23 years ago i first came to stinson beach. upon arrival i visited the healing arts store. a fantastical place, with treasures of peace all around. it was there i purchased a 5-hole lakota flute...that i could not play. a gentle soul named persus said to me, "don't worry kurt, the sound will find you". and she was right, 3 months after i returned home, the sound found me. and what a sound it would become. it was the first of many magical moments for me in this sleepy beach town sewn onto the foot of mt. tam.
and now i have returned for yet another one of these moments. 3 years ago i came to the beach only to find the healing art store occupied by an art gallery. i admit a moment of sadness in my heart. i would return to the healing art store during every visit. each time, something would tug at my shirttail and demand attention. a drum, a book, a piece of art, on each visit i left feeling touched by something greater. i was hesitant to go into this new place. but i was drawn, moved, so i paused, took a deep breath and walked in. the room was bathed in this golden light and the beautiful paintings of emmeline craig. i was immediately at ease as we spoke, as if having known each other. we discussed many things of art and life. i told her how i was tiptoeing into this journey of art making. she said at some point i will decide to leap. i remember leaving and thinking that one day i'd like to have a painting hanging there.
in perfectly kairos fashion, 20 and 3 years later, shimmer 23 is hanging in the blissful gallery. i am grateful beyond words to emmeline for this opportunity. i'm thankful that persus told me the truth, that indeed, the sound would find me.