My Bagua House-Serendipity and Synchronicity

I belong to a yahoo group moderated by Kathryn Antyr called True North Arts where I have been challenged to create something related to the topic of serendipity or synchronicity. I have to say that since this topic was brought up in the group and I've been focusing on it, lots of "coincidences" have been happening for me. For example, I had just written in my journal that I felt I was doing well exploring many different art forms but just not that comfortable with this thing called "doodling" (for the uninitiated, it's a little more formalized than just the random doodles you do when talking on the phone). The very next day, someone in another one of my groups posted a link to a free introductory tutorial explaining how to "do" doodling. Funny coincidence, right? (I don't believe in coincidences, by the way. I believe things happen to show us we are on the right path for our lives.)

And just a few days earlier, I had journaled about a book I was reading, choosing a quote that showed that women need to realize they are valuable. The quote said: "You have to find a mother inside yourself. We all do. Even if we already have a mother, we still have to find this part of ourselves inside." And I added my own thoughts after this, "So many (women) need to truly hear these words with our hearts, because we put everyone's needs before our own. We have to learn to be our own mothers and to say to ourselves, "You are entitled, my child, to live a life of beauty. And we need to say to ourselves,'Here, I will help you find happiness and fulfillment.' "

The very next day, my friend Emily --- with no conversation between us about anything related -- posted the following quote: It's from Eat, Pray, Love, and it particularly struck her when she read it. "BUT I FELT A GLIMMER OF HAPPINESS WHEN I STARTED STUDYING ITALIAN, AND WHEN YOU SENSE A FAINT POTENTIALITY FOR HAPPINESS AFTER SUCH DARK TIMES YOU MUST GRAB ONTO THE ANKLES OF THAT HAPPINESS AND NOT LET GO UNTIL IT DRAGS YOU FACE-FIRST OUT OF THE DIRT-THIS IS NOT SELFISHNESS, BUT OBLIGATION. YOU WERE GIVEN LIFE; IT IS YOUR DUTY (AND ALSO YOUR ENTITLEMENT AS A HUMAN BEING) TO FIND SOMETHING BEAUTIFUL WITHIN LIFE, NO MATTER HOW SLIGHT."

So...Why am I writing this stuff. I think these things, serendipity and synchronicity, are so important that I really believe that whoever reads this will see it occur in their own lives as well. Will you post back to me and tell me when it does? I feel it as a blessing that comes to us when we are living our lives fully and on purpose.

And speaking of that, the last part of my True North Arts activity was to create some sort of serendipity compass. At first I was drawn to create some kind of feng shui cards, but then I decided to make my own personal Bagua Compass to use as a quick meditation every day -- a sort of run-through to make sure I'm on track and staying centered. There are lots of explanations for feng shui and for bagua compasses; for me, I see "my house" as being something within myself rather than as my actual domicile -- though plenty of people see these things as representing their actual homes. If you're interested, you can google this stuff and turn yourself into a New Age guru. But don't blame me. I'm just a regular chick who likes to stay in touch and keep it real. xoxo

Deadly Sins

Meg sent me this post, which she found on a friend's blog. And now you're it!

Pride:What is your biggest contribution to the world?
I'm proud that I seem to inspire and empower people to be their best, by what I say and what I have done. And ok I have to say this if I'm being prideful: (((my children.))) I'm very proud of them.

Envy: What do your friends have that you wish was yours?
Longer legs, a thinner nose, and blue eyes.

Gluttony: What did you eat last night?
On a diet now but there have been nights when I would have had a GREAT answer for this.

Lust: What really lights your fire?

A guy who is smart and witty and charming (like my husband)

Greed: Name something you hoard and keep from others:

I do not hoard many things, but I do hoard art supplies for some reason. I buy them to use them but love them so much that I can't use them because they will get used up. It's a terrible catch 22 for me. Very neurotic.

Sloth: What’s the laziest thing you ever did?

Pissed the day away reading, on the computer and doing art and not much of anything else. I'm pretty driven, but when I go into downtime mode I'm REALLY off.

Anger: What is the last thing that really pissed you off?

My bad temper is legendary in my family and I've always tended to say exactly what I'm feeling (note I didn't say thinking), but as I've "matured" I've learned to wait before I open my mouth. My ex-husband treating my kids unfairly is still a trigger point for me and can make me go ballistic.

Wrath: I don't have time for wrath in my life.

Tag. You're it.

A free workshop and a new Art Journaling site

My husband always says his favorite word is "free" and his favorite phrase is "let me put that right in your trunk for you, sir." Hmmmm. Well, things like that happen rarely for me (and the trunk thing sounds a little shady), but here's one for the would-be digital artist out there. Jessica Sprague, artiste extraordinaire, is offering a free workshop in July. Yes F-R-E-E. Her workshops are amazing and seldom free, but this one is a celebration of her website's second birthday - so she is giving us a present. You need to register for it between June 22 and 28. (For the calendar impaired, that is a Monday through Sunday.) I love playing around with Photoshop and have a couple of techniques under my belt, but I still have a lot to learn so I'll be taking this class. You also get a 30-day free trial of Adobe Photoshop Elements and a free design kit from Houseof3.com, which I imagine will have things like cute little brushes, swirls, frames and doodads to embellish your pictures. If you think you might be interested, post here and let's do it together...I'd love to have some company on this. It will be fun to share our work.

Speaking of sharing our work...I've just started an art journaling group on Ning, sort of an aside to last year's Taking Flight group (which will end its active phase in the next few months). If you are at all thinking about Art Journaling -- wondering about it, wanting to learn it, try it, or even just take part in the discussions -- here is the link: On The Wing It's open membership so you can join easily.

Queen of All Things Awesome

And here we have it...better even than Queen for a Day (okay who here is old enough to remember that show???)  It's Queen of Alllll Things Awe-Summm!!!

Given to me by Lizzie S, while I was away and heretofore 

unbeknownst to me.  Lizzie is an amazing artist and photographer, 

a very cool mom and fabulous writer.  When you go to her blog you'll

see the unique way she uses color and letter size to create visual interest

and variety on her blog.  It's very Lizzie.

To be a Queen like me...

1. List 7 things that make me Awe-Summm

2. Pass this award on to 7 bloggers I love...(If you know me, you know I do 3)

3. Link to the person who tagged me.

Oh, the awesomeness of me?  hmmm

1.  I love life.  I look forward to getting up every morning and doing new things.

2.  I'm a completely loyal friend.  It means everything to me.

3.  I love every animal, even the ugliest ones.  Especially the ugliest ones.

4.  I see funny, quirky things in everyday moments.  Every single day.

5.  I can get almost anyone to learn almost anything.

6.  My kids think I'm a great mom.  They like to hang out with me.

7.  I happily helped take care of each of my parents until the day they died.