A New Chapter—The Season of Light

          What the caterpillar calls the end—the rest of the world calls a butterfly.                   —Lao Tzu, Chinese philosopher, 6th-Century, BC

Every once in a while The Book of Life needs to skip a chapter, learn from its mistakes, and move on…….2020 was one of those chapters. 

 As Charles Dickens wrote in his 1859 introduction to A Tale of Two Cities, a saga of the French Revolution, “It was the worst of times, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of darkness, it was the winter of despair.”

Words that framed 2020 need to be struck from our lexicon—excised from history—

Covid-19, Pandemic, Autocratic Rule, Deceit, Hubris, Hypocrisy, Economic Despair, Racial Injustice, Inequality, Voter Suppression, Hurricanes, Fires, Floods.

It’s time to write a new chapter—new words—new paragraphs—a new beginning. As 2021 unfolds we can once again look to Dickens for how to begin with the hope that we are entering “the age of wisdom, the epoch of belief, the season of light.”

To see more of Jeff Key's artwork check out:

Sculpturesite Gallery: https://sculpturesite.com/exhibit/155

Click Here for the Osha Hayden KSVY-FM 93.1 

Interview with Jeff Key

Hallelujah—Giving Thanks

This world is full of conflicts and full of things that cannot be reconciled. But there are moments when we can... reconcile and embrace the whole mess, and that's what I mean by ‘Hallelujah.'  -Leonard Cohen (Canadian composer/lyricist of the song, Hallelujah)

We pause at this time in history to say good-bye to narcissism, corruption, lying, name-calling, bullying, and dysfunction—and say thank-you to civility, truth, empathy, humility, compassion, and healing.

"Hallelujah"      "Vessel #30—Axis"      Wood & Flax, 16"x12"x10"

Knowing that there are still deep divisions within our country and that no magic wand will instantly make them disappear, we can take some solace in knowing that the winds of change are finally sweeping through the White House.

On this coming Thanksgiving there could be people at our socially-distanced celebration who don’t share our political or social views. It might be a good time to consider the words of Maya Angelou from her poem The Human Family, “We are more alike, my friends, than we are unalike.”

Happy Thanksgiving and Hallelujah!

Click Here for the Osha Hayden KSVY-FM 93.1 

Interview with Jeff Key

To see more of Jeff Key's artwork check out:

Sculpturesite Gallery: https://sculpturesite.com/exhibit/155

Once In A Blue Moon

 Will we see a regime change next month?

Will hubris ever leave the White House?

Will Republican Senators learn the meaning of hypocrisy?

Will the Senate Majority Leader ever exhibit a conscience?

Will Covid-19 finally fade away?

Some people have said that miracles happen once in a "Blue Moon."

Well.....a "Blue Moon" will soon be upon us. 

October 2020 is a time for a rare occurrence—two full moons

—the first was seen on October 1 and the second, 

a "Blue Moon" will be seen on 

Halloween night—October 31.

Soothsayers have told us that a "Blue Moon" is a 

spiritual time for emotional healing and a time 

to start making plans for the future.

So hopefully on November 3 when the moon begins to wane, 

we can all howl with the wolves as we celebrate the beginning of a new era filled with healing, health, equity, and hope.

Click Here for the Osha Hayden KSVY-FM 93.1 

Interview with Jeff Key

To see more of Jeff Key's artwork check out:

Sculpturesite Gallery: https://sculpturesite.com/exhibit/155
 

Lemon Cantata (in B-flat Major)—Music for Revival

 Cantata—a narrative piece of music for voices with instrumental accompaniment.

“Music does a lot of things for a lot of people. It’s transporting, for sure. It’s uplifting, it’s encouraging, it’s strengthening.”  — Aretha Franklin, Queen of Soul, Winner of 18 Grammy Awards, (1942-2018)

“Music is life itself”—Louis “Satchmo” Armstrong, 

Jazz trumpeter, composer, vocalist (1901-1971)

We danced in a new decade and then fell into the black hole of a catastrophic pandemic, economic despair, the devastation of racism and police brutality, raging wildfires, torrential hurricanes, and petty sniping surrounding the upcoming election. 

It’s been a long difficult road and we are far from recovery…..but it might be time to pause, take a deep breath of the waning summer breeze, and sing.....

....a cantata for healing, compassion, resilience, revival—

and the coming of better days.

J.S. Bach wrote cantatas for spiritual awakening. Lukas Foss, who escaped from Nazi Germany, adapted Carl Sandburg’s Prairie into a cantata to commemorate freedom. South African, Philip Miller, composed REwind, a cantata based on testimony from South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

If we were to compose a cantata for the troubled days of 2020—what would it include? Would it be filled with fear, frustration, rage, and grief? Would it address nature’s invasive destruction, inept national leadership, systemic inhumanity? 

Yes—to all of the above.... 

....but it should also be uplifting and remind us of the simple wonder of 

“watching dawn linger and the moon slide into place.”

As Bob Marley said,”

“One good thing about music, when it hits you, you feel no pain.”

https://sculpturesite.com/exhibit/155

Behind the Mask—A Time of Conscience

"What's a conscience! I'll tell ya! A conscience is that still small voice people won't listen to. That's just the trouble with the world today."          —Jiminy Cricket to Pinocchio, (from the movie, Pinocchio, 1940.)

“We are a people in a quandary about the present. We are a people in search of our future. We are a people in search of a national community." —Barbara Jordan, (1936-1996), (1976 Democratic Convention speech), First African-American elected to the Texas Senate after Reconstruction and the first Southern African-American woman elected to the United States House of Representatives.

The conscience of America is being tested daily during this stressful crisis period.

