Word for the Week

Such a interesting, often misunderstood, word came out the bag of Rediscovery Cards today...

I love the rich, purple colour as it's the colour of the third eye chakra - the colour of intuition, wisdom, creative intelligence...

Image from Google

... which corresponds to how important, yet hard to define, it is!

It's the last stage of grief. It's a vital step on the road to self-awareness and change. It's as Michael J. Fox, a man who has dealt with Parkinson's disease for over 20 years, says

Acceptance doesn't mean resignation; it means understanding that something is what it is and there's got to be a way through it.

These are wise words, and ones I try and live by... 

Accepting our physical limitations, and the day-to-day struggles we all encounter, is the way to peace and living lives of wholeness. 

It's not passive, but a deeply conscious choice... to accept what each day. each moment brings... to experience it, then let it go...

Today at 9 am, I get my botox injections in my paralyzed right arm to relax the painful high-tone muscles, which would be permanently clenched if I didn't have this treatment. I know I'll have at least one day of high discomfort and soreness, but then the botox will work its magic, and gradually these muscles will relax, and I will sigh with relief - for the next 12 weeks at least :-)

This Word is perfect for this week, on the back of last week's Patience... 

It's a timely reminder for me, as I've been getting a tad frustrated at my lack of artistic ability in this art course...

As Mr M.J. Fox says,

My happiness grows in direct proportion to my acceptance, and in inverse proportion to my expectations.

I'd love to know what you think when you see this Word...

Focus on Life Week 26: Free space!

Oh my - it really is the midpoint in the year-long journey through Focus on Life - how did that happen??

But I love that Sally has given us free licence to photo anything this week :)

This morning (Friday), I woke at 5 am to the sound of gentle rain...

I made my morning coffee, opened the patio doors and just sat... I wish I could share with you the fresh, green smells, the soft patter of the raindrops on the wooden furniture, the excited chatter of the birds...

It really was a little piece of heaven :-)

The perfect way to sit and reflect on the months that have passed, and wonder what the next six months will bring...

New Moon ramblings...

I'm really practising my Word for the Week here... trying to be patient with all the thoughts, ideas, frustrations swirling around me, in me...

Today is a New Moon, and I am sensing a shift - aided by a grey, rainy day after several bright, sunny days - a shift from the first part of the year, to the second...

Amy Palko speaks of how in Celtic mythology, twice a year at the solstices, the Oak King and the Holly King do battle. We are now entering the reign of the Holly King, the waning of the year, when the daylight hours will inexorably shorten:

We don't immediately perceive that the balance has tipped in [his] favour. And yet, despite this near invisible transition, I feel the change in my body...

Amy Palko, Bloom by Moon

And I'm definitely feeling it...

• Maybe it's because I'm doing Gillian's art e-course and am struggling to keep up, feeling overwhelmed and inadequate when I compare my scribblings to others... (I know, I know 'Comparison is the thief of joy' and all those other wise quotes! But it doesn't stop me doing it...)

• Maybe it's because July starts next Tuesday - JULY how did that happen? I've barely processed the fact I turned 50 in April, almost two months ago!!!

• Maybe it's because I'm coming to the end of The Lotus and the Lily, and today's chapter is called 'name your year' (p. 160) with the focus firmly on the future (the past IS another country and we simply don't live there any more).

Every New Year I 'choose' a Word for the year... My 'Word' for 2014 is Make known, and through this blog I'm trying to make known my thoughts...

And so, reading all these things, thinking all these thoughts, experiencing all these feelings, I drew a card for today...

And this is what The Da Vinci Enigma Tarot book says about its version of the Star...

Where are things flowing?What hopeful shoots are sprouting...?

Hope is the faith by which your soul journeys towards its destiny... Its subtle messages enter your heart and give it new inspiration for the road...

The prospect before you is bright with promise...Work naturally and easily with your gifts instead of working against your innate capacities.

(pp. 60-61)

Perfect for the New Moon, and exactly what I need to keep in my heart as I work through the art course, and move into to the second half of 2014.

Days 24 and 25 - Trusting what's round the corner...

I'm having a mega blog session - making the most of the stable (for now!) internet connection...

I'm trying to catch up with The Lotus and the Lily posts, the desk-hopping of WOYWW and the new art e-course I'm doing (those posts are all under the new Unearth  page tab at the top of the blog)...

