die, adjust or migrate

Sacred Sunday Ramblings - Does Pride Goeth Before a Fall?

No! Pride Cometh After a Sale!I am feeling so proud of myself today. Two of my pieces at Slice of Life Gallery on Gabriola sold!!!! I have now sold my very first pieces of jewelery to people that I don't know!!!! WOW! It is a great feeling to know that there are people out there who love and appreciate my funky, eclectic jewelery. These are the pieces that sold. A pair of wire wrapped earrings inspired by spider webs and knitting plus the bracelet in the larger picture which can go with the necklace but is now going off into the world on its' own. I love the name that Maarten gave my bracelet - Licorice All Sorts - because it is such fun. The name of the necklace is Convertible Candy so it somehow all works!

The best part by far of having sold these two pieces was seeing the look on my dear daughter's face. She threw her arms around me and said, "I'm so proud of you, Mummy!" and, I have to tell you, it was the best feeling in the world. She is the best thing I have ever made and I tell her that every day. It is such a delight to be around her spirit and enthusiasm each day. I am so glad that I have been able to show her that following your dreams is worthwhile because it brings me joy (and, in this case, a little bit of cash!)

 This news has renewed my creative spirit. I have been out of commission lately with a house move and bad carpal tunnel but getting Maarten's email and hearing the lovely compliments that people at his gallery have had to say about my work is really uplifting. My studio is currently in a shambles with boxes all over, tabletops covered in assorted stuff and nowhere to stand let alone sit and create. I wish I could dive right in to setting it to rights and begin making more bracelets and earrings RIGHT NOW to send to Maarten but, alas, it will have to wait. Mickey Mouse is calling my name all the way from Florida and the plane takes off at 5 today. So, my studio and my beads will have to wait a couple weeks.

I am, however, going to be taking a blank artists sketch book and assorted goodies to work on a visual journal. I will be teaching two blocks of Health and Career Education to grade 6 students in the fall and am going to teach the course through the use of visual journals. I want a sample to show the kids and thought that this trip to Florida would be a great sample. Plus, I end up with a memory book! Killing two birds with one stone as it were! See you all in two weeks! Enjoy your Sacred Sunday and pursue your dreams ferociously!

Back to Friday Fill Ins

I have missed a couple Fridays due to being away on vacation. I am leaving again on Sunday for a two week trip to Florida and thought I'd better get at least one in this month!

1. Oh, I can't wait until I have a jewelry drill. Hopefully some day soon!

2. Homemade ice tea is the first thing I see when I open my refrigerator.

3. I never leave home without giving a kiss goodbye to my husband, daughter and dog!!!

4. If I were a condiment, I would be pickle relish because it is sweet, tangy and can pack a punch just like me!

5. People who do not say thank you to the bus driver when they get off a city bus is really high up on my list of pet peeves.

6. The last thing I thought of before I went to bed was finishing unpacking the house before our house sitter comes on Sunday.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to admiring the pedicure I am getting this afternoon, tomorrow my plans include cleaning and organizing the house and Sunday, I want to fly safely to Florida and enjoy my vacation!

I hope that everyone is having a wonderful Friday! Enjoy your weekend!

Friday Fill Ins

What a crazy week this has been! We moved on Wednesday and I also finished teaching for the year on Friday. An insane week all around! So, here are my Friday Fill Ins one day late! 

1. Birthdays are a day just about that person. Everyone needs at least one day a year like that!

2. Fall is my favorite season because the days are long and crisp and school starts!

3. I feel my best when I am in good health and taking care of my needs.

4. Fried green tomatoes is my favorite food!

5. First impressions are there whether we like it or not.

6. The best piece of advice I ever received was die, adjust or migrate.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m NOT looking forward to unpacking boxes from our move this week, tomorrow my plans include more unpacking and cleaning at the old house and Sunday, I want to my time celebrating my friend, Gail's, retirement from teaching!

