a rinse 'n' repeat resurrection?

I posted my first blog entry 20 years ago today. It was a daily practice. Then it wasn’t. Then it was. Rinse and repeat. You get the idea.

I wrote, "...this practice may simply allow me to organically explore the diversity of life, healing, spirit and energies that make up my being and offer me the experiences and opportunities that I am able to share with others - in the hopes to nurture holistic wellness and growth."

Two years ago I reflected, “Not my best structured sentence, but the meaning rings through.”

I feel a tug to resurrect the practice. Again. A tug to spew words sans judgement. Just get it out. Just flow. For the Medicine it might offer. For me, for sure. Maybe for you, too.

I write. And doodle. Every day. It’s a ritual - a Medicine practice, I say - that was reignited this past year, thanks to my Moonshine work and coven. I embrace the quiet of early morning. I cajole my mind, heart, body and being to settle into the day, to explore the current hedge of life’s mysteries.  To sip coffee. To ignore my tinnitus. To witness signs. To imagine imaginings. To stretch my body’s stiffness. To seek wisdom. To acknowledge the privilege of these morning rituals. And so on. I pick up my fuck-waste refillable fountain pens, make note of the lunar position, the ordinary date, and let the mercurial expressions present - just flow - in my daily Book of Mirrors.

Like in the recent entry I’m sharing with you here.

Despite the seasonal tug to honor the message in that entry, methinks - with this blogiversary - I may need to honor the other tug to return to this typed ritual. I mean, I know it’s been plucking at me for the past several months. I know there’s a communal need to share the Medicine that is our stories, be they grand ‘r humble. I recognize there’s a communal need to share comfort with one another. I know I’m fiercely solitary. So this way, with these typed words, feels fitting… again… in this moment.

Maybe this is it. The resurrection of regular (if not daily) shared expressions. If not for you, then for me. Whatcha think?

As I sit with this, and continue sipping my morning brew, penning my pre-dawn ruminations, I invite you - if you are able - to offer attention to the words that the spirit of winter offered me… “Embrace Winter: The spirit of quiet, stillness, slow pace, be the be. Just flow.”

Be the be. We shall see. Just flow.

🕊️

Sunday Sketch - Waiting for Harvest

Merry May and International Permaculture Day! I'm celebrating with a Plant Swap happening at the studio and thought I'd pause to share a quick drawing of a cabinet that's waiting to be filled. With harvests. ::nods::

And I'm sharing this with Sunday Sketches, so click over to feast your eyes on other sketchy inspirations!

Peace.

Starts and Finishes, Finishes and Starts

Just pausing to share a couple drawings for Sunday Sketches from this past week. I had started a pinecone which, clearly, I didn't finish. While waiting for a friend at a diner I did a quick drawing, gesture-style of a woman at another table... incorporating the unfinished sketch. I call her "Pinecone Head."

I had started another sketch, when my friend arrived. Methinks I'll return to the diner to finish it. Can you see what it is?

Peace.

We Three Queens - A Crone Inspired Sketch

As a part of a larger holistic exercise, I've been going through art books, scrolling classic art images online, even perusing way-back-machine drawings of my own, as a method to seek inspiration for some kind of daily mind-bend in the form of a quick sketch in one of my journals or sketchpads. Or any scrap of paper, if that's all I have in the moment.

Sometimes it's a quick "copy," or an adaptation, or an interpretation, or sometimes it stretches beyond those things to pure inspiration. And that inspiration is a piece of what I'm after.

This daily exercise is already opening pathways to how I see and experience my world/s ~ the "ordinary" world around me, as well as the other ... less ordinary realms.

This little drawing, "We Three Queens," was inspired by an old book cover. The charming, stylized illustration appealed to me and I wanted to capture its simple quirkiness, and as I began, the voice of my inner crone spoke up and made a suggestion. Thus we have this representational adaptation. And a fitting adaptation it is, for the rule-of-gender has been a repeating theme for me lately.

I'll be returning to this little sketch at some point to add color, and possibly see what else might emerge from the deeper inspiration. In the meantime, I'm sharing it with you and with Sunday Sketches ~ so click on over to see other sketchful inspirations!

That's what I made today.

Peace.

All Work & No Play

 

I was without electrical power these past five days … and I spun several new cords, took photos, and doodled …

… and doodled … 

… and doodled.

