Getting Attention

I've decided that "getting attention" is considered very important to an artist's personal success these days. Presently, I feel attracted to solitude and privacy as an artist. There's always a push-pull going on there with revealing and concealing.

My recent baking projects have included chocolate chip cookies and homemade crumpets. I think the crumpet recipe I used needs buttermilk and baking soda.

I witnessed a lovely interaction between a mother and her toddler at the bus stop. The toddler was screaming and her face was bloody. The mother was completely silent, but calm. She sat on the bus stop and fished in her pocket for a paper napkin and wiped the wee girl's face which made her cry even harder. Then she held her close and rocked her. The rocking motion gradually calmed the girl down. I was fascinated that the mother was completely mute. So unusual. A woman came by in a uniform. I thought she might be an EMT. She winced in sympathy at the girl's bloody face. The mother explained her child had fallen on her face on the cement. I thought the EMT would offer some help, but she just said, "Oh, that's a right of passage," and walked brusquely away.  The mother rocked the child until the girl suddenly just snapped out of her distress and then starting pointing and chatting at the buses and cars. I just smiled sympathetically and let the mother take control of the situation. Her body language was very closed in and self-contained, so I intuited that she wanted privacy.