Sacred Life Sunday #9

There is so much going on in my life these days. Some of  my relationships are not where I would want them to be and this is causing untold amounts of stress on my family, I am having to say goodbye to a class that I have adored teaching, I am moving house for the 9th time in 11 years, I am worried about finances (a constant state of affairs for me). All of this adds up to stress and a sadness that is with me daily.

So, today I will focus on the small, wonderful, joyful parts of my life that help me get through the day to day journey. The beauty of this flower - growing in a zoo in Belize and all of the happy memories that come with it, a warm cup of coffee, fried potatoes with eggs on top, sleeping in, watching my dog play with his girlfriend, Angel. There is something so true and sweet about their genuine puppy love! The feeling of peace that I get in our new place, being able to go see a movie with my sister, nephew and nieces, a hug from my mum, watching the video I made of our school year and seeing the smiling faces of my class.  I need to remember these small, simple parts of my life and hold on to them. I am so glad that I have so much good in my life - it is this that will continue to give me strength to get through the most difficult, trying times. I know that no matter what is happening in my life that I need only remember that this too shall pass and I can and will get through. In the name of Gaia, amen.

Friday Fill Ins #9

Here are mine for this week!

1. A smile is a beautiful sight to see on a Grade 1's face :)
2. Solitaire is my favorite board or card game.
3. I would love to have more love in my life and less stress.
4. When I think of the Summer Solstice, I think of Gaia and the importance of the Goddess' power in my life over the years.
5. I just remembered I need to change my address at the post office so my mail will get forwarded when I move.
6. One of my favorite song lyrics goes like this: (And I choose) to be the best that I can be.
(I choose) to be authentic in everything I do. My past don't dictate who I am. I choose.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to watcjing Camp Rock on Family channel with my daughter, tomorrow my plans include going to see a movie with my sister and Sunday, I want to finish packing for our move on Wednesday!

Sacred Life Sunday #8 Butterflies

The other day my class released our butterflies. One of the parents purchased a class set of caterpillars for us from a Science company. Over the course of three weeks we watched them daily grow big and fat. Except for the few who did not make it; these became a lesson in the cycle of life and acceptance of that we can not change. Then, somehow, someway, these fuzzy, fat caterpillars knew it was time for change. They did not fight the change; rather, they embraced it and crawled up to the lids of their feeding containers where they spun themselves into chrysalises. To wait and grow and wait some more. They knew exactly what to do.

We watched daily, checking their progress over and over, waiting, waiting to see butterflies emerge. And emerge they did. Have you ever seen a butterfly emerge from its chrysalis? It is a push and pull, a slow unfurling, a seeking of a new environment. Most keep up the fight until they have emerged into the world transformed; some give up the fight and die, half reborn, hanging in space. And then they sit. They do not emerge and immediately take off to places unknown. They sit to allow their wings to dry. This is probably when they are at their most vulnerable from birds and other predators. Yet, in watching them sit so still, wings closed so that they are as camouflaged as possible, I found myself thinking that there is a lesson to be learned from the fragile, beautiful, strong butterfly. To stop and take stock when something new happens, to think about what is going on before leaping into the fray. And then, to stretch, stretch, stretch their luxurious wings and fly.

I am like the butterfly; I think that I have been in my chrysalis not for days or weeks or even months. I have been there for years. Content to be wrapped up in safety but not paying complete attention to everything going on around me. Going through the motions in some areas of my life rather than opening myself up to new possibilities and flying. I feel that I am now finally emerging and discovering all the potential in the world around me, in my life, in me. I am looking at what I have right now in my life and thinking about what I want to have, who I want to be, where I want my days and months and years to take me.  I am sitting, my wings still damp, my mind open to the possibilities, my brain teeming with questions. There are so many. Will I have the courage to take the risk and leave the safety of my perch? Will I find what I am seeking if I do? Will I stay where I am in the safety of the known, content to be who I have been up to this point in my life? Does a butterfly feel trepidation, fear and excitement when it first contemplates opening its wings and flying into the unknown? Does it feel those things and do it anyway?

