Traveling in my mind...

I have always wanted to journey to far away places.  Places I dream about in my mind and with my mind's eye.  I hope one day I will see the places I dream about with my eyes but for now I live vicariously through my friends that do travel.

I luckily have a few friends that travel abroad to far away places as well as in our own lush country.  I feel blessed that they write about their travels and while reading, I feel like I am with them.

My friend, Pat Ryan, maintains a travel blog ( http://patryantravels.wordpress.com/ ) and this summer published two books about his journeys.  I wanted to share them because they are fun to read, affordable and maybe you are like me....

You want to travel, explore and experience another world but so far it hasn't been part of the universe's plan.  I know one day it will be.

You can purchase his books here:

http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/patryantravels

Personally, I like to hold the book, it completes the experience for me.  He does offer paperback or Ebook so everyone wins.

Your journey awaits...

Clutter free and feeling GOOD!

During and after festival season, I was left feeling a little overwhelmed and exacerbated by the season itself and my surroundings.  Holiday time was here and of course it was also festival season.  My creative space, where all the magic is supposed to happen, seemed to be the dump site for anything and everything.  In between shows I wasn't able to keep my space tidy and by the end it became a mess to say the least.  I couldn't even open the door!  I  couldn't create and my magic left me.

I don't know about you but I HATE clutter.  I have found that it not only causes distractions in my work space but it also causes my mind and spirit to be cluttered and then I feel defeated and drained.  Cumbersome is the word that comes to mind.  I certainly can't create in a cluttered environment.

I promised myself that I would start cleaning out my room and make it a workable space again once the holidays were over.  I have to admit that I felt overwhelmed just thinking about it and because of that it took longer than I would have liked or expected. The task took me over a month but I finally did it!!

BEFORE.....

         

standing in the doorway of my studio looking
at contents of my studio lining the hallway

standing in my kitchen looking at
the contents of my studio
lining the rest of the hallway
outside of my room

standing in the doorway looking
in my studio

                                                

another view of my CLUTTERED studio from the doorway

standing on the chair - a view of my "stuff" on the floor and surrounding work tables

AFTER...

After cleaning...  clutter free, clean work space
My bead table

Another work table in my studio
with my books, supplies and tools

Clutter free soldering work table

So, the next time you are feeling a little overwhelmed, take a look around you.  Is the space cluttered?  Is it filled with too many distractions or things?  I promise you that if you clean up and get rid of things you will feel MUCH BETTER!  I started on this tedious project shortly after the new year and I vowed on my birthday (2/21) that no matter what I would have it done by the end of the week.  I completed the task late Thursday evening, 2 days later.  I awoke on Friday the 24th with a smile on my face and the first thought in my mind was how nice and refreshing it was to have a clean studio.  Now it's time to make some magic.  Magic for you and magic for me.

Happy Birthday to ME!

(me making my birthday wish)

It was my birthday... 2 days ago. I had intended to to write on my birthday but the birthday festivities stole time. A robbery I didn't mind.

As I sat and pondered my birthday over a nice cup of coffee I couldn't help but smile. Thankfully, I'm not one of those people that dread their birthday or that another year has come and gone. In fact, I love celebrating my birthday. I love celebrating birthdays period. How could you not celebrate life?


I had decided over the weekend that I would make my birthday breakfast on Monday for myself and share it with my kids since they were home from school. I love french toast and fruit. So I headed out to the store and purchased all of the ingredients I would need. I prepared my favorites... french toast with specialty cinnamon bread topped with sweetened condensed milk, minute maid blueberry pomegranate juice, fresh fruit, and a cup of coffee. I was in heaven.

So, here it is my birthday (Tuesday the 21st) and I'm sitting at the table enjoying day 2 of my heavenly birthday breakfast. I made extra to be enjoyed on my actual birthday. Heaven two days in a row = pure joy. I'm looking out the window at the sunny skies and listening to the birds sing their morning song. I sit wondering what I'm going to do to celebrate myself. You know...something ONLY for me. My mind then wonders to Nina Simone. Why did I think of Nina Simone? She and I share the same birthday and in my opinion, she is one of the greatest singers of all time.

As I'm sitting thinking of her I am feeling a flood of emotion sweep over me. I am so happy to be alive and feel my life has been blessed a thousand times over. I decide to type in her name into the google search engine and I stumble on her website. I read a beautiful tribute her granddaughter has written about Nina and what she means to her. I feel so honored to be born on the same day as her. I start looking on you tube for various videos/songs that would not only celebrate her memory and birthday but would also celebrate me today as I celebrate my life. A song that would express my feelings for today. Freedom. Love. I needed a song that would express all of this. So as I listened to her music I danced. I smiled. I laughed. I celebrated. Then I chose my song...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhQ6HTJCB44&context=C3b919feADOEgsToPDskJa3gqOnHWnIQE1hKXocDt4

Then a true wave comes over me. Tears streaming down my face... tears of joy, tears of love and most importantly tears of gratitude. Gratitude for a life that has been blessed beyond measure and gets sweeter as each day passes. Then it hits me. I need to draw. Draw something for just me. A birthday message that celebrates me and Nina. A drawing that would incorporate her beautiful words in the song above and how I feel about today. So I bring you my birthday illustration... celebrating us both.

(Birthday drawing: ink pen, water colors, birds drawn on card stock)

Peace and joy filled my soul as I sat drawing and painting with watercolors. Then it hit me. I need to do this more frequently. Draw, paint, art... just for me. Not worrying about whether it is going to sell or if someone else will like it. I realized how much pressure is behind each creation. I loved this birthday activity and the joy it brought to me was liberating.

So, happy birthday to me and if it's your birthday... Happy birthday to you. Take the time to celebrate yourself. Celebrate others around you. Lift your glass because you are alive and the love that is in this world is a gift and will always astound you.

Some of my greatest life blessings...

(my mom, me and my daughter)