#855 + cœur + rising GRACE + grace LOVE + RISING + CO UR AGE / cœurage

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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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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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#849 + 12 February 2019 + Abraham Lincoln ENTERED the world + ELEgancE #12 2019 Catherine L. Johnson + Henry Threadgill’s “CELEBRATION”

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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HENRY THREADGILL

https://www.henrythreadgill.com/

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Celebrating Henry:

A Threadgill Festival

https://walkerart.org/calendar/2019/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.

https://catherineljohnson.wordpress.com/2019/01/27/847-she-in-the-dark-found-light-brighter-than-many-ever-see-connie-cates-shella-5-september-1954-23-january-2019/

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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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#848 + ELEgancE #10/ #11 2019 Catherine L. Johnson + Fantastic Negrito – Plastic Hamburgers + Stacey Abrams says ‘We do NOT succeed alone’

PLEASE CLICK ON IMAGES TO ENLARGE + FOR DETAIL

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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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Fantastic Negrito – Plastic Hamburgers

https://genius.com/Fantastic-negrito-plastic-hamburgers-lyrics

Fantastic Negrito says

‘I am Fantastic Negrito, but I did NOT get here alone…’

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Stacey Abrams says ‘We do NOT succeed alone’

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=RAFNEGOTIATORNEWBREEDLEADER=AWC=SONICGENIUSAWEMANRRMANWONDERCOLLABORATOR

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#846 + ELEgancE #9 2019 Catherine L. Johnson + DARE to MOVE FORWARD + “…by ALL means KEEP MOVING.” Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

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.

EXODUS.

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EXODUSIMFREEATLASTIAINTGOINGBACKIMFREE                  CATHERINE L. JOHNSON 2013

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THE HUMANITY PORTFOLIO 2013

https://catherineljohnson.wordpress.com/2013/08/29/fifteen-paintings-28-august-2013-the-humanity-portfolio-28-august-2013-the-50th-anniversary-of-the-march-on-washington-for-freedom-jobs-rev-dr-martin-luther-kings-i-have-a-dream-s/

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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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https://www.washingtonpost.com/

http://www.philly.com/opinion/commentary/harris-wofford-obituary-us-senate-20190128.html

http://www.startribune.com/harris-wofford-activist-who-served-in-senate-dies-at-92/504698852/

https://catherineljohnson.wordpress.com/2015/03/09/selma-bloody-sunday-50th-anniversary-2015-rev-dr-martin-luther-king-jr-s-speech-how-long-not-long-harris-wofford-what-i-saw-at-selma-today-my-dear-friends-presence-as-a-fami/

https://www.npr.org/2019/01/22/687373085/harris-wofford-former-senator-civil-rights-activist-dies-at-92

http://www.philly.com/news/obituaries-harris-wofford-pennsylvania-civil-rights-martin-luther-king-jfk-bryn-mawr-college-20190122.html

https://www.nationalservice.gov/newsroom/other-news/2019/remembering-harris-wofford

https://charlierose.com/videos/13481

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NEWBREEDLEADERAWCYOUMOVEFORWARDBECAUSEYOUMUSTYOURLIFEISTORISEANDTOBESEENLOVED

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#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.

PLEASE CLICK ON IMAGES TO ENLARGE + FOR DETAIL

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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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#844 + ELEgancE #7 2018 Catherine L. Johnson + WONDER AWE 2019 + TREASURE HEART> GRACELOVE IS OPENDEEPWIDEIMPROVISATIONALSOARINGBRILLIANTRADICALHOPE UNFURLING COURAGE BLISS ACTION

PLEASE CLICK ON IMAGES TO ENLARGE + FOR DETAIL

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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

OPENDEEPWIDE

IMPROVISATIONALSOARING

BRILLIANTRADICALHOPE

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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X

 

 

 

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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

https://catherineljohnson.wordpress.com/2018/03/01/789-dark-star-1-2-3-4-5-6-2018-catherine-l-johnson-she-in-the-dark-found-light-langston-hughes/

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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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X

X

X

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

RESURGENCE

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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X

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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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X
X

You KNOW

when YOU

make/made that 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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X

NO backwards step

once

YOU

FEEL

the aWAKEning.

WOKE.

 

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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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