The Return of Hope

The year 2020 has been called many things: “the pandemic year,” “the work-from-home year,” “the sourdough year,” the list goes on. 

For me personally, it’s been “the virtual year.” Through the power of Zoom, I’ve managed to continue catching up with friends and family, including those I rarely spoke with before the pandemic. I was lucky enough to be able to keep up with my law practice virtually. 

I think part of why I’ve taken to virtual gatherings so much is because (like everywhere in my house) I’ve tried to be intentional about my Zoom space. The large whiskey jug behind me is a find from an antique dealer that I found at an outdoor flea market in Canton, Texas (outdoor COVID safe activity). What you can’t tell from the photo is how incredibly heavy this jug is – so heavy, in fact, my husband very graciously ACTUALLY carried 3 OF THEM around all day for me while I did my shopping!

The little wooden stand that my notes are resting on is an antique cutting board I found at a store in Carbondale, Colorado called Strange Imports. This was sourced from halfway across the world, in India. Of course, I’d never use it as an actual cutting board, but I think notes are a fairly safe bet. I fell in love with Amy Laugesen’s "Blue Mud Herd" series while visiting the Ann Korologos Gallery in Basalt, and as you can see I had to make room for this beautiful piece in my home.

The hanging slides are by a phenomenal artist who sees things in ways most of us only wish, Jean Shin. The Metropolitan Museum of Art bequeathed their entire collection of slides used to document their vast collection of art and exhibitions when they digitized from analog and she turned these slides into a Meta Cloud. By stringing together thousands of individual slides into a large-scale installation intended to reconstruct the systems of categories, hierarchies and chronologies that once contextualized these archives, Meta Clouds now hang in many places around the globe, including the Facebook HQ. Jean Shin has created so many other amazing pieces such as her Floating Maze at Brookfield Place in New York City among so many others. When I saw her work I couldn’t resist reaching out to her and unbelievably she replied and I was able to secure the Meta Cloud.

Needless to say, this past year has been a long road for all of us. We’ve been hit with a lot – a pandemic, a contentious election, rioting, and in Texas, a catastrophic freeze. Some of my neighbors, they’re in for another round of home repairs to fix burst pipes and flood damage after recovering from the tornado in 2019 that devastated my neighborhood.

But the thing is, we know how to get through the tough times – 2020 taught us that. Now, I’m prepared to welcome hope back into our lives – hope that 2021 will give us plenty to celebrate, as well as the strength to be resilient. I’m ready to bounce back stronger than we were before, ready to greet the year with optimism, and ready to proclaim 2021 as the Year of Resilience.

Sending love to everyone who needs it and, of course, #onlyjoy.

Love, Kathleen

PS - Fashion tags can be found here - our first Photo Story since one year ago this week!