Be Gentle

And a friend, in her way, reminds me to:

:::

be

gentle

with

your

beautiful

self

:::

little tiny deaths to my ego

little tiny births in my heart

hugs all around

Photo - two "softies" on my bookcase.

Healing

When our eyes see our hands doing the work of our hearts,

the circle of creation is completed inside us,

the doors of our souls fly open,

and love steps forth to heal everything in sight.

-Michael Bridge

No longer is there time to hide or escape.
It is time for more healing.
Glory Be!

Coloring Page - She.

New Drawing

love
love
love

She

It is She who held the Hand when my hands were clenched and unwilling.

It is She who guided my steps while I hid my face from the world.

It is She who said, "I know you are in pain, but look...there is a ladybug...look...clouds...look...tiny feathers...look...flowers..."

"Please...See," She whispers gently.

It is She who is sitting with the Great Friend and is not afraid to snuggle up next to Him.
A garland of backyard dandelions sits on her head and the warm sun tells her she is safe...and always has been.


Drawing - Figured drawn last night at a friend's house, coloring in the dim light while watching old episodes of 21 Jumpstreet.
This morning I cut her out and glued her to blue construction paper.

Whale Dream

If I were a whale with a polka dot tail...

Leaf Love

love

even

in

a

dry

brittle

leaf

A Favorite Quote

A quote my mom shared with me four years ago.
I adore this and keep it out where I can read it often.

If it does not feed the fire of your creativity, then leave it.

If people and things do not inspire your heart to dream,
then leave them.

If you are not crazily in love and making a stupid fool of yourself,

then step a little closer to the edge of your heart and

climb where you've been forbidden to go.

-Jimmy Santiago Baca

Photo - Me (the ragamuffin, snowsuit-ed girl on left) and my mama, Winter 1973.

Bird On The Wire

Like a bird on the wire

Like a drunk in a midnight choir

I have tried in my way to be free.

-Leonard Cohen
Lyrics, Bird On The Wire

New Drawing & Hafiz

My heart is an unset jewel
Upon the tender night
Yearing for its dear old friend, the Moon.

When the Nameless One debuts again
Ten thousands facets of my being unfurl wings
And reveal such a radiance inside
I enter a realm divine--
I too begin to so sweetly cast light,
Like a lamp through the streets of this World.

My heart is an unset jewel
Upon existence
Waiting for the Friend's touch.

Tonight
My heart is an unset ruby
Offered bowed and weeping to the Sky.

I am dying in these cold hours
For the resplendent glance of God.

I am dying because of divine remembrance
of who I really am.

Hafiz, tonight your soul is
a brilliant reed instrument
in need of the breath
of the Christ.

-Hafiz

Little Bird

What if I didn't sing out?
And instead sang down through my feet...
the ones that stand barefoot on the kitchen floor.

What if I didn't love in a straight line?
But instead hopped and skipped and jumped...
up and down, left and right...around...
spiraling down to the Center.

What if God's stitches are crooked?
Could I bare such a perfect Glory?
I can! I can as you encourage me to stand on this rock with eyes on the horizon...
knowing I carry the beginning stitches in my hem.

Take your needle, my child, and work at your pattern --

it will come out a rose by and by.

Life it like that...one stitch at a time, taken patiently.

-Oliver Wendell Holmes


Felt - hand-sewn birdy, 2004.

For A Quiet Friday

"I must stop this talk now

and let Love speak

from its nest of silence."

A Hundred Blessings by Mirabai Ceiba

Branches Growing

I had a good laugh at myself this morning.

There is a Skittle commercial where a boy is standing outside with a branch growing through his upper belly - a Skittle tree blooming with the wee colorful candy.
My reaction to the odd commercial??
"Gross!"

Oh, the irony!
In the past year, I have been drawing images into my sketch book of figures with branches growing through them, but this is the first one to appear on my blog (I think).

Oh, I had to laugh! When I draw it, I don't think it's gross. Hahaha!

The Great Friend

The Hands will take me anyway
even if the voice says,
"How could you have sat here for so long?"

The Hug will embrace me anyway
even if the heart says,
"I am really scared!"

The Great Friend will dance with me anyway
even if I have slept on the edge,
afraid to meet the Gaze
of Love that has stared
right through me
for days and
days...

Color!!

A day for LOVE and coloring!

The song that inspired this is the version sung by Elizabeth Mitchell at YouAreMyFlower.org.

Click Sunshine in the left margin.

Click Listen.

