I Can't Stop

Becky sent me a link to a video message from Heather Cox Richardson....a political historian I greatly admire. I read her newsletter, Letters from an American every single morning. 

Here's Heather's message about joy from the video:

“One of the really important things to remember going forward as we fear the rise of authoritarianism in the United States is that authoritarians cannot rise if there are strong communities and people are acting with joy. That is, you need despair and anger in order for an authoritarian to rise. Whatever those things are that you bring to the community, do them, and do them with joy. And don’t stop doing them because you are scared, because that is actually a form of resistance. Showing up and doing things you love says to an authoritarian you have no place to root here, and that’s going to be really important going forward.” Heather Cox Richardson 

Inspired by Ricki Midbrod and a Fodder School 2 lesson...I'm now making very simple skinny tags. 

I actually can't stop making them...and pretty soon I'm going to have enough to actually do something with. And it DOES feel like an act of resistance. And right now....that feels like joy.

I'm sticking with the simple collage backgrounds from strips of various papers...and I'm embellishing them with a bit of gold paint for texture and bling. This background is a combination of gelli prints and a little scrapbook paper....

and makes a very pretty and simple tag. And I had another idea for backgrounds today that I'm pretty excited about...I'll share that tomorrow. 

 

And just in case anyone was wondering.....I have two blooms open on the second amaryllis stem...and they're just as spectacular as the first ones. 

It's kind of like the second child...less photos...but just as much joy.

And...Paul came home with a found object....just the earpiece thingamajig from a pair of glasses. I think it's going to be a useful scraping tool for gelli plate printing....or...just look good in the found object jar! 

Found objects are few and far between in the winter with the snow....and we can't stop picking them up! (I knew I could fit the title back in here at the end!)