Sunday, January 5, 2014

"COURAGE"at the Norman Rockwell Museum                     March 28th, 2014      2:30pm



WHAT?  A collaborative, interactive community performance and guided tour of the Norman Rockwell Museum, created by singer-songwriter JoAnne Spies. 
Songs, poems and stories on the theme of courage are paired with Norman Rockwell and Wendell Minor's art as the focal point. 


WHO?   Norman Rockwell Museum staff, artists of all ages and audience members co-create a community performance.

Artists:
Mari Andrejco 
Jan Hutchinson
Andrew Joffe
Francesca Margulies
Teresa Thomas

WHEN?   Created over several months for the Berkshire Festival of Women Writersthe event will take place on March 28th, 2014

WHERE?  Galleries of the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, MA

Friday, March 28th   2:30 - 3:30 pm
    (arrive by 2:15)
Norman Rockwell Museum

9 Route 183    Stockbridge, MA 01262
413-298-4100 
Norman Rockwell's 'The Problem We All Live With'

                                   Learning the back story on Ruby Bridges
                                   pictured here started the 'Karaoke Confession'
                                   group inquiry into forgiveness.
                                                                          ~~~
What if we could have meaningful rituals and dialogue in everyday life with the ease and availability of karaoke?
This desire led me to put together the first of these guided walks in March 2012 for the Berkshire Festival of Women Writers that was called 'Karaoke Confession.' Its theme was forgiveness:
http://goddessloop.blogspot.com/

The second was on the theme of trust:  
Berkshire Festival of Women Writers 2013

How fortunate to have the world class Norman Rockwell Museum as a welcoming laboratory to learn about
forgiveness, trust and courage. Imagine conversing with Rockwell's paintings and finding new stories each time you visit, changing the lens through which you see the story.
Norman Rockwell said that he never let the truth get in the way of a good story. His paintings are easily accessible, and at the same time layered with meaning. Walking with his stories alongside, your own story takes on depth.

"We  learn by going where we need to go " - Theodore Roethke
  Join Courage on facebook
rabbit stick 'carved' for 'Trust' ... and   'Courage'

For each of these events at the Rockwell Museum, I've made a rhythm stick or ceremonial object from nature to help understand the theme. For "Courage" I used the rabbit stick (left) I made for last year's "Trust."
'Scairt as a rabbit, bold as a bear' is what Amy the Wild Woman called Norman Rockwell when he was a young teen pulled into her sideshow at a fair near his home in White Plains, NY.
He started off scared, and became fascinated.. he came back to be paid for his second appearance in her show. This stick represented Courage as a Continuum. We often need time to step fully into the courage blossoming forth.


flute carved from invasive bamboo

In my backyard there is an invasive plant that looks like bamboo when it is full grown. This pervasive plant represents fear and the flute made from this plant shows a way to make use of terror and fear. By naming it or making art it can be transformed.
That it is an empty reed is a nice symbol too.
How much easier it is to go forward with an empty mind instead of a head full of monsters.
Boogiemen/women under the bed, anyone?!

C o u r a g e  definition

c.1300, from Old French corage (12c., Modern French courage) "heart, innermost feelings; temper," ..from Latin cor "heart" which remains a common metaphor for inner strength.

 ....How nice if core curriculum taught "heart, innermost feelings, temper, strength..."

"Courage" began with me sharing this dictionary definition of courage and quotes from elders and others who I visit in my work with Community Access to the Arts.
Jenny Sutherland, activities director at Mt. Greylock Extended Care Facility, defined courage: Courage is doing.   And courage is unexpected..We expect heroes like Luke Skywalker to have courage, but it’s the ones we don’t expect, like Hans Solo, who really have courage.
 Ruby:  Courage is helping people when they need it. Courage is getting up in the morning and doing something when it’s needed. Not when you want to do it.
Julie:   It takes courage to live and be happy in this world. A quote she shared: Courage is fear that has said its prayers – Dorothy Bernard 
 Sue: The Serenity Prayer - God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, The courage to change the things I can, And wisdom to know the difference.
me:  Who ever ate the first artichoke had courage.

The theme of the Berkshire Festival of Women Writers this year is 'Women Write the World.'
Emulating qualities of courage by naming them in others is a way to right the world.

Naming and appreciating have been the basis of songs for millennia.
I led the group in a Yay chant of acknowledgement for the courage of each of these individuals who are buried within a mile of the museum: Mumbet, John Sergeant, Norman Rockwell, Umpachene.

