MEME from Wild Hare

So the ever delightful Missharleyquin has tagged me with this and I went and copied the rules

here for your enjoyment….

Rules:

1. Pick up the nearest book (of at least 123 pages).
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the next three sentences.
5. Tag five people.

 

So…The book at hand is The collected Erotic Poems Of Goethe

6, 7th and 8th lines on page 123 are:

On we pressed, till at last a door both humble and charming willingly welcomed the guide, welcomed the suppliant in. Here there is nothing I lack,for he is a constant provider;Fresh are the roses that Love scatters each day on my path.Is this not heaven itself?

 

So I tag

Deb, Surface earth, Mother Winter Moon , Chantal, Susie

Something fun and simple to see what words you might find, for laughter and curiosity…

Thanks!

 

Movement

It’s funny how sometimes you don’t see a pattern until it’s RIGHT THERE in your face!

I am an Artist, something that for years I would not call myself. I had this negative reaction to anyone calling me an artist, I would quickly jump to the defense and say, ” I am not an Artist, I am just a creative individual.” You see I had met way to many folks that would invade my space, stick there hand out and say ” I am the ARTIST so-and-so.” It took many years for me to realize that these folks had their issues, ( unlike mine, which Rock!) and this was their way of placing a label on themselves which made them feel self important. I don’t call myself an artist for any other reason that I make my living selling my ‘Art’. My Art that may manifest itself in any number of ways. It pays the bills, and helps me work through my ’stuff’.

One of the things I always tell folks is I never make the same thing twice. Oh, sure I will make 200 of these for a customer, but when the order is filled, heaven and earth can’t move me to go back and make a single one again. The order for this restaurant is killing me, I am not done, wish I was, and it’s taking me forever because of technical difficulties. ( Thats Life folks! )

Then this weekend I got some pottery from a store that is closing. I threw these back in 2005. I was sitting looking at them, and it struck me.

( can you see the little cartoon light bulb go on above my head?~grin~)

I may not make the same thing twice, but….

Do you see what I see? It’s a spiral. The same spiral from my inner peace t-shirt, the same spiral from a piece of stained glass I did in the fall. I am always inwardly searching, I am always in this maelstrom, these over lapping circles that are taking me somewhere. So I am shaking my head and chuckling to myself at the irony , and the absolute truth of my own personal movement.

Life is a journey….

and I seem to be posting the same road signs for myself all over the place…

Playing with Color

On chilly winter days , No one in my home likes to go outside. Oh sure they will go out for a brief sojourn into the woods. They help me pick up sticks and wood for the wood stove, but with a hint of unwillingness.

I pulled out the paints once the basement was warm, and we played in the paint. Water color paints that is!

I have this thing that I like to do when I am in dire need of some creativity, but not high impact or time intensive.

First it’s some water color paper, I prefer cold press, but I’ll use whatever is on hand.

Then it’s color. Most of the time I do abstracts, circles, rings, droplets, what ever catches my fancy. I mix shades and colors, one of the wonderful things about water color is the way you can gradient color from light to darks. This is not ‘high art’ this is therapy, this is play!

After it has dried, with a warm fire going in the wood stove is mere minutes , I pull out a black fine point sharpie marker and start outlining. I go around the hard edges, emphasize some of the gradients, some of the white areas, I just go with where ever my eye takes me.

And Voilà! A colorful lovely that just makes me smile! I often put them in packages with notes on the back, or make them into greeting cards. I spray them with hairspray if I am going to use them as postcards.

My kids don’t always follow my lead, but they had fun with the paint!

These were their favorites, trust me we had a bunch strewn about the hearth !

and here is one I did that actually might look like something! LOL!

Anyway, just some ideas for play on those cold winter days, where you need the fun, but low stress! ( oh, did I mention that water color paint washes up really well? )

Ron, This post is dedicated to you my coloring friend! Thank you for the inspiration!

Perspective is everything.

I am having one of those Life altering realizations that make you stop and go WHOA!

I want to know how you teach someone to be capable of looking at something from more than one view.

I want to be able to accept that not everyone will be able to do this.

I believe that the only way to truly understand a man is to not only walk a mile in his moccasins, but to be able to thank him for the experience.

At some point in my life I came to this place where I stopped trying to figure out why folks do what they do. I just looked at their situation and said ” thats where they are at” and I moved on down the road.  Grateful for the look, happy with my own path ( even when it was swamp gas)

Yet here I am again on my wheel, coming full circle to a place where I want to know if there is a way to show how to step out of your own shoes and put on someone else’s.

I am beleaguered by the myopic. I am frustrated by the sycophantic. The world seems to be filling up with them faster than blink.

I spoke with a good friend of mine about this, and she said it’s about ownership, it’s about In and Through. We live in a culture that is Drama Hungry. Oh! The drama! That keeps us distracted and caught  away from our selves, away from our lives. She spoke of a need to not live in the drama, but to let go of it. How do you teach that ?

