Bookmarking Joy in December, 1
We are now reduced to one significant choice.
We can take our stand either on the side of life or on the side of death.
This will never be presented to us as one large and final choice,
but only as a succession of small choices,
continuing to the seventh and the seven-hundredth generation.
Because we have not forgotten all of our true heritage
or lost all of its records, signs, and relics,
we can begin to imagine how this would be.
By a long persistence of human choosing,
not of human life but of the world’s life,
which is both its and ours,
everything would be changed:
how we would live,
how we would live together,
how we would earn our living,
how we would work.
If we worked for the world’s life,
in good faith, with sufficient love, and knowing how,
our work would become good.
It would become beautiful.
It would make us happy,
and not with the future happiness of political promising.
It would make us happy as soon as we began to do it.
― Wendell Berry, The Need to Be Whole: Patriotism and the History of Prejudice
I feel joy when I read Wendell Berry’s writing, even when he shines light on tough topics, as he does in The Need to Be Whole. His lived experience, his world view, his exquisite command of language, and his measured cadence combine to reach right into the marrow of my bones and the chambers of my heart.
I felt joy as I created this custom bookmark to pair with The Need to Be Whole, making, as I did, a succession of small choices.
1.75 x 5″, acrylic and ink
bookmark
2024
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13 responses to “Bookmarking Joy in December, 1”
MaryAnn, thanks for your appreciation at so many levels. I find Berry’s writing compelling, the succession of small choices inherent in the process of creating art compelling, the limited real estate of a bookmark-as-canvas compelling, the feedback from my ‘membership’ (as Berry would call it) of blog followers compelling … and wonderful!
Lola, happy boxing day! And welcome back (you were away for a bit, yes??)! If you read Berry’s The Need to Be Whole, let me know. He presented information that I found compelling, and from a perspective that broadened my understanding of many facets of United States history and present circumstances.
Thanks for loving this bookmark : )
Roseanne, THANK YOU! I love your comment, your observations, your question. I never tire of art talk! Your feedback about “chaotic and compelling all at once” delights me—I didn’t set out consciously to create that effect, but that effect feels congruent with feelings I’ve had recently.
My goal with the art was to echo the book cover colors, minimal and subtle though they were, and to play up all the lettering since there was no visual imagery. All the blue and black letters on the cover have been represented through hand-painted or hand-written letters in ink or paint on the bookmark! No collage : )
Thank you for sharing this with us, Dotty. In the doing. Small choices. Working for the world’s life. That thought. What if we looked at all of us as a whole? And worked together for the best, for all. Hmm. Mind churning. I love the graphic elements. The subtle additions. The way that pathways are created, and entwined connections. Bravo!
Sheila, greetings as 2024 comes to a close. Thank you for stopping by—thank you for your observations about subtle additions to the graphic elements in my bookmark, the way pathways and entwined connections are created. So grateful for your keen eye and open heart!
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