Tag: Wisdom

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Maps, by Ray S

I believe that along with counting all the fingers and toes and necessary plumbing each one of us is issued a map. This is a map that charts out the many roads we may or may not venture onto. There will be the inevitable dead ends, forks in the road leading to where? Most of we dreamers look for the legend marking the Yellow Brick Road, and occasionally it is found. Then there are a good number of us that don’t study our map or perhaps never open it. We just head for the dark woods and wander aimlessly through life gathering rosebuds where we may.

If there is a goal, it just happens as we trudge on through the expedient trail or path.

It can happen to a fortunate select group that broke the seal on their maps to plan their routes to health, wealth, and of course, happiness. We’ve all met one of those hims or hers.

All of the roads on your map will lead to great and small adventures, and ultimately end at the same destination.

© 27 March 2017

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I Don’t Know, by Gilllian

For much of my life those words represented a huge challenge; no, actually more of an obsession. If I didn’t know, I had to know. This, like so many things in so many lives, began in my teens. If teachers and parents and my high school library couldn’t tell me what I wanted to know, I would schlep into town on the bus and visit the big library, where I would struggle to find books with answers via the Dewey decimal system. Remember all those long narrow wooden drawers packed with cards? Off I’d scuttle eagerly to the stacks. 427.88 might have the answer.

This need to know stayed with me throughout my adult life, though tempered somewhat by so many other demands on my time.

Now, those library searches a thing of the long past, the answer to each and every I don’t know is, quite literally, at our finger tips. And that, in some strange way, has cured me of my obsession. Perhaps it’s just too easy; no longer the challenge it once was. Or perhaps it’s overload. In searching the web for the answer to one I don’t know, I inevitably find innumerable answers to more I don’t knows that I didn’t even know I had. (Sorry, I’m sounding a bit like Dubya!) My ignorance, I have discovered, is infinite. Or perhaps I have learned that knowledge is nothing without understanding. Every I don’t know may be answered, factually, but how much understanding of the subject has that conveyed to me?

In my old, and I would like to think at least a little wiser, age, I know that none of it matters. Yes, it’s good to know things. It’s even better to understand them. But the only really important knowledge and understanding is of myself and those I care for. And most of that will not come from Mr. Google, or even the library. It can only come from me.

Jerry Maguire, in the movie of that name, says,

“Hey, I don’t have all the answers. In life, to be honest, I’ve failed as much as I’ve succeeded. But I love my wife. I love my life. And I wish you, my kind of successes.”

And all I know for sure is my answer to those two most important questions – do you love your life, do you love your wife? – will never be, I don’t know.

© July 2017

About the Author

I was born and raised in England. After graduation from college there, I moved to the U.S. and, having discovered Colorado, never left. I have lived in the Denver-Boulder area since 1965, working for 30 years at IBM. I married, raised four stepchildren, then got divorced after finally, in my forties, accepting myself as a lesbian. I have been with my wonderful partner Betsy for thirty years. We have been married since 2013.

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Assumptions, by Gillian

We all know the old saying that if you ass/u/me, you simply make an ass of u and me. I enjoy plays on words, so I like that one. It is also absolutely true. Assumptions of any kind are never safe, and we’re frequently sorry. We learn pretty fast about many assumptions we should never make: the bus/plane/train will leave or arrive on time, teachers and parents are always right and life is always fair, if I always tell the truth I will be rewarded, and Mr. Right will come along and we will live happily ever after.

As we get older, we adjust to more subtle assumptions we should not make. Self-improvement books tell us not to assume everything in the world is about us; indeed, to remind ourselves on many occasions, this is not about me. Similarly the assumption we make that we constantly need to offer our opinions is erroneous. One book has an entire chapter challenging me constantly to ask myself, Why Am I Talking?

Erroneous assumptions about any given situation often turn out to be very embarrassing, even under circumstances where no-one else knows the assumptions I was making in my own heads. One of my favorite stories on these lines is from when I was somewhere in my mid-thirties. I managed an IBM department which employed several temporary employees in addition to the permanent staff. I began to notice one of the latest temporaries, a very attractive young man, eyeing me a little too often; a little too much. I groaned to myself. This was not good. I was married.

I was going to have to deal with this situation. And soon. Lo and behold, only a couple of days later, the man came into my office. He shuffled his feet and looked a little uncomfortable. Then he said,

‘Sorry if you’ve noticed me staring at you. I’m kind of embarrassed but I have to tell you. You remind me so very much of my mother.’