The main thing I wanted to share from my daily readings this week has crystallized in the art play-making I had this morning...

Making random marks on the page, messing around with the messy charcoal and smudging everything with my fingers (I so wish I had two usable hands just to be able to take a photo of my left hand after I'd finished making this - it was BLACK!!)

Truly, I had no intention or plan to draw this - or anything else for that matter - it was just a mark making exercise - I should have taken a photo before the tunnel image emerged...
But given what I'd been reading in The Lotus and the Lily (pp. 143--52), I really shouldn't have been surprised! 

It's all about trusting the unknown, the unseen... trusting that Life, the Universe are essentially supportive, creative, kind...

Trusting that even though I woke up feeling terrible - stiff, tired, my right arm throbbing (I get botox injections on Monday to relax the muscles, but this morning the ultra-tight muscles were screaming...) - I would gently push myself to catch up on the missed course lessons... Just to take my mind off my arm... just to trust that the day would get better...

WOYWW 264

It's great Julia's feeling better and back to desking over at her Stamping Ground...

Here's my desk on Tuesday evening...

I've just started this e-course (there's a button in the sidebar) - the notebook contains words/images that 'speak' to me - one of which are bowls and spoons...

And I must show you this stunning calligraphy which Alison sent me - a beautiful belated birthday gift (though it's hard to get a good photo)

I shall treasure it for years to come - thank you so much, Alison :-)

Now I hope my internet connection holds long enough, so I can visit lots of fun desks today - fingers crossed...

xxx

PS The photo-card propped up against my pots is 'Creativity' from Wisdom of the Crone deck to inspire me at my desk...

Word for the Week

Oh boy, another good one! And truly I had to laugh out loud when I pulled this Rediscovery Card from the bag this morning...

I laughed because all weekend our internet connection has been cr*p - the vagaries of it have been driving me (and all the family) to distraction... It works great for minutes on end, and then suddenly disappears....**grrrrr**

And I'm doubly frustrated as today the e-course I've been looking forward to for months starts, and the class members have been getting to know each in the Facebook private group. I made a couple of comments on it, but loads more have been lost in the ether...*sigh*

So I laugh... at the humour of the Universe... and my own frustrated impatience... at what I so need to be and do right now, in this moment...

Just breathe...

Just be patient...

All will be well...

*grin*

I also know I need the heed this Word as I embark on this e-course - I have so many hopes, expectations, dreams of what it will be, could be, what I want it to be, as I so love the work of the artist who's leading it!

And I'm drawn to this wee stone on my altar...

... as I know I am my own worst enemy when it come to my art-making. I am harsh, overcritical and unforgiving... I don't give myself any slack... I expect my drawing/painting to be as good with my left hand as it was pre-stroke with my right... Good grief, girl!!

So, I pause... I look at this Word on the rich, lush, colour-of-life background... and I breathe in the Word deep into my lungs, my centre, my being...

I'd love to know what you think/feel when you see this Word, so do please share :-)

Sunday thoughts...

Day 22 of The Lotus and the Lily is called 'Connect to Power' (p. 133), and it starts with this quote...

We were created to be creators.

John O'Donohue

... which couldn't be more perfect as tomorrow I start a 6-week online course called 'Unearth Gather Create: An e-course in creating art that resonates' (there's a button in my sidebar) - and I can't wait!!!

And the way to connect to that creative power is by acknowledging 

I am a spark of the Divine.

I was created to create. I have the power to create. (p. 134)

Now, I am not the greatest advocate of the power of affirmations as the 'manifesting' gurus claim - I'm just not convinced saying something makes it so... But I do think there is something to be said for intentions, which is Janet's focus in this section of TLATL.

And as if to 'confirm' this, I pulled this card today...

It's da Vinci's study of the Virgin's hand, and this is what the Da Vinci Enigma Tarot book says about this card., quoting from da Vinci's notebooks:

The actions of hands and arms must be connected to the intention of the mind that moves them. Whoever has a sympathetic understanding will follow the lead of his intentions in the motions of his hands. Unmotivated gestures look empty and meaningless, but through the fusion of the body with the mind, gestures become significant. (p. 118)

'Unmotivated gestures look empty and meaningless...' how true is that, on so many levels???

