Salience (A collaborative work in progress)

There are moments for all of us that stir our senses and make us feel more alive. I seek contributors who will submit brief descriptions of such moments that I will use in a larger work of art named “Salience.” If willing, contribute one or more brief descriptions of salient moments that enlivened your senses, sparked a vivid memory, caused a visceral reaction, or made you feel more connected to life or other beings. The emphasis is on how you felt.

Here are some of my own memories of salient moments:

• As a child, when I heard the school bell ring on the Friday afternoon of the last day of school and I knew I could spend my entire summer playing outside, sleeping in, having sleepovers, and going away to the beach.

• Lying in a tent in the deep woods of Michigan after a long hike, wrapped in a sleeping bag with someone I loved, when a cool night breeze rushed in and made us both shiver and pull each other closer for warmth.

• The clicking of the foot pedals of a loom as I was weaving together colors and textures in a room full of artists -- no one was talking, yet everyone seemed to feel intimately connected to one another.

• Those times when I looked so closely in someone’s eyes that I saw the other person’s irises widen and shrink in sync with the rise and fall of the emotions shared between the two of us.

• Lightly pinching a baby’s little pudgy feet and toes, causing her/him to giggle with a heartfelt belly laugh, so much so that I could not help but laugh myself.

• Feeling the warm, wet and fragrant vapors of steam on my face when I stood by the oven and stirred the soup that my mother was making for a winter day’s meal.

• Talking with someone I just met at a party as the hours were slipping away, and as we shared stories, philosophies, and anecdotes, I realized this person knew more about me than some of my close friends.

• The apparent irritation on my family’s face when I wore an outlandish, artsy outfit (such as when I wore my white pantyhose with colorful prints, my Army and Navy store combat boots and a mismatched plaid jacket).

• When I first told a boy that I “love” him, my stomach turning with raw nervousness and excitement, and I stood unsteady and unsure, exposed to the real possibility that he may not “love” me back.

• When I took in a deep breath, walked on stage, and felt the stage lights bright and hot, blinding me to an audience shrouded in darkness, all hushed and waiting for me to begin my dance.

• When a loved one was dying right before me, the moment just before the tears and the audible crying, when my chest filled with an emptiness so horrible that I became suffocated by the stark finality of total loss.

• When I first held someone’s baby and there were no words to describe how it felt to feel her breathing in those tiny breaths, and as I noticed she was needing all of me so completely in that moment, I questioned everything I ever knew about myself.

• When I said goodbye to my parents as I went away to college, my mother holding back the tears and my father holding her hand so tightly that, when I saw this, I realized they had given every part of themselves for me to succeed at that very moment and every moment before it.

• When I said my vows on my wedding day, taking in the inexplicable glory of another human being promising to honor me and love me and I could tell he meant this to be true even when our love were to become commonplace or when life would be unkind.

• Allowing my cat to lick me even though it is wet and sticky, all because her gritty tongue makes a perfect sensation as it lightly scratches my arm.

• Riding a horse through Ireland’s countryside on a grey day, feeling invigorated by the crisp, cold air and astounded by the deep and brilliant green vegetation.

• Waking up at 1:00pm after a night out drinking and dancing and going to have breakfast and coffee while I wore my oldest t-shirt, comfiest jeans, and a ball cap to cover my messy hair.

• Watching my dog sleep in the afternoon while his body jerks and his nose twitches. The happiness I had when he then wakes up, looks me in my eyes, and seems to show that he is totally content and pleased that I am there.

• Standing in the downpour of a monsoon with my eyes closed, smelling the wet earth around me.