I asked different women I met at BFWW events their definition of courage.
One woman said that acceptance and courage go hand in hand.
'When we are naked in our own truth, knowing we need to change our way of thinking, we need courage to accept and change ourselves.'
Another: 'Each of us bears responsibility to speak the truth.
Before you can be courageous you have to be self-aware.
On the national level, you need to speak the truth about your country.
On the religious level, your personal beliefs.'
Our deepest truths are fragile; they become more solid in principle when shared with others.
Gloria Steinem urged us in her talk at MCLA to speak the truth, to restore reality, to find a group where we can tell the truth.

I am grateful to the artists in this Courage event who spoke their truth about courage.
> > > > > > > >
  Looking at Rockwell's "Four Freedoms,"                                                                                                    how do they speak about courage?

Suzi Banks Baum from Laundry Line Divine
was invited  to write a poem about this painting 
from a mother's perspective.
                                                                 Freedom from Fear
             

 
Suzi Banks Baum by "Freedom from Fear"   photo by Tammis Coffin
 Suzy's piece begins here:
"Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray thee Lord my Soul to keep"

I bet these parents said something like this as they tucked these two children in to bed. Turned off the light, closed the curtains. One more kiss.

Then, they escaped to the living room below; follow the light streaming up the staircase. They talk, compare notes; share the intimacies of tired parents
on an ordinary day, they read the newspaper to each other.

Here, you can sit with them, pull up a bench as they listen to the radio. Hear the reports of bombs being dropped in Europe and stories of young American men filling boats to head "Over there"...or, wait. I can hear stories about barrel bombs being dropped on Syrian neighborhoods where children are sitting in makeshift schools. I can hear the drums behind the chanting of the mothers of Fukushima with babes in arms demanding no more nukes. I can hear a story of a father covering his children with his body as a bomb in a soup pot laid by the son of another man takes the legs off Boston marathoners.

Those two parents hurry back upstairs to check, to touch the sweaty heads of these two children. To touch and to know, for now, there is freedom from fear.

We have all done this. Look at the hands of the mother, lifting the blanket lightly so as not to rouse her children. Let them sleep, he says.

And so, we do as Margaret J. Wheatley asks us to do, "Fearlessness demands that we take time to look at whatever feels threatening to us in all its complexity. We step in to the fear, in to the moment, and watch how by acknowledging and moving closer, fear dissipates and fearlessness arises."

As a mother you are on the front line of that complexity.
You are on the playground or ride the subway watching, always watching.
You stand in line with your teen-ager enlisting for a tour of who knows what kind of adventure.
I can only speak as a mother, but I witness this in my husband, as parents, we step forward, in front of our children regardless of the threat. We wear out the newspapers and guide books, bend the ears of our elders asking, longing to know what it is that threatens and we study it in all its complexity.

Love is very simple. Freedom, more complex. If we, as mothers, want freedom from fear for our children, we cannot help but want that for all children. Like Franklin Delano Roosevelt said in his January 6, 1941 speech that inspired Rockwell to paint the Four Freedoms, we want that for people,  "everywhere in the world".  Freedom from fear requires us to know more deeply all that threatens us. In doing so, we will know we are equal to whatever is asked of us.

Step in the way of fear today. Wipe your hands on your apron and dive in to it with heart of compassion, for in the Tibetan tradition, fearlessness is an act of generosity. If we want it for ourselves, we want it for all beings. Or, as FDR said, everywhere in the world.

And you know, your mother would want you to share.
   Suzi Banks Baum



    
  On seeing "Freedom of Worship," Jan Hutchinson
 chose to write a poem about the courage of aging
Jan Hutchinson by "Freedom of Worship"

Freedom of Worship

                                         Poems by Jan Hutchinson

      2/27/14            Notes toward Courage

Courage is a thing of the heart,
a small bird who sings
way out on a limb
through a hurricane wind.

It takes courage even to be kind to yourself.

When your wicked stepmother
peering out of psyche’s mirror,
enumerates your faults and failures,
smile and tell her,

Mirror, mirror, on the wall,
just so you know,
I accept it all:

Beauty and ugliness
Success and failure
Living and dying
Fullness and emptiness.

Neither the outer challenges
nor the psyche’s
wicked stepmother
can have power
where there is courage,
where there is Grace.



12/3/2012b
          Let’s not let
the inevitable
vulnerability of aging
turn into fear.

