There is an upcoming show, “Plein Air: Cincinnati Reimagined”, at the Eisele Gallery that I appreciate in concept, being a longtime resident and lover of this town Cincinnati.
The one interview surrounding this upcoming show that I listened to, with participating artist Ellina Chetverikova, spoke to me – her reflection on sunsets and twilight.
I’ve always told my family that dusk is my favorite time of day, and regularly try to coax them into a walk or bike ride in it. The sun falls beneath the horizon and the warm yellow streetlamps come on, but the sky is still slightly lit with a deep blue sliding into black. It’s a short window – the last phase of twilight before nightfall – but a magical time. Right on the cusp of an ending and a beginning. A brief but special time that, like Ellina suggests, you’re lucky to witness – and each impending event may be your last.
I suppose, with my mother passing recently (along with some neighbors) – and with the constant troubles of Ellina’s homeland, Ukraine (along with our own country’s problems) – that this sense of ending is on our collective minds. With these things, you start to sense your own mortality: loved ones passing, war, strife, grief… and fear. A lot of life is wrapped up in fear, as we see right now with the most aggressive (and the most lost) people in the world. Fear drives action and inaction, both probably not in the healthiest ways.
I do not fear death, but I do fear inaction. I fear unrealized potential. Not creating the things that I want to create, or becoming who I want to be – or not even trying. In this life, as we are driven by and beholden to the almighty dollar, fear that your passions won’t return a living wage is real. But, life is short. Taking a new path is sometimes what leads to the best tomorrow.
Like with dusk – it’s the end of a story…but another sun rises.
From my mother’s wall.