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‘MAN and FREEDOM’ Ivan Mestrovic Mayo Clinic, Rochester,Minnesota
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I experienced my first icon of transcendence: the colossal black bronze sculpture of a naked man hovering upon the white marble façade of the Mayo Clinic. The head and chin were tilted upward. The torso was in a forever inhale. The arms were opened, wide, raised upwards to the Heavens. The feet were arched as if to take flight. The body reflected light like a dark star – a visual annunciation of receiving a powerful and loving Divinity. He was naked, exposed, in his stark and silent vulnerability and emanated an edict: the strength of radical hope – rising and prevailing. The visual code of this sculpture did not signify an incapacitated, helpless man. This colossal black bronze sculpture, to me, signified the soul’s life force – humanity’s capacity to overcome the internal choke of fear by a herculean inner strength of courage and faith. The body was not a battle or a battlefield. The naked body was exhaling fear and inhaling the Divine. Her/oic. Profound.
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VIDEO
Rising Grace
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ELEgancE #10 detail Catherine L. Johnson 2019
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AWCCLJcœurrisingGRACEgraceLOVERISINGCO UR AGE / cœurageAWCCLJ
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Posted in CATHERINE L. JOHNSON / INTERDISCIPLINARY ARTIST , tagged #840 + ELEgancE #1 / #2 2018 Catherine L. Johnson + INFInity / ETERnity + Y/OUR brEath; CATHERINE L. JOHNSON; , #841 + Winter SOL(soul) STICE + ELEgancE #3/ #4/ #5 2018 Catherine L. Johnson + Dedicated to the bountiful GRACE LUMINOSITY of HOLLY COTTOR on her birthday; CATHERINE L. JOHNSON; , #843 + 29 DECEMBER + ELEgancE #6 2018 Catherine L. Johnson + BORN/NEW/BORN + "FOREVER YOUNG"; CATHERINE L. JOHNSON; , #844 + ELEgancE #7 2018 Catherine L. Johnson + WONDER AWE 2019 + TREASURE HEART> GRACELOVE IS OPENDEEPWIDEIMPROVISATIONALSOARINGBRILLIANTRADICALHOPE UNFURLING COURAGE BLISS ACTION; CATHERINE L. JOH , #845 + ELEgancE #8 2019 Catherine L. Johnson + 15 JanUary 2019 + AWAKEN/WOKE/INGS + To make an end is to make a beginning - T.S Eliot. , #846 + ELEgancE #9 2019 Catherine L. Johnson + DARE to MOVE FORWARD + "...by ALL means KEEP MOVING." Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.; CATHERINE L. JOHNSON; , #848 + ELEgancE #10/ #11 2019 Catherine L. Johnson + Fantastic Negrito - Plastic Hamburgers + Stacey Abrams says 'We do NOT succeed alone'; CATHERINE L. JOHNSON; , #849 + 12 February 2019 + Abraham Lincoln ENTERED the world + ELEgancE #12 2019 Catherine L. Johnson + Henry Threadgill's "CELEBRATION" ; CATHERINE L. JOHNSON; , Celebrating Henry - A Threadgill Festival; Catherine L. Johnson; , Dr. Mark B. Coventry MAYO CLINIC; Catherine L. Johnson; , Henry Threadgill and Anthony Cox; CATHERINE L. JOHNSON; , Henry Threadgill; Catherine L. Johnson; , Philip Bither + Henry Threadgill + Michelle Kinney; Catherine L. Johnson; on February 12, 2019|
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PLEASE CLICK ON IMAGES TO ENLARGE + FOR DETAIL
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ELEgancE #12 Catherine L. Johnson 2019
An improvisational performance of gold pencil on black paper.
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VIDEO
HENRY THREADGILL
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Celebrating Henry:
A Threadgill Festival
15 February + 16 February 2019
@
WALKER ART CENTER
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Walker Art Center McGuire Theater
15 February 2019
Henry Threadgill’s birthday
Philip Bither / Henry Threadgill / Michelle Kinney (CLJ)
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Henry Threadgill / CLJ / Anthony Cox
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Anthony Cox honoring Henry Threadgill on his birthday
acknowledging Threadgill’s improvisational gifts, inspiration and his legacy.
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Anthony’s arrangement of Threadgill’s ‘Paper Toilet’.
