This Moon

Those are the same stars, and that is the same moon, that look down upon your brothers and sisters, and which they see as they look up to them, though they are ever so far away from us, and each other.

Sojourner Truth

My goodness this week has been one huge roller coaster ride for me from all aspects of my life. I’m beyond over stimulated! I need a hot bath with bubbles and a candle asap!!

Friday the fifth, the moon will be filled! I figured with all these feels, I’d share some different ways to find the calm in midst of overstimulation.

  • A bath with candle light or with the lights out.
  • dip your head under water
  • calming music
  • use a heated or weighted blanket (there are times I use both at the same time it’s amazing)
  • Find a public speaker who soothes you and listen to them
  • hang upside (I did this as a kid over the edge of my bed lol)
  • sit in a quite space with the lights out
  • practice deep breathing exercises

What calms you when you’re overstimulated?

Soul Hygeine

The purpose of art is washing the dust of daily life off our souls.

Pablo Picasso

Daily life could be absolutely stunning. It could be all you have ever dreamed of and still at the end of the day, you gotta wash your soul. It’s wild. We forget sometimes that even when things are going great, we have to mind our soul hygiene. Having the tough conversations, thinking about goals, thinking about what’s working and what isn’t, and using these as artistic inspo helps to keep a level head throughout life’s ups and downs. Adds value too!

Life and Love

Life without love is like a tree without blossoms or fruit.

Khalil Gibran

I like the word love but I like to use other words that make up the word love. Words like compassion, acceptance forgiveness… When I read quote like this I will initially scroll through my words and fit all the others I can into these quotes. What do you think about the word love? What other words come to mind when you read this quote?

Beyond the Power of Reason

Faith consists in believing when it is beyond the power of reason to believe.

Voltaire

This quote itself is a test of faith. It’s feels like such a bold statement and I needed it!

Beyond the power of reason to believe. Wow. It’s interesting because reason can only bring you so far in this life. There comes a point when you must suspend reason to truly understand our universe. Like in Kafka’s bug story, when we refuse to accept things outside of reason, we leave behind things that are valuable to us, whether we’re willing to admit their value or not. (This analogy only works if you’ve read Kafka’s, The Metamorphosis. Thank you Project Gutenberg for providing access to free ebooks) I won’t give away too much of the story but the point is, faith is a part of this journey called life.

A Message From My Child

“And he said: ‘Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.'”

Matthew 18:3

This weekend I had such an inspiring message sent through my little one. Let me tell you, I saw this woman’s conference and I had to go. I signed up, followed all the directions, and followed up through emails to make sure I was involved because I wanted to be there. For some reason, no matter what I planned, plans kept changing all around me and eventually I had to end up bringing my little one to church. I wasn’t upset at all. I was happy to bring her because she came to help set up and was very helpful. So it was no big deal and thankfully the ladies around me were very understanding. When we get there, she’s so involved: singing, chatting with the other ladies, enjoying breakfast, and all the treats they had to share. So when it came time to listen to the speaker, I brought her into the playroom. She decided she’d rather color at the table with us. So between my mother and I we pulled out every pen we owned and let her do her thing. She’s quite the little creator. At this point the speaker is speaking about how different times are now from the old testament and asks “Isn’t this a great time to be alive?” My little one lifts her head with no hesitation and says, “yes!!” A smile grows across my face and I’m fighting back tears. This is why I was there with her.

Let me explain, I was furious when I got pregnant because I had been trying for 5 years and finally made peace with the fact that I wasn’t going to get pregnant. Decided that was it. I was going to focus on making myself happy. Gym, school, whatever made my little heart happy was going to be done. I was getting fit, connecting with other ladies in the workout classes (I sort of isolated for a while so this was exciting for me) I was all signed up for school. (ANd SO EXCITED TO BE THERE) AND BAM Pregnent! Ohh when I tell you, I was mad at God, that doesn’t even begin to describe it.

Fast forward 4 years later, I’m happy as a pig in poop. Living my best life with my two girls and my husband. And this little girl is conscious of how happy she is to be born at this time. The timing I was so furious about. She shined her light right in my wound and lit me up just by being her creative little self.

So what have I learned?

Do whatever your big ole loving heart is calling you to do. Trust yourself. Trust the Good Lord (Universe, Highest Being whatever you call it) Know yourself and your values. Write down things that call you and let them be for you even when the world doesn’t understand. Let your mere existence be the light.

Yes!

I imagine that yes is the only living thing.

e. e. cummings

E E Cummings was one of my favs for a short bit. I thought of him as a bold writer. His work reminds me of contemporary art. A reminder that the message gets across in poetry even when you use words informally. He was a light in the darkness for me. I think intention matters and I need that reminder everyday before I write. So here’s your reminder too. Your thoughts and intentions matter in the world and art.

What a Beautiful Rock We Live On

The true secret of happiness lies in taking a genuine interest in all the details of daily life.

William Morris

There’s a few ways to do this. Journal all day. Take moments a gratitude and a deep breath. But what’s the most important thing that makes this ork? Take a genuine interest in yourself. What makes you smile? What gets under you skin? Why? Such a great quote for this week because spring is the best season to start being intentional since flowers are blooming everywhere!

What do you already take a genuine interest in?

Voltaire and Art

It is not sufficient to see and to know the beauty of a work. We must feel and be affected by it.

Voltaire

What’s worth feeling? What work of art is worth feeling? Did you grow up seeing images of a great work of art and then one day you got to see the work of art in person? For me, Jackson Pollock’s was the first piece of art I saw in real life that I had only ever seen in pictures. I loved it. And it was actually much bigger than I had realized. On the other hand, Van Gogh’s Starry Night was not as eventful as I thought it’d be. I did feel proud to see it but it didn’t move me the same way Pollocks piece did. Art is so interesting that way. One person may feel a strong to connection to a work of art while another doesn’t understand why the artist wasted their time. It can be frustrating when one tries to convince the other of it’s value. Then there’s those pieces that universally move audiences. Timing and delivery matter, yes. But some artists can connect with multiple markets in some way. Maybe I’ll learn how someday. Anyways, I like to feel works of art. It really inspires me.