Flag Oracle #2: How did you get to be the way you are?
It’s probably an unlikely combination of elements
Hello friends,
Today we go back in time to move forward. In 1832 essay “Nature,” Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote,
“Every natural fact is a symbol of some spiritual fact. Every appearance in nature corresponds to some state of the mind, and that state of the mind can only be described by presenting that natural appearance as its picture.”
When I first embarked on the journey of making flags and hiking with them, the above quote gave me hope that I was doing something worthwhile: capturing states of mind in nature, with my flags.
At the same time, I was referencing Lewis Carroll’sAlice’s Adventures in Wonderland and reading about art in works by Robert Smithson and Charlotte Cotton. It all made for an unlikely combination—and that’s what the cards have in store for you today.
DAY
When I laid out my little flag on the steep grassy hillside, I was trying to copy the artist Rachel Hayes, who covers the land with very large sewn creations. Yet the photo above reminds me of “Christina’s World,” an Andrew Wyeth painting I saw in the 1980s at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts.
References can inspire us, but they can also hold us back if we’re subconsciously copying them or comparing our clumsy beginnings to someone’s cultivated expertise.
This card is an invitation to examine your references and make sure you’re not limiting your options or holding back your vision based on precedent. Define what is truly yours. Is there a way to make it more yours?
The Inner Fire flag in the picture invites you to attend to those desires and impulses that you can’t ignore, no matter how unconventional or risky they seem. You can appreciate your references, and you can boldly let what you do become its own thing.
NIGHT
At this natural spring on the dry hillside, orange montbretia—an invasive plant from South Africa—meets a fir tree. This unlikely combination (fir trees don’t grow in South Africa) is compounded by the cosmic design of the No Mistakes flag. The improbable combination of factors yields a beautiful result on a California summer day.
In the Night position, this card reminds us to look at our unlikely combination of references and to celebrate it as no mistake. What’s been influencing us might not be immediately obvious—can you take a closer look? You may have to do some research: I used a plant identification app to identify these flowers. While writing my memoir, the examination of artifacts from my childhood yielded surprising clues to my current outlook and artistic preferences.
No matter how weird it all seems, life gives us a marvelous soup of experiences to taste every single day. Each reference is a facet of whatever multi-faceted creation you find yourself making and the multi-dimensional life you find yourself living.
INVITATION
Let your inner fire be a reference as you move forward in the unlikely combination of elements that make up your life. Trust that where you find yourself is no mistake.
An examination worth making
The painting “Christina’s World” depicts a disabled woman crawling on the grass. A flag is disabled when it can’t fly free, and a writer who loves Ralph Waldo Emerson is limiting herself if she tries to copy the artist Rachel Hayes. Luckily, following my Inner Fire led me to create the Flag Oracle, where I get to write pithy inspirational statements that capture states of mind.
What unlikely combination of references influences you who you are? Which references inspire you to make the things you make? I’d love to know what makes up the marvelous soup of your experience.
Have a great week!
Love, Lee Ann
I had no idea Christina in the painting was disabled. That explains the uneasy feeling I get from looking at that painting, Christina looks stranded and alone.
I am fascinated by your flags and the meaning. I like the idea of our own soup. Makes perfect sense! I would have to give a lot of thought to my unlikely influences. I am sure there are many!
Lovely artistic work combined with elegant inspiration. Thank you!