ARTFUL GATHERINGS

Six words

2/28/07 Take an honest look at myself today. What debris needs to be let go or released?

I used this journal post to propel me forward. To do the things I have needed to do but for some reason I have been dragging my feet. There was no better way to take an honest look at myself then through Joan's challenge. Several days ago joan tagged me with a meme which originated from bookbabie  to write a six word memoir! The idea originated at Smith, The American online magazine edited by Larry Smith . Smith used Hemingway's example ....In the 1920s, Ernest Hemingway bet ten dollars that he could write a complete story in just six words. He wrote: "For Sale: baby shoes, never worn."  He won the bet...... Then Smith compiled his readers six word life stories in a book titled Not Quite What I was Expecting: Six Word Memoirs By Famous and Obscure. Check this book out at Amazon. There is a great video on this page illustrating peoples six word memoirs. Here are the rules..

1. Write your own six word memoir

2. Post it on your blog and include a visual illustration if you’d like

3. Link to the person that tagged you in your post and to the original post if possible so we can track it as it travels across the blogosphere

4 .Tag five more blogs with links

5. And don’t forget to leave a comment on the tagged blogs with an invitation to play!

Be naked, laugh ,love ,play everyday.

Okay now I tag Kateri , Nina, Lisa ,Elizabeth ,and my fifth tag goes to all those who read this post. If you feel compelled leave your six word memoir in the comments for others to read.

 

 

Religion and art

2/26/07 - 2/27/07   Real art is religion a search for the beauty of God in all things- Emily Carr   

Today I am under the weather. I finally caught the horrible dreaded flu bug. I hate being sick. A very close friend told me this was because I was impatient...ha..ha. It is a true statement. This gorgeous painting was done by Emily Carr an incredible Canadian artist. If you have a moment Google her. She is a fascinating woman. If I felt better I would include more information but I am headed to the kitchen to make tea and then back up to bed. I will end with a few images I have been playing with.

Metta

2/25/07 Care  for people & things that we love.

Today as I was playing in my visual journal I was listening to Sharon Salberg's Lovingkindness Meditation. I realized here was my connection between last year and today. I need to develop a daily practice of Metta. Her are Sharon's words on Metta or Lovingkindness practice
In loving-kindness practice, a practitioner begins with him or herself, wishing four things: may I be free from danger, may I be happy, may I be healthy, may I live with ease. The practitioner then moves on to wish a “benefactor”—someone who has cared for them—the same four things. Then they make those aspirations for a good friend, then a neutral person—a person they normally ignore, like the counter person at the dry cleaner—then a difficult person, and then all beings without exception. If one were doing a metta retreat, one would do this practice using the same people over and over again.

“We tend to associate love or loving-kindness with a feeling or emotion,” Salzberg says, “but I don’t think it’s that. I think it’s something deeper—it’s really about being able to connect rather than exclude.”
     I love this phrase at the end to connect rather than exclude. Even as adults can we feel the hurt of being excluded. How often I wonder can a person become harsh and judgmental simple because somewhere along their life journey they have been excluded? For today, tomorrow maybe the rest of this week try  extra hard to connect with people. The connection may be  something simple like look a person directly in the eyes and smile  instead of diverting your eyes to look away. 
Also start a loving kindness practice toward yourself. Repeat the phrases listed above... you can do this in a traditional seated meditation. You may also try non traditional ways such as while driving, walking or house cleaning. Just start with these four sayings:
may I be free from danger,
may I be happy,
may I be healthy,
may I live with ease. 

Silence

2/23/07
Pause take time do not fill up all the the spaces - Esther De Waal
2/24/07
Silence, listening- taking time to be attentive.
After reading these journal entires from last year, I  thought of  Gunilla Norris's book  Inviting  Silence. I was wondering what causes so many of us to be fearful of silence. Why do we feel the need to constantly fill our world with noise. Constant static  from  televisions, cellphones, and computers. This is what Gunilla Norris wrote.......

Through the practice of silence we become aware of our pain. The pain is always there-in our minds and in our bodies. Silence allows us to see it,
face it, release it.

We constantly judge ourselves.
Our minds decide
what our experience should be
or should not be
-relentlessly labeling things good or bad-
demanding that our lives conform to our labels.
Then, when pain comes into our lives
- and it does to every life-we do not only suffer it,
but we suffer our suffering as well.
We add the mind's harsh judgment of pain
to our actual experience of it.

By practicing silence, we may discover the ways
in which we intensify our pain by judging it.
Then we have a chance to become less harsh,
more forgiving.

