Sunday, August 12, 2007
The 5.75 Questions
Michael Bungay Stanier has a great new video, "The 5.75 Questions You've Been Avoiding". Not only are the questions thought provoking, the clip is cartoony, funky and fun to watch. Michael is also offering a free e-course on the 5 questions, so check it out and sign up!
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Soul Collage - Past Hurts
Monday, August 06, 2007
The Shed has its own blog!
Having recently joined the staff at Artella, I've also got a new blog there which I've entitled "Stonesthrow Cottage - Musing and ramblings from my backyard" so I will be posting there from time to time.
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Saturday, August 04, 2007
A Room of Her Own
For a long time now I have dreamed of a space of my own - a place to write, read, create, dream. A space where I could spread out, and not have to pack everything up that I was working on. I've tried to create this in my house, but there were really no extra rooms and the basement just didn't have the right atmosphere. I began to dream of a little shed, a garden retreat, in my own backyard. And while I allowed myself to fantasize about this place and decorate it in my mind, even going so far as to give it a name, I never gave much thought to it becoming a reality. An outbuilding seemed too expensive to buy or build. It was just a little dream.
Last month, at an auction, my husband purchased a small 8 x 9 shed and had it moved into our backyard. He's painted it, built a deck for it and put on a screen door. "Stonesthrow Cottage", my dream, has become a reality. I have space to create, to unwind, to dream or to play. And it really is the perfect space.
In the process of looking up ideas for this building, I discovered a whole world out there of people who work from little backyard sheds or shacks, appropriately named "shedworkers". They even have their own blog.
Should you be stopping by on a summer evening, you'll find me at Stonesthrow - the perfect place to have a cup of tea, a long chat, and to sit and dream. * o
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Ordinary Holiness
"the ordinary events of daily life become our practice...the routine of daily life is the path to holiness for lay folks"-Father Thomas Keating - Open Mind, Open Heart
So often we search for holiness outside of ourselves - in some sacred place, in ritual, in worship, in a person or in a denomination. Can it really be so basic that the path to holiness is the repeated routine of my every day life - the waking, stretching, journaling, reading, eating, working, gardening, emailing, blogging, idling, sleeping routine of every single day? If so, then every day, every breath, every movement is sacred.
(photo: Therese rose, Charlie Maedel - June 2007)
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So often we search for holiness outside of ourselves - in some sacred place, in ritual, in worship, in a person or in a denomination. Can it really be so basic that the path to holiness is the repeated routine of my every day life - the waking, stretching, journaling, reading, eating, working, gardening, emailing, blogging, idling, sleeping routine of every single day? If so, then every day, every breath, every movement is sacred.
(photo: Therese rose, Charlie Maedel - June 2007)
Thursday, July 05, 2007
On turning 43
Art journal collage entry I created today in honor of my birthday.
Art inspired by Violette.
Words (which are hard to see in the image because the scan did not turn out so well...) inspired by this quote from Rainer Maria Rilke:
"You are indeed carrying within yourself the potential to visualize, to design, and to create an utterly satisfying, joyful and pure lifestyle."
(the page looks a lot brighter than it turned out in the scan) * o
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Journal Prompts
When you are stuck in your journaling, or just in a rut, journal prompts are an effective tool to get you "over the hump".
Zura Ledbetter has designed a 12 week e-course that teaches you how to create your own set of journaling prompt cards using techniques such as collage, drawing and painting. The course includes writing prompts, how-to's, images to use and a yahoo group to share with.
So instead of dishing out money for a book of writing prompts, or buying a deck of journal cards, tap into your own creative energy and wisdom and make your personalized deck of prompts this summer.
Course starts July 1 and details can be found here. * o
Zura Ledbetter has designed a 12 week e-course that teaches you how to create your own set of journaling prompt cards using techniques such as collage, drawing and painting. The course includes writing prompts, how-to's, images to use and a yahoo group to share with.
So instead of dishing out money for a book of writing prompts, or buying a deck of journal cards, tap into your own creative energy and wisdom and make your personalized deck of prompts this summer.
Course starts July 1 and details can be found here. * o
Saturday, June 23, 2007
Lunas continued
Monday, June 18, 2007
La Luna
It's been one of those weird kind of days - not really strange, but slightly odd or off. Lots of electrical storms, heavy rains, power surges, and computers doing strange things.
On our walk this afternoon, we spied a Luna moth on the side of the road. I think he may have been near the end of his week of life, or injured because he was just lying on the road, letting the wind push him along. Such brilliant green wings I have never seen.
It was such a small gift of beauty in an otherwise odd day.
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On our walk this afternoon, we spied a Luna moth on the side of the road. I think he may have been near the end of his week of life, or injured because he was just lying on the road, letting the wind push him along. Such brilliant green wings I have never seen.
It was such a small gift of beauty in an otherwise odd day.
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Sunday, June 17, 2007
True Rest
I opened my little book on Centering Prayer, from the Contemplative Outreach program, to these words this evening:
Resting in God comes from the Sabbath. Sabbath is time consecrated with our attention, our surrender, honoring those quiet forces of grace and spirit that sustain and heal us.
I don't often take time for Sabbath, at least not true Sabbath. Weekends come with their own chores and demands, and although the pace is different than during the week, and there's usually a Sunday morning church service involved, I don't know if I can honestly say its time "honoring those quiet forces of grace and spirit". It's still just busy time.
On her blog, and in a recent tele-call, Jennifer Louden asked "What is true rest for you?" Excellent question because I believe most of us, especially women, don't really know what true rest looks and feels like and I believe that's a great source of stress for us.
So I've been spending some time contemplating this weekend on what true rest feels like for me. Here's some of what I think it is:
- sinking down into the mat in corpse pose after spending an hour stretching my body, and feeling how delicious it is to lay there completely relaxed
- eating when I feel hungry and not having to cook for anyone
- a really hot bath, followed by pampering myself with a favorite body lotion
- listening to music with my eyes closed and letting my mind wander
For true, true rest - I'm currently studying my cat. Cats have got true rest down to a fine art. Find a piece of sunshine, plunk yourself in it, stretch and have a nap. What more could there be?
What is true rest for you? * o
Saturday, June 09, 2007
Sacred Space Continued
"The garden heals. We hear these words and recognize they are true. Those of us who garden see what we do as creating a sanctuary from the forces of darkness, within and without. A haven of serenity, a respite from the noisy civilization around us."Marjorie Harris, The Healing Garden
The sun shone this afternoon and butterflies danced around the yard. Lots of them too. It was a good afternoon to paint this old bench and transform this wall by the garage into a patch of sacred space. The bench is a good place to sit in the evenings, with a cup of tea, and to close ones eyes and listen to bubbling fountain. The cedar shrubs offer a bit of seclusion without completing blocking the view of the rest of the yard.
Fortunately, I got the painting done before the black clouds covered the sky and the heavens opened up to a cool, refreshing shower. Fifteen minutes and the sun was out again.
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The sun shone this afternoon and butterflies danced around the yard. Lots of them too. It was a good afternoon to paint this old bench and transform this wall by the garage into a patch of sacred space. The bench is a good place to sit in the evenings, with a cup of tea, and to close ones eyes and listen to bubbling fountain. The cedar shrubs offer a bit of seclusion without completing blocking the view of the rest of the yard.
Fortunately, I got the painting done before the black clouds covered the sky and the heavens opened up to a cool, refreshing shower. Fifteen minutes and the sun was out again.
Sunday, June 03, 2007
Sacred Space
"We transform our gardens and yards into sacred space when we understand them as places of growth not only for plants and trees but for our inner selves." - Spiritual Gardening, Peg Streep
I spend too much time sometime indoors, surrounding myself with draining energies of computer and office lights. I forget how soul-restoring it can be too dig deep into the earth, to plant something, to pull weeds or to sit and listen to the fountain running in the pond.
Fortunately this afternoon I had a chance to rediscover that while planting the tomatoe plants and the rest of the bedding plants for the garden. The tomatoe plants are usually my husband's domain, but I thought I'd surprise him while he's away this weekend and get them in for him.
So for an hour I puttered in our little back garden, digging into the black earth, inhaling deeply the scent of tomatoe plants, and listening to the starling squawk at me from the garage roof protecting some nearby nest. The sun beat down and an occasional light breeze offered some respite from the heat.
"The garden can become a place where we can restore our emotional and spiritual balance and nourish our senses and souls, away from the noise of everyday life" - Spiritual Gardening, Peg Streep
It's been a stressful and somewhat mind numbing week. There are a still a million "things to be done" today and yet all I really want to do is sit outside, close my eyes and listen to the fountain bubble.
"Everything that slows us down and forces patience, everything that sets us back into the slow cycles of nature, is a help. Gardening is an instrument of grace." May Sarton * o
I spend too much time sometime indoors, surrounding myself with draining energies of computer and office lights. I forget how soul-restoring it can be too dig deep into the earth, to plant something, to pull weeds or to sit and listen to the fountain running in the pond.
Fortunately this afternoon I had a chance to rediscover that while planting the tomatoe plants and the rest of the bedding plants for the garden. The tomatoe plants are usually my husband's domain, but I thought I'd surprise him while he's away this weekend and get them in for him.
So for an hour I puttered in our little back garden, digging into the black earth, inhaling deeply the scent of tomatoe plants, and listening to the starling squawk at me from the garage roof protecting some nearby nest. The sun beat down and an occasional light breeze offered some respite from the heat.
"The garden can become a place where we can restore our emotional and spiritual balance and nourish our senses and souls, away from the noise of everyday life" - Spiritual Gardening, Peg Streep
It's been a stressful and somewhat mind numbing week. There are a still a million "things to be done" today and yet all I really want to do is sit outside, close my eyes and listen to the fountain bubble.
"Everything that slows us down and forces patience, everything that sets us back into the slow cycles of nature, is a help. Gardening is an instrument of grace." May Sarton * o
Saturday, May 26, 2007
Of Standing in line, monks, and musicals
Yesterday I stood in line for four hours, just to take part in the Canadian Antiques Roadshow. Nope, I don't have a priceless heirloom, and I didn't end up being filmed for TV, but I did see Valerie Pringle, listened to a whole lot of interesting people in line and saw some pretty interesting items. Though I like to watch the show, I wouldn't do it again. It's one of those fun-to-take-part-in once sort of things. I was exhausted by the time I got home.
