c. Susan Sorrell Hill
The Illustration Friday word of the week is sky.
Think about it…in all the tales, in all the stories old and new, there is always somewhere else that the hero or heroine can escape to (and sometimes, yes, it’s the sky.) And if circumstances are especially dire, there is always something or someone who comes to the rescue.
But what if there were no place to escape to, and nothing to rescue that heroine…what then? Would the situation be hopeless, would “suicide be a viable option,” as one of my friends liked to cynically joke? Would that heroine’s life have come to a dead-end, the end of the story?
The American Buddhist nun, Pema Chodron, writes in The Wisdom of No Escape: and the Path of Loving-Kindness, “…that each of us has all it takes to become fully enlightened. We have basic energy coursing through us.” Pema is not the only spiritual teacher to state in no uncertain terms (but kindly) that the rescuer, the somewhere else, is found within…and that there is a purpose to those stuck places that we come to over and over again in the course of our lives.
My first choice of painting for this post had two rescuers, both from the sky…a ghostly, kindly figure and a small bird flying down in a boat. Hooray, saved! But thinking some more about this whole subject of escape and rescue, I realized that my perspective has been changing over the years. I’m beginning to suspect that we are expected and equipped (probably even encouraged) to find the way–the magic if you will–to rescue ourselves…that it’s all “an inside job.”
Darn. Deep breath. Take the next step…
“Escape of the Red House” (watercolor, pen & ink, colored pencil, gouache)
I think you’re probably right, but there can also be people who help us stay on the path too. Very thought provoking post, or maybe it’s provoking my thoughts because I’d really like the heroes to show up in our time of need? Love the art. Makes me think of The Wizard of Oz
Oh definitely, we all have (and need) our helpers, guides and fellow travelers. They make the journey more enjoyable, maybe a bit easier too. And even though I really suspect that the “inside job” is the most important part, a big part of me still wishes for a fairy godmother or two…or that knight in shining armor. Thanks, Linda!
Interesting illo. I can relate to the uprooted feeling it portrays, to me.
I can understand your feeling, knowing a bit about your lifestyle, Sue…but you do seem to thrive in spite of it (and create beautifully)!
Thank you.
This painting gives me a kind of pang inside, and I’m not sure exactly why. Perhaps it’s the redness of the house, so different from all the others (though there is a light on in the house next door–and surely surely, the isolated person in the red house could have seen the light and knocked on that door). Perhaps it’s the roots. We are SO tied to where we are, that to leave, no matter how we do it, is liable to kill us in some way. We NEED those roots. They are what provide us with our sustenance. Yet the other houses are so dark, so gray, and so overshadowed by the darkness of the trees, that I would want to be like that red house, and SOAR up and away from that. SIgh.
It’s a beautiful painting.
And I agree that the rescuing needs to come from within.
Thanks so much for your thought-full comments, Tilley. I agree, there’s some core, soul-stirring stuff going on in this simple (and simply drawn) painting. Most of the time, I don’t know what will come out when I sit down to draw, and after it’s drawn (often much, much later) I realize that what has appeared is something going on below the surface of my day-to-day life. The Unconscious, as Carl Jung put it. I think that light on in the house next door went on *after* the red house lifted off…too late to pay attention or connect! Totally agree about your thoughts on roots. And on an entirely different note, I LOVE your scratchboard tree…it’s a lovely direction!
It’s a beautiful painting, and somehow my subconscious resonates with it! I think I spent too much time waiting to be saved, and finally the pain of waiting became to great and so I saved myself. I love your blog posts and painting, it always make me go deep.
Yes, I can certainly relate to yearning to be saved, Indigene…and I am in the process of learning that the magic lies within me. A major learning, not easily come by! Thank you as always for your heart-felt comments.