ORIGINAL BLISS

Waiting for Winter

  

Where is ol' man winter?

There are still too many leaves on my trees.

Maybe there will be snow in Colorado?

A light dusting would be pretty, especially since we don't see snow in our part of Cali.

That's my mock up... a little powdered sugar on the ground.

Namaste,

C H E Z

Gratitude

 

"If the only prayer you said in your whole life was, "thank you," that would suffice."   Meister Eckhart

There are times when our light goes out.

Sometimes the winds of circumstance overpower us and extinguish our spark.

Sometimes when a storm is blowing, rather than observing from the safety of our temple, we venture out and willingly join in the tempest, effectively blowing out our own flame.

Today I express my gratitude to the soul brothers and sisters that re-mind me of who I am and help reignite my spirit.

 

My copies of "Dreaming on the Page" arrived in the mail today. WOW! I impressed even myself. The print quality is stunning!

Be advised if you purchase a hard copy of the Zine, Lulu prints on demand, so the wait time is longer than if it was already printed and just shipped. But it was so worth the wait!

Also --- If you live in the Central Valley, tomorrow is the Hand Born Modern Craft Bazaar in Downtown Modesto. I will be there with art and recycled paper earrings. Come down and visit!

Namaste,

C H E Z

Let Your Soul Soar on the Harmonies

 

Listen to the whole song before you read this post.

   

Something about music can really set the soul to soaring, doesn't it?

My skin breaks out in goosebumps and an ecstatic tingle shudders to the core, electrifying my being.

Emotions swell, tears well and spill...

a baptism.

Music is what kept me going to church for many years...

I'd go every Sunday if I could just listen to the choir sing then get up and leave before the preach. Actually, that could be kinda fun. Go into a church and sit in the front row for the kickin' choir and then get up and walk out before they ruined my buzz. Think they'd get it?

It makes me wonder why music effects us that way.  A certain chord is struck, a layer of perfect harmonies, the mathematical perfection in the melodies... it realigns my DNA and my soul takes flight.

 

Namaste,

C H E Z

Song of Purple Summer - Cast of Spring Awakening

False Evidence Appearing Real

 

I made an impulsive decision.

I really want my sister, Niki, to see Spring Awakening. She lives in Denver and the national tour is going to be there at the beginning of December. I was going to buy her tickets as a Christmas present... but being the control freak that I am, I didn't trust that she would get a sitter and actually GO!

So I bought two more tickets and two round trip plane tickets and my youngest daughter and I are taking a whirlwind couple of days to take my sister to a musical.

Really.

We are totally excited and making all our plans, buying sweaters, etc...

There is just one thing:

I HATE flying.

I used to be fine with it. I was in the AIR Force for Christ's sake! Then I had kids and the fear of flying manifested itself.

The flying part isn't what scares me. It's the crashing part.

Obviously.

Telling me it is safer than driving does not assuage the dread, so don't try.

It used to be that I wouldn't even ENTERTAIN the idea of traveling if it involved a plane.

But I didn't think twice about booking the flights to Denver. It shocks me. I am flying in cold weather over the ROCKY mountains!

I keep checking my gut and trying to find that familiar panic.

It isn't there.

I find myself trying to create the fear --- trying to dig up false evidence --- imagining flight scenarios that should easily freak me out, recalling as the many airline tragedies as I can, 

But they don't hold.

What happened to me!

Did I grow out of this FEAR?

Do you outgrow your fears like your taste buds change? I didn't like tomatoes when I was young and now I can't have a salad without them...

is fear like that?

Maybe it really hasn't hit me yet because the trip is still a week away.

Or maybe my belief about reality changed.

I have always had ideas about the nature of reality, maybe they finally sunk in deep enough and changed me at my core.

I like that better.

Namaste,

C H E Z

Healing

 

My body is fighting something.

Aches.

Pains.

Swollen glands.

Lethargy.

I have journal pages done, but no energy to photograph and blog.

Still going to work, though. Can't call in sick on a Saturday night... yikes.

Sending healing energy my way, please.

Namaste,

C H E Z

Soloist

 

My dreams tell me things that I don't want to know or listen to. They are always right. But it is easier to live in denial and not make the changes that are necessary to progress, to move forward in a positive direction.

