This first video (6:05) features Dr. Tony Nader at Maharishi International University (MIU) in Fairfield, Iowa talking about the need for TM in today’s stressful world. The video opens with students meditating with Dr. Nader. Using EEG, Dr. Fred Travis demonstrates the increase in brainwave coherence of a subject as she starts meditating. Students also discuss the practical benefits from their TM practice.
The second video (7:50) takes place in Medellín, Columbia at one of Father Gabriel Mejia’s shelters for rehabilitating homeless children with addiction problems. One of them went on to become a TM teacher and returned to teach the students how to meditate. They were inspired by the positive transformation and growth in his life.
The third video (5:02) was filmed in a Rhode Island hospital where medical staff were still dealing with the stressful repercussions from the Covid-19 pandemic. TM provided welcome relief from the traumatic loss of life and continues to be taught there. Dr. Nader mentions the David Lynch Foundation’s Heal the Healers Now campaign. They provided the funding for TM instruction, which helped thousands of healthcare professionals during the pandemic. Many continue to meditate regularly.
Embedded below are the videos with their short descriptions posted on the GWI site. Each title and chapter also take you to the BBC StoryWorks pages with the same videos plus 3 slides selected from each per chapter: Nature, Self, Community.
1. TM: Listening to your inner rhythm: Dr Tony Nader has been researching the mind and meditation since he was a medical student. Discover his methods for finding peace in a busy and ever-changing world.
2. TM: A healing journey: For Breiner, meditation had a transformational effect on his life, a lesson which he is now passing on to younger generations.
3. TM: The calm in the storm. Finding a peaceful moment to recalibrate. Ongoing strains on health clinicians from the Covid-19 pandemic are still apparent in hospitals. These medical doctors are finding strength in the moments of peace that Transcendental Meditation can provide.
When Elliott (Christopher), a young fisherman with a hidden talent and an extraordinary voice gets discovered at a party by Suzanne, a high-profile music producer who is willing to give him the chance of a lifetime, he must decide if he is ready to open himself up to stardom — and love.
It doesn’t matter who you are. What really does is who you become.
One of the main messages of the film comes out when Suzanne responds to her business partner’s doubts about Elliott. She sees his raw talent, his great potential, and assures Patrick: “It doesn’t matter who you are. The important thing is who you can become.”
“Who do you sing for when you sing?”
Suzanne asks her estranged daughter Lilly, who also heard Elliott sing, to collaborate with him, to produce his music. Their personalities clash and they get off to a rocky start. One of the first things Lilly asks him is, “Who do you sing for when you sing?” Puzzled, Elliott offers no answer.
She explains what makes a song significant, how to communicate it to an audience for it to resonate with them. This insider information is new to Elliott who listens without responding, taking it all in. This is the creative core that will powerfully manifest in the final scene and song of the film. Here is that explanation.
Imagine there’s someone you’re singing to. Someone you’re singing for.
“A song doesn’t just exist. It comes to life. Between two people. One who sings and one who listens. Whether you’re here in the studio or in a big, packed stadium with thousands of fans. You’re not performing for nothing. You have to choose a person, or you have to imagine there’s someone you’re singing to. Someone you’re singing for. If you’re not singing for anyone, then it’s all the same. Then, the song doesn’t exist. Then you don’t exist.”
The song is powerful because it personalizes the universal cycle of life, love, and loss into a story, expressing feelings an audience can relate to.
This is songwriting at its best. One of the most beautiful songs I have ever heard. It put a lump in my throat and moved me to tears. It is so good it deserves a Grammy award and at least an Oscar nod if not a win!
A Beautiful Life
"Baby, I'm pregnant" she said
And I saw my whole life
Flash before my eyes
So much for planning ahead
We gon' be all right
There won't be a right time
Oh, I said, "I am way too young"
I'm just a kid, I can't raise one
It feels like my life is over
Feels like my future's crushed
And I'm gonna miss the times when
It was just the two of us
I don't ever want to let go
Of everything that I love
It sure feels like dying
Saying goodbye
To my beautiful life
"Daddy, I can't sleep," she said
Can you leave the light on?
