monkey wrenches and other holiday occurrences

Ha!  I bet had you thinking this multi-passionate gal has taken up auto restoration in addition to sewing, painting, knitting and kamikaze baking (my baking skills such as they are could be seen as threatening to all.)

Alas, dear friends, while I do enjoy the British show Wheeler Dealers (even Cowgirl sits transfixed by the nuts and bolts transformation of classic cars) the monkey wrench that has been tossed into my engine is merely the common cold that has me in bed, cutting out fabric stars for the holiday gifts I must get into the mail, um, yesterday?

The count-down has begun.

Inspired by Maya Donenfeld and Liz Lamoreux who each have created artful prayer flags (Maya using her own carved stamps and Liz using antique hankerchiefs) I decided to play with making my own.  I love carving rubber stamps - it is a very soothing and relaxing process. (I've blogged about makings rubber stamps before both here and here ; here is a nice video tutorial for making your own.) 

I wanted to create a set of flags for a friend embarking upon a new phase of life and so the rather Spring-like new beginnings theme in this prayer flag banner. 

I also made lavender sachets filled with the most fragrant lavender from Apifera Farm.  The smell was pretty heady and I believe I may have had a lavender-induced  trip or two which is my excuse for some crooked but expressive sewing. (And yes, these creations were also inspired by Maya's work - I couldn't resist this wise old hoot owl to accompany me into the land of nod.)

 

Why do I do this to myself year after year?  There is fabric, inks, paper and art supplies strewn across three floors of the house (since I am recovering in bed, I've dragged my wares upstairs making complete the transformation of home into hovel, albeit a colorfully festooned crafty hovel.)  Obviously my body is sending me the message to slow the hell down and I really have no choice.

And yet.  In my Dayquil addled brain new ideas spring forth and the improbable seems possible.  Could I knit a few pairs of wrist warmers for family gifts?  (Meaning: I don't have to worry about getting these gifts in the mail, so that allows for Christmas Eve - nay, Christmas morning! -  knitting.)

And now here's a new thought: what about creating Word of the Year Prayer Flags?   Depending upon the word, I would use theme-appropriate stamps or fabric appliqué with the word printed on the middle flag?  Would that be something you might be interested in enough to purchase?  I'm thinking when I finish my gifts, I might be up for creating a few custom orders.  So let me know (although I reserve the right to plead Dayquil insanity should the response become overwhelming.) 

So here I lie, spinning plates in my mind while downstairs there waits projects to be completed, packages to wrap and cards to be written.  No wonder Santa has his elves! 

And speaking of elves ... I had mine help me draw a name for last week's giveaway and the lucky winner is ... drum roll ... Kim from The Bodhi Chicklet.  I think there will be some vermouth or java to celebrate!  Congrats Kim.  I will be passing the information onto the Bluestocking Elf in charge of enrollment!  

small packages

I have to remind myself Summer has not officially started ... but I already feel like it is zooming by.  School let out the end of May, and Cowgirl is in her second week of swimming lessons at the neighborhood pool, so Summer feels like it is in full swing here.  Why do I persist in believing summer break will be a time of spaciousness and leisure?  It is anything but!

Such is my delusion that my girl will utilize the stretches of unstructured time to amuse herself but reality is she knows this time is precious and she wants to make the most of it.  Swimming pool, movies, park, zoo, and lunches - my god, the lunches!  I need to remember come Fall when I am wracking my brain for lunch bag ideas to give thanks to the lunchroom ladies who tend to my rather ravenous child on a daily basis.  She doesn't like breakfast ... three bites of cantaloupe and she is full ... so lunch starts early and lingers well into the afternoon.  I think she must have some Italian in her ... all that pasta eating has influenced her genes.  Long lunches, a late afternoon siesta and then she is ready to rock it well into the evening hours.  Legend has it there once was a bedtime routine around here ...


Needless-to-say this loosey-goosey lifestyle is perfect for a 7-year old and shattering to this hormonally-challenged mama-crone.  I've been thinking a lot about the ways I  find or create a sense of inner spaciousness and I am happy to share one of my latest discoveries: the mini-journal.

a little gesso, some acrylic paint, fairy dust and voila! a new cover!

Disclosure: I have a addiction fondness for all-things-journal-ish. I believe I made something of a confession a ways back and self-awareness has not lead to any kind of recovery unless you consider purchasing journals to give to others as one of the 12 steps. I couldn't resist this little journaling kit assembled by Sarah Ahearn Bellemare.  

