backwoods beauty

     I've been up since about 2:30 am, working and stuff.  As you know, that's nothing to be alarmed about, I love the quiet.  This is the piece I completed, actually, just now.  I call it Soulful Seclusion and I am very pleased with it.  So pleased, in fact, I thought I'd share my thoughts on it.
​     The other day, I saw this meme, it showed a secluded cabin in the woods and it begs the question, "would you stay here for a month without internet, a cell phone and t.v. or something, for $100,000?"  My immediate answer was, I'll stay forever for freakin' free, when do we leave?

​     That thought got me thinking, there's a fine line between loneliness and seclusion and I think in many ways, we have blurred the lines between the two to a point that they're virtually indistinguishable.  This 24/7, always connected, always entertained, 300 cable channels, social media world means that you're never really alone, in a strange artificial way.  You can have 2,000 friends, none of whom know you, not really.  Don't get me wrong, social media, and technological advances are wonderful and a real necessity in some ways, but it seems we've almost become afraid of unplugging because the lack of continual noise is so deafening.  We have to be continually connected, we have to let everyone know our every thought, our every movement.  We truly have blurred the lines. 

​     What I've learned is that it is entirely possible to be desperately lonely in a crowd.  You can feel all alone while you're surrounded by tons of people.  And, you can feel perfectly awesome all by yourself, or with one special person.  It's about balance, I think.  That's what this piece represents, the balance.  Sure, I want to be connected, I want to talk to my friends and collectors and get the news and all that.  However, for my very sanity, I also want to be able to unplug at will, to shut out the constant chatter, the continual political rhetoric, and just be alone with my own head and nature.  Hearing nothing but the wind in the trees and maybe my own thoughts as I fish in the lake, or hike through the forest, it renews my spirit and keeps me level and it makes me smile.

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