INSPIRED!

So ecstatic to be in the company of incredible, open, and aware people.  So very ready to sit in a place I have never sat before.  Not forcing, not planning, not striving, just learning how to recognize feelings and to open my heart to the unimaginable.

"Closer to Fine"  The Indigo Girls

Greedy, Bitchy, Selfish, etc, etc, etc.....

It is one of those heinous days that I woke up feeling like I am not good enough.  Doing what I love and feel like I am meant to do sometimes makes me feel greedy, bitchy, and selfish.  I wonder where the line between taking care of me and being narcissistic is?

Does this protect me, free me? Is this part of the journey?


"It's a Beautiful Day"  India Arie

Getting Louder and Louder

And I wonder if the quiet place is right?  Wondering exactly why it is getting louder….I am convinced that place inside of me is born of desire, but what is it I desire?  Love….. money….isn’t everything we desire traced back to one of these two things. But aren’t we all capable of taking these desires and twisting them into the reasons people will lie, cheat and steal?  The quiet place may be getting louder, but I am unclear about what is telling me.


"So Much to Say"  Dave Matthews Band

Before I Get too Deep...

And the jury is still out!  No longer a mother, or a wife, no longer a student, and struggling to be an artist.  Desperately searching for who and what I am. Frightened ..... If I finally figure it out, will I still like me?  I have spent my life defining me by the success of my family, what other people thought, grades, awards and a host of other external accolades.  I enjoyed every one of them, but none of them had anything to do with who and what I am….and I still do not know!

"What I Am" Eddie Brickel & New Bohemians

Epic Lesson...(Why I Am!)

I was accepted into the 2014 Orlando Nude Nite.   Woo-hoo!

Nude Nite allows you to submit only 2 art pieces for consideration….AUGH! 

A few months ago, feeling frustrated and stale, I gessoed over a 40” x 60” canvas abstract I had done years ago that had lived behind the studio door.  I drug that fresh and frighteningly white canvas out onto the porch, sat it up on my painting easel, and stared at it for days.   Finally, feelings began welling up and the actual painting began…the frustrating, amateurish and disproportionate painting.

When it was time to send images to jury, I sent that one, and another piece.  The other piece I am proud of, done in a style and medium that I am accomplished in.  Proportions, colors, execution are close to perfect, I love this piece!
They chose the big awkward painting!

The Epic lesson, is what the hell do I know?

Maybe it is the universe saying, “yes” baby….this is why you are here....more of this.  More outside your comfort zone.  No more focusing on the sure thing, strive for the new…the scary….push past comfortable…embrace awkward... GROW!

"Why I AM"  Dave Matthews Band

It is the Life I Know

I was always taught that a woman, a mother always put men, children and money first.  If there was anything left over, it was hers.  This is the life I know. I find both comfort and pain in the life I know. The life that made certain that I understood I was not good enough.

I am living a very complicated life

My life is full in some of the most loving important ways

But empty in my core when I go to bed at night

It is the life I know.

     "The Life I Know"  India Arie

I Need Art

I miss the hours and days spent in the studio. The craving to create, even create bad work. I am feeling like I have forsaken who and what I am in pursuit of what others have expected and honored. It was an accomplishment, it kept me from focusing on all of the physical things I could no longer do, but when it was done, and I had my degree, there was no tangible evidence of my involvement.
 No color, no shape, no texture, no emotion

Time to go back into the studio,I need the
physical proof that I am alive and feeling!

                                                   I need art!

                  
"I Need You"  The Beatles                   

My little world....

My little world is creative, exposed, different and unique.  Some get it, some do not.  I want my little world to be the place where I am not afraid to admit that I want to be heard, seen and.....loved.

     
           "What the World Needs Now"  Jackie DeShannon

The Secret of Life...any fool can do it...there ain't nothing to it!

The secret of life is enjoying the passage of time.
Any fool can do it, there ain't nothing to it.
Nobody knows how we got to the top of the hill.
But since we're on our way down, we might as well enjoy the ride.