 

It looked like the perfect thing for summer and vacation use as it is small and lends itself to quick spreads.  Little journal "notes" to borrow a concept from Liz Lamoreux.  

So far I've been able to turn to this journal for quickie art sessions.  I like to think of it as opening the valve on my creative radiator and letting a little steam off.  I am playing with smear-creatures, minimalist collages and your basic doodle art.  

 

Nothing heavy; light, playful, creative stretches versus a full on aerobics session.  Perfect for my distractible summer mind.

Meanwhile, Cowgirl is working in her journal somewhat regularly.  

so begins the story of Flames, the Dragon ...

Perhaps one day far in the future there will be an exhibit of our works, side-by-side. Perhaps ours will be the only artifacts remaining from this largely digital age?  A solar flare erasing all data stored in the cloud or on hard drives.  Historians pouring over our pages and wondering about this world of penguins, dragons, big headed beings and sharp-toothed creatures.  

Eden may be nothing more than a shifting of perspective, an invitation into a world of imagination and play. Any real paradise must have an element of danger and excitement, mais non?


What summer projects do you have brewing?  How do you integrate summer play with time for creating?  We have aspirations here my friends.  Flames story must be told, creatures waiting to be birthed and a whole slew of journals to be filled.  Pass the iced tea and let's get going!

my dirty little secret

Do or Do not. There is no try. - Master Yoda

I tend to shy away from notions of either/or preferring gray areas which some view as uncertainty, but I believe is a place of possibility.

Still the wisdom of Master Yoda seems to have become the new mantra around our house and I have become aware of the power of decisiveness. And doing.

A confession here: I am pretty much a "do-er" by nature. I know, surprise huh?

I've been thinking about all my doing and wondering about the motivation behind all my busyness. I know there is the danger of doing as a means of avoidance and distraction but honestly, I don't believe such is true in my case. Usually.

No, the reality is - and here is my dirty little secret - I am a very disciplined person.

I know, I know. Discipline is such an un-sexy concept. Generally it is considered the opposite of spontaneity, freedom and play. It is not something wild Creatives talk about very much but I am here to set the record straight.

I work hard. That is my magic formula. I absolutely love Twyla Tharp's The Creative Habit for her words echo my experience: "The routine is as much a part of the creative process as the lighting bolt of inspiration, maybe more." She comes down firmly upon the side of hard work as the genesis for creative action.

The danger of course is discipline for discipline's sake. I know about that as well having been anorexic as a teenager I was nothing, if not extremely well disciplined. My determination to be in total control almost did me in. It wasn't until I started studying yoga that I learned how to balance discipline - known as tapas in Yoga - with surrender.

Thinking about creativity it makes sense that there needs to be some fire - another translation for tapas - to overcome inertia (known as tamas in yoga) but that fire needs to be handled with care and some control lest everything go up in flames. There is doing but then there is an aspect of allowing - the dancing with inspiration and spontaneous action that breathes vitality into our work. In my case, there is a lot of surrendering to those happy accidents which transforms what I am doing into something unexpected, new and often insightful.

But it all comes back to doing. Showing up for the work. Putting some energy into it.

And that is my other "secret" if you will - energy. I try to think about things in terms of energy. Energy created, energy expended. Often I come to the end of my day tired and ready to shuffle off to the couch for some mindless television. There are times when that emptiness is exactly what I need in order to recharge and refill the next day. But there are times when I know to put in an hour on a project that has been on my mind will, in the end, give me an energy boost exceeding the energy needed to overcome my initial inertia. This is where discipline and having developed a "habit of creating" help out. It's kind of like the expression "you never regret having gone to the gym." Once done, I feel better for the work achieved.

I jealously guard my energy. I don't go out a lot, I know I can only handle so much social exchange before I feel wiped out, and I try - I try really hard - to monitor how much energy I give to online time. I play attention to how diet, routine, and people affect my energy. I have had to erect strong boundaries in certain relationships lest I be sucked dry by another person's emotional needs. In some cases, this has meant letting go of the relationship when I no longer was willing to fulfill that role.

