To Begin

This I know:  to begin again, one must stand in a clear way for something more fresh and authentic than before, right?  Right.

To begin again I see with new eyes.

To begin again I make a cup of coffee, open the window to catch the afternoon breeze.

To begin again I adjust my attitude to include that all day, every day, is a new day.  This is the message of Emerson The Labrador.  Every single day holds a possible trip to the Lake.  Yes it does.

Beginning, by its very nature, is a fresh start, regardless of the timing.  While the kitten has to wait for another 3 mos. before he can go outside, he is not thwarted, discouraged or even affected by a limitation beyond his scope of understanding.

Starting a fresh notebook on a clear, winter day in Sausolito, a writing prompt grows its own line.

My creative expression seems to begin with warm-ups.  Kind of like an easy yoga routine before giving a massage, get my synovial fluid flowing within my own joints before enrolling my clients in their new flexibility.  Sometimes writing, sometimes staring out the window at the morning emerge over the hill, sometimes three cups of morning coffee.

Good to know that the creativity does not go anywhere.  My attention may rest elsewhere, but the essential creative thought remains, quiet in its waiting.

Calling names like procrastination, avoiding, blah-blah is merely moving air.  Has nothing to do with the basic instinct of the creative.

Creative is spiritual practice.  Is noticing the environs within as well as the outer world.  Is interacting within both worlds.

A quote for today, from the Artist's Rule, by Christine Valters Paintner.

Come to the edge, He said.  They said:  we are afraid.

Come to the edge, He said.

They came.  He pushed them, and they flew. . .

                                                                                          Guillaume Apollinaire   

Oh my, how time does fly!

Amazing!  How time does fly.

What all has gone on since Feb. 9, 2013?  So very much that there may be no catching up, which brings one to "acceptance" which is different than "liking" or "not liking!"  Acceptance has less opinion and more, well, more presence.

I see that already the ramble has begun.  I will make no attempt to catch-up, since it is all in the past, now, anyways  (I heard that Phew!).

Springtime has been long and drawn-out.  The rain stopped too early, and fire season was upon us until a couple of days ago, when it rained on our camping trip up the river, and here, too for that matter.  The fire season will be back in full swing within the week, as high temperatures and breezes whisk away the humidity.

In celebration, for lunch today I had 4th of July tomatoes in my salad.  Dark red and juicy, they are not at peak summer yummy, but I am not complaining.

We have a new family member.  His name is Panda.  Today was his first trip to the vet, and all was well until The Nurse took his temperature.  That was mean.  And rude.  And I could hear him complain all the way out at the front desk.

Yes.  My two Cutie Pies are making every day a good one, as usual.  That is why they are dogs.  

Dog = God  spelled the other way.  These faces do that to my day.

Yes.  More trips to the coast are in order.  A place of peace and contemplation where luscious energy infuses us.  Oh.  I could go there right this minute.

Yes:  Write.  Read.  Meditate.  Pray.  Write more.  Read more.  Yes.  More more more.

Love,

LPC

Details

The sun is sliding down the blue blue sky, coastal mountains seem to be growing to meet it.  Soon, this bright day will move into chilly evening.  Just now I was thinking of returning to the garden, as I have more tomato cages to uproot and clean, but the temperature in the room dropped about 10 degrees.  I looked up to see that the sun is setting!

And, I don't think I'll go back out there!  Hehee!  Took 4 o'clock coffee out to the Tree Trimmer.  Took photos, and drank the coffee.

Back in the olden days, when I was a kid, we had 4 O'Clock Snack every day.  Visitors to our farm said that we had four meals a day.  "No we don't.  4 o'clock snack is a snack." was our stock reply.  Looking back I realize that that snack was probably 1200 calories, since it included milk, cream, pie or cake or cookies, warm and fresh from the oven.  Left-overs from the "snack" were the evening meals' dessert, maybe served with lemon sauce or whipped cream to spruce it up.

Omg.  Well, we were farm kids.  Recently my brother shared that he and Dad had a similar morning "snack" before they left the house for the milk-barn at 5:30 in the morning!  Dang.  Had I known, I might have gotten up earlier.  We, my brothers expecially, burned those calories.

Here are Lucy and Stripe helping with the gardening.  They are stealth-bug-catchers.  Stripe (the brown one) found a cut worm and dashed off with it so as to not have to share.  Lucy gave chase, but in the end, let Stripe have her fat worm.  I wish that they would go after gophers.  I need help in that area.

My friend, Rev. Joyce Duffala, has told me a number of times, "God is in the details."  Once again, she is right.

