The Anti-Selfie

"If it will keep my heart soft,

break my heart everyday."

Warsan Shire

I've been told I wear my heart on my sleeve for the world to see. You could probably ask me anything about me and I would tell you straight up, which surprises me because I am an introverted recluse. I skirt around social situations like an aloof and camera shy fox. There are almost no existing photographs of me and I certainly would never take a selfie. This was a problem, I discovered, after I was invited to participate in a selfie inspired art show.

It's true, I do often see myself as a fox. Foxes are small, autonomous, creative, flirtatious, inconspicuous and best left alone when angry. I sculpted this little girl wearing a fox mask to represent me at an upcoming art show.

The Proust Questionnaire

Your favorite virtue. Integrity      

Your favorite qualities in a man. Trustworthiness

Your favorite qualities in a woman.  Kindness     

Your chief characteristic.   Patience

What you dislike about your appearance. I don’t really think about it

What you appreciate the most in your friends.  Openness and vulnerability

Your main fault. Insecurity

Your greatest achievement. Being a mom

Your favourite occupation. Being an artist

Greatest extravagance.   Expensive yarn.

Your idea of happiness. Time alone to read a good book or do whatever I want quietly

Your idea of misery. Being in a crowded room or around too many people at once

Greatest fear. Dying young while my children are still young.

If not yourself, who would you be? A more secure version of myself.    

Where would you like to live?    In a cabin along a river, fly fishing, knitting, painting and reading good books.

Your favourite colour and flower. Green, Peonies           

My favorite bird. Ravens and crows        

Your favorite prose authors. Whoa, too many. I adore reading and I do it every day. My favorite novel is The Road by Cormac McCarthy because  it is the perfect love letter to one’s child and tribute to being a parent. Plus it is a gloriously dark and grisly post-apocalyptic tale.

Your favorite poets. Warsan Shire, Stanley Kunitz, Mary Oliver, Derek Wilcot, and Rumi

Your favorite heroes in fiction.   Owen Meaney, Robin Hood, Atticus Finch

Your favorite heroines in fiction. Jane Erye          

Your favorite painters. Jenny Saville, Matisse

Your heroes or heroines in real life. Anyone who conquers their fears or fights for the rights of others, animals included. Also, I’m madly in love with Virginia Woolf.

Your favorite food and drink.      Cinnamon buns and hot chocolate

Your favorite names. Penelope

What I hate the most.    People who judge and hurt other people and animals

The natural talent I'd like to be gifted with. The ability to sing       

How I wish to die. Old, happy and surrounded by loved ones

What is your present state of mind. Curious       

For what fault have you most toleration? Moodiness and sadness

Your favorite motto.       It’s not really a motto but my favorite quote is by Virginia Woolf, “Fear not, says the heart”. I also carry with me at all times a poem by Stanley Kunitz which says, " The heart breaks and breaks and lives by breaking. It is necessary to go through dark and deeper dark and not to turn."

Favorite journey. The French Alps. I’d still like to visit Scotland and Ireland.