I find myself in an unfamiliar place – although I have visited here on occasion it remains foreign somehow
I thought my life was heading full speed ahead in one direction only to be halted, paused quite unexpectedly in such a way that I find myself strangely idle –
and this is an unfamiliar place –
It’s not like I don’t have anything to do, I can’t even imagine that, it’s just that there isn’t anything that needs doing, seriously nothing – all the considerable household chores and obligatory duties on my to do list have been successfully crossed off –

As unexpected as this time/space opening is, it is welcome, I am grateful. It gives me permission to rest, to disengage and to disappear into the studio to do a deep dive on a piece that has been in limbo for months.

Life it turns out, is an exercise in making choices, letting go, moving on –
strings of days and decades – mapped in our memories, they become reference points for caution or optimism,
a guide – dots on the map of our journey moving through this world –
And so I begin work on some preliminary sketches about the choices we make and where those choices take us in our lives –

I start with today – the same date 21 years ago that I returned to Calgary to live – and move through my timeline to follow the choices that paved the road that took me to where I am today –
on a voyage of discovery and revelation led by a curious mind and an open heart –

Where does your today take you on your timeline? What has been your journey?
What do your choices reveal about you? About your life?
About where you’ve been ? Where you are going?

Here’s to deep diving
Louise
Okori

11/20/ 2021