How do you say to someone ” look beyond the flashing lights, pay attention to that man behind the curtain! He’s you! and he’s running the show! You need to tell him to stop with the flash and the boom and give him a direction, a way to go!”

sigh

I keep coming back to this point, because I see the harm we do when the mountain is the molehill and the molehill the mountain.

I keep coming back to this place because when I stop caring my journey will end.

I.P.

I had a lot of fun with the inner peace post, and the comments from it were a riot.

It’s one of those ideas that seems to stick with you for a couple days, and will not release it’s hold.

I guess fun and good thoughts should always be that way.

I had some good suggestions for creative ways to expand upon the whole concept, especially from Cate at Serendipity.

Well I decided to play with the fabric paints and made myself a t-shirt. ( yes hawk it’s big enough) I am looking forward to wearing it when the weather gets above 9 degrees. I am sure the comments will be interesting…

Honors

Some days, and some nights you find yourself lost in the nether world of the internet.

At least I do.

I am plagued occasionaly by insomnia, and sometimes by a mind that will not quiet.

I am also a mother, of wonderful children. My youngest has a fertile imagination. She can spin a story for you that is from time to time really amazing and captivating. ( and other times it’s pure nonsense and whimsy) The curse of this creative mind is that she often wakes from some very scary nightmares. Her mind gets caught and she can not close her eyes and dream of pink sheep or princesses on purple Harley’s. When this happens, I usually end up sitting with her for hours through the night waiting for peace to fill her, a quite sentry that is ever present to lay a hand on her back and whisper words of security and love.

So my nocturnal jaunt last night was based on Goblin dreams, and I was up to the OMG hours of morning. So I am tired and dragging all day today.

It is amazing the things you find out there in the web world, there are places you can really get lost in the dark at.

So when I was feeling the dim fall on my shoulders like a shroud, I decided to cruise my favorite Google blogs.

and what did I find? A ray of sunshine from RON over at VENT, seems I make him laugh and I bring him cheer! So he ever so sweetly gave me an award!

Imagine my absolute delight at finding this! THIS in the middle of a tired and worried Mom night?! Ron is one of those people who always makes me laugh! I have become a devoted follower of his ever changing Out loud blog! You want a laugh? You want Honest straight forward insight and humor? Go visit VENT. I promise you will find something to smile about! ( even in the comments!)

I really want to share the smiles, this brought me so I am gonna pass this along to

RON, because you deserve this award more than once!

Missharleyquinn, as a member of your devoted community, I know we all wait with baited breathe to see what wonderful quip you are going to fire off next!

My Starbucks , truly the most pure and innocent of bloggers, who never has anything offensive or raunchy deserves to be recognized for her unparalleled level of excellence in Humor.

Thanks Ron, this was the bright spot!

The Ultimate enjoyment….books….

I found this meme over at Surface earths place and found it an interesting and fun looking . So As I was not officially tagged I will not tag anyone, but if it makes you pause as it did I, please feel free to take it and run!
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01. One book that changed your life

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Only One??? I think this has to be a joke, but as SE said I will “go with the gut” and say ” The story of B” it was what the devil was reading when I met him…

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02. One book that you’ve read more than once

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If I like something, I always read it more than once, I even have the annoying habit of reading them out loud. It helps me to pick up a cadence, which for the child of an oralist is very important. I am going to guess , however and say the book I have read the most times , is ” The Prophet” by Kahlil Gibran
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03. One book you’d want on a desert island

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A survival guide? Or a really big book to use as an umbrella….

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04. Two books that made you laugh

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‘Fear and loathing on the Campaign trail’ Hunter S. Thompson, ‘Fox in socks’, Doctor Seuss

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05. One book that made you cry

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Black Hawk Down
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06. One book that you wish had been written

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Something that explains how people can see the same thing and not see the same thing, and neither one is right or wrong.

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07. One book that you wish had never been written

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I don’t have one, all ideas have value and merit to someone..some where…
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08. Two books you’re currently reading
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Confessor, Terry Goodkind and 

The end of Sorrow: The Bhagavad Gita for Daily living, Eknath Easwaran

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09. One book you’ve been meaning to read

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The post-birthday world by Lionel Shriver
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I guess there was no number 10?

I thought it was interesting and fun. I wish I had more time to read , but it’s winter and I read less in the winter…

Winter Labyrinth

Wordless Wednesday

SYMPTOMS OF INNER PEACE

* A tendency to think and act spontaneously rather than on fears based on
past experiences.

* An unmistakable ability to enjoy each moment.

* A loss of interest in judging other people.

* A loss of interest in judging self.

* A loss of interest in interpreting the actions of others.

* A loss of interest in conflict.

* A loss of ability to worry (this is a very serious symptom).

* Frequent overwhelming episodes of appreciation.

* Contented feelings of connectedness with others and nature.

* Frequent attacks of smiling.

* An increasing tendency to let things happen rather than make them happen.

* An increased susceptibility to the love extended by others as well as the
uncontrollable urge to extend it.