Saturday, November 28, 2015

blessings...and ideas

an idea...

many ideas....meander through thoughts and memories....trickles through....fear and doubt....and can lose the power it has....

take out the fear and doubt.....


take your idea...and make it happen.






create.  

that little idea...a small seed....sprouts with action and love....



and becomes something for the world to feel.


feed the seed with love...and not fear.









and it will grow....

and spread love....

have confidence in your ideas...and make them happen.  you are blessed with so much....


peace and love...and seeds and light bulbs...lighting up the world and shining the light on

all things,

bright and beautiful.













Friday, November 27, 2015

wild hairs...

sometimes...i get a wild hair to change something...and usually it's my hair color, because...well...it seems the most

benevolent thing to change.   you know....when you get the need to change something... I dunno....

sometimes you just get a wild hair.



I've been meaning to try purple.  just for the hell of it...


it doesn't seem very christmassy though...

and i am really starting to rev up the Christmas spirit....

and so...well,




here's to being cheeky....


peace and love...and wild purple hairs....
















Wednesday, November 25, 2015

what are words for....





communication is the ultimate thing.....between people.



it is what makes or breaks friendships, relationships...between people.

break it down and seriously think about that.  sometimes you can leave an encounter with someone and feel really good about it...you know...that really good feeling where something special just happened and you shared more than just words.  I walked into a store on one of the first days that I arrived in my new town and made friends with the person working there....instantly....felt like I had already known her....

and then there are those really awkward encounters....communication lost in misunderstandings....

so many variables....maybe someone just has really poor communication skills...you know...like they don't know how to do that....shallow-polite-and socially accepted small talk communication.  Or maybe both people are fine communicators, but they have very little in common, or have very little interest in each other...there's no give and take....or you have two narcissists only trying to talk about themselves...and each just trying to monopolize the conversation....and try to convince themselves that what they have to say is more important....it is endless...the scenarios...the situations, the communication, the utterances...and judgements...

it makes me think of that song....by Missing Persons.....Words...


Do you hear me ?
Do you care 

My lips are moving and the sound's coming out 
The words are audible but I have my doubts 
That you realize what has been said 
You look at me as if you're in a daze 
It's like the feeling at the end of the page 
When you realize you don't know what you just read 

What are words for when no one listens anymore 
What are words for when no one listens 
What are words for when no one listens it's no use talkin at all 

I might as well go up and talk to a wall 
'cause all the words are having no effect at all 
It's a funny thing am I all alone 

Something has to happen to change the direction 
What little filters through is giving you the wrong impression 
It's a sorry state I say to myself 




you know...it is very frustrating talking to someone who only wants to hear themselves speak...what is the purpose of the interaction....you might as well let the person talk to themselves about themselves....right?

but once in a while....something clicks...and a clear channel happens....one that seems to elevate above words uttered....it goes above and beyond intonation....it even transcends body language and non-verbal messages.

and you know when this happens....how important communication is or just how important really good interactions are to the growth of trust and support.


a continued string of really crappy communication and shallow interactions results in what?  you know?  those aren't the people you keep around....they get weeded out pretty quick....

i dunno...maybe I analyze communication too much.

OF COURSE I DO....I'm a linguist....

but also...it's one of those things....the things we take in and evaluate and really use to feel people out...

what they say and how they say it....

it's like we're little sea anemones walking around and sending out our little feelers....gently guiding us through life and figuring out if someone is a friend or foe....

I think as we progress through life we start getting a pretty good rubric for assessing these things....and situations....and

communication....is how we interact with each other....communication in all forms....verbal and non-verbal...we are social creatures so.....communication is....seriously important to the health of a relationship.


when you tap into a clear channel...it feels like the static just turned off.

and that is....

good stuff.












Tuesday, November 24, 2015

Englishman in New York....

I was going to talk about two way streets today.....but I'm going to hold off on that...






I'm listening to Sting....I love him.   Englishman in New York came on....it's a dreary fall day...but somehow....

and for very little reason...there's a feeling I'm feeling....of a really weird electricity in the air....one that speaks of change and

great successes.....and for this conclusion....I have no supporting cause....but for some reason...utter faith in the fact of it all.

is that possible?  My son is sick today...and I've had to run around and take him to the doctor...and watch how his little eyes.....get watery as he coughs and how his eyes, his little innocent eyes express his pain....when he swallows...and his little head is hot from fever....

and then off to the pharmacy to wait and wait and wait with him as he looks so tired.....and tote him around to the UPS store because we have to get something notarized....

and then....just... all of those things...and the weather...would quite normally make me feel....

spent.

but for some reason....today.....




today....has promises that whisper in the air....things I can't decipher with ears but enter my soul....

and I received an awesome package in the mail today....so that has helped with taking the dreariness out of the gray day....

but really...

it's about faith.  because when you feel faith in what you can't see.....it is incredible.

there is a peace that washes over you.....that you don't need a net because you know you won't fall.

if that makes sense....then...yay.  because so very little can make sense....until you just strip it down to the bone....

but once you see the bare minimum of what is really necessary....for happiness....you notice that it was there all along...

and having the faith that it is there and always will be....

all lost is found. 


