Category Archives: Blogging from the Heart

Something Good

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The Universe saying “yes.” This happens all the time, if you are paying attention. It happened for me today, more than once. Sometimes, it yells in celebration, and sometimes it’s as quiet as a whisper, and it happens more often when you are on the right path, doing the good work that is uniquely yours, following your calling, trusting your heart, knowing your hungers, being wholeheartedly yourself. It’s been happening for me a lot lately, and often when it does, I burst into tears. For so long I ignored it, told it to wait or even shut up and leave me alone, and all it wants is the very best for me. The love and wisdom that is available to us, all the time, can be utterly heartbreaking.

image by renaissancechambara

Leftovers. Thanks to the boy for this. I opened the fridge to make my lunch today and realized there were multiple options, so much that I felt like I was ordering off the menu of my favorite restaurant. He takes such good care of me.

Spring. Spring Break isn’t until next week, and technically according to the calendar it’s not quite Spring yet, but the warm weather yesterday and today, more daylight, and crocuses blooming say that it’s close. I ate my second breakfast today sitting in the backyard with the dogs, one of my all time favorite things to do, (I think it’s theirs too), and I can’t wait to do more of that.

image by Armin Vogel

Online classes. I feel like I have stumbled upon this magical wonderland of creativity and support, wisdom and kindness. There are so many classes available, taught by so many amazing women, and though I don’t really have this kind of time, I keep diving in. I just started “Blogging from the Heart” and “Telling True Stories” will be right on its heels. You, dear reader, can only benefit from me spending time immersing myself deeper into the practice of writing.

              

Live music. Last night, I saw Gregory Alan Isakov and Ani DiFranco in concert. There are plenty of bad things I could list about staying up late, standing in a dirty hot loud crowded space for four hours, getting shoved around and groped, having drinks spilled on you, but that’s not my point here. My point is there’s something good about hearing and watching music performed live. The force of sound vibrating in your chest, that bodily experience of the music. A direct and immediate conversation between an artist and their audience. Anything can happen, spontaneously, in the moment. You are trapped in the crush of humanity, screaming, dancing, singing, clapping, and sweating. There’s the potential for aggression but also the opportunity for compassion, for you to soften to those around you, the chance to be in the moment, feeling what you feel, allowing emotions to arise and dissolve, feelings evoked by a person opening their heart to you, telling the truth. This is all possible, mistakes, bravery and vulnerability, life and pure love.

Ani DiFranco, image by Julio Enriquez

Global Sorority. This is yet another fabulous Kickstarter campaign that I pledged this week. It’s a documentary planned by Tia Kelly & Loretta Cella. They explain it this way:

It’s our hope that these documentaries will be used not only to bring awareness, and aid the upward mobility of women and girls in developing nations, but also to be a learning tool in schools and colleges in the western world, offering a platform for discussion around women’s issues and also giving young women a starting place as to how they might connect and make a difference, in their own lives and in the lives of young women around the world.

As with the “Realizing Empathy: An Inquiry into the Meaning of Making” and “Danielle Ate the Sandwich Album” Kickstarter campaigns, I pledged because I wanted to see the final product, but also because I believe if the project is realized, the world will be a better place, suffering will be eased, and I am all in for that.

Color Me Katie blog. This blog is fun, sweet, colorful, and makes me so happy.

Kate, a 24 year old freelance photographer, actress, street artist and fun maker!

And finally, the tiniest-big dose of happiness and cuteness the internet has to offer: Dancing Baby Plover from Dou Dou Birds. Click on the image to see the other three views. The sum of four enables you to see the full measure of his little happy dance.

Joy Jam

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What were the 3-5 things that gave you joy this week?

:: Rediscovering, remembering artist Anne Packard: When I was working on my Full Snow Moon Dreamboard, I used a few images from an article about painter Anne Packard from the December/January 2010 issue of Coastal Living magazine–one of a table and tools in her studio, and the other of her hands working on a tiny painting. The hands remind me of a similar picture of an 83 year old painter, hands splattered with paint, that Andrea Scher shared on Superhero Journal recently. I want to be old like that, I want to be creative like that, I want to be free like that.

Honestly, it was hard for me to cut up those pages and use those images. I love that article so much, love everything about Anne’s work and life, and covet her studio. She reminds me in some ways of poet Mary Oliver, another gloriously creative and free spirit–what/who I want to be when I grow up.

:: Tina Fey: Everything about this woman makes me happy. When I was younger, I wanted to be a performer, like Barbara Streisand, Lucille Ball, and Carol Burnett. Who cares about “pretty,” but oh to be talented and funny (and gorgeous–maybe not in the traditional Hollywood sense, but all these women are gorgeous)!

In the 41 6-Word Days lovefest on A Human Thing yesterday (it’s a lovefest every day), a few of us got to talking about the line from 30 Rock, “I want to go to there.” It’s one of my favorite quotes, even more so because of the story about where it came from. In an interview on the Jimmy Fallon show, Tina Fey told him that her oldest daughter Alice says funny stuff that ends up in the show all the time, but for this particular line, Alice was about three and Tina was secretly considering taking her on a trip to Disneyland, so she was online, researching and looking at the website when Alice came around the corner, saw what was up on the screen (the Cinderella castle) and said “I want to go to there.”

I was explaining that yesterday, and while trying to find a video of that interview, I ended up watching some other Tina Fey videos and thinking about how much I love her–she makes me laugh, makes me so happy.

Tina Fey, Sexy Nerdy Funny Girl

:: Registering for Blogging from the Heart: I know I’ve said this already, but I am so excited about this class. I signed up in the first few minutes registration opened because I just couldn’t wait (the class is officially sold out). Clearly, the theme for this week’s joy jam is women I admire, and Susannah Conway is one of them–funny, brave, open-hearted, smart, gorgeous, and talented. As good as I feel about the blogging I’m already doing, I know that this class is going to open up a whole new part of my heart.
Susannah Conway
:: Playing “find it” with Sam: This is a game where I take whatever toy Sam happens to be playing with, ask him to sit and wait, go into another room and “hide” it (no place too difficult, because he’s really not all that good at it yet), return to where he’s waiting and tell him to “go find it!” He loves this game. I have to make sure Dexter doesn’t help, because he’s super good at finding, and would win every time.

:: Glen the baby squirrel adopted by a dog: This is actually an older story (February of 2009), but Eric just forwarded me an email about it today. If you click on the picture, it will link you to the original news story and a video. In the mail Eric sent me, it ended with what it called “the moral of the story”: Keep loving everyone, even the squirrelly ones.