Discipline really is another way of saying commitment. And I've made a commitment here - to myself and my family. By identifying that, I understand my discipline not as slavish behavior but action motivated by higher ideals of love, self worth, and celebration. For much of what I do is to record our family's life, to preserve our stories and discoveries and to honor my own growth and understanding. And to partake in magic. Always I am seeking the magic in those moments.

Next time you catch yourself saying "I'm going to try to get to that project today" think of Master Yoda's words: "Do or Do not. There is no try." Which is to say make a choice one way or the other and then commitment to your decision. Give all your energy to one thing - work, play or rest - and see how doing so affects you and how your full attention affects what you do ... or don't do.

Things I am choosing this weekend: to finish compiling the photo book of my 365 selfies (self portraits) from 2009 - 2010 (only 30 images left to put in!); work on the shutterfly scrapbook for Cowgirl (I have photo albums for the first 3 years of our family and am now committed to catching up by making photo books for the last 2 1/2 years ... I am loving this template in shutterfly from Becky Higgans); my Book of Days (of course); and time to make some valentine's with Cowgirl for family and friends.








and then there is this adventure Cowgirl and I are eagerly anticipating ...

a golden oldie from the archives -
almost 3 years ago and very little has changed

See work ... play ... they are not either/or propositions for me. The one folds into the other ...

my quiet rebellion ...

something is rotten ...

As John Lennon so aptly put it "Nobody told me there'd be days like these."

Yesterday was one of those days.

I couldn't figure out why my shoe was sticking to the brake pedal while driving and so I pulled over to discover a wad of electric green, minty gum and a mound of hairs stuck to the bottom of my clog.

I went to pick Cowgirl up at school wearing my Moose walking outfit which I will admit is a tad eclectic but certainly not deserving of the stares and giggles of a pair of first graders who proclaimed, in a stage whisper "WHO is that woman?!" (This is a topic for another post if not a therapy session as I was simultaneously indigent, humiliated, vengeful, and ashamed. Yes, I even cried in the car telling Cowgirl "some people I don't even know were mean to me and hurt my feelings and I know I shouldn't care because they don't know me, but I do." To which she wisely counseled: "Mommy, just ignore them." And no, I did not tell her they were kids!)

The dog found a lone skittle, ate it and promptly threw up.

But this day of trials akin to Job on his dung heap started when I tried to log into my Facebook page and received the message "this account has been deactivated."

Now, understand I joined FB kicking and screaming. Friends would say "If you were on FB then you would already know ..." and having lost numerous email address books, I figured it was time to plug myself in and join the party. I was excited to find old friends who had vanished into the mist (or had I vanished?) and I did reconnect with a few people but by and large, I have found the experience unsatisfying. It is like sushi: I can enjoy a bite or two, but cold, raw fish is not my idea of a fully satisfying meal. That's just me.

So to be jilted by FB was particularly galling.

And in typical fashion, trying to find answers is like entering the Minotaur's labyrinth. You go 'round and 'round and end up back where you started. There are no humans behind that blue and white screen: I firmly believe FB is run by the Cylons and they are here to torment us. (Off the subject, but not really, did you know when you call businesses or companies for assistance and there seems to be no option for speaking to a flesh and blood person on the answering machine queue, you can say loudly and anxiously "I want to speak to someone" and sometimes that will trigger the system to switch you over to a representative. I know this from trying to help my 85 year old mother get info on her health insurance and was released from automation limbo by shouting "For the love of God, I want to talk to a person!" I was clicked right over.)

But back to FB and my slow simmer ...

All afternoon (after the gum; after being humiliated by 7 year olds) my mind churned with thoughts regarding FB and how I was infuriated by being denied, and relieved to be out from under the weight of my expectations. Because I keep hoping for something real in all those mini-bites of information; I desire connection with people I once was deeply connected to and I wanted to be in the loop of information. But it struck me that the reason so many give for being on FB - it is free and it is easy to stay in touch with friends - is precisely why it is so empty and false. If the foundation for my relationships is free and easy, then am I really connecting at all? Shouldn't relationships - friendships - require more? Don't I want to give more? And don't I deserve an equal level of commitment and attention?

So last night I went to bed believing that in fact the Universe had just handed me a beautiful gift. Sure, I was sad to think of losing the contacts recently made via online communities and courses but I could find those people in other ways. And while contemplating a FB-free world, I decided I want to commit to nurturing the relationships that matter to me via a rather old fashioned way:

I am returning to writing letters and postcards and using the good old U.S. Mail.

