A Proclamation of Power

Every day is a beautiful day, challenges, sunshine, joys, dark clouds and all.
Every day offers new beginnings and fresh starts.

I am reminded every "new year" just how detached we are - collectively, socially - from the Ever Present Now. So many folks hand over their Power to some arbitrary Man-Made linear measure of time, and I can't help but wonder why? This is not a judgement, it's an observation. And it's an opportunity.

If you're one of the fine folk who put stock in this calendar flip, I invite you to treat every single day of your life with the same Passion for clean slates, fresh starts and new beginnings as you do for this January first thing. I'm confident that you'll notice shift in your life, an empowering shift. Come on, give it a go.

All the same, to honor this shared calendar-space in our collective community I wish you a wonderful 2014! Whatever that means to you.

Peace.

A Revisit to Uncontaminatable Essence

Yesterday marked a blog anniversary for me. It was on December 29, 2004 that my opening entry was posted and all I can really say is tempus fugit. I read my entry from 9 years ago today and laughed. 

Rather than ruminate about it here, I thought I'd take a shortcut and simply post it … 

Uncontaminatable Essence

"I am an enthusiastic Visionary with an uncontaminatable essence."~ Gaynor Linnecor

A precious friend shared these glorious words with me today and once I got past the physical challenge of pronouncing "uncontaminatable" out loud - I laughed out loud!

I laughed for two reasons.

One reason was the shear humor at hearing my own voice spitting and stumbling over what seemed an utterly unpronounceable word. Once I surrendered to simply speaking the word as I understood it and not trying to pronounce it as written, it was simple. I laughed again. Why do we make things so difficult for ourselves?

The other reason I laughed is the serendipity of the quote. In my quest for simple approaches to healing and wellness I have started (expanded, really) to experiment with making my own fermented foods, by simply working with the itsy-bitsy airborne fungi and bacteria that share my home and kitchen with me (and you with yours!). It is sad that we live in a world where simply hearing the words "bacteria and fungi" evoke thoughts of "enemy!"and "Contaminant!" Where product after product bombards us with antibacterial this and antibacterial that. A world that is pasturized and homogenized to death. 

Fear not contamination.

In my play and education with fermented foods I have learned and remembered that those little "germs" that cause fermentation have given us mighty gifts throughout our history. Not the least being simple survival! And wine! Those "contaminants" work magick for us - by preserving nutrients, creating new ones and transforming others into more digestible foods! Those pesky "contaminants" actually work to transform and remove toxins from foods!

Ahhh, how can I fear contamination when it comes to me as such a miracle as this? These contaminants are my friends. They are my newfound midwives and nurses, showing me old ways to do new things . . . showing me how unnecessary, wasteful and potentially detrimental arbitrary killing of them is . . . showing me wisdom practiced and handed down from the ancients that is life-sustaining - in both metaphor and practical application! Showing me, that pasteurization is not in the interest of my personal health and wellness, but rather that of an larger profit-oriented energy and that homogenization defies the mystery of Nature - of life itself - by only offering a consistent product time after time. That’’s just dull, and dulling - not words I associate with wellness.

So, I say - Make friends with your enemies! Learn from your contaminants! It certainly makes things simpler (less difficult). In doing so, you open yourself to becoming an uncontaminatable essence!

It’s silly, isn’t it? The simple practice of fermentation has reminded me that, from a holistic perspective, our enemies are usually our allies. So, yes - "I am an enthusiastic Visionary with an uncontaminatable essence" and you can be too! 


As I reread this I thought to myself, some things change, and some things don't. And I laughed again. As for now … I think I'll go ferment something. 

That's what I made today. Peace.

Deep Heart Connection

For those of you out there that go in for the "holiday" madness, may I wish you a wonderful holiday season (better late than never), a merry christmas, happy new year and all that jazz.

Me? I'm simply grateful that daylight is back in the race and, as much as I revel in the darkness, I offer the shrinking nights my blessings as I welcome with arms spread wide the waxing light of day. I revel in the Mystery of these cycles.

Over these next couple-few days, while so many folks are distracted with entertaining, consuming and (if they're plugged in at all) relaxing, restoring and renewing, I'll be leveraging this time of community preoccupation to unplug from the world, from my head, to connect deeply with my heart and follow it without the usual external activities, plans, schedules and assorted disruptions. I may even take a holiday from ::gasp:: heART journaling (though, that's bloody unlikely). I may pull out the fabric "yarn" I prepared last summer, lounge on the couch watch movies and crochet. I may pull down that almost-finished-quilt to see if I saved fabric to complete the binding. I may review my journals seeking potential poetry to edit and refine. I may do all of these things. I may do none of them. I may do something else all together.

But whatever I do, I wish me well … as I wish the same for you. Whatever you do, enjoy it Deeply.

Peace.

Preparations for the Whiting Mills Open Studios Event

Today I made my "final" plans and preparations for this weekend's Open Studios event at Whiting Mills in charming Winsted, Connecticut. I'll be heading to the studio later this evening to see what else I can do to fill my studio space with welcoming verve.

If you're in the area I invite you to stop by!

Not only will all the studios be open, but there will guest artisans showing off their handcrafts. You'll get to meet some great, creative folks, see their creations up close and personal, and learn about their wonderful offerings. Plus, the old mill is fascinating to wander.

If you find your way to this event, be sure to stop by my studio (#336) to say hello and to pause to create a little art! I have prepared little canvases for visitors to embellish with paint, pen, pencil or whatever … and as these canvases make manifest I will be stringing them together in a single piece of collaborative, community heART. I'm really looking forward to this communal, creative process and witnessing its evolution.

So if you find yourself in northwest Connecticut this weekend, or next, stop by Whiting Mills for this extraordinary event and maybe even get a little holiday shopping in, if you do that sort of thing. And hey ~ what a great way to support your local businesses and local economy!

As they say, "Buy Local or Bye Local!"

Peace.