Changing Course Midstream

Sometimes you set your goals, either consciously or unconsciously and it doesn't seem like there will be any way to meet them. Then one day you wake up, do a little bit of reflection, and realize that you've come a long way toward your goal and maybe even surpassed it.




A few years ago when I started doing these collage pieces it was out of a deep feeling of frustration. The frustration was something I could barely articulate verbally without feeling like a kvetch. Life was good. Job, great family, ample comfort. What more could I want?

But I did feel like I wanted more. Maybe more of a chance to create. Maybe some kind of subtle or not-so-subtle change. Without being able to articulate my feelings, even to myself at some level, what could I do?

Looking back it seems that I laid down my feelings well and good in these collage pieces. But I did more than just get my frustrations out, I set myself in a new direction, a new way of articulating, and a new way of creating.

By making the statement that I wanted to do creative work, and by doing that work, I was on the way to changing course. Going with that flow I woke up one day and found that the markers along the river had changed, that I was in a completely new space.