14 months into this Rosslyn Redux reboot my daily deep dive has become habit; my inquiry has lead to unanticipated, sometimes surprising realizations; and I’m only just beginning to find my bearings and glimpse the holy grail.
What *IS* my holy grail in this inquisitive quest through Rosslyn monuments and middens? Where am I going with this adventure? What am I hoping to achieve?
I’m overdue for some out-loud reflection on these questions, so I’ll endeavor to share my thoughts in the coming weeks, starting today with inspiration from British artist/author, Nick Bantock.
Funny how in all the years I’ve been creating books, in all the interviews and with all the audience questions, no one has ever asked me the fundamental question, “What is it you’ve been trying to achieve with your work?”
Maybe it’s just as well, because, in the early days I wouldn’t have known how to reply.
Nick Bantock (Facebook, September 11, 2023)
This Sunday I’ll dive into month number 15 of daily analysis, meditation, introspection, experimentation, curation, hypothesis, and, yes, some belly button gazing too. More than a year of wondering. Wandering. Every day. Asking questions. That lead to more questions. Trying to ascertain why and how Rosslyn, an historic property on the Adirondack Coast of Lake Champlain invited us into a relationship; allowed us to develop alongside her, with her, through her; enveloping us in a passionate, trusting, and transformative home.
423 days endeavoring, essaying, questing, exploring, experimenting,… But *WHAT* am I trying to achieve?
At some level this website, these field notes and meditations, these archives and poems have been an attempt to discern a reason for some of the decisions we’ve made. And an inventory of memorable moments along the way. Perhaps, sometimes even an effort to overlay a logic that may not actually have been evident at the time. I’ve acknowledged more than once that retrospection, the vagaries of subjective memory, the siren call of creative license, and the existential need to find meaning and justification inevitably blur the boundaries of life lived and crafted facsimile.
The quotation from Nick, Bantock above, is prologue to his thoughts about the Griffin and Sabine books. I will include the full quotation in a separate post as I begin explore and explain what I’ve begun to understand as my holy grail for Rosslyn Redux. More soon. Thanks for your patience and encouragement!
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