Saturday, March 19, 2011

Your Fan

I'm finding it difficult to think about putting out photos and little stories about life in beautiful Vienna when it seems that there are so many other things more important to think about right now. My heart is with people all over the world struggling to survive, rebuilding their lives and making the lives of all of us and future generations better. I am your fan.

May we truly have a kinder, gentler world, harmonious with this beautiful planet and each other. Starting now.

Nashmarkt fans manipulated in PhotoShop.

2 comments:

  1. True words, Martha. I grew up with the wartime and hunger winter stories of my grandparents and parents, so for me these reports have still a different meaning than for my kids.

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  2. Hello Markus,
    We also grew up with different wartime and depression stories and I suspect that all who live in comfort find it hard to fully comprehend. (Perhaps we don't want to fully feel the pain.) I remember my grandmother-in-law massaging their old sliver of soap onto the new bar of soap so as to not be wasteful. She continued the practice the rest of her life. I was in my early 20s at the time she told me the story of her soap conservation and my initial impression was that it was a silly practice to continue since she couldn't be saving more than a penny and by then she had enough money to not worry. However, in a short time my eyes opened a bit and I realized how silly, how ridiculous, how unethical it is for me to waste. So, for more than 35 years, I have been massaging little slivers of soap onto new bars in honor of her and her lesson and because it might help long-term human survival on our planet a tiny bit. I do more than that as well but still have much room for improvement in reducing my garbage and energy consumption.

    So back to your comment: the meaning we attach to any event (or stories of any event) and the effect of our interpretation to our belief and value system is well, well, well worth exploring.

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