Suffering...how it takes place while someone else is eating or opening a window...or just walking dully along.

"About suffering, they were never wrong, the old masters: how well they understood, it's human position; how it takes place while someone else is eating or opening a window or just walking dully along." WH Auden

In light of recent tragic events and the people suffering in Haiti, I am reminded of this quote. Though I choose to interpret "Masters" as really anyone. I mostly connect with this statement as a nurse and mother, roles that help ground me in reality, but also often from an artist's view and the importance of being thankful for the beauty in what we see everyday.
And so this second week of the new year...and a new decade...I planned to re-organize and renew... my priorities... my intentions....my pastel box. I listed a few of these artistic "resolutions" below, but they seem lofty even as I type them remembering that others are simply "surviving". My real goal...never to walk "dully along".

1. Make better decisions when juggling competing responsibilities.
2. Focus more on the joy of creating and the journey.
3. Seek authenticity and work to develop a cohesion in vision, handling of medium, artistic touch and style.
4. Be confident in and value the of sharing my vision of art and the beauty in everyday, unlikely places.

Recommended by my friend who works at USAID:
Those interested in helping victims in Haiti can get more info by visiting the following sites (cash is viewed as the best way to help): Center for Int'l Disaster Info www.cidi.org; Interaction www.interaction.org for a list of credible responding agencies; www.give.org for assistance in making informed decisions when supporting charities; and www.globalgiving.org.