The Fight on the Doorstep

"The Fight on the Doorstep" Collage

The above collage was one of works that informed part of yesterday's post.  It was the first one I have  completed as adult without a clear goal in mind for the finished product. I allowed myself to pour through piles of magazines and stacks of paper choosing only images I was drawn to select. When I felt my working pile of paper was high enough I choose a background and then began to assemble a the smaller pieces to create the image you see now.

At first I thought of "The Fight on the Doorstep" as having political connotations about how the media can fill our hearts and minds with images of fear, danger and violence. This then creates an environment in which we become more willing to give up our privacy and freedom in subtle ways.

For the past few weeks the collage has been sitting in at my desk where I work a couple of days a week. Following yesterday's post I now think "The Fight on the Doorstep" is my inner struggle to keep the old me, the I can't because I am not _____", at bay.  The decades of old tapes and images that play through my mind want me to remain stuck where I am because that is where I have perceived I am safe.  Those thoughts are no less damaging to my psyche than subjecting myself to a barrage of media images of violence. I am resisting an inner environment in which I would become willing to settle for safety and thereby give up my potential for freedom, growth and adventure.