I am feeling very much like Sally right now !
My skin kind of hurts whenever I get cold.
I don’t feel like going anywhere even though the extreme cold snap has broken and the temps are up to just below freezing.
I am in hibernating mode,
which is okay, except for my body, which feels like a big old sleeping bear body,
and except for how my mood gets kind of blah…
okay, not kind of,
it gets really blah…
Luckily, my creative juices are still flowing though.
I have been bringing Rock Beings to life in the afternoons,
watching old episodes of silly TV shows like Felicity on my iPad,
sipping warm decaf Chai tea with low fat milk and a teaspoon of maple syrup,
and venturing into the landscapes of new worlds,
and meeting and connecting with new Beings in my imagination…
and every once in a while, I crank some tunes and do some chair/studio boogying with my Chica dog…
Yesterday we shook our tail feathers to some Stevie Ray Vaughn.
“She’s my pride and joy!” ;-)
A little dancing and singing helps with the blahs.
As does this brilliant idea from Tammy at Daisy Yellow.
I started working on a list of 21 Kindnesses that I can show to others, just like Tammy has been inspire to do.
My winter hibernating brain forgot that being kind to others is a sure cure for the blahs.
My heart always beats to this mantra, no matter the season :
Love is the answer to every question.
Now I just have to get the rest of me back on board !
Maybe you want to join in some blah- banishing, kindness spreading ?
Happy Tuesday, Beautiful Ones !
I hope the blahs are banished in your neck if the woods.
PS : The Rock Beings above will be in the Etsy shop as soon as I stitch some homes for them and get them ready for their photo shoot !
My heart is tender.
Accepting the changing view
Takes a little time.
************************
Working on accepting the “bare branch against the sky” look of winter that blew in overnight.
Not easy for this color-loving heart of mine.
Going to try and be gentle with myself about it.
(art from October 2009 – Leaves of your heart)
And surround my Self with the color from the inside out.
**************
Happy Friday, Beautiful Ones !
For more haiku and to connect with some incredible hearts, visit Rebecca at recuerda mi corazon
So a few weeks ago, I received an order for a bag of Rock My World rocks through Patti Digh’s 37Days Shop. The order was from a man named Ross Kinney, and he requested a couple of custom rocks with the words “Celebrate, Honor, Inspire” on one, and “Run 26.2 for Kelly” on another. When I got Ross’s mailing address and saw his blog address, I went and visited, and discovered that Ross is a runner and a fund raiser for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, and has been for well over ten years ! As I read all about what this man was doing and the passion he had put into making a difference in the world in his own way, I felt really glad that my rocks were going to be a part of something bigger somehow ! I happily mailed Ross his custom rocks.
After he received the rocks, Ross sent me an email with thanks for his order and with a inquiry. He wondered about how much 100 rocks with the words “Blood Cancer Freedom Fighter” on them would cost and if this was even possible. He wanted to offer a special keepsake rock to the first 100 people to make a donation of over $10.00 to his fundraising project.
I wrote Ross back and told him that not only was it possible but that I would love to donate my time and the rocks to the fund raising project for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and to the race that he and his daughter Laura were preparing for in France, in April of 2011.
So now, 100 people who donate to the project will be receiving a rock with the words “Blood Cancer Freedom Fighter” on one side, and a word of inspiration from the Rock Fairy on the other in thanks for their participation.
This collaboration has touched me in so many ways. I was able to connect to this wonderful man and his daughter who are using their own strengths to make a difference and to help find cures for these horrible diseases that take the lives of too many. I was able to use my own strengths to make a difference as well. I felt the joy of being just a little kinder than necessary. And I can also share the story with my friends in the hopes that you will take a look around you and see where you can add some of your own strength to help make a difference some how…
Little acts of kindness, stretching yourself just a little, reaching out, sharing the joy and being willing – just the pebble that starts the sweet ripple…
“Remember there's no such thing as a small act of kindness. Every act creates a ripple with no logical end.” – Scott Adams
Ross and Laura are now at about 27% of their $10,212.00 Fund Raising Goal for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society Race in France this spring. If you would like to help them reach their goal, you can visit them here to find out more.
Share the Joy, Beautiful Ones !
For more Share the Joy Thursday, visit the lovely Meri’s blog.
So yesterday morning, on World Kindness Day, over coffee,
my honey and me prepared some little treasures to take with us on our kindness adventures for the day…
We packaged up three Rock My World rocks in little bags with a Rock My World tag attached…
I printed up some World Kindness Day bookmarks…
Threw the lot into a little decorated bag and we headed out to do our usual Saturday errands with it in hand.
We made quite a few stops along the way.
First up was the pet supply shop.
While David made a return there, I handed out the little bags to people saying “Did you know that today was World Kindness Day ?” and offering them a little gift and a smile in celebration.