And if that statement doesn’t take the wind out of a girl’s sails, then I don’t know what does!

Although I have told the story quite often since, at the time I was so very glad that I had told no-one about this sexy young man who clearly had the hots for me!

Assumptions must change constantly with changes in time and space and circumstances, but I missed the boat on that one.

Changing political assumptions, now, another boat I missed although I did run to catch a later one. Growing up in in the extremely socialist Britain of the 1950’s, I always assumes that The Government, always with a psychological capital G, had my very best interests at heart. The very existence of The Government was in order to make my life better. I never once questioned that assumption. I had no doubts. Then, in this country, I encountered the likes of Reagan and Nixon and one more assumption bit the dust. That assumption was, of course, doomed, wherever I lived. Had I stayed in the UK it would have died just as swiftly, as the socialist Britain of my youth crumbled under the weight of Margaret Thatcher’s conservatism. I certainly see nothing in the current political scene that hints of any revival.

So as we age we leave a trail of broken and battered assumptions in our wake. Not that I claim to miss them much; their absence doubtless leaves me with a healthier, saner, ability to make rational decisions. But I notice, as I age, an occasional new assumption insinuates itself. I always assume, for instance, that at my time of life it is not a good idea to buy green bananas.

© March 2017

About the Author

I was born and raised in England. After graduation from college there, I moved to the U.S. and, having discovered Colorado, never left. I have lived in the Denver-Boulder area since 1965, working for 30 years at IBM. I married, raised four stepchildren, then got divorced after finally, in my forties, accepting myself as a lesbian. I have been with my wonderful partner Betsy for thirty years. We have been married since 2013.

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ABCs of Life by Betsy

A FEW THINGS I HAVE LEARNED IN MY OLD AGE

Respect your elders–even ‘though they may become fewer and fewer in number left on this earth.

Take care of your body–no new models are available.

Make friends with and understand your ego. When it is out of control you will need to counsel it and put it in your pocket.

Take your medicine everyday and know what it is and why you are taking it.

Exercise every day.

Learn something new every day.

Think, think, think—everyday.

Never stop seeking adventure. Never stop dreaming.

Take a nap everyday even if it’s only a two minute one.

Listen–listen to the birds, listen to the wind, listen to your children–even after they have become adults.

Measure your worth and accomplishments according to your own values–not those of others.

© 2 April 2012

About the Author

Betsy has been active in the GLBT community including PFLAG, the Denver women’s chorus, OLOC (Old Lesbians Organizing for Change). She has been retired from the Human Services field for about 15 years. Since her retirement, her major activities include tennis, camping, traveling, teaching skiing as a volunteer instructor with National Sports Center for the Disabled, and learning. Betsy came out as a lesbian after 25 years of marriage. She has a close relationship with her three children and enjoys spending time with her four grandchildren. Betsy says her greatest and most meaningful enjoyment comes from sharing her life with her partner of 25 years, Gillian Edwards.

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Wisdom by Will Stanton

We selected this topic “Wisdom” two months ago, and I’ve been stymied the whole time since as to what to say. I considered saying simply, “I don’t have it,” but, that comment would not explain much to the listener. So, I’ve put a bit more thinking into the topic and finally realized the reason for my roadblock. I am not wise.

How can I say that? Understanding my response first requires understanding what wisdom is. Wisdom consists of two essential parts. The first is the ability to think, that is, to have good critical thinking skills based upon a solid base-core of knowledge resulting from good education, worthwhile experience, clear insight, and understanding.

To some extent, I suppose that I can claim a modicum of good thinking skills. But, perhaps that claim is mostly by default when contrasted with many other people. That possibility exists based upon what I see and hear far too often from many people in positions of power and influence who, despite their egoistical self-perception, are, in fact, bloviating ignoramuses. They confuse ego and delusion for wisdom. To quote Shakespeare from “As You Like It,” “The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool.”

I must admit that, throughout my life, I often have perceived and understood some things that might have escaped other people’s attention. At times, I have shared my perceptions with thinking people, and they might have thought me wise. I was not; however, for I too often lacked the second criterion that defines true wisdom: action. I may have understood a situation but, unfortunately, did not know how to put that understanding into action.

Wisdom, in Western thought, is considered to be one of four cardinal virtues. To be a true virtue, however, requires one to put perception and understanding into the most worthy and optimal course of action with the highest degree of adequacy. In retrospect, I cannot claim that ability, at least not with any regularity. Being appropriately reactive, or better yet proactive, never seemed to be my strong suit.

