Happy Easter

Happy Easter to you regardless of religious or spiritual persuasion.

More to Life does it again

I love More to Life!

They've done it again with their new website: http://moretolife.org/. It looks beautiful, especially go to Check it out --> Getting creative.

...clarity, truth, and gratitude....

Facebook rocks!

This is a little tie-in with Facebook.  You both rock - blogger and facebook.  Make it easy for me to be on the web.

But there's more here too.  ... give me a chance to find it (ha, ha).......

opening to the muse

IF you have got a living force and you're not using it, nature kicks up back. The blood boils just like you put it in a pot.
- Artist Louise Nevelson

stretched......and how I change that

This is just to break the inertia of not writing. (At least, that's what is getting me going in writing....)
I read so many other sources online but sometimes hesitate or just plain blank out on what I might want to write about myself. In my blog. I had really high hopes for this blog, but I see that I haven't had a vision or commitment to regular blogging. Which is okay, unless I'm thinking I can "do it all" without a plan. You know, enjoy a good job, maintain good family relations, have fun through hobbies and spending time with friends, etc.  Sometimes I try to accomplish a lot doing things I take pride in, such as creating a warm, nurturing home environment, like repairing things around the house, taking care of pets or sick animals, or whatever I'm proud of doing in my life that gives it more meaning.  But sometimes the "doing" is just too much and I stop enjoying it and don't even notice it.  I'm just going through the motions.  And I may not notice it until I realize that I'm depressed, tired, low in energy, dreading what's to come next, etc.  Then I need a break.  For myself.  And it's not always on a schedule. 

Lately, I've been feeling like I'm too stretched a lot of the time.  I am beginning to learn more about what I  need emotionally and what helps me to feel my best.  So, I've decided to give myself at least one day a week off, with the phone unanswered and the errands put on hold, when I can just be with myself and my two cats -- whether it's laying around with my pajamas on or checking my email and responding only to what interests me. And I know there are even more options (!). For example, I've begun drawing again. That is something I used to love to do and then I stopped. Pressure from daily life to compete, to shop, to clean, to "improve," to "get" something, plus no one in my corner really encouraging me (which I thought I needed). I am learning that I have to take the initiative, that no one else will probably care as much as I do about whether I take the time to do artistic things or not.

It's a hard lesson because it is hard for me to make art when no one is interested and I'm by myself at the house. It's easy to fall back into old, worn-out routines from childhood where the first (and only) priority was to take care of the house or the wash, or do "practical" housekeeping things ..... anything but taking "personal" time for me and my artistic expression. More on this to come....

[Thanks to Matt Groening for his cartoon.  Also thanks to http://positivesharing.com/2006/11/top-5-myths-about-workplace-stress/ for the cartoon from their site.  Looks like a good website -- check it out.]

Way to go, Obama! and the American people

In the excitement of the Presidential Inauguration, I went ahead and signed up at Facebook so I could post on the CNN live streaming page.   I  also posted on the New York Times wall via Facebook.   Pretty incredible technology.

This is what I posted yesterday on the New York Times wall:

I think this is great -- being able to share this way.  What a trip!  And you can see how old I am by that comment.  ; )   I am so excited to be sharing my excitement here.  This is the first Inauguration that I've felt a part of  and my first remembrance of a president was Eisenhower (!)   It's always been a bunch of pomp and fluff and dreariness, but this is different.

Way to go, Obama!   ... and Biden,  *and all the people*, including me, that worked for change and prayed for it and believed in it.  If we build it, they will come.  Now.  I'm excited about the presidency and the gov't.  What a change from the Ohio State massacre and Nixon.  I would say "black and white" but that metaphor really doesn't apply anymore.   How about 180 degrees!  Now we can begin to create the world we really want to live in.  Bless us all!

More as soon as I can dig my way out of my workload.....

workplace creativity and commitment

How about this workplace stress reduction photo I found? Totally unrelated to the following piece on the workplace:

"Some employers are under the mistaken impression that paying a salary is enough to earn them an employee's commitment. In fact, employees decide how much of themselves to give to their jobs based not just on financial compensation, but also on how fairly they feel they're treated... how creatively involved they are in the organization... and how meaningful and principled they think their work is.

If people you supervise feel that they are appreciated, intellectually challenged and working for a good cause, you'll receive their full efforts."

I don't have the source info on this quote; sorry about that. I grabbed it on the run.
(Photo Credit: http://members.home.nl/j.dammeijer/index.htm)