17 Comments
User's avatar
Vanessa's avatar

Hahahaha

Expand full comment
Vanessa's avatar

Yup. And when those veils lift … what a shitty wonderful complicatedly beautiful mess we live in

Expand full comment
Duane Toops's avatar

"what a shitty wonderful complicatedly beautiful mess we live in" - this gorgeous! I think I want this to be teh title of my biography!

Expand full comment
Manuela Thames's avatar

Beautiful!

Expand full comment
Duane Toops's avatar

Thank you!

Expand full comment
Davor Katusic's avatar

Photos are nice fit to the story. Btw, when fish is wild, instead of cultivated, it becomes stronger, more beautiful, bigger teeth, less fat - and we probably become so as well, if we face resistance and manage to go through - until one day😂

Expand full comment
Duane Toops's avatar

Haha! Great point! Thanks for that!

Expand full comment
Davor Katusic's avatar

;)

Expand full comment
Vanessa's avatar

True and beautiful and painful and feels ‘unfair’ (???) and nobody promised us a rose garden and yet… sometimes it feels we were…. On another note check out the latest news letter from Colle and the brilliant artist and writer, Chris Dorland

Expand full comment
Duane Toops's avatar

Yes to all of this Vanessa! It’s always astounding how thin teh lines of separation are between the true, the beautiful, the painful, and the unfair. Thanks for the recommendation, I’ll be sure to check it out!

Expand full comment
Sonia Otero's avatar

These words: <<May you find your strength in being rebuilt better, time and time again..>>

And make a collage with the remains to be better again, to continue...

Expand full comment
Duane Toops's avatar

Yes! I wish I had though to add that last bit! Thank you!

Expand full comment
Danny Toops's avatar

Brilliantly said

Expand full comment
Brian Funke's avatar

The critical density. Very cool. I’d love to hear how you title in one of your newsletters. I STRUGGLE to title well…

Expand full comment
Duane Toops's avatar

Thanks Brian!!I have a few different titling strategies. For titling collages, I collect passages and phrases from books I’ve read and I attach them to collages that seem to suit them. For titling newsletters, most of the time I’ll try to comb through the essay and look for a single word that touches on a theme, idea, or image that connects to what I hope to convey in the writing.

Expand full comment
Brian Funke's avatar

Love your idea about passages form other sources!

Expand full comment
Duane Toops's avatar

It’s my favorite strategy!

Expand full comment