Let’s sit and observe
our vulnerability
from high up
in the life guard chair
of the witness self.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 Tom Daly,  Director of Education at the NRM, is ever-helpful in pointing out the stories behind the Rockwell paintings.
Last year's theme was trust, and Tom pointed out how the lineman in the painting of the same name trusted his equipment. This year he noted how the lineman's expression radiated confidence and courage. I placed Francesca Margulies near the Lineman painting so that her eurythmy movements would echo the courage felt in this painting.

"The Lineman"
 Francesca Margulies led the audience in Eurythmy in the Main Gallery




Rabbi Kaya Stern-Kaufman
Rabbi Kaya Stern-Kaufman

Rabbi Kaya Stern-Kaufman spoke about the courage of compassion when she told the story of Antoinette Tuffs, a teacher in Georgia who disarmed a gunman bent on killing schoolchildren, by meeting him with empathy as well as fear. Rabbi Stern-Kaufman spoke about the way in which both Antoinette Tuff and the Israelites found courage by anchoring themselves in God.
'Antoinette used this phrase,"I anchored myself in God,"  repeatedly when asked how she found the courage to stay present with this gunman,' said Rabbi Stern-Kaufman. 'And so, too, the Israelites, after crossing the sea burst into song: " Ozi v'zimrat Yah, vayehi li li'shuah - God is my strength and my song, God was my salvation."
The Rabbi  led the audience in singing this triumphant song.


Eve Schatz, left:  'Courage is my shield.'
Gabrielle Senza, right: the courage of vulnerability
and speaking your truth ~Walk Unafraid Project 

Rabbi Kaya Stern-Kaufman, Eve Schatz and Gabrielle Senza stood by the Thanksgiving painting of Rockwell's that honors the returning war hero, showing a son in uniform happily peeling potatoes next to his mother, who is grateful for his return from the front. 
Each woman represented a present-day hero and their presence by this painting was meant to underscore the absence of  praise and recognition for veterans returning from war today. 
What aspect of courage did they represent?
Rabbi Kaya Stern-Kaufman: the courage of compassion of Antoinette Tuffsthe courage and trust of the Israelites
Eve Schatz: Winner of the unsung hero award for founding the Free Legal Clinic of South Berkshire County, represented herself and shared an understanding of courage that arose from our meeting about this show; 'Courage is my shield.'
Artist and activist Gabrielle Senza silently held her Walk Unafraid Project  evidence kit that encourages breaking the silence of domestic violence and sexual abuse and speaking one's truth. The yellow crime scene tape in her kit has words of empowerment and encouragement. 



 Barbara and Graham Dean

Barbara and Graham Dean stood in the main gallery near the football hero paintings and introduced their Pete Seeger song naming Pete as our hero. They sang about the courage of speaking the truth about the Peekskill incident in the song 'Tomorrow is a Highway,words by Lee Hays and music by Pete Seeger. 
The audience cheered after this song; hope to get a video of this event.. meanwhile the link on the song goes to youtube of Pete singing the song. 

            ~~~
After leaving the Rotunda with the "Four Freedoms" and hearing Suzi Banks Baum and Jan Hutchinson's moving readings, we were led once again by WindRose Morris' flute to the galleries with work by Wendell Minor.  It was soothing to be surrounded by the bright images of  Wendell Minor's courageous creatures.

I stood by his 'I am Mountain' painting and sang my song 'I am Water and By Water am Led.' 
Rosemary Starace played dulcimer and Teresa Thomas led the audience in a flowing movement. 


                                                 Rosemary Starace, far left; JoAnne Spies, Teresa Thomas

By Water I Am Led

I'm standin' by the riverside
Lost and rambling in my pride
Never knowing in my heart or head
That I am water and by water am led 

Let the memory of the soft green ground
And the majesty of each simple sound
Hold me when I’m tumbling down
I am water, missing and found

Landlocked, full of fear
Sound your torrent that I may hear
Where I'm stubborn, let me flow
Where I'm ignorant, let me know 

Let the spirit of the earth and sky
Keep me and when I die
Carry me to the river and sea
I am water and I am free