On our way in to the city we saw the Walking Monk on the highway. We waved, he nodded. There's something kind of bizarre and serene at the same time about sighting a bald man in flowing orange robes walking along the Trans-Canada highway. I who find it difficult to motivate myself to walk home from work, have to admire someone who is walking across Canada as a spiritual journey. And while you may scoff at the purpose of walking meditation, I came to the conclusion that it was a lot more meaningful than standing in line for four hours to find out the gemstone in your grandmother's necklace is really just glass.
Today while cleaning the house I'm belting out the Andrew Lloyd Weber show tunes in anticipation of going to see "Jesus Christ Superstar" tomorrow night. My friend L and I saw the musical several years ago, but we're pretty excited about getting to see Ted Neely and I know it's going to be a great evening. My apologies in advance to anyone sitting in the row around us - we'll be the middle-aged women belting out the tunes and embarassing the heck of my teenage son sitting with us. ("I don't know how to loooovvvvveee him......")
All in all an interesting blend of materialistic and spiritual in one weekend. * o
On our way in to the city we saw the Walking Monk on the highway. We waved, he nodded. There's something kind of bizarre and serene at the same time about sighting a bald man in flowing orange robes walking along the Trans-Canada highway. I who find it difficult to motivate myself to walk home from work, have to admire someone who is walking across Canada as a spiritual journey. And while you may scoff at the purpose of walking meditation, I came to the conclusion that it was a lot more meaningful than standing in line for four hours to find out the gemstone in your grandmother's necklace is really just glass.
Today while cleaning the house I'm belting out the Andrew Lloyd Weber show tunes in anticipation of going to see "Jesus Christ Superstar" tomorrow night. My friend L and I saw the musical several years ago, but we're pretty excited about getting to see Ted Neely and I know it's going to be a great evening. My apologies in advance to anyone sitting in the row around us - we'll be the middle-aged women belting out the tunes and embarassing the heck of my teenage son sitting with us. ("I don't know how to loooovvvvveee him......")
All in all an interesting blend of materialistic and spiritual in one weekend. * o
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Thursday, May 10, 2007
Like...bunches of really cool stuff dude...
Just wanted to share some of the neat stuff I've been coming across lately:
1) It's here! It's here! Artella 10 , "Body of Art", will soon be sent out. Check it out, the cover page is amazing - and this issue promises 12 full length "how-to" projects, a vintage ephemera kit, 35 ATC cards, a CD with downloadable free goodies, etc. etc. etc. The print version of Artella magazine is a work of art itself. So, no excuses, go there - order one now! There's a pre-order sale on, but you got to hurry up to get it.
2) The fabulous Queen of Comfort, Jennifer Louden, has come up with a spectacular idea. May 15th is Freedom From Self-Improvement Day. A day to celebrate our glorious selves, perfect just as we are. Go there, sign the declaration, get entered in a draw for lots of cool goodies! And on May 15th say to heck with the diet, the affirmations, the aerobics class and give yourself a big comforting hug, look in the mirror, and say "you are mah-vellous" in your best Billy Crystal impersonation!
3) This has got to be THE coolest journal I have seen - "Her Evolution" by Shiloh McCloud. Just got my copy yesterday and it is beautiful. I think it's the perfect coloring book for us grown up girls! It's spiral bound, with lots of blank pages for your own journaling or collaging, and those beautiful black and white drawings of Shiloh's just begging you to grab your markers or pencil crayons and color them in, or paint them, or decorate them however you wish. There is also some great inspirational writing and creativity exercises in the book. I'm looking forward to dipping into this one again and again. * o
1) It's here! It's here! Artella 10 , "Body of Art", will soon be sent out. Check it out, the cover page is amazing - and this issue promises 12 full length "how-to" projects, a vintage ephemera kit, 35 ATC cards, a CD with downloadable free goodies, etc. etc. etc. The print version of Artella magazine is a work of art itself. So, no excuses, go there - order one now! There's a pre-order sale on, but you got to hurry up to get it.
2) The fabulous Queen of Comfort, Jennifer Louden, has come up with a spectacular idea. May 15th is Freedom From Self-Improvement Day. A day to celebrate our glorious selves, perfect just as we are. Go there, sign the declaration, get entered in a draw for lots of cool goodies! And on May 15th say to heck with the diet, the affirmations, the aerobics class and give yourself a big comforting hug, look in the mirror, and say "you are mah-vellous" in your best Billy Crystal impersonation!
3) This has got to be THE coolest journal I have seen - "Her Evolution" by Shiloh McCloud. Just got my copy yesterday and it is beautiful. I think it's the perfect coloring book for us grown up girls! It's spiral bound, with lots of blank pages for your own journaling or collaging, and those beautiful black and white drawings of Shiloh's just begging you to grab your markers or pencil crayons and color them in, or paint them, or decorate them however you wish. There is also some great inspirational writing and creativity exercises in the book. I'm looking forward to dipping into this one again and again. * o
Monday, April 30, 2007
Yikes! I've Been Tagged!
Helen, at Straight From Hel, has tagged me for a "Thinking Blogger" award, which I think is way cool, but also kind of intimidating. It's always a bit of a secret thrill to find out there are actually people out there reading what you post, part of why we write in the first place.
The challenge now is for me to come up with "5 Blogs that Make me Think". A challenge because I think a lot of the blogs I regularly read have already been tagged with this honor - can I re-tag them? And, I really want to tag Helen back - her blog has great writing advice on it, plus I just love the catchy name!
So, here are my five:
1. Sue, at InnerDorothy, has already been tagged and she deserves it. I've been reading Sue's blog for some time now. I appreciate seeing the "church world" from someone in the clergy point of view, besides often being provoked into deep thought by one of her observations. And, her cats are adorable!
2. This one, Fran, at SacredOrdinary, is a recent discovery. There is a lovely mix of personal, spiritual and family here.
3. When I feel a need for art and creative stimulation, I check on Lani's blog. I so wish I could make puppets like she does!
4. Someone who has a wonderful mix of art and journaling and just keen observation is Keri, at wish jar journal. I go there when I want to read something unique and fresh.
5. And, finally, even though she also has already been tagged, Jennifer Louden at LoudenMouth, the Comfort Queen, has such an authentic style that she deserves to be tagged again.
So there you have it. Five blogs that make me think. Five places on the web I like to drop into and hang out at from time to time.
Thanks Helen for your link to my blog, and for tagging me with this award. I'm glad to have "met" you in cyber-land! * o
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Bird Watching
T.J. and I took part in a waterfowl viewing tonight down at the river. Now, I'm not much of a bird identification person. I can tell you that's a goose, and that's a pretty duck, and that's about it. So it was a good thing that there were bird experts there who graciously shared their scopes, and not only told you what duck you were looking at but pointed out it's distinguishing features. By the end of the evening I could quite confidently yell out "I see a Bufflehead!".There were two highlights for me - a Great Blue Heron, and watching three male Goldeneyes do their mating thing for some lucky female. The sunlight was hitting the river just right then, adding that perfect touch of light so that all the features of the ducks stood out sharply right down to those golden eyes as they bobbed their heads and arched their necks backwards practically touching their backs - just trying to catch her attention. In the background, an otter swam sleekly down the river - a perfect nature moment.
My list of sightings: 2 Bald Eagles, Mallards, Pintails, Goldeneyes, Buffleheads, Common Mergansers, a Hooded Merganser, a Lesser Yellow Legs (he looked pretty goofy on his scrawny yellow legs), a Green Winged Teal, a Blue Heron, a whole lot of Canadian Geese and on Otter. * o
Monday, April 23, 2007
Open Heart
Open Heart
I am the one who opens her heart in prayer and whose spirit longs to soar.
I am the one who sits in quiet, lost in the rhythmic clicking of beads.
Love builds a nest in my heart center.
A prayer attributed to St. Francis: "Watch, O Lord, with those who wake, or watch, or weep tonight, and give Your angels and saints charge over those who sleep. Tend Your sick ones, O Lord Christ. Rest Your weary ones. Bless Your dying ones. Soothe Your suffering ones. Pity Your afflicted ones. Shield Your jouous ones. And all for Your love's sake."
image - "Open Heart" - Soul Collage card created April, 2007
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I am the one who opens her heart in prayer and whose spirit longs to soar.
I am the one who sits in quiet, lost in the rhythmic clicking of beads.
Love builds a nest in my heart center.
A prayer attributed to St. Francis: "Watch, O Lord, with those who wake, or watch, or weep tonight, and give Your angels and saints charge over those who sleep. Tend Your sick ones, O Lord Christ. Rest Your weary ones. Bless Your dying ones. Soothe Your suffering ones. Pity Your afflicted ones. Shield Your jouous ones. And all for Your love's sake."
image - "Open Heart" - Soul Collage card created April, 2007
Sunday, April 22, 2007
If I Had One Prayer........
A prayer for people who hate. This awesome video is well worth watching:
May all be loved, may all be blessed, may all show peace. * o
May all be loved, may all be blessed, may all show peace. * o
Monday, April 09, 2007
Transformation
Tuesday, April 03, 2007
Need a Little Breather?
Wow, April is here already. Where did March go?
I confess I have not been doing much on the creative front. I have been occupied with courses, and reading, and work while my journals and collage materials sit in a pile hoping I'll remember them and come and play again.
In the meantime, if your looking for a peaceful, beautiful meditation - a five minute breather as it were - check out this lovely movie, A Holy Splash of Time.
Many blessings to you....... * o
I confess I have not been doing much on the creative front. I have been occupied with courses, and reading, and work while my journals and collage materials sit in a pile hoping I'll remember them and come and play again.
In the meantime, if your looking for a peaceful, beautiful meditation - a five minute breather as it were - check out this lovely movie, A Holy Splash of Time.
Many blessings to you....... * o
Saturday, March 17, 2007
Connecting to Heart
The other night I listened in to a tele-class given by Jennifer Louden, on Life Organizing in the Moment. Jennifer has a wonderful new creation out, The Life Organizer - A Woman's Guide to a Mindful Year that is a combination of journal, life coaching, organizer and awesome wisdom on connecting to your heart.
