REDONDOWRITER'S SACRED ORDINARY

Staying in the Now Moment in the Southern Sierra

At work today at Chadwick School, when I was sorting several years of digital photography into their proper categories, I ran across several marvelous photos taken on outdoor education trips over the years. This one is from the senior trip in 2004 and I don't know the person, but assume it is one of the wilderness instructors as I don't recall a student back then who looked like this. I don't know who took this photo either, but the department said it was OK to use it. 

It seemed like such a classic photo to me--the young man with intricate blond dreadlocks, the sunglasses reflecting whatever is going on around him, the scarf tying his hair back and keeping the sweat off his face. We all talk frequently about the challenge in our busy society of staying in the now moment. Since it's 2004, I assume he is not texting to a buddy back home. He's focusing, I imagine, on whatever the group is encountering in the Southern Sierra at that moment--hiking, taking a food break, possibly writing in his trip journal.  If he is a student and not an instructor, he has by now undoubtedly finished college, maybe grad school, and he's out working in the world. 

What do you think he might be thinking or doing? I hope he got to see this sunrise that day. It's another photo in the series. 

Or maybe they were all taking a break by this field of flowers. 

Our current seniors are out in the Sierra right now for a few weeks and this trip is considered a rite of passage. Whatever they are doing, I hope they are able to stay fully in the moment because when they return, their new lives will take them all across the country and into new layers of learning and living. For all of us who work in education, the winding down of the academic year is both a relief--and it is very poignant. At least it sure is for me.  

A Two Page Art Journal Spread - Divine Feminine

As i mentioned earlier, I took an art journaling workshop from Orly Avineri last Saturday and the first spread, which I am not showing here, was to replicate as closely as we could a piece of someone else's art. Because I don't draw very well and the supplies I brought were limited, my rendition of one of Andrea Matus DeMeng's collage women did not do her original justice. It was an excellent exercise nonetheless. The second page of that spread was to, in our own styles, play off the first exercise. Again, so many new things learned and my confidence grew stronger. 

Then came the time for a spread of our own making. Here is my second two-page spread which is filled with symbolism for me personally. I find myself so perpetually drawn to female images and certain shapes and colors. You can double click and enlarge it. 

I'm in the process of reorganizing all my art and computer supplies and had the delightful experience yesterday, a totally "free" day, to work outdoors on the patio with some spray paints and wet mediums. Last night our monthly journal group met (23 years, can you imagine?) so it was a day of creativity all around. 

 

Praising Orly Avineri: One Artist Journal

Yesterday I had the great pleasure of finally getting to take an art class with Orly Avineri who happens to live in Redondo Beach. This is a photo of Orly with a copy of her hot-off-the-press book "One Artist Journal," which all of us purchased. It is such a delicious book and I am savoring it a few pages at a time. 

Not only is Orly an exceptional artist, she is a gentle, affirming teacher. If you haven't taken a class with her yet, I certainly recommend one if you are interested in going even deeper into art journaling. She has a way of bringing out the best in people. 

There were nine of us in the class and it was in a private Redondo Beach home only five minutes from my own. This was especially convenient for me as I had to go right afterwards to babysit two of my grandsons. I'm still pooped today--from all the creativity and from dual boy energy. The nearby location also was beneficial because in the excitement of closing up the workshop, I left my journal there. Gulp! I went back today and picked it up. 

Orly's teaching schedule can be found on her blog and she also is giving away a copy of her new book to one of the people who sign up there for the drawing. Maybe it will be you! 

 

 

Haiku My Heart Friday: Quinceañera

Quinceañera

Loving mother tends daughter

Womanhood is here.

Two weekends ago I was taking photos at a Peninsula Friends of the Library event at Malaga Cove Library and when I looked into the adjacent park, a photographer was taking the formal photos of this beautiful young girl's Quinceañera. It was just mom, daughter and photographer and I'm sure that later that day or perhaps sometimes later, a huge party marking her 15th year would follow. I popped out the door and shot this photo. Living in Southern California with a large Latino population, this milestone is often celebrated and my own granddaughter was in one when she lived with me. 

I keep my thousands of photos in iPhoto and I had to search for this photo of a young librarian patron I took at the Malaga Cove Library some years ago. I like to imagine that this little girl in her pink dress will somehow be that beautiful woman above. 

Be sure to visit Rebecca's Recuerda mi Corazon to see the posts of all our Haiku Friday participants. 

 

 

 

What I Did on Mother's Day: Art Journal Page, Sacre Bleu

Lovely morning with a brunch at my youngest son's home with three moms present, including my daughter and daughter-in-law, and four of my six grandkids. The sun decided not to come out today, but we chattered non-stop and ate yummy waffles, sausage and fresh fruit and reminisced, of course. Now my former son-in-law is spending the afternoon and my eldest son called from Washington. Life is good!

And I've just spent the last few hours finishing an art journal page I've been layering for a week: Sacre Bleu. I've just completed Christopher Moore's novel Sacre Bleu, a delightful, dark comedy d'arte about the French painters in the 1800s. It was a wild read but I loved it. 

Though I don't wear a lot of blue, my home the last two decades has morphed into a blue palette. I've collected cobalt blue glass for a long time, but a three week house sitting gig in the 1980s in my friend Anita's home, really started a blue and shades of blue trend for me. She was a wonderful decorator and I picked up a ton of ideas from her. 