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My maternal Grandfather,
Emil Cottor,
gifted me
Abraham Lincoln
bookends
when I was 7 years old.
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A gift before my next scheduled
reconstructive orthopedic surgery.
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My
beloved
Dr. Mark B. Coventry,
Mayo Clinic,
provided me
the life template of Abraham Lincoln
as a blueprint of living
a life of honor, respect, grace and vision
navigating
a life of adversity.
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The evening before surgery was always a time of me entering a sacred space.
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Grandpa Cottor,
after THE ceremonious “pre-surgery” dinner
my Mother prepared
attended by my sister and brothers,
Lynne, Bill Blake,
presented me
a wrapped box with satin ribbons.
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I was a wide-eyed child:
everything was wonder and awe and fear and courage.
The box was very, very, very heavy.
I opened it slowly and carefully,
rapt with anticipation,
and
when I saw
the busts of Abraham Lincoln,
I was overwhelmed with joy.
I burst out crying an ocean of joy!
Crying was not easy for me – living in body casts stifled crying.
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Grandpa Cottor KNEW Abraham Lincoln
was a signal,
a secret code,
a dynamic symbol to me.
The fact of my Grandpa’s knowing
rushed
the feelings of being seen and loved
throughout
my body.
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On 12th February,
when I was home from the hospital,
my Mother, Doris Cottor Johnson Omlie,
always had a birthday cake
celebrating
the life of my childhood hero.
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GRACE LOVE.
AWE LOVE.
WONDER LOVE.
DIGNITY.
RADICAL HOPE.
VISIONARY.
INTEGRITY.
COMPASSION.
COURAGE.
Cœur .
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Catherine Louise Johnson
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Catherine – meaning “pure, clear”.
I was named in honor of my maternal grandmother:
Edna Catherine Strand Cottor.
My Grandma Cottor was an elegant and extraordinary force of life.
She was confined to bed at 53 y/o with Rheumatoid Arthritis.
Her body was frozen in the space of her bed.
Grandma Cottor’s remarkable creative intelligence
explored/ traveled the world and beyond.
Her body was frail and her presence radiated colossal.
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Louise – meaning “famous warrior, renowned fighter”.
I was named in honor of my paternal grandmother:
Florence Louise Knoblach Johnson.
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Johnson – I kept my Daddy’s last name in honor of him,
Richard Harold Johnson,
who fought for me and my rights to thrive while living in hospitals
My Daddy was killed in a car accident when he was 32.
I kept the last name Johnson in honor of my Daddy’s brother,
William Henry Johnson,
a WWII pilot, who was killed at 23 y/o in his B-17
– safely returning his crew in his heavily damaged plane,
flying over the cliffs of Dover from a bombing mission.
He ordered his remarkable crew to bail out.
Uncle Bill’s faltering plane was heading toward a farmhouse
with a family waving their arms.
Uncle Bill, at 23 years old. made the decision to avert the farmhouse
and
he went down with his plane.
I was told, multiple times,
by my Daddy’s family how they were
PROUD
that I kept the name
JOHNSON
with fortitude, grace, honor and respect
of those before me
who lived their lives known
by the name
JOHNSON.
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My beloved
– Johnson side –
cousin “sister”
and
niece to my Daddy,
Connie Cates Shella,
lived, persevered and endured
with
grace, love and valor.
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I am aware,
at my age now,
I could be my Daddy’s parent
and
I could be my Uncle Bill’s aunt.
Yet, they are forever monumental to me.
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I can only hope
I live the life
that echoes the names I was given
and
amplify the templates
I was provided as a blueprint,
a vision,
to rise
in my own life.
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NAMING
“Words are things.
You must be careful, careful about calling people
out of their names,
using racial pejoratives and sexual pejoratives and all that ignorance.
Don’t do that.
Some day we’ll be able to measure the power of words.
I think they are things.
They get on the walls.
They get in your wallpaper.
They get in your rugs,
in your upholstery,
and
your clothes,
and
finally in to
you.”
Maya Angelou
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WEARELOVEAWCCLJROLLEDDINMUDROLLEDINGOLDOVERANDOVERBEAUTIFUL
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ELEgancE #10 Catherine L. Johnson 2019
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ELEgancE #10 (detail *) Catherine L. Johnson 2019
*The iridescence in the graphite/black lead reflects the light and presents a luminous silver.
