My heart is yellow and blue most days now…The war wages on… dear Ukrainians suffering beyond what my heart can take …

I sit here in rural Wisconsin far from Europe…the great body of ocean water separating us…Yet I feel their hearts exploding in mine…

I sit here in my little house…while theirs has been blown apart…

I sit here with another noodle dish, thinking I am tired of these boxed meals…then I read about how a family hid in a basement, slept on potatoes for warmth and had only these vegetables to eat for the last four gruesome weeks…

I sit here mulling about my limited travel out one or two days a month… but I am not restricted for fear of being shot …I can safely travel to a bus or train station…I don’t need to worry about a missile striking me dead…

I sit here and see my grandchildren…joyfully playing…happy and free…and read 4 million… yes, FOUR MILLION Ukrainian children are now without parents…

I sit here with rage…questioning how can we sit here in comfort when part of our humankind is being wiped out?

I sit here and ask can anyone escape the brutality of this war?

I sit here and ask how our moral conscience allows yet another genocide?

The Milky Way Solar System existed in the great universe, somewhere out there in starland. Within this sphere, a tiny caring country existed. This country was green and beautiful with trees, lakes, rivers, majestic plains and mountains that touched the sky! Within this country were people of all different beliefs, colors and physical stature. However, they held one common element tight in their heart: they each cared about the other! When someone was in need of bread or needed something to drink, another would share what they had. If someone needed shoes, and another had two pair, she would give her second pair to that person. No one thought about creating endless rows of storage units to place their stuff…there was no need…everyone shared…so everyone had ENOUGH.

This country had many libraries–and unique libraries! Of course, one was a library of tradition, with thousands of books on every subject. Then there was a library of toys so children could check them out like books, entertaining themselves with something new whenever their interest developed into something more. There was a library of tools –providing what was needed for every home project: always ENOUGH!

Knowledge was honored and freely shared with one another so that each person could be lifted up as high as she or he wanted to rise! Always ENOUGH!

There were many places to live in this world…in the mountains… by the seaside… in the forests…in little towns… in the countryside… people could move wherever they wanted… wherever a person chose to live, their talents and gifts would be given freely to the development of the community. No one need sleep on hard concrete during the winter months or sit in sidewalks in the sweltering heat…each person had a place called home…No one was arrested for being in sight…no one was arrested for being in the posh section of town for those areas didn’t exist in this world where each person was valued as a human being! Always room ENOUGH!

Each person had her or his giftedness and was respected for who she or he was. If someone was ill or differently-abled, understanding was the code employed and compassion and caring was the guide. Love was always ENOUGH!

Gardens and fields were tended by those who loved to grow plants. The cities had fruit trees planted along the sidewalks so that if someone was hungry and the season was right, they could just reach up for an apple and bite! Grocery stores never threw good food away for at the end of a day anything remaining would be set out in a free display. No one went hungry! There was never the thought of giving a police ticket to someone who gave another free soup or sandwich. There was ENOUGH for all.

Together balance was the goal each day… kind to oneself and to each other… kind to nature and to all the creatures great and small that lived…kind to Mother Earth and all that she had given…and it was ENOUGH!

It has been a difficult, tragic and sad year for everyone across our world. However, we must continue to HOPE… Hope for our children… Hope in each other. “Never give up!” — be strong … Mother Earth needs each of us! We each need each other!

Let us not lie down in defeat but rise up and join hands… yes, our health depends on one another…. and this beautiful gift of Creation needs each of us. Mother Earth cannot survive unless as individuals we make the commitment to do all we can to save her. No good deed is too small!

Encourage LOVE in one another and when you think you have given all you can, give more!

This is the major economic problem with the USA. Add taxation to anyone who tries to help themselves. Tax policy of 2018 by the Trump Administration was particularly devastating to the Middle Class—- people work extra jobs because their regular 40 hour/week job barely meets basic housing and nutritional needs and then taxation kills their efforts! The American myth of “if you work 40 hours a week, it can support your family of four disintegrated with the beginning of taxation of Social Security during Nixon’s presidency. Reagan added to the misery with his economic policies, from “the needy to the greedy” and for the first time borrowed from Social Security funds—- affecting everyone who has paid into it. “Right to Work” legislation in by the favor of Corporations, left the American worker on the bottom shelf, hanging with bleeding fingernails! Basically, we are screwed. Tax laws must be changed! Social justice— fair wages— respect for the human person, regardless of race or beliefs, or orientation—-must once again be fought for in this country. Human dignity must be restored! We can never standstill—the last four years has made that abundantly clear! We have lost our compassion for one another. Greed has taken over too many and IF I hear one more person say,”if they would just get a job and not be lazy!” I may utu combust!! Who gives a person an opportunity? THAT is the person I want to be and see…that is what each of us must strive to do for one another. No one would be in a comfortable position today if someone had not come along and helped them! We each need to do inventory of who we are and how we got there—-and then PAY IT FORWARD!