And today I took a hot shower, cleaned, vacuumed, sighed with relief at the state of my chest freezer, prepared packages for the post and started editing those photos so I can get listing more items. I made an offering of gratitude too.

That's what I made today.

Peace.

Doodles

Today I made time to doodle … and to explore more shadows before turning back toward the source of the light. That's what I made today. Peace.

A Día de los Muertos Honor

I woke to snow this morning and by the time it started to subside the sun was making a valiant effort to peek through the lingering clouds and snowfall. It was serene … and somehow motivating. I lit two candles for a friend. I cut the calendula-tangerine-lavender soap I made the other day, and am once again pleased with the outcome. I made a quart of pickled eggs and worked on some herbal-based products I've been refining, and I cleaned up some files too. 

I then made time to sit and doodle. I finished up a journal page I started on the first of November. I've been adding a little here, a little there over the past few months, but two days ago I honored the spirit of my father who passed from this life 36 years ago, and was inspired to fill and complete this Día de los Muertos page. Today, it is filled, with honor for the cycle of life, and with memories too.

Seems I'm continuing the theme now too.

That's what I made today. Peace.

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Pause

Before I cleaned up my paint and collage mess, I paused to doodle an image to capture a bit of the creative chaos.

Once it was tidied, I put the kettle on to boil and paused again to fill one side of the page with images of held inside my (grandmother's) breakfront. The kettle whistled and I opened the glass door to retrieve a teapot and cup to assist me with my next pause.

That's what I made today. Peace.

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Color

I've been recommitting myself to a drawing a day, even if it's a simple box, a squiggle or stick-figure, I give myself credit. In doing this I found myself leafing through a journal or two (or more) and discovered this drawing, done while I was housesitting last July and decided to put some color to it.

Simple.

That's what I made today. Peace.

A Mindless Doodle

I've been preoccupied these past few days … finalizing bookkeeping for 2010 and preparing my business tax forms for all the impending deadlines that begin with Monday mailings. This morning I completed them all and rewarded myself with some mindless doodling. 

Good medicine, that.

Next up … the income tax preparations.

Peace.

A Little More Color

A couple weeks ago I met some friends at a tavern and being early I doodled a bit, while chatting-up the bartender. Today, between making phone calls, drying produce, cooking, preparing packages for the Post and listing new Spirit Cords I put a little color to that doodle.

That's what I made today. Peace.

Comfort in Colors

Today started with making the driveway free of snow. Thankfully The Boy took care of the bulk of that because not only did I oversleep (what that means), but I over-lounged a bit too. I headed west to meet my friend Annie at Passiflora's to share a breakfast treat and very good company. Who knew that such a relaxing time could pass so quickly, yet last so long. My ride home was peppered with an errand or two and when I got home I invested a couple of hours in some herbal and nutritional review.

When that was done I pulled out my journal and began to fill in this past weekend's doodles with some color.

I found myself gathering more than a few meaningful items on my table and I doodled some more.

Then ... I added more color.

The evening wound down as I prepared dinner to the talented tunes and voice of Chris Huff. We continued to listen as we enjoyed our leftover rib eye steak (from The Farm), served with bright orange winter squash (one of the last four from the garden), mashed potatoes with gravy, a little cranberry relish and green salad. More color. Oh, and a little Vermont Ale.

That's what I made today. Peace.

Fits-n-Starts

Today was one of those remarkable days where several starts were made and only one completion. One item - and an important one - one that has offered unwarranted and foolish challenge (and fits) over the past several days - did make its way to fruition and will be put to full rest tomorrow.

I started another journal page, still working with black pen, but this time on a color-prepped background. I was prompted to work only with design - pure design. No words. No recognizable images. No symmetry either. Pure design. I'm enjoying the evolution in how I'm working it and am looking forward to filling the page.

So tomorrow I make a delightful trip to the bank, pick up a few groceries, and complete this page. And ya know what else? Life is sweet. Fits and all.

That's what I made today (a cryptic blog entry it seems to me now).

Pleasurable Acts

All these things ... and more ... and football too. Even when my team disappoints. Even when they put themselves at risk of not making it into the playoffs.

So it is that this morning, before the first kickoffs commenced, I sat with my silly little journal and doodled and drafted a few of the things at bring me pleasure in this life. Even in the face of potential disappointment. That's what I made today. Peace.

