From the Editor

When I was sixteen, my summer camp student advisor gave me a yellow-green crayon and said it described me � always new, always forgiving. Like spring.

I was disappointed. Yellow-green? I would much rather have been given the black crayon, classy and sophisticated like Rukhaiya, or the orange crayon, vibrant and outgoing, like Rachel. Or purple, beautiful and poised, like Beth.

As I�ve grown older, however, I�ve become grateful that this �yellow-green� was named in me. I am not always good at forgiving, but I want to be. Forgiveness is brave, it is raw, it is real. It is some of the most important work we can do in the world.

There are enough things that are broken. Anyone can look at something and say it isn�t worth mending, that it is beyond hope, that it is ugly. It takes a believer, a freedom fighter, an artist, to say, No. There is worth here, value, beauty. And I will be the one to work to transform it.

The women of this flourish issue are reconcilers and creators, using color to bring forth life in a gray world. Keziah Kariuki of Cape Girardeau�s h.o.w? Ministry uses the inspiration of color in Kenyan culture to give widows and their children a path out of poverty. Women of the River Heritage Quilt Guild use scraps of material to innovate, refusing to let the female tradition of quilting pass away in our fast-paced society. Everyday, each of us navigate the psychology of color in our moods, outfits and buying choices.

Pablo Picasso said that every child is an artist � the problem is how to remain one.

This month, and for the rest of our lives, let us remain artists. Let us reclaim the minimized, the cast aside, the broken. Let us be purveyors of reconciliation, of moxie, of hope. Let us be women who are gap-closers, who make the first movement, who breathe our color into a downcast world.

Joy, Mia

PS � We are looking for girls and women writers, artists and models from our community to contribute to flourish. If you are interested, send samples of your work to me at mpohlman@rustmedia.com. You can send story ideas to this address, too. Thank you for helping to create our magazine and community!