The depth and displacement in “the other is likely to be relevant” is amazing. Love the blend of themes and a continuation from the astronaut collages. Home is not entirely geographically assigned but if you’ve lived in a place ling enough its soul and water become part of what you identify with. Once that layer is removed you’ll be left with yourself and the people around you and feeling home is about me making the new geographical spot my home. Wonderful work with many perspectives to explore on a personal level. Thank you for this journey.
Thanks so much! In many ways teh astronaut series started and continues out of that very sense of displacement. That sense of feeling alien even in places you’ve long lived. And perhaps, the need to also find it and create it. Thanks again!
Duane, thank you for this. Is there anything more profound than the deep human need for home? I feel like it's something we all need from the moment we're born into the world: shocked by the light and air, bewildered, suddenly disconnected from the only place of comfort and peace we've ever known. This ongoing need for home is in us all. It is especially urgent right now.
How cathartic and satisfying (and rare!) it is to find a true sense of home in your creative practice. And then, to share that with others--that's next level! It fosters freedom in your creative partners, too, and I feel very lucky to have experienced that.
Thank you for your own particular light--your playful sense of humor, your devotion, and your pain--it all comes together in the work you're doing. What a beautiful way to come home.
It really is so rare, and also sometimes fleeting and temporal. Like there’s something vaporous about it. Perhaps it’s as much a benefit as it is a bug. It propels us to keep searching, to keep making, to keep giving. Anne Lamott says that “We think that we’re starving for what we’re not getting, or achieving or amassing, but really we’re just so starving for what we’re not able to give”. What if everything we think we need is only evidence of what we need to give away?
I like your point on never being a place or geography. Great point, Duane and the feeling or sense of home being in a "moment passing candidly. A moment of being fully seen."
Thanks Neil! The one benefit of not having a geographical sense of home is being able to find that feeling in unexpected places and things. Thanks again!
Again, love this so, so much. The texture, not just in the visual, but also in your words. And I too have discovered home as a place within myself. Phew...
Thank you Andrea! Love that you pointed out the texture in language! I’m a bit obsessed with finding the grain and the weave in everything, even and perhaps especially in things that aren’t tactile in nature. Thanks again!
Love those opening lines! Thanks for sharing! Thanks for sharing Cain’s post too! I read Bittersweet last year and parts of really resonated with me. Thanks again!!
Your imagery marries with your words in such a stunning, evocative way. I especially liked that last collage with “like mapping tera incognita into a vanishing topography.” Made me feel right into the heart of your personal experience of home.
Thank you Kimberly! That reciprocity between language and image is something I’m always thinking about and trying to play with in different ways. It’s a tricky balance to be sure, but it keeps me busy, lol. So glad it resonates! I’m happy you liked it! Thanks again!
The depth and displacement in “the other is likely to be relevant” is amazing. Love the blend of themes and a continuation from the astronaut collages. Home is not entirely geographically assigned but if you’ve lived in a place ling enough its soul and water become part of what you identify with. Once that layer is removed you’ll be left with yourself and the people around you and feeling home is about me making the new geographical spot my home. Wonderful work with many perspectives to explore on a personal level. Thank you for this journey.
Thanks so much! In many ways teh astronaut series started and continues out of that very sense of displacement. That sense of feeling alien even in places you’ve long lived. And perhaps, the need to also find it and create it. Thanks again!
Great piece, and yes, big words spoken here. Feeling of belonging in places you’ve lived the most.
Duane, thank you for this. Is there anything more profound than the deep human need for home? I feel like it's something we all need from the moment we're born into the world: shocked by the light and air, bewildered, suddenly disconnected from the only place of comfort and peace we've ever known. This ongoing need for home is in us all. It is especially urgent right now.
How cathartic and satisfying (and rare!) it is to find a true sense of home in your creative practice. And then, to share that with others--that's next level! It fosters freedom in your creative partners, too, and I feel very lucky to have experienced that.
Thank you for your own particular light--your playful sense of humor, your devotion, and your pain--it all comes together in the work you're doing. What a beautiful way to come home.
It really is so rare, and also sometimes fleeting and temporal. Like there’s something vaporous about it. Perhaps it’s as much a benefit as it is a bug. It propels us to keep searching, to keep making, to keep giving. Anne Lamott says that “We think that we’re starving for what we’re not getting, or achieving or amassing, but really we’re just so starving for what we’re not able to give”. What if everything we think we need is only evidence of what we need to give away?
What a shift in thinking! Love that.
Anne Lamott, Soul-Doctor.
You've inspired me to look her up. This is playing in the background now. Thanks for the intro. https://youtu.be/D5uCnwliXus?si=hVfNJ4OaZ-FHZMkF
Definitely going to have to watch this too!
Also found this which has your quote at the beginning, Duane,
With Elise Loehnen on her podcast. 'When love feels Unbearable' Speaks of Divine Love which I connect with.
Seems to have been the backdrop to my day today. Thanks again for pointing me to her.
https://open.spotify.com/episode/4rC7qXtteSZkMcqoMOsN1V?si=VPcR1vcxRwKAdHHfcDAiAw
I'll be adding this to my playlist as well! Thank you! My pleasure! She's incredible, I can't recommend her books enough. I always come to them.
She has moxie!
Thanks for sharing this! These two together make a very intimate conversation right from the start.
Ahh...beautiful Ann!
thank you, Andrea
I like your point on never being a place or geography. Great point, Duane and the feeling or sense of home being in a "moment passing candidly. A moment of being fully seen."
Thanks Neil! The one benefit of not having a geographical sense of home is being able to find that feeling in unexpected places and things. Thanks again!
Again, love this so, so much. The texture, not just in the visual, but also in your words. And I too have discovered home as a place within myself. Phew...
Thank you Andrea! Love that you pointed out the texture in language! I’m a bit obsessed with finding the grain and the weave in everything, even and perhaps especially in things that aren’t tactile in nature. Thanks again!
Really lovely post and collaboration with Ann and Brian, Duane. Really lovely. It's an endlessly interesting topic.
I just looked a piece a wrote a year and a half ago on 'Home'
It was early days on Substack but here's an extract.
-
'Home is a divine, diffused feeling of comfort
that can only be felt
in the relaxed ease
of it happening
-
[...]
-
in this protected place
I am collapsed into one, wordless knowing,
familiar, old, and then new
but always after the journey away
the distance it seems to take
to see what it is really like
to be touched by God
-
and you'
-
And here's a post from Susan Cain which has resonance on longing and belonging
-
https://open.substack.com/pub/susancain/p/whatever-pain-you-cant-get-rid-of?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=46rss
(Original post I wrote : https://theseainme.substack.com/p/home)
Love those opening lines! Thanks for sharing! Thanks for sharing Cain’s post too! I read Bittersweet last year and parts of really resonated with me. Thanks again!!
The words are just as beautiful as the collages! 🤍
So kind of you! That means a lot to me! Glad you enjoyed it!
These are so amazing!
Thank so much Laura!
Your imagery marries with your words in such a stunning, evocative way. I especially liked that last collage with “like mapping tera incognita into a vanishing topography.” Made me feel right into the heart of your personal experience of home.
Thank you Kimberly! That reciprocity between language and image is something I’m always thinking about and trying to play with in different ways. It’s a tricky balance to be sure, but it keeps me busy, lol. So glad it resonates! I’m happy you liked it! Thanks again!
Thanks Carlos! Glad to be in good company!