Every phase of gardening has its timely details.  Not unlike Life, hmmmm.  I procrastinate.  Not really wanting to go out and get dirty, or stickers in my delicate fingers, or bugs in my hair.  Every time though, those details draw me into the tasks, into the golden afternoon light.  Today was no different.  A bed for the greens is prepared.  Most of the tomato cages removed, cleaned and in a row.

I am plotting.  There has to be a way to thwart this colony of gophers which has moved into my sacred gardening area.  This is a detail that I am finding difficult.

Valentine's Day approaches.  This one will be Wayne and I's 31st anniversary.  That, is amazing.  I am not one to go on and on (hahaha!  guess that isn't true!), you know, all mushy & stuff.  I will say, though, we are doing well!  Growing well!

Yes.  I do love you.
xoxo
LPC

Freedom Is An Empty Box

All this cleaning-out going on, everywhere!  Not a room untouched, a box unopened, not a paper unread, or a dust-bunny undisturbed.  This is unsettling.

The Blue Bird box is cleaned.  The back porch swept.  The ashes out.  The studio tidied, dusted, re-arranged somewhat.  A box from the storage unit emptied, right down to the layer of pretty rocks on the bottom.

Rejuvenating.  Restorative.  Transformational.

Of the many gifts in living in N. California:  February is the month of ripening citrus.  Oh!  Afternoon light dancing through the orange tree highlighting the fruit, a blatant invitation to indulge in juicy tart sweetness.

Daffodil spears are pushing up through the leaf mulch.  It is late January, after all, the Paper Whites are almost done!  Black lambs are racing around in the tender green grass!  The sky today, regardless of that strong cold breeze, is as blue as possible.

I have been turning the mulch.  Having ordered and received my new panels (5' X 5' made of Balkan plywood for strength and lightness) there is work to be done in the studio.  Surfaces to clear, paintings to move, shelves to tidy.  In the midst of this process I lost it.  Haha.  To be expected, perhaps, with breathing in the dust and stories of "stuff"and sunlight muted by winter-spotted windows.  Yesterday it hit me that actually, I am not an artist, nor am I a writer.  I have no career, education or accomplishments.  Life is meaningless.  Yesterday I did not see this as a gift.  I fell face-first into the mulchy hole.

Later in the evening, when I settled into my chair to watch the Dog Whisperer, I noticed the agreed-upon-box-from-the-storage-unit perched upon the dog crate in front of the damm TV.  No choice (haha) but to go through it, like I've agreed to do.

That Box:  OMyGod.  What a box, even though deceptively small.  Yes, it was a box of destiny.  Past.  Passed.  It contained letters, journals, sketch books.  It contained misery, destruction, heartbreak and failures.  It contained frustration, rage, disappointment and fear.  It contained my worst fears.  Every one of them.

I sorted the contents one by one.  I read the letters.  I looked at the sketches.  I made decisions:  I keep this drawing and throw away the rest.  I put books into another box for Goodwill.  I put 10 pounds of Court Papers into the recycle bin.   I burned the letters.  Something wonderful started to happen, but I didn't know what it was. 

I felt a feeling of emptiness filling me up.

The Mule Got Drunk and Lost In Heaven

The

Mind is ever a tourist

Wanting to touch and buy new things

Then toss them into an already

Filled closet.

So I craft my words into those guides

That will offer you something fresh

From the Hidden's Tavern.

Few things are stronger than

The mind's need for diverse

Experience.

I am glad

Not many men or women can remain

Faithful lovers to the unreal.

There is a kind of adultery

That God encourages:

Your spirit needs to leave the bed

Of fear.

The gross, the subtle, the mental worlds

Become as a worthless husband.

Women need

To utilize their superior intelligence

About love

So that their hour's legacy

Can make us all stronger and more clement.

Sometimes a poem happens like this one:

The mule I sit on while I recite

Starts off in one direction

But then gets drunk

And lost in

Heaven.

Hafiz

For months I have not been able to find my friend Hafiz!  The Gift was in plain sight, I just could not see it.  Home again, next to my laptop, my all time favorite book smiles.  We are back in business!

All is possible.  Hafiz says "Hidden's Tavern,"  Emily Dickinson calls them "possibles."  Each day presents them, each breath enlivens them.  Each word represents them.  Each action fulfills them.

All is possible.  All is well.

I love you.
xoxo
LPC

New Territory

Not a square in sight.  So far.

Having grown up on the Northern Coast of California, the roar of the surf was the soundtrack of my days, 24/7.  When I reached the incredible freedom of my driver's license, "the beach" would call me with its distant conversation.  My young dreams of future life were of a house on the Coast, with animals and a studio, and bookshelves lined with Leo Tolstoy and Zane Grey.

Of course, life has carried me far, beyond my wildest dreams in many ways, though short of living day by day on the Coast.  I am not disappointed.  I am satisfied.

