Drifters

Posted on February 8, 2023 by Art for Housewives

It’s nice to have a special place that can make you feel magical and safe. My special place is our terrace.

Volver and Sasha are at ease here, too. Sasha helps care for the plants when we’re away whereas Volver, the king, spends much time on the terrace chewing lemongrass, hunting lizards, and, above all, napping.

The minute you occupy a space, you transform it just as  it transforms you, too. Psychogeography, the study of how the geographical environment influences one’s thoughts and behaviour, was invented by Situationist Guy Dubord in 1955. Dubord suggested that we should explore the specific effects of the geographical environment by drifting. That is, the practice of walking around urban spaces as did writer and flâneur Charles Baudelaire. “It is not given to everyone to be able to bathe in the multitude: enjoyment of the crowd is an art,” says Baudelaire, and “the solitary and thoughtful stroller derives a singular intoxication from this universal communion.”

Inevitably the voyeur becomes entangled with that which he observes. That’s why I like looking at flowers.

Related: Psychogeography: A Purposeful Drift Through the City + Theory of the Dérive +

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Parking Party

Posted on February 4, 2023 by Art for Housewives

A neighbor had a birthday party for his daughter in our parking niche. He didn’t ask to use it nor did he even bother to invite us. Initially it really irritated me. Then I watched the children playing and laughing and eating cake and singing Happy Birthday.

Some parents, hopefully, took fotos because it pleases me to think that years from now a grown up little girl will look at her childhood fotos and see those with our parking niche as the stage.

How lovely to be part of someone’s childhood memories.

Your childhood follows you wherever you go.

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Tulips and Hats

Posted on February 2, 2023 by Art for Housewives

That year they’d decided on fondue for Christmas lunch. But before dunking their forks into the bubbling hot cheese, they put their hats on and danced around the tulips. It made them feel silly and delightfully dizzy and like children again. Because Christmas is for kids, they decided to play.

Meanings are mobile and change when necessary. The meaning of Christmas is an example. It does not remain static but changes as we change. The meaning of Christmas for a child is not that of an adult.

Viktor Frankl spent three years as a prisoner in Nazi concentration camps. Like Freud, he was from Vienna and had studied psychology. Frankl understood that to survive he needed to give his life meaning regardless as to the situation. Once freed, Frankl wrote a book Man’s Search for Meaning and how this meaning influences the way we live.

Three things, he wrote, were necessary to give meaning to one’s life even in a concentration camp. First of all it was important to give yourself a purpose such as having a project then give yourself pleasure by actualizing it.  Appreciation and gratitude are also important in creating meaning as is the ability to adapt.

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Morning Glory Momma

Posted on January 30, 2023 by Art for Housewives

Here’s my mom washing her 1959 Chevy. It must have been around 1968 and sometimes people would tease my mom because her car was so old and stylistically dated. And when they did, she would simply say “It’s what I can afford and it’s paid for” while looking at them straight in the eye. I saw many a face turn red—I guess directness can be intimidating.

My mom put many miles on her Chevy. It was like a magic carpet that took her to the places where she wanted to go. So why not relax, take a ride, and “see the USA in your Chevrolet.”

And a special thanks to Heath for the foto!

Ringtone for “See the USA…” HERE but not verified

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Buoyant and Balanced

Posted on January 28, 2023 by Art for Housewives

All along the jagged Tuscan coast, they danced to keep their balance. They were weight shifters because that’s what balance is all about. When you feel like you’re falling in one direction, you balance yourself by shifting your weight in the opposite direction. It is a form of yin yang where opposites are meant to be complementary and interconnected. Only by the presence of both directions is balance possible.

The best way of practicing weight shifting is by dancing. So that’s why we dance, dance, dance.

Related: Dancing + The Age of Decadence + Chiara Pilar Photographer +

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