Thought 16: Connecting in Meaningful Ways 30 Day Challenge

So much of what we cling to doesn't exist. It may have existed in the past, but it doesn't now; or it may exist in the future, but it hasn't happened yet. The place and time where we can actually create something is TODAY...NOW.  It is important to remember and learn from the past. It is important to have a vision for the future, but once you have all that, don't hold on so blindly and so tightly that you miss the opportunity to bring the ART that is you...the creative force that is you, into today...into this moment. Being mindful of NOW is truly the only way that you can change the world, and like the butterfly effect, it is the small gestures, the kindnesses, the thoughtfulness, the forgiving heart that will move you to that vision of tomorrow, however it finally unfolds.

There is nothing more destructive than measuring yourself against others. Why would you do that? Unless their path is EXACTLY yours, which I can promise you it isn't, you are setting yourself up for a difficult time and an unhappy ending. YOU provide your best point of measurement and comparison for you. Where might you improve, what might you do differently, what is your highest good and what might be the next step in moving towards that. LEARN from other people's stories, but don't try to become them - your story is far too valuable and needed - keep writing it!

With Love,
Betsy

The Rhythms and Patterns of Life

Lately I have been tuning in more to the rhythms and patterns of my life and life around me.  My patterns and rhythms are fairly simple, and because I have lived with them, they are easy to figure out and understand.  I like that things have slowed down some from mid-life.  I like that simplicity and lack of complication suites me now.  Is it a different life than I imagined?  I can't really say.  It is different than my parents led me to believe, but then their lives probably couldn't survive in today's world, and how they did things would not fit well anymore. That means there's been a lot of re-learning on my part in order to get to this point.  I am tremendously blessed.  What I find interesting is that most of what I have had to adjust for is man made changes, like how to make a living, and the impermanence of relationships and familial units.  The things of nature have changed some due to man's influence, but not as much as the man made constructs.

I recently had a conversation with a friend around the concept of living past 100 years old.  Aging isn't always easy, and the thought of dragging the deterioration process out longer just doesn't appeal to me.  As it is we have senior homes brimming with elderly who's quality of life is hugely diminished.  I ask myself, why would I want to live longer if it's under conditions that, for me, carry no attraction?  For me, the answer is, I don't.  I don't know how I will meet my end.  As in the rest of my life, there is so much that I just couldn't have predicted.  What I do know is that I will continue to create the art that is my life for as long as I can, and as richly and abundantly and graciously as I can.  I will let the rest take care of itself.  That's probably the nicest thing about getting older, the end for us all is the same, so how we get there becomes so much easier to orchestrate as the options narrow.

Flowers and Art in Milwaukee: Art in Bloom

This weekend I was invited to go the the Milwaukee Art Museum to attend the Flowers in Bloom exhibit.  I went with a friend and her family and had a wonderful time.  What a great place to people watch!  The museum was crowded with art and flower lovers and the floral interpretations of the works of fine art were inspired.

Here are a few:
The use of color, shape, and texture in the floral arrangements was ingenious.  In this piece the angular petals and strong vertical stem lines truly mirror the painting.

Even the containers were used to pick up color accents and various planes in the art work.

The use of objects in the arrangements was both startling and pleasing.

What a great way to spend a lovely Sunday afternoon on a spring day.

The Art of Caring

Life is Art.  You don't find yourself, you create yourself.  We, each of us, have our favorite colors, our favorite music, our favorite places...I have my favorite medium for creating my life - it's CARING.  I am surrounded, every single day, with an ever changing collection of fellow human beings.  One of my favorite things to do is dive into this living sea of humanity and show that I care, that I notice, that I see, that it (whatever it is in the moment) matters to me.  Have you ever seen sunlight play through the surface of a body of water?  It's lovely.  It dances, and illuminates, and charges the water with potential for life to move through and be seen, embraced by sunlight.  That's what I like to do with the people around me.  I truly enjoy charging my environment with my light and illuminating and celebrating the life that moves through it.  So...what is your favorite medium in creating your life?

Day 12

I am pulling together the parts of my Web Site, and I really liked this font.  It reminds me of the doodles I used to do when I was playing with caligraphy in art school.  It also reminds me of a poem that I wrote a long, long, long time ago that spoke to "the garden of the mind".  To awake to my dreams is to realize the richness and textural depth that life has to offer. The garden of possibilities is furtilized by my realizations.