And please sing me my song
And I can't help but think to myself
Those green eyes and brown curls
Turned into my whole world
She's growing up so fast
If only I could make it last
It feels like my life is over
Feels like my future's crushed
'Cause my baby's getting older
Tomorrow she'd be all grown up
I don't ever want to let go
Of everything that I love
I turn off the light
And say goodnight
To my beautiful life
Pack the bags and ready to go
We look at each other
She looks like her mother
Off to chase dreams of her own
She cries in the backseat
As we wave at the taxi
Oh, our baby's moving out
Leaving this home an empty house
Feels like my life is over
Feels like my future's crushed
And I'm gonna miss the times when
It was just the three of us
I don't ever want to let go
Of everything that I love
It sure feels like dying
Saying goodbye
To my beautiful life
To my beautiful life
"Baby, I'm pregnant" she said
And I saw my whole life
Flash before my eyes
You can listen to the other songs in the film's Soundtrack on Spotify. Or choose your own music service at https://christopher.lnk.to/ABeautifulLife. And visit Christopher's YouTube channel for excerpts of songs from the film.
A Beautiful Life Official Music Video
Today, on June 8th, Christopher premiered a new Official Music Video for the film on his YouTube channel with A Beautiful Life. He also posted a short video of the making of the music video: Christopher - A Beautiful Life Music Video (Behind The Scenes). Warner Music Canada posted: Christopher - A Beautiful Life (Full Album From Netflix Film).
“The essence of the movie”
The next day I found this June 5th video on Netflix Nordic — A Beautiful Life: Get to Know Christopher & Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas. This is one of the questions they were asked, “Which scene are you most proud of?”
Christopher mentions his favorite scene with Inga to her. “It’s when you tell Elliott that a song doesn’t exist on its own. You don’t exist if you don’t have anybody to sing to. To me that’s the essence of the movie. The film is first and foremost a music movie. And you’re the one teaching Elliott to have someone to sing to. And that’s important, because if you don’t, no one can relate to it, and making music doesn’t matter. And he doesn’t have anyone. Not until the moment he looks at her and decides to write it for her. I think that’s very special. And I just sit quietly throughout the entire scene. It’s just you doing a monologue.”
Beautifully encapsulated! Christopher confirms what I mentioned under “Who do you sing for when you sing?” This is one of the most crucial and pivotal scenes in the film. It is, as he says, “the essence of the movie.”
The first time Christopher performed ‘A Beautiful Life’ at a concert
It turns out Christopher had performed ‘A Beautiful Life’ at the Seoul Jazz Festival 2023 in Korea. It was the first encore of the evening. He introduced the song, telling the audience it was the title track for an upcoming Netflix film. Seated at the piano, he confessed that he had never played it live before, then proceeded to sing it for them. Once the audience settled down, you could hear a pin drop. When the song was over they roared their approval, a welcome relief to a smiling Christopher. Everyone had a great time, especially Christopher and his band. He posted the whole May 27, 2023 concert on his channel.
Acoustic versions from ‘A Beautiful Life’ in Christopher’s tiny boat
Christopher posted three videos of him singing acoustic versions of the songs from the film with Gustav Wolter also on guitar: Led Me To You, Hope This Song Is For You, A Beautiful Life. He wrote: Busking around in the canals of beautiful Copenhagen ✨ Had to do the acoustic versions on the water in my tiny boat, as a tribute to Elliott 😉🙏🏼 Hope you enjoy ❤️🔥
Christopher later released a fourth acoustic version from his tiny boat: Honey I’m So High.
Dingo Music produce video of film’s 3 songs sung for Sound Lounge
That was followed on June 15 with Live – A Beautiful Life (AFTER PARTY) where Christopher talked about and played songs from the movie with Gustav (guitar) and Matias (keyboard) (31:10). I was lucky to see it on Replay, but it was later taken down since it was only for Premium members. YouTube had offered it as a free trial, so I guess you still have to sign up to see it. If they later release it, at 18:52 the guys leave Christopher who then shares a personal story of how he came to write ‘A Beautiful Life’ and the pivotal role it would play in the film when he sang it to Mehdi, the director. It was over 2 1/2 years ago when his wife told him she was pregnant, and his whole life flashed before him. He wrote the song that night. He performs it on the piano and then takes questions. At 27:42 he’s asked what was his favorite track from the movie and answers ‘A Beautiful Life’. But he then tells the story of how he wrote and recorded ‘Ready To Go‘ one night on the tour bus. It was too late to make it into the movie, but it’s on the soundtrack.
