Month: September 2012

Make a mark!

/ marydpierce / 9 Comments

September 15th is International Dot Day.  This excites me to no end.  Dot Day is all about being creative, and fearless, and thinking outside the box.  It’s about inspiring children to make art, to learn and to connect by sharing their art and their vision with one another.  It’s based on the book The Dot, written and illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds, and published by Candlewick Press in 2003.

You can find out more about Dot Day by clicking here.

Teachers and librarians and children all over the world are participating.  You can watch the video, “Two Libraries, One Voice Dot Day Celebration,” a collaboration by Shannon Miller and the always amazing John Schumacher here.

And for the occasion, I have made my mark, which you can see below:

Dots, lots of dots. This makes me happy.

So, let’s celebrate.  Children – and all those who used to be children – go out and make art.   I think the world could use some dots today.  Don’t you?

Not waving, but drowning . . . .

/ marydpierce / 8 Comments

Not Waving but Drowning

Nobody heard him, the dead man,
But still he lay moaning:
I was much further out than you thought
And not waving but drowning.

Poor chap, he always loved larking
And now he’s dead
It must have been too cold for him his heart gave way,
They said.

Oh, no no no, it was too cold always
(Still the dead one lay moaning)
I was much too far out all my life
And not waving but drowning.

Stevie Smith

I had planned on posting a piece about the end of my summer.  But, then I was reminded that today is World Suicide Prevention Day.   And I thought about how on May 6th, fourteen years ago, my brother, the baby of the family, sat in the same lounge chair that he often slept in, and ended his life.

Depression is an insidious disease.  Statistically, more people in the world die from suicide than from war and murder combined.  I can understand why:  Life is full of misery and hardship.   There are moments in almost every day that I think this.  But there are also moments in every day when I find something to feel good about or laugh at, and that is enough for me.  That, and having a wonderfully funny son, a loving husband, family, and friends.

My brother and I talked about a lot of things, but we danced around the possibility of suicide.  I worried that if I said the word aloud it would make the possibility more real.

So, let’s talk about it, people.  You can find help and resources here.  Or call 800-273-TALK (8255) now.

Let’s not be afraid to say it:  Don’t die.

Please.

My brother, Tom. Taken on my last visit with him, a few weeks before he died.