Elizabeth Taylor Gazing
Liz Taylor Eyes
I distorted her face, but I think that she is still recognizable. I say that she is gazing, but that is too soft a word to describe her penetrating eyes. She is sizing things up and holding her ground. She says, "Dont mess with Liz." I think that she could vaporize you, just by turning the electricity up one little notch. She was a real bitch in "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof". I would rewatch that film tonight if I had it.
She is a Medusa, you can almost see the snakes!
I had trouble finding my inner shark. People were running all over me, I had to learn to stand my ground. Maybe that search is why I made this picture.
Recently Dave and I were waiting for our ice cream orders. The sun was too bright for comfort, but in the shade of the restaurant porch it was lovely. Sitting at the next picnic table from us was an adorable family. A young Mommy and Daddy and a beautiful girl, about 10 months old. The child was sitting between the two parents on the table, playing with car keys. She gurgled with happy. She put the keys in her mouth and her father took them away. Baby went from happy to throwing a hissy in less than ten seconds. She cried a few minutes and Daddy gave the keys back. She put the keys in her mouth, and he took them away. There were several repetitions of: playing with keys and happy, keys in mouth, keys taken away, loud screams. Father was embarrassed by the crying and soon let her keep the keys just to avoid a scene.
Did she get bad germs from the keys and get sick? Daddy was trying to protect her and teach her. Or, maybe the germs on the keys stimulated her immune system. Children need to be exposed to some bacteria, this causes their body to create immunity that will be with them all their life. It is hard, sometimes impossible, to know what is right.
Driving back to our Dauphine Island Cabin, Dave and I talked and agreed that it was wrong to aggravate Baby with the keys. She was too young to learn to keep things out of her mouth. Infants are hard wired to put everything in their mouth. If I remember right they are only ready to learn to keep things out of their mouth at three or four years old.
If they had been really super doooper parents they would have brought a chew toy for her. They would have been acquainted with developmental stages. They were loving, attentive parents, out for ice cream.
Their mistake was small, and may not have much effect on the growing human. But simple, innocent interactions like this, if repeated, may have long lasting consequences for the child.
This is a small incident, the parents were obviously doing the best they knew how. Parents make mistake like this every day. No one knows exactly the right way to raise a child.
Once, I remember thinking, perhaps when I was in my forties, I thought, my parents made me neurotic, and I am making my children neurotic. I mean, no one is qualified for such a serious job.
I have many pleasurable and informing memories from my childhood. My parents were loving and took their parenting responsibilities seriously. They wanted me to turn out well so they raised me up according to strict Christian ethics. Daddy had a good Air Force job. We traveled and saw the world. We were part of the military, fighting for right.
I went to 13 schools before I graduated high school. I never belonged, in the north they called me a southern rebel. The war between the states was still in collective memory, that explains the rebel part. In the south they called me a damn yankee. Damned, because the north won the war. My accent was always wrong. I was in fifth grade before I realized that the north won the civil war. My father's family remembered the boys that fell in that war. The boys were heroes. Talking about the loosing part would have subtracted points from their hero status. Hell, they just did not want to admit that they were losers.
My mother was relatively attentive. My father was gone away on Air Force assignments. I was born about 1 month before the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Did I, on some level feel the screams of the victims? Like Jung, I believe that we are all connected.
My mother and father were loving and relatively attentive. They were sure that they knew the right way to raise a child. The Bible told them what to do, people are born into sin and it must be whipped out. They were not confused, they had certainty. They had hard and fast rules.
I was a relative attentive parent. I made many mistakes that my children must try to sort out. I really wanted to be a good Mom, but there was a lot of static. I was not sure what to do. I was confused. I just wanted to break all those damn righteous rules that I was raised with.
I made many stupid mistakes. I am sorry. This is my public apology to my children. I am sorry.
I am still trying to get things right.
But back to the family on the porch. They were loving and attentive, just uninformed. If it is this easy to make a parental mistake, no wonder that we are all screwed up.
Excuse me! You are not screwed up? You are insulted that I would include you in with the confused masses of the world. Your parents did everything right, or you have overcome their stupidities? Well, good for you dahlin' I hope that hasnt made you judgmental and superior. Arnt you the epitome of perfection.
We must examine and accept our own faults so that we can understand the faults of others. Compassion for ourself and others is the basis of learning real love.
It is so disappointing to realize our human condition of not knowing. We want to know, "Where did we come from? Where are we going? Why are we here?". This is a quote from Gauguin. We ask questions and want them answered. We NEED to know. This is the attraction of religion. The preacher tells you exactly what is right. Uncertainty is just feeling ignorant. But there are no concrete answers. We are left with just the consolation of appreciating Mystery.