A New Lyric Video for ‘A Beautiful Life’
On July 6, 2023, Christopher posted the Lyric Video for A Beautiful Life from the Netflix film, which contains clips from the film, the official music video, and a live concert singing this beautiful song.
Having seen the Canadian movie Indian Horse based on his book, and enjoyed his journal entries compiled in Embers: One Ojibway’s Meditations, I decided to actually read one of Richard Wagamese’s novels. I started with Medicine Walk and ended with Starlight, the latter an extension of the former to become a two-part story, albeit an unfinished one. His flawed wounded characters seek healing and reconciliation, as he did throughout his life. The image below and his description of a mended broken heart reveal how his courageous talent honored and celebrated these lives, ultimately his own, and why he was beloved as one of Canada’s greatest Indigenous storytellers.
Medicine Walk
Richard Wagamese’s skills as a soulful storyteller and consummate wordsmith grew with each successive novel. I enjoyed reading Medicine Walk. It’s the story of young Frank who reluctantly agrees to help his extremely ill biological father, Eldon, a stranger to him, complete a journey into the wilderness to a special location where he wants to die in the traditional Indian way.
This emotionally charged story is an attempt at a reconciliation between a seemingly irresponsible absent father and his disappointed hurt son. This was something Wagamese had been grappling with throughout his own life, from both perspectives—as a young boy and later as a father to his own sons. It’s why he wrote the book.
Starlight
I also read Starlight, his final, and unfortunately unfinished novel. Only 61 years of age, he died in his sleep before he could complete it. Beautifully written, this profoundly moving story is about the redemptive power of love, mercy, compassion, and the land’s ability to heal.
This is ultimately a tale of recovery from trauma by the power of human connection to the natural world and each other. It’s something Richard wanted to explore through the main character. This last book continues the story of a now older Frank Starlight. The old white man who raised him and taught him everything he knows has died and left him the farm and accompanying wilderness.
The story is filled with beautiful descriptions of Frank’s transcendent experiences in nature. He had also taken up photography as a hobby. During his time alone in nature he was able to come into contact with a pack of wolves. He runs with them from a safe distance. When he fearlessly taps into nature’s silence within, the alpha wolf seems to trust him and doesn’t bolt. They howl at the moon, and Frank captures this intimate scene through the lens of his camera resulting in rare photographs.
But the main part of the novel is about a potential relationship between Frank and a young woman and her daughter who come into his life. Unbeknownst to him they had violently escaped an abusive situation. The injured men involved are tracking her down to seek revenge.
A man of few words, Frank teaches Emmy and Winnie how to connect with the land, its creatures, and ultimately their own inner nature. It strengthens and heals them, enhancing their self-esteem. These scenes are profound, well-written, worth reading and rereading. I scanned those pages and may reproduce some of the content in a future post.
A tension is created between these contrasting situations. But the book stops just before they are about to intersect. A Note on the Ending, indicates how Wagamese was intending to complete the novel. It includes an outline and examples from previously published short stories.
Finding gold in the flaws of his imperfect life
A Publisher’s Note at the end explains how they came by the manuscript. Throughout the process of readying Starlight for publication they were guided by something that Wagamese wrote. It became the reason for this post. I found this image online as an example of what he describes.
I once saw a ceramic heart, fractured but made beautiful again by an artist filling its cracks with gold. The artist offering a celebration of imperfection, of the flawed rendered magnificent by its reclamation. I loved that symbol until I came to understand that it’s not about the filling so much as it’s about being brave enough to enter the cracks in my life so that my gold becomes revealed. I am my celebration then. See, it’s not in our imagined wholeness that we become art; it’s in the celebration of our cracks . . .
This reminds me of two previous posts related to this notion. One was when I discovered this Japanese ceramic technique Richard is referring to known as kintsugi. I included a definition, an image, and a poem, a tanka I wrote about this process as a metaphor for human growth.
The other was about Leonard Cohen and his song, Anthem, where he tells us to: “Ring the bells that still can ring/ Forget your perfect offering/ There is a crack in everything/ That’s how the light gets in.”
These great Canadian writers had the courage to try to come to terms with their own struggles and the skill to creatively express them in their own unique ways. Experienced aesthetically in the lives of their fans who may have been going through similar life challenges, these hard-earned truths became a validation, bringing beauty and meaning into their lives.