My studio is a humble bedroom-converted, with windows that encourage sunlight to splash into the room.  On a fairly regular basis I am driven to clean out and re-organize, because my obsessive-compulsive housekeeper raises her critical head and delclares my sanctuary a mess.  Geez, I say.  Must you be so harsh?  Don't most artists have all their stuff, their material, all around them?  O. K.  I see:  Do we need all ((ALL)) of this?

To be fair, I do admit that I have been cleaning-out.  Have made my lists, and checked them off.  I do enjoy a more open space within which to work, as meditation often begins with my eyes landing gently in a corner, on the window sill, or top shelf.  Inspiration is only a breath away, or a stepping aside to allow its entry.  It comes forward, not unlike the winter sunlight dancing with the Madonna and Lady Guadalupe and the Blue Birds.

Fifteen years (or so) ago, the forces of nature which govern and pummel the Northern Coast created a never-before Sea Ball.  High tides, high winds and the January surf created them from sea grass, twigs and roots.  My nieces, nephews, kids and I collected them out the the wild water.  They still inhabit my space.  No.  I will never throw them out.  I have given a few of them away, re-homed them.  Periodically I give them the once over with the vacuum cleaner.  After all this time and cleaning, they still pour forth sand.

It is human nature to be creative.  It is our nature to create and hold beliefs, ritual, and meaning about our lives.  These become our stories, what we hold to be true.

So often, what we hold to be true isn't.  This is the space, once cleaned out of untruth, becomes the source of our renewed and rediscovered creativity.

Hey.  I love you.
xoxo
LPC

Looking Back, and Forward

Several moons have travelled across the sky since I've written.  Now, faced with how to catch up, I say, just jump in and do it!  Isn't it odd how liquid time is?  Moments pile up like sandstone, memories wash away details, monkey-mind elaborates and exaggerates!  What is one to do?

Smile and go with it?  Realize that what I put here is just my story, or all my story.  Let go, my Dear, of making it good or excellent or rotton or complicated.  Let it flow!

We have been at the Coast for a week.  It has been wonderful.  In fact, we are still here, though packing and leaving tomorrow by noon.  Yeah.  Going home.  Picking up the dogs!  Checking back in to my Life!  Renewed.  Resolved.  Inspired.  Quieter.  Maybe a little more solid.  

The past year has been full of growth.  Apparently my personal growth was needing some updating, as from here it seems that is all that I've been doing.  I tend to forget in any given moment, that Life has been very very very full.  My partners and I ran our Phantom IV Gallery for a year and a half, and closed it October 1.  By itself, that was an adventure!  for which I am grateful of every moment.  The Gallery experience moved me deeper into my own artwork, and also delighted with meeting and getting to know other artists.

The coming year excites me.  I look forward to renewed energy which emerges with the light.  This dark time of year is incubation, where seeds/ideas planted in dreams or conversation or writing swell and germinate.  Minutes of light extend each day moment by moment.  I can feel it!

Oh, and my new planner awaits me!  It's arrived!  And I cannot wait to crack it open!

My little secret:  I like the discipline of planning and doing.  For so long, spontaneous was very important to my way.  Let whatever happens lead.  Oh Lordy.  I cannot believe I did that for so long, not realizing the suffering I caused my own self.

Two and a half years ago I joined a 12 Step group to "try" and lose weight.  My weight has bugged me for as long as I have been spontaneous, I kid you not.  So, after watching my dear friend melting away, and asking her, "What the...???" she invited me to come to a meeting with her.  That was August 17, 2010.  Wow.  And what does Program do for one?  Let me tell you:  Following the Steps, using the tools, giving back to the Fellowship has brought the spiritual into my life, completely.  Yes.  Every morning I read my literature, I write in my journal, I pray, I meditate.  I call my sponsor, and my sponsee calls me.  I walk, I meditate.  I prepare and eat an abstinate breakfast.  I go to work, or take the dogs out, or do yardwork.  I prepare and eat an abstinate lunch.  I go to work, or to the studio.  I prepare and eat an abstinate dinner.  I make calls to Fellows.

And I have lost 58 pounds.  They are gone.  Don't even threaten to return.

Of course, Life is interwoven in this schedule.  Life with family, friends, spiritual community.  Interwoven is the key.  No longer tangled, knotted or torn.  A calm has enveloped my life.  No, not boring, or resigned, but a beautiful order.

The coming year promises more: art, fellowship, deepening relations, Love, writing, giving, growing.  I look forward to an incredible year.

For you I see good fortune, community, shared work, solidarity, faith, trust,  and love.  I see this for us all.  I celebrate.

I love you.
xoxo
LPC