 

My intuition tells me things in the back corner of my mind. A violin soloist, that has been playing a very loud and distracting truth. I used to notice it, and make suggestions based on its information, but lately Intuition has been hella loud and demanding. I have been calling it like it sees it, its accuracy surprising and chilling. Like watching Ghost Hunters on tv... goosebumps.

But it is disruptive. I cannot ignore it and live in bliss, putting blinders on and going on my merry way.

It is making things uncomfortable. It is making change happen which is terrifying. But I guess the alternative would be worse. Change WILL happen. At least I know it ahead of time and can move with its flow.

 

Blah.

Namaste,

C H E Z

"Dreaming on the Page" Now Available on LuLu!!!

 

I did it!!!

I finished a project I wanted to have complete before Art Every Day of the Month was over.

Issue #1 of "Dreaming on the Page - 10 Soul Journaling Adventures" is available for purchase at LuLu.

You can purchase either a printed copy or an electronic version of the book.

I am so excited!

Several years ago, My art journaling process had become about something much deeper than making pretty pictures. It became a sacred space where I threw my dreams, fears, laughter, tears, rages, plans, reflections,

obsessions, should ofs, could ofs, have tos and to dos. Sometimes my creations were pretty, sometimes they were a complete mess, but always a truthful reflection of my experience.

I started calling my “art journaling” - Soul Journaling. 

Soul Journaling moves beyond words, playing with images to access a different part of your brain to explore deeper insights about yourself and your journey. It is a process that is truly like dreaming on the page.

This ZINE is the first in a series of soul journaling adventure guides that I hope will assist you with your
Dreaming on the Page.

In this 32 page, full color guide, you will find 10 journal prompts with step-by-step instructions. You can follow the process exactly or adapt them at your choosing. The projects are truly meant to be a springboard for your own creative process so I have included some suggestions on how you can adapt the page and make it your own.

If you are brand new to the process of art journaling, I challenge you to open your journal and jump right into a project. If you come across a term or process you do not understand, you will find a “FUNdamentals of PLAY” at the back of the ZINE, that provides descriptions and expanded explanations.

When we make pictures in our journals, adding color and form to the page, we illuminate
them and in the process we illuminate ourselves.
We unearth our buried dreams.
We face our fears.
We find the sacred in the ordinary.
We speak our truth.

Let the adventures begin!

Namaste,

C H E Z

Expect the Unexpected

 

I like to challenge myself to create outside the box.

When I was in art/advertising school, my instructors gave out many different assignments meant to force us to keep our thought processes fresh and different - a valid skill set in the world of advertising.

One of the instructors talked about trying different things until you found what was you... your signature, your style.

That is what appears to work in the world of art, the signature style.

But the signature style can be a rut.

As soon as I see myself using the same color palette, the same composition, same style, I see the rut and force myself to try something different.

And besides that --- doing the same thing over and over is B-O-R-I-N-G!!!! The very opposite of creative.

If you find yourself doing the same thing over and over again, I challenge you to try something completely "not you". 

 

You will surprise yourself!

Namaste,

C H E Z

It Just So Happens

 

It's the beginning of day 3 of my work week.

My work days are spread really, really thin. 

I drive an hour to get to work,

work an 11 hour shift,

and when the rest of the world is heading to work, I drive an hour to get home.

In the very little in-between, I, hopefully, get to see my kids, kiss my husband, catch some precious zzzz's, blog a bit, shit, shower, shave, and hit replay on the grind.

And in the hairline fissures of time, I create in my soul journal.

How the hell does that happen????

It amazes even me!

But here goes... how it happens, just so:

Wednesday morning -1:00 am: I got a lunch break. On that lunch break, I type up my blog for Wednesday afternoon - "Flippin' the finger at Chaos". When I was done writing, I still had 5 minutes so I finger painted some acrylic washes into my Moleskine.

Wednesday, 3:30 am: to keep myself from falling asleep while waiting for 911 lines to ring, and they don't, I found an image of a fairy and doodled her on a blank Moleskine page.

Wednesday, 3:45 am: Still quiet, I ripped my fairy out of the journal and cut her out carefully. I found some butterfly wings for her and stuck her on the page with a glue stick.

Burglar alarm calls and traffic stops for a while.