I used to write a lot of letters. I blamed my declining handwriting for the eventual cessation of written correspondence but really, it is a matter of me slowing down and dedicating a piece of time to think and write (legibly) and connect. A small rebellion, I know, but it is my attempt to put some flesh and blood back into what has become all too virtual. (Hello? Anyone read The Handmaid's Tale? Am I the only one bothered by the fact that so much of our identity and history could be wiped out with a click of a mouse, a cyber-coup to end all coups?)





So here is my end of year vow: once a week to send out some piece of mail to a friend. It may be a letter, an art postcard, a postcard grabbed while in line at Walgreen's and a poem scribble on the back. Whatever it is, it will be me committing my time, my awareness, my hand to say to each recipient "you matter to me and you are deserving of my attention."

I would love to think I might get mail in return, but I'm not kidding myself. Free and easy is very tempting and I understand people are busy and over-committed. But I hope in some small way to reconnect in a more meaningful manner, nurturing my relationships with my love and attention. Care to join me?

As it would happen (and proof that Cylons are running the show) as mysteriously as my FB account disappeared, it reappeared today. So here I hang on the horns of a dilemma: do I stay but on my terms? Or do I go and hold my head up high? I haven't decided yet because I know there are people I will never hear from again and I am not quite ready to give up the dream. But I do plan to wean myself off of its teat bit by bit, day by day, letter by letter. I mailed off a letter and a art card today and it felt great holding the heft of a stuffed envelope in my hands. Maybe my other resolution should be to start collecting snail mail addresses in preparation for departure?

But for now, my permanent status should you check my FB account, will be: busy writing letters.

Painting with a Purpose: Week 3 Giveaway! (and art overload)

I cannot believe we have completed three pieces for Painting with a Purpose and we've already surpassed our goal! This week we have a 8 by 10 inch Joyful Giraffe ready to be yours! If you've made a donation already, then leave a comment today to be entered into the drawing. (If your name appears on the honor roll or I have your name from previous weeks, you are still in the drawing!) Cowgirl will draw a name on Monday and I will announce the winner on Wednesday.





Cowgirl and I are have so much fun making our paintings together that I've decided we will do a total of 5 (because Cowgirl is five) and extend the campaign through the end of July. That means there will be two more paintings to win! Even though we've exceeded our goal, I would love to go beyond. So, if you haven't made a donation yet, there is still time! Simply click on the badge to the right of this page that reads: DONATE NOW. And when you donate, your name will be entered into our drawing each week - so a donation today means two changes of winning. Just be sure to either sign the honor roll on my pledge page, leave a comment here or email me: lishofmann(at)novia(dot)net.


I know everyone is feeling the pinch of our current economic climate, but no donation is too small. Every dollar counts! Each act of love fills a bucket that will overflow as long as we keep adding our drops. I wanted to share this story from HTS's website:

Holding up Half the Sky
One day an elephant saw a hummingbird lying on its back with its tiny feet up in the air. "What are you doing?" asked the elephant.

The hummingbird replied, "I heard that the sky might fall today, and so I am ready to help hold it up, should it fall."

The elephant laughed cruelly. "Do you really think," he said, "that those tiny feet could help hold up the sky?"

The hummingbird kept his feet up in the air, intent on his purpose, as he replied, "Not alone. But each must do what he can. And this is what I can do."
— A Chinese Folktale

The name Half the Sky also comes from a Chinese saying "Women hold up half the sky." I am witnessing so many amazing women lifting their arms, raising their creative voices and hands to bring inspiration, hope and healing into their lives. By sharing their stories - your stories because each of you who come here and leave me a comment, link me to your wonderful world - bring light into our hearts and minds.





This is what Cowgirl and I can do: we can paint our hopes and our dreams and send them out to nudge free your smiles, your laughter, and your dreams for a world where every child is loved, every child matters. And that includes the child within each of our hearts!

I hope you will take a moment to watch this brief, but beautiful video about the various programs Half the Sky Foundation offers to the orphaned children of China. And when you are done, let us know what your little legs can do. We are here, holding up our corner, won't you join us? Our Joyful Giraffe is ready to come to your home!






And as if the Art a-Thon isn't keeping me busy enough, here are some other exciting programs and projects I've just learned about and am considering joining. (Yes, I reaching critical creative mass and am uncertain of what will occur when I blow!)

