Letters from Lola

A very special person has left us this weekend.

Letters from Lola were always accompanied by hand drawn bird sketch. I looked forward to opening the envelope to see if it would be a cardinal, or chickadee or jay. Her notes always seemed to arrive at just the right time.

Lola practiced an art form we are slowly losing - that of the handwritten letter. No emails or MSN for her.

I treasure each little bird sketch I have received over the years and will very much miss those little notes in my mailbox. * o

Letters from Lola

Folkin' It

We sit on the shore of the lake, watching the sky turn from shades of blue, to purple and pink and slowly to black. Stars appear, and a fat luminiscent moon rises above the bandshell. A shooting star arcs across the sky. No stage or lighting director could have planned it better than Mother Nature herself. I stay as long as I can hold out but eventually the dampness and cold seep into my bones and I have to give up and head home.

We're enjoying the weekend at Live From the Rock. Besides the great music, I love browsing the craft booths. I want to see what people are creating and selling, admiring their talents and handicrafts all the while lulled by the amazing music all around me. This year's great find is Rock's Rose Poetic Photography.

The plans for tonight include several large, warm blankets and heavy jackets. Ya, it's mid-August but it's mid-August in Northern Ontario and the evening temps have taken a cool turn. Dancing in your chair only keeps you warm for so long! * o

Folkin' It

Missing Them

Since being on vacation and with a house full of company I have gotten out of my usual morning routine. I haven't written my morning pages in weeks and I'm missing them.

I feel like large chunks of my life have gone by without being noted. I'm also feeling lazy and a wee bit afraid that I'll never get back into that routine again.

I can imagine myself years from now, looking through my journals and coming to this large chunk of lost time, nodding my head knowingly while saying, "uh-huh, thats when she had one little vacation and just let the whole routine slide - never did get back into it - what a shame."

Of course I know that is ridiculous, some sort of freakish creative anxiety gnawing at me. After all, it's not like my journals haven't had large chunks of missing time in them before (like years...). Besides, summer here is short, fall is around the corner and I know I'll be settling into routine again soon.

And, the very fact that I'm missing the morning pages is a good sign. I'm looking forwarding to diving into them again real soon. * o

Missing Them

Opportunity for Free Coaching

I received the following from Eric Maisel, a leading Creativity Coach and the teacher for the "Introduction to Creativity Coaching" that I'll be taking starting next week.

Eric writes:

Since the group is largely formed now, I have a sense of how many free clients we will be able to accommodate. It looks like we will have room for perhaps up to twenty more free clients. Please consider whether you would like to be a free client in the next training and, if you decide that being a free client serves you at this time, please get me the information I require as soon as possible. That information is one paragraph about you and one paragraph about what you would like to work on with a creativity coach.

To refresh your memory: free clients work with coaches-in-training via email for the sixteen weeks of the training. This is a golden opportunity for you! Thousands of artists have availed themselves of this opportunity over the past five years. (By the way, if you were a free client before, there is no restriction against being one again.) Some have had an excellent experience and some have had a less than stellar experience—that’s to be expected. But the price is certainly right! So please give this some thought.


So if you'd like to experience some creativity coaching that's easy on your budget, and help out some trainees like myself send Eric an email at ericmaisel@hotmail.com! * o

Opportunity for Free Coaching

There's Still Time...

..to get in on a great online course on art journaling.

Zura's Fun Art Journaling - Zura will be starting another session soon. I've just completed the art journaling course and I found it to be an awesome source of inspiration and information. I knew nothing about art journaling before starting. Zura packs in the information, and also provides weekly journaling jems that really get those creative juices going. I dare you to take it and not find something that appeals to you!

This is one online workshop that is well worth the money. * o

There's Still Time...