As I wrote in this blog post, I recently had the privilege to profile Tel Aviv’s Gallery of International Naive Art for Haaretz‘s ESSENCE Lifestyle Magazine. What an amazing experience that was! Now that you’ve had a chance to read my personal thoughts about the gallery and naive art, how about reading the article itself?
Click the image below to read the entire article.
I’m saving my thoughts for a cold, rainy day
Nowhere to go and no games to play
I’ll sit by the fire with nothing to do
Escaping inside of a daydream or two
I’ll dream about people and places and things
Of laughter and love and the joy they can bring
Of friendships that flourish and go beyond fun
And souls that seem woven together as one
I’ll think about hearts and how they entwine
Of how sometimes I dream that I’ve given you mine
Then I open my eyes and the dream’s gone away
So I’m saving my thoughts for a cold, rainy day
Through my work as a freelance writer, I’m often given opportunities to meet interesting individuals and explore topics and establishments whose paths would probably not have crossed with mine otherwise. I feel very fortunate to have a skill that allows me to do this, not to mention feeling incredibly lucky to have an editor with a knack for providing me with assignments that never fail to excite me and enrich my life somehow.
For my most recent assignment, I was asked to visit and then write about an art gallery. Though not an expert by anyone’s stretch of the imagination, I’ve always enjoyed visiting galleries and museums. As with any medium, some genres move me more than others, and it’s on a completely visceral level. That being said, I was absolutely not prepared for what awaited me at the Gallery of International Naïve Art (GINA). I’m sure I’ve encountered naïve art before without giving too much thought to the genre itself. It can be found all over the world, with a distinct set of attributes that characterizes this type of artwork no matter where the artist is from or when the painting was created. The genre is utterly timeless, and one of the most defining characteristics is that the artists are self-taught, having received no formal training. The paintings explode with warm colors and intricate detail that draws people in, speaking straight to the heart. There’s no need for explanations or commentary; the images simply speak for themselves.
And I was blown away by what I saw. (more…)
On a day like today
I could fly to the stars
Take a walk on the moon
Have a dance across Mars
I could play in a puddle
Or skip through the flowers
Roll down a hill
And be silly for hours
I could give you my heart
And show you my soul
Weave your fingers through mine
And never let go
Get lost in your eyes
Let you lead me astray
That’s what I could do
On a day like today
You would think that after 13 years, my coping skills would be better. And yet, here I am once again, just a few days shy of January 20th, the anniversary of our firstborn’s passing, quietly (or perhaps not so quietly) struggling to maintain the remaining shreds of my sanity through wave after wave of wildly unpredictable emotions.
Some years, it passes by smoothly and practically unnoticed. Other years are harder. Last year was especially rough. As I awaited the upcoming release of “Chicken Soup for the Soul: Grieving and Recovery”, which contained a story I’d written about our loss (coming with its own set of mixed emotions), I was blindsided by the news that a good friend lost her three-year-old daughter in an accident. On its own, the news would certainly have sent me reeling, but combined with what I was feeling over my own impending milestone date, I quickly found myself engulfed in raw, searing, emotional anguish that I hadn’t felt in years. My old wounds had been unexpectedly ripped open, and I wasn’t sure if the agony I was feeling was more for my friend or for myself. As I tried to be there for her, I worked very hard at trying not to let her or most people know just how bad off I was. I don’t know if I succeeded or not.
I am…
I am…
A mother
Gently pressing lips
Against a little boy’s cheek
As he dreams
I am…
Shy
The quietest person
In a room full of friends
And yet
I am…
Helpful
Because I want to be liked
And not left out
As I used to be
I am…
Apologetic
Fearful of losing
People I love
During stupid arguments
For me, one of the most remarkable aspects of Facebook is that it provides so many of us with an opportunity to come full circle; to reach beyond the relatively shallow aspects of our former, younger selves and build on the positive aspects of the relationships of our youth. We have, hopefully, shed our bitchy, divisive teenage angst and injected wisdom and maturity accumulated during the years that have passed, allowing these relationships to grow on new, wonderful levels. Perhaps you weren’t friendly with everyone back in the day, but to a certain degree, each individual played a role in the tapestry of our formative years – loving us, hating us or not knowing we existed, with a never-ending palette of grey shades in between.