"if I ever lose my faith in you.....there'd be nothing left to do..." -Sting




peace...and love and happiness....



(portrait, by Tom De Bondt) 


Wednesday, November 18, 2015

get a bigger bite...

when we were moving here....





the movers arrived and started loading up the boxes in the house....they were machines...these guys.  Box after box....unload...load...unload.....

and a couple guys were moving a couch and communicated and worked together- totally in sync.

I heard one guy pause and say, "let me get a bigger bite on it..."  meaning....he had to get a better grasp....a better hold on the couch...it was slipping...


of course....just....I hang on stuff like that.   words....and phrases....metaphors...analogies....words and sounds that further illustrate our creativity with language and our ability to receive messages....


sometimes you gotta pause....and get a bigger bite on it...on all of it.  life.  sometimes the thing you feel you  have a good grasp on...is slipping in your hand....and you need to pause....

get a bitter bite.

so yeah.   that's my message for the day.  I haven't blogged in a long time....and I'm going to get better  at that....

because I had a cool thing going...so for now...you will see a mix of new and old posts....


and i've noticed a routine in the morning....I find a picture....one that has cool shapes and angles....and then I sketch it....practice....practice...practice....

it makes me focus on something and put heart into something for 10 minutes....it makes me warm up and find my breath and just.....be on a really cool ride.




and when I get off the ride...I realize....I just got a bigger bite on it...


peace...and love....and all that jazz....











Monday, November 9, 2015

anahata

the word, anahata, is a sanskrit word...and it means...






unstruck,
unhurt,
unbeaten.




a calmness, a stillness, a heart that is balanced, serene....

the heart chakra is represented by the lotus flower...and in the middle...in the center, is the overlapping form of male and female.





where love is balanced....the heart is unselfish....and wants to spread the love and joy around.

always insightful to read about the many cultures that color and make our collective knowledge brilliant.

all of them....and love is at the center.....the pure feeling of love....inspiring people....

giving hope....

providing comfort....







love.













leap....and the net will appear

leap and the net will appear....

always push the limits.....why?






because it's exhilarating....and it makes you sleep better at night....to be exhausted from stretching....and growing....and climbing and making a difference around you and in you.  

do something today....that you haven't before....create something that makes you leap....taste past the tip of your tongue.....

because your dreams and desires are waiting for you to make that leap.....take that step.


wake up everyone....

Wake up everyone
How can you sleep at a time like this
Unless the dreamer is the real you
Listen to your voice
The one that tells you
To taste past the tip of your tongue
Leap in, the net will appear
I don't wanna wake before
The dream is over
I'm gonna make it mine
I keep my life on a heavy rotation
Requesting that it's lifting you up, up, up and away
And over to a table at the Gratitude Cafe

And I am finally there
And all the angels they'll be singing
Ah la la la, ah la la la
I la la la la love you

(Jason Mraz...  Make it Mine <3)



I'm literally working on 6 things right this minute....almost simultaneously.....


I'm following your joy, Mr. Mraz.



peace...and love....and planting new seeds.... to grow new dreams...because you should be dreaming right now.

big ones.

<3







Wednesday, November 4, 2015

inspired....

it is one of those kind of times....when the avalanche of inspiration picks up speed and won't stop....


it just won't stop.

and it is that kind of night where you have to grab up all the ideas and write yourself many many many reminders....

do not forget that awesome idea you just had....because it is blowing my mind.

the kind of ideas....that make you want to do it RIGHT NOW.  but

alas....

I can't.....so I will just smile and wait until the sun comes up and I can do something about it.




the kind of night that makes you feel giddy with the possibilities....

and never sleep.

today....I went into my favorite coffee shop and handed them a small stretched canvas of a coffee bean...rich with golds and browns and reds.



because I love them and they had to shut down recently for a week because of the HUGE amount of rain we got...and the roof collapsed...

and they are a meeting place....for many people...a place to gather and get caffeine....and...






you gotta love that.


you know what else you just gotta love?




paint.









i'm a purveyor of beauty and hope and desire and love and peace....


and that's me.