Visual Arts Archives - One Honest Indie

So, I’m doing my Sunday morning yoga routine, and I get to the Relaxation After phase, because there are a few phases to my yoga routine.

And, because it’s Sunday, this is the part where I’m supposed to imagine myself on a beach. And I hate the beach. Fuck the beach.

But then I remember the last time I dwelled on that particular feeling and decided to do the impossible, in my mind. And I decided to be impossible (in my mind).

And the image that emerged was this. A cartoon woman with blonde hair and sunglasses, lying alone on a beach. Her hair is too perfect. And she’s tan, which is impossible for me. She lies in a small open area defined by a few palm trees. There’s a distinctly Sixties vibe in this image.

I consider this later and wonder why I liked it. The image is a reflection of some almost antiquated notions about women (to me, anyway). It almost screams “white privilege” and that disturbs me, because that is something about which I’m more than acutely aware.

But, then, on another Sunday, I do my yoga routine and get to that part. And rather than reject, as I did previously, I embrace it again and imagine a different woman than me. She could have skin of any color, but I decide upon a Black woman.

She is also impossible in her mind. I can only imagine what she looks like. But her impossible woman also reflects her own ideals and hidden advantages. In any case, my impossible woman may be alone right now, but she knows there’s another impossible woman out there somewhere. And they’ve each got each others’ backs.