Faith in Humanity

"You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is like an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty."
--Mahatma Gandhi

After the events that played out in Boston over the past week, I got to thinking about not how terrible people can be to one another, but how good. This week I auctioned off a piece of artwork to benefit the American Red Cross of Eastern Mass. I'm donating 100% of the profit in memory of those who lost their lives in the Boston Marathon bombing. 

"Home" 12x12 collage on wood panel

I can't thank you ALL enough for supporting my auction, for sharing the link, and for bidding. Ultimately the high bidder was Nancy Hall, a collector of my work who has become quite a friend. Any time an artist has a collector, she has support both financially and professionally in the fact that that person appreciates her work so much, they have to have more. That's a good feeling. Validation.

Thank you Nancy for supporting me, and for being so generous.

We spent a lot of time on public transport this week

This week in San Francisco has truly been a confirmation of just how good people can be. I cannot tell you how many people on the streets and on the bus have stopped to help us find our way, to let us know what stop to get off, to point us in the right direction. Some folks just asked us where we were from and what we had seen in San Francisco that we liked.

On the bus yesterday, I noticed there were some quotes about love, compassion and kindness, in lieu of advertising. As we exited on Van Ness St. to change buses I looked up to see this one:

"I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear." --Martin Luther King, Jr.

This was just after I watched a man get up from his seat across from me, in order to go to the back of the bus and see why a woman was yelling at a man in his seat. "You're sitting on my transfer ticket!" She kept yelling "Get up! Get up!" The man across from me asked the man if he spoke English, he did not. The helpful man explained the situation in Spanish, the sitting man got up, smiling.

People taking the time to do things for one another, to look out for one another, to lend a hand. It's inspiring. And reminds me that a few dirty drops do not pollute the ocean.

And hats off to the amazing people and public servants of Boston for coming together and looking out for one another. Proud to say I'm from MA and reminded of it with all the Boston shirts and caps I've seen on the street (and the bus) this week.

Thank you for being a part of my art journey.
Elizabeth