"From Within A Place of Stillness"

I am feeling the need to hibernate The trees, the flowers, the plants grow in silence. The stars, the sun, the moon move in silence. Silence gives us a new perspective.

Mother Teresa

"Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened."

Life is what we make it. Always has been, always will be.

- Grandma Moses

We survived The Big Easy! The trip to New Orleans was a blast!

LNPB Leave No Plastic Behind Update

Well I dropped off my quilt piece yesterday. The piece is finished, but not my commitment to continue with the changes I have already implemented decreased plastic use in our home, as well as continue to look for new ways to reduce our use of plastics in our lives. As for the future of my quilt block it looks like this:

Well there will be a few stops for the quilt, starting on Alberta @ Fuel Cafe for First Thursday, then it will be hanging at the new LNPB headquarters on Killingsworth and 19th. It will then travel to the Junk to Funk fashion show on November 14th. We are hoping to have a party soiree for the artists in early December, perhaps for First Thursday in the Pearl, but we're still looking for a space for that at this late date! Then it goes to Hillsboro - Century High School - for an educational project and will likely travel to the Bay Area in California early next year!

Please keep checking back for updates on the project!

What love looks like

There are truly no words to describe this first glimpse picture of Adam & Tiff at the wedding. This is what pure love looks like! I am filled with more joy than I could have ever imagined.

After the dance................

This morning I reflect on last night's reflective dance and the conversation that followed. The dance was a battle between my mind and my body. I tried to be in the mantra "This body, this moment, this space"..............difficult. The image of the autumn as the sky turns dark at this moment this morning this space............the wind blows the trees and the leaves let go.............they don't hesitate, they don't choose.............they let go because they have to, they have no choice. I do. I struggle. Oh to be like the autum leaves on the trees...............to be able just to let go. Let go in this body, in this moment and in this space.........

Thinking about last night's Reflective Dance Practice........

A desire to kneel down sometimes pulses through my body, or rather it is as if my body has been meant and made for the act of kneeling. Sometimes, in moments of deep gratitude, kneeling down becomes an overwhelming urge, head deeply bowed, hands before my face.

Etty Hillesum An Interrupted Life

The Chair Affair is coming again!!!

Wow! I cannot believe an entire year has past and it is time to start thinking about my chair for the Community Warehouse chair affair again! Don't forget to check out the Community Warehouse's new location if you are shopping for something for your home or are looking for an new home for something you are ready are ready to part with. It is a great organization to support either way. I am excited for the artist pre-affair party on November 19th to meet the other artists and of course meet my chair! The ideas are already bouncing around in my head and I have not even met her yet. I will keep you posted as the love affair with my chair unfolds, so check back often...................

LNPB Leave No Plastic Behind Quilt Project

Well today I created my quilt square for the LNPB project using the plastic that I have saved over the past 2 months.I am entitling it Ingredients For Life? I ironed layer upon layer of plastic bags and straws to create a dense mess. There is nothing aesthetic about the piece. I thought it might be pleasing to look at once I began composing it like a mosaic, but after melting it all together, it was clear to me that there can be nothing aesthetic about plastic. It became a true reflection of the mess that plastic creates in our environment. There is no place for it in our lives! I regretfully had to recycle much more plastic that I collect during this time period, that would not even fit into the quilt. This said, I have significantly reduced my purchases of plastic packaged foods, yet still, there were those items I purchased that sadly offered me no choice in packaging. I am still going to strive to make even more changes in my purchasing habits, even if it means changing what items I buy, so that I may consume less plastic.

Patience

Well the wedding of Adam and Tiff has come and gone and I am finally landing back on earth. There was so much emotional energy involved in the entire process of the wedding that I can finally exhale after one of the most wonderful weekends of my life. Each day another memory unfolds and makes the experience grow richer and richer. Now with the days growing cooler and getting darker earlier, I look forward to going inward to my creative space, as my injured hand allows, and create, create, create. That is my calling and I want to answer, yet my pain stands in my way and I have to struggle to find a balance and a way around it. It brings to mind one of my favorite quotes:

"Have patience with everything that remains unsolved in your heart. Try to love the questions themselves, like locked rooms and like books written in a foreign language. Do not now look for the answers. They cannot now be given to you because you could not live them. It is a question of experiencing everything. At present you need to live the question. Perhaps you will gradually, without even noticing it, find yourself experiencing the answer, some distant day. "

Rainer Maria Rilke~~Letters to a Young Poet

The pre wedding celebration!

A wonderful celebration the day before the wedding and our newest member of the family!

With Jenni and Nana there, it could not have been a more wonderful wedding celebration the welcome Tiff into our nest!