Because I am an artist, I think in images. A thought arrives in my brian in the form of a picture. I wish I could make them come out of my mouth the way they appear. Nothing would get lost in translation.

I am and have always been a visual learner. I heard Charlie Brown’s teacher during instruction time but when the teacher rolled in the film strip cart I was engaged. If I saw it, I could relate, remember, and retain. It has been scientifically proven that people learn auditorily or kinesthetically or visually. Knowing this made me more efficient when I would study, write, or communicate. Knowing this made me feel less like a freak.

Show me a map and I know how to get there but describe left, right, etc: I am lost. Better still, if you provide the same information in story format... over the bridge, past the store where we bought the good melon, near the antique shop...then I can develop my very own personalized map based on those visual cues.

The title of this blog occurred because merry go rounds and roller coasters are ever present in my mind. They appear like a half remembered dream, a pop up ad, or the interruption while meditating. So what am I thinking about? What does this mean?

Deep my thoughts: going back to the place I was born, the first post quarantine travel, for my niece’s wedding. Several of the grandparents and great grandparents who had been present for much of her life are no longer here to celebrate. She is the first of the kids to marry. The others all have significant ones now. And so it goes around and around, that circle of life.

I am thinking about life before the pandemic, the long time sequestered, and the approaching of post-pandemic adjustments. I didn’t learn a new language or get “in shape”. I did learn to cook and started sewing again. I did a lot of thinking. Mostly, I stayed in my studio choosing to mark this time as an artist residency. I painted because that’s what I do. Some were great, some were a hot mess, some were just works in progress. Hopefully a few will become images that might stay in someone else’s mind. And so it goes, up and down, those roller coaster chapters of life.