Motherlode
2024
There’s an old saying, "May you live in interesting times." It’s hard to ignore that we are living in scary, unstable times that are causing tremors of fear and sorrow on a global scale. The question is: Will we allow ourselves to be dragged down, or will we rise up and help lift others? In this new series “Motherlode” I call upon my female ancestors for guidance using my original photography layered with vernacular photos and collage elements to evoke their stories of wisdom, courage and survival. This is the vein of gold that runs deep within our maternal line.
When I feel fearful about current events, I think about my ancestors over the millennia who overcame great challenges—oppressive regimes, wars, invasions, religious persecution, pandemic, plague, famine, dangerous migrations and the tragic loss of loved ones and land to call home. Throughout it all, the ancestors kept going, generation after generation, holding on to a vision of better days, trusting they could make it to a better place so that their families and descendants could survive. You and I are here today because of their courage in the face of fear.
Today, like our ancestors, we find ourselves in the midst of massive change and epic upheaval. What affects one of us, affects all of us, so we must address the systems and structures that have been in place for eons. They are no longer working and have not worked for life on earth for a very long time. Confronting these mountainous truths can feel staggering. Due to past trauma of our own and that carried in our DNA, many of us may feel overwhelmed; adversity causing us to freeze and feel helpless or powerless in the face of such monumental issues. For me as a sensitive soul, fear drastically lowers my energetic vibration, reduces my immune system and cuts off my ability to create and share my gifts. I have already spent over a decade frozen in grief and painful blocked connection to my higher self.
Now, I have learned that in order to help myself and my people, (this includes you) I choose, despite all the turmoil, to live in such a way that allows me daily access to the higher vibrations of peace, love and, unlikely though it feels most days- hope. As an artist, I’m an observer of the present and visionary of the future. I’m far from enlightened, but I restart the process each morning; reaching for the kinder thought, the more compassionate choice, the path less taken. Sometimes when I think I have to carry this burden all by myself and the load feels heavy, I remember I am not alone- I can call upon my ancestral grandmothers and their strength, courage and wisdom to guide me. We are not being asked to do anything today more difficult than they did. Get up. Stand up. Keep going. Light your little candle to dispel what darkness you may, lighting the candles of others as you can. I like to think I am out here on the path holding up my little candle; a small yet eternal flame given to me by my people to help light the way for my descendants, and for you too.
