Inspired

365 Grateful

I’ve been thinking of doing a "365" project for a few years now (I know, I don't exactly rush into things!).  I hadn’t gone ahead with it because the idea sort of, ok, completely intimidated me…I’ve done month long projects several times and have found that although I’ve been thrilled with how many photographs I’ve taken and excited by the challenge of pushing myself to “see” things in my world that might otherwise have gone unnoticed,  by the end of a month of doing this daily, I’ve always been relieved when the pressure is off!   So with that in mind, I was hesitant to push it to a whole year!

The other day I came across Haley’s site at You Can’t Be Serious!  In 2009 she decided to do a gratitude journal with Polaroid photo’s and opened it up to others to join her on a Flickr site.  Two years later, she’s now teamed up with film maker Toni Powel and together they’re working on creating a film of the same name.  I've sporadically kept a gratitude journal but the idea of a photo/gratitude journal appealed to me.  Although I don’t have an actual Polaroid camera, I do have a phone/camera with a polaroid app!  This appealed to me even more because it’s something I always have with me and it also eliminates the need to do any post processing…the app photo is funky and fun just as it is.  It sets the tone for the focus to be on the gratitude rather than a technically “good” photograph...which takes away a lot of my "self imposed" pressure.

The “scrapbook” is a  Blurb Book and I’ve set it up so that the PDF pages are ready to go and can be added to Blurb as I go along. (the photo's below can be clicked on to enlarge)

 

…the cover

 

…introduction

 

…and a first few pages

 

 

I liked the idea of creating a “scrapbook” style of book with the faux polaroids…they just seem to work well together.  The templates for both the left and right pages are already made, so I just need to copy the photograph, “drop” it in, and write my few lines of journaling.

 

Time will tell just how easy (or not) this is for me to keep up, but I love the whole idea of bookmaking so much that I’m sure I’ll make it through, even if I stall with the pages now and then!  I'd be interested in knowing if any of you have done a 365 photography project of any kind and how it went.

 

What you focus on expands, and when you focus on the goodness in your life, you create more of it. Opportunities, relationships, even money flowed my way when I learned to be grateful no matter what happened in my life.

- Oprah Winfrey

 

…and always dear friends, I thank you and am so grateful that you’ve stopped by today…

Big Dreams

 

A few posts back, you may remember that I had fun dreaming really BIG about “my other life” .  It was a great exercise for me as I’ve realized that I’ve actually dreamt very small for most of my life.  A lot of those pictures and ideas were fun to play with but it’s not necessarily about the specifics,  it was about believing that I CAN dream really, really big.  That it’s OK to dream really, really big. This post also got my friend Olivia thinking about this subject as well and you might want to read what she had to say about it here.

I’ve done a lot of thinking about this in the last several months and I’ve had to ask myself why I’ve needed to limit myself so much.  Our lives are created by our beliefs…we get what we are willing to believe is possible but so many of our beliefs are subconsious…we’re often not even aware of what they are until we do some excavating….which is exactly what I’ve been doing!  I’ve been digging around in my beliefs with a big back  hoe and have been surprised at some of what has been brought to the light of day.  I’ve found I believed that…

 

 

...life is a struggle, just for the basics…so believing in dreams is a waste of time.

...having “big” dreams isn’t grounded in reality.  Have you ever heard anyone disparagingly say “oh he's just a dreamer”?

...having big dreams for myself is selfish…there are so many with so little, how could I possibly be so selfish as to want more?

...dreaming really, really big will bring expectations from others and I might fail.

...if I really did create my big dreams, it would draw attention to myself and I wouldn’t be able to play small any more.  It feels safe to play a smaller game.

That’s not to say that I’ve never dreamed and never achieved any goals.  I have and lots of them but I’ve realized that I’ve let old programming hold me back in many areas.   I’ve let outdated beliefs and lineage beliefs (that are passed down in families) keep me small.  It’s felt safe to stay small.

I’ve been doing a lot of naval gazing…(it’s who I am!)…and have been writing down all the beliefs I have that are holding me back or keeping me small. I’ve also been doing  EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique), sometimes simply called “Tapping”,  with everything on my list!  I’m so impressed with this technique and how effective it is...I’ll write more on this in another post. 

Why am I doing all this?  We all hold baggage and I’ve simply grown tired of it.  It’s become heavy and tiring and with the energies on the planet being as intense as they are right now, we’re being encouraged to lay the baggage down and walk away from it.  In fact if we insist on holding on to it, we create resistance and in that resistance we make things harder than they need to be.  It’s time for all of us to learn how to dream big and let ourselves shine.  The world needs our shine!

"Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.

It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.

We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?

Actually, who are you not to be?

You are a child of God.

Your playing small does not serve the world.

There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you.

We are all meant to shine, as children do.

We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us.

 It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone.

And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.

As we're liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."

Marrianne Williamson, A Return to Love: Reflections on the Principles of "A Course in Miracles"

Shine on with your big dreams, dear friends!

 

Five Senses Friday

 

Five Senses Friday 

Seeing: 

These Chakra Flags hanging between two trees in my back yard.  I bought them just over a year ago on a weekend trip to Milwaukee and finally hung them this week.  They’re made by Jen of Jendala, who was attending the same conference as I was and I instantly fell in love with them.  I needed them.  Seriously, I wasn’t leaving Milwaukee without them.   Jen is a very talented and inspired artist (living and working in California) who’s media is metal and her tool, a hand torch.  Her work is a reflection of her belief that there is a connection between creativity, the environment and universal growth.

 

Hearing:

The sweet tinkling of above mentioned bells in the breeze.

 

Tasting

Licorice allsorts…oh yes.

