the crystal clear tune of the chimes
helps clear the space
and my mind
banish the bad stuff
invite in the good
this creative restorative
yes, this renewing of the soul stuff
can you hear it
this vibration
of crystal clear
chimes
listen . . .
lend me your ears
the crystal clear tune of the chimes
helps clear the space
and my mind
banish the bad stuff
invite in the good
this creative restorative
yes, this renewing of the soul stuff
can you hear it
this vibration
of crystal clear
chimes
listen . . .
A blessing for you today
Blessed be the longing which brought you here
and that quickens your soul with wonder
May you have the courage to befriend your eternal longing
May you enjoy the critical and creative companionship of the question "Who am I?" and may it brighten your longing
May a secret providence guide your thought and shelter your feelings
May your mind inhabit your life with the same sureness with which your body belongs in this world
May the sense of something absent enlarge your life
May your soul be as free as the ever-new waves of the sea
May you succumb to the danger of growth
May you live in the neighbourhood of wonder
May you belong to love with the wildness of dance
May you know that you are ever embraced in the kind circle of God.
~John O'Donohue
and that quickens your soul with wonder
May you have the courage to befriend your eternal longing
May you enjoy the critical and creative companionship of the question "Who am I?" and may it brighten your longing
May a secret providence guide your thought and shelter your feelings
May your mind inhabit your life with the same sureness with which your body belongs in this world
May the sense of something absent enlarge your life
May your soul be as free as the ever-new waves of the sea
May you succumb to the danger of growth
May you live in the neighbourhood of wonder
May you belong to love with the wildness of dance
May you know that you are ever embraced in the kind circle of God.
~John O'Donohue
Storyteller
When creating new transpersonal art workshops, I am the lab rat. At the moment I'm putting together a workshop on personal growth through dollmaking. Or as my test piece turned out, perhaps it could be called trollmaking!
This little character is called "Storyteller". I get the feeling that if you don't listen to her story she will hypnotise you with those beady eyes. The face and hands tell of wisdom earned through living life. I love her little feet. They seem younger than the rest of her, kind of like the bow on her head. An old-soul top'n'tailed with youthful enthusiasm.
This little character is called "Storyteller". I get the feeling that if you don't listen to her story she will hypnotise you with those beady eyes. The face and hands tell of wisdom earned through living life. I love her little feet. They seem younger than the rest of her, kind of like the bow on her head. An old-soul top'n'tailed with youthful enthusiasm.
Art attack - doodle
Here's a great stress busting art attack challenge. Create some doodle art.
Take a piece of paper and a pen, pencils, textas, crayons.
Doodle randomly over the entire page for 15 seconds.
When you're done, look at the doodle from all angles.
Turn it left, right and upside-down.
What do you see?
Any specific shapes, symbols or images jump out at you?
Colour them in.
Give your doodle art a name.
Post it on your blog then leave a comment below to say you took the challenge.
Take a piece of paper and a pen, pencils, textas, crayons.
Doodle randomly over the entire page for 15 seconds.
When you're done, look at the doodle from all angles.
Turn it left, right and upside-down.
What do you see?
Any specific shapes, symbols or images jump out at you?
Colour them in.
Give your doodle art a name.
Post it on your blog then leave a comment below to say you took the challenge.
Live - Love - Laugh
This week has been an opportunity to walk the talk. Particularly in regards to a recent post. My sister's family came in for a flying visit this week. We managed to pack a lot of adventure into a few short days. One activity was creating our own golf links.
We gathered in the studio to paint our own golf flags.
While the flags were drying, the boys created 9 flagpoles.
Then we proceeded to plot the course-using a GPS-and set the flags.
Finally - the inaugural tee off.
Followed by a hotly contested game to set the course record.
An hour or so later, the first golfing party celebrated with drinks on the green.Live - love - laugh indeed. It's a prescription that is good for the soul.
What can you do this weekend to put a little LLL into your life?
New York Times sends readers to Xfacta
How's this for an Easter surprise. Noticed the blog stats spiking and on investigation discovered readers coming in via the New York Times.
My upside down easter poem got linked to on a New York Times web-page as a related link. That's probably the closest I'll ever get to being published in the NY Times!
The best thing was that quite a few of them hung around to have a bit of a read.
Bonus.
