If life is a journey, then today I’m grateful for the landmarks along the way.
I’m very conscious of those, having passed two along the road this week. As you are aware, though perhaps not as acutely as I, school began again this week. This week I watched my son enter second grade and my daughter enter Kindergarten. Both are major markers for me. Second grade means we don’t really take as much note of the grades anymore. It’s officially that middle part of elementary school. It’s something like the end of counting months as an infant becomes a toddler. Jack is solidly a boy now. Not a little boy, but a real boy. And Lucie’s getting up there, too. Kindergarten means I have every weekday morning to myself, which is a blessing I’m trying to comprehend. It also means that Lucie is stepping into independence. Not that she hadn’t dove into the deep end of that pool already, but this is official. The Von Biekers no longer have kids at home all day. We no longer have little infants or toddlers or even “little” kids. We just have kids. I’m still thinking about what all of that means – about the gains and the losses. The melancholy sadness and the proud joy. But today I’m most thankful for the thinking. Landmarks do that for us. They tell us, “hey, it’s just 200 more kilometers to Vancouver! You’re going to make it after all”. They let us know, “you’ve already come 350 clicks out of Edmonton. You’re well on your way”. They serve as reminders that we are indeed moving forward. You don’t pass a landmark unless you are moving forward.
An interesting, albeit disconcerting, read from UTNE Reader on how the way we are raising our kids may be having an affect on their future creativity. The article explores the effects of swapping unrestricted play for play-with-rules. Is Faerie being filtered out?
This year, more than one person took the time to capture Bridge Songs on film on June 5th. I’m glad they did, because it was a wonder-full night we want to remember for a long time. And for those of you who weren’t able to make it out, these images give a glimpse into “the sound (and sight) of glory”.
This first batch of images was captured by Susan Wilde, with post-processing by our own Jennifer Wilde. They’re simply lovely.
A lot of thinking on Faerie comes from JRR Tolkein. Another concept, similar if not interchangeable to Faerie, is traced directly to the author of the Middle Earth stories. The idea, in fact an entire literary genre, is mythopoeia.
is a narrative genre in modern literature and film where a fictional mythology is created by the writer of prose or other fiction.
It’s not as a genre that I first learned of the word, though. I heard it first as the title of Tolkein’s poem, essentially defending Faerie to CS Lewis.
The idea of the photograph representing reality – its inherent trustworthiness – is long dead. From that loss, there is a freedom to play. If the photograph is not merely representational of reality, what role can it play? Perhaps, like all art forms, it can visualize not only realities but possibilities.
Looking through the incredible blog, 500 Photographers, today, I discovered many “Faerie photographers”. Their work is amazing, and just the type of thing I hope we have inspired artists to create with Bridge Songs: Faerie this year.
I enjoy sand animation as a compelling storytelling form, so it’s nice to see it applied to some of the greatest stories ever told – those found in Scripture. Sand animation has always had a childlike quality to me. It is whimsical, and often wonder-full. Click the link below to see the sand animation work of sandbible.com. Then search for some of the best I’ve seen on YouTube, like this one. At its heights, this is one incredible art form.
Today’s Faerie Frenzy post is a great piece on the personal pull of Faerie, by Bridge Songs singer/songwriter Jennifer Wilde.
Faerie is my second home. Actually, perhaps it’s my first. The time I spend in imagination and fancy feels like best time to me – it’s the place I’m most comfortable, most alive.
Every year the beauty of my backyard apple tree inspires me for a few ephemeral days. This year I decided to bottle the wonder for future enjoyment, and create a little Bridge Songs promo at the same time.
Please enjoy (and share) this little piece of Bridge Songs propaganda. The music is from our upcoming Bridge Songs: Faerie album.
As of tomorrow, Bridge Songs: Faerie will be just one week away. Thus, today’s Friday Feature is kicking off a “Faerie Frenzy”. Each day between now and the event, there will be a new Faerie or Bridge Songs related post. Booyah!
Today’s post brings you the long promised full interview with Jeffrey Overstreet, film critic and author or Through a Screen Darkly and The Auralia Thread, a four part faerie story in its own right.
The interview is just over an hour long and presented here in an only slightly edited version. Some ums and ahs were taken out, as well as some bad joke rambling rabit trails and weather-talk on my part. I thought you’d be better spared the extra 15 minutes of that.
The rest contains a lot of great insights. Jeffrey and I had a long, deep discussion about fearie, faith, childlike wonder and the state of the Christian imagination. We also talked about The Imaginarium of Dr.Parnassus, so catch that near the end.
I hope you enjoy hearing the conversation as much as I enjoyed having it. It is a good reminder of what is so pertinent about this year’s Bridge Songs theme.
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