And, I can honestly say I am very motivated to learn many things in the next few weeks on this e-course (I've even created a new blog page tab called 'Unearth' that's empty at the moment - ready and waiting...)

And to show another aspect of 'intentions', here's me 'intently' working on a drawing the other day... Clearly, working with my left hand - even after 7 years - still demands my full attention!!!

photo by Kate Robinson at The Queen of Creativity

Focus on Life Week 25: Be colourful!

It's been a fun, busy week...

A dear blogfriend, whom I've known online for about 10 years but never met, came to stay for a few days while she's in the UK researching her grandparents' story.

Here's the lovely Kate making colourful art on Thursday...

She had fun playing with my big box of crayons, and I've added a colourful border to the pic :-)

She's now visiting other online friends before she returns to the US next week - a short, but very sweet, visit!!

Word for the Week

Yesterday was a tad manic - getting two teens out the door for 9 am exams, then me to hydrotherapy. A really great session, but I did a bit too much and slept a lot of the afternoon...

So here I am today, somewhat refreshed but aching, and ready to pull a Rediscovery Card from the bag...

'Tis a BIG word for this time of the morning!!

From the Old French corage, from cuer 'heart', from Latin cor.

I always like this - that Courage is heart-driven, heart-led. Hence, it's often seen as reckless, foolhardy... Your brain is saying, 'No, you're crazy to go into that burning building, to go back into the firing line to rescue your buddies, to get up in the morning when every muscle fibre in your body is aching, hurting...' But your heart is saying, 'I must do this! It's my job, my duty, my family depends on me...'

There are so many faces of courage, many of them we never see. We never know what private battles people we work with, those we see in the supermarket, pass in the street, are facing, but I'm guessing most of us are more courageous than we realize...

This week's readings in The Lotus and the Lily are about Forgiveness, clearing space in our hearts, our lives for good things to flow, and Forgiveness takes courage - to really forgive, to really let go, to really clear space...

I did a lot of work last year to forgive my mother, to weep over my lost childhood... But throughout this past year her voice, which has echoed in my head for most of my life, has gradually receded and my own voice, my Soulself, has got stronger, and easier to hear.

My hope is that in the coming years, I will have the Courage to give my Voice even more outer expression in drawing/painting, in writing/publishing a book, and this blog is the beginning of this tentative, heart-led life of 

Untie the knot...

Forgiveness

is the cash you need.

All the other kinds of silver really buy

just strange things.

Forgiveness is part of the treasure you need

to craft your falcon wings

and return

to your true realm of

Divine freedom.

Hafiz

Focus on Life Week 24: Have fun!!

Hello again!

I've missed a few weeks having fun with my friend B visiting from the US in May, then I was sick :-(

This week has been full of doctors' appointments (sigh), but I did have lots of fun making this month's Full Moon Dreamboard - see the post below :-)

But back to FoL...

Here's a photo I took on our wedding anniversary back in April, and I've had fun playing with different Picasa filters...

This duotone is my favourite effect - a tad 60s Popart...

Enjoy your weekend xx

Friday 13th - A goddess day :)

Thirteen is the number of the goddess, of abundance, of giving over and above (as in a baker's dozen - 13 rolls instead of 12), hence there is NOTHING unlucky about today!!

And to confirm my conviction, the title of Day 13 in The Lotus and the Lily (pp. 70-73) is 'your grandself! Janet explains:

Just as the honorific Grandmother captures a higher, wiser expression of the motherly qualities of love and grace, and Grandfather resonates with a higher expression of the fatherly qualities of wisdom and protection, GrandSelf resonates with the higher expression of the soul. (p. 71)

Now, this actual term 'GrandSelf' doesn't particularly chime/resonate with me... I prefer my word 'SoulSelf', but the definition is essentially the same. It is the higher, wiser Self who dwells within me... She has to share the space with my Ego (sigh), who always wants to speak first, act first, but I'm learning if I can just pause, breathe, before I act or speak, I can give my SoulSelf chance to step forward, and to speak...

She is the Divine Spark within me - the One to whom I need to give a moment, a second, a chance for her Spark to catch, to light the touch paper of my own inner, divine wisdom...