The pain created by our minds is stored in our bodies,
creating rigid patterns of behavior, blocking the flow
of energy within us, cramping our being.
Our harshness and our fears are embodied in our flesh.

In silence,we can feel these tendencies to congeal-
and allow them to be as the are. They may then
uncramp and release, for anything that is not resisted
tends of its own accord to unfold and change.

By cultivating silence, we can find and release
deeper and deeper levels of pain and so discover
once again what is beneath the pain:
the natural joy that is already inside us,
free to rise and flow into expression.

Inviting Silence Gunilla Norris

I hope to be able to find some silence today.

 

Yesterday was filled with noise. Megan ,with her dance company, performed in their first dance competition (StarQuest performing arts competition). Pat, Megan and I spent an extremely long day in Woodbridge Va. It was a wonderful day but also a day filled with constant visual and auditory stimulation. Megan for the first time performed with only three other dancers. She was petrified to be performing  with such a small group. It was exciting to watch her as she progressed through the dance and became more and more confident. This moment was a huge confidence builder for Megan. It brought her the realization that she can work with her fears. Fear and anxiety can be channeled into productive energy. By the end of the dance she had a brilliant smile which radiated the expression I DID IT !
(my stomach ache disappeared.)

Dog Days

Where have I been? I do not have a valid answer accept for a busy week and time completely got away from me. First I want to catch up  my journal entries from last year.

2/20/07
  Guardian angel, protect me today,
Watch over me while I work and play.
Let me be kind loving and good,
Help me to do the things I should.
   -Anonymous
2/21/07 (Ash Wednesday)
What should I give up for lent or if I do not give up anything what can I do to helps others.
2/22/07
Metanoia- the moment of grace when the truth about ourselves and God strikes us piercing our heart and making a new life possible -Esther De Waal

 

   Reading over these journal entries I sense I was floundering and not focused on one idea but instead I had many thoughts whirling around inside my head. I find this interesting because I have felt the same way this past week. I have not been able to stay with one painting, one drawing ,or one book for any extended period of time. I prepared several journal pages by experimenting with spray paint, stencils and real ivy. I have not progressed any further with these basic designs. I finished reading The Architecture of All abundance by Lenedra Carroll. After this very insightful story/memoir I felt the strong desire to immerse myself in fiction. I have started a wonderful book The Age of Shiva by Manil Suri. The story is set in modern day India and narrated by Meera. The story begins when she is seventeen and begs her father to let her marry Dev and you must read to see where the story wanders from here.
But instead of reading for hours I felt compelled to make this collage. My dogs I guess because of the continuing cold weather have not ventured far from my side this week. I have decided in my next life I would love to be a dog in this house. Maybe there is something to be learned here... it is okay to just let go of all those confusing thoughts and endless household chores. Find a comfy bed, a pile of clean laundry or an empty sofa and take an afternoon nap.

Mantras

2/18-19/2007  Today practice this mantra from Thich Nhat Hanh."You will approach the person you love and with this mindfulness , with this concentration, you will look into his or her eyes, and you will begin to utter this formula: "Dear one, I am really here for you." You must say this with your body and with your mind at the same time, and then you will see the transformation."

Today I copied down these two mantras from Sylvia Boorstein's book Happiness is an  Inside Job. You may pray for another person by substituting that persons name for I.

May I feel contented  and safe 
May I feel protected and pleased
May my physical body support me with strength
May my life unfold smoothly with ease

May I be free of enmity and danger
May I have mental happiness
may I have physical happiness
May I have ease of well-being

Praying these mantras must have shifted something inside me and brought me to a more peaceful place. I was finally able to see where my studio needed to be, the one room I had not tried. This is how the room looks now that all my art stuff has been cleared out. I am standing at my front door and love not being able to see all my works in progress...this translates to all my unfinished projects . This is a beautiful room with wonderful light but it was to messy and to visible from the entire first floor. I love stuff but I also love order.
So after many, many trips up the stairs I have a new place. This room does not receive as much light but it has a closet
with lots of  storage.  So hopefully I will be able to locate all my supplies and not waste hours searching for that something that I know I have somewhere.
But the best part about this new studio space is this room has a door. So if I want to leave a huge mess I can. All I have to do is shut the door.

