Thursday, September 11, 2014

September Once More

THIS seriously has to stop! Today my doctor asked if I was still writing. "No," I said. "Too bad," she said. "Yes, isn't it?" I replied. So what's been going on this awesome month of September? We camped over Labor Day on our property in the hills above the city. It was so quiet and beautiful. Great weather and a beautiful moon to enjoy every evening. Fire danger in the woods is high so our campfire was very small. Guests came up to join us for the day or even two or three days, in some cases. We enjoyed having the family up and the children found our creek is full of small frogs. We were spending our last night of summer in our small trailer on the land when it was discovered we weren't alone. A field mouse had invaded with his sights set on a portion of our chocolate. There was a rustle in the bag of Hershey Kisses, flashlights and cursing, and the mouse jumped out of my clothing bag, onto the seat cushion, down into the cushion and disappeared. The Mister discovered his escape route and the next morning sealed it up. There will have to be more "sealing" done or he and his kin will move in this winter when we're not there very often. For now we are back home with running water, HOT water, flushing indoor toilets and the only nuisance we're battling is the sugar ants. TODAY is September 11th, and usually I make "Living Leaves" of paper to hang in the trees and commemorate the day. Not this year however. I seem to be unable to plan ahead for these events. They sneak up on me and then there's not enough time to do something proper.
Remembering again everything I used to be able to get done in a week - when I was full-time employed, had three kids, made dinner every night, made their lunches, etc. - and now I am barely able to clean the kitchen counter, go shopping for groceries and answer email. No kids, no full-time job; what's the problem? ON to other things: Yesterday I met with a landscaper and we talked about turning our front yard into a grassless area with a dry river rock stream.
The ferns we have in front of our house could go alongside the "stream" and look very nice under the magnolia tree (which will constantly be dropping its leaves and such). Anyway, life is going along fairly well (personally). Let's hope the latest convolutions in our world's tortured peace-path smooth out with the least loss possible - femminismo

Saturday, January 18, 2014

Journal page for January 16

Behind and getting behinder ... but trying to catch up. The quiet of the afternoons should be inspiring me, but I find myself getting way too cozy with my knitting. Until next time - femminismo 

Saturday, January 11, 2014

A little good stuff each day

Been doing other interesting things and got behind on posting my journal project. But since the overarching theme is "go gently" I've been easy on myself. (Real easy ... perhaps too much so.)

Tuesday, January 7, 2014

Go Gently ... little bird

Today: Day 7 in the 30-day journal with Lisa Sonora. The writing prompt is "go gently."

Ask yourself where in your life do you already go gently. Hopefully there are many places and you (and I) are careful not to ask too much of ourselves or others.

Love - femminismo

Monday, January 6, 2014

There is a crack in everything

January 6 - 30-day journal

Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack in everything
That's how the light gets in.

- Leonard Cohen

The crack that lets the light come in can also allow inspiration to occur. What a concept!

Until I made the list of things I could offer imperfectly, I didn't realize how many more things I could offer (and try without much anguish). Allowing yourself to do things imperfectly sure gives you more to try - femminismo

Sunday, January 5, 2014

My purpose here

Your purpose in life is to find your purpose and give your whole heart and soul to it. - The Buddha

I am here to ... make life better.
I could imagine giving my whole heart and soul to ... art.
When it comes to finding my purpose, I feel ... I am getting closer. - femminismo

Saturday, January 4, 2014

Make Your Soul Grow

This 4th day of the 30-day jouraling, the quote by Kurt Vonnegut is "To practice any art, no matter how well or badly, is a way to make your soul grow. So do it."
In addition to the art on this page - fiddling with glitter and tape and stencils - I visualize my soul on art and look at how it glows!
I wear my creative crown and strive not to give up, be gentle with myself and ignore my inner critic who is so tough on me - femminismo

Friday, January 3, 2014

Cultivating the roots

Roots are the way we all begin. Latched on to the uterine wall drinking in the nourishment. It is also what we must encourage so we can continue to grow. That's why I'm taking part in the 30-day journal project. Roots are the theme today and the writing prompts concentrate on this. I liked thinking about which of my roots needs the most care and tending - femminismo

Thursday, January 2, 2014

Thinking Very Hard Here ... about commitment

Yes, I am thinking very hard about the writing prompts given me for the 30-day journaling that began on New Years Day. It is only the second, but the writing prompts (from lisasonora.com) bring up issues I've dealt with before. Committing to journaling for 30 days is ..., To definitely commit myself to journaling I would need ..., and the things that tend to get in the way of my creative commitments include ... . Same stuff, different year. It's hard to commit to something. Means I have to follow through until the end. I need to MAKE the time, not have the time. Things that get in the way are ... what ARE they now? I am retired, so I have a whole 8 hours a day that I didn't have before. Time to buckle down and make the hours count for something. Actually, I am thinking about commitment in many sorts of ways ... femminismo

Wednesday, January 1, 2014

Begin ...

I have started January with this 30-day writing/art journal page. The next pages contain my written material, with my brain jostled loose with a writing prompt. Beginning ... femminismo