

Other good news: I’ve had a much better week and the physical therapy seems to be working well now that I’ve adjusted to the leveling up of difficulty. Note: this physical therapy is specifically to help my brain and the rest of my body work together in ways that don’t make me feel queasy or like I want to fall over.

Still more good news: Book Two of the Steel Clan Saga is finally out! It’s called We Heed No Laws and has more gorgeous character art from the talented Valerie Herron.

This month’s reader-funded essay is about The Great Pottery Throw Down and creative generosity. Though the essay centers around the arts, really it’s an essay about supporting one another through life. I have a soft spot in my heart for host Keith Brymer Jones. You’ll have to read the essay to find out why.Here’s how it begins:

Art is not a competition.

Art enriches us all.

Life is not a competition, either.

I’ve been working my way through the Great Pottery Throw Down. Set in historic British potteries, it brings a dozen amateur potters together to test their skills. On the surface, this is a competition. Each week, people leave the pottery, and fewer artists move forward. At the end of the season, one person “wins.”

But competition is not at the core of the show. At its heart, we see that what is important to the Great Pottery Throw Down is teaching, sharing, and creating.

I go on to talk more about the show and to ask some questions:What might our creativity look like if we felt truly supported? If mentors championed us instead of trying to break us?

What might life be like if we competed only to do our best amid a supportive circle of comrades and friends?

Read the rest here. And remember: I’m rooting for you.

many blessings — Thorn