A weekend at the theatre

2/16/07  Intelligence happens when you no longer stop trying to be smart. A sense of of self appears when you no longer have a need to be somebody - Thomas Merton
This weekend disappeared so quickly. I spent Friday evening through Saturday evening at the theatre/studio. Megan had the wonderful opportunity to host a dance cabaret. She could not decide whether to be scared or excited. She kept cavorting back and forth from one emotion to the next. In between hosting Megan was performing in her final dress rehearsal for a dance competition next weekend. This picture encapsulates how unsettled she was. Look Mom no arms. Yes it was a busy weekend but we had fun. the person who had the most fun was my favorite stage manager Ben who kept us all in line.
Today I have been very quiet and slow. I  have caught some stomach bug that is floating around. Thank God I am not to sick to read but I do not have much imagination to elaborate on this post. I am now heading back to the sofa to watch a movie.

Colors of Love

2/14/07 Love To All.
As I am sitting here writing this post I am eating my most favorite candy. I adore Cadbury mini eggs. I know these are an Easter candy but I am thrilled Easter is early this year so these fabulous eggs are on the store shelves.
If words were colors than what color would the word Love be? Of course I could not answer this question with words but had to make a piece of art to show what I thought the colors of love were to me on this day. Love is not stagnant but energy. I feel the energy in this image created by the colors I chose.
I hope everyone who reads this had a peaceful Valentines Day. To me this day appears to create extreme expectations. No I do not mean me personally (remember all I want are mini Cadbury eggs). So I hope it was a day filled with simple things. Undemanding signs of love, simple gifts of gratitude.

Iceland

2/13/07 "just what brings heat makes thing expand so it is the gift of love to stretch hearts wide open; it is a warm and growing virtue." St. John Chrysostom
I have spent the past two days home with my entire family. Yesterday schools were closed because of elections. Today schools were closed because of ice.  A side note my husband is a school teacher so he has also been home. We have had a heart warming two days. It can be difficult for  all of us to be home when the weather keeps us from venturing outside and no television (that is another story). I did go outside with my camera to capture the beauty of nature. My backyard appeared as a shimmering wonderland. Everything was encapsulated in a glittering, sparkling sheath of water. I should have ventured to the lake but knew I would take a tumble along the way. I stayed close to home were I felt safe from cracking my head open. We have enjoyed our time indoors together but I do believe as I am typing this post  my children have grown weary of each other. Alas I am starting to feel slightly stressed by all the noise. The battles of guitar hero vs. the stereo, the bellows of get out of my room and my favorite the phone ringing endlessly and no one answering it. But how dare i complain when  the reason I hear all this noise is my children hate to venture far from the center of the house. They love togetherness and this thought brings heat to my heart and it stretches wider and wider. A heartful hug to all here from  Iceland.

I

Warm your heart

 

2/11/07 "Healing is not forcing the sun to shine but letting go of that which blocks the sun." Stephen & Ondrea Levine

I know looking back I  tried desperately hard to sit still and listen. I remember feeling bewildered and thinking what am I missing? I kept rereading my journals as if I was staring at a magic blackboard that was going to give me my answers. I wondered was I not ready to sit still? But no I was sitting still but I was not hearing anything. Were my ears filled with cotton? All my ears could  hear was my constant internal chatter.
From my vantage point of today I understand it is hard to still this time of year. I know today I am aching to be outside working in the yard but it is to cold. I think the high today will be 26 with a bitter wind. I want to see green which symbolizes new beginnings. I am tired of gray and brown. I also notice this time of year I  feel the need to change my schedule and wake up earlier. But I can hardly drag myself out of bed at 7:00 A.M. So who am I kidding why am I setting my alarm for 6:00 A.M.?                                                                         
Okay what do I need to let go off? What am I resisting? What is holding me back? What am I scared off? Maybe I need to stop searching so hard for an answer. Could that be my answer am I simple trying to hard. Do I just need to relax and feel the warmth of the sun? Should I follow the examples of my dogs who follow the sun around the house?

So this morning I followed my heart when my Kathleen neighbor called ask me to help her put a coat of briwax on her bathroom cabinet I said yes. When I walked in her kitchen what was I greeted with but a plethora of food from New York city. Fresh  semolina bread, mozzarella cheese, bagels, pastries, and strong Irish tea. Not only did I have a fabulous breakfast but I was also given a huge to go bag. All I did was put the final finishes on a base cabinet and I was treated like a queen. So I let go of all the things I thought I needed to do and enjoyed the warmth of sunshine generated by friendship. So for today I pledge to honor the importance of friendship. When I looked at the pictures Megan downloaded on my computer  I smiled. I was reminded of the joys of friendship when we were young and how we still need to honor those friendships today.