Ironically over the years, many clients and friends have felt that I have helped them by imparting words of wisdom to them. A few, thinking me unusually perceptive, even jokingly have called me “wizard.” Of course, it is easier to suggest wise paths for others to follow than to walk them oneself. “Physician, heal thyself.” Without this second part, action, how can one claim to be wise? Without taking optimal action, understanding is of little worth.

Lacking action too often in my life, I cannot claim either wisdom or self-actualization. I finally have come to realize that fact. Socrates said, “The only true wisdom is in knowing that you know nothing.” A few weeks from now, we have another topic, this one “Drifting.” What I have written for that topic pretty well explains my substitution for wisdom. Had I possessed true wisdom, I undoubtedly would have lived my life more fully. So, I’ll end by speaking wise words to others, words that I would have benefited from had I followed them. Quoting Jonathan Swift, “May you live every day of your life.”

© 2014

About the Author

I have had a life-long fascination with people and their life stories. I also realize that, although my own life has not brought me particular fame or fortune, I too have had some noteworthy experiences and, at times, unusual ones. Since I joined this Story Time group, I have derived pleasure and satisfaction participating in the group. I do put some thought and effort into my stories, and I hope that you find them interesting.

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Being Gay Is by Lewis

For this well-ripened and battle-hardened gay man, being gay is–

seeing the beauty and sensuality in both the male and female body;

relishing the sensibilities of both male and female;

taking care of my own body because I think it’s beautiful and deserving;

knowing the difference between my political friends and enemies;

knowing the difference my involvement can make in electing my political friends into positions of power;

believing in my bones that the form of the human body that turns one on is not a matter of choice, no matter how much others may prefer to see it as a manifestation of depravity;

knowing the difference between lust and love and when each is “of the moment”;

knowing that, while judgment of others is part of our human nature, 50% of the time it is kinder to keep those judgments to myself;

having more than a single share of empathy, for I know that the only moccasins in which I have a walked a mile are my own, and, finally;

as a member of a not-so-long-ago reviled minority, knowing that it is not enough to just “be myself”. I must also be as loving and as kind and considerate a human being as I can, for I am not only me but a representative of my own maligned and precious kind.

© 29 September 27

About the Author

I came to the beautiful state of Colorado out of my native Kansas by way of Michigan, the state where I married and I came to the beautiful state of Colorado out of my native Kansas by way of Michigan, the state where I married and had two children while working as an engineer for the Ford Motor Company. I was married to a wonderful woman for 26 happy years and suddenly realized that life was passing me by. I figured that I should make a change, as our offspring were basically on their own and I wasn’t getting any younger. Luckily, a very attractive and personable man just happened to be crossing my path at that time, so the change-over was both fortuitous and smooth. Soon after, I retired and we moved to Denver, my husband’s home town. He passed away after 13 blissful years together in October of 2012. I am left to find a new path to fulfillment. One possibility is through writing. Thank goodness, the SAGE Creative Writing Group was there to light the way.

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Wisdom: I Do Not Assume the Role by Phillip Hoyle

Wearing my mother’s housecoat and slippers, Lady Wisdom spoke to me. She sat there at the breakfast table listening to my complaint about Andy, a new student at college, a boy from a small eastern Colorado town, who seemed to assume he knew more than anyone else, who in the mid-sixties to me epitomized that worst 1950s trait of being stuck on himself, who demonstrated no humility. I really didn’t like him. Lady Wisdom listened as I described this young man, a whole year younger than I. Finally, from somewhere deep in her experience, she proffered these words: “Maybe he’s having a hard time dealing with all the new things he’s encountering living away from home, in a dorm, in another state, surrounded by other people who don’t always sing his praises. Maybe he’s just scared and so presents a confidence he doesn’t really experience.” I was amazed by her words. I had thought I was speaking with my mother, but the wisdom of centuries made their way through her mouth. Mom, as the slogan of the Kansas Association for Youth advised, took the long look and urged me to do the same. Her concern was to bring peace to her family, to her larger community, and to teach her children to do the same.

Wisdom is the theme of the cartoon of a person climbing a tall mountain to seek the insight of some hermetic guru. It is the watchword of international negotiations along with the secondary value of tact. It is a meditation that examines not only the content of knowledge but also its application in daily life, not just to know but also to know how to do. Usually personified in ancient times as a woman, Wisdom appeals to the more feminine side of human need, a need for tolerance, contemplation, and ultimately service to the common cause.

