You Say You Want A Revolution

I love the 4th of July.  Every year, I'm glad that the founders of our country, sat in wool coats in a hot stuffy room and pounded out the details that laid the foundation for our country.  Some folks  might say, these men did this to protect their own interests.  All were rich men.  All had land and holdings to protect.  I'm still not ready to dismiss what they did because they were a bunch of rich white guys sitting around in a room fighting to protect their holdings and attempting to get away from paying taxes to a King.   These men all had their baggage and junk.  They weren't angels.  Yet they were smart and educated men, taking a stance for what they believed in and protecting what they had built.  They were doing some risky stuff in that room.  I find all their stories to be an inspiration.  The 4th of July for me is to celebrate all that came out of that room in 1776.  Sometimes we have to take a chance and do something different- shake things up to change things up.
I'm simplifying things a bit here when I talk of the founders.   I do this to get my thoughts going.  To get the core of the story and get the inspiration.  I think what would have happened if they had said, "I'll pass on this opportunity. It's too risky.  I'll be uncomfortable.  I don't like the others involved in this process."  And a hundred other excuses- that I'm sure some used.   Just sit there, not doing anything and getting more and more angry at the oppression that England was heaping on them.
I'm glad those men took the chances they took.  I respect any one who takes a chance and moves towards a direction that is not just in their own self interest, but just might benefit others.  Anger and frustration can be a strong motivator.  It can also eat us alive.  Again, it what we do with this anger and frustration that matters.
I started this Campaign out of anger and frustration.  Angry and frustrated with myself that I wasn't doing anything about the negativity I saw in me and the world.  For me it wasn't good enough to just be angry and frustrated. I had to do something anything.   Now I'm not under any delusion that my little Campaign is shaking the world on a grand scale.  All I can count for is me, my attitudes and reactions.  I'm happy to report that it has and is changing me everyday.  I'm happier and freer feeling overall everyday, since embark on this Campaign.  I'm certain more tapped into my creative and the effects it has on me and my world. It has revolutionized my world.
Is there something you've done in your life that you feel has revolutionized you?  How would you like to revolutionize your life as it is right now?

Happy Independence Day!                                                                 
Until next week...create to feel great!
36 projects complete!  16 to go!

This week's project are some nice red, white and blue crocheted dishcloths.   I've crocheted for years and years (I don't love crochet as much as knitting, but I love it's speed), but I've never made a dishcloth.  Guess it was time!

Mastering The Art Of Sauntering

"It is a great art to saunter."~  Henry David Thoreau

This week it became summer in my part of the world.  The nice kind of summer with sun, mild breezes, temperatures in the 70's and the long long days of light.  This sort of summer is my favorite time of year.   I have to confess, I don't do well when summer turns angry, the sun lights up a cigar, bears down on the earth and laughs at us. It is a good thing the days are long, because after 7pm in the evening is the only hope of getting something done for the day, other than staring at the walls and wishing it would cool down.
For now, it is happy summer time in my world.  The days are perfect for perfecting what I'm calling "The Art Of The Saunter."   I usually spend my days at the speed of light.  Running and doing and packing a ton of things into my day.  I flop down in my bed at night and don't even remember hitting the pillow only to start the race all over again the next morning.   Ugh.   Yes, I am a person with a lot of energy.  I am a person who loves to experience all the world has to offer- everyday.   So, I find it challenging to saunter through the day.  Yet Mr. Thoreau has a point here.   I can drive through my life at 100 miles an hour and maybe get to where I'm going or I can slow down a bit and see where I am going and enjoy life a bit more.  Instead of flopping down into bed each night to shut out the "to do list"; drift off to sleep with the enjoyment of my day and the knowing that there are more wonderful things to do and experience when I wake up.
Just writing that seems calming.  This week, I also found myself in conversations that involved the "to do list."
How it was never ending.  How it controled lives.  How un-fun, un-fullfilling the "to do list" really is.
I came to the conclusion we can use this tool to have a sense of control in our lives, but to not let it control us and our life.   Looking at a to do list- ask how much of it is a "should do" list.  I'm going to ask how much fun are "shoulds"? So are the items on our lists shoulds or things we just need to do in order to relax more be in the moment and have some life enjoyment.   Next I'm going ask to look at the list and which items are "A"s- meaning if I don't get these off my list now...my world is going to crumble, at very least  cause more stress and make me crumble.  Then look for "B"s and "C"s.   If you have more than four "A"s on the list on any given day, might I suggest you have a strong look at your life and how it is being conducted.  Are those really and truely "A"s?   What can you do to move them down to a "B" or "C" or off the list completely?
And lastly, the biggest question of all...do you really need that "to do" list?  (It is just a question, keep breathing here.)
For now it is summer, I'm going to master my art of a saunter.  It will be a challenge as I stated I love to run at a 100 miles a minute.  Learning to saunter sounds good.  I'll let you know how it goes.