I wanted to share something special with you. A friend of mine had been repressing, then actively processing an inherited trauma for most of her life. By educating herself, seeking professional help, writing and creating art, she has been able to make sense of it all. She just published a book about her powerful healing journey. She hopes it will resonate with those going through a trauma-induced grief, deepen our understanding and prevent such future catastrophes. I’ve seen the book. It’s a stunning artistic record of her ongoing transformation. Here’s what she sent me.
A Whisper Across Timeis the story of one family’s experiences in the Holocaust. Olga Campbell tells a very personal and moving story through prose, art and poetry, creating a multi-dimensional snapshot of family losses and inter-generational trauma. Campbell’s art and poetry reflect the theme of sorrow and sadness created by this dark period of history. This is a story of remembering and healing. It is also a cautionary tale asking the reader to look at what is happening in the world today. Part memoir, part poetry, and art, A Whisper Across Time will make you stop, feel and reflect.
Seventeen years ago, after listening to a radio program about second generation Holocaust survivors, Olga Campbell experienced feelings she had spent a lifetime repressing. Her experience of grief, sorrow and sadness had their origins in events that happened to her family during the Holocaust. She started to confront these feelings by creating a solo multimedia exhibition in 2005 called Whispers Across Time.
A year ago she felt compelled to write her family’s story. It felt as if her ancestors were whispering to her, encouraging her to do this. A Whisper Across Time is the result of these whispers.
Olga Campbell is a visual artist living in Vancouver, B. C. Her art work includes photography, sculpture, mixed media painting, and digital photo collage. She is also the author of Graffiti Alphabet. See more of Olga’s work at www.olgacampbell.com and olgacampbellart.
Olga has been practicing Transcendental Meditation since 1967. She became at teacher of Transcendental Meditation in Rishikesh, India in 1970 and is a recertified Governor.
In her book she writes: “This personal journey was at times very difficult. However, there were and continue to be experiences in my life which make it easier … This daily practice of meditation for over half a century of time, has been transformational and life-affirming.”
Praise for A Whisper Across Time
Olga Campbell’s poignant tribute to family murdered in the Shoa is a personal triumph. With words and art she has created an emotional response to a psychologically wounded mother and her inadvertent legacy of trauma. Her enormous artistic talents and insights provide not only a measure of healing but also of faithfulness to memory — the lives unlived are not forgotten. This is a precious contribution to the literature of the Holocaust and to resolving the consequences of catastrophic trauma. — Dr. Robert Krell, Founding President, Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre
A Whisper Across Time is a profoundly moving experience. It is a healing ritual, a Shamanic soul retrieval, a celebration of life, and a gift of gratitude to the family Olga Campbell never really knew. She reminds us that it is never too late to heal the sorrows of the past or to protect the future from the dangers of forgetting. — Ann Mortifee, Performing Artist, Writer for theatre, ballet and films
A Whisper Across Time by Olga Campbell is now available in Vancouver, BC, Canada. To order a copy, contact Olga at olgac1@telus.net. The cost is $25 US plus $6 shipping and handling.
Olga’s book launch and art exhibit will take place Thurs, Nov 15, 2018 at the Sidney and Gertrude Zack Gallery. Art exhibit will continue to Dec 9.
News Coverage for Art Show and Book Launch
Coinciding with Remembrance Day, various CBC Radio and TV hosts spoke with Olga Campbell about her book and art exhibit. As part of her Sunday November 11 show, Sheryl MacKay of CBC Radio’s North by Northwest had her on the show. Fast forward to 1:45:12–1:57:03 to listen to artist Olga Campbell tell her family’s tragic story from the Holocaust in a new book of art and memoir and poetry. About 5 minutes into the interview Olga mentions that in addition to processing her grief through art, she’s “been doing Transcendental Meditation for 50 years, so that’s really helped.”
Olga Livshin wrote an excellent review of Olga Campbell’s art show and book launch in the Visual Arts section of the Jewish Independent. Whisper Across Time was published Friday, Nov 23, 2018.
Awards for the Book in 2019
Whisper Across Time won the da Vinci Eye for the current Eric Hoffer Award season. The da Vinci Eye is given in honor of the Leonardo da Vinci and awarded to superior book covers artwork each year. This is a special distinction beneath the Eric Hoffer Award umbrella. The book is still being considered for category, press, and grand prizes.