 ©2007 words and music by JoAnne Spies
~~~~


Nathan Smith  stood by Wendell Minor's mouse painting (not the one pictured above) and told the story of having a mouse in his shirt, not knowing that the critter was there. The story ended with him honoring the mouse's point of view and then telling us about Thoreau and his friendship with a mouse. Nathan has written a show called 'Hearsay and Heresy' that includes Thoreau and it will be at the Rockwell Museum April 19th.


  
Andrew Joffee
We met Mr. Thoreau standing resplendent in a waistcoat by the Thoreau and  
Walden Pond paintings by Minor. Andrew Joffe
as Thoreau strode to the center of the wall of paintings and urged us to be courageous. 

                                                         ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
                                                            

                                           Mari Andrejco read Rachel Carson's words 
                                                  and captured her heroic spirit. 

                                                    C O U R A G E   Q U O T E S
Different people in the audience were randomly given quotes about courage before the performance.
Security guard Stephen Sykes unexpectedly popped into the room and read a quote when his number came up. 

Here are some of the quotes they read: 



 “To display the lantern of soul in shadowy times like these – to be fierce
and to show mercy toward others; both are acts of immense bravery and
 greatest necessity. Struggling souls catch light from other souls who are 
fully lit and willing to show it.”

“Vulnerability sounds like truth and feels like courage.”
― Brené Brown

 
It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, 
far more than our abilities. --J.K. Rowling
 
 
“I realize that if I wait until I am no longer afraid to act, write, speak, be, 
I'll be sending messages on a Ouija board, cryptic complaints from the other side” 
― Audre Lorde
 
 
The Hunter and the Woodman 
 
A HUNTER, not very bold, was searching for the tracks of a Lion. 
He asked a man felling oaks in the forest if he had seen any
marks of his footsteps or knew where his lair was.  "I will,"
said the man, "at once show you the Lion himself."  The Hunter,
turning very pale and chattering with his teeth from fear,
replied, "No, thank you.  I did not ask that; it is his track
only I am in search of, not the Lion himself."  
Aesop’s Fables       ‘The hero is brave in deeds as well as words.’  


You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop 
o look fear in the face .... You must do the thing you think you cannot do. 

Eleanor Roosevelt

  

"I have been terrified every moment of my life yet it never stopped me from doing anything 
I ever wanted to do." -Georgia O'Keefe


“Fall seven times, stand up eight.” – Chinese Proverb



“You were given this life, because you are strong enough to live it.” – Robin Sharma





“In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer.” - Albert Camus

 
  

“Nobody can hurt me without my permission.” - Mahatma Gandhi





“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” - Winston Churchill


 

"Courage is the discovery that you may not win, and trying when you know you can lose."

- Tom Krause

 Courage is grace under pressure.
                       Ernest Hemingway
 
According to Maya Angelou: Courage is the most important of the virtues, because without courage you can't practice any other virtue consistently. You can practice any virtue erratically, but nothing consistently without courage.

Winston Churchill: Courage is rightly esteemed the first of human qualities ... because it is the quality that guarantees all others.
  
Moral Courage is the willingness to stand up when others want you to sit down.
 
Courage! What makes a king out of a slave? Courage! What makes the flag on the mast to wave? Courage! What makes the elephant charge his tusk in the misty mist, or the dusky dusk? What makes the muskrat guard his musk? Courage! What makes the sphinx the seventh wonder? Courage! What makes the dawn come up like thunder? Courage! What makes the Hottentot so hot? What puts the "ape" in apricot? What have they got that I ain't got?



 


 
 Against a backdrop Wendell Minor's illustrations of Eskimo, wolves and polar bears, 
 WindRose Morris sang an eloquent song in praise of the earth and her cycles 
 which give us life called 'Tonanzin.'

WindRose led everyone with her drum back to the Main Gallery where we all circled up for the finale. Poet Jan Hutchinson stood by the "Golden Rule" and read a prayer written by Pauline Dongala called 'Pure Essence.'
   
 Pure Essence, reveal to us that we have the choice to give happiness, Pure Essence come to us. Prepare us.
Open our hearts to Peace and Love.
Open our eyes to see the beauty of your garden.
Open our ears to hear sublime language.
Pure Essence, help us to understand and accept the diversity in the world.
so we can live all together as a blended race beyond the ignorance which creates racism. 
Pure Essence, enter those who are in charge of the destiny of this world
so that they might lead us with dignity, truth, and wisdom
so that we will have a new world without fear.
Pure Essence, bring healing to those who have been wounded by violence
so that they may regain confidence and know who they are and what they have.
Pure Essence, help us to awaken and to live
every moment of our lives in peace wherever we are.
Pauline Dongala
                                                  ~~~~~~~~~~~ 
I invited the audience to sing 'Peace Like A River' and we sang the verses loud, especially 'strength like a mountain in my soul.'









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