Wednesday, December 16, 2009

.thought.

Ok, so, you know that moment
that very moment when the city lights turn on
or the highway lights
at that threshold between day and night
the transition
well, today i witnessed that moment. i always have thought of that moment as a treat. there's no way i can plan it. i am just in that place in that time. i was walking to the woodshop at school and when i walked under part of the kresge building, just as i walked underneath it, the lights turned on above my head. do other people notice these things? they must...

it's weird, but i smiled to myself.


the more i think about it and the more i talk to people about it, the more nervous i am to graduate and to actually leave ccs. yeah, i'm really really mad at the school. they've screwed a lot of things up for us students this year, but that's a different story. and really, an old, tired one.

so, the reason i'm nervous to leave is this: community. if you read here or if you know me in "real life" (or whatever you want to call it) you know how i feel about this word and what it means. having a community around me, whether it is online or in "real life", is so so important. ccs is the best community i have. sometimes i forget, like when people trash the fiber studio. but, when i walk around and see art hanging from trees or am surprised when i walk into the walter b. (totally forgot today was dec. graduation) and see art all over the place and recognize a photograph by my friend... i really feel it. my guess is that there's nothing quite like being a student in a small, like-minded (for the most part) school.

i just really love walking around on an errand, but being continually sidetracked. i had to stop in the yamasaki atrium to study the ceramics on display from a critique. just being in a place where so many people make art is such a good feeling...

how do you get that after school?

my plan is to work there.

7 comments:

Fiona Cartolina said...

You need to live in a small nurturing community(like Nelson BC) There are lots of cool small places to live and work and have a good sense of community. It's good that you have realized this now and not when you are 55 - a lot of people are too busy to notice that community is important. Take a road trip next summer and see where you are drawn too - that's how most people ended up here in Nelson.

Chin up,
Fiona

Brittany | the Home Ground said...

Yes, that's exactly it. I'll get to somewhere like that eventually... I have a community in the town I live in right now, one that I love, but it's not a creative community. I suppose that's why I spend so much time online! There are a couple cities (well, the outlying areas) that we are looking at right now. We'll visit them all before we move. And we definitely have to come see Nelson!

Thanks, Fiona.

Carlene said...

I agree with Fiona. Because of this, I always tend to gravitate to a college campus area to live. Right now I'm not living close enough to one, and I'm jealous whenever we drive there, which is pretty much every weekend.

Brittany | the Home Ground said...

You need to move closer, Carlene! I'll have to be near some sort of hub of activity. College campuses are especially nice, since a lot of public lectures and the like are held.

Brittany | the Home Ground said...

P.S. Thanks, Carlene!

Quilt Architect said...

I wonder if connecting with some like minded from the book Communities or setting up a community in a large apartment might be possible. Sometimes the college towns are remote and the artist can't really make it because there is not enough money in the town to support them. In a large city sometimes it is living expenses that are the issue. If you could somehow solve these problems like they did in the 60's well that might be the answer.

You have a community of graduates right their could you not form something cohesive with the friends you have made...and then look for a city to collectively move to?

Brittany | the Home Ground said...

Hi Quilt Architect! I'm not worried about taking my friends with me, really. I just really want a community of artists to involve myself with, when I move. Even people who aren't, as long as there is a fairly tight-knit community around me, I'll be fine!