Graphite pencils – HB/ 2B/ 4B on black paper.
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ELEgancE #11 Catherine L. Johnson 2019
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VIDEO
Fantastic Negrito – Plastic Hamburgers
VIDEO
Fantastic Negrito says
‘I am Fantastic Negrito, but I did NOT get here alone…’
VIDEO
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VIDEO
Stacey Abrams says ‘We do NOT succeed alone’
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=RAFNEGOTIATORNEW BREEDLEADER=AWC =SONICGENIUSAWE MANRRMANWONDERCOLLABORATOR
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Posted in CATHERINE L. JOHNSON / INTERDISCIPLINARY ARTIST , tagged #794 + THE REVEREND DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING , #840 + ELEgancE #1 / #2 2018 Catherine L. Johnson + INFInity / ETERnity + Y/OUR brEath; CATHERINE L. JOHNSON; , #841 + Winter SOL(soul) STICE + ELEgancE #3/ #4/ #5 2018 Catherine L. Johnson + Dedicated to the bountiful GRACE LUMINOSITY of HOLLY COTTOR on her birthday; CATHERINE L. JOHNSON; , #843 + 29 DECEMBER + ELEgancE #6 2018 Catherine L. Johnson + BORN/NEW/BORN + "FOREVER YOUNG"; CATHERINE L. JOHNSON; , #844 + ELEgancE #7 2018 Catherine L. Johnson + WONDER AWE 2019 + TREASURE HEART> GRACELOVE IS OPENDEEPWIDEIMPROVISATIONALSOARINGBRILLIANTRADICALHOPE UNFURLING COURAGE BLISS ACTION; CATHERINE L. JOH , #845 + ELEgancE #8 2019 Catherine L. Johnson + 15 JanUary 2019 + AWAKEN/WOKE/INGS + To make an end is to make a beginning - T.S Eliot. , #846 + ELEgancE #9 2019 Catherine L. Johnson + DARE to MOVE FORWARD + "...by ALL means KEEP MOVING." Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.; CATHERINE L. JOHNSON; , HARRIS WOFFORD + POLITICO: "What I Saw at Selma" ; CATHERINE L. JOHNSON; , Senator Harris Wofford + Suzanne Wofford + Dan Wofford + Dan Wofford; CATHERINE L. JOHNSON; on January 21, 2019|
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PLEASE CLICK ON IMAGES TO ENLARGE + FOR DETAIL
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ELEgancE #9
Graphite pencil on Kraft paper.
An improvisation.
The drawn graphite lines
shift
from rich black lead color
to
luminous silver
with the interplay
of
the ambient light
and
the position of the viewer
– all in relation
to the contemporaneous variables.
Dynamic.
Intimate.
Dialectical.
Performance.
Attending.
Change is constant.
Movement in stillness.
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Life is not static nor fixed.
HABITS of perception / REACTING.
Conditioned optics shaped by arbitrary convention
and
hard-wired by continuous, repetitive practice
without questioning or awareness .
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A / LIVE
VISION /ary.
RADICAL hope .
SACRED listening.
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DARE to DREAM .
DARE to ACT .
DARE to MOVE FORWARD .
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ELEgancE #9 Catherine L. Johnson 2019
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ELEgancE #9 (detail *) Catherine L. Johnson 2019
*The iridescence in the graphite/black lead reflects the light and presents a luminous silver.
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NEW BREED LEADERS keep MOVING FORWARD!
They MUST –
for it is the responsibility / meaning / life force
of their
DIVINE gifts.
Red Sea crossings.
EXODU S .
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EXODUSIMFREEATLASTIAINTGOINGBACKIMFREE CATHERINE L. JOHNSON 2013
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THE HUMANITY PORTFOLIO 2013
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Harris L. Wofford
9 April 1926 – 21 January 2019
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Blessings of luminous grace and love to our cousins:
his daughter, Susanne Wofford;
his son, Dan Wofford;
his son, David Wofford;
his husband, Matthew Charlton;
his beloved family;
to
ALL
social justice / civil rights
visionaries / activists
and
to his dedicated colleagues / collaborators,
past and present,
who
RISE FOR HUMANITY.
