Anchored

“We can endure almost anything if we are centered if we have some focus in our life. You can endure if you have an anchor.” ― Renita J. Weems.

On last evening, I addressed a Diversity leadership group during their orientation ceremony. I shared with them how my childhood had so much in common to the friendships in the Stranger Things series in diversity and challenges. I spoke of today’s charged political climate and present brooding events as comparable to the upside down (another Stranger Things reference). In the series, no matter what they came up against, they found a way through, collectively using their individual abilities.

On the eve of the launch of my website relaunch (www.jahnitheartist.com … shameless plug), I’m looking back over the last few years of my life as an artist (as though I’ve had a life being anything else). In 2020, the world flipped over and the art world sputtered. Funds and campaigns were started to support artists who lost work and faced financial upset. I was able to actually be a contributor. Later that year my web designer mysteriously passed away. So my website was out there in the cyberocean without a paddle or anchor. Then my Facebook account was hacked. I could post through instagram and it rolled right into the facebook page but I had no connection to message or to receive messages through Facebook messenger. That had been a major connection for me as I communicated with patrons around the world with it. Do you wanna know what I did..?

I kept on keeping on. Producing work, networking with other creatives, utilizing other means of social media, and most of all deepening my connection with my practice and the mystery of life. I walked a peaceful path in the midst of the full-on frenzy. Things fared even better for me. By the looks of things, I didn’t miss a beat. In fact, the tempo picked up to an improvisational jazz rift that allowed me to walk closer to the rhythm of who I am. Through it all, I calmly stayed the course.

I often talk to artists and makers who for some reason or another, have ceased their work. Many of them are pretty heavy reasons, all withstanding. I offer encouragement and usually whisper a prayer on their behalf. In some cases, I’ve invited them to show, shot a project their way, or something to jumpstart the action of making. It’s healing to the individual and the collective. It appears that the enemy of healing, the enemy to wholeness and cosmic balance has the intent of preventing the making by any means necessary.

That’s where we need an anchor, a stronghold, something bigger than us, to hold onto in these life storms. I’ve found that when I can pull my self together just long enough to connect in some form or fashion, through prayer, meditation, a walk in the woods, etc., things get put into perspective. In that I realize that putting down my practice is counterproductive to doing what I need done anyway. It actually gives me the impetus to do the things in other areas of my life with more presence. It’s the sense through which I experience the world.

May your entrusted practice/craft be the sail guide that the divine winds catch and take you along your journey. It’s about every step along the way, not just the destination. People have always commented on my ability to be cool in the midst of chaos. My secret is no secret at all. I’ve simply gone beyond belief into the realm of knowing that it is what it is; I have a steadfast Anchor that does not fail.