embracing hagitude

Thought you might like a sneak peak of a new original that will be for sale soonish: "Tidal Wave Heart", 6x6, mixed media and found materials on gallery wrapped canvas. Inspired by the moody sea and sky of the Oregon Coast in winter.

"There can be a perverse pleasure, as well as a sense of rightness and beauty, in insisting on flowering just when the world expects you to become quiet and diminish." -- Sharon Blackie

I recently turned 50, and it’s been important to me to transition into this milestone with intention. Not just in terms of celebration, but with mindfulness about what I want the next half of my life to be. As part of that, a very dear friend, who is also turning 50, decided to read a book together that we thought might provide some wisdom about this time of our life. The book is called Hagitude: Reimagining the Second Half of Life by Sharon Blackie. The book is about how the stories of powerful mid-life and elder women in (primarily European) folklore and myths can inspire reclaiming the power inherent in our mid and elder years. It sparked some great thought and conversation about embracing our own "hagitude". It also reinforced my passion for living in intention and authenticity, continuing to use my voice and shed what holds me back.

‘hagitude’: a refusal to be silenced by others, or to become obediently invisible...a refusal to be defined by appearances...a refusal to follow cultural pressures that tell us we should keep on being something we can no longer possibly be, without hurting ourselves deeply in the process...it’s about actively embracing what has the potential to be one of the most intensely lived, joyous, creative periods of our lives... It’s about reimagining ourselves and unashamedly shouting out our gifts to the world, at the precise time of our lives when everyone would prefer us to quietly disappear. -- Sharon Blackie

Both consciously and subconsciously, all of this thought and pondering has been embedded in the art I've been making lately, appearing in color palettes of sea and sky, subject matters of nature and myth, themes of wildness and ancient wisdom. It’s perhaps little wonder that my creative expression would be influenced in this way, and that my own reaching for guidance in ancient, generational wisdoms would begin to appear as common threads in my artwork. And I’m honestly excited for this influence and the ideas it’s sparking. What new places will it take me, I wonder?

Which just goes to show the intuition of our own creativity and the way it can reveal knowledge and understanding we don't even realize we already have. That seems like a pretty good start for this second half of life. Embracing hagitude!