Ensoul Arts

May Goes On...

A festive celebration, rain or shine, graced our island Waldorf school this afternoon. Though I enjoyed all of it with my littlest, I was a bit tempted to miss the old days, way back when my big kid was...little (really not so long ago). I wondered if he would be disappointed that he was missing out on all the fun...until I discovered him walking home from big kid school looking like this! Clearly, he has his own thing going on (a handmade Japanese hat in celebration of Children's Day in Japan)... Good times all around!

Happy May!

dandy mandala

Happy Earth Day!

abundant love

As I type, Indigo is in his element working hard to finish the last of his magical "fortune cards" for his classmates. Wow, do I love reading the good fortunes he comes up with all on his own! The first photograph above is his lovebird print. His very own design. He and his classmates carved the stamps for the Hearts and Crafts festival at our Waldorf School. Littler ones made Valentine prints of these as a fun craft. 

Finn sends his love from behind the scenes, where he is plugged in and playing the soundrack for our Valentine's celebrations. Doilies and hearts are something he enjoys from a bit of distance these days. Understood!

Enjoy your celebrations!!

book card valentine

Just a few more days to get those love letters ready to go. Here's a little photo tutorial for making an eight page book card. If you begin with standard 8.5 by 11 cardstock, it will fit into an invitation size envelope for giving. You can write a letter, create a story, build a collage, or whatever strikes your fancy. Happy Valentine making!

 

Being Human

 

 

Martin Luther King Day inspires thoughts in me about what it means to be human. I'm continually inspired by the teachings of Thich Nhat Hanh, and so was Dr. Martin Luther King. Dr. King referred to Thich Nhat Hanh as "an apostle of peace and nonviolence."  It has been a little dream of mine for several years for my boys and I to do a walking meditation with him while he still graces this world. I have a lot of details to hold and tasks to move through in the coming days. Today, I'm being gentle with myself as Thich Nhat Hanh encourages me to do. I'm enjoying the freedom of happiness in a cup of tea, listening to favorite folk songs about peace and social justice, and reading good poetry about the human experience. I always come back to this poem by John Soos, from Earth Prayers...so I edited this little photo of a lavender blossom. It greets me on my doorstep, even in the chill of January, and it seemed to want to be a star offering good words for life today. Cheers to keeping peace alive.

Reset :: 2012 Happy New Year!

Gratitude

It's been a sweet long weekend filled with celebrations and special visits. The boys and I enjoyed a lively and delicious Thanksgiving feast in Seattle with friends old and new, lingering slowly in the city until Friday night. Mainstreet in our new town was a very inviting place to shop local on Saturday. Warm cider was served in nearly every store, and friendly smiles were abundant.  Elving ensued once we settled into home, where we began to deck the hall with a few special treasures.

 

 

Our island Waldorf community is smallish, and the advent spiral tradition is a little different here than what we're used to. Students walk the spiral with family. Finn was able to experience his ninth journey into the center and out again, and he was clearly glad to be an active part of this communal blessing. As he comes of age, he remembers his formative Waldorf years with fondness. Indigo has experienced nothing but ease and joy in the new school so far, and the evening comforted all of us. I felt mama proud as we walked reverently along the green path, placing our lights with care. I am deeply grateful for who we are as a family, and I'm looking forward to all the sweetness and connection in this season.

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!

hello!

Now THIS is more like April...

love fairy

It dawned on me recently that my blogiversary passed me right on by! Imbolc and Candlemas celebrations were kept very simple and quiet this year, whereas in past years our rituals have been a bit more extravagant. On Imbolc last year, I thought it would be a good idea to start this little blog. A humble beginning. I'm not typically one to go slow with my passions, so hear me out when I say this is progress! I'm also so frequently taken aback at how quickly time flies, but not so much this year. This year, I can celebrate the fact that it does feel like a full year ago that I took this little waltz jump into Typepad! Well well, I guess I've lived my year a little more slowly and intentionally. I owe that to this space (at least in part).

Last year, we were in the middle of travels between Minnesota and Washington. We had temporarily, or so we thought, moved back to the Twin Cities from Seattle. We had found a rightful home in the Pacific Northwest and thought we'd be there indefinitely. As it tends to do, life brought us changes to the plans. For reasons that I am still uncovering, life needed us to return to our roots and let our experiences pool for awhile. At first it felt like returning to a past life, or to an old tree fort that was outgrown long ago. Since then we have added on, simplified, accepted some discomfort, and created a deeper kind of comfort...and yes, joy! We learned to embrace changes, especially unwelcome ones. No small fry. We learned to bloom where we are planted, wherever that happens to be at the time. Oh yes, and there have been some very fine lessons in this for me personally (lessons that I didn't think I needed...). Have you ever asked the Gods to lay off the lessons? Careful there...

I think this space will speed up gradually as time unwinds. In the mean time, thanks for stopping by and waving into this window I've opened to you. The foundation for what is to come is right here now.

::Love::