Shekhar De has returned to his village to begin an art school for the children. He is selling his own art work to build the school and to provide art materials for the students. In this time of world suffering, here is a man, giving of himself, with HOPE and VISION for the future of those often forgotten or ignored. Here is YOUR chance to do something positive and forget about our own sorrows! If you can, buy a painting of Shekhar De’s to help his art school! Even if you want to donate $5 towards his school, it will make a world of difference to these children. You have everything to gain and nothing to lose!

UPDATE: August 4,2021.

The struggles are many for this open-air Village school since the arrival of Covid. Anything you can do to support this little world of art that brings hope and joy to these village children would be appreciated by Shekhar De and his students.

You can view Shekhar De’ art on his WordPress site: https://shilpapathart.wordpress.com/rally-of-terror/

If you want to buy his paintings you can message him on Facebook or here on WordPress. His address in India is:

If you decide to buy one of his masterpieces you can send your money to his PayPal account: PayPal: Pay Shekhar De using https://paypal.me/SDey

I received many likes on my last posting. (It does beg the question if anyone actually read it. )Only no one responded to my QUESTION and/or plea for help!

How do I get out of EDIT Mode in this site that I am attempting to set up for my artist friend and teacher of young children in India?

This is the site:

https://shilpapathart.wordpress.com

Here is screen shot of the PROBLEM I am having… it says “Edit” immediately AFTERNOON the title. This means anyone can edit it!! I don’t know to get out of that Mode! Help!

I have met this great friend, who has now become my brother, from Krishnanagar, India. He has begun an art school for the village children with this hope: “I only want to serve the coming generations to be taught with good intentions for building up a good humanity….if we can establish an art school for the ignored generations I hope human characters will change for the future.”

In this time of global upheaval, a worldwide pandemic, and Mother Earth in such pain, I find Shekhar De’s optimistic attitude for the children in his village and his dream of an art school amazing , inspirational and hopeful!

Please help me improve his WordPress site! Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated! Thank you so very much, dear WordPress friends!

I have tried to help him by setting up a blog on WordPress. Unfortunately, I have become a bit rusty in keeping up with how WordPress functions. And I am at an impasse! And the general question & forum guide isn’t any help and I do not seem able to find a Live Person in WordPress Company to help. Is there such a person?

If you go to his site, you will see that I am stuck in “Edit” mode! His WordPress site is: https://shilpapathart.wordpress.com

This is WHERE I need YOUR HELP ! Can someone tell me how to get out of Edit Mode? Please help me help Shekhar De!

While you visit his site, check out his art and if you so inclined or able, consider purchasing his personal art which he is selling so that he can build an art school for the village children and buy their art supplies for them. He wants the forgotten children of our world to have a chance at life! Thank you!

His WordPress site is:

https://shilpapathart.wordpress.com

Thank you in bengali language is DHANYABAD or in our bengali letters ‘ধন্যবাদ’. Shekhar De joins me in saying “Dhanyabad” for your help!

Shekhar Ch. De. C/o Late Sunil Baran Dey. 4th lane B. N. Dutta, Hatarpara (near JNNYCC) . City. Krishnanagar, Dist. Nadia. State. West Bengal, Pin. 741101. India.

Some of Shekhar De’s art:

The universe encompasses me

In this emerald blanket of silence

As the daffodils dance delightfully in the sun

The pear blossoms begging their growth

Nature is opening up to the fresh air

Now is our moment to begin anew

Not to “return to normal” a life that had been so askew

Now is our chance to reduce the “air” pollution

Now is our chance to be kind to each other

Now is the time to erase the concept of race and look into the eyes of each other and see we are ALL ONE… we are ALL human beings…we are NOT red, yellow, brown, black, white—-we are living souls who need each other!