Please show me what’s mine to do and help me do it. Thank you. Amen. This prayer quietly presented itself to me last summer while I was flailing in a sea of despair over the suffering of so many vulnerable populations - children in Gaza, polar bears, immigrants, our queer brothers and sisters, coral reefs… I didn’t know what I could do to alleviate any of the anguish that showed up on my daily doom scrolls and repeating this this prayer provided a tiny, concrete buoy of hope.

No answer was immediately forthcoming, but a couple of weeks later, I picked up my carving tools and got back into block printing. The first project was a bluebird of happiness in honor of my mother, who had just passed away. From there, ideas came in streaming in. As I carved and printed and shared them, it slowly dawned on me that perhaps saying yes to these small good things and sharing them is something I can contribute right now, today.

Each is a wish I have for every one of us. Each is a force whose growth I daily commit to nurture and protect. Each is a prayer saying “More of this for everyone please-and-thank you! "It’s my hope that each person who sees my art will feel delighted and encouraged and, in turn, share it with someone who literally needs a good word. I hope that those of us who feel despair over The General State of Things These Days might consider offering this prayer and then bravely stepping into the answer, trusting that when we all do our part, we all are lifted up.