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NEWBREEDLEADERAWCYOUMOVEFORWARDBECAUSEYOUMUSTYOURLIFEISTORISEANDTOBESEENLOVED
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ELEgancE #8 Catherine L. Johnson 2019
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Nature’s offering outside my loft. My sacred listening to Nature’s offerings. Private RHYTHM.
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15 January 1997.
The last evening of my Mother’s life.
Doris Eileen Cottor Johnson Omlie.
She spoke to me with a quiet and searing lullaby/hymn voice.
I listened to the sonics of her voice
its intonation, pause, lift, emphasis, rhythm
– the delivery of a score, a choreography,
her annunciation for me.
Her words were illuminations
instantly etched/embedded forever
into my heartsoul
– becoming my blueprint,
my light in darkness and my mantra.
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The following morning 16 January at 9 am,
I found my Mother’s warm lifeless body
– her robin’s egg blue eyes open,
her head tilted toward the window,
her artist’s right arm lying
on top of her bed sheets
and
her hand palm up, open.
Her dogs were asleep,
breathing heavily in deep dreams,
at the end of her bed.
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There was a low,
rich vibrating energy,
a golden presence
that drew me to her.
I listened to its sound.
I discovered her end.
I prayed for strength and grace
to guide me in my new beginning.
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Thank YOU Mom for y/our
EXODUS song
for me
– my gospel song to
enter the Wilderness
of uncharted territories
adapting, improvising, overcoming
with
FAITH
+
OPEN HEART
+
RADICAL HOPE
+
GRACE LOVE.
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ELEgancE #7 Catherine L. Johnson 2018
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My NEW YEAR’s OFFERING/BLESSING to you:
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The present was an egg
laid by the past
that had the future
inside its shell.
Zora Neale Hurston
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JASPAR OBI
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Jaspar Obi
is my little man,
MY STAND BY ME
on 4legs.
He is my cherished
11 year old English Springer Spaniel.
My constant, faithful and enthusiastic
WING man
to ALL
my outdoor adventures
and
my creative adventures.
Jaspar Obi
is my
fierce/protective lion at my gate
who KNOWS
my code and my embedded passwords
to my
HEARTSOUL
behind my fortress and moat.
He is the entrusted “drawbridge”.
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Jaspar Obi,
as his soul slowly lifts away
from his increasingly frail body,
is now
my mentor/detectivepriest
teaching me without words
about
improvisational LOVE,
the true authentic
sacred dynamic
of
GRACE LOVE:
which OPENS hearts
deeper and wider
that WELCOMES uncertainty
as discovery, exciting,
and
is
the testament/practice
of
REAL freedom .
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This voyage
of
GRACE LOVE
is
NOT
for fearful pale hearts
who do
NOT
have the capacity to
“sacred listen” ,
nor the s/hero’s STRENGTH + willingness
to
enter the unknown
and
who do
NOT
access/activate their own internal
“divining rod”.
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The
choice
to be
a truth seeker
is to
drop the dense slippery veils of denial
– continuously with determination/strength,
is to
stay resolved to learn/know
what they may not want to learn.
and
is the
strength + willingness to navigate
the turbulent, starless, fathomless seas
of
concealment
and
uncertainty
in the
requisite
vision quests.
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GRACE LOVE
IS
OPENDEEP WIDE
IMPROVISATIONAL SOARING
BRILLIANTRADICAL HOPE
UNFURLING
COURAGE
BLISS
ACTION!
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GRACE LOVE
becomes
A CONSCIOUS CHOICE
directed by the
“divining rod”
of
YOUR
TREASURE HEART.
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Those who choose
to
LIVE LOVE
as
BOUNDLESS INFINITE LIGHT
through
darkness and uncertainty
LIVE BEAUTY;
LIVE TRUTH;
LIVE COURAGE;
LIVE STRENGTH;
LIVE RADICAL HOPE;
LIVE BLOOMING GARDENS of BEAUTY;
LIVE KINDNESS;
LIVE DIGNITY;
LIVE HONESTY;
LIVE VULNERABILITY;
LIVE the ART of LOVING.
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Love is difficult
– yet,
loving is an unfurling blessed revelation of joy
loving is a relational messy verb
– a wild A/LIVE river.
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GRACE LOVE
is not a possession,
is not a commodity,
is not a barter,
nor an arrangement of convenience
that controls or can be controlled.
