Quiet Saturday Night

Painted this watercolor landscape last weekend as one of my assignments. I'm still really trying to get the hang of watercolors and mixing colors, there were parts of this that just didn't come out as dark as I wanted them to. But I have to admit I do like playing with them and it doesn't take long for a couple of hours to just fly by!

Spent the day on chores and errands and catching up on stuff. Had a great veggie pizza for supper and am now preparing to relax for the rest of the evening. The College Kid headed back on the bus this morning, and the High School Kid is out spending the evening with friends so the house has once again settled into quiet.

I found some instructions this week for making prayer ropes, so I might just grab some cord, sit down on the couch with the hubby and while he's watching TV, see if I can't figure out how to make the knots. Depending on how it goes, I may just give up real quick! :) * o

Quiet Saturday Night

Bits and Pieces of Things

Today's post will be brought to you in bullet form:

• Still suffering from "Bloggers Block". Keep feeling that I have nothing deep or meaningful to post, or that my posts are too short or whatever and so every time I sit down to blog something......I don't....hence the bullet list today :)

• Lent is looming. This, oddly enough, is a very busy time of year for us church folks. Which I always find an interesting paradox since we are supposed to give stuff up for Lent and I always end up taking on more...hhmmm...

• Spirituality and Practice has an e-course for Lent - "The Cry of the Prophet - Practicing Spirituality with Joan Chittister" - looking forward to that starting up this week and being the focus of my devotions during this time.

• If Lent is not your thing, the next few weeks can be a good time for thinking about what is going on in your life, creatively or otherwise. What are you saying "Yes" to and what are you saying "No" to? What is brewing within you? What do you long to express? Are there things you need to let go of? What wants to burst forth and rise up from you :)

• Looking forward to a chat this week with Trish Bruxvoort-Colligan from Spirations Institute. I'm being pulled more and more towards spiritual direction, especially as I find myself facilitating at retreats more often so I'm trying to find a program that will help me grow in that direction. This one looks promising, and I have my fingers crossed!

• Artella has a great deal on their new Mixed-Media Self-Portraits course - you can get the details at my creativity coaching blog here

• The College Boy is home for a week!!

And that's it - now I think I should go and play with some watercolors and try and get another assignment done! * o

Bits and Pieces of Things

For My Love

i carry your heart with me(i carry it in
my heart)i am never without it(anywhere
i go you go,my dear; and whatever is done
by only me is your doing,my darling)

i fear no fate(for you are my fate,my sweet)i want
no world(for beautiful you are my world,my true)
and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;which grows
higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)

- e. e. cummings ~

(Complete Poems, 1904-1962)

* o

For My Love

Playing with Paint

I had a nice creative afternoon, working on some assignments for my art course. The watercolor flowers above are part of the lesson I was working on. I had the tunes playing, the paint flying and before I knew it it was supper time! The exact thing I needed after a busy and rough week. It feels good to be creating again. Now if I could just somehow find a way to make the weekends longer...... * o

Playing with Paint

Sacred Space

My altar * o

Sacred Space

Some Journal Pages - Part One

I've been focusing heavily this week on healing. I had surgery last week to remove some kidney stones and I've been taking the time to rest and recuperate. So I've had some moments to work on journal pages and thought I would share a few. Since I can't quite figure out how to line up pictures properly, I've broken them into three separate posts!

This month in Jen Louden's Comfort Cafe the theme is Self-Trust. This journal page was an art journal exercise around the theme. I started with writing words that represented what I didn't trust about myself. Then stamped and painted over the words. Then I found images and symbols that represented "self-trust" to me and did some writing over that. * o

Some Journal Pages - Part One

Some Journal Pages - Part Two

My intention word - "JOY". Reminding myself to stop and think, "what would JOY look like right now?" and "what could JOY bring to this moment?".

