ARTFUL GATHERINGS

April 28, 2007 Devotion "it is better see God in everything than to try to figure it out." -Ween Karoli Baba
April 29, 2007 - April 30, 2007 " No Appointment No Disappointment. If you don't build your wall on expectations, it doesn't collapse when things turn out different. This is not resignation but liberation......expectations may be our most deep-rooted habit." Dean Sluyter

I am finding writing difficult. So I am have spending more time with my journal and playing with stamps. I guess there is a metaphor to be found with making rubber stamps and expectations. I think I have created this beautiful image and I make my first stamped image and I say yuck this is not what I imagined. But I keep working the image, and cutting the stamp. Sometimes I get the image I wanted. sometimes I get a completely different image but i am pleased and other times I just scrap the whole project and I know I learned something in the process. So yes there is liberation in not being held tight by my expectation of what the finished project should be or not be.

April 24, 2007 “If our relationship’s don’t function at least some of the time in an atmosphere of openness, compassion, acceptance and commitment they may actually be contributing to stress and disease.” Elizabeth Lessing
April 25, 2007 We all must have faith in your body so when sick it can heal.
April 26, 2007 Consciously seek out relationships that encourage well being.
April 27, 2007 “ OK Openness and Kindness makes life OK.” Dean Sluyter

This time last year I was focused on two interrelated issues. The first issue that interested me was the mind and body connection. It is essential for both mind and body to be healthy at the same time because without a healthy mind it is impossible for our bodies to be healthy.
The second is how our relationships effects our day-to-day well being. I have spent the past week developing, nurturing, and improving relationships. We, (sisters, husbands, children, and friends) helped my mother move. Finally by yesterday afternoon her townhouse was empty. What a week, well two weeks, process it has been emptying a three level home. There was so much stuff to distribute amongst other people's houses, Good Will, and the trash can. So much consolidation needed to be done because the new location is a lovely two bedroom apartment. Finally all the furniture and boxes were at the apartment after several hours of unpacking, and trying to solve computer and phone problems I said enough enough time to go out to dinner. Well we ventured across the street to a wonderful Italian restaurant. The restaurant is located inside a mall which we where entering through Bloomingdales. Before entering the building  we stumbled upon an amazing sight. Perched at the entrance was a Canadian Goose  standing so still we thought it was a statue. Then we saw him crain his neck and hiss at people walking by and we realized this bird was alive. But why was he here in this urban location and why was he not frightened off by all the pedestrian traffic? This  is a very  populated area and an extremely busy mall. Look closely at this photo especially behind the goose up against the back wall. Yes he is guarding his soon to be family. I know nothing about the mating habits of Canadian geese but I do find this scenario fascinating. I am completely bewildered on how these geese stumbled upon this location to make a nest and I guess become squatters.
Still pondering over the life of geese we entered Bloomingdales to find an amazing kitchen sale in process. When Pat saw the Le Creuset pans he stopped and I think he was drooling. He has spent many an evening fantasizing about one day actually owning a Le Creuset pan. My mother either has a soft part in her heart for Pat or she just felt plain guilty for the hours he has spent on the phone with Verizon and Comcast. What ever the reason Pat now has the perfect pot and I am anticipating the perfect dinner.
I am enjoying a perfect Sunday morning in bed with my laptop, delicious doughnuts,
  and friends. I am blessed because my life is filled with openeness and kindness so to echo the words of Dean Sluyter my life is OK.

April 19, 2007 - April 23, 2007 "You only lose energy when life becomes dull in your mind. Your mind gets bored and therefore tired of doing nothing. Get interested in something! Get absolutely enthralled in something! Get out of yourself! Be somebody! Do something! The more you lose yourself in something bigger than yourself, the more energy you will have." 