Wednesday, 5:45 am: While waiting for my relief to arrive, I doodled on the page with Sakura Glaze pens.

When I got home from my commute, I popped open a Blue Moon, uploaded my blog post, and crawled into my bed. Ahhhhhh.

Wednesday, 3:00 pm: Wake up!

Wondering what to do with my fairy, I happened upon Nancy Baumiller's Collage Play with Crowabout Collage Sheet for week #60.

What a might fine piece of howdy-do, right there!

While my daughter made us some spicy chicken strips for dinner, I printed out some elements on the sheet and scissored and pasted away. (It's the little things my family does that supports me in my art-making)

I Mod Podged my "Tick Tock" garden and conversed with Mattea until it was time to hop in the shower. (Jeff had my clothes ironed and laid out on the bed...so I could Mod Podge longer - THAT is love!)

Wednesday, 7:00 pm: Driving to work, my iPod plays one of my new favorite songs.

I really BELT the chorus out on this song... people in cars next to me look over and laugh...

Fireflies - Owl City

 

...and I think, THIS IS MY JOURNAL PAGE! I am a little firefly levitating above the garden of time - in a space where Earth slows her spin long enough for me to dream art onto the page.

Thursday, 1:00 am: I doodle-journal the lyrics during my break.

Art in a day.

During the "Art Every Day of the Month" at Leah Piken Kolida's Creative Every Day, participants are often challenged by the "task" of creating every day. 

For me, creating... journaling, doodling, playing artist... is like coming up for air. I have to do it our of sheer necessity. Creating is the stubby wick of the wax stick that I burn at both ends. It provides warmth and light to my existence.

Happy day 12 my fellow Creatives! What will you create today?

It's off to get ready for work! I must go create a hairdo that doesn't look like bed head!

 

Namaste,

C H E Z

A Happy Post Script: Mattea gettin' her creative on during a break before class. Enjoy!

Flippin' the Finger at Chaos

 

"Trying to figure it out.

Wondering if there is an answer.

It is a maddening situation...

But maybe...

just maybe...

???

There is a solution in the CREATIVE."

 

As I said in a recent post, the circus has come to the Sinclair’s.
I asked the question - What does one do when the clowns take over the circus - when the monkeys start running the zoo?

It is very simply, a distraction.

I have been making real progress in my goals, diligently working... well, playing toward my soul’s true calling.

I have been in this situation before... really really excited, thriving, seeing my desires on the brink of manifestation...

when “Splat!”

Shit hits the fan.

When shit hits the fan it doesn’t just land in a blob on the fan. The fan is always on and it slams into the blades and gets flung and blown everywhere. You can spend MONTHS cleaning up shit splatter.

I usually do.

My pattern in the past has been to drop everything, put my goals and dreams on hold to go scavenging for shit splats to clean up. This is very upsetting, annoying, aggravating, enraging...

especially since it is NOT MY SHIT.

Guess what?

I’m not doing it this time.

Hear that?

I am not putting my passion on hold to deal with problems that are not mine.

I do think this must be how people who achieve their wildest dreams do it.

When all your creative momentum is surging powerfully and vibrantly forth, Evil Shit Storm has to try to bring all that positive to a halt - It tries to sidetrack you with chaos.

The “winners” of this world must flip the finger at the Evil Shit Storm, and continue forward, creating and manifesting their dreams.

So here is Shannan - flippin’ the finger at the Evil Shit Storm, and going back to where I was, creating my soul’s desire.

It just so happens that I picked up a book while I was in Point Reyes Station. “Creativity, Where the Divine and the Human Meet” by Matthew Fox.

While I was wallowing in rage at the Evil Shit Storm, I picked up this little tome and read:

“What do we do with chaos? Creativity has an answer. We are told by those who have studied processes of nature that creativity happens at the border between chaos and order. Chaos is a prelude to creativity. We need to learn, as every artist needs to learn, to live with chaos and, indeed, to dance with it as we listen to it and attempt some ordering.

Artists wrestle with chaos, take it apart, deconstruct and reconstruct from it. Accept the challenge to convert chaos into some kind of order, respecting the timing of it all. Study the chaos around us in order to turn it into something beautiful. Something sustainable. Something that remains.”

I still think flipping the finger at it is a better idea.

You?

 

Namaste,

C H E Z