15 Comments
Feb 20Liked by Lisette Murphy

Wow this is a truly breathtaking post. Thank you for writing your tribute to Dan, and for sharing his work. Thank you also for sharing your experience, and how your art moves through you and your body. I feel very honoured to read your words.

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Thank you so much for your loving tribute to Dan & for being a lovely presence here in the artists-on-Substack realm, Raj!

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Feb 20Liked by Lisette Murphy

Timely for so many reasons…I had a cat scan last week that thankfully came back clear, I was relieved and grateful but it also made me feel a sense of urgency to not waste the time I’ve been given. I also found a series on netflix about evidence of life after death that has been intriguing me the last week. I hope you are feeling better now and have fully recovered from Covid. Thank you for sharing your thoughts this was a beautiful newsletter

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Oh, Christa-- Big hug for you. I know just waiting for scan results to come back is its own harrowing journey & I'm so glad you got good news. It's been very interesting to see the way life-after-death has risen in popular culture just since the Covid pandemic struck-- I think everyone is trying to find comfort and new answers to big scary questions right now. Interestingly, Spiritualism & mediumship really rocketed into public view at the turn of the century when the globe was being rocked by massive technological shifts and military actions, not unlike today...

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Feb 20Liked by Lisette Murphy

I hope you’re feeling better. 💚

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Thanks Claudia-- much, much better and SO grateful for it!

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Sending you recovery and wellness. And thank you for this. I needed to read it just now 🙏❤️🔥

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Thanks for the good energy, Krisztina. I'm glad this resonated for you this week. BIG HUG!

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Lovely, Lisette. I read every word, and was so moved. Thank you for sharing this. Feel better soon! 💚

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Aw, Rebecca. Thank you so much for your kind feedback-- I don't take it for granted when folks read every word!! That's a big ask in today's culture, so it's a gift to receive attention in this way. Thank you. I'm feeling much better! Writing through it helped...

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Lovely and moving. Thank you for sharing.

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I appreciate your feedback Anne, thank you for this sweet note.

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Feb 21Liked by Lisette Murphy

Thank you for sharing, I didn’t know about Dan, his art was breathtaking and inspiring.

This moves me to share a poem I wrote for my grandmother, or sort of… I wasn’t meaning to, I was preparing for an art workshop I was going to host around the topic of “belonging” and one day in the middle of the night I couldn’t sleep so I started to compose a PANTOUM in my mind. I loved it immediately and had to write it down… I realized I had made a mistake on the format and tried again… wasn’t convinced and did it once more only to remember there are no such things as “mistakes” and decided to stick with the first version.

For context, I lost my grandmother to cancer many years ago and it still weighs heavy in my heart, she was the first person who ever taught me how to paint and I know I carry her in my fingertips to this day.

Personally, the concept of death scares me but I have the certainty that she’ll be there to greet me on the other side, this idea gives me a lot of comfort. Anyway, here it is:

I belonged in your arms

It’s been 16 years and my tears won’t run out

Like a river that keeps flowing

to the ocean of eternity

It’s been 16 years and my tears won’t run out

They say grief is just love with nowhere to go

Like a river that keeps flowing

Nurturing everything on its path

They say grief is just love with nowhere to go

This was supposed to be about belonging but it’s just about you

Nurturing everything in your path

Even long after you’re gone

This was supposed to be about belonging but it is just about you

Like a river that keeps flowing

Even long after you’re gone

I belong in your arms

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Ohhhhh!! Elisa!!! Thank you SO much for sharing this. The river of tears nurturing everything in its path is sending sweet shivers down my arms each time I read it. Thank you. I've also been thinking about "belonging" in the context of our ancestral lineages, how we can feel and know we belong to this river of experience and DNA... How beautiful to feel and know your grandmother with you even to the tips of your fingers... xoxoxo

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