Uncertainty

"In conditions of uncertainty, humans, like other animals, herd together for protection."
-James Surowiecki

Don't get me wrong, I do understand that nothing in life is ever totally certain. But, lately, I wake up every morning to terrifying levels of uncertainty. And, I am one of the "lucky" ones. Caucasian, middle-aged, retired, and with enough resources to live comfortably. 

When I wake up, I read about today's "target." Who is it going to be this time? Is my local Mexican restaurant going to be raided? Are the precious Vietnamese people who do my nails legal and safe? Is some mad man going to mistake one of my friends (or one of my doctors!) who hails from India for someone from the Middle East? It seems that anyone who is black or brown is at increased risk right now. That scares me.

Are my LGBT friends going to lose their hard won rights? Are my friends with disabled children and grandchildren going to be able to send them to school? Are my friends going to lose their health insurance? Am I going to wake up to find that America is engaged in a nuclear war? 

Uncertainty is one of the most difficult things to live with. Anyone who has every waited for medical test results, that college acceptance letter, or the phone call telling you that you got the job can certainly relate.

As a Christian person, I am trying to cling to the 103 verses in the King James version of the Bible that tell me not to fear. 

I'm working on it. 





 

 

Pinterest Success

Most of you have seen the pictures of what happens when ordinary people try to recreate something they saw on Pinterest. There is even a site that highlights some of these failures.

http://pinterestfail.com/ 

However, I had seen this shaving cream marbled paper idea that I was compelled to try. I love using this type of thing in collage work. So, I went to the dollar store, bought some cheap shaving cream and one of those disposable aluminum baking pans and went to work.

Not being certain of the permanence of food coloring, I chose to use liquid watercolors instead. 

I recommend doing this outside if at all possible. It is messy! 

I was able to get 4 sheets of marbled paper from one shaving cream/watercolor bath. Each one was a bit lighter, but I can use all of them for various projects. I found that different colors needed to be stirred more, especially the red.

Overall, I was very happy with my results and plan to do more soon.