And amazingly (not!), I pulled this card from the bag today

And this is what The Da Vinci Enigma Tarot book says of the Lady of Air (p.83):

As a shrewd* judge and honest guardian of independence, you are a mother of life who speaks as a friend.

Use your shrewd* perception to see into the heart of things.. Offer your guidance or judgment. Draw upon your past difficult experiences to make things better, rather than to transmit any pain to the present.

Amen to that!!

*I prefer the words 'wise' or 'discerning' to 'shrewd'

June Full Moon Dreamboard

Under this almost (98%) Full Strawberry Moon I made my June Dreamboard last night. I took the photo at 10pm - can't you tell we're approaching the longest day of the year??

So here's the Dreamboard spread...

Once again, I took my journal cues from Amy Palko's Bloom by Moon - choosing to focus on the Celtic calendar, according to which this is an Oak Moon...

I always learn so much reading Amy's ebook, for example - the Gaelic for Oak is duir which means 'door' - and this is a powerful Moon as we stand on the threshold of the height of the year, waiting to step into the second half and counting down to Midsummer, the Summer Solstice, the longest day of the year.

So here, on the left-hand page, we have a Full Moon under which I've written:

Gaelic for oak is duir - door. Stepping into 2nd half of 2014...Powerful place to stand

under which is a beautifully carved oak door bearing the name of the month and a paper butterfly. Under this are two wee images I found in my stash of a keyhole and a set of keys...

Top right of the page is a B&W photo from Countrylife magazine of a castle ruin, on which I've stuck words from a vintage ad 'Gateways to the "Land of Enchantment"', a cut-out orange oak leaf, and a piece of cotton ribbon saying 'follow your dream'. 

Bottom right is a page from my quote-a-day 2014 calendar with these wise words:

It's not where you take things from - it's where you take them to.

Jean-Luc Godard

On the right-hand page there are two postcards of Greg Spalenka's artwork, which I bought several years ago - I love this man's work!!
On the left-hand one, I've stuck a wee Rumi quote: May you stay in your infinity.

And on the right-hand one, a piece of a magazine advert - Window on the new - if you enlarge the photo you can an art fairy/sprite (with palette wings!) painting a landscape through an arched window she's drawn on the blank wall...

Underneath are several small images - a flower and girl dancing under which is this quote:

Just to be is a blessing.

Just to live is holy.

Abraham Heschel

And a butterfly, the words 'Beautiful by nature' from a magazine advert, another page from my calendar declaring 'Believe in your Dreams', on which I've stuck more cotton ribbon with the words carpe diem stamped on it...

Phew!!

Actually, I found making this Dreamboard very energizing and very exciting...

I'm really looking forward to the second half of 2014. I do sense I'm on the threshold of something... I feel I hold the keys to open the heavy, oak door onto something new and exciting... if I'm brave enough to use them...

I'd love to hear what you think of this Full Oak Moon, the Summer Solstice, what you think the rest of 2014 may hold for you... 

xxx

PS I found this quote and just to share it - Molly-cat was definitely acting a tad crazy last night...

WOYWW 262

I've still got a clean and tidy desk :-) But I've now added a new chair bought on Saturday, as my body's more stable these days and finally I can cope with an office chair with wheels...

I can now scoot between the desk and the art cupboard - hooray for me!!

On the desk is my first project on the newly tidied desk...

I took this £1 lined journal, which I got from the Craft Discount store on our anniversary shopping trip back in April, and revamped the cover...

Much more me :)

I'm using it every day as I work through The Lotus and the Lily (there's a button in the sidebar). The quote at the top reads,

Just don't give up trying to do what you really want to do. Where there is love and inspiration, I don't think you can go wrong.

Ella Fitzgerald

And I used a tag which I've had for simply ages (I never throw paper stuff away!) which reads: 'wishing you fresh inspiration each day!' as a bookmark. I think it's from a postcard swap from the other year reading the note on the other side - thanks Maggie :-)

I hope to visit more desks gathered over at Julia's than I managed last week... fingers crossed...
xxx

PS This is why I love Etsy sooo much...

This arrived yesterday beautifully wrapped by Susie

It's a handmade BIG folio sketchbook I ordered at the weekend...

I'm going to have so much fun slapping paint on these big, beautiful, Saunders Waterford hand-poured pages!

