Valerie Shaff
Where were you raised? Has the landscape of that place influenced your work in any way?
I was raised in a small town on the Hudson River not too far north of New York City, Hastings on Hudson. We spent a good part of every summer on Nantucket Island when it was still a funky well kept secret kind of place. I have always been consoled by the natural world. The feeling and the moods of the land and it’s creatures, both in the Hudson River Valley and Nantucket are romantic and hauntingly beautiful. The old soft rolling hills seem to harbor memory. The temperate climate keeps one in touch with life and death and rebirth. The light is often softly diffused through ever changing skies, and on Nantucket, fog. I like the many moods of weather, no less the gloomy dark days and the pale and cloudy, rather than blue skies. When weather assists in bringing me deep into myself the world of the non human inhabitants are the comforting levity of the landscape. The sounds of seagulls cawing or geese squawking is the sweetest of songs. Yes, the landscape has deeply influenced my work and my temperament.
How do you recharge your creative battery?
Taking in the landscape by walking or bicycling or even driving. Learning about new things helps me connect the dots. I am less exacting at this age of 64 years of what evidence I require from my creativity. I feel satisfied cooking something I've never made before, or sewing myself a piece of clothing. I can recharge my creative battery by making things with someone in particular in mind, kind of like a love letter. My creativity feels born more of my emotions than of my intellect. Many things I make are in response to deep feelings awakened. The natural world is always there to nourish and recharge me.
What book are you reading?
I'm not the avid reader I would like to be. I wake up ready to move and by the day’s end I'm too tired to read for long. I tend to have a pile of books at my bedside that are partially read. Currently these include H Is for Hawk by Helen McDonald – a beautifully written book about the extraordinary creatures that are hawks, Yoga and Veganism by my dear friend and teacher, Sharon Gannon, Singing into Bone by Rebecca Singer, another friend who learned the shamanic traditions that she practices by going to live with the Mongolian reindeer people. Oh ! And Beyond Words , What Animals Think and Feel by the extraordinary Carl Safina. I have read that cover to cover but I like to have it close at hand. I have a fantasy I look forward to fulfilling of going to someplace by the sea in the winter, maybe Maine, and just going on a reading retreat. I'd like to spend a couple of weeks, or maybe years when I’m older still, just reading interrupted only by walking and eating. No electronics! I'd have to leave home to do that because there's always something that seems to compel me to action at home.
What was the last thing that you fell in love with?
My new vegetable garden! I have wanted to grow vegetables for years! Where I live I am bordered by woods and a herd of deer are often grazing in the backyard. I love watching them but obviously to grow vegetables an enclosure was essential. I wanted it to be as pretty as the rest of my home and property which is modest but truly an expression of mine that I have endeavored over the last 20 years. This spring a wonderfully gifted artisan built me a garden. It's all built from cedar trees that were hiding away right on my own property. Perfectly sized, skinny trunks of trees that were being choked out in an overgrown forest were sacrificed to build a perfect rustic enclosure with an arbored entrance. It is so rewarding that by the simple act of planting something and attending to its needs, it grows and feeds you! I go to the garden each morning to see what had happened while I slept and my last act daily at dusk is to water it. I’m already looking forward to next season and thinking about what I’ll grow and hoping that the roses that I planted at the foot of the arbor will go wild in the spring.
What do you love most about yourself?
My ability to connect and savor that connection with others. I’m (almost embarrassingly) friendly. If I was a dog I'd probably be a lab. I talk to strangers. I make friends easily. I'm a bit like a happy dog, sniffing about and wagging my tail when I recognize a kindred spirit. Even if it's simply a shared glance and a smile, I am uplifted by the connection. This certainly applies to all species! When I used to live in the city at the end of the day walking the streets of New York, I could easily recall every dog with whom I had shared an exchange.
What do you think is the most important quality in a human?
I couldn’t pick just one! We are like meals unto ourselves with many ingredients! Some of those qualities, or ingredients, may even seem in contradiction to each other. I guess the answer would be whatever qualities enable us to individually make the most out of our lives and positively affect those around us. We all have something to bring to the table. And we all have the capacity to experience joy amongst the many psychic states of being. Not always of course, but how and when we can. I think of that joy as love. So maybe love is the answer! Yup , that’s it. The most important human quality is the capacity to love.
Do you have a spiritual practice?
The word spiritual finds its roots in the Latin SPIRARE, to breathe. It literally refers to being imbued with breath or with life. So we are spiritual by virtue of being alive. The practice part of the equation is a matter of recognizing it, consciously and making a ritual of remembering our natural state. I have had a yoga practice for over 35 years. That is where I developed my practice. When my practice has been most rewarding is when I'm practicing with others or teaching. The level of focus in those circumstances is truly transcendent. My mind is fully occupied with paying attention, undistracted. In these times where I am neither practicing with others nor teaching I am grateful for activities that quiet my mind and let me get in touch with a state other than ”monkey mind“. It was suggested, or hoped , that I use these questions as a meditation, and they have been! To seek objectivity about my thoughts and personal feelings is itself a spiritual practice.
Who are your role models?
I don't know if I have specific role models that come to mind. I am inspired by so many people. Some people that I hear about or read about and many people who I simply know personally. I'm easily inspired by others but I don’t model myself after others. We each have our own challenges and strengths and the navigation that fuses our paths to our possibilities are so personal. I have many deep friendships. I have lifelong friends some of whom I've known since I was a toddler. They inspire my deep admiration. They are my role models. My role models are everyone who finds a way to live a good life and affect others in a good way. So simple.
If you could change one thing about our world, what would it be? Is there an individual or an organization doing work in this area that you want us to know about?
I'd say that if I could change one thing about the world, including my own, it would be to enhance our enlightenment. To stay awake and see the interconnectivity of everything which of course would enable us to be less self-centered, more present, and full of joy! There are so many people in my area doing work in this area! There are so many ways in to this line of work. I focus in on the individuals and organizations that create and sustain mutually beneficial relations with people and animals, or with different groups of people who can benefit deeply from each other. These range from Larissa’s Phillip’s amazing farm stay, www.Honeyhollowfarmstay.com. Follow her instagram account by the same name and you’ll see where I get my inspiration. She hosts families usually from the city who come up with their young children and in a week the kids have a whole different understanding of pretty much everything! Then there’s Perfect Ten, an amazing after school program for girls, founded by a retired friend of mine , Paula Forman. Go to www.perfecttenhudson.org where interesting generous women creatives, educators and entrepreneurs give their time to help girls develop the courage and the skills they need for an independent future.
Before I die I want to...
Discover a passion for something I never knew I even had! I’d like to edit my life’s work as a photographer down to a couple of hundred perfectly selected, sequenced, collection of images that I can leave behind and feel that some coherent vision has been shared. Like putting the pieces of a puzzle together to see the whole clearly. And then I’d also like to some more summers on Mediterranean islands that I’ve yet to visit.
All photos courtesy of Val Shaff