~Norman Vincent Peale
I love this quote and I have been working very hard at doing something creative. It has been a busy couple of days. Megan and I spent the weekend in Atlantic city for a dance competition. There was not enough free time without Megan to venture into any of the casinos. I am not sure if that was a good thing. It is an interesting city but I am not in any hurry to return. Since returning home I have been trying to organize the plethora of stuff arriving daily from mother's house. She is moving at the end of the week. She is attempting to size down from a three bedroom townhouse into an apartment. In between sorting through piles of stuff I have been playing with a couple images . I love this mother and child image, it was from a photo of a cemetery statue. I think I am going to explore making this into both a stencil and a stamp. Yesterday as I was attempting to do laundry in the middle of creating, sorting through piles, and moving furniture, I was given a gift. A gift that only a Jack Russell Terrier
   would be capable of presenting. I think the gift was for me or maybe Lucky just felt the need for a friend.
Yes that is a perfectly intact dead squirrel that Lucky has placed in his bed. I was shocked at how tenderly the squirrel had been placed on the blanket. I often leave the back door open so the dogs can come and go as they please. It is not surprising to find a bird flying around the family room. Last summer Maggie did bring a live toad inside but we were sitting in the family and she dropped it immediately for us to see and play with. But this is the first time a dead animal has been brought inside. After swallowing hard and taking a deep breathe I removed the squirrel to a more appropriate location. Lucky looked quite sad but he was soon off chasing another squirrel and I was running to shut the back door.

April 18,2007  BALANCE... What does it mean to be balanced in today's world?

I finally started practicing with making stencils again. I have attempted cutting stencils with an exact-o knife but my hand cramps. I could cut out bigger designs. But I am not capable of cutting fine details. So I bought a stencil cutter at Joanne Fabrics. I need a great deal more practice to get beautiful smooth edges. But it is allot easy with this electric tool. The hot knife really does glide through the plastic like butter. I guess there are two drawbacks with this method. The first is the tool is very hot. The second drawback is the smell of the burning plastic. But I hope to get better with practice. Plus I believe the messages on both these pages relate to living a balanced life. It is important to learn to let go and fly with love as our guide.

April 16, 2007  Be kind to yourself and to others. Practice acts of kindness everyday.
April 17, 2007  Art reflects who we are. What art reflects who you are today?

I am trying to be more productive in the mornings( It is 6:55 a.m.) so I can spend more time outside in the afternoons. I love spring. It is absolutely beautiful here this week with each day getting a little warmer and another tree blooming in color.
I wish I could remember last year what type of art or  piece of art reflected me. I know last year I infatuated by  spray paint artist's . I loved and still love the work of Banksy. I am inspired by his ability to make his art interactive. He has touched on the human emotions that make us stop and think. His work illustrates that very fine line between right and wrong. He does this both with his subject matter and the placement of his work. Notice in this small image what the boy has caught in is bucket not a fish or even a shoe but a needle. What a simple image. But what sentiments arise within you? For today do I feel inspired by a Romantic or an avant-garde artist? Today I will gather my inspiration from nature. What could be more awe inspiring than the cherry blossoms.

April 15, 2007  Be open... Be kind....Be in the moment.... ALWAYS!

Why are teenage girls so mean to each other?  My dear Megan is having  a terrible time in school. There is one girl who is doing most of the tormenting. My Megan is very sensitive and just does not know how to the handle this "mean" girl. Being her Mother's daughter she is taking her frustrations out on the ones she loves. Poor sweet Michael who she has spent so much time with over these past six weeks rehearsing Peter Pan was Megan's punching bag today. But I do believe I got her to understand the importance of being kind to others.... always. Being thirteen is so difficult but I wish difficult did  not translate into mean. I wish I knew a magic trick that would teach these kids how to be open to others and not judge or get jealous. Why do some kids feel the need to hold all the power, to be the " head cheerleader" so to speak? Why cannot people both young and old co-exist side by side not above and below each other.
I just pray Megan recognizes her light which most of the time is filled with compassion  and continues to let it shine on those around her.                   

April 13 2007  Creating is fun.
                           Art is fun.
April 14, 2007  Do not hold to tightly to good ideas give them room to grow into great ideas.

While thinking about art, creating and having fun and giving ideas room to grow, I stumbled upon a journal page I started several weeks. I immediately thought of the goose who laid a golden egg which then guided me to read about alchemy.

The Theory and Philosophy of Alchemy
The grand objects of the alchemical art were (1) the discovery of a process by which the baser metals might be transmuted into gold and silver; (2) the discovery of an elixir by which life might be prolonged indefinitely; and there is sometimes added (3) the manufacture of an artificial process of human life (see Homunculus). Religiously, the transmutation of metals can be thought of as a symbol of the transmutation of the self to a higher consciousness and the discovery of the elixir as an affirmation of eternal life.  (from www.answer.com)

I then found another recent journal page where I was exploring with an idea titled life's explosions. I feel like life is one (both big and small ) explosion after another. As we search for the perfect life, the longer life , or the richer life we create mishaps along life's path. We disrupt the natural flow and order of life. We try to be the alchemists of our own lives. We want to turn all the bad unhappy moments into golden experiences. Somehow by being greedy and wanting only happy moments the opposite arises. We end up with an aversion to our current life( job, children, spouse etc.). Maybe we  hold onto ideas so tightly that have we lost the ability to simple have fun and to see the beauty and joy in everyday life. I feel life has become so serious that I want to integrate more fun into each day. To be surrounded by peels of laughter and smiling faces. I guess I want explosions of happiness that arise from the natural order of life. Yes I know there will be depressed joyless moments but I know fireworks of happiness will follow.

