An Abundant Life - A Tree In A Brooklyn Garden

I remember my Grandmother said to me that when she was still fairly young her parents moved the family to Brooklyn and she saw trees for the first time. She had lived in Manhattan, downtown on Hudson and Gansevoort Street, and her Father had been a Baker. They lived in a building that is still there, on the floor above the bakery which was below. In summer time she told me it was so hot that they slept on the fire escape and sometimes went to a nearby park. It may be that there were trees there, but somehow when she moved to Brooklyn, she felt that it was moving up in the world because of all the trees and greenery.

The other day a beautiful friend I hadn't seen in a while invited me to go with her to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. I hadn't been there in what feels like a very long while, and it was just the kind of trip I needed and just the kind of day with a beautiful friend that would give me some much needed joy.

We walked and talked and sat in the various gardens and took time to look at all the beautiful plants and shrubs and bushes and trees, and we also saw so many wonderful animals and saw and heard so many beautiful birds. At one point we saw a rabbit, what seemed to be a baby, learning how to cross the asphalt path. It darted out and explored a bit and then went back into the shrubbery, darting out again after someone on foot had passed and running back after touching its feet on the pavement.

I had been so enchanted all day that when I saw the rabbit I realized I hadn't taken any videos, and so that was what I decided to try to capture. You can see this sweet visitor as I pan around through all the trees and green leaves and undergrowth. My Grandmother I think would have loved the day we had, just walking and talking and being in nature with so many lush, green trees and the beautiful blue sky above.

A Walk In The Brooklyn Botanic Garden

And A Sweet Rabbit Friend

Learning To Cross The Road

Blessings,

Jannie Susan

An Abundant Life - Songs In The Night

A few months ago I was introduced on Instagram to the beautiful Ava McCoy. Her Mother, Dena, who I've written about in these pages before, had started posting some of Ava's music and performances and videos,  and what I found myself watching and seeing was not only enjoyable, but also so deeply moving and well constructed musically in so many different levels, from lyrics to cadence, to the harmonies and melodies and interplay between instruments, the singer's guitars, and her voice.

Ava had a record launch at Baby's All Right last weekend for her new album "Dragonfly", and because I knew the evening would be a special one, I decided to take the time to travel out to Williamsburg and see her. I arrived early and was given the gift of a quite early evening seat at the bar, and then when the doors opened I was able to find a seat inside with a center view. I've had so much going on in my schedule that it sometimes feels difficult to even think of adding something else, especially if it's something just for the pure enjoyment of it, but because I felt so strongly that I wanted to show support and give encouragement to this beautiful young singer and songwriter and musician I made the choice to go and really be present in that room for that evening.

The performance was a spectacular one, and even the opening acts were wonderful. Ava sang on another band's song towards the end of the openers, and when she arrived on stage herself, it seemed as if she was right at home and could live there. 

Each song was memorable, and some I'd known before sounded completely new in this space. New compositions and older, remembered ones, brought such joy to me that I was reminded of years past and people and places I'd known and my own teenage times of singing in a garage band in High School. Those were the days, the saying goes, but I think there's something to be said for the days we have being the days to remember. Seeing Ava McCoy perform was a gift that makes me smile every time I think of that evening and her music on that beautiful night.

Ava McCoy

At Baby's All Right

146 Broadway

Brooklyn, New York

https://babysallright.com/  

https://avamccoy.bandcamp.com/

A Quiet Moment Before The Show

Blessings,

Jannie Susan

An Abundant Life - Theatre In The Round

A little over a week ago I received an email newsletter from the New York Public Library describing an event that would be happening at the main Library branch in Bryant Park in collaboration with the Public Theater. The usual venue for the Public Theater's Shakespeare In The Park, the Delacorte Theater, is being renovated, and before its reopening there will be several performances throughout the city in different places with a group of Actors and Theater Professionals called The Mobile Unit. 

There's been so much going on in my schedule and I thought I vaguely remembered reading something about the renovation of the Delacorte and the Mobile Unit a while ago, but because of everything that I'm juggling at first when I read about this performance I thought I might not have time to go. Similarly to the Public Theater's Shakespeare in the Park, there are no tickets that can be bought or reserved. The usual Shakespeare in the park is a free performance and people wait in line to reserve a space, and some tickets are made available beginning at noon of the day of I think, but it's always a long wait and very difficult to reserve a seat because the performances themselves are excellent and the venue is a very special experience.