Whisper Across Time also won the Ippy Award for independent self-published authors. Olga’s book was selected for one of the 2019 Independent Publisher Book Awards in their Outstanding Books of the Year under the Freedom Fighter category. Olga will be attending the May 28 gala event in New York.
Olga’s book was honored as a “Finalist” in the “Autobiography/Memoir” category of the 2019 International Book Awards.
Olga appeared on the June 2019 cover of Point Grey Magazine: The Many Lives of Olga Campbell. Their Know Your Neighbour section on pages 3-5 included photos of Olga at home, her book, and many artworks.
The 2020 Western Canada Jewish Book Awards took place Dec 6, 2020 via Zoom. Olga Campbell won The Kahn Family Foundation Prize for Holocaust Literature. You can now hear the announcement of her winning this award at 32 minutes into the presentation in the Google Drive video of the Zoom call. Olga’s moving acceptance speech is from 33:33 to 36:20. She later wrote that she “was shocked, overwhelmed and almost in tears of gratitude.” Olga realized how interesting it was that, “By giving my family a voice I was able to find my own voice.” So true, and very significant! It may have also healed some of that inter-generational trauma.
Book Reviews in 2021
The Ormsby Review: 1072 Healing through creativity, March 25, 2021, by Claire Sicherman. This is an excellent personal and comprehensive review of Olga’s book, including many photographs. The Ormsby Review is a journal service for in-depth coverage of B.C. books and authors.
When it comes to dealing with adversity, accepting it is not always easy, especially when it involves a devastating sudden loss, like what happened on 9-11, (September 11, 2001), 13 years ago today. Many had to accept it, live with it, and over time, hopefully distance themselves from the painful memories of the loss of their loved ones.
Same thing if it’s an ongoing situation, where you see someone you love disappearing before your eyes due to some incurable disease. Maybe it’s not as devastating. I don’t know. Grief is grief; it’s not easy. But our perspective could change over time. And that can be the merciful nature of time. Here is a haiku about it.
The Merciful Nature of Time
Time is kind to us
It lets us get used to change
Then we can move on
They say, Time heals all wounds. But does it? Not according to Worth Kilcrease, a counselor who specializes in end-of-life and bereavement matters. He says it’s what you do with the time that heals. Read his article Time Heals All Wounds, or Does It? published on April 24, 2008 in Psychology Today’s The Journey Ahead.
The David Lynch Foundation
One organization helping people deal with adversity and various forms of traumatic stress and grief is the David Lynch Foundation. Visit their website and see how they are Healing Traumatic Stress and Raising Performance in At-Risk Populations http://davidlynchfoundation.org. See DLF executive director Bob Roth speakat Google Zeitgeist 2014.
Since 2005 the David Lynch Foundation has shared Transcendental Meditation with our most stressed populations. http://www.davidlynchfoundation.org
Veterans: “A year ago this month I was suicidal. I was so low that I just wanted to not be here….Transcendental Meditation saved my life.”
At-Risk Youth: “I used to say I’m gonna get my grades up I’m gonna do better. But still it was just what I said, it never happened. Until I started meditating.”
African Refugees: “After my husband died my in-laws turned against me. They tortured me, almost killed me….those days I used to cry too much but now even the tears, they are holding. I’m great.”
Prisoners: “If you just take the time to meditate, free your mind, everything will come together.”
Homeless: “I was just so frustrated and full of misguided anger I didn’t know where to direct it to….people tell me you’re so calm….it’s surprising even to me.”
Native Americans: “I lost four members of my family to diabetes. I don’t want that to happen to my people….Since I started TM my sugar has been where it should be. So, I’m sold on TM.”
20 minutes twice a day changed them. Meditation changed them.
“Sorrow, anxiety, traumatic stress, depression, hate, anger, rage, fear start to lift away. Life just gets better and better and better.” – David Lynch
“I think this is what people need. They don’t need high minded talk, they need results.” – Paul McCartney
“Speaking as a scientist the amazing thing about Transcendental Meditation is the very well-established research showing the technique impacts things that we didn’t think were changeable.” – Dr. Oz
“The initial research on the effects of Transcendental Meditation in treating PTSD offers so much hope. Better then many things being tried at far less a cost.” – Candy Crowley
Healing the Hidden Wounds of War, an open forum for Iowa veterans and their families affected by PTSD, sponsored by Operation Warrior Wellness, a division of the David Lynch Foundation, in Fairfield, Iowa.