In the call the other evening, I jotted this sage advice down: "Get out of our bodies, and into our hearts." Substitute head for bodies, and thoughts for head and you get the idea of how our thoughts and stories keep us from connecting to what our heart wants.
There's a wonderful quote from Emmerson that says "Most of the shadows of this life are caused by standing in our own sunshine." I believe that a good deal of the stress in our lives is caused by standing in the shadows of our hearts.
When we slow down, listen and acknowledge our hearts we get out of our own way and a little bit of the light starts to shine through.
Try this next time you are spinning your wheels. Stop, take a deep breath, put your hand on your heart and ask it what it needs in this moment. This moment - not the next hour, the next day, but this moment - what do you need?
At the very least, the slowing down and breathing will calm you down and even if you don't "hear" your heart, you'll feel better. * o
In the call the other evening, I jotted this sage advice down: "Get out of our bodies, and into our hearts." Substitute head for bodies, and thoughts for head and you get the idea of how our thoughts and stories keep us from connecting to what our heart wants.
There's a wonderful quote from Emmerson that says "Most of the shadows of this life are caused by standing in our own sunshine." I believe that a good deal of the stress in our lives is caused by standing in the shadows of our hearts.
When we slow down, listen and acknowledge our hearts we get out of our own way and a little bit of the light starts to shine through.
Try this next time you are spinning your wheels. Stop, take a deep breath, put your hand on your heart and ask it what it needs in this moment. This moment - not the next hour, the next day, but this moment - what do you need?
At the very least, the slowing down and breathing will calm you down and even if you don't "hear" your heart, you'll feel better. * o
Sunday, March 04, 2007
Friday, February 16, 2007
The Wait
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
The Uber Joy Sale!!
SAVE BIG ... LEAD YOUR OWN CREATIVITY WORKSHOPS
Dream of creating, booking, filling and leading your own workshops? Well, the process just got incredibly easy. For many years now, Suzanne Falter-Barns, author of the creativity classic, How Much Joy Can You Stand?, has been training coaches and trainers to lead the workshop version of her book. She's packaged that training into an easy home study course with an amazingly cheap and flexible license that lets you morph and mold the material to suit your own purposes. And now ... it's on sal.e. How great is that!? Her Uber Joy Fesitval is rolling from Feb 12 to 25 .. and that means for these two weeks ONLY, you can save big on this program.
Check it out - and do take a moment to read her excellent freebie Case Studies report: http://www.howmuchjoy.com/pdfscans/JoyCaseStudies_Feb07b.pdf that shows you just how other coaches have been successfully using this work. More than 350 Joy coaches lead this work in 18 countries around the world - so don't be left out. It's never going to be a better time to jump in than right now.
You can get your workshop package here. * o
Dream of creating, booking, filling and leading your own workshops? Well, the process just got incredibly easy. For many years now, Suzanne Falter-Barns, author of the creativity classic, How Much Joy Can You Stand?, has been training coaches and trainers to lead the workshop version of her book. She's packaged that training into an easy home study course with an amazingly cheap and flexible license that lets you morph and mold the material to suit your own purposes. And now ... it's on sal.e. How great is that!? Her Uber Joy Fesitval is rolling from Feb 12 to 25 .. and that means for these two weeks ONLY, you can save big on this program.
Check it out - and do take a moment to read her excellent freebie Case Studies report: http://www.howmuchjoy.com/pdfscans/JoyCaseStudies_Feb07b.pdf that shows you just how other coaches have been successfully using this work. More than 350 Joy coaches lead this work in 18 countries around the world - so don't be left out. It's never going to be a better time to jump in than right now.
You can get your workshop package here. * o
Wednesday, February 07, 2007
Unbelievable
Saturday, February 03, 2007
Soul Collage - My Healthy Self
Committee Suit
My Healthy Self
I am the one who takes care of myself.
I am the one who eats healthy and nourishes my body.
I am the one who is energetic and strong, resilient and ready.
(I've been trying to eat better and get more exercise, so I thought a card to honour that process was in order. I'm proud of the achievements I've made in the past two weeks in just getting more walking in and avoiding a lot of junk food. This card "exercises" my creativity, and reminds me of why I want to take care of myself.)
Monday, January 22, 2007
Eighteen Years Ago
Eighteen years ago tonight I was heading off to bed, not knowing that I would wake up a few hours later with my water broke and the pains of labor beginning.
Eighteen years ago, on the 23rd of January at nine o'clock in the evening, after a long day and nineteen hours of labor we welcomed our first-born son into this world.
Eighteen years ago our lives changed forever and the journey of parenthood began. We were no longer two, but now three. In another four years, we would become four. A family, a unit.
Eighteen years later we know we are on another bend in this journey. His college applications are in and his conversations revolve around "next year, when I'm away in college"........
Eighteen years later we are preparing to send him out into the world.
Eighteen years. It seems like just yesterday. * o
Eighteen years ago, on the 23rd of January at nine o'clock in the evening, after a long day and nineteen hours of labor we welcomed our first-born son into this world.
Eighteen years ago our lives changed forever and the journey of parenthood began. We were no longer two, but now three. In another four years, we would become four. A family, a unit.
Eighteen years later we know we are on another bend in this journey. His college applications are in and his conversations revolve around "next year, when I'm away in college"........
Eighteen years later we are preparing to send him out into the world.
Eighteen years. It seems like just yesterday. * o
Tuesday, January 09, 2007
A Year in Books
Keeping up with a tradition I started last year, here is my list of books read in 2006:
Embracing Serafina - Penny Petrone
The Eyre Affair - Jasper Fforde
Breakfast with Jesus - Greg Laurie
Jack's Life - Douglas Gresham
The Creative Call - An Artist's Respone to the Way of the Spirit - Janice Elsheimer
Grace in Thine Eyes - Liz Curtis Higgs
For My Next Act - Women Scripting Life After 50 - Karen Baar
Daily Word Prayer Journal
House - Frank Peretti/Ted Dekker
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings - Maya Angelou
Remember - Karen Kingsbury
The Slumber of Christianity - Ted Dekker
The Bronze Woman - Antanas Sileika
Stealing Adda - Tamara Leigh
Safely Home - Randy Alcorn
And we move on to 2007. New year = more books to read! * o
Embracing Serafina - Penny Petrone
The Eyre Affair - Jasper Fforde
Breakfast with Jesus - Greg Laurie
Jack's Life - Douglas Gresham
The Creative Call - An Artist's Respone to the Way of the Spirit - Janice Elsheimer
Grace in Thine Eyes - Liz Curtis Higgs
For My Next Act - Women Scripting Life After 50 - Karen Baar
Daily Word Prayer Journal
House - Frank Peretti/Ted Dekker
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings - Maya Angelou
Remember - Karen Kingsbury
The Slumber of Christianity - Ted Dekker
The Bronze Woman - Antanas Sileika
Stealing Adda - Tamara Leigh
Safely Home - Randy Alcorn
And we move on to 2007. New year = more books to read! * o
hmm....maybe somedays...
My Peculiar Aristocratic Title is:
Imperial Majesty Eveline the Bloody of Westley Waterless
Get your Peculiar Aristocratic Title
Sunday, January 07, 2007
Epiphany
EpiphanyStanding on the back porch
in the midst of inky blackness,
moonlight’s frosted glow
illuminates a thousand diamonds.
It holds back the darkness,
in a sea of crusted snow.
Standing on the back porch
in the midst of a dark night soul
God's fiery love
illuminates diamonds of hope.
It holds back the darkness,
in a sea of crusted despair.
As moon waits for morning sun to rise
and turn back the dark for a day,
My soul waits, Lord
for you to return,
and turn back the dark forever.
-copyright 2006 Eveline Maedel
(image - "To See You More Clearly" - mixed media collage, art journal - Jan 7/07) * o
Sunday, December 31, 2006
Intentions and Prayers
Somewhere in all the emails I get, I read something about setting intentions for the new year, instead of resolutions.
This morning I was pondering on what sort of intention I would like to set for 2007, and the word that kept coming to me was "peace". I would like the coming year to be one where I feel peace in my heart, peace with my spiritual life, peace with my family, friends and co-workers, and peace with my purpose.
Last year I started a tradition of prayers for the new year, instead of resolutions. As I predicted, it was indeed a year of many changes for us, many ups and downs. Maybe that's why I want a year of peace for this year.....
My prayers for 2007 are simple. That we will all enjoy good health, happiness and live each day with peace in our hearts.
Happy New Year to you!
(image - my first SoulCollage card, created December 31/06 - as yet untitled) * o
Saturday, December 30, 2006
Scents and Sensibilities
After much holidaying, eating, company, eating and what not, I was in desperate need of "downtime" tonight.
So I have indulged myself in a Body Shop Lavender bath and salt scrub, and then put on some Healing Gardens Zzzzzz Therapy body lotion (mmmmm......). Whilst pampering, I allowed the strains of Loreena McKennit's "Ancient Muse" to carry me away to far off exotic places. (All of these wonderful treats were Christmas presents).
Now I feel good, smell good, I'm wound down and ready to spend an evening on the couch watching a movie with the family. In a little while, I'll make myself a cup of cinnamon apple tea, and maybe curl up with one of the warm blankies I got for Christmas.
These are the scents of my holiday time - lavender, orange blossom, vanilla, cinnamon and apple. Simple and soothing - this year it was all about comfort..... * o
So I have indulged myself in a Body Shop Lavender bath and salt scrub, and then put on some Healing Gardens Zzzzzz Therapy body lotion (mmmmm......). Whilst pampering, I allowed the strains of Loreena McKennit's "Ancient Muse" to carry me away to far off exotic places. (All of these wonderful treats were Christmas presents).
Now I feel good, smell good, I'm wound down and ready to spend an evening on the couch watching a movie with the family. In a little while, I'll make myself a cup of cinnamon apple tea, and maybe curl up with one of the warm blankies I got for Christmas.
These are the scents of my holiday time - lavender, orange blossom, vanilla, cinnamon and apple. Simple and soothing - this year it was all about comfort..... * o
Sunday, December 03, 2006
Cough, Cough, Hack, Hack
And so we have succumbed to that dreaded cold that has been making the rounds. All of us have had it, and Charlie is now on round two of it. 'Tis the season - stop by our house and you are sure to hear a chorus of "cough, cough, hack, hack".....