My upside down easter poem got linked to on a New York Times web-page as a related link. That's probably the closest I'll ever get to being published in the NY Times!
The best thing was that quite a few of them hung around to have a bit of a read.
Bonus.
The triple 'L' prescription
when the facts suggest it's time to wallow in miseryyou can ignore it and live, love, laugh, anyway
it's your choice
7 things about moi
Jan of Awake is Good is on holidays, or as they say in the states, vacation. While relaxing in sunny climes, she accepted a meme tag for the first time. Initially I thought the cute picture was about bunnies playing tag. On reading her 7 facts, I realised the picture also related to her fact #6.
Then she tagged me. Which is kinda' cool considering a few of the facts she shared have similarities to mine. So I'll start with them - the things we have in common.
[1] I am an eldest child in a family of two girls. In case that fact alone didn't set me up to demonstrate "responsible leadership" traits, my parents separated when I was 12. We lived with dad, which meant I took on some household running and sister-minding responsibilities at a fairly young age. (hmm, does that count as two 'facts?)
[2] The diet I usually follow is lacto-ovo vegetarian. Which means I eat dairy products (lacto) and eggs (ovo). Every now and then I get a craving for white meat (chicken or turkey), probably when I'm stressed and need serotonin to chill me out! (see #5) I get annoyed with restaurants that offer poor vegetarian options, in this day and age there is no excuse. I've eaten more than my fair share of boring iceberg lettuce and tomato salads drowned in dressing, and if I wanted a plate of pasta with tomato sauce on it, I would stay home and make it myself instead of paying $20 a serve.
[3] Thrift is my middle name. I love a bargain - but I don't just wait for sales - I haunt opshops (thrift stores). Friends have even called me the opshop queen. They say I have an eye for it. Walking in and spotting the jewels among the junk. From house decor to shoes and clothing, a lot of what we own is pre-loved. When I approached a community centre to do some volunteer work once, they said they worked with a lot of poor people. I would have to dress down, the manager cautioned me, as most people they served bought their clothes in opshops. "I buy 90% of my wardrobe in opshops!" I exclaimed. They laughed and said that I obviously didn't buy the suit, shoes and jewellery I was wearing in an opshop. "Actually, I did". I think some of them may have left that interview and gone to check out their local opshop.
[4] I hate grocery shopping. And since we moved to the country, where the car is usually parked a few blocks and gutter crossings away, I hate it even more. I fondly recall the city shopping centres with smooth trolley access to large undercover kerb-free carparks. And online grocery shopping was available in the city - a real bonus when one was sick, overly busy, or thought visiting one of those undercover kerb-free carparked shoppping centres was too much bother.
[5] My working life has been a constant conundrum - straddling the line between alternative and mainstream corporate workplaces. Natural therapies and art therapy on the alternative side. Communications, marketing and publishing on the corporate side. It's hard to make a reasonable living with alternative therapies in this country. So for many years I have worked mainstream jobs to keep the bills paid, and worked my own alternative businesses on the side to keep my heart sane.
[6] At Christmas I was retrenched (laid off) from my bill-paying mainstream job. A statistic of this global economic crisis we find ourselves in. Four months later there is no new bill-paying job on the horizon, despite several applications. And no new alternative opportunities despite active networking and proposals. I have learned that the three month mark is when the lack of money in the bank starts to cause a fair amount of trauma. (#3 is key now)
[7] Leunig is a source of solace and inspiration for me. I just finished reading his book "The Lot". I didn't use my standard technique of underlining the best bits, otherwise most pages would have been underlined! When I see his cartoons, or read his columns, it makes me smile. He makes me feel less alone in this crazy politically correct world. He is indeed a national living treasure.
As the rules of the meme go I now pick 7 bloggers to share 7 things themselves:
Jamie of Starshyne Productions
Robin of Life in the Bogs
Della of Random Black Heart Glitter Moments
Eddie of Breathing Space
Melody of Aussie Adventures
Catez of Allthings2All
Kazari of End of my rope
Here's what you do:
Then she tagged me. Which is kinda' cool considering a few of the facts she shared have similarities to mine. So I'll start with them - the things we have in common.
[1] I am an eldest child in a family of two girls. In case that fact alone didn't set me up to demonstrate "responsible leadership" traits, my parents separated when I was 12. We lived with dad, which meant I took on some household running and sister-minding responsibilities at a fairly young age. (hmm, does that count as two 'facts?)