I suppose I should know something about wisdom, but it seems to assume too much, by which I mean it wants me to be responsible. I recall the week two highly contrasting massage clients responded to a jazz lyric playing in the background, “That’s exactly what I need, someone to watch over me.” Yikes I said silently to myself. Don’t expect that from me. I just rub away aches. I cannot run your life. I cannot live with you. I cannot be your husband. You see, by becoming a massage therapist rather than a minister I was trying to simplify my life. I didn’t want to advise or to live with exaggerated expectations for miracles and other such responsibilities. I wisely, though, kept my mouth closed and kept rubbing.

Today I want to say something important about what we are doing in our Sage of the Rockies storytelling. Wisdom is usually linked with age, the Sage or wise one with experience. For years I read gay studies and gay stories. I was trying to find out from others what my gay life could be. That related to my personal needs. Now as a GLBT I am telling stories to serve a community need. While we have seen huge changes, seen the gathering of identities and power among GLBTs, we still need to keep alive past experience—even the perspectives of hiding and fighting, hurting and coping. Changing laws and increasing acceptance of us and our ways in the general society do not erase memory. We have to tell the stories for not to do so in some new way dis-empowers the unsuspecting and sometimes ignorant GLBT populations of the future. We need more words of wisdom from our experienced gays. We need more stories of true life from our lesbians. We need more clarity from our bisexuals. We need more advice from our Transgender brothers and sisters who are still experiencing the terrifying isolation and focus of hatred—more than Gays, Lesbians, and Bi-sexuals. We need all these stories to remind us of our own.

We need to proffer wise council—not in order to be right but rather to keep alive perspectives and memories that could easily get lost in a media-crazed and Madison Avenue world—especially when huge money manipulates huge portions of the population and an informal popular base seems lacking in public democratic life. So, let us tell the stories, our stories, in all their beauties and pains. May we be clear, candid, and clever in our accounts for we tell the story of a life and of a community.

Oh, about Mom’s wise words concerning Andy: for me they were very helpful and still are to this day since Andy married one of my sisters.

Denver 2014

About the Author

Phillip Hoyle lives in Denver and spends his time writing, painting, and socializing. In general he keeps busy with groups of writers and artists. Following thirty-two years in church work and fifteen in a therapeutic massage practice, he now focuses on creating beauty. He volunteers at The Center leading the SAGE program “Telling Your Story.” 


He also blogs at artandmorebyphilhoyle.blogspot
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Wisdom by Gillian

Part 1

“ Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them.” William Shakespeare

Perhaps you could say that about wisdom, too. Occasionally you run across someone who does indeed appear to have been born wise. They are not old enough to have had sufficient experience to have learned wisdom; it seems innate. Others do have wisdom thrust upon them; frequently, sadly, as the result of some terrible experience from which they manage to emerge with newfound wisdom. Most of us simply stagger through life hoping that we gather a modicum of wisdom as we go.

Wisdom is unpredictable. It comes to us all in varying amounts and at different life stages. You cannot learn to be wise. I don’t believe you can get it from books or from other, wiser, people. You can’t obtain it by quoting the wisdom of others. That might perhaps make you sound wise, but it isn’t your wisdom.

However, if I were to pick one person to quote in the hope of the words being taken for my wisdom, it would be Shakespeare. There, in my opinion, was a truly wise man. One of the reasons his plays go on and on over the centuries is that the wisdom he expressed so succinctly over four hundred years ago still resonates with us today.

The quote I began this page with, for example: so simply stated but so true. Or –

“There is nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so.”

How can we argue with that?

“Love all, trust a few, do wrong to none.”

The world would be a better place, would it not?

“This above all; to thine own self be true.”

No-one in this room’s going to argue with that, or with –

“Who could refrain that had a heart to love and in that heart courage to make love known.”

Oh I could go on for pages; for hours. But I’ll have mercy and stop. And I’ll close with my favorite quote of all time, actually not from good old Will but penned by someone called Reinhold Niebuhr. To me it is one of the simplest expressions of so many of life’s conundrums.

“God give me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.”
And if we can do that, we are surely, truly, wise.

Part 2

The day I completed that first page, May 28th 2014, Maya Angelou died. On TV, of course, there were endless film clips of her talking or reading her wonderful poems. So how could I not include her many wonderful thoughts, given the topic of wisdom?

“History, despite its wrenching pain,” she says, “cannot be unlived, but if faced with courage, need not be lived again.”