Did you know cats could decorate trees? Check this page out for some pics of talented feline decorating. I don't think I could handle watching it all unravel before Christmas!
This year I have given up on sending out the "Big Newsy Letter" with my Christmas cards. I just can't seem to find the time to sit down and write one. In fact, at the rate I'm going, I'll be lucky if my Christmas cards get out in time! My creative energy is being all sucked up lately with all the courses I've been taking but I did manage to find some time this weekend to do a bit of art journaling. It felt so good to be gluing and collaging.
For a quick note on adding some "blessings" to your holiday routine this year, and a special Christmas deal, check out my newest post at Maedel Creativity Coaching. * o
Did you know cats could decorate trees? Check this page out for some pics of talented feline decorating. I don't think I could handle watching it all unravel before Christmas!
This year I have given up on sending out the "Big Newsy Letter" with my Christmas cards. I just can't seem to find the time to sit down and write one. In fact, at the rate I'm going, I'll be lucky if my Christmas cards get out in time! My creative energy is being all sucked up lately with all the courses I've been taking but I did manage to find some time this weekend to do a bit of art journaling. It felt so good to be gluing and collaging.
For a quick note on adding some "blessings" to your holiday routine this year, and a special Christmas deal, check out my newest post at Maedel Creativity Coaching. * o
Sunday, November 19, 2006
Symphony
I had the great pleasure of seeing the Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra in concert on Friday night. It was wonderful. Despite being in the gym of the local high school, the acoustics were fabulous. So much better to hear an orchestra live, than on a recording.
I could have closed my eyes and been transported to an early 1800's ballroom, watching elegant couples twirling around the dance floor. In reality, I can't waltz my way out of a cardboard box and I wonder if I would have been a wallflower were I living then instead of now?
The last piece they played was Dvorak's "Slavonic Dance No. 8" - something I'd never heard before and it really appealed to the gypsy in me.
It was a great prelude to a weekend otherwise spent fighting the crowds in the malls and cleaning house! * o
I could have closed my eyes and been transported to an early 1800's ballroom, watching elegant couples twirling around the dance floor. In reality, I can't waltz my way out of a cardboard box and I wonder if I would have been a wallflower were I living then instead of now?
The last piece they played was Dvorak's "Slavonic Dance No. 8" - something I'd never heard before and it really appealed to the gypsy in me.
It was a great prelude to a weekend otherwise spent fighting the crowds in the malls and cleaning house! * o
Sunday, November 05, 2006
Listening
My 13 yr old, Charlie, has a really bad habit of saying "what" immediately after you say
something to him. He listens with "teenage-ears" - too much going on in his brain. Yesterday, I said something to Charlie and he immediately replied "what?". I waited a couple of seconds, then gently asked "what did I just say?". He repeated it back to me perfectly. Then I said, "see you do hear, you just say what automatically". He laughed and said, "ya, I guess I do".
In my coaching lab this week, we were given an assignment on "listening". We were told to practice tuning out the words someone was saying, and pay attention to what we "hear" - breathing, emotions, tone, and energy. It's a difficult task, this paying attention. How often we carry on our conversations, much like my son and I, with a thousand other things going through our head. And now I realize there is a difference between hearing and listening.
How many times are we really present in a conversation?
And this got me thinking about my spiritual listening as well. I go through prayers and devotions by route, my mind on other things. I never really spend a lot of time just present with God and listening. Is it any wonder I rarely hear His voice? What growth in my spiritual life could I experience if I slowed down, caught my breath and just listened for awhile?
What a gift we give others when we take the time to really hear them. To be present beyond the words. What a gift we give ourselves.
Try it this week. Try listening, be fully present in your conversations. Notice what kind of effect that has on your creative life. What do you hear? * o
something to him. He listens with "teenage-ears" - too much going on in his brain. Yesterday, I said something to Charlie and he immediately replied "what?". I waited a couple of seconds, then gently asked "what did I just say?". He repeated it back to me perfectly. Then I said, "see you do hear, you just say what automatically". He laughed and said, "ya, I guess I do".
In my coaching lab this week, we were given an assignment on "listening". We were told to practice tuning out the words someone was saying, and pay attention to what we "hear" - breathing, emotions, tone, and energy. It's a difficult task, this paying attention. How often we carry on our conversations, much like my son and I, with a thousand other things going through our head. And now I realize there is a difference between hearing and listening.
How many times are we really present in a conversation?
And this got me thinking about my spiritual listening as well. I go through prayers and devotions by route, my mind on other things. I never really spend a lot of time just present with God and listening. Is it any wonder I rarely hear His voice? What growth in my spiritual life could I experience if I slowed down, caught my breath and just listened for awhile?
What a gift we give others when we take the time to really hear them. To be present beyond the words. What a gift we give ourselves.
Try it this week. Try listening, be fully present in your conversations. Notice what kind of effect that has on your creative life. What do you hear? * o
Tuesday, October 31, 2006
I'm hooked.....
Call me crazier than a frog, but I just adore this little annoying guy......bah ding a dang dong....
*
o
Monday, October 30, 2006
Happy Halloween
Bailey's Ghost
Pale rays of light from the full moon outside,
Shone through the holes in the door,
And lighted up the hallway,
And patches of the floor.
Dust lay thick on the staircase,
And not a sound could I hear,
No gust of wind blew that candle out,
When Bailey's ghost did appear.
He stood erect in the middle of the hall,
Holding an axe in his hand,
And all those tales I'd heard before,
Came back again and again.
His hair was red and shone like fire,
His eyes were just a hole,
His clothes were old and I saw through them,
A ghost without a soul.
A clock that had died many years ago,
Struck twelve eerie notes in the night,
And the ghostly hand raised the axe,
As the hall became full of light.
I cannot recall how I found the door,
Or for how many miles I fled,
I only rememeber that axe raised high,
Ready to fall on my head.
Now no one lives in the Bailey house,
No caller will knock on the door,
It stands alone, a shut up place,
And I won't go there no more.
copyright Eveline Maedel - all rights reserved * o
Pale rays of light from the full moon outside,
Shone through the holes in the door,
And lighted up the hallway,
And patches of the floor.
Dust lay thick on the staircase,
And not a sound could I hear,
No gust of wind blew that candle out,
When Bailey's ghost did appear.
He stood erect in the middle of the hall,
Holding an axe in his hand,
And all those tales I'd heard before,
Came back again and again.
His hair was red and shone like fire,
His eyes were just a hole,
His clothes were old and I saw through them,
A ghost without a soul.
A clock that had died many years ago,
Struck twelve eerie notes in the night,
And the ghostly hand raised the axe,
As the hall became full of light.
I cannot recall how I found the door,
Or for how many miles I fled,
I only rememeber that axe raised high,
Ready to fall on my head.
Now no one lives in the Bailey house,
No caller will knock on the door,
It stands alone, a shut up place,
And I won't go there no more.
copyright Eveline Maedel - all rights reserved * o
Sunday, October 29, 2006
Fall Back......
The wind was howling around the house this morning that it seemed such a perfect morning for pulling the covers closer and lying in bed awhile.
I always love when the clock goes back an hour - at least, I prefer it to spring when we lose that hour. There's just something special about this "extra hour" day that just stretches out before you.
I know - it's not really an extra hour, all things being relative. But it does feel like for one day, you've been gifted extra time.
So, how did I use mine? Finished off "Stealing Adda" - great chick-lit and easily devoured in one weekend. I haven't spent an entire weekend reading in ages. Did some housework, laundry, worked on some course material, oh and spent an awesome hour on the phone chatting with some of my "Pink Jasper" sisters!
There's probably a dozen things I could have done with my extra hour - but lying in bed this morning, cozy and comfy, with the wind howling around the house, stealing an extra hour of dream time just seemed the perfect thing to do. * o
I always love when the clock goes back an hour - at least, I prefer it to spring when we lose that hour. There's just something special about this "extra hour" day that just stretches out before you.
I know - it's not really an extra hour, all things being relative. But it does feel like for one day, you've been gifted extra time.
So, how did I use mine? Finished off "Stealing Adda" - great chick-lit and easily devoured in one weekend. I haven't spent an entire weekend reading in ages. Did some housework, laundry, worked on some course material, oh and spent an awesome hour on the phone chatting with some of my "Pink Jasper" sisters!
There's probably a dozen things I could have done with my extra hour - but lying in bed this morning, cozy and comfy, with the wind howling around the house, stealing an extra hour of dream time just seemed the perfect thing to do. * o
Wednesday, October 25, 2006
Trust
Reach OutTrust
Stay Grounded
then......
Create!
Drew this image in my journal after an art guidance coaching session. Some of the questions that came out for me were - what are my energy drains? what will balance look and feel like?
Balance feels strong and deeply rooted - feet planted firmly on the ground and arms open wide.
I'm learning to trust in this new direction I'm heading - that I can coach, that I can create, that I can hold the space for others to create in. As long as I remember the balance....
(There are some tips posted at Maedel Creativity Coaching on creating in the middle of things.) * o
Wednesday, October 18, 2006
had your dose of Muse today?
Artella members can now get "The Daily Muse" - the only online daily newspaper for the creative soul. New articles each day - quick, creative ideas, writing tips, interviews, etc. You can sample the front page here.
*
o
Saturday, October 14, 2006
Muse Online
The Muse Online Conference just wrapped up yesterday.It was an amazing, online, virtual conference jam packed with workshops and information and I really, really wished I had had more time this week to take it in. On the bright side, this is planned to be an annual event - so bookmark the site and prepare to attend in October 2007. It's free and full of information - what more could you ask for!
And speaking of free, Lea Schizas, one of the founding organizers of the Muse Online Conference has offered her e-book, "Assaulting a Writer's Thinking" free to any writer who wants it. The book is full of writing exercises and tips.
If you'd like a copy, send me an email (maedelcreativity@mac.com) and I'll forward it on! * o
Tuesday, October 10, 2006
Monday, October 09, 2006
Thanksgiving
The elm tree stands naked and bare in the backyard. Saturday it was full of big yellow leaves, a radiant splash of color next to the green pines. Yesterday's strong winds have stripped it of glory. All so quickly gone.
