Word for the Week

It's been a couple of weeks since the last Word, but I've been practising my flexibility about posting... working around erratic internet connections and my 'need' to blog.

So here's this week's Rediscovery Card pulled from the bag...

... a truly wonderful Word, something I'm always seeking - clarity of thought, of vision, of direction...

It's the same rich orange background as Honesty, which is no coincidence, as I think one relates to, and informs the other. I know I see and think more clearly when I'm honest with myself about what I truly want/need.

And it's the colour of the Sacral Chakra - the seat of our passion and creativity in the deep pit of the belly...

Image from here.

In the pursuit of Clarity, I'm planning something of a change in August. I'm signed up for both this (with a focus on images) and this (focussing on words). I don't know what will result, but I'm open to whatever may occur... 

I'm hopeful that after a month of wide-ranging openness, my senses will sharpen and refocus on what is truly important to me and I shall be blessed with Clarity of purpose and direction...

I'd love to know your thoughts on this week's Word... What does Clarity mean to you?

Focus on Life Week 30: Celebrate YOU by documenting a moment of life

I don't know if it was the fact Sally used the word 'document' in this week's prompt, but this is me documenting addresses from my old address book onto new cards which are kept in a gorgeous East of India wooden box - with a little help from my wee angel :)

Even though handwriting's still a challenge, who doesn't like receiving REAL mail??

And if anyone in the group would like a note from England, just drop me an email using the Contact Form - let's celebrate keeping in touch by documenting moments of our lives in real letters and cards!!

Paint Party Friday

Still playing with pastels...

... portrait attempt from a photo - looks more like her mother, though! I need to firm up her chin and deepen the shading on her face. And I must get some proper paper for pastels - watercolour paper doesn't cut it!!

And a bit of play in my art journal counting down to the new moon tomorrow :-)

Joining the party here

Focus on Life Week 29: Celebrate sweetness!

Sorry, I've missed a couple of weeks - terrible internet connection *sigh*

So I'm hoping it stays around long enough for me to post this....

My dear friend, Jane came for coffee - it was her 50th birthday the other week, so I surprised her with a candle in her flapjack :-) 

The perfect subject for this week's theme!

This was in her birthday parcel, if you're curious :-)

Paint Party Friday

Been absent for a while - but I hope to visit the party more regularly now...

Playing with colour - first, making a colour wheel with my pastels - not as easy as you'd think, especially on watercolour paper(!) - needed several layers, and made a lot of dust!!

Then to actual watercolour - just love the contrasting 'emotion' of the pages... the power of colour :-)

Join the party over here!

It came in a dream...

... in a night of tossing and turning...

l i s t e n

s      e

t            l           i 

n      

s i l e n t

  

The same 6 letters make up the words 'listen' and 'silent' - how have I never seen that before??

I am already sensing 'listen' is my Word for 2015... I'm also wondering if my 'year' actually runs from Summer Solstice to Summer Solstice - I've always been more in sync with the Celtic calendar than the Gregorian!

This also ties in with my July Dreamboard and the wise insights folk have left in their comments....

The questions are answered by the silence deep within each of us - we just need to listen....

July Full Moon Dreamboard

This was the first of three 'perigee' supermoons, as the Earth and the Moon are closer together - it certainly was very bright at its fullest on Saturday!

Due to my erratic internet connection, I haven't been able to post this month's dreamboard before now, so here it is

This is a Holly Moon, as the Celtic Holly King defeated the Oak King at the Summer Solstice and now reigns over the waning year...

Amy Palko's journal prompts suggested looking at the phrase 'coming back to the Source', and what it may mean. This was in my heart and mind as I made my dreamboard, and I notice there is quite a balance between words and images...

Left-hand page
Top right is a Man Ray image of Lee Miller on a blossom background with a quote by Ingrid Goff Maidoff

The world sparks and hums with radiance. Even when we fail to notice all still shimmers and shines.

Underneath are with words 'Emotions in Dreams' and a lovely image of a dreamcatcher girl under a full moon (I don't know who it's by), and an engraved image of a rustic study room.

Under that is a page from my quote-a-day calendar

Live your questions now, and perhaps even without knowing it, you will live along some distant day into your answers.

Rainer Maria Rilke

Then towards the spine of my dreamboard journal is a black & white image of a wooded lake, a small painting of a woman, and Greg Spalenka postcard on which I've stuck a Yogi tea tag with the words 'The beat of your heart is the rhythm of your soul', and the words 'Touch the deep knowing within you'. I also drew a spiral over the solar plexus of the image - that's wear I 'feel' my knowledge :-)

Right-hand page

Top right is a lovely Polaroid of a barn and a field of flowers (from an old desk calendar, I think) on which I've stuck this quote

You must return with the bliss and integrate it... The return is seeing the radiance everywhere.

Joseph Campbell

Looking at it now, I'm struck by how it reflects the quote on the left-hand page in the same spot!

Under this, there's a striking image of a weeping moon and a girl catching the tears in a bowl (again, I don't know where it's from). 

Next to it I've written out this quote on a journal card

Learn to get in touch with silence within yourself. And know that everything in this life has a purpose.

Elizabeth Kubler-Ross

And underneath is a lovely printed journal card with the words 'Finding the Artist Within Me'.

To the edge of the page is another striking image of two figures opening a box of stars... It looks like the work of the same artist of the weeping moon image.

Under that is a wee sketch by a favourite artist, Cathy Cullis, and another page from my quote-a-day calendar which reads

Deep in their roots all flowers keep the light.

Theodore Roethke

I'm seeing some definite themes as I look at it now - deep dark and radiant light, silence and knowing, questions and answers...

It's all there - at the Source...

I'd love to know what you think as you see my Dreamboard, and was the Holly Moon extra-bright in your sky last Saturday?

Word for the Week

July is proving to be a strange month...

After the busyness of April (Easter, my 50th birthday, our Silver Wedding anniversary), May (kids' exams - A levels and GCSEs), B's visit from the States and June (Kate's visit to the UK and Ireland, Wimbledon, the World Cup), it's strangely quiet...

Yet, A LOT is stirring inside me - most of which I can't verbalize. Hence I've been somewhat absent from Blogland (mainly due to terrible internet connections - for 4 days we were without TV, landline and internet - the downside of getting services from just one supplier!)

But all this is encapsulated in the Rediscovery Card I pulled from the bag this morning

The background's the same rich purple as Acceptance, Purpose and Learning - not a coincidence, I think! 

My physical body isn't very flexible - especially the paralyzed side - but my spirit needs to be... It needs to adapt to life changes (turning 50, being married longer than I've been single, our son going away to college...), not to mention erratic internet connections!!! 

And I know it's been said so many times before, but a tree is a perfect example of flexibility... Its branches bend and flex to the prevailing winds, yet it stands firm - if its root network is wide and deep enough...

Image copyright geologywales.co.uk

I'm sensing I need to work on my root network (whatever that may mean), if I'm to practice flexibility... I'm hoping you'll bear with me if my blog posts prove to be somewhat erratic over the next few weeks... 

I'd love to know what this word means to you - do share :-)

WOYWW 265

Short and sweet, exactly as Julia likes these posts to be :-)

Back on the dining table this week to spread out all my pastels...

I put on this album (a new favourite - I just play it on repeat), and let the music take me on a little journey in a old paper bag journal I got years ago...

I'm really enjoying my art e-course - this week feels much freer :)

Hoping to visit more desks over at the Stamping Ground - the internet connection's much better this week!