Redtree Times

Offered to the Wind— At Kada Gallery

Adversity is like a strong wind…it holds us back from places we might otherwise go. It also tears away from us all but the things that cannot be torn, so that afterward we see ourselves as we really are, and not merely as we might like to be.

–Arthur Golden, Memoirs of a Geisha

I guess the question is, based on the short excerpt above from Memoirs of a Geisha, is: Even after adversity has blown away all our protective facades and disguising masks, are we capable of recognizing ourselves truly as we are and not as we imagine ourselves to be?

I don’t really know the answer or if that is even a viable question. If I had to answer, I would suppose that the answer depends on the distance between our imagined self and the reality of the one exposed by the wind. The idea of someone who has carried a distorted and bloated sense of self-importance through their entire life going through adversity then suddenly accepting their now obvious deficiencies seems a bit farfetched. 

The better question might be: How well does one live with this new self suddenly exposed by the winds of adversity?

The Red Tree that is a big element in so many of my paintings is often about this revealed inner self being exposed to the outer world. It has withstood the winds and weather of adversity and now fully sees itself as it is, for better or worse. Knowing what it is, it deals with the world in a more honest and open manner.

It knows what it has to offer to and what it should expect from the world.

Hmm… Going to have to chew on that for a while. Some morning, after I have written a bit, I begin to wonder if I am making any sense at all.

This feels like one of those days. 

Anyway, here’s a song related to the wind. I have previously shared the David Bowie version of this song that was first recorded by Johnny Mathis in 1957. This is a fine performance from Esperanza Spalding of Wild Is the Wind.