Click Track 1 - So Glad I'm Here.

Enjoy!

Going to Rain Today

"Human kindness is over flowing
And I think it's going to rain today."





Artwork - 2.5 x 3.5 colored pencil - drawn this morning as a hard Spring rain calmed down leaving a gray sky and lots of birds chirping.
I Think It's Going to Rain today was written by Randy Newman.
I adore (and am haunted) by Neil Diamond's version.

Happy & Sad

Life is a little SAD.

Life is a little HAPPY.

I don't know if they are aware of the connection, but two blogs I follow both posted Bob McFarrin video clips. They each brought more HAPPY into my day. Thank you!


Dan Gurney of A Mindful Heart.

Barry Fraser of The Explorer's View of Life.

Photos - my topsy-turvy doll I made a couple of years ago.

Contruction Paper Blues

It is Thursday afternoon.
I just stood up from sitting on the carpet in front of the open patio slider.
The air is soft and floats by but not in...it's been a warm day.
My shirt is too hot and my pants are too tight around the waist.
And now at my feet is a mess of construction paper, scissors and a glue stick.
Repeatedly I glance back to make sure the lid is on the glue.

What am I doing?
I am watching myself dance between choices.

I did something VERY doofus today and I knew I had the choice to spend the evening punishing myself, or letting it go.
I decided both!

"Yes God, look at me eating my emotions," I think to myself as I pour chocolate chips into the peanut butter jar and grab a spoon. Suddenly, it isn't nearly as fun, or tasty.
Just moments before that, I stretched out on my bed. "I will breathe. I will be kind to myself. I will rest." Then the neighbors yippy dog started barking.
In the end, I threw myself on the floor for some basic play - paper, glue and scissors.

I danced in a new pattern.
I floundered in an old one.

Self-defeating behavior: check.
Sacred Breathing: check.
Make another mess: check.
Fume, pray and let got in a dizzying cyclical pattern: check.

My work here is done.

Love.
Let it go.
Lighten up.

Construction Paper Assemblage - 8.5 x 11 inches.
The other things that helped cheer me?
Dan Gurney's song.
Todd Baio's song.

Another Quiet Thursday

Dreaming

BIG ME

little me

:::::

I AM

i am

:::::

BIG MIND

small mind


"Let me be something every minute of every hour of my life.
Let me be gay; let me be sad.
Let me be cold; let me be warm.
Let me be hungry...have too much to eat.
Let me be ragged or well dressed.
Let me be sincere-be deceitful.
Let me be truthful; let me be a liar.
Let me be honorable and let me sin.
Only let me be something every blessed minute.
And when I sleep, let me dream all the time so that
not one little piece of living is ever lost."

- Betty Smith, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn


Art - colored pencil on colored paper, 2001.
Bouncing and floundering and laughing and crying...
and floating and grappling...
all in a day's work.
I have previously shared the Betty Smith quote from my favorite book,
but it was calling to me and I had to share it again.

You've Got a Friend

When I was 5 my mom had the Tapestry album by Carole King.
I loved this song!
I loved it so much I would lock myself in the bathroom (alone and away from older siblings), sit on the toilet and sing this song out.

Thank You

Thank you to the one who shows me how it's done.

Thank you to the one who waits patiently.

Thank you to the one who gets up to dance anyway.

Thank you to the one who sings kind praise while sitting at the edge of the opposite ocean.

Thank you to the one who leaves me speechless.

Thank you to the one who comes to me in the tears I never see.

Thank you.


Felt - sewn last night while watching a bad 80's movie with my daughter.

Cup O Love

Let's all drink...

Photo - Another moment alone with a few Sharpies,
highlighters and my empty paper coffee cup.

Queer Little Man

"Life is a queer little man."

None But The Lonely Heart, 1944
Starring, Cary Grant
My favorite line!

There is so much I don't understand...
and that is okay...for today.

Photo - paper clay doll, 2001.

A Fool

I don't like April Fool's Day.

But I want to be a Fool.

Let go of the negative connotations
of being a Fool.

Let's be Fools for
LOVE
curiosity
wonder
lightening up
play
silliness
laughter
staring at the sky
dancing...

Let's be Fools
for Life
in all its
Joy
and
heartache.

Rather than silly jokes and pranks,
I will let this April Fool's Day
be a day to rededicate my desire to be
a Fool.

Care to join me?
There is much work to be done.

Every new day begins with possibilities.
It is up to us to fill it with the things that
move us toward progress and peace.
-Ronald Reagan