As a member of such a community, I feel very blessed. I am often in awe of how we have come together with a unity that deserves to be celebrated, despite the time gone by and the great physical distances between us. I am encouraged by our collective urge to reach out to one another as adults and the desire to cast aside our childhood differences and form friendships with those who knew us when.
My friend A is one of those. (more…)
With blackened wings, she takes flight
Fleeing through a starless night
Scattered ashes fleck the sky
She is phoenix rising
And in her darkness, she cries
For stars burned out before their time
Never had the chance to shine
She is phoenix rising
She knows the road to hell
Of memories forced to make
A splintered heart that aches
She is phoenix rising
With blackened wings, she climbs
Battered self she leaves behind
Elusive solace still to find
And yet, she knows she’s phoenix rising
I can say, without a doubt, that my love of and knowledge regarding Israeli music is a direct result of my years Young Judaea‘s Camp Tel Yehudah. Every day after lunch we’d have a camp-wide sing-along, working our way through the camp songbook, calling out favorites (often by page number – such was our familiarity with the songbook) and singing song after song at the tops of our lungs. The songs were taught to us by whomever the music counselor happened to be that summer, and songs ran the gamut. We learned folk songs and relatively contemporary hits, and in the early years, our singing was accompanied by an accordion. This all changed the summer that Jay arrived on the scene, for Jay played an electronic synthesizer. We were wowed by his talents and thrilled by his song choices. His synthesizer not only gave new life to the old songs we loved, but it also provided the gateway that allowed us to enter the world of Israeli rock, for as much as we appreciated the accordion, it simply didn’t do justice to Israeli music from the 80s.
In short, we were hooked! We quickly learned the words to all the new songs, singing loudly at mealtimes and pushing our chairs back so that we could jump up and dance. Of course, everyone had their own favorite song, but there were a few that were loved by everyone. “Yom Shishi” (“Friday”) by the popular Israeli band Benzene (for whom I can’t seem to find a link in English, unfortunately – the Hebrew Wikipedia page can be found here) – led by the talented Yehuda Poliker - was probably the most requested song of the summer one year, and to this day, whenever I hear it, I can’t help but sing along (as long as there’s no one in earshot) and start to dance (again, as long as no one else is around, since I really, really can’t dance…). (more…)
On a drizzly Sunday morning in Niskayuna, NY, as my family and I were heading out the door to attend a picnic for my 20th high school reunion, a quick look at the news revealed that an Israeli soldier had been kidnapped. The date was June 25th, 2006. It’s been more than five long years since Gilad Shalit was taken across the border into Gaza. Five years of demonstrations, banners, tents and marches; a nation refusing to give up on the dream of bringing one him home. And tomorrow, if all goes according to plan, Gilad will finally be coming home. The price is painful, but in my opinion, Israel is doing the right thing. The current instability in the Middle East means that we may not have gotten another opportunity to carry out the exchange, and five years is a long time to be held in captivity.
In addition to the official negotiating teams, there was one individual working behind the scenes; one individual who made contact with someone from the other side and laid the groundwork for getting Gilad Shalit released. That individual was an American-born Israeli who grew up in the same youth movement that I did – Young Judaea.
Say what you will about youth movements, Zionism and the like, but Young Judaea helped to make me the person I am today. It taught me how to think critically; it taught me that there doesn’t have to be just one way to do things. And it taught me that together, we can change the world. (more…)
As I wrote in this blog post, I recently had the privilege to profile Tel Aviv’s Gallery of [Read More]
I’m saving my thoughts for a cold, rainy day Nowhere to go and no games to play I’ll sit by the [Read More]
Through my work as a freelance writer, I’m often given opportunities to meet interesting individuals and [Read More]
On a day like today I could fly to the stars Take a walk on the moon Have a dance across Mars I could play in [Read More]
You would think that after 13 years, my coping skills would be better. And yet, here I am once again, just a [Read More]
I wrote in this blog post, I recently had the privilege to profile Tel Aviv’s Gallery of International Read the post
laila tov - ze sheli. ulai... ani rusi. ani lo yehudi aval ishti yehudit. ve ani okhev ivrit (hebrew) Read the post
beautiful. The beginning and the end/ The Harmony. This little little poem is perfect. I mean...toda raba. Read the post
you used the word "hijacked"to describe the original concept of Israeli Zionism,this "hijacking"is Read the post
