Inspiration Deck

I first saw this project in Desire to Inspire by Christine Mason Miller and was intrigued of course.  Who wouldn't want to have a little card-sized piece of inspiration to encourage her daily?  Well, the wonderful Jessica Brogan decided to take the matter into her own hands and start an inspiration deck swap of her own as well.  Immediately I decided I wanted to participate and I'm finally finished with my cards, just waiting for everything to dry completely then they will be on their way to Jessica.

A bit of brief background:  take a deck of cards (total 53), gesso them, decorate a bit and include a different inspiring quote on one side, personal contact information the other.  Mail them to Jessica and she creates a diverse inspiration deck for each participant.  When she's all finished each of us will have a deck of 52 amazingly inspirational cards to cheer us on each week!  I can't wait.

These cards will be from 52 creative gals from around the whole United States, how INSPIRING is that?!

Just knowing we all created this with a loving intent will be a great feeling every time we look to these cards for inspiration.  I'd like to thank Christine Mason Miller for the original inspiration and for Jessica Brogan for turning it into a reality!

Check out my Interview!

Ever since I took the Flying Lessons e-course from Kelly Rae Roberts last August, I have been so blessed to meet tons of amazing women who have formed a friendship that's still going strong.  Recently a friend from the course, Zulma interviewed me for her blog.  I hope you will stop by and check it out!

Thanks for visiting today and thanks to Zulma for including me in her artist interviews!

My Love of Art - Blog Hop

These past two years my life has changed in a lot of ways and art has contributed to it most of all because I finally started doing things that are good for my soul, namely creating.  I decided to make this "For the Love of Art" Fly Tribe blog hop post really simple--sort of a "thank you" to art and the reasons I love her so (sorry if that sounds a bit corny!).

I love art because...

• it makes me feel so damn happy!
• it makes me forget about anything else going on around me (sometimes even eating or picking up my daughter from school at a certain time--oops!)
• I get to work with and see originality and beauty -- what's better than that?
• it has helped make some new creative friends who finally understand my love and NEED of creating
• I believe it has helped my health immensely, namely putting my kidney disease in remission
• it has also introduced me to some amazing online artists who have shared their lives, inspirations and techniques with me so generously

I hope you'll be able to hop around and visit a few of the other blogs participating in this hop.  You will be inspired for sure. I hope you have a great Valentine's Day and are able to share your love with someone special. Thank you for visiting me today!  If you have a love of art too, I'd love to hear what it has done for you.

Spring, Where are you?

It's no secret I'm not a fan of winter and snow.  It was quite windy, cold and rough driving today because of a new snowfall.  I often say we will move somewhere warmer when Isabella is out of school.  A place where there is greenery all year, flowers for much longer and maybe even fruit trees right in the back yard.  I do wonder though if I would appreciate spring and summer as much if I had that all year round.  Right now, spring is so very delicious to me because of the bitterness of our winter.  I do enjoy the anticipation of my favorite season soon to be here.

So let me say, I can't wait for lovely spring to arrive and with it flowers (tulips and lilacs are two of my favorites), leaves on the trees, green grass and lots of sweet birdies singing in the yard.  And then bring on the summer nights, crickets and a sky full of stars.  I guess this post is to uplift myself and know that the flowers and trees are on their way.  They will be here before I know it.  

What about you?  Do you live in a warm or cooler state?  Is there something about one of the seasons you really are looking forward to?  I'd love to hear, so share if you'd like.  Thanks for stopping by today.

Need Some Positive Affirmation

I think I am pretty good at encouraging others to think positively and try to frame problems as if they are great opportunities in the long run.  Deep down, I know this is true.  But I'm having a hard time with a consistently positive mindset lately.  Mostly regarding my creative goals and dreams.  I've been told that I am right where I need to be.  This is a comforting feeling except when I just want things to HURRY up and Happen!  I know--that's the opposite of what people keep telling me.  So I decided to look through some of my journals from the past years to see if I could find some uplifting and positive affirmation.

I found this meditation by Shakti Gawain and I like how it is worded in the present tense, as if all these things are already true, that I'm not just hoping for them.  I've read so much about wording our hopes and dreams as if they are already happening and I really think there is something to it.  I hope this affirmation speaks to you in some way as well.

