Working Artist

So I moved from having a job, to working a career, to now living my calling by working as an artist.

This is so very accurate:



http://idealatwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Job_Calling_Career_Grid.jpg

Quiet Inspiration

After dealing with appointments, attorneys, traffic, and crowds for two and a half days, it is definitely time to escape back to the island for some peace, quiet, weaving, and rest.  I love seeing all of my kids and visiting with friends, but really.....they need to come to me for our next visit!

Oyster shells for inspiration, driftwood and  myrtlewood for basket bases, and a large art piece are calling my name.

Some new ideas are percolating and need the island influence to mature.....

Stumbled across this on ebay!

Embrace Life by Writing a Will

We are meeting with the attorney today to finally write our wills.  It's an interesting time of reflection, to ponder ones demise, to think about what is really important, and to embrace, if even for these brief few days as we discuss what should or should not go into our wills, the reality that we are mortal.

It's not upsetting to me, as this just seems like a natural part of life.  Someone planned for our birth into the world, and we are responsible for preparing, as best we can, for our departure.  Personally, I just don't want to leave a mess for my kids! And I'm certainly not interested in controlling anything from the grave.

But this fits nicely into my desire to simplify my life and belongings.  I'm giving things away NOW, so my family won't have to wonder what to do with it all later.

Does it sound funny to embrace life by writing a will?  Probably.

O SON OF THE SUPREME!
I have made death a messenger of joy to thee. Wherefore dost thou grieve? I made the light to shed on thee its splendor. Why dost thou veil thyself therefrom?

(Baha'u'llah, The Arabic Hidden Words)

Slower & Simpler - A Good Book, Friends, Family

Today - Sunday - a perfect day for a ferry ride with a good book in hand.

      - a gathering to wish some friends off to live their retirement dream

             - dinner with my adult children, who are both in the midst of life changes and adventures

And I"m just going to slowly and quietly enjoy each and every moment of the day.  No drama.  No pressure.

Just be.  How very simple.

A Meeting on the Ferry

 

And once again it is time for the OPALCO (member-owned electric utility company) meeting on the ferry so all members from all of the San Juan Islands may attend.  Really, how bad can it be to meet with friends, ride around on a ferry with awesome views, be fed lunch, and win prizes on a Saturday morning?  Oh, well, yes, and listen to some meeting business. But still....

Island living.

Inspiring Views

I literally stumbled upon the following article on 17 inspiring views.  It is well worth a look.  As if my little island isn't inspiring enough......

 http://news.distractify.com/culture/the-most-inspiring-places-in-the-world-to-look-up/

Happy May Day

Ah yes, May Day.  I actually attended a school where we celebrated May Day (they still do today!), complete with a May Queen, her court, and dancing the May Pole. As a child we made paper woven baskets (hmmm....precursor of weaving now??), filled them with flowers and hung them on the neighbor's doors. So in honor of those memories:

What is May Day all about?

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• CAPTION

By — Jennifer LaRue Huget, 

So, is your maypole just about ready?

No? Perhaps you’ve been too busy preparing your May Day baskets.

What? Your baskets aren’t ready, either?

Well, you’d best get busy, because May Day is right around the corner.

The first day of May is probably just an ordinary day for you and your family. But for centuries, many cultures have celebrated May Day as the first day of summer, even though May 1 comes near the start of spring. It’s a time for saying goodbye to the long, cold winter and welcoming warmer weather by gathering flowers, singing, dancing and, well, flirting.

Early celebrations such as Beltane in ancient Ireland and Scotland and the festival of Floralia in Rome were intended to improve crop growth and to help livestock produce more offspring. Later they became occasions for people to get together and have fun in the sun.

May Day traditions include the crowning of a May queen (and sometimes a king) to oversee the day’s activities. Children and grown-ups might fill May baskets with candy or flowers and secretly leave them on neighbors’ porches. People were told that if they went outside early on May 1 and washed their face with dew, their skin would be more beautiful.

Probably the best-known May Day activity is the maypole dance. In olden days, people would dance around a pole cut from a birch tree, holding the end of a ribbon or streamer in their hand. The other end of the ribbon was attached to the top of the pole, and dancers moving in patterns around the pole wove the ribbons into colorful designs. That festivity continues in some places in Europe and the United States, though the pole usually comes from not from a live tree but from the hardware store.

— Jennifer LaRue Huget

http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/kidspost/what-is-may-day-all-about/2014/04/29/e2d6056c-cafc-11e3-95f7-7ecdde72d2ea_story.html