Haiku My Heart–Hope-Full

Kindness just because.

Helping hands. Heart Connections.

Morning Light. All hope.

 

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I hope your weekend brings you all kinds of hopeful stuff, Beautiful Ones.

Happy Friday !

For more Haiku My Heart, visit Rebecca, one of the most beautiful hearts I know, at recuerda mi corazon.

Share the Joy Thursday–Balancing the Shiny

This week has been filled with opportunities to connect, to create, to branch out…

many of which have brought me joy in shining my light.

Art journal page – Balance the Light, September 29, 2011

But in this world, with so many of us looking for light,

it can be hard when you open yourself up, shine that light brightly,

and really share yourself with the world.

Sometimes, people try and take your light away, like a magpie who has noticed something sparkly in its line of vision and wants to take it home to its nest.

Sometimes, those old fear demons that live inside us, rise up and try and squelch the light from within.

And sometimes, the validation of our shiny-ness from outside, which feels so wonderful in many ways, tempts us to stretch ourselves too far,

and to wander away from the true light we are trying to bring to the world.

One of the best joys of  this week has been when I have done something to protect myself and my shiny.

Like saying no when an opportunity comes along but that doesn’t fit with what my heart’s work really is. (This is hard !)

Like making my fear my friend in a way, and acknowledging it but choosing to risk anyway. (Those fears are ugly but they really only want to keep me safe.)

Like taking time to be present and enjoy life exactly where I am ! (The only shiny I know for sure is the one in this moment !)

So this week, I am giving myself a blue 1st place ribbon for the care I have given to my shiny !

My friend Colleen and I with our blue ribbons, yesterday at the Deerfield Fair school building where we served as judges for the student artwork competition.

There is a lot of joy in presenting that kind of prize to your Self.

 

For more joy, make sure and visit the Lovely Meri at Meri’s Musings.

Happy Thursday, Beautiful, Shiny Ones !

Wheeeeee, all the way home !

I find that when I step away from my regularly scheduled life and experience three days of amazing things like I just have, I am challenged by what to exactly to share when there was so very much that happened to me ! It is also a challenge to convey the amazement that I feel about my experiences.

As I sat down to write this post, I was facing that challenge.

I thought I might find some help from the photos that I took.

But it turns out that I actually took very few. And some of the photos I did take were kind of silly or rather mundane. They didn’t seem to have a lot  little “meat” to them.

(The purple ceiling at the Armory Building in Somerville, MA, where the retreat was held.)

(Part of the ceiling and the sign over the Cambridge baaw (in my best Boston accent done by a Canadian) that we went to after the retreat.)

But wait a minute !

(The molten chocolate lava cake that Susie ordered for us from room service at 10:30pm when having some chocolate was absolutely necessary!)

(The amazing Susie Riley in the flesh, with her kooky orange sunglasses purchased on a previous adventure we had together, doing her Susie on a Stick pose.)

Maybe some of those pics are a little meaty for the imagination !!!

But they don’t really convey what I experienced or loved most about the weekend.

In the end, I decided to make a list of the top ten things I came away from the weekend with (in a random order).

Susie and me in the Cambridge Mariott  rooftop garden.

1. The number one thing that I loved about the whole weekend was sharing time with some really, really shiny, talented, open, and brave people. I met so many of them throughout the weekend ! The time with my friends, Susie Riley and Patti Digh, was especially good for my heart. I love those two women a lot.

2. I was moved by how many people came up to me and let me know that a rock that I had marked with a word or two of love had made its way into their life and touched them. Sometimes, very deeply. It made me feel so very grateful to be a part of something so beautiful.

3. I appreciated learning that while writing is an important part of my creative process, I know that I am an Artist first and foremost. That is where my passion lies.

4. I loved sitting at the baw, drinking a cold Stella, with Susie as she sips her Guinness, and tawkin’ and tawkin’…

5. I learned that I really want to work on being a better, more attentive listener.

6. I confirmed, once again,  as a result of this weekend, that I really need a community of like-minded people in my life to keep me well. Sharing and connecting with others fills me up ! I know that I will keep on building that, and being a part of a meaningful, creative community both on-line and in person wherever and whenever I can.

(rock left in the rooftop garden of the Cambridge Marriot)

7. Taking bits and pieces from what three very different but all very creative women  (Jen Louden, Sue Piver and Patti Digh) shared about their own creative process, and seeing where I can improve, or enrich my own.

