Year One wholeness
Sometimes
it appears
we are not complete, whole
It is an illusion
We are an integral
part of the whole
of creation
Year 2 prayer
I am the prayer,
as with every breath
I lean into my spine
and remember
for the eternity within each moment
that I am,
and give thanks
Daily Napkin for Tuesday, November 10, 2009
On the road in lateness
in the dark of new moon
eyes softened by miles
sticker bush and cows
there, like a phantom,
in the flash of my light
time stood still in vision,
lynx with glowing eyes
and high fashion boots
Daily Napkin for Monday, November 9, 2009
In that lodge of the heart
where all my relations dwell
where spirits pause
to pray, to sing, to honor
there in the womb
of our common mother
wells up true humanity,
there I am cleansed
of the lesser, as I give
a piece of me
in earnest effort
Year 3 porcupine
Porcupine sits in all her innocence
and peace
where she decides
Built-in hard-wired boundaries
protect her soft
tickly belly
Year 2 movie
It’s not just a story,
but rather a gilded cage
that holds the heart hostage
only as long
as I am delighted in the telling…
In this moment
I choose to be in a new movie…
Daily Napkin for Thursday, November 5, 2009
In the winter circle
breath visible and cheeks pinked
all senses awakened
there in the midst of tree folk
there where wildness
rise up through our core,
love arose from deep
within our chests a-roaring
of righteousness
of life
Daily Napkin for Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Down by the river
on a ripe Saturday,
purple clouds and azure,
happy otter drifting by,
feelings swift and fluid
flood…
Sorrow and joy mingle
in the eddies of my soul
snags of fear grab at
floating ambivalent flotsam,
smile of peace breaks free
takes flight on fluttering wing
Joy of Babies
Last month at my Mom’s 80th birthday I got to hold a grand-niece who was 7 weeks old. Wow. There was a welling up in my heart of such joy and peace that all I could do is smile and hold her, and gaze into her tiny face. I was instantly transported back to the days when my daughters were tiny, those times when I thought I would burst with so much love. Even in the worst of times, Mother love shines like a beacon of joy from one’s heart.
When I went to Hawaii the first time, I went to Kauai. I got to hold a baby there that had been born only an hour before in a forest service hut on stilts. She had been named in the traditional way, and it was proclaimed that she was bringing peace to the world. My heart welled up with joy there too.
When to say I GIVE
Surrender… I don’t always do it gracefully. Just one more little tweak. Now, just one more. Suddenly it’s two hours later and the piece has evolved into a whole different look. Sometimes that is exactly what needs to happen. Other times, I am just nit-picking myself into the hole of non-productivity, and it is time to surrender my perfectionism.
When I first start brainstorming with a client, throwing out the breadth of ideas, I simply don’t spend the time perfecting anything. It seems silly to waste time on work that will be mostly rejected for the one “winning” idea. Once that idea is chosen, then I dig in and start cleaning it up, replacing rough images with clean ones, and developing the vector image (if applicable).
Every individual has slightly (or major) different ideas about how they wish to be represented. Discovering the balance between a concept and an actual working design can be an adventure in communications.
Hopefully the end result will be exactly what the client wants and needs. Preferably, that design has been achieved through grace, which is only truly accessed through surrender.