Thirty-Three Days

Since I'm on a concentric-circle kick, I felt I would be remiss not to include this little experiment developed out of thirty-three days of photographs and journal entries.

I know this is redundant, but I keep thinking about how every moment is framed by moments past; that right now, this instant, how I spend my today, will set the stage for how I experience tomorrow. It sounds like a high-pressure way to be, but it isn't. After all, the more I enjoy today, the more present I am, the more I'll enjoy, or at least be equipped for, tomorrow.

And there's something about expansion from the present, from the core. Something about embracing both past and future at the same time, though I don't have anything articulate to say on that right now. Presence = good. That's all.

Speaking of which, I am enjoying watching my husband make apple-walnut-cinnamon waffles (his specialty), while practicing his golf swing. There are less happy things in the picture, too, which I won't go into right now. But I embrace them as well, and all the more, because they can exist side-by-side with smiling husbands and cinnamon waffles.

Too bad Blogger doesn't host Flash animations (at least not easily). To see this one in action you'll have to go here and be patient while the white space fills: it takes a minute to load. A good opportunity to sit up, perhaps, breathe deep, and take stock of your own present moment?

Centering

This new blog WILL get underway, with links and all that. But for now, let's be HERE now, in this basically white space, full of potential.

Sometimes I think my artwork is all over the map, one piece having nothing in common with the next. But I am so wrong. I just held this one (a painting made for a wedding invitation) up against the one I posted previously.

Yes, I am obsessed with concentricity. So much so, in fact, that I just looked up the word, discovering that it, does indeed exist, and also, I like its definition: "having a common center, as circles or spheres"

Perhaps this is an overly spiritual idea, or overly romantic, or overly abstract, but here it is anyway: Don't we all have a common center? Not just an ALIKE center, but a SHARED center?

For example: one facet of that center is this: we are all located always and eternally in the PRESENT. Though we can lose ourselves in all kinds of fantasies of past and future, based on fear or based on longing, the reality remains the same. It is only from this present moment that we can create change in the story of our lives and worlds. In so doing, we change the course of the future, and the meaning of the past.

What if we, instead, operated entirely out of the moment? Out of right now? What if everywhere we looked, we saw not just the surface appearance of things, but into the depths? What if we slowed down right now, slowed down our breathing, relaxed our shoulders, relaxed our focus, our thoughts, our plans, our expectations of what the next five minutes might hold, and together, allowed this moment its full power and potential?

Promises, Promises

I told you there would be pictures, images, art. So without further ado, I'll post my first:

Brand New Blog

Welcome to my shiny new blog. Well, it WILL be shiny, once I sort out the look of the thing. So consider yourself warned. There will be pictures! And art! And links galore!

I plan to write about art and design and creative, empowered living. There is art in the day-to-day experience of crafting your life: in relationship, in work, in play, in dreams, and in taking action to realize those dreams. There is no greater art than becoming more and more YOURSELF.

I'll describe (and photograph. And draw. And collage. And who knows what else) the views from my windows and through the peepholes into my dreams. I'll share all the revelations and resources and relevant experiences that cross my path, all the gorgeous inspiring creativity I find in the world and on the web, including books and quotes and music and movies and art and recipes and really good web sites. The point is: INSPIRATION!

My other blog, Babies or Not, will not die. I will continue to post updates and relevant info and links there, too, discussing the ongoing open-ended "will-I-or-won't-I" which has, at least in part, defined my life for the past few years (if not more!)

But there are other parts of me. For instance, I am creative! And it's time this particular part got a room of its own.

So, welcome to my soon to be shiny, brand new blog!

I hope you like.