These questions fill my mind and make it difficult to sleep at night. They enter my mind while I am going about my daily life, packing for the move, walking the dog, teaching in my classroom. They are with me always and have been here, hovering, for more months than I care to count. Yet for now, I stay on my perch, safe in the known, living these questions without any answers before me. At the forefront of it all is the big question, the most important question, the life changing question. Just three simple, little words that have the potential to change my life forever; Will I fly?

Friday Fill Ins #8

Welcome Friday everyone! It has been a VERY long week for me with craziness at work and sickness in my body. I am so glad it is Friday!!!! Here are mine this week:

1. Spending at least 6 months in Australia without having to work is high up on my bucket list.
2. My favorite quote is die, adjust or migrate; it's from my mother, an ornithological physiologist, and basically means that you have three choices about any life event. You can quit (die), you can learn to live with it (adjust) or you can do something else (migrate). Most of my life decisions are made using this quote and it is the name of my blog!
3. All of the amazing artists blogs I visit regularly inspired me to start blogging.
4. Strawberries are best with spinach, mushrooms, purple onions and Jamaica Mistake dressing.

5. My husband and I had a big fight in the last dream I remember having. (How weird that this is one of the fill ins this week. I just woke up with this dream. I don't usually remember them!)
6. The most enjoyable time to go for a walk is on a cool day in the Fall when the sun is shining and the leaves are beginning to tumble to the ground..
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to going to a retirement party if I feel well enough, tomorrow my plans include packing, packing and more packing and Sunday, I want to find at least an hour to do nothing!

Have a good weekend everyone! 

We got the suite!!!

I just realized that I never did follow up on my Sacred Sunday post where I was anxiously awaiting news on the potential new home close to my work. Well, we got it!!! We are now in the midst of moving from one place to the other and both are basically in chaos. It will be such a welcome relief to be so close to work. I can go home for lunch if I want to next year!!!!

This is our 9th move in 12 years. Crazy! We are getting pretty good at it though. I hope we can manage to stay in this place for a few years. My goal is to stay there for 6 years and then take a year's leave and go to Australia. Of course, who knows what interesting curve balls life will through at us in the interm!

Sacred Life Sunday #7 Health

Why is it that we take our health for granted until we no longer have it? I woke up yesterday with a horrible head cold and cough. I have spent my entire weekend thus far sleeping,coughing and taking cold medications. Not exactly the weekend I had planned! I felt the cold coming on earlier in the week and realize now that I really needed to stop then, let my body rest and fend off the sickness. But did I? No! I kept working long hours, attended all of the after work events I had scheduled and stayed up way too late watching tv on more than one night! Why did I do that to myself?

Whenever I do this (which I am glad to say is less frequently over the years) I am reminded of Louise Hay and her book You Can Heal Your Life in which she talks about how we create dis-ease in our bodies. I used to follow her books very carefully. I did the affirmations to heal my body and felt the positive results of being in touch with my body. I have fallen away from doing that over the past few years. I know that I helped to create this cold by not listening to my body when it told me to slow down. So, my body let me know in no uncertain terms that it was not happy with how I have been treating it!

So, I am making a vow to myself on this Sacred Sunday to listen to my body more closely. My good health truly does attribute to the quality of my life. I will try my very best to find time for me to relax, rejuvenate and listen to my body when it speaks to me. Especially for this next month which looks to be a hectic one with the end of the school year and moving house (for the third summer in a row!). I give myself permission to slow down, relax more, worry less and spend more time taking care of me!

Friday Fill Ins #7

This week's offering...

1. Idle hands are not something I am used to!
2. I love the scent of vanilla in the shower.
3. My favorite time of the day is when the kids have gone home, I have the classroom to myself and can think about what worked, what didn't and what I want to do better tomorrow..
4. The last tea I drank was earl grey with skim milk.
5. I like to plan for the next school year in the Summer.
6. My mother always said "die, adjust or migrate." Hence, the name of my blog AND my studio.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to my daughter coming back from camp, tomorrow my plans include a massage and my daughter singing with her choir and Sunday, I want to finish my report cards!

Have a great weekend!