Ensoul Arts

dandy mandala

Happy Earth Day!

Happy Lunar New Year

Finally, I'm finishing a painting that had been put away for too long. I wasn't always sure I'd finish it. Definitely, I will. Almost there. The sun came out today, which shifted the energy here dramatically. Following a long walk in the sun, and dinner with friends, I am home cleaning up my studio and office spaces while thinking my life forward. I'm taking a lot of deep breaths today. The office and studio have been been unpacked since September, but the last of spaces in the cottage to be organized with intention. It feels good to be working on this today, and I hope to share this corner of my home soon. 

 

urban embracing

One downtown Seattle errand turned into a lingering city stroll to Pike's this morning, and I was all the way back to my island haven by 1:30. Not bad. I have yet to really consider how I might add in little trips across the water for our produce weekly. Three hours and hauling a few small baskets is all it would take. It's so easy for me to be an island dweller I tend to forget I can walk out my front door, onto the ferry, and be at Pike's in less than an hour. The ferry is good for reading and tending portable tasks, and the rest is great exercise. As it turns out, eating a giant gluten free monster cookie the size of my face inspires some trippy urban photography, too. Not sure I should keep the big cookies in the plans...but I embraced it all today. 

I set off on foot knowing I needed a few little kitchen things like a butter dish and towels from Sur La Table. I ended up with little longings I hadn't planned for at all, like a few things at Marimekko that caught my eye. I was still thinking about this dress and a few other garments I definitely don't need on the way home. I haven't had fashion fantasies in a long time, so I suppose it's a fair distraction from managing a household and planning produce trips. Hmmm 50% off sales in January are tempting, aren't they? Many long days in the city are coming up for me, so I'm seeking to embrace the process of trudging through the shaded downtown bits on my way to where I need to be. Excited too, to get where I'm going. Make way, dowtown Seattle, here I come.

easy does it

I hope you all had a wonderful Mother's Day week-end! It's been tricky for me to keep up the chin and the blog these days, but I do choose to bask in gratitude for what is every day. My dear mother is holding on to this life with a strength of spirit that can hardly be believed. I've never quite understood what it means to "walk on water" but now I know. I know and I will never forget. I am so deeply humbled and forever changed by this time at her side.

Homeschooling and other usual family rhythms are on the slow track, which feels just right. Today we had a lovely break and enjoyed sweet time in our own neighborhood groove. We woke up to bright warm sun, homemade granola, and a bit of the 3 R's. The bikes then called to us, so off we went with art supplies packed on our backs. This was the first day of the season the boys were outdoors for the entire day, and it all ended in a storm over the soccer fields {complete with hail and a tornado watch}! The damp fragrant breeze through the windows is almost not enough to cool off the day before the dreaming.

 

eggs (and a ham)

Happy Easter :: Ostara!

It was a very special day for us today, as it may be our last Easter with my mother. The boys and I took in a church service filled with music, theater, and warmth early this morning. We then headed to our home for some Easter basket goodness before driving a short road trip to spend time with my mom. We were relieved and very happy to see her illness take a back seat to living and celebrating! She was up and visiting the entire time we were there. I've been blowing out and dyeing her these botanical eggs as a gift, and we got to talking about eggs. This eventually led me to a sacred little treasure box in the darkest corner of her living room hutch...

My mother was a nurse at a care home for elders while I was growing up. When I was very little, one sweet woman in her care wanted to make the eggs you see below for my mother to give us kids still living at home. At the time there were four of us, and she made one for each of us. I'm interested now in looking up the significance of the patterns in egg writing because I noticed some interesting parallels between the egg designs and the nature of their owners. I wonder about the conversations between my mother and the woman she wheeled to the Activity Room so many times. These amazing eggs have survived for over 30 years in our family home, and I don't even know the name of the woman who created them. I remember many faces of once upon a time, and I try to reach for which special smile might have been hers. My mother cared for so many elderly over the years she can't quite remember her name either. Wherever she is, I send my gratitude. I'm quite smitten with these eggs.

The adorable decorative fairy and woodsman eggs above were made by another woman my mother cared for. I remember them clearly. I mean, really... a delicate sparkly egg with a little door to a magical world inside? Pure wonderment.

After all these years...

So good to share the memories with my boys. We hope your day was special, too!

This Guest House

The weight of the long winter was just beginning to lift off of our shoulders when the news of the quakes and Tsunami in Japan interrupted the groove toward spring. Deep sadness washed over me with every headline. As I was doing all I could to maintain positive thoughts for humanity, incredibly sad news also arrived in my family. My mother's cancer is no longer stable. For three years, she's been winning a struggle with lung cancer. It was discovered recently that the cancer has spread widely. From a medical standpoint, there isn't much more that can be done...

Naturally, the boys and I have been spending a lot of time with her. We are so grateful for the time we have, perhaps even more time than we think we have, to laugh and love. Her light of hope is bright and inspiring. Her will to live is strong. She will be mostly home now, surrounded by the love and support of family and friends. We lost my father to cancer five years ago, and though I cannot say I am prepared for what lies ahead with my mom, I do have a sense of how this will go. 

Moving into this new season certainly isn't as care free and light hearted as it might have been, and I'm met each day with an awareness of my choices. How will I choose to perceive devastating changes both globally and personally? How will I move through the painful process of letting go? How I respond to what life brings is up to me. I have been thinking of A Year of Choice over at Bluebirdbaby and feeling really grateful for this web of interconnection we all have at our fingertips. In my beginnings as a blogger, I have discovered that this online life is what we make of it. It can be virtual reality or we can co-create a virtue-full reality. Connection is everything. Dear Erin, Thank you for the inspiration to keep remembering this--our ability to choose.

