"People who need certainty in their lives are less likely to make art that is risky, subversive, complicated, iffy, suggestive, or spontaneous. What's really needed is nothing more than a broad sense of what you are looking for, some strategy for how to find it, and an overriding willingness to embrace mistakes and surprises along the way."
~David Bayles & Ted Orland (Art & Fear)
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7 comments:
Hello everyone~
My goals for the week were to pull our three to five Fall decorations and buy gourds and pumpkins. Once I got my boxes of decorations out I was excited to move things around and do all of my decorating. I bought two mums but would still like to get some pumpkins and do a little decorating outside. I was also inspired to try a new recipe and will make a place on the blog that we can share recipes.
My artful goals for the week:
Buy pumpkins and decorate outside.
Work with photoshop and create sepia toned prints. Decide what images you want to print and upload five to a site that can print them.
Hello everyone
I have been swamped with work lately and will try my best to visit here when I can. sorry for all the gaps of conversation from me. It probably won't be until December until my head will be safely above water. For now, my gentle movement is to stay centered during chaotic times and make my family my priority during all of this. It is good to see more people sharing their work. I look forward to seeing and reading more!
Hi Everyone I have just finally had some time to figure out how to sign on (thanks Laura) I am looking forward to sharing thoughts ands artful pieces. My gentle movement this week is to put my house back in order after finishing hosting my Sister-In-Law's baby shower. My hope is to start making small fabric cards to practice using my sewing machine to its fullest capabilities.
Blessings and love
Kim
I haven't fallen off the face of the earth though I am certainly caught in a swirl of activity. Margaret Wheatley wrote a book called Turning to One Another (I highly recommend it). It is a collection of essays and thoughts. One of them is called "Willing to be Disturbed". In it she reminds us to take note of things that bother us - really look at them to discover why we find them so upsetting. annoying, troublesome. If we do that we can learn from them - either identifying and removing the worry or in realizing it is we who must change. There are many other thoughts too - but I am in a disturbed place. I am thinking that is not a bad thing, but I am having trouble finding a way out to the other side. I know I will but for now I am making no gentle movements forward. I seem to be swirling in a whirlpool hoping for insight to flash through. I'll let you know when I finally learn what I am on a path to discover.
Brenda~
Thank you for the book reccomendation. I remember reading somewhere, I think it was Cheri Huber who said that usually when you find something that you don't like or are bothered by another person you possess this quality in yourself. I didn't want to believe this at first (and still don't) but very often it is true for me. Thank you for reminding me of this.
I just went and found my Ceri Huber book, "Good Life, A Zen Precepts Retreat" and randomly opened it up to this qoute, "There is a deep grieving when we abandon ourselves for the approval of others to get what we think we need. Now here we are in spiritual practice trying to go back and reclaim ourselves". I don't know if it means anything to you, but sometimes I have found that often there is a reason we open to "random pages".
"Your treasure house is in yourself. It contains all you ever need." ~Hui Hai (eighth-century master)
I too, Brenda, am in a disturbed place...although I don't think I have ever called it that before. It is why I have been "quiet" as of late, finding myself going inward and attempting to replenish the soul...if you will. This time of year is always harder for me as the sun goes down and the days get shorter. I know it will pass and that it is always a time of adjustment, but for me it is also a great opportunity for reflection and as you said Brenda, to see if perhaps it is me that needs to change!!
My career is going gangbusters and that is the place in my life where I thrive. This is very much the opposite of where I have been for years, because for me, being a Mom was always what kept me centered, what mattered most to me in so many ways. My daughter is in High School this year and was accepted to Phillips Exeter Academy...and it has been a life altering change for us all! You see, she and I are freakishly close. She leaves at 8 in the morning and it home at 8 at night. Always smiling...for the most part. I am on a break right now from parent's weekend there where we are invited to go to her classes. What an AMAZING learning environment. The kids are all so focussed on learning, not fashion, popularity or all of those other things that get in the way...and I am SO happy for her, but a bit lonely here, I must admit that I miss her. It is like she went to college four years early and I am not doing so well with that!!
I do have more time with my 11 year old son, Zachary, but he is a busy one and essentially lives out in the neighborhood. So, I come to this place that asks...where does this leave me? What is next for me? Yes, I am still a Mom and always will be, but what is expected and needed from me has changed dramatically.
I am a proponent of change, it is what I do for a living..attempt to facilitate change, but for some reason lately I am finding that the fire in me is waning and the passion is struggling to stay alive...to fight all of the fights that are going on politically and the ramifications that has on education. Blah, blah, blah.
So here I am...in a spiraling (alongside you Brenda!) motion knowing that I will come out of it at some point...but for now just call me a dizzy blonde who cannot keep anything straight in her head!! And on a brighter note, I also know that out of this inward time, often comes creativity in some way shape or form because I have taken the time to let myself feel and think and just be, without judgement. I never know when that moment will strike, but I do know it signifies the beginning of the way out. I remind myself that some of my best work has often come during one of my darkest places.
And Laura, yes, I do believe we open up pages and find things when we need to find them. This is the one I opened up yesterday....
"By being patient we are rewarded. We recognize that most spiritual experiences are slow, gradual, more like the unfolding of a flower than a thunderbolt." Phillip Oliver-Diaz. How appropriate for the garden! My problem is that I am a fan of the lightning bolt and would often much prefer swift results and instant gratification. I am not so good with patience...period!!
On another note....
I have been thinking...as a visual learner, I would love to see pictures of everyone so that I can visualize them and who they are as I read their posts. Getting to know others "virtually" has proven to be a challenge for me. Is there any way to do like a who is who page? Is this hard for anyone else or is it a symptom of my scatter-brained state of mind at the moment?
Thanks all for "listening".
Tomasen
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