From the Editors 37.5

ROBERT K. LIU and CAROLYN L. E. BENESH

Dear Ornament Reader,

A seventeenth-century philosopher advised that each day we ask ourselves three questions: “Who or what inspired me today?” “What brought me happiness today.” “What brought me comfort and deep peace today.” In this contemplative practice, we find ways to bring more meaning and joy into our lives. Our individual journeys are humbly served by the transformative experiences that honor, not only ourselves, but the best in our humanity, and that promote peace and well being on Mother Earth.

Many of us understand that our beautiful orb has reached another critical tipping point. We have experienced in our lives an explosion of information and inventions, with no one left untouched and nothing remaining the same. We exist in a time that requires a new kind of observance and attentiveness to how we live, work and play; and how we regard the world about us and the heavenly bodies beyond us. In spite of our challenges, our world still remembers to nourish itself through artistic expressiveness, valuing the artist’s voyage into the unknown. It is an imperative that we cannot seem to do without, no matter the process or the difficulty. It illuminates our humanity and helps bind our connections to each other.

Ornament has been our way of honoring the best in humanity, and promoting peace and well being on our planet. It is now forty years since we began our personal journey to document what you hold in your hands today. We evolve physically, and the years pass into the mist of memory, but our mind and spirit continue to thirst for discovery and synthesis; and we still look with anticipation and excitement at the extraordinary vastness of what remains to chronicle.

Traditionally, the last months and beginning of the calendar year are especially devoted to expressions of gratitude. With this in mind and with full hearts, all of us at Ornament wish our friends everywhere the best and most peaceful of times. Thank you for being a member of our community of fellow explorers in art and craft, and for helping us to enjoy the seasons of our lives in this most astonishing of places. We are greatly blessed.

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