Flowers and Presence

While working on my newest performance: The Language of Flowers* I spent hours pouring over volumes of myths and folktales about flowers that tell of their origins and their meaning. The work sensitized me to the unique qualities of each flowering plant. Because they were created to reflect the true essence of each plant, myths of origin in particular opened up the doors of perception. Now when I see these flowers, the stories surround them like an ethereal fragrance helping me to go deeper into the experience of each plant.

I've begun my own new custom of greeting the day by looking closely at flowers and honoring their delicate presence. Bringing them in the house to be with me when I work allows me to let them companion me through the day- a lovely contemplation. Today the delicate white spray of the cilantro and yesterday spicy, sweet geranium blossoms.

* The performance title refers to the Victorian custom of endowing every flower with a specific meaning. Daisies-innocence, Red Rose- passionate love etc.., Deciphering a bouquet using one of the many "Language of Flowers" booklets in circulation revealed the hidden messages.

Meeting the cultural representative of the Kurdistan Regional Governmnet

Tom Megan, Najat Abdullah and Diane Edgecomb

Had a wonderful meeting with Najat Abdullah - cultural representative for the Kurdistan Regional Government in the U.S. when I was in Washington DC this week. He is 100% behind the Kurdish story collection project. http://livingmyth.com/about/projects/a-fire-in-my-heart/ Now to find other groups and other support. My vision is a pan-Kurdish story collecting effort with an internet based platform to upload videos, curated by Kurdish scholars from the four different dialects. Loved the moment when I said to Najat: "I have a crazy idea." and he responded, "I love crazy ideas, t hat is the way to dream big!"