In years past I've gone to two or three performances at the Delacorte Theater, the first time was when I first moved to New York and I went with a friend of an Actor I knew who I'd met for lunch one day after we'd worked on a show together and his friend either was having lunch with us or just appeared where we were and invited me to join him. He was an understudy for the play and had tickets so we didn't have to wait in line and our seats were excellent. That's the way that things sometimes happen and back then when they were happening I knew I was being blessed but didn't have the words or understanding to thank God the way I do now. The other times I was able to go it was something different but similar in that I didn't have to wait in line. One time in more recent years I was invited to go with friends from St. Ann's Church For The Deaf and our seats were excellent then too, and so much fun and exciting to see the signing along with the acting and language of the play. I think another time or maybe it was that time, a friend was in the cast, and that is always a wonderful added joy.

The way the newsletter from the New York Public Library described it, you could sign up for notifications about the play and put in a request for a date, but there was no reserved seating and you'd just get notifications about upcoming performances, and then you'd go and wait in line to see if you would be able to get a seat. They did say they had standing room and you could bring a blanket to sit on, but I wasn't sure if I really wanted to go and take my chances, especially with everything else I have going on, but somehow I felt like God was saying just sign up so I did. 

When the week of the day I was thinking I might go arrived, I was feeling even more busy in my schedule than ever and thought that maybe I wouldn't end up actually going. But the day before as I was thinking I didn't have the time or energy, I felt like God was saying to go and enjoy myself and what the heck I could always leave if I couldn't get a seat and was standing and feeling exhausted.

I was at YES Gallery before going into the city for the play, and I was planning on leaving at a particular time, but then I felt again like God was telling me to leave a bit earlier so I did. When I arrived and saw that the line wasn't very long yet I realized that I might actually be able to get a seat, but they had said the seating was limited so I wasn't a hundred percent sure. When they began to let people in I saw there was a fairly good amount of seating, and because there were seats set up for theater in a three quarter round, there were still seats in the front row of one of the sections so I walked over and sat down. I was so excited that I said to the couple sitting next to me, "This is a treat!" and they agreed. Although it was a very full audience, we were delighted that we were able to find seats and that we hadn't had to wait all day or even for a long time at all.

As I looked at the program, I saw that I knew one of the Actors from many years ago, Robert Jimenez. We belong to the same theater company and we've been in plays together, he's acted in my plays, and I've cast him in plays that I wrote, that I produced and that I assisted in casting and producing over the years. He's a wonderful Actor, and was always such a wonderful person to me, and I'd missed seeing him and wondered from time to time how he was and where he was, and now here he was in this play that I'd be watching on a beautiful June evening, outdoors in front of the Public Library in Bryant Park in New York City.

As the cast and crew prepared for the performance, Robert came out and checked his marks and there were a few things he did as he walked right by me that made it difficult not to jump out of my seat grinning from ear to ear and say hello. But I know as an Actor myself that the time before a performance is sacred time, a time to focus and prepare for the play. Acting is strenuous in every way, physically, emotionally and mentally, and that time of focus is necessary for an Actor's well being.

The play itself was tremendous. "Much Ado About Nothing" has always been one of my favorite Shakespeare plays, ever since I saw it and read it many years ago when I was still a teenager. Seeing it in this place with this cast and crew was such a special experience and blessing, and seeing Robert perform in it was a double blessing. The entire production was one of the best things I've seen in years and ever, truly a highlight in every way. The cast and crew and everything about it brought laughter and tears and smiles and joy and pathos, all of the emotions following one upon another as they told the story of the play.

There is something that happens with wonderful theater, that it can help us to understand our own life and to have an understanding of the continuum of time, to be able to have hope when we need it and to feel like we are not alone in this journey we're walking on called life. Experiencing this play at this time in this place with a long time dear friend and colleague appearing like a ray of light from the past was a joy filled blessing that I'll carry with me as I continue walking on and into wherever it is that God is leading me.

The Beginning Of A Beautiful Evening

At The Main Branch

Of The New York Public Library

At Bryant Park

For The Public Theater

Mobile Unit

Shakespeare In The Park

"Much Ado About Nothing"

By William Shakespeare

Blessings,

Jannie Susan

An Abundant Life - Lovely To See You Again!