The secret of love is in opening up your heart.
It's okay to feel afraid, but don't let that stand in your way.
Cause anyone knows that love is the only road.
And since we're only here for a while, might as well show some style.

Give us a smile.
Isn't it a lovely ride? Sliding down, gliding down,
try not to try too hard, it's just a lovely ride.

Now the thing about time is that time isn't really real.
It's just your point of view, how does it feel for you?
Einstein said he could never understand it all.
Planets spinning through space, the smile upon your face, welcome to the human race.

Some kind of lovely ride. I'll be sliding down, I'll be gliding down.
Try not to try too hard, it's just a lovely ride.
Isn't it a lovely ride? Sliding down, gliding down,
try not to try too hard, it's just a lovely ride.
The secret of life is enjoying the passage of time.

"The Secret of Life"  James Taylor

one voice...

It is just one small voice,  

one life, 

one story, 

but when I talk  about it, it has more energy, more strength and more competence

than I could have ever imagined.

One voice that never has and never will have a single focus.

One voice that is often loud and unsophisticated but always passionate.

One voice is the only thing I have that is truly mine, it cannot be taken away from me unless I give my permission.  I do not!

One voice the only real method I have to show the world who and what I am.
I do not want to be ashamed of  being seen and heard....(wow....that is a big one!)

it is my one voice, are you listening?

 
"Strip Me" Natasha Bedingfield

Feeling Alright!

After so many years and so much hurt, no matter how hard it is, or how much it hurts I get through it.  I wake up in the morning and make coffee. I am feeling alright!  Obeying the cliche'.... Life goes on…

The pain  hurts but it teaches.  The pain makes me strong, and I build another wall to protect myself. Then I wonder…..are the walls keeping new pain out or are they holding the old pain in?
Does it matter?  I am feeling alright.

            "Feeling Alright" Joe Cocker

Bubble Toes!

Snausage toes ….is what I call my ugly, swollen, fat feet days.  But today I am letting the my music give me a different perspective! Bubble Toes.  Yea, that is the ticket…. me and my Bubbley Toes we are dancing this morning!                                                                                 
                                    

"Bubble Toes" Jack Johnson        

Beautiful?

Eventually I will not be so naïve. I may get smart enough NOT to believe what others tell me what beautiful is. Beautiful, is said to be in the eye of the beholder. Or at least that’s what many of us were told. In the humanities and social sciences, we are taught beauty is socially constructed. In the natural sciences, it is argued that certain features are biologically more aesthetically pleasing. Genetically generated to attract a mate and insure the longevity of a species.   We are constantly confronted with beauty – what it is and what it’s supposed to be? Physical, spiritual, intellectual?
Can everyone be beautiful?
If everyone is beautiful, then is anyone really "more" beautiful?
And why do I care so much?
Because my concept of beauty, my concept of me, like so many other things in my life is just another example of a perception I placed in other people’s hands to figure out, to believe in and to live up to.
I “feel” most beautiful, when I am confident, when I am happy, when I am creating, doing something that is kind and compassionate and loving; something that doesn’t necessarily have to do with my appearance. At the end of the day, it’s not anyone else’s responsibility to make me feel beautiful; it’s mine.

Am I finally getting brave enough to realistically look at beautiful for myself?

"Beautiful"  Carol King               

I Crave a Different Kind of Buzz

My question is just how many times or how badly do I have to be broken before I get to be whole. I mean really really whole.  And what the hell defines a whole person, anyway?  I suspect “whole” is a fairy tale.  One of those happy platitudes we all bow to and never achieve.  I promise, there has never been a time, at any point of my life, that I willing let myself be broken.  I went down kicking and screaming every single time.  Why can’t I be broken and whole at the same time?  I want a different kind of buzz…Let me live that fantasy.

                       
 "Royals" Lorde

The answers are staring at me!

A new year, new college degree (BA Art Administration, UMASS) and a serious case of “what the hell do I do next” has set in!
Feeling good every day, passionate about creating, connected to my own soul and to the universe, excited, laughing and launching fearlessly into anything and everything life has to offer me is my mission.