More Layers

Is my sharing my kitchen efforts boring you to tears yet? If so, please accept my apologies, but I'm really having fun with this project.

Today I sponged the contrasting dark over yesterday's paler layers. The dark ended up being a blend burnt umber, ultramarine blue and mars black mixed in a base of the cabinet green and the satin floor finish. The mood of that bamboo foundation layer has transformed and I can see it working. A second layer of the lavender went down on top of that. Tomorrow ... two or three more layering efforts ... and then The Boy can take over to complete the tops coats. And then ... we'll wait a few days for the floor to cure and harden and then ... then ... then ... I'll have my little kitchen back. Gods willing.

I filled a set of pages in my art journal. Pages that had some intentional "splashes" of my kitchen color. Playing in the art journal always feels good. Even when it's as basic as this:

That's what I made today.

With that - make sure you enter my give-away. The drawing will be Wednesday morning and you can comment each day until then to increase your chances for winning! 

Doodle Starts & A Workshop Outline

That's what I made today. 

And don't forget to enter my Win a Whimsy When? give-away!

Reflective Progress

Some of you might know that last year I invested some energy and made some life-magic to reconnect with my younger Self ... specifically my teen-Self, and at that time I understood that while this journey would yield creative bounty, it would not be without challenge.

It was through this effort that I reconnected, in a very tangible way, with the visually creative Self of my youth. It is that Self that inspires doodles like this one:

I connected with other aspects of that youth. During my teen years I suffered a number of injuries that cascaded from physical traumas realized earlier in my life. Like, from birth ... and onward. I realize now, that the recent back challenge that has surfaced for me is distinctly tied to this ... journey.

I was born with polio. It had a physical impact on my left foot and leg. Given the nature of polio, I'm quite delighted to be here ... "flaws" and all.

I went through two tendon transplants, and one (attempt at) "corrective" bone surgery before I was ten years old. Physical therapy wasn't what it is today and the ordeals left my left side weakened. Even so, I did my best to keep up with my peers and I did quite well. Then I broke my left knee and treatment was delayed (but that's another story). Then my knee would "slip out of place" from my teen years into adulthood. In those teen years I managed to break a few bones in my left foot too.

It is no surprise to me that my body is bent, tilted and twisted ... heck, those words mirror quite well how many folks might describe me in life. But now ... today ... I got to see pictures of my hips, my back and my neck and I Know the challenges that I have faced in my youth will support me well moving forward in this new phase of my life journey ... and while my ideal balance is atypical, I will seek it with a passion, and honor it with love.

So today I look back to a "past" drawing, style rooted in my youth, on which I am making progress ... and I look back on life experiences upon which I build, heal, learn and make progress.

Ashe.

Final Touches

I made time for a healing breakfast with a friend this morning. I made time for sacred grocery shopping. I made some pamper items for Saturday's workshop. And I made the final touches on my Inauguration day visual meditation ...

Prints are available at my Etsy shop!

Meaning & Value & Tea, Oh My!

I made bean soup, a new year's day tradition that was never, in my opinion, fully integrated when I was growing up with it. I have taken it now and simmered the meaning that comes from this annual habit to extract the value that makes it a true tradition. To use what is too often defined as without value, to simmer and render richness of flavor and nutrition, to add beans of abundance and winter vegetables of plenty. To take virtually nothing and make something of it. Magick, this is ... kitchen magick ... and a fine way to start a collective fresh start with the world.

A while back I laid a foundation in my art journal which today I "finished" (a word of seemingly little meaning to me). I chuckle that I laid in the hearth upside-down and wonder what this goddess is trying to tell me. Does anyone recognize this particular hearthside fire?

I made a new hand-drawn label for my White Sage Liquid Smudge . The Sweet Grass is next. And I seem to be addicted to those Pages I removed to make the up-cycled art journal ... and these are only a few of the goddess images I've been doodling.

And warm, spicy tea for the pagan-folk that will be visiting my little hut in about an hour's time ... we'll be discussing Paradox. That's what I made today. Happy New Year!!!

Pages

Remember those pages that I ripped out of the book?

I've been doodling. It is wonderful meditation as well as a superb method for focusing intention for ... seasonal works. Peace!