During NYCxDesign Week, I attended a showroom opening in the design building at 200 Lexington Avenue for Astek, a company that makes designer wall coverings. I had met the company at one of the design fairs, and they are from California. This new showroom is the first one they've opened in New York City, and I was excited to have been invited to join in the celebration.

On the night of the event I had two other parties that were scheduled out in DUMBO, one for another showroom opening and the other the closing party of NYCxDesign Week, and so I thought that I'd go to Astek early and then go to the other parties afterward. When I arrived at Astek, they were just getting ready for the evening's event, and they were so cordial and kind that I was glad to be there and have time to really see their designs and to meet with the staff that had come from California and also the staff who would now be in the New York showroom.

At one point when I was walking around and looking at a few different things, someone who looked familiar said hello to me. In the same instant when he asked me, "Did you used to go to Antique?" I thought immediately that I thought I knew him from that restaurant where a favorite Chef had been the Executive Chef. I saw him in that instant in the kitchen at Antique Bar & Bakery when he was working with the marvelous Chef Paul Gerard who I have written about in these pages before. I have photographs of Brandon, the young man who said hello to me in the showroom, with him too in one of my posts from a few years ago.

Brandon had gone to California, and I didn't know at first why or how he had arrived in that showroom until he explained that he was the Chef for the night and that he'd flown out from California just for this event. It was all I could do not to hug him all night I was so happy to see him, and as it was I hugged him a number of times until I thought it was important to let him go and get the food ready for the evening.

Moments like that are times when it feels like God is just smiling over me, when I see someone I didn't know if I'd ever see again when I am somewhere that I never imagined I see them. The project that I've been in the process of developing in Massachusetts need a Chef with his specific experience and knowledge base, and I told him a bit about it as we talked. He told me he'd go to Massachusetts for me and that made me so happy, to think of him there in this very special place, helping me to create the kitchen and farm to table restaurant of my dreams.

It was so lovely to see Brandon again, and such a wonderful way to start the evening that I didn't want to leave at all. When I finally did, after staying much longer that I had originally planned because the food an company were so wonderful, I found my way to DUMBO and what were wonderful parities of their own with wonderful food and wonderfully designed environments, but the start of my evening was the star because of the loveliness of seeing Brandon again, enjoying the wonderful food he created for the event, and having the opportunity to speak with him about this project.

Brandon

With His Culinary Creations

Including Caviar And Blinis

At Astek

New York Design Center

200 Lexington Avenue

New York City

Blessings,

Jannie Susan

 

An Abundant Life - Designing Inspiration

This past week was the International Contemporary Furniture Fair at the Javits Center in New York City. It's always such a wonderful and inspiring time when I visit, and for some reason this year I found myself meeting even more wonderful people than I have before. Perhaps it's because I am in the process of developing a new project and so I am seeing through the eyes of that excitement, but whatever the reason the people I met and the products that were on display were all things that gave me so much renewed energy and helped me to see new possibilities for this new project than I had ever thought of.

At one point in the day I found myself speaking with a furniture designer, and when I sat on his beautifully crafted rocking chair, we began a conversation that I think lasted nearly an hour. We talked about all kinds of things, fruit trees, historic sites, making beer and wine, and of course his beautiful furniture, and it seemed as if every thought I had he had an answer to, with more information or an idea that led me to another idea and another.

Throughout the day I had conversations like this, people who seemed to know what I was thinking and how I felt about the project that I'm developing, people who could see my vision right along with me and add their own to make it even greater. This is why events like this are so beautiful, because so many people are able to come together and meet in ways we might not be able to over the phone or by email or even on a one off in person visit.

I had such a beautiful day at ICFF as it is known, and I was so inspired by so many wonderful people. As I went into my week I kept thinking about the time we had shared and the conversations we had, and the beautiful and inspiring things I had seen and experienced. It is with so much gratitude that I write this, to everyone who organized the event and all the wonderful people I met, giving thanks to you all for the invitation to attend and for opening so many opportunities for conversation, inspiration and collaboration. Design is so inspiring when people share in this way, learning and growing and helping each other to reach even greater heights of imagination and ideas.

At ICFF

At The Javits Center

New York City

Blessings,

Jannie Susan

 

An Abundant Life - Designing Life

This week began NYCxDesign and also the International Contemporary Furniture Fair of ICFF as it is known. It's always a wonderful time of the year when it begins to be spring in full force and all the art and design community in New York City celebrates together along with people coming from all over the world.