[2] The diet I usually follow is lacto-ovo vegetarian. Which means I eat dairy products (lacto) and eggs (ovo). Every now and then I get a craving for white meat (chicken or turkey), probably when I'm stressed and need serotonin to chill me out! (see #5) I get annoyed with restaurants that offer poor vegetarian options, in this day and age there is no excuse. I've eaten more than my fair share of boring iceberg lettuce and tomato salads drowned in dressing, and if I wanted a plate of pasta with tomato sauce on it, I would stay home and make it myself instead of paying $20 a serve.
[3] Thrift is my middle name. I love a bargain - but I don't just wait for sales - I haunt opshops (thrift stores). Friends have even called me the opshop queen. They say I have an eye for it. Walking in and spotting the jewels among the junk. From house decor to shoes and clothing, a lot of what we own is pre-loved. When I approached a community centre to do some volunteer work once, they said they worked with a lot of poor people. I would have to dress down, the manager cautioned me, as most people they served bought their clothes in opshops. "I buy 90% of my wardrobe in opshops!" I exclaimed. They laughed and said that I obviously didn't buy the suit, shoes and jewellery I was wearing in an opshop. "Actually, I did". I think some of them may have left that interview and gone to check out their local opshop.
[4] I hate grocery shopping. And since we moved to the country, where the car is usually parked a few blocks and gutter crossings away, I hate it even more. I fondly recall the city shopping centres with smooth trolley access to large undercover kerb-free carparks. And online grocery shopping was available in the city - a real bonus when one was sick, overly busy, or thought visiting one of those undercover kerb-free carparked shoppping centres was too much bother.
[5] My working life has been a constant conundrum - straddling the line between alternative and mainstream corporate workplaces. Natural therapies and art therapy on the alternative side. Communications, marketing and publishing on the corporate side. It's hard to make a reasonable living with alternative therapies in this country. So for many years I have worked mainstream jobs to keep the bills paid, and worked my own alternative businesses on the side to keep my heart sane.
[6] At Christmas I was retrenched (laid off) from my bill-paying mainstream job. A statistic of this global economic crisis we find ourselves in. Four months later there is no new bill-paying job on the horizon, despite several applications. And no new alternative opportunities despite active networking and proposals. I have learned that the three month mark is when the lack of money in the bank starts to cause a fair amount of trauma. (#3 is key now)
[7] Leunig is a source of solace and inspiration for me. I just finished reading his book "The Lot". I didn't use my standard technique of underlining the best bits, otherwise most pages would have been underlined! When I see his cartoons, or read his columns, it makes me smile. He makes me feel less alone in this crazy politically correct world. He is indeed a national living treasure.
As the rules of the meme go I now pick 7 bloggers to share 7 things themselves:
Jamie of Starshyne Productions
Robin of Life in the Bogs
Della of Random Black Heart Glitter Moments
Eddie of Breathing Space
Melody of Aussie Adventures
Catez of Allthings2All
Kazari of End of my rope
Here's what you do:
- Link to your original tagger and list these rules in your post.
- Share seven facts about yourself in the post.
- Tag seven people at the end of your post by leaving their names and links to their blogs.
- Let them know they’ve been tagged.
- Let your tagger know you've completed the meme.
upside down easter
it's not about eggs
chocolate or otherwise
Upside Down Easter, by Kel © 2009
or cute little chickens
or even spring flowers
Upside Down Easter, by Kel © 2009
in fact
here in the land downunder
it's not even spring!
Upside Down Easter, by Kel © 2009
we here are living in autumn days
where leaves brown, die and drop
to the ground
Upside Down Easter, by Kel © 2009
for us
good friday sits well
within this season of dying
Upside Down Easter, by Kel © 2009
but easter sunday
with bunnies, bonnets, eggs and daffodils
seems so out of place
Upside Down Easter, by Kel © 2009
perhaps that is how it is
for us, this nation
formed by convicts and larrikins
we understand this
harshness, unjustness
and to lay down one's life for mateship
Upside Down Easter, by Kel © 2009
but spring is six months away
how much more faith
we must need
Upside Down Easter, by Kel © 2009
to believe
in resurrection
so fast and unseasonal
Upside Down Easter, by Kel © 2009
chocolate or otherwise
Upside Down Easter, by Kel © 2009
or cute little chickens
or even spring flowers
Upside Down Easter, by Kel © 2009
in fact
here in the land downunder
it's not even spring!