Hard questions require soul-searching answers—Should I wear a mask? Should I kneel during the National Anthem? Will my protesting in the streets jeopardize community health? What can I do to alleviate systemic racism?

The answers can be found in what is right and wrong—what is true or false—and how these answers affect our collective well-being.

Photo Credits: Venetian Plague Doctor, 1760, print by Jan van Grevenbroeck; "Hazmat Suit," WWI, France 1918,wellcomeimages.org; "Federal Troops-Portland" Oregon Public Broadcasting

How wearing a mask became a political statement is one of the many mysteries of COVID-19. Scientists have told us that until we have a vaccine the best way to prevent infection is to wear a mask, social distance, or—as signs posted in Japanese theme parks read, “please scream inside your heart.”

Psychologists have told us that uncertainty breeds fear. Failed leadership, misinformation, and mixed messages have fueled these fears and are the primary factors causing division in our nation.

Some Americans feel that the Constitution grants them individual freedoms that supersede what Barbara Jordan referred to as “a national community.” Do we want to be part of a “national community” that values science, health, safety, and justice; Do we listen to our conscience and decide what is best for the collective good of the country? Or do we retreat into fear, hubris, entitlement, and vanity for our own personal benefit?

"A quandary for the present—in search of our future.”

Pending—The Space Between

There is really nothing more to say—except why. But since why is difficult to handle, one must take refuge in how.  —Toni Morrison, Nobel Laureate in Literature (1993), Presidential Medal of Freedom (2016)                                                                            

Human misery must somewhere have a stop; there is no wind that always blows a storm.—Euripides, Greek Tragedian, 430 BC                                                                                    


The Japanese have a concept called “Ma—the space between”—a pause in time— creating space to allow for reflection—a promise yet to be fulfilled. There is no Western term for this concept.                                                                                                                           

Pending, a preposition that defines the waiting period before a decision or conclusion fulfills a psychological definition, but not an intrinsic meaning for the power to shape time and space.

Since the beginning of this decade we have found ourselves in this space between: the silence between notes that form music—a door that is open to light—a truth to be considered—a life that is pending:

Jeff Key’s work from the “Vessel Series” can be seen at:

Jeff Key’s work:

https://www.sculpturesite.com/Artist-Detail.cfm?ArtistsID=356

Pulse—In Pursuit Of Gravity

“Once I got into space, I was feeling very comfortable in the universe. I felt like I had a right to be anywhere in this universe, that I belonged here as much as any speck of stardust, any comet, any planet”     

 —Dr. Mae Jemison, American engineer, physician, and former NASA astronaut. (The first black woman to travel into space when she served as a mission specialist aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour in 1992.)           

            "If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together."  —African Proverb                                                                            

The world still has a pulse—randomly fluctuating with the political climate.  During our quarantine it beat at a slower pace only to pick up and begin racing when faced once again with the outrage of racism and police brutality.

Now grappling with social and political upheaval and our fourth month of the COVID-19 pandemic, we are floating untethered in a space most of us have never known.

This time of cognitive dissonance has forced us to reconsider priorities—how to tilt the scales of justice toward equity, how to channel anger into productive action, how to be more benevolent toward our neighbors, how to teach equality, morality, and empathy to our children, how to protect the planet, and in general how to become a more compassionate society.    

As we once again begin to open doors, walk the streets, take public transportation, go to a store, or sit down at a restaurant, we are looking at life from a different perspective—one that emphasizes more than ever our interconnected sense of community.  

Mental health issues have increased with uncertainty and inequity surrounding health, safety, employment, housing, and education. The consequences of injustice, rage, frustration, and grief, along with sheltering-in-place, wearing a mask, social distancing, and the need for human touch have taken a toll on everyone. 

           Jeff Key's new work from "The Vessel Series" is included in an 

On-Line Exhibit  "Opening a Window—A Window Onto the World"

https://www.sculpturesite.com/Exhibit_Detail.cfm?ShowsID=156

Jeff Key's Sculpture: 

https://www.sculpturesite.com/Artist-Detail.cfm?ArtistsID=356

A Black Hole—What’s On The Other Side?

Black Hole: A cosmic body of intense gravity from which nothing, not even light can escape. (britannica.com)

“Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more so that we may fear less.”

                    —Marie Curie (Awarded Nobel Prize in Physics-1903, and Chemistry-1911)

 "I know what I have to do now, I've got to keep breathing because tomorrow the sun will rise. Who knows what the tide could bring?"

—Tom Hanks character, Chuck Noland, from the movie, “Cast Away” (after being stranded on an island for 4 years.)

For the last few months the nation and the world have been engulfed in a “black hole.” Forced into isolation and fear by a relentless virus, we have been reeling in limbo with the pervasive question—                                                            What lies on the other side?

Unfortunately history has shown that at times it takes a crisis to learn painful lessons. As we begin to reopen society and commerce it’s time to figure out what went wrong, regroup, and move forward. We need to make the investment of resources and time to prepare and prevent rather than being forced to respond and improvise without a well-conceived strategy.

Virologists have told us that the arrival of new and recurring viruses is here to stay—the product of climate change, animal to human transmission, and population density/ migration.  

Will we be prepared for the next wave?

It’s going to take a concerted worldwide effort of coordination, cooperation, and equity in the areas of health, education, economics, and environmental policy.

We now know that we need factual, science-based information, up-to-date equipment properly stored in catastrophe-ready quantities, a well-devised master plan for implementation of testing/tracking/ isolation/treatment and vaccine development, contingency plans to provide compensation for workers who are incapacitated or laid off, resources for underserved populations, and mental health services for a society coping with anxiety driven by fear and uncertainty.

Jeff Key's work can be seen at: 
https://www.sculpturesite.com/Exhibit_Detail.cfm?ShowsID=155