I even offered a few people two bags and suggested that they pass one on to someone else to spread the love.
It is kind of scary, going up to complete strangers and being extra kind.
Why is that ?
I guess we are afraid of rejection or being laughed at or something.
Anyway, I had some lovely sweet exchanges with people there, once I ignored the fear and just went for it.
Especially one young man who worked in the grooming area. When he took his bag, he really seemed happy, and he looked me right in the eye for a long moment. As we shared that look, it felt like, “hey, we both really “get” this”…
Kindness really is contagious, you know.
Some of the bags and bookmarks went at the pet supply place, others at Lowes, at the restaurant where we ate lunch, at the kiosk where I bought a new hat, and also at the Gourmet Chef shop where three of the staff people there all got a bag of Rock My World rocks, and we all shared thoughts about how easy it is to make the day better with simple kindness.
The little red bag was suddenly empty except for a couple of book marks which I stuck on the windshield of the car parked next to us at the mall.
I had brought the camera with me but it didn’t seem right to ask people to take pictures with me somehow.
That’s okay because their smiles and happy reactions to being treated with extra kindness on this day are imprinted in my memory and my heart.
And so is the comment from one lady as David and I walked away from rock giving moment…
“It is like she is spreading sunshine.”
What more could you ask for ?
Here’s to making every day World Kindness Day in any way we can !
Big Love to you, Beautiful, Kind Ones !
*****************************************************
***By the way, I added my little Star Shine ornaments to the Etsy shop in case you wanted to add their little twinkle to the decking of the halls or give them as gifties to a shiny friend ! See the Etsy sidebar for the link...
Today is World Kindness Day !
I invite you to join me in looking for ways to be kinder than necessary today.
David and I have made that our mission today to do some random acts of kindness in our neck of the woods. I am excited to see what sweet connections this will bring !
I will let you know how we do…
If you need some ideas, you can visit ActsOfKindness.org or the lovely Se’lah’s blog, Necessary Room, where she has inspired us to celebrate the day !
I would love to live in a world where every day is World Kindness Day…maybe we can get there one day at a time?
Big Kind Love to you, Beautiful Ones !
Now get out there and pass out some R.A.K.s !
Kindness is simple.
A smile, a buck, a hand up.
It does the soul good.
******************************************************
In times where bad news is so damn easy to find,
let’s look for some GOOD news
and CELEBRATE IT !!!!!!
Here are a few places to start :
How the 93 Dollar Club got started…
Some amazing good things spring from just one person having A Good Idea.
(this video had me in tears of joy at how wonderful we can be when we put our focus in the right place…)
I challenge you to look for ways to be kinder than necessary today, Beautiful Ones.
I know you are utterly and completely capable of it.
Happy Friday !
(for more Haiku my Heart Loveliness, go here.)
Why I Wake Early by Mary Oliver
Hello, sun in my face.
Hello, you who made the morning
and spread it over the fields
and into the faces of the tulips
and the nodding morning glories,
and into the windows of, even, the
miserable and the crotchety –
best preacher that ever was,
dear star, that just happens
to be where you are in the universe
to keep us from ever-darkness,
to ease us with warm touching,
to hold us in the great hands of light –
good morning, good morning, good morning.
Watch, now, how I start the day
in happiness, in kindness.
Believe it or not, I woke up a little “miserable” and “crotchety”.
(Man, I hate it when that happens. But there is a lot in this world to be miserable and crotchety about if that where you want to go !)
But then I remembered that I have a choice.
I can wallow in the “ever-darkness” all day.
Or I can CHOOSE to “start the day in happiness, in kindness”.
Which would you choose ?
Big Love to you, Beautiful Ones !
The girls at Kind over Matter, Jenn and Amanda have a whole list of suggestions
for acts you can carry out and make the world a little kinder place.
(laughing buddha photo from flick'r)
One of my favorites is so very simple and it is one I learned from my Bubbie, my grandmother, when I was a little kid.
Bubbie would smile at everyone she met every day.
Simple, isn't it ?
And yet it is often rare these days....so sad.
What a difference it makes in your day when you share a smile with someone else a couple of times.
They are of course, contagious.
They are also free.
I have some new neighbors who just moved in across the street. I think I will make one of my acts of kindness this week to go over and introduce myself and maybe bring a some little goodies over. They used to do that all they time, you know, when someone joined a neighborhood. I think I am going to do my little part to bring the kindness back on my street...
As I was looking through my pics to find something for this post, I came across this picture of my mom and me last September. Don't you love it ?
It made me smile big and made my heart fill up with the love I have for my Sweet Mommy and also for our relationship.
Hmmmm...there is some nice fuel to get my kindness fires going...
Let's head out and go act kind !!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In other news...
I think I am experiencing information/Blogland/inspiration/Facebook/typing/computer screen overload. I realize that I have been spending way too much time in front of the computer these days. It feels like my play time in the studio has become what I do in between reading blogs or Facebook or emails and not the other way around which is what I would greatly prefer.
