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!

blooming

Spring Break is coming to a close for us, and we are ready to slip back into our usual rhythms tomorrow. Dear friends from Minnesota were in town for a wonderful visit, which helped us to feel that we "got away" while staying right here and keeping things simple. All the touristy fun of downtown Seattle and island beaches felt new to us as again as we showed our guests around these parts. What a treat it's been to re-connect, get some sun, and have a break.

Can you feel summer on the horizon? Goodness, I cannot believe it, but I certainly do. I'm thinking ahead to enriching camps for the boys and family travel while seeking to be present with what's here in our lives right now as we move through each day. The fragrant blossoms and sunshine are absolutely intoxicating, and we're just getting started with this long awaited breathing out. 

Happy changes!

body wisdom

 

I'm noticing how my body has already started to crave purification. As I groove with the natural encouragement of the seasonal shift, I am choosing to explore my body's unique needs right now. I am not, for example, choosing to follow advice presently (however great it may be). I will not be joining a 30 day challenge, fasting, or consulting a nutrition guru any time soon. Those adventures have been part of my learning curve in the past, and I'm especially grateful for what I have learned about nourishing gluten free, raw, vegetarian and vegan choices. Right now, I'm simply waking up each day and re-affirming my intention to listen to and trust the intelligence of my own body. 

While I find it noble to eat strictly according my ethics, I've learned it isn't always what my body needs me to do. In other words, sometimes my body needs some animal products. When I feel this way, I make my choices with care. Currently, I am not eating any animal products, because that feels right for now.

I like it this way. It's a great reminder that I can really only have control over my own choices. Having flexibility and opennes with my choices is allowing me a more harmonious and responsive relationship with my body. Not only does that feel right, but it feels good. 

As for my boys, I do all I can to offer them a solid nutrititional foundation at home. Then, I let go of how they eat outside of our home. Especially during the teen years, they just want to blend in with friends. I find it's better to continue leading by example rather than launching into foodie lectures. Thankfully, they have huge appetites and enjoy eating veggies. I'll call it a job done well enough! 

The handmade recipe book here was created recently by my son Indigo in a class at Minnesota Center for Book Arts. I love it. He has a couple of his very own recipes in it, complete with hand drawn illustrations. Last summer he invited me to fill it with family recipes, to keep a record of the meals we all enjoy. I'm finally getting around to that. Five (more or less) Bean Soup with gluten free cornbread hit the spot this week, and I managed to scribble it in. 

If you're on a similar path with body wisdom, I'd love to hear about it!

 

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!!

February Beach

snowman in the freezer

Winter was a very different experience for us last year at this time.

 

We usually ferry over into Seattle on Sundays, but not today. Snow is sticking much more on that side of the water than it is out here on the island. I'm currenty getting text messages from a friend in the passenger seat of a car making it's way back to Seattle from the mountains. She and her little family thought they would drive out of Seattle to the snow for a fun winter week-end. Little did they know they would be driving back to snow through snow for half of today! She describes Seattle roads as a series of parking lots at the moment. So glad I decided to keep us snug on our island today. 

The first time we we lived in Seattle, after a lifetime of Minnesota, I was working as administrator at a small private Waldorf school. It was my job to determine whether or not we would close our little school due to snow! Most of our students commuted at least 20 miles to school from various parts of the East side. What a hilarious lesson this was for a true Minnesotan. In Minnesota, kids will sometimes stand on 6 foot tall snowbanks in below zero weather making bets to see if a school bus will make it on time. There's rarely a question about whether or not it will arrive at all. Minnesotans know just what to do with snow, and move through it. If there was ever a time we couldn't get out of our driveway back home, even after the worst of blizzards, there was almost always a helpful neighbor with a newer snow blower ready to lend a hand. Here in Seattle, the threat of a light dusting nearly shuts down the city. At first, I laughed. Then, I tried driving down a steep hill from Bellevue to Redmond in a mild drizzle. I discovered it's really no laughing matter. Seattle is not equipped with sand and salt trucks, so it is just an entirely different scene.

Last January in Minneaoplis, we were getting hit with back to back blizzards, so I can't say I've really missed snow yet. A certain ten year old, however, had a lot of enthusiasm this morning about getting out there. Most of it has melted already, but one well preserved miniature snowman sits next to the frozen fruit in our freezer as I type, waiting to be proof that it really did finally snow on Bainbridge Island. 

island sky

I glanced out of my studio window upstairs to see this sunset. I remembered. Very early this morning, as I was hitting the snooze button for the third time, Indigo was standing at the studio window telling me to come and look. It was "pink and bright and really cool" he said. I didn't rise in time to see much, but I do remember opening my eyes wide enough to see the light on his face as he looked out. I'm now here at the same window with evening computer work ahead of me. I'm thinking of the hours in the day, the moments that slip by, and how much I adore my little lover of all things magic. He teaches me to slow it down and take notice of what's most important, especially if I'm looking at a screen instead of the sky.

