Blog / soul journal

So much of the art I like to do includes words. Unsure if it's because I was an English major at one time or what but I have a particular interest in the origins of words. In this latest collage, I was interested in pulling out words as well as images that really seem to speak to me at present. I have hung this on the wall and I enjoy looking at it as a daily reminder... Some words to live by: "Life is a journey, not a destination" Pep Calm Momentum Beautiful Change Starts with a single step Peace poetry excitement meditate spirit guts confidence sparkle nerve resolve glee Overcome the notion that you must be regular. it robs you of the change to be extraordinary."

I have been listening to the sound track from 1 Giant Leap since I watched it last week. Here is the link to this awesome awesome video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wA26XwqKA8Q - I find it so damned inspiring. I love the funky world music, the faces, the images, the quotes - it's all fantastic. There's still so much on my plate at present. We are meeting with a realtor to see about selling a house. I'll post up more about that later. There is school for me, finishing up school for the kids (which means putting together the portfolio to show in order to appease the dept of education), work, life and relationship issues and so forth. I'm honest when I say some moments are tiring. I came back from my vacation and during the weekend felt a little worn out, mainly - I THINK - because I wasn't ready to come back here. So I sat in my favorite lil chair and put on the music to this documentary and it was almost immediate, I felt elevated and way better. By Monday, I felt great. Things felt magical, like they did when I was on vacation. I had to do some crafty projects for homework. One of them was to find a photo of me at the age of 7 and write with my non-dominant hand the things that I enjoyed as a kid of that age. This is what I did. It was not elaborate but I remember doing these little images way back when. If I look hard enough, I'd be able to find a very colorful drawing that I did at that age. I wouldn't know where to begin to find it but I know I have it. Here's the seven year old girl that I was:

My daughter looked at the photo album with me and her comment when she saw this photo was that I looked bright and happy. That was sweet to hear. I can remember being in my 20s, looking at the fat kid that I was. I have a lot more sweetness for myself when I see these photos now and that's probably because I have kids now... This was a sweet kid in this photo - one who had a big curiosity for life and found beauty in so much. P.S. you can find fun exercises like this and more if you go here: http://www.natureandthehumansoul.com/newbook/exp_2.htm - you can read Plotkin's book "Nature and the Human Soul" and do these exercises. They are fun and get you thinking. Good night and happy soul searching!

this semester is Holistic Spirituality and one of the fun things we get to do is keep a journal. I am excited about this. I actually do this as much as I can. I do collage and painting for fun and to feed my spirit. Sometimes I meet up with a couple friends to do this and other times, I do it alone. It feeds/fuels me, ignites me, recharges me and gives me an outlet for hopes, dreams, wishes, prayers, intentions, etc. I want to begin this semester by including a collage that I did recently. It is colorful and reflects my wish to become a living prayer. The colors in this excite me and speak to me deeply, as do all the images of playfulness, meditation, mothering, standing in the sand and of the "be your own guru" Buddha that takes up so much space on this poster paper. My intention is to actually use a journal and do it up in all these ways that I do for my usual collage projects. That might be difficult since I tend to like to paint on everything! (See image below to see what I mean) That is the door in my living room (the door to the bathtub.) I have this thing for Kwan Yin and I have her everywhere. This past December I decided it was time to paint the door and what better painting than Kwan Yin. I painted her in under a work day and it pleases me to see her life size on my door. This is what I mean, my life is my art and my art is my life but I will try to contain it into an actual journal. That will be more portable and easy to deal with. As it is, I have so many posters and paintings around that I need a gallery or something to house them. I invite you to seek inside yourself for a soul stirring journal entry. What is burning and alive in you? I look forward to finding out. :-)