I do love Blogland and my friends and our connections so very much, but I don't want it to become the only thing I spend my time doing !!! I miss art journaling. I miss creating new things. I have been squeezing those things in here or there between visits on the computer but now it is time for a change.
While I will not disappear completely, I think I will go on a BlogLand and Facebook Slow Down for a good while. At least the next month or so.
My biggest challenge will be disciplining myself to keep my time on the computer at a minimum. I am thinking a timer or something at first.
So while I don't know exactly what this will look like or feel like, I am making my intention for myself known.
I send you Beautiful, Beautiful Ones lots of love and...
I guess I will see you when I see you...
Off to do some Mindful Living....
Parting is such sweet sorrow...
No really I am going now...
bye... ;)
and her loyal and beautiful servant,
went out on a mild wintry day to see what they could see.
The Queen was hoping to find inspiration for her art...
and past experiences had shown her that Nature
is always quick to supply an abundance of that...
As the walk went on, the queen came up on sight that puzzled her...
Was this another person's attempt to make art ?
Upon closer inspection, it seemed that this was less about art and more about marking of territories...
but the Queen with her own artist eye, thought the sight was kind of cool anyway.
She walked on...
And then at the very end of the walk,
the Queen spotted a plaque on a bench right in front of her royal vehicle,
and there the Queen found her inspiration,
not just for her art,
but also for her Heart.
The Queen knew that her path was good...
and that she was doing the work she needed to do.
And knowing that she too, would be remembered for it when her reign was over,
was all the inspiration she needed.
The truest greatness lies in being kind, the truest wisdom in a happy mind.
- Ella Wheeler Wilcox
Happy Tuesday, Beautiful Ones.
She took a good walk the other day, kind of saying good-bye to her usual stomping grounds for the season...
As always, there were beautiful sights to see along the way...
What struck her the most on this walk was the gorgeous contrast of red
on the grey-blue of the day...
That contrast reminded the Rock Fairy of how sharply
a single, simple act of kindness can stick out
in a sea of ordinary, everyday apathy.
Like the couple in the restaurant that anonymously paid for the lunch of the people seated beside them in a diner and sparked a chain reaction that lasted for many hours,
or the family owned jewelry store that is leaving Christmas gifts of jewelry for people in random places around their town...
or, more importantly she thought, the little acts of kindness that don't cost a penny,
like taking the time to sincerely tell someone they have done a good job,
or looking a cashier in the eye and smiling when you say "Thank you !",
or completing some simple task for someone you know is overwhelmed,
or telling someone in your life that you truly appreciate them being in your world.
Like that bright red against the gray-blue, kindness can light up a space, and spark a change in how we treat each others, how we see each other...
As the Rock Fairy finished her final real rock leaving walk of the season, she took notice of the last rock she had put down on the park bench...
It was so fitting, of course, like many of the rock messages seem to be,
The final rock said...
While the rock leaving may slow down during the winter,
the opportunities for being kind never do !
The Rock Fairy was grateful for that timely reminder.
Aren't you ? ;)
Now, Go be Kind !!!
Why lucky you say ?
Well, I had some money to buy some little gifties for some people I love...
And this year, it was even money that I earned doing something I loved doing...
Sharing my art and my heart...
I also had the TIME.
You see, I don't work full time,
I don't have kids,
and
the house was clean
as I had done such a great job of it the week before when the Squamies were coming.
So I was able to get a whole lot of the have-to's of Christmas done last week,
which meant that as of Friday evening,
I was lucky enough to have a lot of time to play !
On Friday, David and I went to our friends Lois and Mike's house
for dinner, some cocktails
and games.
We laughed and played a fun drawing game called "Who, What Where".
A really, really fun evening with really good people.
And then yesterday,
while most of the world was a-hustling and a-bustling,
we spent our day in sweats,
and just hanging out.
That meant time for sweet, cozy napping in the afternoon
with all 5 of us in the bed,
and best of all,
time to play !!!
Time to create this two page spread in my art journal,
inspired by Judy Wise, artist of my Heart,
who showed magnificent pages from her own journals on her blog today,
reminding me that "A life isn't fully lived until it's been digested in the journal"
just as her friend reminded her.
Yes, my beautiful Friends, I am one lucky, lucky woman...
and I really know it too.
Not only did I have a perfect weekend up until this morning,
but something I witnessed on another friend's blog in the early morning
as David and the furry kids still doze,
made eyes fill with tears and my heart fill with gratitude even more.
I was also filled
with HOPE for all of us,
and a great reminder as the year draws to a close
of the words that have brought me to where I am right this minute...
"Love is the answer.", my beautiful Ones.
Let it fill you up too...
Happy Sunday and thank you, Connie !
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