I do hope you didn’t have any trouble finding our new home. I tried to leave breadcrumbs for you to follow. I know the boxes are still packed and sitting around, but soon I’ll have some time do to some more unpacking. You’re welcome to look around and please leave comments for me in the meantime.
| 2.5 |
Where has 2008 gone to? I just saw that my last post here was in December 2007. Here’s it’s June already.
I definitely had cause for thought about it, though. How many times have I gone through how many days on autopilot and missed out on enjoying what was there? Or learned what there was to learn? I think it goes beyond stopping to smell the roses — you need to make the effort to find them to smell them.
How many times do we go through our lives for days, weeks, months, even years, unconscious and unaware, just taking care of crises and not living the moments in between where we can take a breath, center ourselves and be ready for what comes next?
I bumped into a friend last week. She and I have been trying to plan a lunch date. Last time I spoke to her was 6 weeks ago and I could have sworn it was just the week before. Where had my life gone and what had I missed?
This is not a good thing. I hope you will join me in being more present and alive in every moment every day. There are only 24 hours in a day and I plan on enjoying my waking ones 60 minutes at a time.
Until next time,
Peace
It’s the most wonderful time of the year, I hope.
Great things are happening for DSA. Sold more stuff, hung more stuff, ditched more stuff and got even more stuff! But best of all, I found my daughter.
Actually, I found her MySpace page and I’m hoping she still wants to be family. We’ll see.
Things are finishing quite nicely for me. I’ve signed up for a silk painting class next month so there will be lots of new pictures to enjoy and drool over. Might even find a way to sell some of the work online.
I’m speaking again at Unity Church of Peace on 1/13/2008. Subject is Hindsight: Looking Forward or how to leave the past in the past and discover new adventures moment by moment. Should be fun.
I’ve reclaimed my music which has been silent for almost 20 years. More about that later.
So, good people all, have a wonderfully magickal New Year’s and knock ‘em daid in 2008!
My husband and I were talking about the events of the past year and it really made me think. With all the talk lately about being thankful and sharing the good things, I thought I’d share with all of you.
Our lives have been a true rollercoaster between family crises and health challenges. Without going into a lot of detail, we’ve touched bottom and are on our way back up financially. We’ve had to rearrange and regroup all sorts of things.
Everyone talks about being grateful, but so many times, it’s so easy to take the status quo for grated. We forget to be grateful for the little things that happen. Every tiny thing is a blessing, good and not so good. For instance:
We’ve been taking care of my husband’s elderly parents for the past 5 years. Things progressed as they do and now both of them are in a nursing home, freeing us up to pick up the threads of our lives. On the way to that freedom was a whole lot of misery and suffering including a very close call when his cousins decided to take over and evict us from my husband’s home. We almost were homeless, but the angels smiled and his disability came through allowing us to find a new place to live and purchase vehicles that actually run on a regular basis.
My husband has been waiting for approval for disability for almost a year. He has advanced arthritis in knees, back and hip and it’s made it increasingly difficult to do the tiedye that has paid our way for the last 5 years while taking care of his folks. Getting approved and the retroactive check has taken the strain off of us to still work through the pain and the frustration and has allowed us to find the fun in working with kids (of all ages) again.
At my age and with my own arthritic hands, going back to being a secretary is not really a viable option. I looked and prayed for a way to use my skills and create a career. I have never been at a loss for words, so I’m taking that skill, my experiences and now I’m doing business coaching and motivational speaking (see my other site, www.deborahbeatty.com ) as well as exhibiting as an artist.
We’ve rearranged our business strategies and are heading in a new, more positive direction. We’ve rediscovered the passion that we had for each other and for our selected paths, and we’ve taken a hard look at what we want our careers to do for us and for others. This is why we’ve created DreamSpace Arts and TieDye Across America. Both of these two endeavors are to bring joy and renewal of individual spirit to each person we touch.
We’ve both experienced what it feels like to not have the things we do today and we know the overwhelming sadness and frustration of living in that world.
THERE ARE MIRACLES IN THE WORLD. If you know that, hold it dear, embrace it, embroider it on a pillow or whatever it takes to remember it, you’ll never be completely lost. Give thanks for the tiny things. It opens up a bright spot for the bigger things to appear.
Dream on
db
The last couple of weeks have been nothing short of insane! No time to even go potty! (Seems like). Anyway, hi, all. Miss me?
What I’d like to disuss today is the importance of keeping your art nearby to remind you of what’s important.
I’ve been getting ready for my first seminar and getting business coaching clients and have been guilty of not making my daily art projects a priority as I should have. I found that my inspiration and creativity were getting stuck and I was finding it tough to stay foccused.