Veterans are overcoming PTSD through meditation and reclaiming their lives. Meditation Saves A Veteran From Suicide is a video of Iowa veteran Luke Jensen describing his experiences in Afghanistan, how he tried to deal with his PTSD, and what finally worked for him.
As a result of learning to meditate, and the relief it brought him and his wife, Abi, Luke wanted to join Jerry in making this program available to other Iowa veterans and their families suffering from PTSD. They are organizing a special open forum, Healing the Hidden Wounds of War, to take place Saturday, July 28, 2012 at 2 pm in the Fairfield Arts & Convention Center in Fairfield, Iowa.
Iowa veterans can find relief from combat-induced stress and escape the self-destructive cycle of drugs, alcohol, and depression. To learn more, or to register, visit http://operationwarriorwellness.org/iowa.
“The first week I was there three soldiers got killed there….I was certain I wasn’t going to make it back home and I started thinking about suicide. I felt I was going to die anyway, so why be miserable day after day when it’s going to happen? I was just certain it was going to happen….I tried five or six different kinds of depression medicine, two or three different kinds of anxiety medicines. When I continued to try and try and try and things weren’t helping, hopelessness really was taking over and I still continued to think almost daily that suicide was going to be the option.”
In 2011, Luke Jensen learned the Transcendental Meditation (TM) technique – a stress reducing practice, proven to combat the effects of PTSD.
“For the first time in I don’t know how long I felt hope….I don’t take anxiety medicine at all anymore….It’s made me a better father, a better husband. I’d consistently thought about suicide before I learned TM. It was the first thing to kind of get that away and get that off my mind. It changed everything.”
Operation Warrior Wellness has been championed since 2010 by a coalition of meditating veterans spanning four wars. Their mission is to deliver rapid and profound relief to veterans and active-duty military suffering from PTSD, promote resiliency among military personnel and cadets, and provide much needed support to military families serving the rewarding but often taxing job of caring for their loved ones.
Ever tried painting? I mean the creative kind, not just painting the walls of your apartment. During my last year (1998), living in Vancouver, BC, Canada, one of my friends gave me the gift of an art class with Anita Nairne, an intuitive artist and teacher. She had been studying with Anita and I was impressed with the transformation in her artwork. At the time Anita was promoting her classes as Paint with your Angels. I found her website and she now calls her Intuitive Painting workshops & classes Creative Awakening.
Painting From The Inside Out
Anita is like a midwife to your artistic instincts. It was an unforgettable experience. She gave me a large white gessoed piece of thick art paper stock, brushes, and acrylic paints, and told me to just cover it with paint, anyway I liked. Without realizing what was happening, I found myself freely, intuitively brushing blotches of paint all over the paper. I was having fun. At one point she took the paper and put it up on the wall under lights and asked me what I saw. She would outline those shapes with chalk, or erase them, depending on what I thought was there. Much to my surprise, the edges of those blotches looked like facial profiles. She returned the artwork and showed me how to accentuate and bring out the faces. At one point, I realized I was ‘painting’ a sort of visual biography of my life, ‘recognizing’ some of the people I had loved, and who had loved me, or at least attempts at loving.
Feelings Not Thoughts
During this process my active thinking mind was not involved—a rare occurrence for someone who’s used to working with words all the time to express himself. I was now creating from a deeper, quieter, more intuitive place within me. I was painting from my heart. I was painting feelings, and they were telling me something! That realization blew my mind. Automatically the words started to form in my mind to describe what had just happened. Below is a poem from that experience.
ArtWords
The artwork informs The canvas reveals The mind then knows What the heart feels
The faces in the painting The pictures of my life Where love was a saviour Where love caused much strife
This process uncovers Those parts of our lives To show us the truth To make us more wise
It’s possible to know It’s possible to forgive I’ll never forget you As long as I live
I returned for two more classes. I was taking a new direction in my life and was getting ready to leave town in a few months to join the Purusha group in North Carolina. During my last class, I guess that sense of impending movement and transformation, the anticipated travel and making a new beginning, was trying to express itself on paper. I ended up painting a brightly colored phoenix bird at the top, flying eastward. Prophetic!
The Uncarved Blog 