As an artist one of the great rewards is to have a vision then be able to realize it. The double-triple reward is to have encouragement and support to do so.
Thanks to Steve Costa and the Geography of Hope conference team, this weekend we were able to take a big step forward with our beach plastic shoes. We did walk the walk, realizing the vision that was sparked in a conversation back in November with Steve at a benefit party for Michael Stocker’s Ocean Conservation Research. Brainstorming ensued and before we knew it our shoes were leading the way into the conference.
During lunch our shoes were piled on the lawn in an arrangement that invited lively discussion and questions about the shoes and their arrival on the beach and the suggestion of a game matching possible and unlikely pairs — how about a croc with a loafer? or that high heel with a flipflop? Our sign posts offered a place to pause and consider philosophical thoughts about the meaning of the pilgrimage.
The next morning the conference community gathered for a special pilgrimage walk to the Miwok Village Kule Loklo. As the troop headed up the hill, someone exclaimed, “There are those shoes!!! At dawn, in secret, a line of shoes was drawn along the trail so that they would be an unexpected greeting, connecting the dots from Kehoe Beach to the Dance Palace to the Woodpecker Trail.
That shout of recognition was all that was needed to make it all worthwhile.
“There are those shoes!!!”
Yes, quite a journey. So it goes and on it goes…