Does your "to do" list control you or do you control your "to do" list?

Until next week...create to feel greate. 
35 projects complete.  17 to go.

So, one of the things that is summer are blockbuster movies.  I've been creating costume pieces for friends who are all excited about the last Harry Potter movie.   I created a rainbow colored bracelet and my version of Luna Lovegood's beetle ring.  I do bead, but I'm not very traditional in my approach.

Unexpected Zen Master

In a previous blog post, I mentioned Wooti.  He is the 3 legged dog from Africa, that my good friend Chelsea was brave enough to rescue and bring him to America.  The week I wrote a bit about Wooti, was the week I met him in person.  Since our meeting, I've been a little obsessed with him.  This week I decided that it was love.  The more and more of his story that gets revealed to me, the more I love that dog.  It is not the fact that he is one of the most handsome dogs I've ever seen.  The really cool mix of what they think is Collie and Shepard. Or it is the fact that I should feel sorry for him because of his 3 legs.  That fact doesn't even enter my mind, except when making him sweaters and boots (one less, please).  I don't feel sorry for Wooti for a minute.  I love and admire him.  I'll tell you why.   He's one of the wisest beings I've ever met.(He is as wise and smart as Mickeygirl )  He's a Zen Master in a dog's body.  He's Yoda with beautiful fur and sweet almond brown eyes.  Wooti has a knowing in him that calms everyone who meets him.  Yes, he's a survivor.  Coming through an ordeal that would test any human, more than likely bring them to their knees and most would have quit half way through it. It is part of his story, but it's not all who he is in the here and now.
When I look at Wooti, I see a lesson in trust and knowing.  Trust in something bigger than what ever we are currently dealing with and knowing that all things fall into place at the right time.  I also see in Wooti the reminder that every being on this earth can create a good life for themselves with that trust and knowing.  This dog, now, lives a life that no other dog will ever live, some people wish they could live, and he knows it and relishes in it everyday.  Is he the original lucky dog?  I guess.  I think Wooti got him in a bad place and figured out how to turn it around.  He was challenged and in his challenge, he challenged the people that helped him. He challenges people to this day to look inside themselves and do and be something greater than they ever thought they could be.  At least for a moment.  At least being open to catching that glimpse of their best selves, while they pet him. (did I mention he's an extremely loving dog? Again...considering his background...amazing!)
Some of you reading might be thinking..."It's a dog.  They don't have that thought process and they certainly can't be a Zen Master."  I feel if you ever get a chance to meet Wooti...it will change you mind.
Lastly, Wooti is my personal reminder that we do learn for all beings.  We all have gifts to share in the world and it is simple as showing up. A thought I keep talking about and find more and more the truth in that simple act. Showing up, fully. Embracing life and a the moment and contributing to life and this moment with all of our being.  It doesn't matter what has happened to you in the past.  All we have is now.  Now can be amazing.
So, I love Wooti.  Wootman.  Woot Diggity Dog.  Woot Dawg.  Woot Dawgy Dawg.
And yes this week's project is something for Wooti.   Since he is a Tripawd (that is the official term for 3 legs), he sometimes has trouble walking on slick floors.  I decided to create him some boots with dance rubber for traction, thinking it might help with this issue.  They are silly looking and I'm currently in the process of designing a better fitting set of boots.   Again, Wooti is challenging me to express my best self.

Wooti in his boots.  Resting after a very long road trip

What have you learned from contact with animals?  Past or present?  Are you open to learning more from them each day?

Until next week...create to feel great!
34 projects complete.   18 to go!

Sing It Out!