It is a breath gift of immeasurable value to your heartsoul.
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GRACE LOVE
loving is not falling
– it is riSING to SEE
and
willing to be SEEN!
A decision.
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GRACE LOVE
is calling out an expedition,
a call out adventure to be ALL the things…
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VIDEO
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The
revelation and response
of
GRACE LOVE’s
CALL
is
to cross the threshold
and
ENTER
an
intimate dance
with/for a treasured beloved
into
WONDER + AWE!
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To LIVE
GRACE LOVE
is
WONDER + AWE!
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GRACE LOVE
is a testament,
a breathing LIVING template
of the
coUrage, STRENGTH + capacity
to
break open.
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GRACE LOVE
is a hymn of the sublime
and
KNOWING
love
is
boundless, creative,
authentic STRONG
when
the hurricane lamp guide
is:
“We will figure it out”,
“I see YOU”
and
“Yes,
life is amaZING GRACE”
IS
the
VITAL / DYNAMIC dialectic
of
Y/OUR
awareness;
that listening to silence is hearing
and
KNOWING
the story
of
your choices
and
awakenings
and
relationships
is
YOUR life.
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Yes,
KNOWING
YOU
are the gardener,
the pilot,
the flight,
the belief,
the practice of RADICAL hope without a map
and
WITH
ONLY
the light in the DARK sTar nights
to guide you
into
the unknown, open, bountiful
fields
of
GRACE LOVE.
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DARK sTar #3 Catherine L. Johnson 2018
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Your
story
is
which relationships
you chose/choose
to nourish/nurture/dance
WITH
and
you
cherished
as
unrepeatable, sacred
irreplaceable
DISCOVERY ADVENTURE
treasures
– a synergistic fit of goodness to each + all.
Your story
is also
the choices of your exits,
your letting go of relationships
that are no longer respectful or honorable or truthful
of
you AND/OR them.
To live lies is to steal/extinguish light.
Cruel theft.
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Choosing
heal/thy
IS
I / ThOU.
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The Cottor family KNOWS
GRACE LOVE
the active choice to move forward ,
to go WITH the beloved,
to go beyond:
conventional wisdom, boundaries, expectations.
My cousins, Holly and Jonathan Cottor ,
KNOW + LIVE GRACE LOVE.
My Uncle Bob and Aunt Sharon Cottor
KNOW + LIVE GRACE LOVE.
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Improvisational creative geniuses
KNOW + LIVE GRACE LOVE !
They MUST
because
they cannot deceive/lie
to
themselves.
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To choose
RiSING
RESU RGENCE
is
to go waaaay
beyond
conventional wisdom
and
to have faith that you do
taste/touch/see
the Dark sTar
within
LIGHT.
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Pioneers .
Hurricane LAMPS.
Mavericks.
INNOVATORS.
CREATORS of NEW optics
to SEE ANEW.
BOUNDLESS.
FREEDOM BLUEPRINTS.
OPPORTUNITIES which SPARK.
Crescendos of POSSIBILITIES.
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The
TRUTH SEEKER’s
choice
is a
“I MUST KNOW”!
I will enter
the unknown/the unnamed
so I can
discover
and,
in turn,
become a guide.
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You KNOW
when YOU
make/made t hat transforming
LIVE LIFE
choice.
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You can
ONLY
move forward
once
you choose,
with actions,
the momentous life-defining
call
of
GRACE LOVE.
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NO backwards step
once
YOU
FEEL
the aWAK E ning.
WOK E.
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The
FREEDOM
of
LIVING
GRACE LOVE
is the design,
flight and blissful confidence
of the
alchemy story
of the
PHOENIX!
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Fear is a now a forever slayed dragon.
You learned what/who to listen to
– you can no longer can be taken hostage.
You feel your own heart beat, heart blood and breath.
You know WHO to seek
– those relationships
who SEE YOU
in/with
GRACE LOVE.
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YOU
are now
the
victor/leader
of the
dynamic relational template
of
dignity,
radiance
and
peace.
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YES!
YOU .
YES!
ME.
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JASPAR , variation of Caspar, meaning TREASURE in Persian.
Caspar was one of the Magi, reigning from Persia,
who followed the Star of Bethlehem brought frankincense.
OBI is an African name which means HEART .
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