The Hallelujah Garden— Now at the West End Gallery
I did my best, it wasn’t much
I couldn’t feel, so I tried to touch
I’ve told the truth, I didn’t come to fool ya
And even though it all went wrong
I’ll stand before the Lord of Song
With nothing on my tongue but Hallelujah
–Leonard Cohen, Hallelujah (1984)
Wow. Quite a week.
Quite. A. Week.
Of course, the highlight was an election with results that have the potential to affect real change in this country. Real change, something other than the cyclical change that comes with elections normally where each side takes turns holding power. The results this time were of the sort that is a true mandate, an aggressive demand for change that is systemic. Change that puts an end to the rampant corruption, cruelty, racism, misogyny, and criminality that currently permeates the highest levels of our government.
But as I wrote, it has the potential.
The real work is ahead.
This blue wave has to bear fruit that is palatable, plentiful, and absolutely apparent for the American people. It must be laser-focused on both the needs of the American people and in holding those who are in the process of vandalizing this nation accountable.
It has to yield hard results and hold them up for all to see so that there is no doubt that change is at hand.
It may not be easy over the next two years but, as I say, the potential is there. It is a mission that must not fail.
But this week, like so many people who chose to take on this potential, I am still in the afterglow.
With that in hand, I was in Corning yesterday morning for my annual Gallery Talk at the West End Gallery. It was a full house and a great crowd. Seriously. Just a wonderful group of folks with many familiar faces and many faces I did not yet know. All in all, their closeness and warmth created an atmosphere that made me feel at home, allowing me to share details of my journey that I seldom disclose.
I think it made for a very special talk.
I don’t say that lightly. If you have read this blog for very long, you know how self-critical I can be after any interactions during these events. Oh, I can find a lot of things to criticize in yesterday’s talk, things I said that I would change, given the chance. But I think the overall tone and the interactions shared overshadowed any clumsiness or stumbles on my part.
Driving home yesterday, I found myself for once not beating myself up for my mistakes and missteps. Like the days after this week’s elections, I instead felt a warm afterglow of relief and joy.
A hallelujah moment.
I cannot be more appreciative for those who allowed me that moment. To everyone who was able to make it to yesterday’s talk, especially those who traveled a fair distance to be there, I offer you my humblest thanks. You made whatever was special yesterday possible. To Jesse and Linda Gardner at the West End Gallery I thank you for everything. Everything.
Okay, I am going to enjoy this afterglow for a bit longer this morning. After that I am back to work. There’s much to be done, both in my studio and across the country.
Let’s do it.
Here is a favorite song from Leonard Cohen, his classic Hallelujah, and one of my favorite performances of it from k.d. lang. Along with Cohen’s original version, hers and the Jeff Buckley version, are off in the ether for me. This performance of the song at the 2010 opening of the Calgary Olympics is truly a spectacle, both for her vocals and the setting in a packed stadium with a crowd enraptured by the moment.
A moment of perfection. A hallelujah moment.