Thanks Lisa and Nolwenn for sharing information about The Sketchbook Project: http://arthousecoop.com/projects/sketchbookproject



Janice, you always get me into trouble! Learn about a free (!) Inspiration Staycation
being run by Kim Klassen who has lots of inspiring things to share over on her blog Kim Klassen Cafe.



And yes, I am also doing Creativity 101 by Andrea at ABC Creativity which is also FREE people!



Oh, oh and don't forget to check out 30 Journals, 30 Days where later today yours truly will be featured! There are loads of yummy videos to watch, links to get lost in and buckets of inspiration to keep everyone busy making art this summer.



Think about it - if everyone was busy making art, what kind of world would we be creating? Perhaps a world filled with Joyful Giraffes?

Please help me spread the word about Painting with a Project. We don't want to slow down now!

Random Thoughts Monday - Again!

Mommy brain or hormones? Well, Mondays seem to be a reset button for my scrambled brain and coherent thoughts are just not my bag these days. So, another sampling from the Poo Poo platter that is my brain:

Where did November go?! Even Cowgirl was amazed to learn the month is almost up. Today also marks the end of Art Every Day Month, one of the seemingly effortless challenges I've posed to myself recently. The trick was for me to acknowledge this was just for fun, no pressure. The greatest joy of this process, besides the nice mound of projects completed this month, is the realization that art every day has become a habit for me. In my spare moments instead of turning on the t.v. or grabbing a magazine, I find myself collaging, writing, knitting and playing. Things went so well, I am considering the Art Every Day challenge for the new year. We'll see if I survive the knitting-until-your-fingers-seize-up month that is December. As any knitter will tell you, a common phenomenon this time of year is to believe you can knit in a month what any sane person would realize would require 4 months.

So this month I finished my Creative Goddess painting; knit a bag,


some wrist warmers and a scarf; made some button wreaths as an adventure into the wonders of Elmer's glue;


created a pile of cards that will be winding their way to some special folk in my life. (shhhh ... a secret!)



Monumental for me is the realization Just Do It! I have wide ambitions and often the scope of my dreams prevents me from starting or finishing a project. So many things I have done lately have been in the spirit of better something now than wistful "I had hoped to ..." dreams or projects. So my creations come into the world, warts and all.

A side gift from this process: I rediscovered a friend from my childhood! We last saw each other - gulp - 27 years ago. Julie, I am still pinching myself! When the dust settles, I need to mine the goodies in her inspiring blog. Art, writing, poetry, family life ... how perfect is all that?!

In other news: we had a grand time at the annual Mother Grandmother tea party this year - the last one as next year Cowgirl will attend public school. To say I was weepy when I realized this fact would be an understatement.


A new member of the household made his appearance over the holiday weekend. Welcome Fred, our house gnome.


If you didn't know this, every home needs a gnome to protect you from the pranks and misbehavior of rogue gnomes and especially those underpant gnomes who thrive on stealing our delicates whiles we sleep. Fred is settling in nicely and left Cowgirl a lollipop this morning as a sign of his gratitude to be here.

Finally, I treated myself to a guidance session with the divine goddess Leonie. Lots of good stuff that I am still processing. I mention it now as she is only booking appointments in December and then will take a break as she prepares for the arrival of her first little goddess babe. I have felt like my life is a kaleidoscope of ideas, feelings, desires and she helped me to pull things into focus and put down some concrete actions to take as I move into my dreams.

A phrase I love from goddess Leonie is Divine Messes. Divinely inspired, inspiring and alive - that's our corner of the world. What messes are you making in your special corner?

Random Thoughts Monday

Totally unrelated to anything here: a girl who enjoys a good sub sandwich

Today is that kind of a Monday which bodes ill for the coming week. Grey, damp, rumors of snow or freezing drizzle buzzing about, and just bone numbingly cold. I know, I know, come January, this weather will feel tropical but right now I am feeling a strong pull towards hibernation. So I am making up my own theme for this day as my brain waves are refusing to adhere into anything coherent. Welcome then to Random Thought Monday!

Over the weekend we took Cowgirl to see a performance of the Shaolin Warriors. She had seen the flier come in the mail and had been asking to go. Wanting to encourage her interest in martial arts, we decided it was worth the risk of her falling asleep during the performance and got tickets. Once the show started, there was no way was she going to sleep through it! For two hours she sat enraptured of every kick, leap, punch, spin and flip, clapping enthusiastically with the rest of the audience.