I'll be writing more about individual showrooms and design houses and Designers and Artists and Artisans, but for now I wanted to share something that was such a very special personal moment that connected the dots of my life and made me take a moment to thank God once again for showing up and showing off, and for giving me the knowledge that though I may not understand anything that is happening sometimes, there is a plan that is much bigger than I am and if I can just keep walking in faith I'll see the picture come together in ways that are miraculous and beautiful and filled with joyful fun.

While at the SoHo design showroom celebrations on Saturday, I saw a woman who I've known for a few years now. I had met her in 2019 or so, and we see each other on occasion but it had been a while since we'd had a chance to talk. While we were sharing information about what we'd both been up to, she saw some friends of hers who I recognized also, and when she introduced us we all thought we must know each other but weren't quite sure how or when we'd met before.

We all left the showroom where we were at different times and met up again at another showroom in the same area. While we talked, one of the people the woman I knew had introduced me to asked me if I'd ever lived in a particular area of Manhattan which I had, and when I said yes and specified where, he said said with excitement and fun in his voice that it was when I was living there that we met. Right before that we had been talking about sailing, and it was the combination of the fact that we both loved sailing and that when he had arrived at the showroom where we now were and had given the names of the reservations for himself and his partner, it turned out that his partner's last name is the same as mine which is something that is really quite rare. There are people who have similar names, but they are usually spelled differently, and so that in itself was extraordinary. The combination of that and sailing helped him put the pieces of the puzzle together and remember when and where we met nearly 20 years ago.

It's at times like that when I just have to take a moment and say wow, God, and without understanding what the meaning or rhyme or reason is, to just have fun with the knowledge that something or someone I'd known before has reappeared now. I've written before about the fact that I love Charles Dickens novels and that God has a way of showing up by doing things that remind me of the way a Charles Dickens novel unfolds, and this moment was one of the moments that a person showed up again who I'd know many years ago, and though I don't know what the purpose is in the greater plot line, I can enjoy the fact of it in the here and now and be grateful for the goodness of God who always shows me that, even though I may not understand it, there is a design to my life that goes above and beyond my understanding and that will bring everything together beautifully.

A Beautiful Design For Life

NYCxDesign and ICFF

New York City

At Thuma

Where My New Old Friend

Remembered Our Meeting

Nearly 20 Years Ago

99 Wooster Street

New York City

https://www.thuma.co/soho-flagship

Blessings,

Jannie Susan

An Abundant Life - Inspiring Conversations

I had the opportunity to attend Baruch College for a very special course a few years ago, a collaboration with the Partnership For After School Education which is also known as PASE that was a very intensive and educational, inspiring leadership training. Since that time I've had the blessing to be invited to a variety of wonderful events at Baruch, sometimes through PASE and sometimes through Baruch because in a wonderful way, because of the nature of the course I'm considered an Alum and part of the Baruch community now. 

The Lillie and Nathan Ackerman Lecture Series had a guest speaker this past week, Deborah N. Archer, the Author of Dividing Lines, and not only were the conversation that was hosted around her book and the lecture that she gave enlightening, but the conversations before and after with the people I met there were wonderful too. At the very beginning, when I first arrived, I met a young woman who had assisted in organizing the event, a graduate student whose focus was on the topic of discussion. Other guests who I met at my table during the lovely lunch before, and afterward as the event was finishing up, were so interesting to speak with as well because of their background and interests and professional as well as lived experience.  

Bringing people together around topics that are important to all of our well being brings out the best in all of us as we listen and learn and share about our experiences together. It was such a rainy day on the day of the lecture, but I was happy to travel in what could be considered inclement weather because of the experience I had there.

I'm so grateful for the time that I had at Baruch those years ago with PASE, and so grateful for my ongoing relationship with Baruch as a member of the community because of all of the wonderful and inspiring people I have met and events I attend there. Having the opportunity to gather together and have conversations like these reminds me of the goodness of people, and the ability we have, when we share and learn from each other, to bring renewal and a better future to our shared landscapes.

At Baruch College

For The Lillie And Nathan Ackerman Lecture Series

Marxe School Of Public And International Affairs

CUNY

151 East 25th Street

New York City

Blessings,

Jannie Susan