It's Thanksgiving weekend. The Lost Boys have been off on their annual weekend away, and I have had a blissful, creative weekend of solitude and silence. Large, expansive silence soon to be broken by the return of my fine young sons who will fill this space with TV, music, arguments, and the ringing of the phone for the Social One. Their presence will fill each room.
Anne Morrow Lindbergh used to go away for a week at a time and seek solitude in a cottage by the sea. She sung the praises of solitude and the need for the creative soul to be alone for a time in her book, "A Gift From the Sea".
I have no cottage to escape too. Instead I count the days each year until October, and the opening of the hunt. Then, my house becomes my place of retreat and their weekend away my gift of solitude. I soak it in and save it up until the next time I am gifted a weekend.
The leaves on the elm are gone, my weekend of rest soon to be over. I savor the next few hours, wanting to return slowly to the busyness of life. * o
It's Thanksgiving weekend. The Lost Boys have been off on their annual weekend away, and I have had a blissful, creative weekend of solitude and silence. Large, expansive silence soon to be broken by the return of my fine young sons who will fill this space with TV, music, arguments, and the ringing of the phone for the Social One. Their presence will fill each room.
Anne Morrow Lindbergh used to go away for a week at a time and seek solitude in a cottage by the sea. She sung the praises of solitude and the need for the creative soul to be alone for a time in her book, "A Gift From the Sea".
I have no cottage to escape too. Instead I count the days each year until October, and the opening of the hunt. Then, my house becomes my place of retreat and their weekend away my gift of solitude. I soak it in and save it up until the next time I am gifted a weekend.
The leaves on the elm are gone, my weekend of rest soon to be over. I savor the next few hours, wanting to return slowly to the busyness of life. * o
Tuesday, September 26, 2006
Grace Full
"How can I befull of grace?"
I asked you.
You sent me a dream
in answer.
I saw a boat gliding
on a clear lagoon.
A dozen swans
floated by
six white
and six a glossy blue-black.
I watched them
float past, longing
to follow,
and woke with
aching heart
hungering to be
graceful as the swans.
"Am I the poet then,
the muse, or
the swan?"
I asked you.
I thought I caught
your whisper on
the wind.
"You are my beloved"
was the reply. * o
Sunday, September 17, 2006
Odds N Sods
There's a new article over at Maedel Creativity Coaching on finding time to write.
I had fun today playing at creating this seal over at Says-it.com. Thanks to InnerDorothy for posting the cool link.
Have you seen "Lessons from Water"? This is a beautiful and relaxing video well worth the five minutes or so to watch. Very calming, if you're having a hectic day!
And finally, had an absolutely fabulous time at the Great Big Sea concert on Friday night. What a fantastic show and a great way to wind up our summer of music festivals! * o
Thursday, September 14, 2006
Saturday, September 09, 2006
Soundtrack for Fall
I'm sitting here at the kitchen table, this September afternoon, eating a fresh tomato sandwich, and pondering about how there is music for certain occasions, music for certain emotions, and music that is certainly seasonal.
Sure, when you think seasonal you automatically think Easter songs and Christmas hymns, but when the summer nights grow colder and the days shorter, my fingers wander over the CD's in the rack and automatically rest on Sara McLachlan's, Surfacing, the soundtrack to Practical Magic, and Loreena McKennit's, Book of Secrets. These are CD's that for some strange reason are my anthem for fall. They've rarely been played any other time of year.
I don't know what exactly the pull is, but I know they are entwined with certain memories of fall past. Hearing these songs will forever take me back to sunlight October afternoons, memories of special friends, and even a September trip to Michigan. They make me see colors of oranges, reds, and that special "mossy oak" camo that makes its appearance throughout the house this time of year.
Peer in my window, and you'll catch me puttering around the house cleaning, or working on some project, while I sway and sing my heart out.
In the meditative atmosphere created by routine chores, some songs are offered up as lyrical prayer, a conversation between me and God.
"if all of the strength
and all of the courage
come and lift me from this place
I know I could love you much better than this
full of grace" - (Sara McLachlan, Full of Grace)
Some songs are just fun to sing.
"...put de lime in de coconut, and drink 'em both up..." - (Harry Nilsson, Coconut)
And some just have pieces of lyric that have caught me, and stuck in my head, renderings of perfect turns of phrases.
"...she's as shady as cheap sunglasses, and as perfect as this October Monday passes..." - (Michelle Lewis, Nowhere and Everywhere)
They are my soundtrack for fall, my celebration of this time of year, and my preparation for the winter to come.
And, just maybe, they are an attempt to infuse some estrogen into this testosterone-filled household I'm a part of... * o
Sure, when you think seasonal you automatically think Easter songs and Christmas hymns, but when the summer nights grow colder and the days shorter, my fingers wander over the CD's in the rack and automatically rest on Sara McLachlan's, Surfacing, the soundtrack to Practical Magic, and Loreena McKennit's, Book of Secrets. These are CD's that for some strange reason are my anthem for fall. They've rarely been played any other time of year.
I don't know what exactly the pull is, but I know they are entwined with certain memories of fall past. Hearing these songs will forever take me back to sunlight October afternoons, memories of special friends, and even a September trip to Michigan. They make me see colors of oranges, reds, and that special "mossy oak" camo that makes its appearance throughout the house this time of year.
Peer in my window, and you'll catch me puttering around the house cleaning, or working on some project, while I sway and sing my heart out.
In the meditative atmosphere created by routine chores, some songs are offered up as lyrical prayer, a conversation between me and God.
"if all of the strength
and all of the courage
come and lift me from this place
I know I could love you much better than this
full of grace" - (Sara McLachlan, Full of Grace)
Some songs are just fun to sing.
"...put de lime in de coconut, and drink 'em both up..." - (Harry Nilsson, Coconut)
And some just have pieces of lyric that have caught me, and stuck in my head, renderings of perfect turns of phrases.
"...she's as shady as cheap sunglasses, and as perfect as this October Monday passes..." - (Michelle Lewis, Nowhere and Everywhere)
They are my soundtrack for fall, my celebration of this time of year, and my preparation for the winter to come.
And, just maybe, they are an attempt to infuse some estrogen into this testosterone-filled household I'm a part of... * o
Monday, September 04, 2006
Autograph
Several, long years ago in a small northern Ontario town an aspiring writer held a book signing at the local Hudson's Bay store. The book, his first, a compilation of humorous stories. A timid teenager approached the table, held out her copy of the book and shyly requested an "autograph". After clarifying the spelling of her name, the author wrote "Happy Reading" in bold, black pen. The teenager, after having just met her first real writer and getting her first autographed copy of a book, went home and devoured the stories. The book became part of a treasured collection of books, carted from home to home, bookshelf to bookshelf.
Fast forward many years. The author has since gone on to publish 11, hosted a national radio show and has been the host of Life Networks "Weird Homes". Somewhat of a national celeb. The shy teenager went off to college, got married, has two fine teenage sons of her own, has worked in several clerical type jobs and is a late blooming writer with a leaning to poetry. Somewhat not a celeb at all.
Their paths crossed again at the Sleeping Giant Writers Festival at the end of August. I attended Arthur Black's reading Friday night, with my 1982 copy of "Basic Black" tucked in my bag. After the reading, I loitered near the back working up the nerve to ask for another autograph. Finally, I stepped in front of Mr. Black's path as he was making his way to the back tables, blurted out "I have a special request", rambled the rest of my story about having met him years ago, and then asked if he would again autograph my copy. He was delighted.
And that was one of the highlights of my weekend at the SG Writer's Fest. I say goodnight to my oldest son, sprawled out on his bed reading his personally autographed copy of Arthur Black's latest book. Some people chase rock stars, or Tom Cruise. I would rather have an autographed copy of a good book anyday. * o
Sunday, August 27, 2006
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
Saturday, August 12, 2006
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
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
Thursday, August 10, 2006
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
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
Monday, August 07, 2006
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
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
Saturday, August 05, 2006
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
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
Monday, July 31, 2006
Home again, home again
My weeks worth of vacation has all too quickly passed!It's great getting away, visiting family, relaxing and stepping out of your routine for awhile but there is nothing at the end of the journey that beats slipping into the cool, clean sheets of your own bed - ahhhhh....
Despite having made up a few background pages ahead of time, I only managed to journal one page while away.
Driving along the lakeshore home I thought that one should make this journey at least once a year to remember why we choose to live in this neck of the woods. It is so breathtakingly beautiful. I know that I definitely felt its pull on my heart the moment we crossed the border and were once again on home "ground".
There's definitely "no place like home"! * o
Monday, July 17, 2006
Cool Glue Background
This is a neat technique that was passed along in the art journaling group I'm in.On a piece of plastic coated freezer paper paint whatever design you want. You can mix colors, rubber stamp designs, finger paint. In this background I painted two colors and then cut out the shell from a napkin and pressed it into the paint. Let the paint dry completely, then cover it all with a thick layer of Elmer's glue. The instructions said to water down the glue, but I found the first time I tried that I didn't have a thick enough layer so for this background I just put it on full strength.
Leave it to dry. I left this one for a day. Then peel the glue off the freezer paper - carefully!!! (requires patience...) The paint will come up with the glue. The whole thing has a kind of rubbery texture. You can then glue it down onto your journal paper and voila - you have your background. I covered this one with a watered down layer of gesso, just enough to give it a little more durability for writing on.
The one good thing about working on a bunch of backgrounds is that if you don't feel like writing, or don't exactly know what you want to do with the page, you can still make the background and feel that creative energy. * o
Sunday, July 16, 2006
Is it hot in here? and some announcements
"I'm melting! I'm melting........"
Much as I love summer, I don't do heatwaves very well. Spent most of the day hiding inside today since it was well over 100F on our back deck. Stuck my body out for about five minutes and quickly retreated back inside again. Not that it's all that much cooler in here but it is slightly bearable.
I did up some background pages in my art journal this evening. I wanted to get a few done ahead of time so I could take my journal on vacation with me and I'd have ready made pages if the urge to write something strikes me. I plan on throwing my favorite pens, gluestick, scissors and some watercolor pencils into a zippered bag so I'll have a few supplies with me when the muse prods. I'll post some pics when I return.
And now we interrupt this blog, for a few announcements.....
Announcement #1 - I have a new website!!
I've started a new website for my creativity workshops and eventually for the creative coaching I hope to get into. Check out Maedel Creativity Coaching for information on workshops, and occasional articles on creativity. Like myself, it is still a work in progress - so keep checking it for updates.
