The Silver Savior, my Airstream and interview project has taken me on many amazing journeys. One right in my little town, Nederland, Colorado where I used to live. There, in the center of town is an extraordinary sight, a fully restored carousel from 1900. Entering, I was mesmerized like a child looking at all the hand carved animals going up and down. I had to know more, and found out about Scott Harrison, the visionary behind this carousel in the mountains. He readily agreed to an interview and I became even more fascinated by the man behind the animals circling us. He began his story as a young Marine in Vietnam at the age of 17. He didn’t want to be in the military, but wanted...
Being this the beginning of a new year, I have been thinking a lot about dreams, goals and action. Which brings me to a story. About six years ago, I began my Silver Savior road trip. I hauled my Airstream down to New Mexico to interview people living their artistic dreams. I was turned on to a film maker in Santa Fe, we will call him Frank, who quickly wanted to know what I was up to. He called me up and asked me all about the project. After telling him the vision, he said, “who do you think you are?” “Excuse me?”, I said. So, he went further and said, “really, what makes you think you are a film maker?” Without missing a beat, I said, “because...
The day before this past Thanksgiving I moved locally. Not the best Thanksgiving on record, moving alone and carrying boxes up and down the stairs all day. Gratitude finally gave way to the sucky day I was having, grateful for the warm and sweet condo up against the mountains that was now mine. In between the boxes, I made arrangements for my utilities and wifi to be hooked up. Check. I eagerly typed in my my IP address and password. As I looked for my address on the screen, there it was among the cryptic codes such as Centurylink4578 to Wifey. One of my neighbors wifi address in my condo complex blaringly read: SHARON DID NOTHING WRONG. Whoa. Being an artist, mainly an artist of life,...
Ah, the ending of another year around the sun…what have I learned? What do I need to let go of to truly embrace the coming new year? Oh, the pressure! I’ve learned I am no longer that person that makes goals and says “Good riddance to a year gone by”. No, no, no. I flip through my journal back to the first day of January 2023, I am looking for clues from then to now. I also am looking at my visual journal, my Wearable Shrines of Intention. Instead of the goal setting and vision boarding, I lean into gratitude for that woman I was this year. To the old soul that grew up too fast, now trying to slow my choices down. Still...
Call me a sentimental sap, but every year without fail I have to watch one of my all-time favorite movies, It’s A Wonderful Life. I mean, if you dissect the movie, it has all the makings of the hero’s journey and then some. Leaving home (or wanting to), passion, deception, listening to our inner gut, redemption…and on…I’m sure you know the story quite well too. But to me, of all the gems in the movie comes when Clarence says to George Bailey, “You’ve been given a great gift, you know. You get to see what the world would be like without you. You see, you really did have a wonderful life”. I played that scene over. And over again. Here George Bailey was ready to commit...
