"Amaterasu: Shinto Goddess of the Sun" was part of my series of art quilts depicting the divine feminine in multicultural mythology.
"Oya, Goddess of the Dance" was also part of my series of art quilts depicting the divine feminine in multicultural mythology. Note in the detail at right, the profile of Mother Africa which has been integrated into the outline of the continent.
"Gypsy Starcatcher Dancing the Dreams" wearable art ensemble featured a vest stitched from a spectrum of dupionni silks, and my silk painting of The Star on the back of the vest.
2001 was a challenging time for many people, with losses and old structures breaking down - the Los Angeles Times reporter who interviewed me about the theft had scheduled the article for publication about a week later, in early September. But the personal devastation in my life was eclipsed by 9-11, and the article was never published. Two days later, an inattentive driver ran a stop sign and hit my car, and I was then unable to drive back to the East Coast.
I was 3,000 miles from home, with injuries and no income and no place to live. Homeless. Not "cardboard-box" homeless, nor even "living-in-my-car" homeless. My decade-long adventure in homelessness was more of a "couch-surfing and assorted-housesitting-gigs" kind of homeless. While better than living out of a car, it was still challenging to try to continue my career while moving from place to place, while all my business equipment was in storage in another state.
After 9-11, the bottom fell out of real estate and suddenly empty luxury homes were available to housesit. So that was a perfect match for me while I recovered from injuries. When I wasn't housesitting, I was sofa-surfing or staying in the guest rooms of a wonderful sisterhood of supportive gal friends.
For the most part, I didn't have access to the kind of studio I needed to create the art I love to make, so I explored other experiences in order to follow the path of my joy. I took graphic arts computer classes, I wrote and edited several books (two of which have been published so far), I got involved with OpEdNews, and all the while I was creating art inside my head.
But one day, when I was feeling uncharacteristically sorry for myself, I complained on the phone to my daughter about being homeless, to which she promptly responded, "You're not homeless, mom, you're just houseless." And she was right. My home is less a physical place and more a decision about how I choose to feel. That's one of the advantages of raising a child with philosophical and spiritual insights - they'll toss a couple of them right back at you when you need to hear them. Shortly after, I even got past feeling houseless, and embraced my new role as a freedom-loving gypsy having an amazing adventure, and learned to love it enough that it was hard to give it up when the time came.
Indeed, not all who wander are lost.
Find a place inside where there's joy, and the joy will burn out the pain. "- Joseph Campbell, The Hero's Journey: Joseph Campbell on His Life & Work
Toward the latter part of that decade of free-spirited adventures, I housesat a gorgeous place in greater Los Angeles for a couple of years. It had three huge art studios, so even without my own studio equipment, I still managed to create some art. And an added bonus was the friendship I developed with the owner, who I saw occasionally, and who was also a wonderful artist! But mostly it was a sacred, cloistered time to spend focused on my inner journey. After having raised a daughter and seven stepchildren, I appreciated the opportunity for quiet time to go within.
And it was in that gorgeous place, with breathtaking views of the San Fernando valley below, and the occasional visiting deer and rainbow, where I ruminated on the meanings of the essence of home.
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