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| 'ribbon dress' (2008) part of the collection at the Dana Hall School |
"What will you do with
your one wild and precious life?"
Mary Oliver
for today I picked one of my favorite
dresses from my dressproject, 'ribbon dress'
to create the skirt I stamped
positive and inspiring quotes
on ribbons and strips of fabrics.
this was a time-consuming process, however
I loved the meditative process of
individually stamping each letter of these
words of wisdom.
this dress contains many of my favorite quotes ~
from Mary Oliver, Kiki Smith &
Thoreau, to name a few.
(a bit of a precursor to my dresscards)
this dress is part of the
Dana Hall School's art collection,
it is exhibited in their library.
I feel that it is a perfect home
for this dress,
as it emanates positive and
affirming ideas.
I wish to share my favorite poem by Mary Oliver ~
Wild Geese
You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.
from Dream Work by Mary Oliver
published by Atlantic Monthly Press
© Mary Oliver