She is in her second year of a Little Dragons martial arts program and holds one of the highest ranks in her group (most families sign up for one year and do not renew, but we renewed and now have a new crop of kids joining her) and is very proud of this fact. A natural leader (yes, a spin on the moniker Bossy Britches) she loves mentoring the new students. Having seen her instructors demonstrating stick fighting, she began to grab dried stalks from the day lilies for her practice. I can only imagine what she will try next now that she's seen the monks breaking metal rods over their heads!



Yes, she is wearing a dog's snout mask on her head. She more accurately looks like the Monkey King warrior, but she adamantly refuses to accept she was born in the year of the monkey. I am a tiger and apparently monkeys and tigers are not compatible. This topic came up the other day in my Chinese class. My teacher very delicately informed me "tigers and monkeys generally do not mix well together." She went on to explain "In China there is a saying, in the forest where there is no tiger, monkey can be king." And that, my friends, was my A HA! moment. Summed up in one phrase is a description of the relationship between Cowgirl and myself. The poor hubby (Soda Pop Pop as Cowgirl likes to call him) is the meekest of all the zodiac: a rabbit.

Continuing to explore the fascinating workings of a five year old's mind ... a recent development is an imaginary friend named Binker. Now, I have to take the blame for planting this seed: Binker is a poem by A. A. Milne which I have read to her on a number of occasions. It starts out:

Binker (what I call him) is a secret of my own,
And Binker is the reason why I never feel alone.
Playing in the nursery, sitting on the stair,
Whatever I am busy at, Binker will be there.

So the twist is Binker is the one responsible for anything that might get Cowgirl into trouble. For example, when she asks if she can watch television and I tell her "it is a school day - remember our rule? No television on a school day." She will response "That was Binker asking." Or if she makes a rude noise she will inform me "Mommy, that wasn't me - that was Binker!" We are getting a lot of "Binker said that" around here.

Another fun phrase I want to remember is "all the numbers." This generally means A Lot or also can be referencing an amount equal to any previously mentioned number. Cowgirl has a penchant for rattling off a stream of numbers rather than saying one amount. So if she telling me a story about super heroes, she might say all these monsters - 39, 101, 1045 - came in to attack Spiderman. But then the other super heroes, all the numbers, came to help out. Or when discussing how much she loves me, she might say "I love you 101, 525, one thousand - ALL the numbers!"

Final random thought for today: either I am just living my life like a squirrel madly amassing her nuts for the long winter haul, or else I am seriously embarking upon a career in collaging. As part of the Art Every Day month, I've been making these postcards.


This first stage is just the collaging and I plan to add writing or stamping of some kind to the pieces but I seem to be in a collage making trance. I have finishing touches to do to my final project for Goddess school


but I already bought another canvas today for a larger scale version of my postcards. It's not that I have an idea of what I want to make, but I have an inkling of how I want to make a piece. And stashed away in envelopes, file folders and notebooks are bits and pieces of elements I'd begun amassing for this next project before I was even aware I was going to be making it. Could Mod Podge fumes be responsible? Perhaps a the suburban fairy cousin to La Feé Verté or the abstinthe green fairy of Moulin Rouge fame?

Oh my, now I'm really on a roll ... have I mentioned Ewan McGregor is my bizarro world husband? Okay, I'll save that for another post ...

I have heard the mermaids singing

Today's Wishcasting asks: What do you wish to dare?" I was immediately reminded of lines from T.S. Eliot's poem The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock:

Do I dare

Disturb the universe?

In a minute there is time

For decisions and revisions which a minute will reverse

Later, Eliot's narrator mournfully says:

I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each.

I do not think that they will sing to me.

So I am thinking about this idea of hearing the mermaids' song, and what that would look like in my life. I've been thinking a lot about dreaming big and how every dream starts off with one step. And then another. And another. I've also been reflecting upon the seemingly small dreams that morph into something huge. Like having a child in one's life. So many people have them, but nobody accurately conveyed to me the immensity of it all. Probably because I wouldn't have believed them.

So today I am wishing to dare to hear my mermaids' song and to follow it, even if that means crashing into the rocks. This past week I flashed on this idea of a book of my photographs to accompany the poems (for lack of a better description) that I have been writing and some of which I have posted here. I am not thinking huge; just a Blurb or Shutterfly book created for myself and my family. But who I am to say where this step might take me? And just contemplating this project makes me feel all wiggly tingly happy inside.