While sitting in my chair contemplating how I was going to accomplish this, I looked up and the answers are staring at me!

"Express Yourself" Charles Wright, the 5th Street Band

It is dark in here!

I have spent the last few years steeped in the confines of college classes, measuring my success every semester by letter grade.  Those same few years, doctors have measured my heart's decline in numbers. Letters and numbers defined me but not once did any of them ask me “How does your soul feel?” The numbers and letters are the box I have been living in.

It is time for me to quit hiding in their boxes, it is really dark in there!

         "Unwritten" Natasha Bedingfield
and the final grades have been posted, WHEW....Natural Disasters, Physical Science A and Grant Writing B....I am finally finally finally DONE

Desire Mapping - Core Desires!

Getting into Danielle LaPorte's Desire Mapping and came up with and want to align myself and everything I do with MY CORE DESIRES. I think this is it! From here on out I want these feelings every day!

Passionate

Connected

Fearless

Excited

"All Right Now"  Free

Already feeling naked!

Are you eff-ing kidding me? As if vulnerable is not horrifying enough….

Had I not experienced this ridiculous art truth myself I would be balking much louder.  In fact, the first few times this ridiculous platitude came across my desk, I poo-pooed and pitched it.  However, after reading a couple of Eric Maisel’s books I gave him much more credence and revisited this particular quote.  All of the sudden I began seeing this advice in other places. 

Feel the fear and do it anyway,

 Everything you want is on the other side of fear,

The trouble is if you do not risk anything, you risk more

I am already feeling naked…..really, do I have to discard more armor?

   "The Stripper"  David Rose Orchestra

Happy... Lesson #1

Happy is the feeling I love. It is the place I want to be.  But, it is also the one thing I regularly and voluntarily give away.

Why do I do that? 

I allow myself to put my happiness in the hands of friends, strangers and family then allow my feelings to be hurt when they do not know how to or cannot return the happiness.   I could spend the rest of my life trying to figure ­­­it out how or why it happens or maybe it is time for me to put on my big girl panties and take responsibility for my own happiness.  I need to learn the difference between sharing my happiness and giving it away.  

I am tickled to share my happiness with any and every one! Please, stand next to me, revel in joy, celebrate silliness and bask in love.  I will gladly share all the happiness I have with any and everyone I know,  but I choose to not give my happiness away anymore. 
Happy lesson #1.....Do NOT give it away, share it.

    "Happy"(from Despicable Me) Pharrell Williams

Feel Something

And art is the most beautiful thing!

Art will never leave. It is always there, although I have walked away from it many times.

Art is always honest. I know exactly how I feel about me and about the work.

Art is not always kind! It will tell me immediately when it is bad.

Art does not hide it’s ugly parts.

Art responds immediately when I give it my focus and attention.

Art does not lie.  I may not understand it at the time, but it never lies.

Art always makes me feel something and that in itself is beautiful!
She doesn't look nice, She looks like art, and I hope she makes you feel something!

"Beautiful"  India Arie

Pieces of me...

I understand that I can be a piece of someone else’s life, perhaps my problem is that I want to tell them how and where I fit.  I want my “puzzles” to be correct pretty pictures, and the reality of the situation is that I have no idea or control over what others need from me to fill their holes.

All I can do is feel the joy and feel the hurt every time I give away pieces of my heart and accept the fact I may never truly understand where I fit.

"No Other Way"  Jack Johnson          

FEAR....again....

It occurs to me that the one subject that turns up here over and over and over again is fear!  It never seems to go away.  Every once in a while, I feel like I get a handle on it, but it slips away so easily.  I wonder, do I have more fear than most, or am I just willing to admit that fear is most likely the single most destructive and motivating emotion I have.

          "Into the Mystic" Van Morrison

Next?