 

Smelling:

I’ve been walking my local roads and rural acreages where there are many older, well established gardens.  The blossoms on the trees are intoxicating and the apple blossoms in particular have been transporting me back to the years of growing up in a beautiful valley of orchards.   It’s always amazing to me how scent can do that!

 

Feeling:

Good.  Positive. Empowered.  YES!

In My Other Life…

My home is in Hawaii…right on the ocean shore…

 

where I paint like this with bright colours,

 

in my sun drenched studio.

 

I have another home in Provence, in France

 

very near to here…where I often walk (wouldn’t you?),

 

and we often zip on down to our place on the Amalfi coast in Italy to catch the sea breezes.  Oh how I love Italy!  I can picture you and I sitting on those white chairs sipping a cool drink, can you?

 

Whenever I’m in Paris, my friends and I know the very best place to find the most amazing macarons

 

We nibble them while we sip pink champagne in silly tea cups that make us giggle!

 

And in my other life I can eat wheat so I have lots of these (so gourmet!)

 

I surround myself with the most beautifully scented flowers…all year round.

 

and I can wear shoes like this all day and they never, ever hurt my feet!

 

On my birthday my husband always brings home the sweetest surprises! 

(He’s a-m-a-zing)

 

and did I mention I love macarons…a lot?

 

….yet I still look like this. 

 

I’m on the road a lot…there’s just so much to see.  There’s a path in China to hike

 

rice paddies in Bali to explore….

 

the monks of Luang Probang in Laos to greet in the morning,

 

and a cave hotel in Turkey, to sleep in.

 

but always,  I come back home to this…

 

…and this.

 

It’s all good.

 

I found this lovely diversion, on Kate’s Chronicles of a Country Girl and it originated with Karen at This Old House where there are other links to other big dreamers to browse through.  I thought I’d let myself dream REALLY BIG, and it was a lot of fun…like a virtual vision board!   Pinterest is a great place to encourage your dreams to flow!

 

Dream big dear friends!

Share The Joy Thursday

…and Friday, Saturday, Sunday…and everyday! With this Thursday post I am sharing the joy with Meri  and others who are on a campaign (or as Abraham would say…a rampage) of joy.

 

Today you are You, that is truer than true,  There is no one alive who is Youer than You. 

Dr. Seuss

Today I am grateful for the uniqueness of life…of my life…just like these Fritilaria blossoms with the sweet little checkerboard pattern all over their petals.  There have been times in my life…for most of it in fact…that I’ve not been too happy about the fact that I always felt so different from everyone else.  When we’re younger, we want to fit in, blend in and be the same as those around us.  We become amazingly adept at  morphing and  covering up those difference but in the process, we often end up forgetting who we really are…and ironically it’s our uniqueness that is actually our most precious gift to the world. 

Our lives become an often painful process of peeling away the layers to remember and to find our true essence.  That beautiful and utterly precious essence of each of us…and not just find it, but love it (ahh…now there’s the crunch!).

So, do you have checkerboard patterns rather than monochrome? Are you rose madder when everyone else is red?  Are you triangular when everyone else looks round?  Well let me tell you…you should see my Caribbean blue and lemon yellow, polka dotted  hexagon! 

 

Don't be satisfied with stories, how things have gone with others. Unfold your own myth.

Rumi

 

I love the idea of unfolding my own myth!

 

Happy Mother’s Day!

Happy Mother’s Day to all you beautiful mother’s and to all those who have ever loved and nurtured a child.

On this Mother’s Day, I’m re-posting a few of the art pieces that I’ve done over the last six years since my mother has no longer been with me.

…a digital piece that I did about 5 years ago (you can click it to enlarge)

 

…an alter box made for Stephanie’s Dia de los Muertos celebration about 3 years ago.

 

 …a mixed media collage which was part of a series I did using old family photographs (my mom is the one with pants)

 

…and a video that I made for Mother’s day three years ago.  These art pieces were all “labour's of love” that have helped me not only remember her but also get to know her better even after she was gone.

Have a lovely day and give your mom a squeeze is she’s still with you.  If not, give her a “mind squeeze” anyway…I’m sure she’ll feel it!

Blessings to you all dear friends,

Life...

 

When life is sweet, say thank you and celebrate.

And when life is bitter, say thank you and grow.”

Shauna Niequist

 

Have a beautiful weekend dear friends…whether you’re celebrating or growing.  I wonder if we can do both at the same time – celebrate the bitter growth? 

I believe we can, but it requires great courage!

 

 

 

Passing By...

 

 

This sweet little church (St. Anne’s Catholic Church) sit’s in a narrow valley near a small town…just a village really…called Hedley, in the southern interior of BC.  It’s actually just east of Hedley in the Chuchuwayha Indian Village.

I’ve driven past this church at least a hundred times in the past forty years and for the past twenty, I’ve wanted to stop and take a photograph…but we always seem to be in a hurry; a deadline to meet, a ferry to catch.  There’s no easy place to pull over and I haven’t wanted to intrude on the people of the reserve. They likely wouldn’t mind if we pulled in and stopped to take a  picture, but I’ve been hesitant.

On my last trip to the interior to visit my dad this past March, I took this shot from the car window as we were wizzing past!  It’s not a great shot but I was so glad I did it.  I’m now totally pumped to stop when we return later this summer, and take the time to actually focus the camera!! 

I think forty years is long enough to want to do something and not do it.  In fact, forty years is far too long for me to pass something by and not stop to act on my yearnings!

Is there something that you’ve been wanting to do for a long time…perhaps just a small something…that you haven’t yet done?

 

 

(the sun is shining on this end of the island and it's actually starting to warm up a bit...hooray!)