"We all know success, when we all find our own dreams.  And our love is enough to knock down any wall.  The future's been seen by men who realize, the simple secret of the note in us all." - Pete Townshed

I have always loved this quote.  As a teenager, I spent hours listening to The Who, and the song this quote is from.  In the music Pete Townshed wrote, it made me less afraid to look inside myself and then to show myself to the world.  Townshed's approach to music was inspiring to me.   I thought (and in some ways still do) he was the most creative person I ever encountered.   He took risks with his creativity.  Creating things and pouring energy into creations that most people didn't get most of the time. Yet it was honest and true for him.
The "note" he is talking about in this quote, is about our own vibration.  Our unique set of notes that make up who we are.   Our life's song, as it were. It is our life force.  What drives us to create, to love, to make this world better, to live. It is our own unique set of talents.   We all have a wonderful song inside us that deserves to be heard.  Sing it loudly for all the world.  It all starts with one note.   That note is the essence of who we are and why we are in this world.   I feel that sometimes, for whatever reasons, we are way more comfortable singing other people's notes or songs.  We even deny we have a song in us that is worth singing or that anyone would want to hear.  The note that comes from us is also very pure and easy to allow it to be sung.   So, why not allow your note to be heard in the world?  It mixes well with all the other notes being played by others who are unafraid to let their notes be heard.  Together it  is a sweet piece of music that our souls need.  It's positive.  It's healing.  It's forward movement.
I do seem to write a lot about using the talents and gifts we are born with and showing up in life with those talents and gifts.   I've found it is key to a rich full life.  I understand it takes courage to look inside ourselves in order to discover what we have been given.  It takes a bit more of that courage show it to the world. All that "showing the world" and courage, in the long run is the road to a positive mind-set and dare I say it happiness.
Also in this wonderful song are lyrics that remind me-

"There once was a note pure and easy. Playing so free like a breath rippling by."
What does your "note" sound like?  What stops you from allowing it to play in you life and help you create the song that is your life?

This week's project is in praise of shiney objects.  It's a new clutch I've been designing and working on for a bit.  I'm very pleased with the results.          

Until next week...create to feel great!
33 projects complete!  19 to go!

Helping Out

I think sometimes I'm an easy mark.  I love helping people.  I really do.  I feel was given a ton of talent and skill and this is my way of "paying back" for these blessings.   I don't mind when people ask me for support or help, and yet I don't like being taken advantage of (I think no one does).   I often ask myself, "where is the line here?"  I find it challenging to say no when asked.  Feelings of I'm not a good person are the first to arrive. Followed by I'm selfish. Topped off by tons of guilt, because I feel I'm the only person who can help them.   Recently, I've discovered that all these feeling have nothing to do with helping the person who asked me.  It's all about me and my ego, what I'm feeling and elevating me.  Sometimes I have to say no.  If I'm giving and helping out of this general sense of obligation and elevated ego, that isn't very giving or real.  It helps for the moment, but not the long run.  There is no substainal grow on anyone's part.  It's a quick fix- that's all.
When I'm asked to help out, I really consider, if I can.  It's not a snap deicision.  It is very careful consideration.  Very careful consideration.   Can I help this person, without expectation of return?  Am I really okay with that?
Do all the negative feelings well up when I want to say no?  Yes they do.  Then I have to check in with myself and ask why would I want to help?   Will my help really do them good in the long run?  Is helping this person going to drain me and my energy, thus creating anger and frustration in me.  So, the help I provide is full of anger, frustration and "here's my help. Now go away!" energy.   Not a clean or giving place to come from.
So, bottom line, it really is okay to say no.  And really that's all I ever feel I need to say is just a simple no.  The words that follow the simple no, muddy the waters and allows the negative feelings to come into play.
Simply no.  It's okay.

All this said- I still love to help folks.   This week's project is a helping project...
One of my fellow swap-botters put out a wish for special baby bibs for her daycare.  It was a sewing project that I had time to do, I had the supplies, and I got to research and create a new pattern.  I saw it as a win/win.  I said yes.   I completed and sent the project off with joy and accomplishment.  A few days later, I got a lovely lovely thank you. It truely was a win/win.  In my mind the best sort of helping.

How do you respond to offers of help?  Do you help to the point where you have nothing left to give and start to feel resentful?  Or do you carefully consider offers of help and are okay saying no?

Until next week...create to feel great!

31 projects complete 21 to go!  

