For Ethel

On the 110th Anniversary of Her Birth.

There is a past that never leaves us. For creatives, one challenge throughout life is how to claim that past as a well that we draw from, rather than a precipice we risk falling into. In my revisitations of the past, I find myself buoyed by the figures that fortified me, whether in acts of kindness or as fixtures of unexpected care. I have learned toughly and slowly that the moments that sting, the times when one is denied, will continue to sting for a lifetime if they aren’t released.

“These mountains you’ve been carrying you were only meant to climb.” — Najwa Zebian 

Climb, don’t carry. The terrain will forever shape your feet, but the weight will evade you.