Longing

I find myself in a place of longing.

I long for deep connection and reverent solitude.

For time to study and write.

For newness and travel.

For kindness, compassion and heartfelt understanding

of other times, cultures and people.

I long for God, the Truth, and not just what we've made it.

To know the Truth and to live it out loud.

I long for lightness of being.

For guilt and compulsion to be gone forever.

I long for smiles and laughter.

For connection with the earth, with meaning and rituals and seasons.

For order and simplicity.

For passion and freedom.

For interesting friends and inspiration.

To know that I am enough.

To know that I have way more than enough.

For connection to the land, and to my spirit,

and to those I love the most.

To my body and nature, to the energy that connects us all.

For community and peace.

These are ramblings that are tumbling out in my journal as I have had a family tragedy this week. Our hearts are broken, as our family has lost our very much beloved Chocolate Lab. Though she had a good, long life, her passing was unexpected, and our family is in deep mourning over losing this sweet soul. If you'll forgive me for being a bit self-indulgent, today I'll only post this amazing drawing of our sweet girl, sketched by a good friend of ours last year. I'll be taking a bit of time off from posting as I tend our family's hearts, and we are also taking a long overdue family camping trip next week.

If you have a pet that you adore, please give it an extra dose of love and hugs tonight. They truly are angels sent from heaven.

Tess

March 8, 1999- July 21, 2010

We love you.

Found Art Friday, Needful vs. Needless

Hello lovelies. Hope you've all had a wonderful week! I've been enjoying a gloriously sunny and warm week of summer here in the Pacific Northwest, pool parties, new friends, campfires, wildflower bouquets, and lots of strawberries, among many other yummy things. I'm slowing down my writing schedule in favor of trying to squeeze out every drop of summer that I can. You never know how long it will last.

The wonderfully talented Melanie Martin sent me this mysterious photo, and it inspired so many things in me. Isn't it rather Harry Potter-esque? Like this could be the entry to a road that can only be seen by you or by invitation only? Magic might be just around the corner.

Then I started thinking along the lines of what Needless Alley might I be traveling on right now? As in, where am I wandering away from my true path? What is distracting me? What is simply wasting my time? What can I let go of in order to get back on track? And what IS my track anyway?

Then: What is need-FULL in my life? What is filling my well? Am I cultivating a lifestyle which nurtures my deepest loves, most heartfelt values and desires?

Then: the other kind of need. As in need vs. want. Remembering, that I really do live on "Needless Alley". All my true needs are filled, and if you're reading this, I'm willing to bet yours are too. And if not, I know for sure that you have everything you need to fill those needs yourself, and that you can get started right now. Let's remind everyone that they can too.




Where can you tuck this little morsel of inspiration into the world? I'd love hear your stories of how you've spread The Found Art Project love into your community.

Please remember that I'm always accepting submissions for inclusions in our Found Art Flyers. Don't be shy! I'd love to hear from you!

Smooches to all of you! Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Curiouser and Curiouser

I'm a curious girl these days. I've shared a little bit about the journey I've been on lately, and curiosity is a huge factor for me these days. Most of you probably don't know that I consider myself a recovering conservative (no offense to my conservative friends). And I wouldn't necessarily call myself "liberal" either. Or left or right, or blue or red for that matter. I am really, really curious about all these ways of being. I'm curious about the fact that whatever path one follows, everyone is looking for the same thing deep down. Love, acceptance, security, freedom, not necessarily in that order, give or take a few other things. We are all the same on the inside, even if you have to peel back many, many layers to find the similarities.

Many things, both positive and negative came together over a few years that lead to my awakening. And I do mean awakening. I was asleep to so many things. Mainly to the fact that I was hiding in my own personal worldview, which I admit was incredibly small. I felt safe when I was following all the rules handed to me by my church culture, my political party, and even the books and blogs in which I immersed myself. My tribe made me feel secure, as if I followed all their ways, I'd be guaranteed fulfillment, and my children would grow up to be model citizens. But when I really looked, it also made me feel small, boxed in, trapped, guilty.

Um, no thanks.