Announcement #2 - Get a free book!
Suzanne Falter-Barns has recently released her "How Much Joy Can You Stand?" book as a free e-book. This is the book the "How Much Joy" workshops are based on, helping you live your dreams. Click on the banner ad for more info and be sure to pick up your free copy of the book while it is available!
* o
Much as I love summer, I don't do heatwaves very well. Spent most of the day hiding inside today since it was well over 100F on our back deck. Stuck my body out for about five minutes and quickly retreated back inside again. Not that it's all that much cooler in here but it is slightly bearable.
I did up some background pages in my art journal this evening. I wanted to get a few done ahead of time so I could take my journal on vacation with me and I'd have ready made pages if the urge to write something strikes me. I plan on throwing my favorite pens, gluestick, scissors and some watercolor pencils into a zippered bag so I'll have a few supplies with me when the muse prods. I'll post some pics when I return.
And now we interrupt this blog, for a few announcements.....
Announcement #1 - I have a new website!!
I've started a new website for my creativity workshops and eventually for the creative coaching I hope to get into. Check out Maedel Creativity Coaching for information on workshops, and occasional articles on creativity. Like myself, it is still a work in progress - so keep checking it for updates.
Announcement #2 - Get a free book!
Suzanne Falter-Barns has recently released her "How Much Joy Can You Stand?" book as a free e-book. This is the book the "How Much Joy" workshops are based on, helping you live your dreams. Click on the banner ad for more info and be sure to pick up your free copy of the book while it is available!
* o
Monday, July 10, 2006
Baby Got Da Blues
We spent yesterday afternoon in the city at the Blues Festival, a birthday combined with anniversary gift that the whole family enjoyed.I thought David Knopfler was awesome, but our overall favorite of the performances we saw was "Lil Ed and the Blues Imperials". Lil' Ed rocks and really got the crowd up on their feet when he jumped off the stage and started jamming up and down the rows.
A lady sitting next to me asked how old my boys were, and after telling her she commented on how wonderful it was that they would come with us and how nice to see them having such a good time. And I thought, ya they are pretty fabulous kids and we are lucky to have things we enjoy doing together. The stuff memories are made of.
Unfortunately, I underestimated the power of the sun through the intermittent clouds that blew over marina park and I ended up with a wicked sunburn and now am itching and aching through my own kind of blues... * o
Monday, July 03, 2006
Esmeralda Monkeyface
I've been wanting to make one of these puppets since reading about them at Lani Puppetmaker, the website for artist Lani Gerity. The instructions seemed easy enough and it looked like a fun project.And so I created my "puppet muse", Esmeralda Monkeyface. I was surprised to find that the hardest part of the project was making her body, although why that surprised me when my sewing skills are less than legendary I don't know.
Esmeralda is teaching me about expectations - since she didn't turn out exactly as I "expected" her to. How often do we begin a creative project with some sort of expectation of the outcome, and become frustrated during the process when things don't seem to go as we envisioned them? Do we carry on and see where the creative muse leads us? Or do we give up and tell ourselves "I can't do this" or "I'm not good enough"? What happens when I let go of the outcome?
Esmeralda is also teaching me about "acceptance". Her body is not perfect - her hands are too big, her arms too skinny and she's lumpy in places - but then neither is my body perfect. Esmeralda just tosses back her multi-colored yarn hair and laughs. She knows she's vibrant and creative and fun, who needs a perfect body? (Even if the boys did think she had a monkey face and it freaked them out).
The heart on her dress bears the word "courage". She is not afraid to create or take chances. A friend shared this motto with me, "faith + action = courage". Esmeralda Monkeyface is courage in action.
(On an amusing side note, when I created her my dear family wanted to know if they were not being supportive enough lately that I needed to create a puppet to talk to!) * o
Sunday, July 02, 2006
Unexpected Surprise
Saturday, July 01, 2006
O, Canada
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CANADA!!!!!Woke up this morning to thunderstorms and pouring rain, so I'm not sure if our fireworks celebration will be a little damp this evening...
In the meantime, it was a good morning to lay in bed and listen to the rain. A good morning to putter around the house, to work on some creative projects, to dream, and maybe to read.
Happy long weekend! * o
Tuesday, June 27, 2006
Lessons Learned.........the saga of Heliographica
Almost a year ago, five women writers and myself were in the throes of elation celebrating our upcoming release of "Pink Jasper - Gems from the Journey", published through Heliographica. The book represented a collaborative birthing of the writings of six women who had never personally met, but through this project have formed lasting friendships.
Today, I received the following email from "Team Heliographica":
Heliographica will be cancelling it's operations.
As a traditional title- your rights revert back to you.
If your title made it through production and is in print through Ingram it will remain in print
until late August and in December after we have received royalties from wholesalers payment will be made to you using the address we have on file.
Note: You will be able to place bulk orders for books through July 31st, but effective immediately our website will no longer take sales.
We regret to be sending you this notice and wish you the best of luck with your writing.
Team Heliographica
I have to say that this really didn't come as much of a surprise. There have been problems all along since the publishing of Pink Jasper. Difficulties getting orders, lack of communication and bumps and disappointments all along the way. We fared much better than some authors though, whose sagas can be read here .
As I think all this over today, I know that this book has been a wonderful journey for me. I met some great women who I laughed and cried with, I cut my teeth on the craft of writing, I learned volumes about the publishing industry, and I have a book on my bookshelf that has my name on the cover. Pink Jasper has opened doors for me, and I know that even as one door closes another will open someplace else.
I don't know the future of our little book. I do know that those who have read it, loved it and I hope that it has blessed them in some way.
This morning I relayed the information to my oldest son that the publisher had gone under and I couldn't get anymore books, and then I jokingly commented "so, no Oprah." He buttered his toast, shrugged, and replied "So, you're only 40 something." I looked at "Mr. Wiser-Than-Years", smiled and said "You're right - try again!".
Never let your dreams die.
(PS - I still have a few copies of Pink Jasper kicking around if you are interested in buying it. Could be a collector's item!!)
*
o
Today, I received the following email from "Team Heliographica":
Heliographica will be cancelling it's operations.
As a traditional title- your rights revert back to you.
If your title made it through production and is in print through Ingram it will remain in print
until late August and in December after we have received royalties from wholesalers payment will be made to you using the address we have on file.
Note: You will be able to place bulk orders for books through July 31st, but effective immediately our website will no longer take sales.
We regret to be sending you this notice and wish you the best of luck with your writing.
Team Heliographica
I have to say that this really didn't come as much of a surprise. There have been problems all along since the publishing of Pink Jasper. Difficulties getting orders, lack of communication and bumps and disappointments all along the way. We fared much better than some authors though, whose sagas can be read here .
As I think all this over today, I know that this book has been a wonderful journey for me. I met some great women who I laughed and cried with, I cut my teeth on the craft of writing, I learned volumes about the publishing industry, and I have a book on my bookshelf that has my name on the cover. Pink Jasper has opened doors for me, and I know that even as one door closes another will open someplace else.
I don't know the future of our little book. I do know that those who have read it, loved it and I hope that it has blessed them in some way.
This morning I relayed the information to my oldest son that the publisher had gone under and I couldn't get anymore books, and then I jokingly commented "so, no Oprah." He buttered his toast, shrugged, and replied "So, you're only 40 something." I looked at "Mr. Wiser-Than-Years", smiled and said "You're right - try again!".
Never let your dreams die.
(PS - I still have a few copies of Pink Jasper kicking around if you are interested in buying it. Could be a collector's item!!
Sunday, June 25, 2006
From the Past
While cleaning out some stuff, I came across an old notebook with the following entry written in May of 1994:
I'm sitting here on a cloudy Sunday morning, dishes piled in the sink, kids watching TV, floor in desperate need of vacuuming, Charlie tugging at me. I should be getting ready for church. Instead I'm scribbling away in this notebook, asking myself why do I want to write? I come from a family tradition of writing. My mother writes poetry from time to time. Both of us enjoy buying journals and notebooks with their crisp clean paper, anticipating filling them with wonderous thoughts and then piling them up, forlorn and forgotten on dusty shelves because our lives are just too distracting to write. My favorite time in school was always the beginning. Not just for the starting over, but for the thrill of new notebooks. I loved the first page, eagerly anticipating the first notes to be jotted down, always neatly with appropriate headings underlined. September held the promise of new beginnings, it was fresh. Of course, by October this freshness would wear off. By now the notebooks were familiar, the promises a little jaded and school was always the same. I'm still a stationary "junkie" in September. I've even bought notebooks and scrapbooks under the pretense of doing something for the kids but it was really just to relive that thrill of crisp, clean pages. Notebooks can also lead to writer's block, because I have always had that feeling that the first page should be perfect and with a clear purpose. But life is not the crisp new page in a notebook.
So here I am, twelve years later. I still love new notebooks, but I have conquered the expectation of a perfect first page. I've learned that writing is the continual action of putting pen to paper, or connecting fingers to keyboard. And I still buy scrapbooks and notebooks, but I happily own up that they are for me - no hiding behind the kids - and I'm quite content to get messy in them! * o
I'm sitting here on a cloudy Sunday morning, dishes piled in the sink, kids watching TV, floor in desperate need of vacuuming, Charlie tugging at me. I should be getting ready for church. Instead I'm scribbling away in this notebook, asking myself why do I want to write? I come from a family tradition of writing. My mother writes poetry from time to time. Both of us enjoy buying journals and notebooks with their crisp clean paper, anticipating filling them with wonderous thoughts and then piling them up, forlorn and forgotten on dusty shelves because our lives are just too distracting to write. My favorite time in school was always the beginning. Not just for the starting over, but for the thrill of new notebooks. I loved the first page, eagerly anticipating the first notes to be jotted down, always neatly with appropriate headings underlined. September held the promise of new beginnings, it was fresh. Of course, by October this freshness would wear off. By now the notebooks were familiar, the promises a little jaded and school was always the same. I'm still a stationary "junkie" in September. I've even bought notebooks and scrapbooks under the pretense of doing something for the kids but it was really just to relive that thrill of crisp, clean pages. Notebooks can also lead to writer's block, because I have always had that feeling that the first page should be perfect and with a clear purpose. But life is not the crisp new page in a notebook.