I do not know how, when or why. As a creative I should at least be able to imagine what I want my future to look like. Why can’t I envision my own future? My entire life has been about planning, creating goals, and then striving to attain them. I have recently attained some big goals, and I do not know how to take the next step. I know what the typical next step is, I mean the step everyone else takes, but am fairly certain that is not for me. I am putting what comes next in a brand new light and it is scary! Why is my soul here? What am I supposed to do next? When will I know?

 
"(Till I reach the) Highest Ground"  Stevie Wonder

Be thankful....

Fragile

"If blood will flow when flesh and steel are one
Drying in the colour of the evening sun
Tomorrow's rain will wash the stains away
But something in our minds will always stay
Perhaps this final act was meant
To clinch a lifetime's argument
That nothing comes from violence and nothing ever could
For all those born beneath an angry star
Lest we forget how fragile we are

On and on the rain will fall
Like tears from a star like tears from a star
On and on the rain will say
How fragile we are how fragile we are

On and on the rain will fall
Like tears from a star like tears from a star
On and on the rain will say
How fragile we are how fragile we are"
                                                     -Sting

"Fragile"  Sting, Chris Boti, Yo-Yo Ma, Dominic Miller

2014...I Hope You Dance

Thinking about all that was done and left undone in 2013, wondering what is ahead for me in 2014.  As much as we are all told that we can accomplish anything, the reality is that sometimes it is not all in our control.  Regardless of how long and hard we try, sometimes it just will not happen.

The only thing I have total and complete control of....is how I feel.
That is what I will be focusing on this year.  How do I want to feel?

      
      "I Hope You Dance"  Leanne Womack

Because I didn't...

Because I didn't is the the lesson that others should!

Hope

It is the best example of "Damned if you do  & Damned if you Don't" I can imagine. It is so easy to put my hope in other peoples hands, then suffer when things do not happen like I want them to. I have to assume at least half of the responsibility, I am the one that is willing to give up of my heart and hope to others . I have got to learn to own  and control my own hope. I cannot depend on anyone else...
          "There's Hope"  India Arie

Perfect Girl....

Maybe it is me, maybe it is the size of the canvas, maybe it is working in a medium that I am not that strong or maybe it is some of all of the above...but I really want her to be a perfect girl, and it just is not happening!


    "Perfect Girl" Sarah McLachlan

It Has Been a Phenomenal 2013! Thank you!

For everyone that has been part of my 2013, thank you....You have made my year spectacular!

The Desire Map....Woo-Hoo!

The last week of 2013 is here and I am ready and excited about starting 2014 full of life, love, laughing and creating! Yes, there are a host of issues that will follow me from the  past into this New Year but I am committed to finding a new way to deal with them. I am so looking forward to meeting regularly with creatives reading and discussing the book“The Desire Map” by Danielle Laporte with them.  It already feels so good and so right!

 
            "Belly Belly Nice"    DMB

Hallelujah…

There is no other time that brings back more memories than a quiet Christmas morning.

 
The joy of that first Christmas day with Jason, after he spent weeks in the hospital. I brought my new born son home at 4 lbs 11 oz. for Christmas.

 
The endless Christmas eve nights spent up all night assembling toys and bicycles were worth every moment just to hear the 15 seconds of happy squeals when the boys first see what Santa brought. Darren looking at me and saying, “See Mom…I told you I had been good!”

Those Christmas mornings were wild and crazy, there was so much wrapping paper you could not see the floor, I ached for a quiet relaxed Christmas morning, now I would give anything to just have one of those Christmases back!

This year I had the most wonderful family gathering, took my grandsons ice-skating, had a perfect intimate "Enchilada Eve" with my dearest friend and some family, but Christmas mornings are where the memories live.

Remembering and grateful this Christmas morning.

Hallelujah…

"Hallelujah"   Hannah Trigwell

Darren got me new head phones.....mmmmm....
now I can REALLY TURN THE WORLD OFF!

Snake with Wings!

Every once in a while, I recognize an incredible special creative spirit! They are so magnificently evident,  it is hard to believe that anyone could avoid being pulled into their orbit. They have wild infectious uninhibited spirits, you are drawn into their world.

