The Morning Speaks to Me

i have always been a morning person.  i’m awake (way too!) early, up, out the door walking, taking pics, doing my instagram, making our power drink, starting chores, cleaning, checking lists, etc. etc. …

but lately, i have a new practice that i love.  it stops all of that for a few moments.  i make a cup of tea and sit where i can look out the window.  it’s usually open, so a cool ocean breeze comes in and the birds are always singing away.  

 it’s hard to stop my mind from the chatter that’s already going on, but i wait until that happens.  i let the morning speak to me.  it may sound odd, but that’s my goal.  i have my notebook ready and once i have let everything inside quiet down…. words come to me.  words of possibility. words of insight.  words of inspiration. 

 i have pages and pages now, mostly they are random phrases, sometimes they turn into something that i will follow up on, but they are fun to go back and read.  because they represent space. space in my day. space in my head. 

 and funny thing, at the end of the day, when i look back on it…. those are some of the most precious moments.  the morning does speak to me. 

"Intention" revisited

it’s my word of the year.  i had high hopes for this word, but i have to say, it’s been a little bit of a struggle figuring out how best to let it guide me. 

 i wrote out a bunch of intentions for the year in january…. thinking or hoping that they would somehow move me forward in new directions and prompt the universe to do its part in making good things happen.

but the list kind of sat there.  i would look at it from time to time and feel a bit stumped as to how to proceed…

 

so i started doing what i’m seeing is a pattern for me.  a pattern that works.  i turned the intention-setting into a practice.  i have done the same with other words of the year, but somehow it has taken me a while to get this one going.

most mornings i will think about my day and try to set a few intentions for that day.  then i also try to look at my long range intentions just to refresh my memory.  i think it builds up after a while and starts to make an impact on my day to day decsions.

the whole thing still feels a little vague.  but it’s only may, after all… i can feel some shifts occurring and will let you know if i have any bursts of insight to share!

in other news, i’m moving forward and launching another contemplative photography workshop for the summer. hope you have a wonderful weekend!!

Get that Dream off the Shelf!

 

 

"there is very little you can do with a dream that is sitting on a shelf collecting dust.”

andrea shroeder

 

remember that long-awaited contemplative photography class at the lavender farm that i almost ended up cancelling?  well, something cool and totally unexpected has happened.  the participants started a group.  it now has its own facebook page and is growing! 

 

we have already had one official field trip to alta vista gardens and several more are planned.  honestly, i’m totally blown away by the whole thing!!

 

so close…. so close to sitting on that shelf collecting dust.  so happy i did not allow that to happen.  that in that moment of decision i decided to step up and show up and trust the process….  because you just never know, you know?

thanks, Julia!

(currently working on plans for the next class!)

 

I Don't Need.....

i don’t need more

things

friends

kudos

followers

comments

likes

recognition

praise

feedback

possessions

equipment

classes

credentials

etc. blah, blah, blah

in order to be happy.

i was thinking about this and had literally just written it out…… when i read the june 23 passage from the book of awakening by mark nepo (obviously i don’t stick to the dates!)

 

“All that is extraordinary in life opens only when we devote ourselves to giving attention, not getting it. The longer we try to get attention instead of giving it, the deeper our unhappiness.  Instead of looking for what is clear and true, we learn to covet what is great and powerful.”

 “fame or peace, be a celebrity or celebrate being, work all our days to be seen or devote ourselves to seeing, build our identity on the attention we can get or find our place in the beauty of things by the attention we can give.”

.i’m not there yet…. but it seems we are on the same page….

as often happens when i am thinking about something, it ends up translating into a journal page (in this case utilizing techniques i learned at the you, me and the sea retreat) and into a lesson for my inside out girls. i told them how sometimes when i'm in a store i just look around and think about all the things i DON'T need.  they took it from there....

 love when that happens!

(looking at the photos on this page, you can get a clue about what i actually DO need!)

Liberating Our Art

there is a lot more art created than what sees the light of day and is actually released out into the world.  that’s the idea behind the liberate your artpostcard swap.  by printing and sharing our images, kat over at kateyestudio has made it possible for our art to reach far and wide across the globe.  

 

 

sadly, i did not think to photograph my own cards before they were sent.  i know they were all pics of mixed media pieces.... so i'm guessing, but pretty sure these were the ones.

 i first received this lovely from jo in Australia. 

next, from heather black, with the walt disney quote: if you can dream it, you can do it.

then, from shawn rowell, the suggestion to "explore"

 a dynamic creation from hula-la

 and from marji thompson, with a lovely message and quote on the back.

finally this beauty from kat herself.   what a wonderful and diverse collection!!  this is seriously a big (and growing!) project.... thanks, kat, for making it all happen and for spreading little bits of art out into the universe!

The Nature of it All

if you’ve been around for a while, you know that i’m not just going to report about the art retreat without sharing the nature which surrounded it and gave the experience such a profound and evocative  atmosphere.

 i love the coast of oregon so much and we would probably live there if we weren’t such weather wimps, spoiled by years of california sunshine.

the skies and views are constantly changing, with the seasons, the time and the tide.  no two beach walks are ever the same.  i was so lucky to be right on the estuary, an amazing and ethereal body of water, home to hundreds of birds.

  definitely got my nature fix!!

definitely got my nature fix!!