So here I am, twelve years later. I still love new notebooks, but I have conquered the expectation of a perfect first page. I've learned that writing is the continual action of putting pen to paper, or connecting fingers to keyboard. And I still buy scrapbooks and notebooks, but I happily own up that they are for me - no hiding behind the kids - and I'm quite content to get messy in them! * o
Wednesday, June 21, 2006
Blogging the Creative Journey
My blog has been listed at Creativity Portal's "Inspiring Blogs" section!! Cool!Also, I can't seem to "escape" Harper Lee - check this out... * o
Tuesday, June 20, 2006
Synchronicity...or something like that
"Dear Oprah,
Do you remember when you first learned to read, or like me, can you not even remember a time when you didn't know how?" Harper Lee - "O" Magazine, July 2006
I often have these weird flashes of synchronicity, when something I'm musing on suddenly starts appearing everywhere. (Wish I could manifest money in the same way!)
A couple of weeks ago, in our writer's group, we got to discussing how some authors can continuously put out great novels, over and over. We marvelled at the talent and drive to turn out books year after year - and not just the "formula, crank-em out books" but well written literature. And then we pondered over the writer who writes just one great novel in their entire career and then disappears from the bookshelves. For example, Harper Lee and To Kill a Mockingbird. A classic, much loved piece of literature. An only novel. A reclusive author. One wonders - is that all they had? What happened to them? Where are they now? and so on (much like my musings earlier on Susan Kay and Phantom). I even recall asking, "is Harper Lee still alive?" I suppose one can always Google the answer to that, but really it's more fun to just ponder it.
The conversation was relegated to the recesses of my mind, pushed back by more urgent thoughts like "what the heck I'm I going to make for supper?" and "who's turn is it to go to the city this weekend?". Last Friday it was my turn to be in the city. I was standing in line at the grocery store, blankly gazing over the magazine headlines - "Angelina's baby not Brad's", "Britney and Kevin in trouble" yada yada and "O" Magazine caught my eye. Maybe it was the lovely sunny yellow outfit Oprah had on, or those eye-catching article headlines, or face it, I was bored and thought it might give me something to browse through at lunch, but I ended up throwing the magazine in with the groceries.
At lunch, I was flipping through the pages looking at the "Oprah-endorsed" reading list when I flipped to a letter from Harper Lee. There she is, in bold black and white print with large signature scrawled at the bottom of the page. Apparantly, Harper Lee is very much alive and writing to Oprah.
It's a fabulous letter, not just an endorsement of reading, but a glimpse of the passion for books. The kind that get sucked up into your soul while reading. The kind you hate to put down. An ode to those of us who always seemed to know "how" to read and don't remember how we learned. A poignant look back at a time when books ruled as entertainment. Or, as Harper Lee writes, "Now, 75 years later in an abundant society where people have laptops, cell phones, iPods, and minds like empty rooms, I still plod along with books."
On Sunday, my youngest called out "Mom, To Kill a Mockingbird is on the movie channel!". I wish I hadn't been in the middle of a "do or die" cleaning project, so that I could have sat down and watched it.
I'm still pondering why some authors will pour themselves into only one book, and never seem to touch the printed page again. And, I can't help thinking, Ms. Lee after years of silence - why Oprah??? * o
Do you remember when you first learned to read, or like me, can you not even remember a time when you didn't know how?" Harper Lee - "O" Magazine, July 2006
I often have these weird flashes of synchronicity, when something I'm musing on suddenly starts appearing everywhere. (Wish I could manifest money in the same way!)
A couple of weeks ago, in our writer's group, we got to discussing how some authors can continuously put out great novels, over and over. We marvelled at the talent and drive to turn out books year after year - and not just the "formula, crank-em out books" but well written literature. And then we pondered over the writer who writes just one great novel in their entire career and then disappears from the bookshelves. For example, Harper Lee and To Kill a Mockingbird. A classic, much loved piece of literature. An only novel. A reclusive author. One wonders - is that all they had? What happened to them? Where are they now? and so on (much like my musings earlier on Susan Kay and Phantom). I even recall asking, "is Harper Lee still alive?" I suppose one can always Google the answer to that, but really it's more fun to just ponder it.
The conversation was relegated to the recesses of my mind, pushed back by more urgent thoughts like "what the heck I'm I going to make for supper?" and "who's turn is it to go to the city this weekend?". Last Friday it was my turn to be in the city. I was standing in line at the grocery store, blankly gazing over the magazine headlines - "Angelina's baby not Brad's", "Britney and Kevin in trouble" yada yada and "O" Magazine caught my eye. Maybe it was the lovely sunny yellow outfit Oprah had on, or those eye-catching article headlines, or face it, I was bored and thought it might give me something to browse through at lunch, but I ended up throwing the magazine in with the groceries.
At lunch, I was flipping through the pages looking at the "Oprah-endorsed" reading list when I flipped to a letter from Harper Lee. There she is, in bold black and white print with large signature scrawled at the bottom of the page. Apparantly, Harper Lee is very much alive and writing to Oprah.
It's a fabulous letter, not just an endorsement of reading, but a glimpse of the passion for books. The kind that get sucked up into your soul while reading. The kind you hate to put down. An ode to those of us who always seemed to know "how" to read and don't remember how we learned. A poignant look back at a time when books ruled as entertainment. Or, as Harper Lee writes, "Now, 75 years later in an abundant society where people have laptops, cell phones, iPods, and minds like empty rooms, I still plod along with books."
On Sunday, my youngest called out "Mom, To Kill a Mockingbird is on the movie channel!". I wish I hadn't been in the middle of a "do or die" cleaning project, so that I could have sat down and watched it.
I'm still pondering why some authors will pour themselves into only one book, and never seem to touch the printed page again. And, I can't help thinking, Ms. Lee after years of silence - why Oprah??? * o
Sunday, June 18, 2006
Calendar Pages
This page in my art journal was inspired by one I saw on Zura's blog.Calendar pages are fun, easy to do and a quick way to journal your month. You can glue things onto the day's entry, or sketch or just write some quick notes.
In retrospect, I should have made this a two page spread, with more room, which is what I'm planning to do for July.
You can see more calendar pages at this website. These ones are very artistic and fun! * o
Wednesday, June 14, 2006
The Buck Stops Here
This morning I happened to glance out the far side windows of my office building and just got a glimpse of antlers meandering past. I was standing there, doing one of those double-take, "did I just see antlers?" kind of musings when someone yelled "hey! there's a deer outside my window!" Quickly, we all ran to the windows (obviously, a slow day) and there was this beautiful buck making his way around the side of the building towards the front. And then, following at a casual pace behind, a doe!
The two wandered across the front lawn and into the brush on the other side giving no mind to the excited gawkers at the window.
One of those perfect moments in an otherwise ho-hum day. * o
The two wandered across the front lawn and into the brush on the other side giving no mind to the excited gawkers at the window.
One of those perfect moments in an otherwise ho-hum day. * o
Saturday, June 10, 2006
Pentecost and Trinity
Last Sunday, at Church-in-the-City, they had a presentation of liturgical dance in celebration of Pentecost. It was the first time I had seen a liturgical dance, and I found it both simple and graceful, fluid and moving.So naturally I had to somehow record it in my art journal.
This Sunday is Trinity Sunday, and I'd like to share this beautiful Celtic prayer from Esther De Waal's "The Celtic Way of Prayer":
I am bending my knee
In the eye of the Father who created me,
In the eye of the Son who purchased me,
In the eye of the Spirit who cleansed me,
In friendship and affection.
Wishing you fluid, graceful and simple Sundays. * o
Monday, June 05, 2006
Finally, the gluebook page
Craziest thing - I have to import scanned images into my iPhoto program, then export them back out again as jpeg's in order to have Blogger upload them....Anyway, here is the gluebook page I did for the art journaling course.
As you can see, you glue all sorts of scrap paper that make up your day to day life. No particular order, rhyme or reason. And they can be quite messy.
So, why do it? I guess the point is to free yourself from the rules of what the page is supposed to look like. As in, the first rule of creating is to throw out the rules.
Now, go glue some junk mail in your journal right now! Have fun and get messy! * o
Thursday, June 01, 2006
Frustrated
I've been trying to upload images so I can show you a gluebook page I did for my art journal class, but for the last 3 days all I get is an error message when trying to upload! ARRRRGGGH!
In the meantime, if you haven't visited there before stop by The Creativity Portal - tons of resources and articles to get even the slightest of creative juices flowing like a river! * o
In the meantime, if you haven't visited there before stop by The Creativity Portal - tons of resources and articles to get even the slightest of creative juices flowing like a river! * o
Wednesday, May 31, 2006
Sunday, May 28, 2006
Driving Miss Daisy and Starbucks
My oldest is taking driving lessons in the big city (pause for prayer here). And this past weekend I had the great pleasure of driving him into the city (2 hour drive) each day for his lessons, and then home again at the end of the day.
Today, my other son accompanied us for the day. After we dropped the driving student off at "school", we set off on our adventure for the day. The plan was to visit a new church for worship, eat lunch, do a little bit of shopping and then head down to the waterfront for the afternoon.
That was the plan - until we came out of Wally World and the sky was black as night and threatening a pretty severe downpour.
So that's how we found ourselves sitting at Starbucks, staring out at the rain. He read his magazine, and I worked on some pages in my art journal. Then I passed the pencil crayons over to him and he drew me a picture of what our afternoon was supposed to look like (me sitting on a bench, looking out onto the water, and glorious sunshine all around).
We explored the bookstore too, and amongst the bargain books I found an awesome little volume of oriental love poems, complete with origami decorated pages.
By then, the rain had stopped and we did head down to the waterfront for a brisk walk. The wind was cool, the water choppy, and the air damp but it was still beautiful.
Not a bad way to pass a day in the city. * o
Today, my other son accompanied us for the day. After we dropped the driving student off at "school", we set off on our adventure for the day. The plan was to visit a new church for worship, eat lunch, do a little bit of shopping and then head down to the waterfront for the afternoon.
That was the plan - until we came out of Wally World and the sky was black as night and threatening a pretty severe downpour.