8. Brainstorming with two women that I really respect as creative beings about where the Rock Fairy will be flying to next…

9. Getting confirmation over and over again that while I cannot control the circumstances of my life, I always have the choice in how I will react to them. Happiness is a choice. And I want to choose it whenever I can.

10. Having a nice long, wonderfully silly lunch with Susie and Patti on Sunday afternoon, and waking up this morning with aching ab muscles (I actually have those. Who knew ??!!) because of all the laughing we did !!!

(Susie, Kim, Patti – photo by Patti Digh and borrowed from 3X3X365)

For those 10 things and all the other ones that are inside of me as a result of my three days away, I am truly grateful.

 

As my wise friend Susie would say,

I am one Lucky Bitch.

 

Happy Monday, Beautiful Ones.

Haiku My Heart–Being Me

“Just be you.” he said.

How is it we forget that ?

Shiny me, I’ll be.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It is much easier to be shiny through the computer screen sometimes than it is to be shiny in person.

I am off to my writing retreat. Excited and nervous.

But probably heading into a place where just about everyone feel the same.

Working on letting go of insecurities about wardrobe, and/or having the coolest notebook,

and remembering instead

that this is my experience and I choose what kind of experience I want it to be.

Bringing my bag-o-rocks with me, of course.

They help me to remember who I am.

Shine on, Beautiful Ones, and have a great weekend !

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Love haiku like me ? Head over to recuerda mi corazon for a sweet dose of Haiku My Heart Friday.

Share the Joy Thursday–Process

There is a joy in getting lost in the process…

Art journal page background painting…

In letting whatever wants to come, just come…

With no expectations about the outcome…

Art journal page with figure, a title, some pen details…

Having moments of being fearless in creating…

Being a conduit for messages from inside or from out…

Lyrics on the art journal page from this song that was running through my head…

(It’s almost 20 years old, yikes !!! But I still love it so !)

Letting the Artist voice inside tell you when it is complete…or not.

I found this in my inbox this morning from Bone Sigh Arts

and saw myself in it so clearly. I knew it had to be added to the page…

turning point
“ lighting a candle in her own darkness,
she came and brought it to the others.
'i understand,' she whispered, 'and i want to help.'
there was safety in what she offered.
there was hope in the flickering shadows.
quietly, they gathered.
and it began.
crying, trusting, struggling, sharing.
empowering and celebrating,
they grew and became more.
taking their own candles back to their own worlds
they changed the darkness back to light. ”
~terri st. cloud

Yes, there is a joy in the creative process…

And also in the fact that I can re-create that joy whenever I want…

“Creativity is God's gift to us. Using our creativity is our gift back to God. “
Julia Cameron

Make yourself some joy today, Beautiful Ones. Get creative !

 

For more joy sharing, head over to Meri’s Musings.

I am immersed in Love !

“What do you wish to immerse yourself in ?”

That is the question Jamie had the wishcasters ponder today.

You know the answer that came to me immediately.

Love.

You know what ?

I am already immersed in the Wonder Stuff !

And it is stronger enough to make the crankypants I woke up in this morning disappear when I focus there.

It is easily done, but takes commitment and practice.

You put in out there, loving with all your heart, letting go of judgment and criticism to the best of your ability in the moment, and offering up forgiveness and understanding instead,

and low and behold,

the wave of Love rolls back over you.

And you get immersed in it, the more you do it.

And Baby, living in an Atmosphere of Love is the only way to go once you have been there !

I don’t want to live anywhere else.

The gifts are so bountiful !

Like this amazing love-filled one that arrived from my friend Elena, at My Quest, just yesterday :

(And she didn’t even know that Sandra Boynton has been a huge favorite of mine for many, many years ! Just ask Katie !)

Thank you for the loving gift, My Friend. You have touched my heart more than you could know.

<3 <3 <3

The thought and care that goes into sending a random love gift to someone you have never met in person but know so well by Heart, is what blows me away !

I have done it for others and I know that the giving fills you up in equal measure.

That is how we create an Atmosphere of Love, my friends!

What random Love Gift could you offer up today ?

It doesn’t have to be something you can touch.

A loving word or gesture have the same impact and don’t cost one penny of our tight budgets these days.

Send love out and see how it flows on back to you.

Before you know it, you will be immersed…

Happy Wednesday, Beautiful Ones.

“The joy lasted all day.”

