i got to see my family in bellingham twice this month. took some pictures during my dad's birthday party, and on several very pleasant walks around town. even though i've never actually lived there, going there still feels like home because of all of the peace, quiet, and loveliness that comes with hanging out with my family. definitely food for my soul.
portland's movement in solidarity with occupy wall street begins tomorrow at 12pm at Tom McCall Waterfront Park. though i have to work and cannot protest full-time, i'll be there when i can and will be in support at all times. please consider heading down and doing what you can - donate, bring tents & food, stand up and speak out in support of this nonviolent movement against corporate and governmental greed and corruption. "We are the 99 percent. We are getting kicked out of our homes. We are forced to choose between groceries and rent. We are denied quality medical care. We are suffering from environmental pollution. We are working long hours for little pay and no rights, if we're working at all. We are getting nothing while the other 1 percent is getting everything. We are the 99 percent." - http://wearethe99percent.tumblr.com/
i'm on the more fortunate side of the spectrum, for now. i've got a job that i love and am trying my hardest to whittle away at my student debt. but it's a fine line, and i know i'm not alone in that. nor can i ignore how many people in this country are drowning while others sit back and take it easy. how many of us have no golden parachute, no nest egg? how many of us have no health care or coverage that is laughable? how many work their whole lives and worry that they will never be able to retire? how many can't send their kids to college? 99% of us.
please visit
http://occupyportland.org
http://occupywallst.org/
http://wearethe99percent.tumblr.com/
and come show the world what pdx is made of.
i heard something that resonated with me today. it's Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year, and although i haven't been to a synagogue in a ridiculously long time, i went today. i'm glad i did for many many reasons, one being the fact that this was read in part of the service. "[Now]
There were no formerly heroic times, and there was no formerly pure generation. There is no one here but us chickens, and so it has always been: a people busy and powerful, knowledgeable, ambivalent, important, fearful, and self-aware; a people who scheme, promote, deceive, and conquer; who pray for their loved ones, and long to flee misery and skip death. It is a weakening and discoloring idea, that rustic people knew God personally once upon a time - or even knew selflessness or courage or literature - but that it is too late for us. In fact, the absolute is available to everyone in every age. There never was a more holy age than ours, and never a less.
There is no less holiness at this time - as you are reading this - than there was the day the Red Sea parted, or that day in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, on the fifth day of the month, as Ezekiel was a captive by the river Chebar, when the heavens opened and he saw visions of God. There is no whit less enlightenment under the tree by your street than there was under the Buddha's bo tree. There is no whit less might in heaven or on earth than there was the day Jesus said, 'Maid, arise' to the centurion's daughter, or the day Peter walked on water, or the night Mohammed flew to heaven on a horse. In any instant, the bush may flare, your feet may rise, or you may see a bunch of souls in a tree. In any instant you may avail yourself of the power to love your enemies; to accept failure, slander, or the grief of loss; or to endure torture.
Purity's time is always now. Purity is no social phenomenon, a cultural thing whose time we have missed, whose generations are dead, so we can only buy Shaker furniture. 'Each and every day the Divine Voice issues from Sinai,' says the Talmud. Of eternal fulfillment, Tillich said, 'If it is not seen in the present, it can't be seen at all."
-- Annie Dillard, "For the Time Being"
i don't consider myself a religious person. i don't believe that anyone is more or less deserving of love because of their beliefs, and i have trouble with the various exclusivities of organized religion. even if you're an atheist, i truly believe that this passage has meaning. to me it isn't just about God. to me it's about the fact that inside all of us is a capacity for humanity that gets ignored all too often these days. it's like it's not cool anymore, or even necessary or acceptable, to think deeply about who we are as human beings.
let's not mark our new years with champagne and empty resolutions that no one keeps. let's wake up a little and think about how we can be more truly ourselves.
hello everyone! i am so happy to announce that i have *FINALLY* finished my portfolio site. check it out at www.daronjackson.com. please feel free to let me know what you think!
these belong with a previous post. but since i'm bad about labeling my film and having it processed with any sort of regularity, i just found them recently. 2 frames from texas this summer. photographed with seagull twin-lens.
[caption id="attachment_1143" align="aligncenter" width="490" caption="no editing but i did change this one to black and white. guilty."]
