Snapshot

Driving home the other day I had to stop and take pictures of my daily view (all I have right now is a camera phone so the quality isn't as fabulous as the mountains are).  It's such a nice transition from work to home when this is what I come home to!  Love those moments when I'm truly present to what's around me ~ what I see is more alive, as am I.

What's alive in your world?

Sewing Your Path

No pattern

I don’t like rules

Just a thought, an image

Envision possibility

Approach with wonder and enthusiasm

Enjoy the process, outcomes are inevitable

Peel through fabric pieces, letting colors and textures call out

Consider all roads

Cut cloth to shape

Sculpt life to suit

Use folds for the bottom due to my skill level

Choose carefully which mountain to climb, which battle to pick

Stitch the sides, inside out

Nurture the parts

Leave a large flap of material for the top & front

Allow self room to grow

Select three fabrics, forms and notions

Simple, clean life

Add a button for decoration, not functionality

Allow for opportunity instead of closure

Examine from all angles before binding the strap

Is the foundation sturdy enough?

A bit flimsy but suited to the purposes of an art bag for my daughter

A lesson in building a solid base of support

Enhance with a hand-sewn fabric flower

Sprinkle with whimsy
 

(don't judge the sewing - I just started teaching myself in November:)  Also, many thanks to Shona @ An Artful Life for her inspiration & tutorials ~ fabric flowers being one of many!)

Gift from the Sea

Interesting that a book written by Annie Morrow Lindbergh in 1955 still holds true today.  She writes in "Gift from the Sea":

For to be a woman is to have interests and duties, raying out in all directions from the central mothercore, like spokes from the hub of a wheel.  The pattern of our lives is essentially circular.  We must be open to all points of the compass; husband, children, friends, home, community; stretched out, exposed, sensitive like a spider's web to each breeze that blows, to each call that comes.  How difficult for us, then, to achieve a balance in the midst of these contradictory tensions, and yet how necessary for the proper functioning of our lives.  ...How desirable and how distant is the ideal of the contemplative, artist or saint-the inner inviolable core, the single eye.
What are your points on the compass? Do you need to change your direction?
(self-advertising for a moment - I will be offering a set of guidebooks by summer about mapping out your journey including Inner Compass, Crossroads and Treasure Chest)
* many thanks to graphics fairy for the image - http://graphicsfairy.blogspot.com/
**did I mention that each comment counts for the book giveaway drawing? :)

Book Notes Giveaway

I've been blog-hopping more than posting for awhile and the generous spirits that I've come across have really resonated with me.  I feel as though I'm waking from a coma (how timely as the snow has melted, the birds are singing and the sun is shining!); I've focused so much on my work for so many years - which abounds with trauma and horror stories - that I forgot to take a look at a much larger world full of beauty.  It's a shock to my system to realize this truth, especially considering that my focus in writing and teaching is about celebrating one's journey...when did I forget to celebrate my own?  I think that's really the heart of the matter; there has been nothing left over between the work that I do (social work with abused/neglected children), daily responsibilities and the inner journey that I left out a key component - the inner journey is enriched, deepened when shared with others. 
As a small token to honor a new commitment of expanding my world, I am offering this adorable book.  "Book Notes" is a reader's journal, hard-bound with numerous quotes and writing pages for the reader for wish lists, books loaned, book logs and favorite words. 

Winner will be chosen @ random from those who post comments on my blog between now and 4/3/10  (I will include in the drawing comments posted to older postings, as long as the post date is between 3/18 to 4/3) or join my new Facebook page - Life Lines Journaling.  Looking forward to hearing from you!

Creative Space

In my last post I talked about lack of focus, inspiration really.  I came across two cool blogs (http://artisticcreationswithtrudy.blogspot.com/ and http://shonastudio.blogspot.com/ ) with some fun crafty ideas, wanted to begin and realized that I need a space of my own.  I need a base that smells, feels and visually inspires me away from the chaos of work, school, appointments, bills ...
 
Do you already have creative space?  If so, please share.  If not, where can you carve this area out for yourself?  Visualize what it would look like - colors, textures, supplies etc.

Focus

So I've been lax this week - I haven't posted or even journaled much.  It was a hard week for numerous reasons and getting through each day was an accomplishment.  I came across a quote that set me straight (right on time for the weekend!):
       Only one thing has to change for us to know happiness in our lives: where we focus our attention.  Greg Anderson

Where does your focus need to be?