The September 2011 Katie photo shoot was done :

Three and a half, cute as can be, extremely confident and hilarious.

The family came together in a rag tag kind of way, with each of us taking part, some definitely going above and beyond…

and the cottage at Lac Bibitte got a beautiful new roof…

(Huge thanks to my Uncle Charlie, cousins Matt and Simon, and to the awesome Bro-in-law, John, who made it all happen ! Big love to you amazing guys !)

With a drive home that put me in my own bed as of Sunday night at 11:00pm, the roof raising weekend was done.

Maybe it was the night time drive or the day in the cool fall air, but I had some really interesting dreams on Sunday night.

While the details are getting fuzzier and fuzzier, I remember being on a kind of reality show where you had to slide down a big hill, run up another and when you reached the top and touched the diamond rock face in front of you, you would be told what your challenge would be.

When I touched the rock, I learned that I was going to be “reborn”, whatever that meant.

What I do know is that I was completely overjoyed with that challenge, and I was sobbing “I am going to be reborn. I am going to be reborn!” with tears of joy running down my face…

Told you it was interesting…

That dream kind of lingered in my mind all day yesterday as I came in for a landing after my whirlwind weekend.

And it inspire this morning’s art journal page :

Not sure what the dream meant but I like the idea of being filled with joy that way.

I am going to go with it today as best I can, as I spend some time getting some things ready for my “Walking into Fire” adventure next weekend, and into creating some new things in the studio.

Like the last of the blooms on my annuals, I am going to take advantage of the day.

Happy Tuesday !

Share the Joy Thursday - The song of life is a sweet tune.

What gave me joy this week ?

Rock Fairy business – little bits of my heart sending love out into the world…

I have painted and written thousands of them now but I still get such a thrill seeing a tray full of love !

Meme en francais ce fois ci ! (even in French this time around !)

New haircuts that make you feel sass-say and fun exchanges with your hairdresser/friend !

Knowing that I am heading up north this weekend to be a part of this trio of deBroin women, coming together to put a new roof on the old homestead cottage with lots of help from some great manly men friends and family.

The fact that next weekend, I will be attending this with a dear, dear friend, and getting to see my Writer-Lady friend, Patti Digh in the flesh again. Plus I will doing something wonderful for my Self, mind, body and spirit, with $$ I earned from my art. And having my husband’s complete support and encouragement is beautiful, sweet icing on the cake. I just love it when a plan falls together and you can see so clearly what you need to do ! So excited !!!

All in all, a pretty fine week on the joy-o-meter, I would say !

I hope your list is at least as long, Beautiful Ones !

Happy Thursday !

sweet song of life…

For more joy, head over to Meri’s Musings !

I got a brand new key…

Art journal page for Tuesday, September 13, 2011 :

Fly Free, Beautiful Ones !

Happy Tuesday !

A new week…

Settling back into home after a peaceful week in Maine.

Feels funny to be away from David when we spent so much time together.

We really do get along so well, and have great fun together.

Such a gift !

Here's a few of my favorite shots from our time…

David took this one using my camera as the batteries were dying but I love the blur.

I am pointing out the glorious sky above. There were huge waves on this day too – our last at the beach.

A perfectly posed seagull feather on the sand…

Miss Chica sniffing the air from the trailer doorway.

“Smells like the rain is finally gone, Mommy !”

The traditional arms length couple shots…

Me and my man…

Me and my pooch !

You would think that with all the rain we had, I would have done a lot of art but I didn’t !

Just a page or two in the journal…

This one celebrating my little buddies, the sand pipers who made me giggle out loud as I watched them play in the surf !

And this doodle-y one that came about when I didn’t feel like getting the whole paint kit out…

This page was done yesterday at home, as the candle burned and quiet, loving prayers were being said…

I woke up this morning with a buzzy brain – thinking of all the things that need to get done, that I want to accomplish, and especially how very, very fast time is flying.

September 12th already !

In response to all of that, I am working really hard at taking things slowly, one little chunk at a time and pausing to breathe…

This guy has it right ! I found him dozing in the studio this morning. He started to purr when he heard me enter the room.

He is choosing happy in advance.

I am going to follow his example as best I can today !

Oh, and Meditation Monday starts back today. Another cool tool for my “Keep calm and carry on” tool box.

Wishing all of us the strength to make this a slow and easy Monday, Beautiful Ones !

Big Love !