Two days ago, I got myself by the shoulders and gave a good shake. I picked up my sketchbook and my magic markers and made some art. Yesterday, I did some doodles while on a reallly boring conference call that I probably wouldn’t have missed had I skipped it.
Today, I feel energized and ready to tackle anything once again. I fed my artistic soul and now the rest of me feels satisfied and ready to go conquer the world.
Let that be a lesson to you, my friends. No matter how small, how comparatively insignificant it may seem at the time, do some art every day. Write, sculpt, doodle, dance, paint, color, glue, I don’t care what, but do it. You’ll feel better for it.
Dream on!
db
When I created DreamSpace Arts, I admit I was playing really small. I wanted it to grow up to be a gallery for my artwork someday (since I couldn’t seem to get my art into any of the local places at the time). But something happened. While I was playing at being an artist, I was given a much bigger vision. Here’s what I’m up for…..
Let me give you a little history, first, though.
I am familiar with several people who have lived in virtual silence for the last many years, squelched by others’ ideas and criticisms; victims of domestic violence who have been beaten into submission, adults who have been raised with parental disapproval and worse, children who have been the subject of adult indiscretions. These people all have found their voices for the first time in an expression called art. Through art therapy, they’ve been able to work out the guilt and anger and fear.
I am not an art therapist, I do not have the credentials, but what I can provide is a medium for self-expression without judgment, without penalty that in itself is freeing and powerful.
My vision is for DreamSpace Arts to someday be a worldwide organization staffed with art instructors, healers, and others who are as dedicated to finding those lost voices as I am.
Anyone who would like to help is welcome to contact me. I know I will not be able to do this alone.
Dream On!
db
Here’s a little collage I put together using Muvee player on my new laptop. Hey, a gal’s gotta have fun! Enjoy. The art’s all mine, by the way.
The music is off the Celtic Woman, A New Journey album.
In case you actually found the other blog, you might notice this looks a bit different. Hopefully I’ll get more play and keep this one up better, too.
I’ve been painting my little tushy off and have been hard at work getting my consulting biz off the ground, but DreamSpace is truly my love and will continue to be a place for folks to find their voices.
Found this as I was cruising and thought I should share. I’ve shared it on another blog I do and had to put it here. I would love to find out who wrote it so I could credit them appropriately. If anyone knows, let me know!
Not “Just a Mom” By Author Unknown
A woman named Emily renewing her driver’s license at the County Clerk’s office was asked by the woman recorder to state her occupation. She hesitated, uncertain how to classify herself. “What I mean is,” explained the recorder, “do you have a job, or are you just a…
“Of course I have a job,” snapped Emily. “I’m a mother.”
“We don’t list ‘mother’ as an occupation… ‘housewife’ covers it,” said the recorder emphatically. I forgot all about her story until one day I found myself in the same situation, this time at our own Town Hall. The Clerk was obviously a career woman, poised, efficient, and possessed of a high sounding title like, “Official Interrogator” or “Town Registrar.”
“What is your occupation?” she probed.
What made me say it, I do not know… The words simply popped out. “I’m a Research Associate in the field of Child Development and Human Relations.” The clerk paused, ballpoint pen frozen in midair, and looked up as though she had not heard right. I repeated the title slowly, emphasizing the most significant words. Then I stared with wonder as my pronouncement was written in bold, black ink on the official questionnaire.
“Might I ask,” said the clerk with new interest, “just what you do in your field?”
Coolly, without any trace of fluster in my voice, I heard myself reply, “I have a continuing program of research, (what mother doesn’t), in the laboratory and in the field, (normally I would have said indoors and out). I’m working for my Masters, (the whole darned family), and already have four credits, (all daughters). Of course, the job is one of the most demanding in the humanities, (any mother care to disagree?) and I often work 14 hours a day, (24 is more like it). But the job is more challenging than most run-of-the-mill careers and the rewards are more of a satisfaction rather than just money.”
There was an increasing note of respect in the clerk’s voice as she completed the form, stood up, and personally ushered me to the door. As I drove into our driveway, buoyed up by my glamorous new career, I was greeted by my lab assistants - ages 13, 7, and 3. Upstairs I could hear our new experimental model, (a 6 month old baby), in the child-development program, testing out a new vocal pattern.
I felt triumphant! I had scored a beat on bureaucracy! And I had gone on the official records as someone more distinguished and indispensable to mankind than “just another mother.” Motherhood…What a glorious career! Especially when there’s a title on the door.
Does this make grandmothers “Senior Research Associates in the field of Child Development and Human Relations” and great grandmothers “Executive Senior Research Associates”? I think so!!! I also think it makes Aunts “Associate Research Assistants”. No matter what it is you do, never under-sell or underestimate yourself.
Enjoy your day, your week and your lives.
Dream On!
db
