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The Upside-Down Gift I Brought
When you get more than you give
When you are asked to bring something to share, and you bring something that is only meant for you and only benefits you, it feels wrong. It would be like being the only carnivore at a potluck, knowing everyone else is vegan, and you bring a meat loaf. But at a recent retreat I attended, that’s what I did. I ate my meat. And I got to eat their food.
A Question
My gift was a question. It was a storytelling retreat and I am not a performer, but a consumer of stories. Where others could offer workshops and stories, I am a vessel. I take it in. But one of the options was to bring a topic, a question. And I have a lot of those.
I wrote about this task here. I wanted to know if anyone could help me resolve a dilemma I have about art for an art’s sake. When there are so many dire problems in the world today — from wars, to climate change, to divisive politics, to reproductive rights, to trans right, to education and book bans, and on and on, is it okay to la-dee-dah just do your art? If no one sees, hears, or reads your work, why do it?
Huh?
When I presented my “gift,” my question, there was a moment of silence. The first comment was: “What do you want from us?” Since it was a storytelling retreat, I wanted a…