I dare to believe the mermaids do sing for me. I wish to dare myself to sing back. Loudly, with my head thrown back and arms wide open.

And always, I remember that Dreams + Action = Believing in myself. And that is something I want to be sure to model for my little Cowgirl.



And yes, I already wear my trousers rolled ... (okay, you need to read the entire poem for this reference.)

Simple Pleasures; Best Shot Monday

Life is a tad crazy right now with all my projects. I am keeping up with Art Every Day; I caught up in 52Q - pretty pleased with myself as I started with a backlog of 7 months or 30 weeks worth of questions; I am also gearing up for an exchange of handmade items for Seasons Round Exchange (three to five items are to be send to the partner I was assigned and she will be sending me a surprise package of goodies!); and there is the approaching move of my mother cross country to a retirement community here. Insane? Yes it is (or am I?)

Still, the activities keep me grounded in the present moment as I indulge my senses with colors, textures, shapes and materials. Each project reminds me of the beauty of each day and how the smallest action has the potential for great change, great love. I can feel overwhelmed by all I must do, but then I slow down, grab some materials and let my mind rest on the simplest of things: making a design, creating pattern, celebrating details, crafting something that blossoms before my eyes. I am finding art is my new meditation.

In the midst of all this, I am taking what time I have to delve into each sense as Susannah moves us through a magnificent journey of Unravelling Further. Last week we explored touch. Here are my two favorite things to touch: my daughter's silky hair and her soft soft skin. I love how she expresses the joy of being touched.


So, what touches you these days?

Transformation

This week's project on the Goddess Creativity ecourse is about transformation and specifically letting go of what holds me back from living my dreams. (Okay, this is my spin on the assignment.) I've known it is all about attitude, choosing happiness, choosing in this moment to relish the gifts and opportunities present rather than wallowing in fear, doubt or worries. So how fitting I receive this email from the Universe this week:

Tell you what, Lisa: If you can get happy right now, in spite of any
problems, challenges, and circumstances that now seem to taunt you, I'll take
care of those problems, challenges, and circumstances, as well as "ever-after."

Agh-hmm... Please, do the math, take the bait, and never look back.

The Universe

I am finding something has been shifting for me ... an easing up of the worries, a settling into the pleasure of pure play and creating and a slight, ever so slight, opening up of space and time for me to do the things I love. I was reflecting upon my life in the past month and that perspective allowed me to see that while I may feel there is never enough time or energy to "do it all," indeed I do pack a lot of living into my days. I tend not to give myself enough credit.



So today I am taking my transformation arrow, loaded with prayer slips of all that I want to release to the goddess/Universe and will gift it back to the earth. I am excited to really feel the layers being dropped as I move into the life I want to be living. This weekend I will teach my first kids art camp and rather than nervous, I am excited and relaxed about the day. I know I cannot control what will come up, so I am just preparing myself for the adventure. This, my friends, is not my usual way of operating. And it feels good!



A bit of a hodge podge here ... but I also wanted to share Cowgirl's pictures from her birthday party. Sometimes I am brilliant. I gave her a disposable camera and she ran around her party taking pictures. When I got them back, I was so impressed by her array of images. She really took a nice variety of shots that captured a day at the pumpkin patch.

A personal favorite: her view of her daddy. With his head chopped off I can't help but think she is visually cutting out his mouth and his words.




This is was hands down the happening spot: the baby chick house. Yes, after handling all those fluffy chicks, the kids then came out for snacks and cake. Ummm ... germy goodness!


At the last minute, I splurged on doggy themed party items. It was money well spent when I saw this ...


And for any of you having gone through Unravelling ecourses, you can imagine my pride when a feet and shadow shot was captured!


All my pictures from the party were of the kids. It was such a gorgeous day, I am happy she got this shot. Somehow the tilted perspective seems appropriate.



A final portrait of the photographer herself. Yes, I am one proud momma!




I am grateful for the gifts of creativity that both my daughter and myself are exploring; I am inspired by her images to keep on going; I am trusting the Universe to take care of the small stuff and leave me time for the juicy good bits.

Phew ... a marathon of topics! Off to bury my stick. What adventures does your weekend have in store for you?