Susan Palmer's Exquisite Now

A writer takes a minute for a closer look

recent posts

  • Messy middle

    I began pressing flowers from the garden this summer. Here’s a sample preserved in my notebook for future color reference. The foxglove blossoms washed out colorwise. The pansies — those crazy stalwarts of the garden — popped, as did the penstemon and the nasturtium. The color wasn’t great, but the shape of the fuchsia made me pretty happy. So, this fall as I was making cards with pressed flowers, I played around with that blossom particularly. Here’s the result:

    Crafts, like this and my embroidery practice, remind me that being in the messy middle is the biggest part of living. Finishing, that’s just punctuation. The messy middle really is the stuff of life, and yet it’s the thing how-to TV shows and videos often fast forward through.

    Learning to be patient, to keep going, is its own practice.

  • What six people did

    In 2013, five teenagers and one adult, members of the Cree Nation living near Hudson Bay, began a walk to Ottawa, the capital of Canada, to draw attention to broken treaties while fostering unity among the first nations. By the time they reached Ottawa, 68 days later, there were 270 walkers and they were greeted by thousands. They started in frigid January and arrived in March.

    You can read more about it in these two articles:

    https://www.culturalsurvival.org/publications/cultural-survival-quarterly/art-youth-resistance-and-inspiration-nishiyuu-journey

    https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/the-journey-of-the-people

    Their winter trek has inspired youth activism and has also been credited with helping change the relationship between the Canadian tribes and the government.

    Native Americans have been using meaningful walks like this for a long time. Back in the 1970s, a group walked from California to Washington DC to draw attention to Native rights. There’s a great read about this on The Conversation’s web sit.

    https://shorturl.at/3egaZ

    I’m deeply moved by these walks, particularly for how they “restore first-hand knowledge of place” as Meaghan Weatherdon, Assistant Professor of Theology and Religious Studies, University of San Diego put it in her article for “The Conversation.”

    I also can’t help feel the echos of suffering from the Trail of Tears, the forced displacement of thousands of Native Americans from the 1830s to the 1850s as their lands were taken from them.

    I’m appreciated being inspired to look for learning opportunities by Nation American Heritage Month.

  • Deeper still

    There’s something about the routine “Alchemy,” that satisfies. Dancing it this morning before a busy feast day gets underway, I was struck by its combination of powerful and yet deeply feminine moves.

    I’ve written so much about the feelings that come up for me while dancing. Today, especially toward the end during the steps to “A Mi Madre” by Caro Luna, there was a deep sense of contentment. I’m grateful for Nia. Every day.