Mercury retrograde was not very nice to me this time around... I went to Wordpress for a bit, because I think I may have deleted something terribly important while I tried to get rid of some squawking chicken sounding bogus anti virus thingy....
go here:
http://doegrozart.wordpress.com
and for more art stuff.. http://mandalas4me.wordpress.com
see you there...
bring on some balance!!!!!!!

Where's my Tao!

Coming to the computer, I find all sorts of messages... Well, actually, ALL of life has messages for you if you are one to look for them :-)
I walked outside the other day and this was my first one. Yes, what a life I have!
For the past few months, it feels as though all four burners have been on high. Life is cooking with all sorts of jobs, projects, obligations with family care, tax prep, art show, clients being added to the list of to-do's ... My plate was not only full, but overflowing.
My pendulum had swung to the extreme right........
and you all know, when it swings one way, it needs to swing back the other way.
The other extreme is what I felt yesterday and it is lingering now.
I'm depleted. I want to rest, regroup, clean up the mess in order to move on to the next project.
Messages today seem to validate that feeling:

"You might also take frequent breaks throughout the course of today and focus on creating a serene mind-set. The more centered you are, the easier it will be to calmly get your points across."
"Allow yourself a break in the action "
Centered. That is what I would like to be, feel..
The middle way.
The Tao.
No extremes, just centered in the middle.
I don't see myself as being still, but move to the right a little and work, move a little to the left and rest (play).
The above astrological messages give voice to what I need to do.. small bites, a little time here and there to balance out the energy. The sun is opposite my natal Neptune, calling for the balance of energetic giving of myself vs. the dreamy down time of doing some art work for myself.
I have to sneak it in, but what my body really wants is fullness of play - yes, the other extreme of a vacation!
But for now, in finding the middle ground, I will take frequent breaks.

Love :-)

I just had to share this wonderful poem. It was on Sue's blog with her wonderful mandalas and it touched me. I don't cry easily, but I did because it felt so true. This is what I believe.. that it is Love that changes, heals, creates, and fills us with Joy.

If you have Love, anything is possible.

Love Is The New Religion

On the surface of the world right now there is war and violence and things seem dark

But calmly and quietly, at the same time, something else is happening underground

An inner revolution is taking place and certain individuals are being called to a higher light

It is a silent revolution

From the inside out

From the ground up

It is time for me to reveal myself

I am an embedded agent of a secret, undercover

Clandestine Global operation

A spiritual conspiracy

We have sleeper cells in every nation on the planet

You won't see us on the T.V.

You won't read about us in the newspaper

You won't hear about us on the radio

We don't seek any glory

We don't wear any uniform

We come in all shapes and sizes

Colors and styles

Most of us work anonymously

We are quietly working behind the scenes in every country and culture of the world

Cities big and small, mountains and valleys, in farms and villages, tribes and remote islands

You could pass by one of us on the street and not even notice

We go undercover

We remain behind the scenes

It is of no concern to us who takes the final credit

But simply that the work gets done

Occasionally we spot each other in the street

We give a quiet nod and continue on our way so no one will notice

During the day many of us pretend we have normal jobs

But behind the false storefront at night is where the real work takes place

Some call us the "Conscious Army"

We are slowly creating a new world with the power of our minds and hearts

We follow, with passion and joy

Our orders from the Central Command

The Spiritual Intelligence Agency

We are dropping soft, secret love bombs when no ones is looking

Poems

Hugs

Music

Photography

Movies

Kind words

Smiles

Meditation and prayer

Dance

Social activism

Websites

Blogs

Random acts of kindness

We each express ourselves in our own unique ways with our own unique gifts and talents

"Be the change you want to see in the world"

That is the motto that fills our hearts

We know it is the only way real transformation takes place

We know that quietly and humbly we have the power of all the oceans combined

Our work is slow and meticulous

Like the formation of mountains

It is not even visible at first glance

And yet with it entire tectonic plates shall be moved in the centuries to come

Love is the new religion of the 21st century

You don't have to be a highly educated person

Or have any exceptional knowledge to understand it

It comes from the intelligence of the heart

Embedded in the timeless evolutionary pulse of all human beings

Be the change you want to see in the world

Nobody else can do it for you

We are now recruiting

Perhaps you will join us

Or already have....

All are welcome...

The door is open

-Brian Piergrossi (From the book "The Big Glow")

Lion Heart

A friend from the Mandala Oasis group wasn't feeling well and when I went into my studio I did this mandala holding the intention of healing.

She gives a lot, has a big heart.. a very encouraging person.

As I was just allowing, I thought about balance. It's when we are out of balance that we become sick.. even with a simple cold. Sometimes it's the imbalance of taking care of others without giving ourselves some nurturing.

Us, nature... everything must be in balance in order to function to the best of it's ability. We've all been there.

As I was coloring it, courage entered my thoughts. I thought of the lion, fire, and the courage it took to change.

It takes courage to heal. Healing means something needs to change. Whether it be our diet, balancing work and play, releasing worries or grief... the big stuff needs more change and that takes a lot more courage.