I also remembered the last image above, from a winter morning two years ago. He was sitting in the large window of our artist loft in Minnesota, looking at the very urban winterscape, and missing Seattle. He would sigh, "I miss the rain." Well, here we are. Back where he wanted to be, with the rain and so much more.

ensouled new home

Our life hurdled over the mountains toward the ocean in three parts. It's been about five months since we arrived just ahead of our life-in-transport. Churling through the air, we were leaving behind everything familiar. It was an enormous transition, and though we were nervous, we were ready for it. I knew in my heart and soul we all needed to land right here to start new chapters. Doubts and worries did creep in, but a steady faith washed over those, and what I really wanted to do was just sink myself into the other side of the leap. I closed my eyes and visualized warm nesting and resting on a winters evening in our new place of home. 

We deplaned at SeaTac on a cloudy September day, exhausted, with a few suitcases and one freaked out cat. Within just a few days, both boys were experiencing brand new schools, which was quite a switch from quiet homeschooling in our ultra comfort zone of South Minneapolis near lakes, parks, friends, family, favorite food co-ops, happy cafe haunts, and so. much. more...  Sweet Seattle friends ferried out to meet us with air mattresses, bedding, and a few pots and pans for the indoor camping. Our car was cruising its way through Montana, packed tight with precious kitchen goods and all of our musical instruments. Lastly, and at last, came the gargantuan portable storage unit that hauled the rest of our belongings. Hello new chapter of life. 

Though all three of us have felt settled in for quite some time, today felt especially groovy. It was so good to walk through our cozy cottage door after being outdoors at a festival most of the day. I turned on the fireplace and twinkles, put away some delicious groceries, pressed some coffee, and cuddled up on the new chaise. Placements keep evolving in every room here. With the clear goal of achieving ensouled simplicity in this sweet cottage, I'm gradually tweaking each room to find just the right fit, function, and flow. Here is a peek at the evolution of a cozy living/dining/kitchen area. There are a few placements I know I will change up again soon to accommodate more visitors, but right now we're enjoying the near perfection of everything just as it is.

Here we are. It is indeed a restful warm evening in a newly nested nook of our world, and we've unfurled a lovely chapter so far. It's good to be home.

back to the future

With both boys back in school this week, I've savored slow sips of coffee and quiet productivity. Every last holiday thing is packed away and space is made for a brand new calendar year. As always, there were so many responsibilities to carry and expectations to fulfill last month, but for so many reasons the recent holiday was...changed. Electrified sounds emanated from behind closed doors. Unplugging used to be our thing. In between flashing back to early 90's mosh pits and threatening to set a kitchen timer, I wondered if I would ever be able to focus for five minutes again! Indeed. I can. I did not actually lose my mind in the dark chocolate covered almonds, brie, and wii, yet this I can declare: Last year was nothing short of a disorienting catapault into the future that can only be defined as time traveling...

I landed in a teenager's room today. It's his first room of his own. I folded his new green comforter and I stripped the sheets to launder them too. I had been careful not to vacuum up the little colorful plastic bits in the rug, because I know those are oh so important, and parts of something I'll never know how to pronounce. I was careful and grateful. He's a pretty tidy creature for the most part, and very helpful. I won't complain. It's just that the vacuum cleaner cord can hardly compete with an amp cord, a laptop cord, an alarm clock cord, an ipod dock cord, a cell phone cord...and when did all these cords arrive in our home?!

 He turned 15 last week. Fifteen.

If you've heard it once, you'll hear it again: It goes...sooo fast. Long gone are the days of wooden play stand magic shows and knight costumes. The once high pitched voice of a sweet little boy has slowly but surely transformed into an ever deepening manly kind of sound. The other side of the wardrobe and Neverland seem to have slipped right through my hands. You know, I can hardly open my eyes when I think of looking directly down any road at a driver's permit, but it's coming. The future is here. Things just don't feel as "someday" as they once did.

I decided to sit down for awhile. Breathing. What else could I do but breathe, smile, cry, and gaze around me?

I guess I could hold a little green gnome that appeared, mysteriously, from the past...and just feel as proud as I am. This is the room of a young man I will love throughout all of time...however lame that makes me.

 

Love ya kid.

~Mamarazzi