quiet times?

My summer days just keep on rolling.  The husband will be out of town for work, so needed was a lesson in running the riding lawn mower.  Alas, no photos of what was akin to Mr. Toad's Wild Ride (and probably more appropriate for America's Funniest Home Videos - did you know you can make a riding mower buck like a bronco?  Well, I did!)

Then there was my day as a chaperone for Cowgirl's play date with her BFF, who happens to be a boy and sadly is moving out of state come next week.  So it was their last day together and we did it in style, beginning with fine dining at Taco Bell. (It is a real challenge to eat one's burrito and not be listening to the conversation which was baffling anyway - something about Mind Craft?  Diamond armor being harder than gold but not as strong as obsidian - duh! Any reaction on my part elicited fury from Cowgirl "Mommmmm!  Stop listening!) Palate cleanser of some Wii Mario Cart, followed bya movie and then (yes, more!) the Aquatic center.  I let two 8-year-olds pressure me into the platform waterslide.  Oh yeah, this 50-year-old screamed her entire way down (no surprise to you, eh Diana?)  but at least I kept my legs together and didn't go bottom up, especially since my swimsuit wedged all up around - or is that in? - my bum. (But I went three times and only screamed twice.  I let Cowgirl know I was very proud of myself.)

No photos of that event either. 

But amid the craziness I am snatching bits of quiet time for myself.  It has been an unusually mild summer here, so whenever I can I head outside with my notebooks and pencils and paints which is my way of meditating these days.

Amazing what we discover when we give ourselves time to look and see and receive.

 
My yoga teacher once said "A little bit of practice is freedom from fear."  My practice is to show up on a daily basis for my life.  I also read  - in some magazine at the dentist's office which is proof wisdom can be found anywhere, anytime - that we tend to overestimate what we can accomplish in a day and underestimate the results  of small actions performed regularly.

So I am practicing regularly in whatever form practice chooses to assume each day and trusting those efforts will meld together some kind of wonderful and certainly crazy colorful result.  

Or a manifestation of magical crop circles/ley lines in my yard, reminding me that I am always in exactly my right place for growth and discovery.  Time to paint ...

How is your summer rolling?

October adventures

While there is much keeping me busy - InnerGlow has been all consuming - I do not want to neglect those things that feed my soul.  Last weekend it was a drive out to a favorite family farm and their make-shift pumpkin patch.  They have a playset in place for the kids and you go out into the field to gather your own pumpkins.  

 

This year was a good year for pumpkins but we were late in arrive so things were pretty much picked over.  Despite the slim pickings, Cowgirl wrestled up a wheelbarrow while I stood guard over our pie sized pumpkins.  A small, but acceptable haul.

 

Then it was off to Sonic to slake our pumpkin harvesting thirst (it turned out to be an unusually balmy October day) with happy hour fruit slushes.

Lest you think it is all fun and games here, I have been working hard on the materials for the course which - eek! - goes live on Monday.  The day after a rather grand - ahem - milestone in my life.  Let's just say, I wish I could retire now.  So here is some proof of my nose being pressed upon the grindstone:





direct link here
password: ireallyampostingthis

 

And since I will be an official sage on Sunday, here is my advice to anyone needing a thimble-full ... 

Always, always choose joy.  It keeps a heart young. 

random acts of self-kindness

I've been feeling so heavy lately ... do you notice it? I mean heavy in the sense of my brow furrowed, deep into thought, seeing signs in the tortilla chips (not the Virgin Mary, mind you, just a blob looking like the snake-eating-an-elephant from The Little Prince.) I know, you are saying "Of course you feel heavy Lis, you are deep into labor and birthing your creative self."

Okay. Yeah. A little heavy with myself.

I was running errands after work (I loathe - in the way one loathes liver or Wham! - going on errands) and I passed by this sandwich and the thought bubbled up "you deserve a decent lunch." I get home late for lunch and usually end up scavenging for left-overs, snatching a meal where I can before dashing out the door to pick up Cowgirl. And I am notorious cheap when it comes to eating out - especially lunch which seems pricey for what you get. But I turned on my heel and went into the pseudo-green-healthy sandwich shoppe and ordered myself a veggie wrap to go.

Let me tell you, it tasted damn good! I am in the midst of a guerrilla attack by a cold virus (periods when I feel fine, then a condensed period of misery, followed by well and then a new way of symptoms attack) so I don't think it would take much to impress my taste buds, but it just felt like the healthy energy of the sprouts, avocado, greens and other minced bits went straight down to my toes and shot up to the tips of my hair. An injection of prana, pure prana.

I am so happy from this random act of self kindness that I realize I need to make this a regular practice. I am thick into The Artist's Way (although honestly, the minute I put the book down, I forget everything I read!) and besides Morning Pages (which I am doing and finding really helpful for dumping all my mental trash on a regular basis) the other key practice is called The Artist Date. It is meant to be a weekly event when you explore something that interests you or something that feeds your creativity. It is a play date with yourself. It is meant to be solo and meant to be scheduled.






So far, my two Artist Dates have been unscheduled, totally spontaneous adventures out into the snow with Cowgirl. So I've broken every rule! But if the function of the Artist Date is to refill my well of creativity, than what better mentor into creative, joyful play than a child?

I am not needing more structure, another item on my "to do" list; what I am needing is spontaneous action guided by intuition. I am working with Hawk Medicine which is all about cultivating connection to a higher wisdom and trusting the answers that come from within.

And I'm needing to lighten things up.

I am making a commitment to myself to honor the Artist Date but consider more as a act of random self-kindness. Staying alert and attentive for those moments when Hawk is guiding me to step out of my routine and nourish my spirit through play. Or, to use a word I've rediscovered, to regularly skive off from my grown-up schedule to tend to the whims of my inner child.






Today we worked on Valentine items (Cowgirl's box for school and some cards) and picked out fabric to use for making our own medicine pouches. We already have shells and feathers picked out and a trip to look for some crystals planned for Saturday.

I challenge you: practice a random act of self-kindness some time today. How does it make you feel?





Yeah ... I can see you smiling from here ... is that chocolate on your face as well?

(I apologize to any Wham! lovers ... in grad school I lived above a man named Martin who had the obnoxious habit of putting Jitter Bug on whenever he worked out ... usually late at night or early on a Saturday morning. Needless-to-say, I have a pavlovian response to any Wham! song.)