And she has her own, somewhat less gentle, version of the Serenity Prayer:

“If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude.”

“ … People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

Oh so true, both the good and the bad.

And I find her wisdom encompasses us, gays and lesbians, often.

“Love recognizes no barriers. It jumps hurdles, leaps fences, penetrates walls to arrive at it’s destination full of hope.” And –
“ … the wisest thing I can do is be on my own side, be an advocate for myself and others like me.”

She speaks to women, of course –

“A wise woman wishes to be no-one’s enemy; A wise woman refuses to be anyone’s victim.”

She values laughter, particularly at ourselves –

“My life has been one great big joke, a dance that’s walked, a song that’s spoke,
I laugh so hard I almost choke when I think about myself.”

And our storytelling group –

“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.”


(I don’t see how any of us could have many left untold!)

And best of all, she knows exactly what wisdom is. Actually she uses the word “intelligence,” but if you paraphrase and replace “intelligence,” with “wisdom,” I think it is just perfect. So, with apologies, Maya –

“I’m grateful to wise people. That doesn’t mean educated. That doesn’t mean intellectual. I mean really wise. What black old people used to call ‘mother wit’ means wisdom that you had in your mother’s womb. That’s what you rely on. You know what’s right to do.”

I don’t know how better to describe wisdom than that.

© June 2014

About the Author

I was born and raised in England. After graduation from college there, I moved to the U.S. and, having discovered Colorado, never left. I have lived in the Denver-Boulder area since 1965, working for 30 years at IBM. I married, raised four stepchildren, then got divorced after finally, in my forties, accepting myself as a lesbian. I have now been with my wonderful partner Betsy for 25 years.

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Wisdom by Pat Gourley

When looking at the definition of the word “wisdom”  -‘having or showing experience, knowledge and
good judgment’ – I have to honestly say it seems not much of that applies to me
at age 65. Perhaps real wisdom will come in the decades after 65 if I am lucky
enough to experience them. I am though relatively content with where I am with
how I move in the world and my overall view of it despite the fact that I don’t
appear to be offering up much to the eventual survival of the species.
I do think though I have a bit of wisdom incorporated into my
nursing work and I do believe that a level of true compassion, as opposed to
the often politically correct ‘idiot compassion’, has over four decades been
slowly ripened and gets expressed in perhaps actually helping the folks seeking
health care I run into these days. This involves an approach I really started
to only hone in the early 1990’s in the AIDS Clinic at Denver Health and
supported by the philosophical writings of my favorite nursing theorist
Margaret Newman. I have I think shared this quote from Newman’s work in the
past but here it is again: “The responsibility of the nurse is not to make
people well, or to prevent their getting sick, but to assist people to
recognize the power that is within them to move to higher levels of
consciousness”.
A recent example of this in practice is offering to take
certain select friends to see the documentary Fed Up currently playing at the Mayan Theatre. Rather than
continued harping at them about how their diet is fueling their metabolic
syndromes and in certain case frank diabetes, I am simply facilitating their
exposure to this wonderful film and maybe some of it will hit home and get
incorporated into changes in their diets. Though an after movie stop at Gigi’s
Cupcakes at 6th and Grant makes me wonder if I didn’t just piss away
a ten dollar movie ticket and in the interest of full disclosure that would be
my ten dollar ticket I am talking about. Hey, when it comes to taking direction
from almost any nurse it is best not to do what we do but rather do what we
say. Or perhaps more in the spirit of Margaret Newman look at where we are
pointing to and see what might be over there for you.
I’d like to change gears a bit here and turn my focus from
cupcakes to acronyms and an application to today’s topic of wisdom. Our Story
telling Group is part of the S-A-G-E activities offered by the Center. SAGE is
an acronym that stands for “Service and Advocacy for GLBT Elders”. That is
pretty much a big snooze as far as I am concerned. I would much rather have us
referred to as “sages” all small letters and no acronym even alluded to. The
acronym, SAGE, also seems to heavily imply that we are a group in need of
advocacy and services. There is certainly no denying that some of us queer elders
are in need of both service and advocacy at least at certain times during our
golden years. However, it is much more appealing to me to be recognized as a
sage with much to offer the larger queer world than a member of a group called
SAGE focused on providing advocacy and service.
One definition I ‘Googled’ on for a sage is someone “having,
showing or indicating great wisdom”. Well I think its time we all accepted that
definition and put on the mantle of sage. Again to cop a bit to Margaret Newman
I think many of us around this table are very capable of helping our LGBT
brothers and sisters to recognize the power that is within them to move to
higher levels of consciousness.
One form this might take is embedded in idea that Phil and I
have been lightly kicking around for sometime and that might be an e-book
perhaps, an anthology of stories from this group from those of you who have
come to openly queer consciousness in your SAGE years.
There has been so much wisdom expressed in many stories I
have heard here but I am often most moved and impressed with those coming out
stories being shared by folks who have come out in the last 10-15 years and
much more recently for a few. These stories would I think be a great benefit
and succor to those other elders contemplating this same leap. There is an old
Zen saying: ‘leap and a net shall appear”. What a great gift of a net these
stories could be for someone deciding at 50 or 60 or 70 to come out as queer.
I have shared many of my own coming out experiences primarily
from the late sixties but really how much would a 60 year old today relate to
my crazy ass stories of fucking with my high school mentor in the biology lab
of a Catholic prep school on a Good Friday afternoon no less. Rather people
relating stories of coming to queerness out of long and often very happy
heterosexual unions often resulting in offspring during the swirling years of
gay liberation, AIDS, Don’t Ask Don’t Tell and marriage equality would most
likely resonate much more than tales of hallucinogenic trips at the bathhouses
of the 1970’s.
So in closing I would like to anoint us all as the true sages
we are and push us a bit to start sharing our deep wisdom about the many areas
of life we have occupied, particularly the queer corners.
© 22 June
2014  
About the Author  