Enough blathering. I will sign off now. I hope that you have a stellar day.
She is a Medusa, you can almost see the snakes!
I had trouble finding my inner shark. People were running all over me, I had to learn to stand my ground. Maybe that search is why I made this picture.
An Event at the Ice Cream Place
Recently Dave and I were waiting for our ice cream orders. The sun was too bright for comfort, but in the shade of the restaurant porch it was lovely. Sitting at the next picnic table from us was an adorable family. A young Mommy and Daddy and a beautiful girl, about 10 months old. The child was sitting between the two parents on the table, playing with car keys. She gurgled with happy. She put the keys in her mouth and her father took them away. Baby went from happy to throwing a hissy in less than ten seconds. She cried a few minutes and Daddy gave the keys back. She put the keys in her mouth, and he took them away. There were several repetitions of: playing with keys and happy, keys in mouth, keys taken away, loud screams. Father was embarrassed by the crying and soon let her keep the keys just to avoid a scene.
Did she get bad germs from the keys and get sick? Daddy was trying to protect her and teach her. Or, maybe the germs on the keys stimulated her immune system. Children need to be exposed to some bacteria, this causes their body to create immunity that will be with them all their life. It is hard, sometimes impossible, to know what is right.
Driving back to our Dauphine Island Cabin, Dave and I talked and agreed that it was wrong to aggravate Baby with the keys. She was too young to learn to keep things out of her mouth. Infants are hard wired to put everything in their mouth. If I remember right they are only ready to learn to keep things out of their mouth at three or four years old.
If they had been really super doooper parents they would have brought a chew toy for her. They would have been acquainted with developmental stages. They were loving, attentive parents, out for ice cream.
Their mistake was small, and may not have much effect on the growing human. But simple, innocent interactions like this, if repeated, may have long lasting consequences for the child.
This is a small incident, the parents were obviously doing the best they knew how. Parents make mistake like this every day. No one knows exactly the right way to raise a child.
Once, I remember thinking, perhaps when I was in my forties, I thought, my parents made me neurotic, and I am making my children neurotic. I mean, no one is qualified for such a serious job.
I have many pleasurable and informing memories from my childhood. My parents were loving and took their parenting responsibilities seriously. They wanted me to turn out well so they raised me up according to strict Christian ethics. Daddy had a good Air Force job. We traveled and saw the world. We were part of the military, fighting for right.
I went to 13 schools before I graduated high school. I never belonged, in the north they called me a southern rebel. The war between the states was still in collective memory, that explains the rebel part. In the south they called me a damn yankee. Damned, because the north won the war. My accent was always wrong. I was in fifth grade before I realized that the north won the civil war. My father's family remembered the boys that fell in that war. The boys were heroes. Talking about the loosing part would have subtracted points from their hero status. Hell, they just did not want to admit that they were losers.
My mother was relatively attentive. My father was gone away on Air Force assignments. I was born about 1 month before the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Did I, on some level feel the screams of the victims? Like Jung, I believe that we are all connected.
My mother and father were loving and relatively attentive. They were sure that they knew the right way to raise a child. The Bible told them what to do, people are born into sin and it must be whipped out. They were not confused, they had certainty. They had hard and fast rules.
I was a relative attentive parent. I made many mistakes that my children must try to sort out. I really wanted to be a good Mom, but there was a lot of static. I was not sure what to do. I was confused. I just wanted to break all those damn righteous rules that I was raised with.
I made many stupid mistakes. I am sorry. This is my public apology to my children. I am sorry.
I am still trying to get things right.
But back to the family on the porch. They were loving and attentive, just uninformed. If it is this easy to make a parental mistake, no wonder that we are all screwed up.
Excuse me! You are not screwed up? You are insulted that I would include you in with the confused masses of the world. Your parents did everything right, or you have overcome their stupidities? Well, good for you dahlin' I hope that hasnt made you judgmental and superior. Arnt you the epitome of perfection.
We must examine and accept our own faults so that we can understand the faults of others. Compassion for ourself and others is the basis of learning real love.
It is so disappointing to realize our human condition of not knowing. We want to know, "Where did we come from? Where are we going? Why are we here?". This is a quote from Gauguin. We ask questions and want them answered. We NEED to know. This is the attraction of religion. The preacher tells you exactly what is right. Uncertainty is just feeling ignorant. But there are no concrete answers. We are left with just the consolation of appreciating Mystery.
Enough blathering. I will sign off now. I hope that you have a stellar day.
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