 And God bless the parents that recognize the gregarious talents. They nurture and foster these budding creatives to recognize and attain the full potential of their innate talents even when it is hard.

Way to go Miss Zofia!  You are indeed a star! Whether it is a snake with wings or the misfit angel of the Lord, you shine on everyone around you!  Thank you!

Breakthrough Theater, Winter Park
"The Greatest Christmas Pageant Ever"
Dec 18, 2013

sURpriSe !!!!!!

You all came together, surprised the crap out of me, celebrating my BA in Arts Administration (UMASS)! I have never been so grateful, touched and honored. No formal graduation could have ever meant more to me.

For 15 years, I have met with creatives every summer and each second Sunday of the month for the rest of the year in a little classroom behind the Casselberry Art House Gallery. We have been on a collective creative journey. We have held each other’s hearts, we have shepherded each other’s talents, learned how to let go of the past, honored our inspirations, to create, sing, dance, write, draw, sculpt, paint and use our bodies, our imaginations and all of our talents to the fullest. Then….we put it all on exhibition! It is far from the typical bunch of artists!

I have always wondered….am I good enough, was I making a difference. Frankly, most of the time, I have felt like a giant fraud and any minute you would all figure out that it has never really been about me teaching you, but the other way around, you teaching me. Over the years, you have all given me so much. The most incredible creatives have come into my life through that back room, we have learned, laughed, cried and grown together. You have given me the greatest gift, the gift of meaning to my art and my life.

I am so grateful to have you all in my life. Thank you Joy & Wendy for organizing, Thank you creatives, painters, sculptors, musicians, writers, drawers, family and friends, for being here, celebrating this milestone with me. Thank you all for the marvelous gifts, cards, oodles of champagne, killer cake, yummy food but most of all the incredible scrap book you made for me. Your kindness, your generosity, your love and all of your incredible talents will live in my heart forever. Thank you is just not a big enough word to tell you all how I feel! But, until we create a bigger better word it is the best I can do….again…Thank you all!

And no…… I still do not know what I want to do when I grow up!

"Thank You" Natalie Merchant

Screw the Rules!

Mark Twain

I have spent a lifetime being (and not very well) what someone else has dictated I should be, following all of the rules. Most of the time I do not know who those “someones” are, I have never met them but they are experts and made the rules and I have followed them. How to look, act, how much money I should have, how a lady behaves,  how a mother should raise children, how a wife should honor her husband, when a mother in-law should speak, the list goes on and on.  I have done all of these things by the rules.  Sometimes they worked, but more often they didn’t. 

Every time they didn’t, I felt like a failure. These “someones” judge me, they are voices in my head, they are always critical, they always point out everything I have done wrong and continue to do wrong without any consideration to what makes me happy.

It is my turn to be happy…. 

As long as I am not hurting anyone else

 …screw the rules!

           
 "Back to Life" EnVogue

VoG women...

You get one trip through life, how incredibly lucky I am to have these wonderful creative women on this journey with me! 

And wine....Yep that is it...
Wonderful creative women and wine!


       "Sweet Inspiration"  Elio Pace

Learn it for Yourself

Lyrics from "For Good" from the Broadway play Wicked
They just spoke to me today!

I've heard it said

That people come into our lives for a reason

Bringing something we must learn

And we are led

To those who help us most to grow

If we let them

And we help them in return

Well, I don't know if I believe that's true

But I know I'm who I am today

Because I knew you...

Like a comet pulled from orbit

As it passes a sun

Like a stream that meets a boulder

Halfway through the wood

Who can say if I've been changed for the better?

But because I knew you

I have been changed for good

"For Good"  from "Wicked

My "BLOG" book is off to the printer...Woo-Hoo!

                    

                           "She's Not Afraid"  One Direction

NOW... is the time....

I have noticed large amounts of grousing here lately. This is not an apology, I am not sorry but it is perhaps an explanation. Grousing and writing is how I process the anger and frustration I have when this crappy heart failure snatches life and profoundly influences my days, my decisions, and my happiness.

