LOAD520 – Day 31

Abbey LOAD – Day 31 The Beatles The White Album
Story: Crate your own story prompt using a song we haven’t covered yet!
Technique: Use a white background/leave a lot of ‘white’ space

I’ve been spending better part of the past two days trying to get my white privilege in check. Trying to figure out how to fix this, because at my soul, I’m a fixer.

When I got this prompt, I immediately thought Revolution. I should do Revolution and talk about the protests. Then I read the lyrics to Revolution, and the controversy that surrounded it at the time. It wasn’t what I wanted to say. I thought about Eleanor Rigby, and the loneliness of the whole thing, and it wasn’t what I wanted to do. Then, I thought about Mother Nature’s Son. I watched a video that explained the song. Nature Boy. That was it.

There was a boy
A very strange enchanted boy
They say he wandered very far, very far
Over land and sea
A little shy
And sad of eye
But very wise
Was he

And then one day
A magic day he came my way
And while we spoke of many things, fools and kings
This he said to me
“The greatest thing
You’ll ever learn
Is just to love
And be loved
In return”

(instrumental interlude)

“The greatest thing
You’ll ever learn
Is just to love
And be loved
In return”

Nat King Cole

Honestly, I feel horrible about doing a layout about Sean out in nature today. It should have been about the protests. But, I thought about the line “the greatest thing you’ll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return.” Isn’t that what we all are looking for. If we just loved each other enough we wouldn’t be here.

So, we have Sean taking selfies all over McArthur-Burney Falls Memorial State Park in Burney, California. It was a beautiful day in July of last year. The falls are incredible. We ended up there because John watched some Amazon Prime show about places to visit in Northern California. I’ve never seen something so beautiful. And if you camp, the campground is walking distance to the falls. It’s crazy. This was the first time Sean actually took selfies on a trip. There is only one picture that he didn’t take here, the one where he is touching the water. He always has to touch the water.

I have no idea why the simple ones take so much time. There was the picking of the pictures, the printing of the different sizes, only 2 pictures printed that weren’t used. Not too shabby. I had pulled 4 pieces of paper out of my stash to use, in the end I used 2 very small scraps. The flowers (Simple Stories) and the leaves (My Minds Eye), the brown thickers (Amy Tan) and the circles (Jenni Bowlin Studio) are all super old. I added some enamel dots and hearts, and a line around the outside. The craft serves as my white, and there is good use of ‘white’ space. LOAD520 is officially done.

Now for the post LOAD let down. Sigh. I needed LOAD this time. It was well timed, and helped to keep my mind off of COVID-19. Now my mind is on those protestors. I want to be with them.

It took me until dinner tonight to figure this out in my head. John was reading about how some protesters in Alabama tore apart a Confederate Statue. He’s been talking about the problems the United Daughters of the Confederacy have been having. I care about American History. I really do. But, I absolutely understand why that statue, and others like it, have to come down. It should have been moved. If that statue was so important to the people of Alabama, they should have put it in a safe place. Protestors defacing Confederate monuments is not a new “thing.” It’s been going on for years. It’s considered a sign of oppression to people of color. I get it. It is a different time, and they just are not relevant anymore. The ancestors are important to those related to them, we all don’t need a statue of our ancestors out for public view.

I’m sad for the Daughters and the fire at their building, I really am. Those of us who love genealogy know that records lost can’t be replaced. However, a statement about racism a year and a half old on their website doesn’t do it for me. Especially when, at the time, the Confederacy was militant, unpatriotic, and racist towards the people of the United States of America… Against what they say they stand for now. I’m thinking a name change should be in order. United Daughters of the Civil War might be a bit more inclusive, and join with the National Society of the Daughters of the Union 1861-1865. That way you are inclusive, not looking so racist. Check what you say you stand for. Look at yourself in the mirror. Tell yourself you aren’t a racist, you are just proud of your ancestor. Think about the perception. Change the name if it’s not about being a Confederate. Just sayin’.

I have not done enough as a person to fix this inequity. Just like what happened at Sandy Hook. I didn’t do enough. I trusted that our leaders would do the right thing. They didn’t. I know that with this situation, things will not change before February. Nothing will change. I have allowed the social contract with people of color to be broken. I haven’t done enough. I have stood by and let this happen. I stood with my white privilege and let this happen, ignorant that I was letting it happen. I will do better. I have to do better. I need to do a layout about Revolution, even if I don’t like the words.