50 Rotations Around the Sun

Reflections on Beginning my 51st year

Daffodil in the garden this week.

I celebrated my fiftieth birthday last Saturday. I was born the day after the Spring equinox, so the start of Spring is always a good time for reflection.

As I begin my 51st trip around the sun, I want to remember:

Creativity thrives on the edges of things; this is a place to gather. We don’t have to strive for the center, we can claim and enjoy the spaciousness of the outskirts and focus on connection as we welcome others to gather with us.

When we find ourselves on the edges or on edge, we can walk around a bit, finding a rhythm. When things feel overwhelming on the outside, we can return to a focus on the patterns of our lives and routines. We can craft a way of being in the world that remembers attention is an offering of energy and care.

We can invite our creativity into cahoots, scheming ways to disrupt the cycles of overwhelm with moments of pause and rest in awe, wonder, and connection. As we find these things, we share them with others, offering sustenance and nurturance.

This week and in my next two newsletters, I will explore these ideas, beginning today with this idea of claiming edge spaces as spaces of potential and gathering.

My fiftieth birthday falling on a Saturday offered the expansiveness of a weekend of celebrations.

I spent my birthday weekend viewing art, making art, connecting with friends and family, and celebrating gathered around dinner and tea.

Saturday morning Chad and I visited the Renwick Gallery to see the exhibit, We Gather at the Edge: Contemporary Quilts by Black Women Artists.

Tender Gardens, 2014 by Marion Coleman

A quote from Toni Morrison began the exhibition:

I stood at the border, stood at the edge and claimed it as central and let the rest of the world move over to where I was.

Toni Morrison

I’ve been thinking lately about attention and care and how where we put our attention matters. How we connect with and care for those around us matters too.

Morrison speaks to claiming one’s space and fully occupying it, in such a way one is able to offer hospitality to others, to be a beacon toward another way of being. Rather than strive to be the center of things, to be in the spotlight, she claims her own place, a place on the edge.

Spaces of creative gathering offer community in edge spaces. The exhibit at the Renwick was assembled from quilts in the collection of Dr. Carolyn Malzoomi, an artist, scholar, and curator. She founded the Women of Color Quilter’s Network to connect isolated quilters in community.

Viewing the quilts in the collection and noticing the wide variety of homes of the makers reminded me that sometimes as we gather at the edges, we create new centers of those who gather.

Sometimes the weight of living on this planet as a woman, we have to be reminded of who we are. Quilts help to serve that purpose of reminding women about their power.

-Carolyn Mazloomi

Viewing the exhibit at the Renwick, I was also reminded how story quilts, artworks, novels, and other creative works lift up and honor the life experiences of their creators and the stories they share. This sharing of personal stories and histories informs our understanding of our past in a way that centers relationship and personal experience.

I recommend the exhibit which is at the Renwick Gallery through June 22, 2025.

This weekend’s gatherings and celebrations also reminded me how we need community around us to be intentional with our attention and to feel the strength of our souls and spirits.

In her newsletter, Calling Back the Spirit,

Christian McEwen

opens with wise words from poet, Joy Harjo.

“Watch your mind,” writes Joy Harjo. “Call your spirit back. Call upon the help of those who love you.”

I feel heartened by the ways those who love me help me to see my best self and to be true to my creative soul. This is no small thing.

I would love to hear where are you finding opportunities to gather around creative practice? Do these feel like edge spaces?

What people, places, and communities help you to feel your mind and spirit nurtured and sustained?

Thank you for reading and being a part of creative community through this newsletter.

With a grateful heart,

Kathryn