Living Out of Time
Traveling for pleasure has dwindled the last few years, but my last outing was worth even ounce of effort it took to organize and execute it.
There’s an annex of Rivendell in West Virginia, where gracious living is made to seem as easy as taking breath, where beautiful art is created, where conversation veers effortlessly from quantum entanglement to universal myths. I took a brief moment out of time there and, as always before, emerged inspired and renewed.
While there, I also went to the stunning, haunting Bodice Project exhibit. The project, sister to Judy Chicago’s Dinner Party but also a reminder of what it takes to deal with breast cancer physically and emotionally, plans to create additional nexuses across the nation and perhaps even beyond. The bodices, moulded around the bodies of individual cancer survivors, make the spirit soar while remaining clear-eyed about how fragile and finite we are.
Kathryn and Josh, thank you for another glimpse of Tir-na-nÓg.
Image: One of the ~20 project bodices. Artist: Kathryn Bragg-Stella
> There’s an annex of Rivendell in West Virginia. . .
> . . .thank you for another glimpse of Tir-na-nÓg.
Hm. I suppose the Isles of the West are shielded by
the Valar from the effects of global warming. :-/
However, you know what all the myths say happens to
mortals who get entangled with Elvish folk and their haunts. ;->
I come from a powerful tradition of my own, so Elvish haunts hold little danger for me!
“…soon all fear and anxiety were lifted from their minds. The future, good or ill, was not forgotten, but ceased to have any power over the present.”
Sounds very much like Rivendell, offering respite from time and peace in equal parts. 🙂
And in composition and impact, the Bodice Project is striking and unforgettable.
Precisely — it was a mindful peace.