Staring At The Blank Page

I'm love the idea of always learning something new.  It is the best way I know of to bust the blues.  I especially love being able to take an art class.  Last week, I took a silk painting class.  I love painting and dying fabrics, but I really never know what I'm doing and so the outcome, sometimes isn't all that I love. I figured the class would give information and in this case with painting silk, knowledge is powerful.
As part of the class, we were working on this hoops with silk stretched on them.  Once the instructor said, "the best way to do this is to just start playing and painting."  The white hoops took control of me.  I sat staring at these cheap little blank hoops.  My mind flooded with my own words that I challenge the people I coach.  Words like, "what's getting in your way of creating what you want here?"  Or "What would you like to do here?"  I mean it was a blank space to play in.  I was blocked.  I looked around at my class mates, they were busy painting.  They weren't blocked.  They were having fun.  They looked like they knew what they wanted to create here.  I didn't.  I felt blocked and stupid.  I felt blocked and embarrassed. I felt like I wanted to just go home.  I closed my eyes, as I didn't want to see the white fabric laughing at me.  I heard the instructor again. "The best way to get use to how amazing paint on silk is, is to just jump in."  I opened my eyes.  He was smiling at me.  He was right.  It was time to jump in. I asked myself again. "What would you like to do here?"  Well, paint on silk or better yet learn to paint on silk.   Play.   No where in those words was paint the greatest silk painted hoop the world has ever seen.  I jumped in.  Not know what I was painting.  Just allowing the paint and the silk to talk to me (the silk did start to talk, once it stopped laughing).  I was amazed at what I learned that night and what I created.  I didn't want the class to end.   I came home charged up and wanting to cover everything I own in hand painted silk.  My 3 hoops are great reminders to me.  To trust I know how to paint or write on the blank space that is given to all of us everyday. Also, it is okay not to know what I'm going to create.  Lastly, it is really okay to play.   There is so much learning in playing.

My theater projects are coming to an end for the season.  For me, it is one less time consuming thing on my schedule.  As I look towards having some unscheduled time, I sort of panic, a bit.  What to do with this time?  I'm never a loss for projects and things that need tending to, and yet, I'm longing to do something with some meaning.  I'm not so sure what this looks like, I'm in the discovery phase.  I'm staring at this blank space.
I'm excited.  I'm open to what I can create for myself.  When painting silk it takes only a drop of color to fill the space.  A small drop and wow!  I'm going to see how putting out a small drop of color in other areas of my life will fill in the space.  I'm thinking drop by drop something fantastic will be created.

How do you approach the blank page?  Does it scare you or block you?  Or do you just jump in?

Until next week...create to feel great!
32 projects complete 20 to go.

Avoiding "The Crankies"

There are times in life when we are just plain cranky.  There are just some days, I wake up and I'm feeling cranky.  Some babies have days like this.  It usually means that something is "off" in our world.   We are getting ill or our body hurts or there is just too much stress and junk in our lives and we are weighed down by it.   I usually can snap myself out of being cranky by acknowledging it and looking for the source of the cranky mood.   It's like weeding a garden.   When the little young weeds begin to appear, it is much easier to pull them out than the older better established weeds.  The roots are deeper and they are really down want to go away.  As Voltaire so nice put it in his work, Candide- "This is the best of all possible worlds.  But we all must tend our gardens."   And has RuPaul's Drag U professor Morgan McMichaels as put it..."Check yourself before you wreck yourself."  Outside forces, events and people can effect our moods but we are the only ones responsible for the shifting of our moods.  It is being aware of what triggers your mood.  I recently discovered that there are certain businesses I simply can not deal with. Or if I do, I have really steady my mindset.  Most big box stores have this effect on me.  I don't shop at them, and when I do, I have to be very well rested and fed and watered.   (I haven't been to a Costco in years or Ikea.)  I admire the folks who love and live to shop at those places, I just can't.   It ruins my mood and it's not worth it.   There are some people I have to interact with in my life that do the same thing for me.  I have to be hyper aware of my mindset and hold it in my mind as I interact with them.  It takes energy and awareness to avoid "The Crankies".  It's worth it.  Here's some good news, on the other side of this coin is a relaxed state of mind,and a flowing state of being.   I don't know what to call it, as it means something different to everyone.  I do know it is not being cranky.   Person can't "do" cranky.  It's "being" cranky.  For me the state of being is always in the moment.
Being cranky.  Being happy.  Being positive.  Being joyful. 
I started this post by saying some days I wake up being cranky.  On that day that is my truth.  And yet it doesn't have to stay that way, unless I want it to.  When this happens I start pulling weeds, in order to see all the beauty that is growing in my garden.

How do you avoid "The Crankies"?   What shape is your "garden" in these days?  Is it in need of some weeding?

Until next week...create to feel great.    31 projects complete 21 to go.
This weeks project is another Swap-bot craft project.   My partner's profile said she likes coffee and teas, so I created a fabric coffee sleeve and a envelope style tea bag carrier.  I hope she likes them.