I look at myself in the mirror and I look deceptively well. I work at it! I want  me and you to believe I am normal but the fact is I struggle everyday. I have to struggle for normal every "effin" day!

Heart failure is the inability of the heart muscle to pump enough blood to meet my body's needs. Heart failure creates a nasty mess of symptoms, and every one of them piss me off, severe loss of energy, chest pain, shortness of breath, coughing, dizziness, confusion, fat feet, swollen stomach, and extreme exhaustion at the drop of a hat. What I once did with little thought or effort is now a flipping monumental undertaking. And when I do them any way (and most of the time it is so worth it!) I am out of commission for several days afterward. My entire body, organs, tissues, and brain are starving and screaming desperately for the blood that is being denied to them. Heart failure sucks, it is debilitating, and gets progressively worse with time.

Today is as good as it gets, 

it does not get better.
what EVER I have wanted to do
NOW is the time!

" I Haven't Got Time for the Pain"  Carly Simon

You Live, You Learn

and yet time and time and time again

I hand over my power

react wildly or inappropriately 

and then I wonder

how could they?

where is their heart, why don't they understand 

and the question really needs to be

Why did I give them that power?
Taking back MY power!

     
  "(You Live, You Learn) Jagged Little Pill"  Alanis Morrisette

And She Smiles When She Feels Like Crying

And she smiles when she feels like crying.  An amazing amount of hurt and anger.  Why did I think time would change anything?  There are people in this world that will never understand. I cannot afford to give them any more of my energy.

"On and On" Gilbert & Sullivan

RoAd tRiP

There are no circumstances that a "ROAD TRIP" will not cure!

Topping off the holiday weekend
with a birthday road trip trip to see all of my little guys, who by the way, are not so little any more!
A whole mess of them from 38 yr to 5 yr. all boys. Two sons, 4 grandsons. Two of them celebrating birthdays this week ....
All of them very BUSY!
Guaranteed to inspire me, or wear me out
Either way it will be so much fun!



"Hold On, I'm Coming" Sam & Dave

Damn....another cha-cha-cha

and another monumental round of the cha-cha-cha
2 steps forward, one big step back
I believe in magic...I believe in magic...I believe in magic...I believe in magic...I believe in magic...
I was not ready for this....but it is happening anyway
1-2 cha-cha-cha
3-4 cha-cha-cha



"Smooth" Santana'

Thanksgiving

There are some women and most men that have been born and survive daily without the desirable “cooking gene”. Science has not yet unraveled the mysterious set of circumstances that prevent the cooking gene from developing in the normal human being. This DNA anomaly is a lifelong condition that literally millions of people live through daily! The most glaring evidence of this condition is an irrational fear of the kitchen, followed by panic out breaks in grocery stores and an inability to follow recipes. For those of us living daily without the cooking gene…..Cooking is just another household chore, just one-step above cleaning the toilet.

You can only imagine how terrifying Thanksgiving is for women (and most men) that suffer with “NCG” (no cooking gene). The entire annual holiday that is dedicated to cooking. Yes, they tell you that it is about giving thanks and being grateful, but that is a clever ruse.

To alleviate the stress brought on by Thanksgiving and NCG our small family will not be celebrating Thanksgiving in the traditional way! I will indeed be giving thanks, but not by using every pot & pan in my tiny kitchen, cooking bad food all day, washing, soaking and scraping all night, then stuffing a refrigerator full of leftovers that will probably spoil before they are eaten and eventually be thrown out. And of course the worst part, the incredible guilt I feel because by the end of Thanksgiving Day I have truly hated the entire experience, and am anything but thankful.

This year we celebrated Thanksgiving on Wednesday evening, said grace irreverently over a bloomin onion with a very tall glass of really cold beer, a perfectly cooked steak with all the trimmings, all cooked and served by someone else! A perfect evening spent in the company of dear friends and family with good food and marvelous conversation, my perfect picture of Thanksgiving.