The universe is unfolding perfectly.

I don't have to hang on.

I can relax and let go.

I can go with the flow.

I trust my own process.

I always have everything I need.

I have all the love I need within my own heart.

I am lovable and a loving person.

I am whole in myself.

Divine love is guiding me and

I am always taken care of.

The universe always provides.

(Photos by me)

You are here to...

Found this excerpt years ago in a magazine ad, not sure what magazine, think it was an advertisement in a sports magazine.  I don't really ever read sports magazines, but for some reason I was browsing through one and found this and instantly was drawn to it.  I still have it after all these years in my folder of inspirational words and pictures.  (I know it's proper etiquette to cite our sources, but like I said I got this probably over ten years ago and have no source attached to it at all.  So I'm not claiming it as my own, but I can't credit it, sorry.)  I hope you enjoy it.

You are not here to catch trains

and wear dress socks.

You are here to build things and teach things

and jump into lakes.

You are here to make things better for others,

better for yourself.

You are here to laugh, take naps,

and run around the basepaths.

You are here to live well.

(Instagram photo by me!)

I hope this message shares some inspiration for you as it does for me!  Thanks for visiting today.

So Inspired

These past two years or so I've been amazed at the inspiration I've been blessed with from my new world of discovering other artists and bloggers who have published books or websites.  It constantly blows my mind the amount of beauty and positivity I have been lucky enough to have found at a low time in my life.  Let me give a little bit of background.

About two and a half years ago, I was out of work on disability trying to heal and get better so I could start chemotherapy for my kidneys (had lupus nephritis).  I couldn't start the chemo because I had consistent bronchitis and working in a middle school with germs wasn't helping, so my doctor thought it would be best to take some time off.  Well, at first I bawled.  Oh my God--this was serious.  If this chemo didn't work, I'd need dialysis.  If that didn't work, I'd need a kidney transplant.  Not to mention, I might lose my hair and who knows what else (I know in the grand scheme of things the hair loss is nothing).  I also was freaked out that people at work, my husband and my in-laws wouldn't understand why I couldn't work during this time.  I only was having chemo once a month.  Daily I had to tell myself I was doing what was best and was needed for me.

After I got over the initial freak-out, I actually felt so free.  So happy.  Which was so weird, because I was so sick.  That started to tell me something.  Maybe teaching wasn't where I was meant to be.  Maybe teaching added to my illness.  Well during that time, I found the book Taking Flight by Kelly Rae Roberts.  You could say this is what started it all.  Yes, I've always wanted to paint, but this gave me the push I needed to jump in.  I read about her whispers and listening to them.  I knew I had whispers too.  Long silenced whispers.  But having all this time off gave me lots of time to start really hearing these whispers.  I found myself painting at 3 in the morning because my medicine gave me a hard time sleeping, but I was so excited, even though I would normally be so mad that I wasn't sleeping when I should have been.  It didn't matter because I knew I could take a nap later and I was also full of joy and hope.  As I spent months away from teaching I read more from other inspirational souls like Christine Mason Miller and Patti Digh to name a few.  Knowing my health was serious, I also started realizing that I needed to take my happiness into my own hands as well.  I started taking little steps by opening an etsy shop after e-mailing Kelly Rae Roberts and her suggesting as much.  I started applying to art shows.  I got accepted to some.  People told me that my work was joyful and happy.  I told them it made me feel joyful and happy creating it.  That was just the start.  Brave Girls came into my life as well.  In addition to creating, I started realizing that I was important and that my dreams mattered, no matter what.

I could probably write much more about my journey to where I am now, but I just wanted to share a few bits and pieces.  I want to just say thank you to those amazing women who gave me the courage to jump into a new chapter of my life.  Though I still have lupus, my kidneys are in remission.  Though my salary is much less as a library aide than a teacher, I'm so damn happy.  Thank you to all of you.  All of you who are inspiring and encouraging me everyday.  Not just the well-known artists and authors, but all of the women I've met on-line who are helping me fly as well as my friends Carrie and Jenny.  I'm so blessed.  Thank you thank you thank you.