I watched my husband transform his lifestyle due to a health scare. It took courage to say no to so many things that he took for granted and became comfortable with.

When we become so embedded into a certain way of living, it is hard to change. Our comfort level becomes disturbed. Warning. Warning.. change or die.

With so much information about smoking, why do people still smoke... or drink too much... or eat too much.. because it's hard to change. It takes a lot of courage.

This is what this little mandala had to say to me. It spoke to me of courage.

It takes courage to do art and put it out there. To sing your song, to be your true self.

e.e. cummings said it so well...

" To be nobody else

but yourself

in a world which is doing it's best,

night and day,

to make you everybody else -

means to fight the hardest battle

which any human being can fight,

and never stop fighting."

As I teach, the hardest part is to get this across. We all want to belong, so we conform. We copy. We wear what's in style, play the same music... it's all about comfort and sometimes being different is not so comfortable... and that's why it takes a huge amount of courage to be yourself. It takes you out of the comfort zone... "what will They think???"

Do that what brings you joy in play and work.

How courageous can you be today... in your art, your relationships...your clothing... ?

The path of Heart

This is one of the mandalas I did as a healing. I believe healing comes with focusing on love.

I meditated on the path we choose to walk.

I choose the path of love.

I choose the path of passion.

My art is my passion, but so is helping ~ comes in the form of teaching or perhaps a better term is sharing. Also in the form of taking care.

Sometimes we must walk a path on our own and ultimately it is always our own path,

but being that we are "here", it is so much better to share the path..

To walk in step with another, side by side.

Sometimes we lead.

Sometimes we follow.

Some of the time, it is alone and sometimes with a group of like-minded souls.

Walk gently and harmlessly on your path,

but walk with passion.

Take bold steps!

Determined with direction.

Walk with balance.

Great strides along with standing still make for variety in life.

I don't think it matters how many paths we choose to take as long as they all lead to love.

Love is the center.

It is home.

It is me.

You.

Us.

Y

Letting go

2008, I'm saying good bye.

Letting you go. I took some time to rewind, appreciating the many wonderful opportunities I had to explore and expand. I made new friends, joined new groups, explored new art mediums. You presented me with some challenges.. I whined, I cried, I prayed..

Things resolved. Sometimes I think miracles occured or angels embraced me and got me through it.

Yes. Love heals I learned as does art.

I came to appreciate what I have more, but also knowing I would rather simplify my life.

I don't need so much.

I've learned how to let go a little bit more.. not always easy, but realized letting go creates space for new opportunities to open up.

and I welcome you 2009 and all you have to offer :-)

Let's spend the year in love and happiness and passionate in what we do.

Seek and you shall find..eventually

"What we seek we do not find - that would be too trim and tidy for so reckless and opulent a thing as life. It is something else we find. -Susan Glaspell, The Morning Is Near Us, 1939

I had to laugh when I read the quote above in an email this morning...
Yesterday was a bit frustrating because I was looking for a book (EVERY WHERE!) but could not find it... (still looking)... but instead I found other things :-)
Oil paints, a color chart, another book, a calender that would help if I don't find the book..stuff for Saturday's Holiday Happening....
I tried to forget it by creating and made some paper angels... figuring it would relax my brain.
If I found the book right away, I wouldn't have found the other stuff :-)

On a different level, what is it I am seeking?
Sometimes I do think I seek some order in my life, for everything to be neat and accessible.. for it all to be in easy reach.
If my art room is any indication of the reality of my life... what I want to reach for is usually something very inaccessible... I have to clear off, climb up and more often than not have good balance and be brave.
Actually what I am really seeking is wholeness and unity. I want to feel at One with all there is.. To feel the presence of God/Universe/ Peace...
In the big scheme of life, does it really matter that my room is a mess... there's a lot going on there. Projects abound! It's good. (and I did do some really good clearing out)
I want to play big!
Upon reading a line in While the Heart Waits about God experiencing through us, it gave me thought about how we experience life. I'm sure God has experienced enough sadness, enough hatred and fear, so why not play big and give God a delightful experience of creative bliss!
What I really seek is to have my heart blossom, to open up into magnificence and splendor! To be a most exquisite flower that God would say, How Cool is that!!!??? and feel Love :-)
And... if we are the reflective spirits of God, and I believe we are, then we have each other to react to our "being" and the wonderful things we manifest.
"Delicious dinner!"
"Brilliant Painting!"
You and I speak - forgetting that connection - and our words are not always so uplifting....
I'd like to remember for NOW, that God, experiencing GodSelf through me, is speaking through me to you...
YOU ARE MAGNIFICENT!!!
on a more mundane note....
I awoke to the sound of something falling this morning... I knew it was the T-square ruler (and it was) and later another sound (not sure WHAT that was).. it being the bronze dragon fly in the bathroom, where, by the way, my Frog now sits.. remember frog (read Joanne's comment) and the thought occurred.. shit! why is everything falling? I'll go check the Tao Te Ching now :-)
(In the pursuit of knowledge, every day something is added.
In the practice of the Tao, every day something is dropped.)
and in the process of letting go... I'm going to clean out the underwear drawer.