Lately I've been adding dashes of maroon to some of my accessories as well and because of Moore's book, I've been researching the color blue. I'm not a trained artist so I know little about color. Imagine my delight to go to a Friday estate sale and there was an astounding book for $4 called Blue: The History of a Color by Michel Pastoureau. Below is a photo of my Friday "junque" haul, none I need, but hey, a bargain is a bargain. I keep telling myself there could be worse addictions. Because I do largely recycled art these days, I have convinced myself that my junque forays are helping the planet. Yeah, right! 

By the way, I got stiffed this weekend by a little old lady in Palos Verdes who had lost her house (according to her) and was agonizing over the memories of each items(s) she was selling to each person. I took a fancy to that little blue and white pitcher on the right which was cracked and poorly repaired. She asked $5, I offered $2 and she took it. I gave her a $20 and she said it had been a favorite she bought in Portugal many years ago and how she never thought her life would come to this. She handed me a bunch of crumpled bills I knew I should count but she was having such angst. When I got to the car I counted and she had shorted me several dollars. Go back? No way. Every time I put flowers in that blue pitcher I'll remember Swedish Susan with her long grey hair telling stories of her travels around the world as she sold her worldly goods. Damn, I'm grateful for my own life.  

So, a mom got to have a perfect weekend being with friends, with family, reading, estate saleing, art journaling, and the continual organizing I am also addicted to. What did you do for mom's day? 

Haiku My Heart Friday: SoulCollage® Butterflies are Free

Metamorphosis.

Butterflies seek the sacred 

To prove they are free. 

When I made this SoulCollage® card a few weeks ago, I didn't write a haiku but when I read Rebecca's invitation to all of us to encourage us to participate in Haiku My Heart Friday, I knew this card had to speak. This woman, a replica of the divine feminine, is definitely knee-deep in holy! 

In SoulCollage®, we write "I am the one who--" statements to personify the card and place ourselves in it. I am the one who doesn't often sit still long enough for butterflies to think I'm a sweet, inanimate object, but I am reminded how awe-struck I am everytime I see a butterfly. I am the one who is free in so many ways; I just need to take the time to remember. I am the one who will take time tomorrow to sit quietly on the patio in the California sunshine and write in my journal--and I'll be delighted if even one butterfly shows up. 

SoulCollage® Card: A Shaky Trust

This SoulCollage® card describes where I am on this journey called life right now. I could put it in the Council suit as one of the muses, but I'm putting it in Committee and calling it Trust. My secondary title would be "Feeling the Fear and Doing It Anyway." 

I am the one who has throughout life had issues with trust and abandonment. Even at this august age of 74, with lots of experience under my belt, these issues raise their ugly heads when there is no logical reason to do so. I am the one who finds herself once again in a life transition. I am the one who knows that my professional part-time work is nearing its end for a variety of reasons and that I have to let go with confidence and trust. My work has given me purpose as I love it so and adore the people I work with. Also, I am the one who grew up in poverty and continue to maintain poverty consciousness in spite of being financially stable. I like to earn money, even if it is only a little bit. It falsely affirms me. I am the one who is single  in late life and totally in charge of my present and my future--to the extent any of us can be that. My Higher Power protects me and keeps me safe, but I have a lot of problems remembering that. I'm the one who is feeling the fear of change when it comes, but stepping out, albeit very tentatively, into what tomorrow and next year will bring. I am also the one who has begun to realize I'm not 50 anymore and can no longer accomplish as vigorously all the things I used to. And, I am the one who knows that though life did not turn out as I had planned, it has actually turned out better than I ever expected. Paradox!

A question for this card? Please reveal to me the many options that will still be available to me whether I work professionally, as a volunteer--or simply being a writer, artist and computer nut. Remind me of all the ways I can continue to feel purposeful without employment and continue to have the oomph to show up every day in a meaningful way to myself and others. 

Sophia the Art Mannikin: Wearing Mom of the Groom Dress

My youngest son Tony married my absolutely wonderful daughter-in-law Gretchen in late September 2001 in Tiburon, CA and I remember the agony of trying to choose an appropriate dress. I chose a two-piece full-length dress with lots of texture and lace inserts at juxtaposed angles. I thought I was carrying too much weight at the time and it was loose fitting; I was also into what I called my intensely nostalgic and feminine period. 

9-11 had just happened and the airports were a mess. I remember bringing the dress home but never could find it it in the closet again. In my recent re-organization of my closets, I found a black garment bag and there was that mom-of-the-groom dress. So, that's what Sophia the art mannikin is wearing this month. 

At the Voluteer Luncheon today of the Palos Verdes Library District one of the librarians came up to me as she has seen Sophia on FaceBook and actually wants to come by and meet her sometime. I always assume I'm so "wierd" about Sophia, that I'm just considered eccentric. Hmm. 

To put the dress and me into context, here is a photo of our family taken at that wedding in 2001. 

There's the blue dress and how in the heck I look better in 2012 than I did in 2001 I don't understand, but I am grateful. My two young grandkids in this photo are now 25 and 24. Joe has married my other wonderful daughter-in-law Laura, and they have six and three-year-old sons. My ex, Ray, is now married to Diana. Tony and Gretchen now have nine and seven-year-old boys. And daughter Christy and son-in-law Lorenzo aren't together, though Lorenzo will always remain another son to me. And the blue dress now belongs to Sophia. If you looked on the back side of Sophia, you would see that I have pinned several inches of dress to accommodate her size 4 figure. Heck, I might recycle this dress again myself although I sure wouldn't choose it as a "special" dress at this point in my life.