Brick archways are appearing a lot lately in my doodling. Open doors? Paths to new possibilities? * o

Some Journal Pages - Part Two

Some Journal Pages - Part Three

Another "self-trust" image - peace and serenity, confidence and knowing..... * o

Some Journal Pages - Part Three

Something Finished!

Completion. It seems odd to be thinking about completion at the beginning of the new year - the time when most are thinking about new projects and new beginnings.

But, this month I received my Certificate in Spirituality - the acknowledgment that I have completed two years of study, a whole lot of reading and a few reflection papers.

It feels good to be done. In the past two years I have stretched and grown in my faith journey now I am "resting in transition". I'm allowing myself time to think of what direction I want to take next, what twist in the path will this journey take me.

Completion feels good. * o

Something Finished!

How To Stay Calm......

As part of the pre-launch into her "Comfort During Uncertain Times" virtual retreat, the awesome Comfort Queen, Jennifer Louden, has been featuring a series of blog postings offering some sage advice on comfort and fear and worry and all those other things that keep us from breathing slow and natural :)

Today, Jen is featuring "How to Stay Calm When the Whole World is Worrying". Learn how to spread some happiness and calm and download a free audio.

Here's some more info on the virtual retreat - it promises to be a great weekend at a very affordable price - join me?

Looking to find calm, comfort and confidence in these uncertain times? Join 10 bestselling authors, speakers and teachers at the "Comfort Queen's" 2009 Virtual Retreat January 16th-19th and discover how to stay centered and happy in the middle of a rapidly changing world - no travel required! Call in live or download over a dozen powerful retreat sessions at your convenience and get the soul-nourishing support you need to make this year "your" year. Click here for more details. Click here to visit Jennifer Louden website! * o

How To Stay Calm......

For Presence

For Presence

Awaken to the mystery of being here
and enter the quiet immensity of your own presence.

Have joy and peace in the temple of your senses.

Receive encouragement when new frontiers beckon.

Respond to the call of your gift and the courage to
follow its path.

Let the flame of anger free you of all falsity.

May warmth of heart keep your presence aflame.

May anxiety never linger about you.

May your outer dignity mirror an inner dignity of
soul.

Take time to celebrate the quiet miracles that seek
no attention.

Be consoled in the secret symmetry of your soul.

May you experience each day as a sacred gift woven
around the heart of wonder.

~ John O'Donohue ~

(To Bless the Space Between Us)

* o

For Presence

How Not To...

...smash open a Terry's Chocolate Orange....


Boys - sometimes they just don't completely think through the process! * o

How Not To...

A Freebie and A Great Deal

If practicing your creativity was one of your resolutions this year, here is a freebie from Artella and a great deal to help you get started!

Download a FREE copy of the Artella eBook, Peace by Piece: Collage Your Way to Inner Peace and Harmony. This workbook guides you through several collage projects, each one designed to bring you closer to your true self and your powerful ability for manifesting your dreams and desires. Download your copy here!

Save 55% at Artella! Save 55% off up to 5 Artella items during Artella's Holiday Gift Gala Super Sale! Then pick your choice of 4 creative gift packs! Check out the Gift Gala Super Sale, here!

Find thousands of creative products in The Artella Store! * o

A Freebie and A Great Deal

I Will Begin

The inspiration for this comes from Lynn Jericho's "Inner Christmas - Twelve Holy Nights", The Need for Beginnings.

The idea is to take the list of verbs that indicate beginnings and write sentences beginning with "I will". So, for 2009:

I will begin each day with a few minutes of prayer.
I will birth new projects and new dreams.
I will start dreaming more often.
I will commence a journey of unlimited possibilities.
I will launch creatively and confidently forward.
I will emerge confident in the direction I'm heading.
I will initiate steps that take me towards a healthier me.
I will conceive of possibilities instead of set-backs.
I will generate as much positive energy as I can.
I will create as often as I can.
I will originate art that feeds me spiritually.
I will reveal more of what is in my heart.
I will unveil what is hidden from me.
I will renew my soul.