When I allowed myself to finally look up and around, away from the little patch of grass I'd been feeding on far too long, I couldn't believe the view! I kind of felt like this:

"’Curiouser and curiouser!’ cried Alice (she was so much surprised, that for the moment she quite forgot how to speak good English). ’Now I’m opening out like the largest telescope that ever was! Good-bye, feet!’ (for when she looked down at her feet they seemed to be almost out of sight, they were getting so far off)." (Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland, Ch. 2)

Good-bye feet, indeed. Good-bye anchor, good-bye ball and chain belief systems. Now let me be clear. This is not a diatribe against my former worldview. I take full responsibility for letting my thoughts get so small. No one ever promised me the proverbial rose garden. I just wasn't taking responsibility for creating my own rose garden. I didn't know it was mine for the making. The thing is, I didn't know that I was allowed to change my views if I decided they weren't working. It came back to the thing it always comes back to: me, creating my own experiences. All of 'em.

"The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing. One cannot help but be in awe when he contemplates the mysteries of eternity, of life, of the marvelous structure of reality. It is enough if one tries merely to comprehend a little of this mystery every day. Never lose a holy curiosity.” Albert Einstein

Holy curiosity. HOLY curiosity.

Yes, yes, yes.

I am so loving the view.

Here are a couple of books I can highly recommend if you're interested in having your world shaken up, and seeing what might happen next.




This book was a major, MAJOR factor in my very juicy, yummy unraveling. I cannot recommend this book highly enough, especially if you are a Christian or if you think Christians are the weirdest, most close minded people on the planet. This guy is a total Jesus freak, but in a good way. Jesus wasn't a Republican folks. Seriously.







This book is new to me, but it is splitting me open in such magical new ways its reach in my life cannot be predicted. I'm betting it will be in the life-changing category. To be sure, some of my old mates will find this book categorically "woo" at best, and at worst diabolically blasphemous. But may I gently suggest, we all lighten up a bit as the sumptuous Sera Beak encourages in this spiritual feast of a book. May I dare say its even a little bit sexy? Oh my! Yes, please!




Where are you shut down, or a bit too small in your thinking? Can you scootch out of your comfort zone a bit and see if there are other ways to be that might make your own world a bit more colorful, juicy or sexy? Are you letting yourself be colorful, juicy and sexy? I know this group of readers is all this and more. Let it all hang out, my beautiful readers. xoxo

Found Art Friday, Afternoon Edition

Hello par-tay people! Its Friday afternoon, and here in the USA its the big 4th of July celebration, which means a 3 day weekend for many of us! Can I get a big ole WOO-FREAKIN'-HOO!! For us, that means my super sexy husband will be building me my own personal deck outside of our bedroom, complete with double french doors, and a vintage clawfoot tub for outdoor bathing. I did mention I live in the woods, right? :) Aside from watching my mistah work the power tools, there will also be a slumber party, a campfire, a BBQ with friends, a small town parade, and a fireworks display. Yee-haw!

Anyhoo, here's a quote that's been working its magic on me lately. What do you think?

Says Joseph Campbell:

"...I thought anybody who worked for money was a fool. I took a vow never to do anything for money. Now, that doesn't mean that when I do something for somebody I don't ask for money. I want as much as I can get, but that's the secondary part of the game. My life course is absolutely indifferent to money. As a result, a lot of money has come in by my doing what I feel I want to do from the inside. If you do that, you are doing things that attract money, because you are giving life and life responds in the way of its counterpart in hard coin. If you follow your bliss, you will always have your bliss, money or not. If you follow money, you may lose it, and you will have nothing."

We've had some big financial ups and downs the past few years, and I can't lie and say that money isn't important. It obviously is. And many times, you just have to do what you have to do to make money to make ends meet. But aside from that, have you ever held back from doing what you love because you don't think you're good enough to get paid for it? Like you're not a real artist, photographer, writer, etc. if you're not a paid professional? I gave myself the biggest case of writer's block for about 2 years when I got it stuck in my head that I had to be published, writing fiction, getting paid, etc in order for it to be "worth it" to write at all. I read this quote and BAM! Major lightbulb moment. I remembered that its ok to write simply because I love it, not for anyone else, or for any other reason. And when I say I love it, I'll agree with Dorothy Parker who said "I hate writing, but I love having written." O_o But I digress.

Let's all try to remember what our real passions are, and make time to do them because we love them, and not feel like we have to prove ourselves worthy of our passions and desires first! You are worthy because you are a child of God, gifted with talents, kindness and a smile that is meant to be shared with the world.

With that said, I was t.h.r.i.l.l.e.d. when the amazing poet Donna Hilbert submitted this piece for The Project. I absolutely love the message, and I know you and the unsuspecting folks who will find this in the world will too.

Have fun and be safe this weekend. Pursue your passion, your bliss, and look for all the simple pleasures.

(PS Submit your stuff to The Project too! :)