Spirit winks...

One of my favourite quotes is

There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.

Albert Einstein

Today's chapter in The Lotus and the Lily pp. 56-60) is about the times when Spirit winks - the 'little' coincidences of every day, as well as the BIG miracles of our lives...

The miracle that if the blockage in my brain had been 2 cms to the right, I wouldn't even be alive today, or at best I'd be 'locked in' a coma...

The coincidence that today's reading in my usual daily blessings book...

... is this lovely quote:

The roses under my window make no reference to former roses or better ones; they are what they are; they exist with God today. There is no time to them. There is simply the rose; it is perfect in every moment of its existence.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

May I live today as the rose - as if everything is a miracle...

Word for the Week

I've just drawn a great card from Mary's Rediscovery Cards

I was certainly raised with the adage 'Honesty is the best policy', although as I got older I quickly realized that you could be TOO honest, and actually some gentle compassion was often better than brutal honesty! Does your friend really want to know if her bum looks too big in her new jeans???

I've also learnt that the most important honesty is self-honesty - to seek to always ask myself to be honest, to be true to what I really want, really feel. This has been a ongoing, difficult strategy for a lifelong people-pleaser. I was in my 40s before I realized it was OK to do, say, what I wanted, and that I could say 'No' sometimes...

I am also trying to be honest with myself as I work through The Lotus and the Lily this month, and to honestly look at the choices I've made and not chastise myself, but look at them, accept them, learn from them, then let them go...

Yesterday's and today's entries have been about looking at the past, owning it, learning from it, seeing the gifts in it, and then letting it go...

This is NOT easy!!!

But I'm heartened by today's Bone Sigh from Terri St Cloud which arrived in my email box...

... it's tough to accept that I am a gift - especially when as I child I was always told I was mistake, I was born too soon (my mother was only 19, and had only been married to my dad for just over 10 months when I was born...)

But if I'm honest with myself, if I choose to listen to my Soul's voice rather than my mother's(!), I can begin to accept I am a gift, and that in offering myself to those who value me 'and leaving the others to themselves', I can grow, my gifts and talents can grow, and my value and purpose in the world can increase...

This is the kind of HONESTY I am seeking to cultivate, and I'd honestly love to know what you think of when you see this word :-)

Stop and savour...

Today's focus in Day 7 of The Lotus and the Lily (pp. 37-40) is to look back at the first week and to savour, and give thanks for, all I've thought, learnt, experienced this week.

So it was just perfect that today's card is The Hermit - which could be a self-portrait of Leonardo in a quiet reflective mood...

I am mindful that this is my natural, my default, position - I'm always ready, and keen, to stop and reflect... Trouble is, it has its disadvantages, as I don't get an awful lot actually done - I think and reflect too much!!

And I know part of the reason is I'm fearful - I'm anxious, nervous of failing, of making a mess of anything I try to do - so often I think/reflect myself out of even trying...

Yesterday's chapter in TLATL was about fear, and I realized if I'm to experience Inner Peace, I need to Fear Less...

Last night, I watched this movie

I love James Franco, and he certainly looks remarkably like James Dean - swoon...*sigh*

I then watched a couple of Youtube interviews with James Franco. He is something of a Renaissance man - acting, writing (fiction, memoir, poetry), studying (he's doing a PhD at Yale), teaching, painting, drawing...

But his big thing is he does stuff he's interested in. As he says, he knows he's not THE best ever writer, poet, painter, but he's always trying to be the best HE can be, and he's not afraid to fail, as he's always learning and improving - practising his craft!!

And this is it, I think - the Inner Peace comes from trying, tasting, experimenting, keeping your interests alive... And then taking time out to look at, savour, reflect on all you've tried, failed at and learned from.

Fear paralyzes, but Peace frees.

Prayer...

Today's card, which is now placed on my June altar, and today's entry in The Lotus and the Lily is 'write your own prayer' (p.27).

Most of the time, my prayers are not verbal... they are deeply connected to my breathing...

So for today I verbalized, as I lit the candle and placed today's card on my altar:

Gentle Spirit, your renewing power in only ever a breath away...

Breathe in Light,

Breathe out despair.

Breathe in Renewal,

Breathe out exhaustion.

Breathe in Peace,

Breathe out turmoil.