There you have it, a personal manifesto for the year.

A few people on a couple of the journaling lists I belong to were discussing resolutions and whether they make them or not, and they shared that instead of a resolution they chose a word for the year. Instead of trying to pick a word out of thin air, I went to a deck of inspirational cards I have, shuffled them and chose: "Learning Experience" (yay me, I get two words instead of one). So my intention for the year will be to try and see things as a "learning experience" and learn what I can from them! * o

I Will Begin

What I love most...

...about being off this week:

• sleeping in
• yoga and prayer in the mornings
• reading, and getting totally absorbed in good novels
• feeling the creative energy starting to resurface
• spending time with John and the boys
• not having to go out in the crappy cold if I don't want to
• catching up on emails
• resting in the transition

..so not wanting to go back to work yet....(sigh)... * o

What I love most...

A Poem for Christmas

I love this one - perfect for this time of year. Merry Christmas!

Sharon’s Christmas Prayer

She was five,
sure of the facts,
and recited them
with slow solemnity
convinced every word
was revelation.
She said

they were so poor
they had only peanut butter and jelly sandwiches
to eat
and they went a long way from home
without getting lost. The lady rode
a donkey, the man walked, and the baby
was inside the lady.
they had to stay in a stable
with an ox and an ass (hee-hee)
but the Three Rich Men found them
because a star lited the roof
Shepherds came and you could
pet the sheep but not feed them.
Then the baby was borned.
And do you know who he was?


Her quarter eyes inflated
to silver dollars.
The baby was God.

And she jumped in the air
whirled round, dove into the sofa
and buried her head under the cushion
which is the only proper response
to the Good News of the Incarnation.

by John Shea, The Hour of the Unexpected, Allan, Texas, Argus Communications, 1977 * o

A Poem for Christmas

Give Us Courage

Give Us Courage

Give us courage, gaiety and the quiet mind.
Spare us to our friends, soften to us our enemies.
Bless us, if it may be, in all our innocent endeavors.
If it may not, give us the strength to encounter
that which is to come, that we be brave in peril,
constant in tribulation, temperate in wrath,
and in all changes of fortune and down to the gates
of death, loyal and loving to one another.

~ Robert Louis Stevenson ~

(Prayers Written At Vailima)

* o

Give Us Courage

We interrupt this month......

Bladder infections suck - and that's pretty much all I have to say about that. I've been laid low with one for almost two weeks now. My energy is pretty zapped, and every day is a balance between what I must and have to get done vs what I would like to do. I know there are lots of people who struggle with that every single day because of some sort of chronic illness and so I will not go on and on about how crappy I feel. Suffice it to say I've been laid low, I'm getting behind on some things, and I'm really hoping to not enter the Christmas season holding as much fatigue as I did last year. Meanwhile I'm crossing the days off the calendar and panicking that Christmas IS coming! Yikes!

I need a time machine, please - anyone have one they can spare??? * o

We interrupt this month......

Cats Rule, and Dogs Drool

As the dog barely manages to get a corner of rug, we know who rules the roost in this household :) * o

Cats Rule, and Dogs Drool

Non-Sucky Yoga Month

I (heart) Havi Brooks (and her duck Selma) and am a recently new fan of her work, especially her stuff on Dance of Shiva (which is something I've been doing for almost a month now and will post about some other time).

Havi's got a great promotion going on for the next couple of weeks, "Non-Sucky Yoga Month". Included in her "package thing" is Paul Grilley's Yin Yoga DVD and some awesome stuff from Havi to get you started and to get the most out of the DVD.

If you're looking for something new to kick up your yoga practice, or you're looking for something to get you started with yoga without a lot of "woo woo foo foo" stuff, check this offer out. It might just be what you are looking for.

And if not, check out Havi's blog anyway - good stuff there! * o

Non-Sucky Yoga Month