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The world is violent & mercurial - it will have its way with you...We live in a perpetually burning building & what we must save from it, all the time, is love.
~Tennessee Williams

The Lunar New Year heralds the return of the Ox bringing with him/her the qualities of patience, confidence, stability and determination. It will be a year for tilling the soil of ourselves and planting the seeds of new ideas.

Qawwali, a form of Sufi Islamic devotional music, has a deeply religious history dating back to the 13th century. It was originally performed at Sufi shrines, as a gathering for spiritual listening which would often coincide with the anniversary of the death of a saint.

Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, who died in 1997, was regarded as the greatest sufi singer in the Urdu language, and was instrumental in introducing Qawwali music to the West. You can see him perform here.

Bird Note has been telling stories about birds for fifteen years now - you can find them online, on social media and on their podcast.

Each of their two minute daily stories are gems - pulling us into relationship with our feathered compatriots on the planet. Their mission is to highlight the importance of protecting the natural world and reminding us of the beauty we so often overlook.

You can see and hear a beautiful Starling murmuration here.

Ioanna Sakellaraki’s series of photographs and mixed media The Truth Is in the Soil is both an elegy to her father, and to an ancient Greek tradition. Since antiquity moirologists, or hired mourners, have been an integral part of the intricate rituals surrounding death. They are called upon to express the collective grief of the bereaved gathering at gravesides, giving voice to the loss.

You can read more about the history of this project and see some of Sakellaraki’s art here.

We need to be honest and specific with children - as adults we have to be courageous.

Kids are deeply grieving too, and these 7 fabulous films can be a part of family movie night to help kids and parents alike share their feelings of loss.

The link to the titles is here and another resource article about children’s grief during the pandemic is here.

In the chilly, still short days of February the color and energy of the avant-garde of the early 20th century can be a balm for the soul.

Florine Stettheimer, the largely unacknowledged painter and designer, was an expert chronicler of her time and her paintings cannot help but evoke a smile.

Ronald Searle, the beloved British cartoonist and illustrator, created this series of drawings for his wife when she was undergoing treatment for a particularly aggressive form of cancer with an uncertain prognosis.

One of these drawings would greet her after every chemotherapy session. They foreground the joy to be had in everyday things and the importance of cherishing it all when we have it.

There is a curious subculture of medical professionals who are fascinated by the health problems of dead artists; and they are using their artwork as the tool for diagnosis.

Perhaps this is one of the reasons why medical schools are increasingly programming art classes into their curriculum. Some believe that looking at art will make better doctors out of medical students in general.

Check out this very interesting take on the relationship between the art and the ailments of 7 famous dead artists here.

Please feel free to forward this newsletter to anyone you feel might benefit from these resources and articles.

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