Monday, March 19, 2012

Recalculating...


geckos   

you’ve probably heard that word if you’re using gps and you make a wrong turn.  it can be annoying (especially if, like me, you occasionally make wrong turns on purpose!) but it’s the word that came to me when i sat down this morning to re-evaluate where i stand from a creative perspective. 

ukeleles

 















i decided that writing my thoughts out could be helpful, especially knowing what a supportive audience i have, and i will intersperse them with some images that i would classify as “typically hawaiian.”

surfboards

macadamia nuts





























tiki totems

why am a having to recalculate?  well, it seems that lately so many of my creative endeavors have not taken on wings, as i had hoped, and have remained grounded.  or hit the wall.  or fallen flat.  (the latest blow is that the gallery where i show my work has suddenly had to close indefinitely due to water damage and asbestos. yikes.)  use whatever analogy you want, but here i am at a sort of tipping point.

fabulous (though expensive!) coffee

decorated gravesites

plantation cottages

from this perspective, i can see so easily the side on which i could let my hopes and dreams get swept away like flotsam in the recent rains. caught in the swirl and right down the drain.   it’s almost tempting to let that happen.  let it all go.  a clean slate from which to work.  open my eyes and start all over.

mai-tais!

pu-pus (polynesian appetizers)

if i keep my wits about me though, i can see the other side.  the rational side.  the side that knows all the time and effort i have put into each project and realizes the stupidity of just letting that all go down the tubes.  that reminds me that even when it’s hard to believe, no efforts or positive intentions are ever really wasted.  and that we don’t always know where they are leading or when they may come into play in some new and positive way.

lotsa fruit

lotsa lava


lotsa flowers

so i need to tip the scales in that direction.  i need to keep moving forward.  this i know.  sometimes the creative practices that we establish can act as a lifeline and i feel like this is one of those times.  so, yes, i will KEEP MOVING FORWARD!

colorful prints

fishing

mochi

(thanks for listening – i feel better already!!)

even the dogs have dreadlocks!

coconuts     
  
pele, volcano goddess (from the jaggar museum, sorry - could not find the artist's name)

7 comments:

  1. Dear Patty-I think we all go through these periods of having to recalibrate. Maybe there are bigger dreams...different dreams just waiting to manifest and ...sometimes we need to let go of what we know...to embrace what is right in front of us + ahead of us. I think you are on the right path. And LOVE your pics... a slice of heaven. xxx

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  2. beautiful photos and heartfelt words, we will all be right here for you where ever this journey leads, maybe these are all events leading up to some exciting new things about to take place or happen, I feel our future is already planned,, all we have to do is follow along, our heart knows where we are suppose to be, you'll be fine.

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  3. These places, these 'stalls' in what we think is out progress are always difficult places to be in. You will find your way ... that's who you are. And as you already know, once we are on the path, it's impossible to turn back. Hope things resolve themselves soon for you, although again, it takes the time it takes. Take care and 'just be with it. love, Donna

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  4. I've been "working" with the words in your text to understand , but it was so interesteing so I just wanted to get it all.You know that your atistic work inspires me a lot but I understand the feeling that you describe. There have been moments, not just artistic but other times when I have given myself the chance to start all over to be able to choose other ways.

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  5. That in between place can feel so uncomfortable at times. I was talking to my coach yesterday about mistakes and serendipity, which made me think that things I think of as mistakes (or stalls or wrong turns or ..) are really just serendipity, pointing me in an even better direction. Who knows if that's really true, but it certainly feels better, and it is true that things generally seem to work out better than I could imagine on my own.

    Love to you, in this time of recalibration.

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  6. Sorry to hear about your gallery:(

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  7. Patty, what you write here resonates with me a lot (not only because we seem to have the same kind of GPS...). Yes, there definitely are times in our lives when we think nothing goes forward, we're stuck and our wings seem to be trimmed back. It's frustrating and discouraging - but as Winston Churchill said, "never never never give up". Yes, recalculate. Sometimes that's just what needs to happen. And I am glad that you're not given up, but perhaps changing direction, waiting for the wind that will spread your wings again and lift you up.

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