So today, I celebrate Thanksgiving Day by gloriously reveling in all of my incredible blessings with interesting conversations, funny stories, being creative, watching parades and football
…..But.... there will be no cooking!

For all of my loved ones, family and friends, near and far, I am truly thankful, you are in my heart today and every day!

Happy Thanksgiving!
"You'll be in my Heart"  Phil Collins

Almost an Official College Graduate!

Woo-Hoo! ...BADLY Dancing my Ass off!

I am in the final approach, and got the official word from my academic adviser that all of my records, credits, grades are approved and I may file the official "Intent to Graduate".

I am a happy and I am dancing, and happy and dancing and cannot wait for this to be over.....

Two more weeks and I am an 
Official College Graduate from UMASS with a BA in Arts Administration.

This was a BIG ONE on my Bucket List.  Yay Me!

"Walk this Way" Aerosmith

Strong!

It’s all about choices! I am strong because that is what I choose!  Crappy days will come. There is no avoiding them! It is how I get through them that defines who I am. And sometimes I forget how strong I can be. I am screwing up my courage, putting on my big girl panties. It is all about being strong.

I have been through the crap, I am still here, I am smiling and I am strong!

 "Strong"  One Direction

On these days…I Need This...

On these days…

It is harder than it should be, it takes longer.

Proportion evades scale,
perspective is skewed.

I cannot trust my own emotions, they betray me.
I am incapable of receiving the love I do have,

Focusing on the pain of what I do not have.

I know these days are necessary,

But do these days have to hurt so much?

On these days…I want to quit, I need it to stop!

I need, The darkness, The sweetness, The sadness, 
The weakness, I need this

I need A lullaby, A kiss goodnight, The angel sweet, Love of my life, Oh, I need this

"My Skin"  Natalie Merchant

Scratch it and Get Glad

I had an unusual mother-in-law that had the most marvelous “one liners” and my favorite was “Scratch it and get glad"  I think it basically means crap is going to come into our lives…everybody is going to get their share.  And although in theory is misery loves company, the reality is nobody loves misery.   Misery may gather a crowd for a little while, but it will not last and  in the meantime, the crap takes over your life. If you want a happy life, full of friends, life and love, "scratch it and get glad"!

"

"Put the Lime in the Coconut"  Harry Nillson

"Don't Give Up"

A wonderful day, a wonderful friend that has survived the most painful loss any woman could possibly imagine continues to teach me every day, that no matter how hard it gets, how much it hurts, how many times I cry, I need to be strong, do not let the past take away my power and don't give up. Pain and survival pull us together.  It provides an unspoken but incredibly strong bond.  It is through that bond, that her words carry immense significance, and when she tells me just be the best I can be today and whatever that is, she will stand beside me. I believe her with all of my heart. Thank you for a perfect day! Thank you for my incredibly creative, strong, deep thinking, open hearted  friend. I am so lucky!


"Don't Give Up" Herbie Hancock, Pink, John Legend

Art...Art I want you!

To be in the company of 2 other dear VoG women made it a great evening.

Surrounded by art created by children was fun and inspiring!

VoG Women, engaged in art and life.

How lucky I am to have these women and art in my life.

                   "Art" Tanya Davis

Julia Child is one of my all time heroes, not because I like to cook, as a matter of fact I hate to cook!  But she has always been my living proof, that passion about creativity transcends all cultural expectations of success. She always did what she was passionate about.  She was admired, loved, and incredibly successful in the eyes of those she loved and the public, even though she was not young and physically attractive.

MiSTAKES

MiSTAKES.....I have more than my glaring and obvious share of them.  I have many many many "rip roaring cannot believe she did that" others to choose from.  The choices are virtually endless, but every one of them came with a wonderful lesson. If the truth be known, I suspect it would work out to be about a 50-50 split, good to bad lessons.  But, if I knew then - what I know now, I would have made a whole lot more mistakes, and loved every minute.

Stand back, I have enough time, energy and inclination to make a whole lot more amazing mistakes….Ooh La La!

          "Ooh La La"  Faces (Rod Stewart)