I was
born in La Porte Indiana in 1949, raised on a farm and schooled by Holy Cross
nuns. The bulk of my adult life, some 40 plus years, was spent in Denver,
Colorado as a nurse, gardener and gay/AIDS activist. I have
currently returned to Denver after an extended sabbatical in San Francisco,
California.
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Wisdom by Ray S.

In the 17th summer the rite of passage was upon me, slowly moving like a little boat with no oars – moving nevertheless.

We had only slept together once, without too much innovation, but I was certain I was in love. Then came the war and it wasn’t until after it that we could catch up about what life had exposed us to and what were we going to do with all of this newly acquired knowledge and especially the opportunities extended to us by our Uncle.

With little persuasion and renewed ardor I learned there was land between the great lakes and California, where the country dropped off into the ocean. Somewhere in the middle of the vast unknown a place with the romantic name of Colorado Springs floated at the foot of a mountain – Colorado what was that? He said, “follow me”.

We were roommates that 1st year of the higher education adventure and well on our way in search of wisdom.

My appointed advisor couldn’t go wrong after perusing my earlier academics with the direction to head for the nearby art center. It seemed so easy, like summer camp where all you did was have fun with paints and stuff. The Book learning on the other side of campus was the work.

Life drawing, introduction to medias, oil painting (acrylics hadn’t come on the scene yet). Design and advanced courses in practical arts. Interspersed with too much art history, a brief dalliance with a lovely older curator – a friendship that lasted long after graduation time.

Years later my greater understanding of all of that acquired wisdom came to the surface. Not just the doing of learning – I don’t mean to discount that reality, but the overview that comes from the passage of time and recognizing the wonder of the many experiences I had been exposed to. Seems to me that one can be so involved in the actual doing at the time that you aren’t aware of what is really happening to you. It all is taken for granted.

Those basic art classes were taught by none other than a successful all around artist & sculptor. The head of the school and art center was a world-renowned artist. An esteemed lithographer and teacher opened a door for me on a medium I had never even thought about; much less one I could acquire a working and creative knowledge of. I don’t think I was truly aware of the discovery and wonders of what he potentially guided me through until years later.

All of these men were established practicing artisans, but they had to have day jobs too. Most important they were our mentors.

Several years past, I came across the death notice of my artist/sculptor oil painting teacher. The listing of his accomplishments and works was remarkable to say the least. His legacy to the art world and society is acknowledged and respected.

Thumbing through at art dealer’s selection of prints and drawings one sunny spring morning I came across 2 small pages from an artist’s sketchbook. I was struck by the sureness and economy of line in the drawings. Not unlike those of Picasso. Nude couples in repose, thought provoking but not quite prurient. To my surprise and pleasure I discovered they were 2 original line drawings of my one time oil painting teacher. The long stored away memories of those student times flooded my thoughts – this time not of just the actual mechanics or doing them, but the afterglow, if you will, of all of the collateral WISDOM that resulted from that chapter in my book of life. Acquisition struck and followed.

The prints are at the framing studio now.

© June, 2014

About the Author