Update on my mom

All IS well :-). My poor mom went in at 6:30 this morning and they did not preform the surgery until after 2! But the procedure went well. They believe they got it all and as of
right now they will not give her chemo or radiation. Now we just have to pray it does not return.
Thank you all for your prayers and good thoughts. It means more than you know. XOXO

Mom

Tomorrow morning is my mom's surgery. Thank you all for your prayers and good thoughts, love and support through your comments and kind words. I will let you know how it goes.
I have a deep sense that all will be well. XOXO

What I've been up to...

This is what I've been up to the last two Sundays. One cup and two good sized bowls. I have been having so much fun with them. Today I am glazing the mugs I made 3 weeks ago. You have to glaze each mug 3 times inside and out, so it gets a bit time consuming, but it is meditative too.

Today, I am also playing with my boys which means mostly watching them sleep and throwing string beans for Max :-), reading books and magazines and staying in a generally relaxed and blissful like state :-). Happy Sunday. XOXO

Quickie

The above photo is my yard, yesterday morning. Snow in Spring is a common thing here in Taos.It is cold enough that much of it is still there today. The top photo is my cat Max opening my contest prize I received from Sukipoet last week. Yummy maple candy and a sweet card along with a tiny Suki collage which I love. The candy has since been eaten and enjoyed. Thank you Suki. That is all for today as I have ceramics to do! I promise to post photos soon of my progress.

Have a wonderful weekend, everybody. XOXO

More on being Positive

The last post opened up such a lovely dialogue I wanted to add a few thoughts I have been having, now these ideas are for those of you that want to be positive, but find it hard, those of you that want to be negative can ignore this post altogether :-). First while I am a positive person, I still get sad, have down days and negative thoughts.
Being positive did not come naturally for me, I had to work at it and have been working on it for 30 years. I make the great effort because being positive makes me happier than being negative which depresses me. For those out there that are depressed because of chemicals in the brain or hormones, I am not talking about that kind of depression which may take drugs to fix. I am referring to being down and out because of the thoughts you are entertaining. I have learned through years of practice that you can control your thoughts. Really you can :-). This does not mean you stuff your feelings. Feel how you feel, be it sad or happy. If you are sad, feel it, but don't stay there. Think happier thoughts. I know it is not always easy, but once you practice this for a while you see how it works and it gets easier. When I am sad it is because I am telling myself a sad story about my life, once I realize what I am doing, I ask myself if I like the story?
No. So I quit telling it and like magic, the sun comes out again. Lots of stuff in life is icky and many things are horrific and unwanted, we are all faced with these things in a lifetime, but most of life is beautiful, wondrous and joyous and I personally choose to focus on those things.
Thank you all for your beautiful, honest comments in the last post. Happy Thursday! XOXO

Is being positive, smart?

I have been thinking about this for days and I would like to know what you your take on this is:
Do a lot of people think it is stupid to think positively? Do positive people seem less interesting than people who are negative and have lots of dramas? I get this feeling from some people that it is sort of looked down on in a "Isn't she sweet and bubbly, but not too smart" kind of way. As a positive person some people treat me as if I am just not with it or informed. I am living with my head in the sand or I am in denial about life. I sometimes have felt put down for being upbeat when times are tough (never by any of you!). I think it is time for people to get with it and realize that the old paradigm is shifting. Positive is smart, it is interesting and it is a whole lot more fun than being gloomy and negative. It is not about looking away from the hard stuff, it is about accepting things as they are, but being excited about the future. It's about hope.
Is it soft headed to believe in miracles? Even when you have seen evidence of them all around you? Is it stupid to live your life looking at the bright side of things, more intellectual to see the
negative (realistic) side? It doesn't really matter, but sometimes it bugs me :-). I guess that is a bit negative, but just because I'm a positive person it does not mean I am perfect :-).
Happy Tuesday and thank all of you who sent healing messages to me and my mom, we appreciate it. XOXO