April 12,2007  Accept God/or a person where he/she is now. Where he/she is in my life at this exact moment. Stop forcing and looking just accept.

A quote from the directors note in the program of the Peter Pan Project   
   Well, the real story here isn't so much in the details of the action as in the journey of the characters, cast and crew. None of us are the same people we were when we began; if audiences can be changed by art (and oh boy,can we!) then the actors and art makers MUST be brave enough to be changed FIRST-and we are. Creating is a magical, powerful, altering energy, and I encourage all of you to take part. And to keep in mind, that most journeys end where they began and what has changed is the journey-ers ability  to see where and who they are. - Charlie Smith
The Peter Pan Project is finished. Now it is time to reclaim my life here in my house. It takes me a day or to to refocus and decide what creative project needs my attention next or what media I feel a desire to work with. I am also feeling the need to rest in stress free no stimulus environment. I am feeling the need to stop thinking and analyzing everything and everyone around me. I need to appreciate how blessed I am to be on this continual creative journey. This journey that is filled with magical, powerful and altering energy from sensational people.
I wonder where I am headed next and what fairy tale I will find myself in the middle of and what amazing life lessons I will  learn and how will I be changed. I realize more and more everyday that I am a true romantic. I love prince, princesses, evil stepmothers, and happy endings. I love magical worlds of make believe.

Tink

April 1o, 2007 "Do not make pain a reference point let pain dissolve in the vast
                             openness of the sky."  Ngak' Rinpoche
April 11, 2007  Things to do today:
                           meditate   yardwork   housework
Tonight is Megan's play and she is so excited and I must get a close up picture of her in her costume. She looks lovely in a Tinker Bell shortened to Tink sort of way. You will understand when you see the picture.
I am ever so tired today and I place the blame on Kateri . We finally spoke to each other over the telephone. Spoke, chatted, laughed, etc. for hours. I do believe it was close to two a.m. when I hung up my phone. What a way wonderful way to spend an evening!
I will post more pictures later this evening.

The show was wonderful. It is amazing what children are able accomplish when adults  do not tell them no you can't

. I am exhausted. So I am leaving you with more images from the Peter Pan Project.

Rest In Openness

April 8 & 9 2007
Rest In Openness......
We're spending our lives dealing with problems and hustling for the things that are supposed to fulfill us. Yet fulfillment is always just beyond our grasp, in some indefinite tomorrow....We've simply been distracted...by our constant compulsion to look somewhere else for something more. 
Dean Sluyter

The above quote is from the book the zen commandments by Dean Sluyter. I listened to an interview between Dr. Oz and Dean on the Oprah radio channel last year and was enthralled.  At one part in the interview Dr. Oz and Dean were discussing writing. Dean said whenever my writing becomes to complicated I stop look away from the page and ask myself , "What are you trying to say?"
He goes on to make a comparison between writing and living. He writes, "Often what keeps us tangled is to much thinking"....."Between seeing and knowing, I was interposing too much thinking".
I am not sure why but when I read this it brought to mind the Winnie The Pooh quote
'Oh bother!' said Pooh, 'I shall have to go on.' 'I can't do either!' said Pooh, 'Oh help and bother!' ...
I find all of this so relevant for where I am today. The best thing I can do for myself at this crossroads in my life is simply to not think to much. I need to just enjoy all of life's precious moments .
For instance Megan  came home from school yesterday and brought me this lovely gift of flowers up to my room. I love daffodils they remind me every day that winter is over and spring is here.
Lately I have had the privilege of working on a musical theater workshop with a group of wonderful children. These kids love transforming into their magical characters in their own special world. I guess I envy these kids and wished I had  my own special magical world. To not be me for a day, to be free of all worry and guilt. But in the words of Pooh "Oh bother...I shall have to go on". I do have these wonderful images to carry with me through the day.