life changing magic...

"You will find that it is necessary to let things go; simply for the reason that they are heavy.  So let them go, let go of them.  I tie no weights to my ankles."

-C. JoyBell C.

i've been on a cleaning streak lately.  i read that book...The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up... by Marie Kondo.  it was an ok book and kind of funny at times.  it did made me think a little differently about my possessions.  i'm not a cluttery person.  i'm actually super organized...a place for everything.  i wasn't always that way, i became that way while living in our very tiny first house with four little kids.  our days were messy and chaotic, but every night it all got cleaned up and tucked away where it belonged.  that nightly ritual brought me great calm after an exhausting day and it's something i've continued to do, even though we now have a much bigger house with actual closets, so there is much more space to tuck everything away.  some of it is really tucked deeply away.  and has been since we moved here 10 years ago.  so i figure, if it's been in a box for 10 years and i haven't taken it out, do i really need it?  probably not.

so, i have donated a good portion of it.  treasures for others to discover.  i have some really nice vintage things i have collected over the years.  i have always tried to purchase only things that i will actually use, but somehow there were things that wound up in a box in a closet.  things i no longer wanted but wasn't ready to let go of, things i had a plan for that never quite worked out or things that were "too special" to use.  you know what i mean right?  i am going to "release" those things, like the pretty mirror above.  you can find it here if you like it.  i have a whole box of similar treasures waiting to be photographed.  waiting to be loved by someone else.  

and you know...it feels good.  i feel lighter somehow.  i like to see empty spaces on my shelves and only dust under the bed.  there is something about letting go of it that just feels so...i don't even know...freeing maybe.  and while i still have a lot of shelves to go, it feels like a good start.  i hope to be sending some good treasures out into the world in the months to come.  oh, and the life changing book...in the true spirit of tidying up, i passed it on to my mother.

warrior...

warrior...a brave or experienced soldier or fighter.  a person who fights in battles and is known for having courage and skill.  

i am a warrior.  i don't rush out with my sword to slay dragons, but i do fight.  i fight quietly.  i fight for everyday things.  i fight for my kids.  i fight school administrators.  i fight mattress stores.  i fight health insurance companies.  i fight migraines.  i fight negativity.  i fight for happiness.  i fight darkness.  i fight for hope.  i fight to live my life as simply as i can.

  the love given to me by those i love, gives me courage.  

all of the light and hope i carry within me makes me brave.

  i am a warrior.

poet's pouch...

i had this idea.  i think it started with the leather.  so rough and interesting, this piece.  i worked on it.  put it aside.  thought about it overnight.  worked on it some more.  a little more thinking.  what did i want it to be?  

i always seem to have loose bits of paper floating around me...filled with inspiring words i've heard or little sketches of ideas i would like to explore.  i wanted it to be a way to contain these scraps.  i wanted it to be a beautiful vessel for random inspirations.  i wanted it to be like a deconstructed book that can be carried out into the world and filled with one tattered page at a time. 

i gave it a head start, by filling it with a stack of the prettiest papers i could find.  rough, torn pieces of handmade paper.  and i made that even more beautiful with some silk and a feather.  because feathers are hopeful and we always need that.

i call it a poet's pouch.

i just know there is a poet or artist out there that is meant for this one.  if you are the one, you can find it here.  

of course, you might have a different idea for it...and that's ok too.

needle, paper, thread...

rain.  and rain.  and rain.  it's been raining here for a few days.  a hard driving, roof-thumping, soaking, drenching rain.  the kind that continues to drip from the trees long after the sky stops weeping.  although i do like the rain...it's been so dark.  maybe i don't like the darkness as much as the rain.  it's making the air a bit chilly, but steaming hot cups of coffee take care of that.  i started this meditative stitching a while ago and then set it aside, but i picked it up again when the rain started.  what is it about rain that makes me want to stitch?  the stitches are tiny and they go round and round.  and round.  it's just a little scrap of handmade paper and some red thread.  but it's turning into a little work of art.  i guess i like the simplicity of it.  drip, drop, drizzle.  needle, paper thread...