Prayers for my mom

Okay, here is the deal. They found something on one of my mom's lungs. The good news is that it is small and has not spread. They will be removing it on March 31ST. Thank God it is a non invasive surgery and the doctor is very positive. Please pray if that is what you do, or send her good thoughts. No negative thoughts allowed.
The other bad news pales in comparison, loss of more days and hours at work. Not sure what I will do yet, so for now, I am sitting tight.
In my world I do not believe in worry, dread or thinking the worst. Life is just too beautiful for all that nonsense. I am trusting that all will be well. My mom and I thank you in advance for all the love and support you always give me. XOXO

Trusting

I received bad news yesterday from two camps. I am not ready to share the news, and I will not worry or get upset about any of it, instead I am trusting. To help the spirit of joy and love along I offer this e.e. Cummings poem:

i thank You God for most this amazing
day: for the leaping greenly spirits of trees
and a blue true dream of sky; and for everything
which is natural which is infinite which is yes

(i who have died am alive again today,
and this is the sun's birthday; this is the birth
day of life and love and wings: and of the gay
great happening illimitably earth)

how should tasting touching hearing seeing
breathing any-lifted from the no
of all nothing-human merely being
doubt unimaginable you?

(now the ears of my ears awake and
now the eyes of my eyes are opened)

Have a wonderful weekend! XOXO

Sharing with Friends

I took lots of photos of my little birthday celebration, but they did not turn out, except for this one of my lovely hosts P and B. The sweetest most beautiful of couples. It was an evening of good food and good friends a wonderful way to spend a birthday. I am working on becoming friends with getting older. Some days I do okay and some days I don't :-). I read a little quote in the New Yorker, made by Frank Gehry the architect that made me laugh. He was having his 80Th birthday and said "I don't feel eighty. I guess you never think you are the age you are, and, as long as you don't look in the mirror, you aren't". :-).

I feel 35 tops and inside I feel 18, so if I just stay away from the mirrors I will be okay.

Thank you all for the lovely birthday wishes.

XOXO

Happy Birthday to Me :-).

Tomorrow the 17Th is my birthday. I am celebrating a little early here, as tomorrow I will be celebrating with good friends and will have no time to post. My lovely friends B and p are giving me a dinner, I am taking my best buddy J. Food and company will be yummy. I am not sure about getting older, but it will be a fun day. Happy St. Patrick's Day! XOXO

More on inspiration/discipline

Thank you so much for your help yesterday. Because of your comments I have figured out a plan that I am sure will work. I will be disciplined and put aside an hour a day to work on the book and if inspiration comes, it comes, but I will leave a space open. I will forget about the illustrations for now and just finish the book. I will give myself plenty of time to work on the visual art on the weekends, so I won't feel deprived :-). It may take a little longer to finish the book this way, but at least it will get finished :-). To this end I wrote one and a half chapters yesterday. The chapters are small, the book is only 50-70 pages, so a chapter is only a couple pages, but still it felt good to get something done.
Today is Sunday and that means clay and ceramics (for now anyway). I drew up a bunch of designs and I can't wait to get going!
Happy Sunday! XOXO

Inspiration

I have a question for all of you, especially the artists and writers out there. Do you believe in discipline or inspiration, or both? I tend to go where my heart leads and do what is the most fun to me in the moment. Right now that is ceramics and painting. However, I have this little book here that is almost finished that I would LOVE to finish, but can't find the inspiration to do so.
This is what happened with the book: I wrote it a couple years ago in a 9 month period. It is small and to the point, based on my spiritual practices. I thought it was finished, but while waiting for a friend to edit it, I realized it was not done, I had much more to say. Some said, just write a second book, but I felt the new stuff needed to be in this book, I also have a feeling to do illustrations with the book, which overwhelms me with the time that will take. So here I am today, picking up the book, writing a little and then walking away again to do my visual art. Should I just relax and do what my heart calls me to do, or put my nose to the grind stone (how awful that sounds) and just finish the book? Actually, the answer seems obvious, but I could use your thoughts on what works best for you. Thanks. Happy weekend! XOXO

Happy Friday the 13th!

