04/13/2024
Here is a weekly email I get from an artist I follow, Lyn Asselta. She is an exceptional artist and writer. Enjoy this post about LOOKING FORWARD. What are you looking forward to this weekend?
"Looking forward. It's a phrase I use often. I write it at the end of emails, I think it when I plan or anticipate an activity, it becomes a mantra for positivity. Those two words offer the space to do so many things, from scheduling coffee with a friend to daydreaming about the future. They're placeholders, of sorts.
What I really like about them, though, is that they so often imply a waiting period, a somewhat indefinite span of time when something isn't yet known but the desire for it is there all the same. The phrase implies faith in an outcome that hasn't yet been determined. It signals something definite but still remote, something we know will be pleasant or exciting or safe, maybe something big and life changing or maybe just a change that ends up being small and minimal, but significant.
I was thinking about this on Monday as people turned out for the eclipse. There were those who had obviously planned for weeks in advance, taking off from work or traveling great distances, and there were those who probably hopped in the car at the last minute, hoping for a better view than they might have had from home. A common sentiment throughout the day seemed to be an expectant sense of awe, a collective thrill at the prospect of experiencing this rare event in real time. Newscasters everywhere were commenting on the excitement of the crowds, the sense that something magnificent was about to happen. There were count-downs and cheers as the moon slipped between the sun and the earth; there was silence, then clapping. And, in just a few minutes, it was over and done and already becoming something of the past. What I loved most as I watched NASA's broadcasts from city to city, was the very real sense of looking forward in those hours and minutes beforehand. I loved that so many people experienced the anticipation together. The enthusiasm and expectation was palpable. In the hours leading up to the event itself, thousands and thousands of people had the same trajectory, all joined by a common feeling of hopefulness and optimism.
Those two words, looking forward, can so easily be taken for granted - maybe they're overused or maybe they sometimes sound insincere, but personally, they are two words I will always be happy to hear. More often than not, I can be assured that those two words will be accompanying me to something new, something that will turn out to have been very much worth the wait that they implied."
Lyn Asselta pastel painter