So that's how we found ourselves sitting at Starbucks, staring out at the rain. He read his magazine, and I worked on some pages in my art journal. Then I passed the pencil crayons over to him and he drew me a picture of what our afternoon was supposed to look like (me sitting on a bench, looking out onto the water, and glorious sunshine all around).
We explored the bookstore too, and amongst the bargain books I found an awesome little volume of oriental love poems, complete with origami decorated pages.
By then, the rain had stopped and we did head down to the waterfront for a brisk walk. The wind was cool, the water choppy, and the air damp but it was still beautiful.
Not a bad way to pass a day in the city. * o
Thursday, May 25, 2006
Stepping Out of the Comfort Zone
I participated in another "author night" at the library tonight. This really takes some effort for me to read my poetry in front of an audience.
It's one thing to write it, and send it off somewhere and if you're lucky it gets published on some website or in some magazine. And a bunch of anonymous faces read it, and sometimes you get comments back on whether or not they enjoyed it.
But to sit in front of a live audience and read.....scary. I fight to keep my voice steady, to try and read it in something other than "monotone" - don't rush through, steady, look up once in a while, smile, breathe - just breathe.
Fortunately it's a kind audience. They don't throw tomatoes. They listen, nod and make appreciative comments.
I'm out of my comfort zone, and I'm not drowning. Good. Now, just breathe. * o
It's one thing to write it, and send it off somewhere and if you're lucky it gets published on some website or in some magazine. And a bunch of anonymous faces read it, and sometimes you get comments back on whether or not they enjoyed it.
But to sit in front of a live audience and read.....scary. I fight to keep my voice steady, to try and read it in something other than "monotone" - don't rush through, steady, look up once in a while, smile, breathe - just breathe.
Fortunately it's a kind audience. They don't throw tomatoes. They listen, nod and make appreciative comments.
I'm out of my comfort zone, and I'm not drowning. Good. Now, just breathe. * o
Friday, May 19, 2006
Broken Hallelujahs
........."its a cold, and it's a broken hallelujah......."**
Altar Guild duty tonight. Alone in the the church, preparing the sanctuary for Sunday service. The chalice and communion vessels are horribly tarnished, possibly because we have not been having regular communion. I wonder if that's a metaphor for the state of my soul right now - tarnished from lack of use. I can rub and polish the chalice until it is shiny bright again, but Lord who is polishing me?
"My tears have been my food day and night, while they say to me continually, "Where is your God?" (Psalm 42)
As I leave the church, I pause for a moment in front of the "Healing Touch" painting. I want to draw strength from it, to get answers - but paintings don't talk and I still feel numb, the spiritual void closing in on me. How long will this continue? When will I feel peace here again?
"Why are you cast down, o my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God, for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God." (Psalm 42)
These are desert days - long and dry. Somewhere out there is an oasis.
**from "Hallelujah" - words and music by Leonard Cohen. kd lang does an excellent cover of it.
* o
Altar Guild duty tonight. Alone in the the church, preparing the sanctuary for Sunday service. The chalice and communion vessels are horribly tarnished, possibly because we have not been having regular communion. I wonder if that's a metaphor for the state of my soul right now - tarnished from lack of use. I can rub and polish the chalice until it is shiny bright again, but Lord who is polishing me?
"My tears have been my food day and night, while they say to me continually, "Where is your God?" (Psalm 42)
As I leave the church, I pause for a moment in front of the "Healing Touch" painting. I want to draw strength from it, to get answers - but paintings don't talk and I still feel numb, the spiritual void closing in on me. How long will this continue? When will I feel peace here again?
"Why are you cast down, o my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God, for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God." (Psalm 42)
These are desert days - long and dry. Somewhere out there is an oasis.
**from "Hallelujah" - words and music by Leonard Cohen. kd lang does an excellent cover of it.
* o
Wednesday, May 17, 2006
RHODA-dendron
Aww, dear Rhoda Rhodendron
your brilliant purple blooms
the sight of them cheers me so
my favorite flower of spring
so sweet, and so short-lived
would that you could spend
all summer with me.
When I grow old
I shall deck myself out
in brilliant purple
like my dear Rhoda-dendron. * o
Monday, May 15, 2006
Froggy went a croakin'
We will now pause for a moment of silence, for the wood frog that we found floating in the pond this evening. He wasn't "relaxing" - he was definitely not alive anymore. I would rather not have found him at all. There is something not quite right about finding a dead, real frog floating beside a plastic, fake lily pad....
*
o
Sunday, May 14, 2006
I Love Lighthouses
Ok - not the best picture, but behind the leaves of this russian almond is my new solar lighthouse, my gift from the boys for Mother's Day. I can't wait until it gets dark!I've had a pretty good weekend. Number One son cooked supper last night - a delicious pasta casserole of his own creation. Number Two son made breakfast this morning and served it to me on a tray. He gave me this adorable accordion-folded card he made himself complete with pictures of him as a baby. Sometimes, its pretty good being the "princess in the house of boys".
The sun came out this afternoon, and I puttered around the yard and soaked up its warmth. The peonies and bleeding hearts are coming out, the tulips are poking out of the ground, the birds are singing - all seems right with the world today. * o
Thursday, May 11, 2006
The Journal Muse
Rain, Rain - Go Away!
It is cold, and wet, and rainy. It has been cold, and wet, and rainy for days and the forecast says it will be cold, and wet, and rainy for a few more days. I hate it. I'm dreaming of sunshine.
On a more happy note today the flyer for the Sleeping Giant Writer's Festival arrived in the mail and I was thrilled to learn that Arthur Black is going to be there this year! I still have my copy of "Basic Black" autographed by Arthur at a "book signing" held in our local Hudson's Bay store waaaay back in 1982. It was the first signed book I ever received and the first time I met a real, live "writer".
I'm thinking I might just bring that book with me this year, and see if I can't get it signed again. * o
On a more happy note today the flyer for the Sleeping Giant Writer's Festival arrived in the mail and I was thrilled to learn that Arthur Black is going to be there this year! I still have my copy of "Basic Black" autographed by Arthur at a "book signing" held in our local Hudson's Bay store waaaay back in 1982. It was the first signed book I ever received and the first time I met a real, live "writer".
I'm thinking I might just bring that book with me this year, and see if I can't get it signed again. * o
Saturday, May 06, 2006
How to Win Some Avon
Our contest this month over at the Pink Jasper website features a chance to win a $20 gift certificate from Avon. Carolyn is also covering the cost of shipping/handling - so that's $20 worth of Avon and free shipping!
Easy to enter - simply send an email to pinkjasper@mac.com, with "Contest Entry" in the subject line.
Good luck! * o
Easy to enter - simply send an email to pinkjasper@mac.com, with "Contest Entry" in the subject line.
Good luck! * o
Thursday, May 04, 2006
Creative Journals and Things That Go Croak in the Night
Just hung up from Zura Ledbetter's Creative Journaling Jems tele-class. It was fabulous - chock full of journaling ideas and inspiration. I can't wait to try some out.
I'm also really pumped now about Zura's 3 month Fun Art Journaling e-course starting this Monday. I think it's going to be a lot of fun . Want to join me?
For the last three nights we have been eerily serenaded by what we think is a wood frog, camped out in our backyard. A little unusual for in town, but he must have been attracted to our little ponds. As soon as it gets dark he starts his low, almost sinister sounding croak that echoes throughout the backyard and keeps it up until dawn. Alas, he does not yet seem to have found a mate and will possibly soon move on to "greener ponds??"
It's supposed to get quite cold tonight, so froggy probably won't do much croaking. Too bad, I was hoping to record his call so I could find out if he is indeed a wood frog. * o
I'm also really pumped now about Zura's 3 month Fun Art Journaling e-course starting this Monday. I think it's going to be a lot of fun . Want to join me?
For the last three nights we have been eerily serenaded by what we think is a wood frog, camped out in our backyard. A little unusual for in town, but he must have been attracted to our little ponds. As soon as it gets dark he starts his low, almost sinister sounding croak that echoes throughout the backyard and keeps it up until dawn. Alas, he does not yet seem to have found a mate and will possibly soon move on to "greener ponds??"
It's supposed to get quite cold tonight, so froggy probably won't do much croaking. Too bad, I was hoping to record his call so I could find out if he is indeed a wood frog. * o
Tuesday, May 02, 2006
Sunday, April 30, 2006
Sunday Retreating
In desperate need of some down time, I spent this afternoon on a "mini-retreat" of sorts. I couldn't afford to go away somewhere, off into the woods or a house at the beach, so I held my retreat at home. I told the family I was going on retreat, and hung up a "Do Not Disturb" sign on the bedroom door. And then, I retreated.
It was great. I put some Meditation oil in the diffuser and a wonderful blend of sandalwood and cedarwood filled the room. Rachmaninov melodies permeated the air. I read, I prayed, I rested and journaled.
One of my exercises, taken from the Woman's Retreat Book, was to quietly meditate on where I was in my life right now, and then draw whatever symbols came to mind. In the sketch above, I'm a little stick figure on the curvy path leading to the mountains. Along the path I've written, "It feels like a path of long winding narrow curves and I still seem to have so far to go." The path divides the page in two - one one side my "duties and responsibilities" and on the other side "my dreams".
My entire retreat lasted a little over an hour but it was exactly what I needed. And so April ends and we turn the corner to May. I hope it brings some time to slow down and watch the flowers blooming, trees budding and the backyard awakening to spring.
I found this excellent online resource for journalers, worth browsing through - Journaling Life.com. * o
It was great. I put some Meditation oil in the diffuser and a wonderful blend of sandalwood and cedarwood filled the room. Rachmaninov melodies permeated the air. I read, I prayed, I rested and journaled.
One of my exercises, taken from the Woman's Retreat Book, was to quietly meditate on where I was in my life right now, and then draw whatever symbols came to mind. In the sketch above, I'm a little stick figure on the curvy path leading to the mountains. Along the path I've written, "It feels like a path of long winding narrow curves and I still seem to have so far to go." The path divides the page in two - one one side my "duties and responsibilities" and on the other side "my dreams".
My entire retreat lasted a little over an hour but it was exactly what I needed. And so April ends and we turn the corner to May. I hope it brings some time to slow down and watch the flowers blooming, trees budding and the backyard awakening to spring.
I found this excellent online resource for journalers, worth browsing through - Journaling Life.com. * o
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