"Alliteration's Allegory" - A Poem in Hindsight of a Great and Terrible Year

“It is the task of the enlightened not only to ascend to learning and to see the good but to be willing to descend again to those prisoners and to share their troubles and their honors, whether they are worth having or not. And this they must do, even with the prospect of death.”
― Plato, The Allegory of the Cave

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Angel’s advocate -

Amidst best bets, crediting

Cool, calm, collected debts

Devil’s deal -

Digging dirty ditches

Entering exodus... emptiness

Embellishment-etched,

Embezzlement-esque

Fine fonts flaunting fairness,

Fronting for fostered,

Forceful face-fuck fests

Façade freedom gatherings

God’s gift -

Growing generational governance,

Garnering half-hating, half-hailing

Impressionistic Incessancy

In in-cre-ments,

Insisting it invites

Independence, isn’t its

Inside joblessness

Jesus’ jobe -

Jabbing, “just-joshing” jokes

Kinda kidding, kinda killing laughter

Listening less, lapsing life’s lessons

Letting love lose,

Leveraging loathsome laments

Mocking moments,

Missing memories

Making more

Mortal’s mission -

Noble’s Nemeses

Necromancing "new normals",

Neglecting old obligations, often

Offering opportunistic options -

Positions, power, protection, pardons... politics.

Prophecy's pressure -

Pro quids, questioning quos

Queued quests quoting qi - quitting quips

Queen's quarrel -

Remedies? Rest, reality, reflection, reset, retur...

Recess! Silly. Same swan song, shaking/still

Searching such selfish souls

Slaves shoveling shit superiors stole

Saint’s secret -

Some say, "So?", sometimes sans "sorry", so...

Time's tenet -

Truth trying to tell tall tales,

This then that,

Tit/tat, tisk tisk table-top taps,

"Touch This" traps, touchless

Tongue-tipped, though usually

Uttering undone “ummms” under voiceless

Vader-y ventilations, vibing via vindicated violence

Virgin's view -

Washed, wavelengths wishing without

Wondering, “Why?” Well, why would we?

Whatever.

Warrior’s womb -

Xenic xebecs xeriscaping

Xenophobic xenodiagnoses

Yielding, yet yearning, your yesterdays - yikes!

Yelling (yelping) your yesses - yawn

Zealous zen zones/zombie zoos - Zzz...

Zigzag zeitgesits zeroing zodiacs (zillions) - zing!

Zion’s zenith -

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"I can honestly say that art has saved my life."

"Melting Emotion" by Brittany Robinson

Available for purchase in the shop

"Out of this World" by Brittany Robinson

Available for purchase in the shop

"Planets" by Brittany Robinson

Available for purchase in the shop

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A story by artist Brittany Robinson

This past year has been one of the toughest I’ve gone through. A DWI and other financial burdens, along with severe depression and generalized anxiety can take a toll on anyone. And for me, it absolutely did. For months, I subjected myself to escapism, using alcohol, opioids, or marijuana to cope with the pain. I chose to isolate myself from the outside world, and drown myself in chemicals that would only ever mask the pain (or occasionally make it worse). I didn’t know how to get myself out of this slump. My life became mundane and predictable - I would wake up, go to work, come home, drink/smoke until I was fucked up, then going to bed only to repeat the same thing the next day. I was wasting my life, because I thought I was a waste of life.

Amongst all of this pain, I really felt like something was missing. I couldn’t explain it. There were plenty of things in my life that could’ve used a change. I kept asking myself, “What do I need?” And to be honest, I didn’t know the answer. Maybe it was the prospect of a new job? Maybe I needed to start dating again? Whatever it was, I knew I needed to socialize and put myself out there somehow.

I needed to break the chain of predictability. I needed to break the chain of my mediocre life. But how would I do it?

Then one day, something clicked. Months prior, I had bought a small easel and a few canvases to paint, but they sat in my room untouched for the longest time. Before I moved to Austin, I would spend a lot of time painting in my room, but I’d never let anyone other than family see what I came up with. I’d just hang them around my room.

I actually found myself intimidated at the idea of getting back into painting. But I gave it a shot. My first attempt at it was a meditating man with the color of the seven chakras going through his body. It didn’t come out the way I wanted it to, so I repainted it a few times with different themes. It took months to finally complete but, during that time, I discovered something.

Art and expression were missing from my life. Being able to create something - a picture, an emotion - has become so fulfilling to me. Sometimes I have trouble expressing my true feelings verbally, so what better way than to show them visually? Whenever I paint, my negative thoughts disappear. I can let go and do what I want. I’m finally in control.

When you suffer with depression and anxiety, you understand how tough it is to feel like you’re in control of anything. Art has become me taking control of myself. Taking control of my depression and fighting my anxiety when I was too scared to show anyone my work. I even took a major leap by submitting a painting into my first ever art show.

Since that show, I’ve been painting on a regular basis. My small studio apartment is slowly overflowing with paintings I’ve created and, quite frankly, I love it. I’m still hard on myself and my work. I always feel like there’s room for improvement, and there always will be as long as I keep working toward bettering myself as an artist.

I have great people in my life that encourage me everyday to keep striving. I can honestly say that art has saved my life. I was born to create, to express, and to live the best life possible. And, as long as art is a part of my life, I’ll never feel like a waste again.

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Each of Brittany's brilliant paintings, displayed above, are now available for purchase in the shop.

Here's What 43 People Want to Change about Life

"WaterCloudWater"

"Share One Thing You Plan to Change"

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I have this recurring dream about us all working together toward something big. It's always the same.

I picture two people sitting across from one another at a kitchen table. They're having an open, honest conversation. The ratio between speaking and listening remains mutually equal throughout the exchange. They eventually form a common understanding. They smirk, clink their coffee mugs together, and become friends.

The dream always ends there. It's fucking sweet.

Anyway, I like poetry, so I wrote one about what that conversation could be, if we all could somehow have it together:

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WaterCloudWater 1105172100

Observation engages thought

Thought formulates reason

Reason illuminates meaning

Meaning establishes purpose

Purpose inspires action

Action creates change

Change invites observation

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I thought the poem came out ok, so I decided to show it at a local art show. It was an interactive piece so, along with the poem itself, I made a request to the audience:

Share one thing you plan to change.

Here are the responses I got from that request:

• Save all the damn dogs
• The way people with mental illnesses are perceived & treated
• My gender
• Level of openness to new energy
• My life
• Societal expectations
• My passion
• This
• My mental health. I have manic depression.
• FTW DON'T ASK ME 4 SHYT!
• Lives
• Bold action only
• Deep gratitude practice for all beings every day xoxo
• Sum bitch
• Job
• 💘
• My attitude about work
• Perspective
• Tha system
• Fake democracy
• I  ❤️  Dick
• Tell me how you feel. I won't be mad.
• Sarah's sassiness
• Perception is everything
• Work ethic
• 💘  (different one)
• To thine own self be true
• Don't wanna change a thing, really... right now.
• Our comfort zone! Push the limits
• My self care
• The way that people interact with art!
• My inability to be vulnerable
• I want to make handmade, quality goods cool again
• Eat better
• Love myself more
• My underwear
• Habit
• Lose more control
• I am changing the way I view myself
• My mind
• Focus on myself and not compare myself to others
• Job
• Go Astros! 11-1-17

So regarding this conversation - the one at the kitchen table that I dream about - it seems to still remain internal for most.