Impressions on the Timeline of Our Lives
For each newsletter, my goal is to maintain a positive response to our world. Often I write, wait, write---and this week took even longer.
As a third generation Los Angeles native, this week has been a challenge.
Let me assure you that our desert community is about 150 miles from the destruction of the LA fires. However, we have all watched in shock fire raged through Pacific Palisades, Altadena and other communities. So many of us know someone who has lost a home this week. It is difficult to offer encouragement. I have found myself reaching out to check on friends and acquaintances—some from other continents who have children residing in the LA Basin and old friends and neighbors. And we have kept an ear to the news. I have been heartened to see many community, faith-based, charity, and animal rescue groups as well as commercial businesses reaching out with aid to the fire victims.
I urge you to contact those you know in the area and donate what you can to a reliable agency. And remember, the city of Los Angeles, with a population of about 4 million covers an area of about 500 square miles. “Greater Los Angeles” with a population of about 13 million covers about 34,000 square miles. This is not to diminish the suffering of victims who have lost entire communities - schools, museums, places of worship, libraries, medical facilities and more- but to provide a perspective. According to news reports this week, the fire has burned about 65 square miles and more than 12,000 structures. – yes a lot! Over 150,000 people have been displaced.
So, as 2025 progresses, known and unknown challenges emerge. How do we restore hope? Maintain harmony and the power of community. Continue to love. Communicate with accuracy and reliability.
“The requirements for a good guide are reliability and accurate knowledge.” 1 Corinthians 4:2 The Message
“We will fail when we fail to try.” ― Rosa Parks
“If you want to lift yourself up, lift up someone else.” ― Booker T. Washington
"It is during our darkest moments that we must focus to see the light." — Aristotle
I am grateful for friends and neighbors who responded to our invitation to greet January 1st with us – for coffee, conversations, encouragement, and to collected items for a local Joshua Tree charity/ministry, The Way Station, which has reached out to the homeless with food, goods, and now showers and laundry facilities, and encouragement for over 30 years. It was a small gathering – but our house held much love on the first day of the year.
This also marks my one year anniversary on the Substack platform. On January 2, 2024, I introduced my intentions, “I want this to be a breath of fresh air and a word of encouragement. I’d like to come along side you with some practical tips and good things I am discovering every day. 2024 will be an interesting year! “
A year later, my goals are unchanged—and daily, we encounter the unexpected. My modest podcast entitled “Encouragement Only,” is an auditory version of my newsletter intended especially for those who find screentime challenging.
Creative projects continue to lift us up. I am delighted to be exhibiting with Art Dialog, a group of women artists, which has met for 12 years to nurture each other’s creative process and progress. And, yes, the day we hung our current exhibit, we learned that one of us has family members who lost a home to the fire. Our hearts gather to lift her family.
Art Dialog: Noreen Lawlor, Anja Broenink, Janis Commentz, Sharon Morgan Jenkins, Esther Shaw, Krista Wargo, Marjorie Franklin (not shown Alane Levinsohn, Hiroko Momii, Bonnie Brady)
We invite you to visit the exhibit and to attend the Opening Reception Saturday, January 18, 5-7 pm at the Hi-Desert Artists Gallery in Yucca Valley.
Our work hangs on the walls and is available in the online shop.
Another unique local venue is at Black Rock Campground Nature Center near where I hike (stroll) regularly.
The gallery presents contemporary interpretations of themes related to the park. The current exhibit, Other Worlds, features the iconic images of Diane Best.
Best is "Seeking more and more remote, uninhabited and overlooked corners of the desert, I am interested in preserving or recording a single incredible moment of converging light and landscape.” Best works in the tradition of American conservationist artists of the 19th century and strives to modernize landscape painting and filmmaking using contemporary theories of perception— influenced by deep ecology, photography, cinema, digital imaging and animation.
2025 has barely begun and yet it’s impact on the timeline of our lives has already made a deep impression.
As a creative being – that is one of my most important jobs - to strive to create joy. To love and to encourage throughout it all.
I’d love to hear from you.
Inspired by all of you,
Marjorie, Thank you for your response. Yes a constant low drumbeat of horror… I fear that like so many events, once a month or two has passed, people will forget and these families are going to need support for the next decade! Thanks for reading.
Lovely essay, Janis! I was feeling like the smoke from the LA fires had dimmed my outlook on life, but your words have given me some strength. As a former Angeleno like yourself, there has been this constant low drum beat of horror and wishing I had a giant fire hose to point west. So I appreciate calm words, reminding me of the beauty and love in the world.