The light of the universe that is always streaming through everything is something that we sometimes have the good fortune of noticing. I am sitting here in SFO right now, as I have many times. I am sitting here in SFO right now, listening to an AA speaker tape, getting grounded, watching all the people talk, and get settled into their seats with their books and devices. I am sitting here in SFO enjoying the reality that I am surrounded by people from all walks of life and culture and backgrounds all co-habitating a space where there is no time, where no one is (despite buying power for seat class) better than one another, where babies cry, where kids laugh, where lovers kiss, where hungry people hope to find something healthy or satisfying to eat, where people in transit are forced to be in a moment of respite and await the next traveling appendage.
I have spent a lot of time in airports throughout my life. My father and mother are both professional dancers and I was hoisted up in the air often as a child. We flew to distant lands in the west and the east. I was given the gift of a certain brand of patience on Singapore Airlines when I was 7, as I was locked into a 14 hour flight as a rambunctious child. Throughout my life, all of these airport memories have created a beautiful narrative of safety, exploration, serenity, inspiration, and the excitement of new experience as well as experience of coming home to the many places where the word "home" has meaning. When I was coming to terms with my alcoholism and was in early recovery when relapse was a chronic, near death issue I experienced the fear of what would happen in airports. The reality of detoxing in airports, being kicked out for my inability to stop drinking, the pain and agony of craving and not being allowed to drink on flights, helped me truly drive home the reality that I am an alcoholic and begin to accept this fact. And since I was given the gift of sobriety, every time I have been in an airport has been filled with the gratitude of being able to be a part of the world, being on the broad highway of the universe, being able to be sober and full of awareness and be so ready to embark on the expansion of this life I get to live. Again here in SFO, I am getting ready to find myself with a group of artists in the LA area working on a massive 8 story mural. Then to "home" in North Carolina to celebrate the continuing life of my amazing Grandmother. I am ready to watch the sunset on the Atlantic ocean, connect with family, and smell the fresh North Carolina air. Then to NYC to connect with deep old friends and find new platforms for creation and collaboration. Then overseas to destinations to soon be disclosed.
I have learned that there is not one moment or place or experience that sets life for the rest of it. I have learned that it is about constant progress, constant reflection, maintenance, and innovation in life, about doing what is healthy and right sized, about making mistakes on the way and accepting and being grateful for them and the lessons we learn. Every time I am in this airport or any airport, I feel the web of inter-connectedness of all things and beings as we move in our paths in and out of and through and with each others narratives and streams of life. The convergence that happens in the airport to me, always reminds me that I am just a human amongst humans, that my problems and successes are no different than others. Here I can just be at peace knowing who I am amongst this beautiful melee of shifting trajectories. Here I can have a moment to find direction in my mind and assess what needs to happen in a very clear state upon arrival.
So I am sitting here in SFO, being reminded of all of these moments in my life that I have found this point. The last couple months of painting, and drawing, and networking, and client work, and meetings and learning have led to this launch. I haven't been posting very much about what is coming up. I have been focussing on some personal things, clearing out some cobwebs of the soul, finding where the direction I am best suited for and hope for will take me. I have been putting forth the work to connect without exhausting myself as I have done in the past. In short there are projects coming up in NC, NYC, and even some possible painting and excitement in Thailand after this summer has ended. There is some talk going on in Chicago and possibly St. Louis. But my eyes and my being are embracing new directions that are helping me expand my abilities and vision beyond galleries and the fine art world, but yet enriching my ability and purpose within those realms as well. I am in a rebirth of a certain kind, my practice has grown and as I sit here in SFO I cannot wait to give it to you all in the world and continue to be a part of the conversation we all are involved in together.