Upside Down Easter, by Kel © 2009
we here are living in autumn days
where leaves brown, die and drop
to the ground
Upside Down Easter, by Kel © 2009
for us
good friday sits well
within this season of dying
Upside Down Easter, by Kel © 2009
but easter sunday
with bunnies, bonnets, eggs and daffodils
seems so out of place
Upside Down Easter, by Kel © 2009
perhaps that is how it is
for us, this nation
formed by convicts and larrikins
we understand this
harshness, unjustness
and to lay down one's life for mateship
Upside Down Easter, by Kel © 2009
but spring is six months away
how much more faith
we must need
Upside Down Easter, by Kel © 2009
to believe
in resurrection
so fast and unseasonal
Upside Down Easter, by Kel © 2009
Lightbulb moments
do you have lightbulb moments too?
a switch in your brain flicks on
and you go "aha"
the sweet moment of illumination
chases shadows
into corners
and the understanding
rekindles possibilities
and glimmers of hope
shapeshifting
when things seem stuckin a cycle of
downward spirals
a dramatic shift is needed
in thoughts
in feelings
in looks
shapeshifting
into upward spirals
Award winning photo
Woohoo!
My photo, Nick Nack Paddy Whack, won first prize in it's section of a regional photography competition. Just goes to show that even though the shot you get is not the shot you imagined, it can still be good.
Now the fun bit, working out how to spend my prize money.
My photo, Nick Nack Paddy Whack, won first prize in it's section of a regional photography competition. Just goes to show that even though the shot you get is not the shot you imagined, it can still be good.
Now the fun bit, working out how to spend my prize money.
X marks the spot
Where were you this time last year?
Relationally goes without saying. Best husband in the world - who was secretly stashing money away so I could take this trip of a lifetime.
Spiritually I'd just had the experience of walking the labyrinth at Chartres Cathedral. A highlight of the trip - and all I have to do now is play Delerium's Silence and I'm right back there.
Careerwise I was successfully turning the fortunes of a regional adult education provider by creating a contemporary marketing campaign for them. Unfortunately it was a toxic workplace, and even though I thought I'd fooled my mind into believing it was okay to work in that environment, my body spoke the truth.
Fourteen months after starting to work there, I was diagnosed with a liver tumour. Although benign, it was very symptomatic and I'd been quite unwell for awhile. Putting my background in natural therapies into practice, I got myself well enough for the trip overseas, and well enough to continue delivering results in the workplace on my return.
So if X marks the spot, and the spot is right here and right now, where do you find yourself on your journey through life?
Looking back over the past year, in which areas have you moved forward?
Are there areas where you have moved backward on the map?
Have there been any detours? Or perhaps there's been a few roundabouts - parts of the journey you had to repeat, cos you didn't get it the first time around.
We can't get to where we want to go, until we know where we've come from, and where we are right now.
- geographically
- relationally
- spiritually
- career-wise
- physically
Relationally goes without saying. Best husband in the world - who was secretly stashing money away so I could take this trip of a lifetime.
Spiritually I'd just had the experience of walking the labyrinth at Chartres Cathedral. A highlight of the trip - and all I have to do now is play Delerium's Silence and I'm right back there.
Careerwise I was successfully turning the fortunes of a regional adult education provider by creating a contemporary marketing campaign for them. Unfortunately it was a toxic workplace, and even though I thought I'd fooled my mind into believing it was okay to work in that environment, my body spoke the truth.
Fourteen months after starting to work there, I was diagnosed with a liver tumour. Although benign, it was very symptomatic and I'd been quite unwell for awhile. Putting my background in natural therapies into practice, I got myself well enough for the trip overseas, and well enough to continue delivering results in the workplace on my return.
So if X marks the spot, and the spot is right here and right now, where do you find yourself on your journey through life?
Looking back over the past year, in which areas have you moved forward?
Are there areas where you have moved backward on the map?
Have there been any detours? Or perhaps there's been a few roundabouts - parts of the journey you had to repeat, cos you didn't get it the first time around.
We can't get to where we want to go, until we know where we've come from, and where we are right now.
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