I welcome all that will come. As Rumi tells us, "This being human is a guest house." 

Story + Art = Healing

Just a couple weeks before the recent tragedies, I put this book on reserve through our library website. I had forgotten, as I'm always adding to my not-so-little bibliophile pile. When I eventually stood at the hold shelf to pick up my weekly stack, I glanced at the cover of this one and lingered long. I was immediately struck by the awareness of how quickly life can change. I wanted to turn back time to the moment I was sitting at my laptop on the library website weeks before, back when all was well and fine with Japan. While the boys and I lived in Seattle, we met many new friends with Japanese roots. Japanese language classes at school were favored, and both boys became increasingly interested in visiting Japan someday. It has come up frequently in our family conversation the past couple of years, usually beginning with, "When we go to Japan, let's..."  Yes. Let's. Now, more than ever, I look forward to our "someday" trip to Japan. For now, these drawings and stories bring smiles and allow us to feel closer in a way that un-numbs the reality that is there now.

 

So here we are in uncertain and changing times thinking of a lucky rabbit in the moon and inhaling peach blossoms. I am choosing to keep dreaming of more connection between people and countries, of greater love, and of new beginnings. 

 

Rumi - Guest House

This being human is a guest house
Every morning a new arrival.
A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor.
Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they are a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture,
still treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out for some new delight.
The dark thought, the shame, the malice,
meet them at the door laughing,
and invite them in.
Be grateful for whoever comes,
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.

 

Farewell February

February can be the true test of any Minnesotan. We made it. As is the norm for March, I'm already beginning spring sweeping and organizing. Today while shopping for photo album supplies, I stumbled into quite a sale on other stuff. I'm usually so good about staying on task, but today I found several fun and practical things that I just couldn't pass by. Just last night while driving in the car, I heard Indigo say something to Finn about how I like to surprise them "just because" sometimes. Indeed, I do. I tucked a few of my finds away for upcoming spring holidays, and chose to brighten today too. Just because. Indigo loves all things orange and red. Flames? Oh yes! These shoes were such a hit that he wore them around the house all day and made them the topic of his daily journal entry. I have posted an excerpt below (with the author's permission of course). I was even lucky enough to find a new orange spring hoodie for the flame lover. He was disappointed it had to go in the wash. Finn was delighted with his surprises also, though he's more of a black and olive green kind of, ehem, guy these days. How do you know a 14 year old loves his new shoes? He wears them out in the slush and snow to his guitar lessons when you've kindly requested that he choose his boots. Ah, the line between form and freedom. I got to thinking about my own childhood and adolescence, and things that I once found exciting and new. I remember wishing in my diary for roller skates with yellow wheels. I thought of a long forgotten special sweater jacket in my favorite color, remembering how it felt tied under my chin on windy days. Remember wearing your first pair of designer jeans to school? Whoa.

In other March sweeping news, I'm gearing up for a late winter raw juice and green smoothie feast. Mmmhm. Ah, the colors on my plate. I'm loving these nutrients going into my bod. Farewell February. March is going to sail smoothly like a bright kite in perfect wind, with flashes of orange and red, and dreams of veggie's rising up out of the dirt again. 

 

Cheers!

creating

While practicing the new script today, I felt inspired to break out the watercolors (and a favorite poem by Mary Oliver). Things are definitely moving forward as spring draws closer. I hear hope and optimism bubbling underneath the words others speak, even when they try to complain.

 

straight line :: curved line

Aa :: Spiritual stardom; Transforming ego into spirit...

I'm getting some materials ready tonight for a new homeschool project. I'll be teaching the Vimala Alphabet to both of my boys while I also learn it myself. The Vimala Alphabet was designed by Vimala Rodgers, an Alphabetician and handwriting expert. Her many years of research and development of this method claim to support independent thinking, engaged willing, balance, tolerance, honor, and intuition. I first checked her popular book out from the library to get a better sense of what to expect. I enjoyed what I read, so I ordered the user friendly handbook that also comes with a set of cards, guiding cd's, and a practice journal. Both of my boys need some support with handwriting for different reasons, and I'm hopeful this is the just the ticket. I happen to have some pretty spiffy Palmer based handwriting, if I do say so myself, but Vimala asserts that the Palmer method is outdated and can kinesthetically keep an individual stuck in old forms and patterns. Hm. Makes sense. We don't want that now, do we! 

We'll be giving this practice a fair go for forty days. I love that there is encouragement to write without lines in the direction of the landscape! I always want to do that intuitively. I purchased new landscape sketchbooks for all three of us, and created a personalized cover on each from the font I installed on my computer (for use a visual guide). 

What happened to my creative edge? In this time of increased technology I've noticed that both my handwriting and my drawing skills has been affected by all the screen time and typing I engage in. Time to do something about this. I am also sorely missing the plant world. After all the yummy melting of last week, we got slammed with another blizzard here today. I resolve to get through to to the tulips by drawing and painting them. For starters, I've dusted off these form drawing oldies for combating techno fog. I will then be revisiting a drawing reference book I once enjoyed by my consciousness studies teacher Dennis Klocek. Ongoing commitment to a daily yoga practice will come into play soon too, but more on that later...  *flex*  Spring IS coming!

 

"The alphabet is a spiritual tradition. Every letter has a history, like a rune."  ~Vimala Rodgers

moves

This informal showing completed a series of creative movement classes offered for boys only with male instructors! An excellent motivator for certain young men on the fence about dancing. It worked for us! Yes, one more reason to celebrate being back in Minneapolis. Our home is a land of milk and honey for the arts, and we feel fortunate and proud to have so many accessible arts education opportunities here.