January 15

I’m enjoying the phrase that I used in 2019, “crunchy flow,” to describe a community labyrinth walk in the winter. I remember, too, the reference to our “walking on water” that night (with the help of Mother Nature, of course.) Perhaps this comes mildly close to what Bayo Akomolafe writes, “To share a joke with the shadows.”

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

2021

“This is a time to stay with the trouble of knowing that there is no becoming that is not a becoming-together. / The things that stand in the way are ‘aspects’ of our ongoing reconfiguration. Enemies, bottlenecks, seething memories, gnarling fetishes, haunting creeds, howling specters, grumbling boogeymen, careening splinters, frowning clouds, green giants, gaping holes, chuckling forests. The challenge is not to go ‘through’ them and come out unscathed on the other side. The invitation is to know them, to stop for a drink, to resist unsheathing a sword, to be grateful for a wound, and to share a joke with shadows.” —Bayo Akomolafe, *These Wilds Beyond Our Fences*, p. 284

“Seven Years of Wonder” is a daily look back at my creative journaling posts since 2014. I began this journey on Feb. 11, 2021, and hope to continue through Feb. 10, 2022. What am I learning about my art and faith journey thus far? What has remained constant? Where have I been changed? How is this impacting present and future art-making?

A deep bow of gratitude to you for keeping me company on this journey.