I thought it was time for a cat post :-). This is Max, looking wild, and about ready to jump.I had a rough work week and I am resting today. Love to you all.

Mindfulness

I have been thinking about mindfulness and how I am failing miserably at it the last couple days.
My excuse for this is that I have had a hard week at work and I am tired, but really I think it is the fact that I am not paying attention out of laziness. So for the rest of the week it is my goal to be fully in the present and actually experiencing what is right in front of me instead of rushing through the mundane to get to the special. There is so much beauty and sweetness in life if we stop to discover it. This is not news, but it is so very easy to forget. This is our reminder :-).
Happy Wednesday.

More Clay Love

This is a photo of my latest effort, they will have drawings on them as well. I really like them and think I will move on and make some bowls, plates and maybe even a butter dish next. I also have plans for a (gasp) tea pot in the coming month. For those of you bored by all the talk of ceramics, I promise a new topic for the next post :-). Have a Lovely evening. XOXO

Sculptures

Here are a couple sculptures by my friend J, he hand builds these with the coil method, which if you have ever done it, you know how difficult these shapes are to make. If you have never done it, trust me when I say these are amazing. I had a lovely day with my friends talking about art.

I did get some helpful tips and J gave me some ceramic magazines that I have been pouring over. After I do this post I am off to make more mugs. I cannot explain why I love working with clay so much, but really I think it is the great love of my life and though I have come to it later in my life, I am so happy I began. I hope to one day soon be able to do the sculptures in my head, but for now mugs are what I can manage :-).

Another day of bliss awaits :-). Happy Sunday! XOXO

Saturday

I am excited today as I am going with best friend J to the home and studio of another friend J. He is a worker in clay and he makes large, fantastic sculptures. Now that I have been working in clay I know how hard his sculptures are to make and I am amazed by them. I want to see how he does it and perhaps learn a few tips. Tomorrow is set aside for making some more mugs using the tips I learn today. If all goes well I will have more photos to post. And if he will let me I will show you some of J's sculptures. Have a wonderful Saturday! What are you up to today?

New Ideas

I came here tonight without anything at all to write about, but thought I would sit down and give it a go anyway. Sometimes if I just start writing, ideas come. Okay, that is something I can write about :-), how and why and when do the best ideas come? For me I get lots of ideas from my dreams, if I remember them, and I do remember them most of the time. Einstein came up with his best work from a dream :-). I also get good ideas when I am running or hiking out in nature. I get many ideas when I am talking to my friend J.
Reading and watching movies will also open my mind to new ideas. The thing all these activities have in common is that I am relaxed when I am doing them. Could it be that the best ideas come when one is in a happy, relaxed state? It is true for me. How does it work for you?

Clay Joy

I

promised

photos of

what I

accomplished

yesterday,

so here

they are.

Two mugs, completely different. The top one I will draw on after it is fired and the other will just be glazed. For now they have to sit around for a few weeks and dry. I had so much fun making them, it took me all day, but what bliss. I hope you all have a wonderful week. XOXO

Sunday is my favorite day.

I have always loved Sundays because it is a lazy, quiet day. No stress, no pressure. My day started with a lovely espresso, some happy blogging and dreams of going to Paris. My plans for the rest of the day are like this: Making a delightful breakfast, getting my clay out and beginning again to make lovely mugs and bowls, so far everything I have made in the last month has been crap, so I must keep at it, eventually I want to do sculpture, but practice is needed first. My main problem is that I want to rush it. I don't understand why as I don't rush my paintings, but with the clay I do and that is bad news as you CANNOT rush it, ceramics is a dance with water and clay and too much too soon, it falls apart. So slow is the word for today. I promise photos, later, of what I accomplish.
I will also work in some reading and movie watching into my day, a bit of writing on my book and some more dreaming of Paris. If you have been to Paris please leave me a comment on your very favorite thing about it and if you work in clay please leave a tip or two and all the rest of you, tell me what you are up to this Sunday, this most wonderful of days.