May I be blessed with Inner Peace, Outer Purpose.

Amen.

More thoughts...

... on yesterday's and today's readings from The Lotus and the Lily on being my own priest/shaman and creating my own ritual (pp. 17-26).

Reading this book throughout June, and pulling a card from The Da Vinci Enigma Tarot are daily rituals in themselves. Also, every day I tear a page from my 2014 calendar, and here's today's...

... rather appropriate as it's pouring down today!!

And here's today's card...

... again rather appropriate as the whole point of ritual - or spiritual practice, if you prefer - is union between the human and the Divine. 

I've always felt more at home with the mystics, rather than the established Church, as they always knew they could have union with the Divine without an intermediary. They instinctively knew they were their own priests/shamans...

I recently joined Flock - a gathering of like-minded souls hosted by Rachelle Mee-Chapman - and the month of June's 'ritual' is about preparing for the Summer Solstice and letting more light into our days - and our lives. Rachelle encouraged us to make our own June altar, and here's mine

The focus is a painting I recently purchased from Tara Leaver's Studio Sale - a piece I've had my eye on for months!! These four words are very powerful to me, as I seek/crave Inner Peace, Outer Purpose...

Lighting a candle is always a ritual for me, as my natural, default state is quite dark and melancholy. Yet I always know I can access light and hope, as even a stuttering candle flame is enough to dispel darkness and make light and hope my focus.

And each day, as I draw a card, I place it on this simple altar... Today's card is perfect for my desire to have union with the Divine, the Light, and my desire for Inner Peace, Outer Purpose. This simple ritual has great meaning as I place these things in my line of sight as a physical reminder throughout this month of my inner hopes and dreams...

WOYWW 261

This is what greeted my dear friend Brenda when she arrived from California 3 weeks ago...

... and this is how she left it - what a star!! She really is an organization wizard, and she's wonderful at helping me to decide what I really want to keep!

I haven't dared touch it since! Mind you, I've been suffering from a bad cold since she left on 21 May, hence I totally missed the WOYWW 5th birthday celebrations! I bet you all had a great time, and I look forward to visiting all your desks gathered over at Julia's Stamping Ground :)

Thoughts...

Day 2 (p. 11, The Lotus and the Lily) 
Today's entry was all about not being alone... Janet is a big believer in angels and guides, I'm less so...

I do believe we can 'entertain angels unawares' - usually a fellow human helping us in some way - but I'm cautious about those who claim to receive angelic messages...

I'm also open to animals helping humans, and the bond many of us share with out pets is deeply special and difficult to describe in words...

And yes, I do use tarot/oracle cards on a regular basis - not to see into the future (why would I want to?), but to gain insight/perspective on the present.

Yesterday, I dug out a tarot deck I've had for years, and today I drew not one, but two cards stuck together...

... the Three of Air (Trials), showing da Vinci's sketch of St Sebastian, and the Six of Fire (Victory) showing his study of the Trivulzio monument.

Clearly, Life in a nutshell - trials and victories, two sides of the same coin... can we have one without the other?? Most days are a mixture of both, large and small trials and victories, hardship and joy... Most days I vacillate between feeling totally alone, and knowing I am deeply connected...

But always I close my eyes at the end of the day, with a grateful heart and a prayer on my lips...

Word for the Week

Phew! Finally back to blogging and more or less feeling back to 'normal'... 
My sinuses are still congested, and my energy reserves depleted, but I'm ready to start a new month (Hello June!), and a new week...

This week's card pulled from the bag of Mary Lunnen's Rediscovery Cards is this lovely, lovely word

I am a perpetual student and nothing gives more pleasure than learning something - and I just LOVE that purple background :-)

It just so happens to be the same colour as the title of the book I started reading yesterday...

... and this is book I'll be reading each day in June. 

I adored Janet's first book and was lucky enough to study online with her last year. She is a very wise woman, and I just know I will learn/experience/change A LOT working through this 30-day Soul Programme (sorry, I'm a Brit and there are only computer programs!) 

My hope is to post most days with snippets of what I'm reading/learning so far...

It's just so good to be back blogging again - I've missed you all!!

And I'd love to know what this new Word for the Week means to you...

What have you been learning so far this year? Can you believe we're almost halfway through 2014??!!