Today is my 2 year blogging anniversary.
Year one, I stumbled along, learning to walk and cried from the pain and humiliation of showing my first teeth.
Year two, I said yes to everything. I showed up with enthusiasm for every new adventure and threw tantrums when I got too tired.
Now I am three and ready to quit pissing myself because I was too distracted to know what I needed. I need my people. I need to feel supported. I need to share my work and disappointments in a safe nurturing place. I need to connect others in order to feel inspired. I need to remember to go potty. My people are here, on the internet, this beautiful place.
There has always been talk of online piracy, pornography, bullying, stalking, privacy rights, robbery, and espionage. Am I the only one who has felt the increased amount of negative chatter lately?
Today I hope everyone will take the time to think of a life-affirming, socially aware and beautiful moment that came from the pure connectivity of the internet. I bet it wasn't produced by a subsidiary of a media conglomerate or an advertising agency. Most likely it was a simple act of art, humanity or grace captured in a low tech but thoughtful way. I bet the story you read about mayhem or glamor that made you feel scared or inadequate was presented by a site with a large parent company.
Please consider for a moment that the only way to sell something is through aspirational or fear based marketing. The goal of ad supported content is to convince you that a product will make you feel better or keep you safe if you have it. On the creative, ground floor of content creation that isn't discussed but be assured, nothing gets greenlit unless the advertisers see the merchandise move. That goes for cable and network news shows too.
The internet IS changing the world. Change is scary (believe me I've read all the horror stories too) but it is also exciting and inspiring. This place, cyberspace, exposes us to a larger cross section of humanity; the bad but also the very good. It is not a broadcasting tool to be wielded. It is a place to find fellowship, share, learn and to set our own hierarchy of media needs. Let's not get distracted by CNN badmouthing Facebook or Hollywood slamming Google. Two Goliaths fighting each other in anticipation of merger or takeover should not change the power of millions of Davids celebrating life, family, art and humanity.
I hope by getting to know me, you get to know my art. I would like for you to buy it but I feel comfortable telling you it won't make you look skinnier or richer, give you fresh breath or make you feel younger. It won't keep your kids safe from bullies or Facebook out of your underwear drawer but it might make you smile when you pass it in your hall and you think of your friend on the internet who painted it. My traffic of a few hundred a day is slight compared to most but if I had an art gallery and a few hundred people stopped by every day, I would consider it a great success. Thank you all for that!
I take strength in knowing that my mother finds my blog more interesting than The Real Housewives of New Jersey. I know everyone doesn't but I'm certain every baby booming grandmother out there would rather watch a video of their grandkids than something produced by Bravo owned by NBCUniversal.
Who should be scared now?
Here is my beautiful daugther playing Nana the dog in Peter Pan. It isn't Disney and we aren't the Kardashians but I know it is beautiful because I am an artist and a mother.
Thank you for letting me share my life these past two years.
