Showing posts with label Eleanor Roosevelt. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Eleanor Roosevelt. Show all posts

Sunday, September 24, 2017

Washington, DC 2 (Too) - Monumental



This is my second post with the purpose of sharing the sights from my recent vacation to Washington, DC. There is so much to see there, and of course, I can't seem to keep myself from taking an excessive amount of photos. Some of you have expressed interest in seeing the photos, so I've grouped them by content, not date, and will be posting more here soon. I hope you enjoy!

District of Columbia War Memorial - for the over 26,000 Washingtonians who served in WWI



You can't get a picture of the White House without the fence, now, because there are two fences...




The Jefferson Memorial from across the Tidal Basin




Looking at the front of the Lincoln Memorial from beside the Reflecting Pool




Now looking the other direction, toward the Washington Monument



 The Jefferson Memorial



Todd, me, and Lindsey in front of the Jefferson Memorial



Inside



  Looking up



Wise and inspirational words...



No man shall be compelled to frequent or support any religious worship or ministry...




Looking from the Jefferson Memorial across the Tidal Basin to the Washington Monument







The Martin Luther King Memorial; I had never seen this one before.





One of the waterfalls at the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial.


I had never been here before either. It was beautiful, huge, and elaborate.

"In 1974, Lawrence Halprin was selected to design the 7.5 acre site adjacent to the Cherry Tree Walk on the western edge of the Tidal Basin. Halprin created a new sort of memorial, a sequence of four galleries or garden rooms, crafted in a narrative sequence to tell the story of the U.S. during the four terms of Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s presidency. The memorial’s rooms and water features, built primarily of red South Dakota granite, use stone to express the fracture and upheaval of the times. Water, in the form of cascades, waterfalls, and pools, is a metaphorical component of the palette, with the volume and complexity escalating as the narrative progresses. The memorial also incorporates 10 bronze sculptures and 21 carved inscriptions, quotations from FDR’s speeches and radio talks. The sculptures, by Leonard Baskin, Neil Estern, Robert Graham, Thomas Hardy, and George Segal, depict images from the Depression and World War II, including a breadline and a man listening to a Fireside Chat on his radio."
https://tclf.org/landscapes/franklin-delano-roosevelt-memorial




His inspirational words were everywhere.





" The large stepped waterfall represents the Tennessee Valley Authority dam building projects, which helped stimulate the economy and electrify an area hard hit by the economic collapse."
http://www.freetoursbyfoot.com/visitors-guide-fdr-memorial/#8







I thought the Mural was really interesting; I believe it's made of copper.

"Walk straight, around the right side of the central wall, and you will see a large stepped waterfall directly in front of you with six columns standing in the center of the room. These columns are meant to represent FDR’s New Deal, depicted as rolls of an industrial printing press. The negative images are shown wrapped around the columns and then “imprinted” on the wall to your left as bronze reliefs. The images show different New Deal programs that FDR enacted to help the United States out of the Great Depression." 

















George Segal created powerful sculptures to represent the despair of the Great Depression, such as this one entitled "Breadline."







Eleanor Roosevelt is one of my personal heroes, and her quote, "You must do the thing you think you cannot do" has given me great inspiration in hard times. Among her many political and activist accomplishments, she was also the first United States delegate to the United Nations.







The Vietnam Veterans Memorial - no words can express how moving this is.












I hope you enjoyed my little tour of some of the monuments and memorials in Washington, DC. Next up - The Botanical Gardens and Arboretum!





Sunday, October 24, 2010

I Did It! (thanks to Eleanor)

This short quote has become my mantra:
You must do the thing you think you cannot do.  –Eleanor Roosevelt

You see, I've been a big chicken for a long, long time.  I made some unfortunate decisions, and the consequences left me nearly unable to make any decision whatsoever.  You could say that self confidence has not been my strong suit.  I've been working on it, though.  Whenever I begin thinking, "That's just too hard", or "I don't have the time or energy to do that", or, "I'm not good/strong/smart/whatever enough to...", I make myself repeat, over and over:
"You must do the thing you think you cannot do."
"You must do the thing you think you cannot do."
"You must do the thing you think you cannot do." ...etc. ....


I applied for an exhibit at the Artspace Gallery in Richmond, Virginia, and to my surprise, I was notified that the jury had decided to offer me a show!  I was in shock; what had happened to the usual rejection letter?  Now what do I do?
The usual doubts flooded in.  How could I do this by myself?  Would I be able to drive so far alone?  Could I afford the trip?  How would I get everything done while working full time?  Would I be able to hang it by myself?  Could I take off work that long?  There were a thousand reasons it might not work out.  Maybe I should turn it down, I thought.  It seemed like, well- the safest thing to do.

"You must do the thing you think you cannot do."  I don't remember where I first read them (probably on someone's blog), but I do remember the feeling of recognition, of knowing deep in my bones that those words were true.  How many times had I told my students the same thing- that self esteem comes only from accomplishing something difficult, that no growth comes from taking the easy way out?  So, I signed the contract, and did what I had to do.  Whenever I felt like chickening out, I repeated those words.

And here's what happened as a result.

 My husband was able to go with me, and we got the show hung on time, with no major problems.

The gallery was in an old warehouse, which also housed several other galleries that had openings the same night.  It was a nice space.

You can't tell from the pictures, but the opening was well attended.

Everything went pretty smoothly, and we had a great time!

In other words,
I did it!

That Eleanor, she really knew what she was talking about.