Stephen Powers: I'm Far From Home

If you aren't on the mailing list for artist Stephen Powers, I suggest you join. It's not incredibly frequent but it's always insightful. His work is playful and unique - a combination of sign posting, comic drawings and graffiti.

In one of his recent broadcasts, he talks about how we're surrounded by bad news all the time but the only way to combat it is with hope. It sounds corny but he does a great job of framing it in a resilient way. This Einstein quote he pulls out is particularly nice:

“A human being is a part of the whole called by us universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feeling as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.”

The Stephen Powers newsletter primary purpose is not to instill you with hope - it's mostly to tell you about art shows and Powers journey through his creations - but it's a nice bonus to get a little boost of the good stuff every so often.