Misplaced memories,
back and forth, back
and forth, back and
forth, like a pendulum.
Moments measured
but wasted anyway.
Who knows how much,
how far, how fast or
not swift enough to be
noticed or remembered.
The collective fate of
humanity. Over and over.
We wake up and do it all
again and again. Again.
So, what will we notice
for ourselves today, if
not the shifting, if not
the sway of our time?
© 2026 j.g. lewis
I will work in the present, honing skills into craft, accepting where I am while envisioning where I would like to surface. Progress, of course, a destination; it is the action of, or sense of, doing that which will allow me to create a modicum of personal satisfaction.
I am guided by both curiosity and resiliency. Art, my art, may currently be only a reference point on this creative path. Don’t we all have varied mediums and methods that have ushered us through our artistic lives? Even amateurish attempts of our youth — crayon renderings or finger paintings, irregularly shaped pottery vessels, pastel smudges — have contributed to our most immediate desire to create.
As artists, the style never mattered as much as the will to fashion something with our hands from our imagination. Today, this modus operandi holds true no matter how sophisticated our attempt. The results now, perhaps polished or near perfect, remain maddening in an unfulfilled promise. Should it not be better? Don’t we want to do more? Could our efforts not be deeper, more meaningful?
The inevitable and everbearing drive for excellence.
It is so.
The words of my first photography teacher still hang in my head: ‘You are only as good as your last shot’. Humiliating as it is; humbling, yet ever inspiring.
Inspiration: it is what keeps us going, learning, and trying. Striving. For should our art become patently perfect, we know we may well lose that continued urge to create.
© 2026 j.g. lewis
I am so done with winter.
Yesterday’s snowfall only deepened my contempt for this climate and the particular place I am at this stage of my life.
It is still March.
The month of March is one of both indecision and uncertainty. Forget all that ‘in like a lion, out like a lamb’ crap (or the reverse); it’s folklore, at best. This entire month of March continues to creep on sloth-like.
I have lost my motivation. I slept in this morning. Seasonal depression hovers like consistent cloud-cover.
Spring, calendrically, is only a few days away. Even then we’ve got to wait until April, at least, for spring showers to wash away all the debris and desolation of this past winter.
I’m feeling it now.
It never used to be this way.
It’s funny how I never remember the cold of winter from my youth. For years, I could not wait for snow to arrive. I could not wait to get out on the ski slopes.
I, now, simply can’t get nostalgic about frostbite, long johns, or new skis.
The most exciting thing about this past winter was buying snow tires. Really.
Does my age have anything to do with my lack of appreciation for winter or is it only the weather?
Whether it is, or weather or not, this winter becoming a memory cannot happen soon enough.
© 2026 j.g. lewis
It is not always stating the obvious; to do so, at certain times, comes across as conceit. Yet, especially in trying times, it is necessary.
I love me. Three words; including the big one, a word you mostly reserve for others: love.
Self-love: to appreciate oneself, one’s worth or value, is an important part of being human. It is not always easy for, at times, we do not always feel the way we should. Not always do we hold ourselves in the highest regard, or personal happiness and well-being is not always top of mind. Sadly.
I know I suffer from periods of doubt, or indifference.
Pride and vanity can each get confusing. Ego will allow only so much; the id is not always present. And yes, narcissism, is to be avoided at all costs.
It comes back to value.
Take some time to recognize what you can most offer yourself. Balance those feelings or thoughts with what you can offer to others. Humanity needs people who care, who feel, and are best able to deal with all this uncertainty.
First, be certain of yourself. Then show that love.
It is necessary, especially in these trying times.
© 2026 j.g. lewis
resilient
time moves neither fast nor slow
steady always
it is emotions that rush on
hold us back
consistently unexpectedly
giving us space or
taking it away
it is how it feels
how we feel and
how we deal with our time
we are resilient
and that can hold us back
© 2026 j.g. lewis