cats r us

the creative director hard at work / Miss Betty / Tweet (formerly formerly Miss Mew, formerly Minnie now very officially Tweet is her name  / Oliver in his pillow topped windowsill office / no, not a rare black velvet sea lion - it's BleetNessie with Oliver in the background / Virgil (Gussie Gus) / Betty in the park / the boys / & the boys again cuddled up together

There are no ordinary cats
Colette

self help (full)

more sweet mini tomato harvest / Winnie & Sam in the backyard / the view from the boardwalk / ahhh asters / meatballs & spaghetti squash / I love lichen / the wood is stacked, ready for those home fires to burn / Winnie and I in the park with our early morning long shadows / non stop blooming form the lilliput zinnias / my girl Miss D with her serious who-goes-there ? face on ;-)

In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity
Albert Einstein

I wrote not long ago on this blog that I was a seeker of peace. My chosen one word mantra for this year 2013 was/is ease. Ease & peace are best friends, ease & peace hang out together regularly. Ease & peace are the cool kids in my world and I'm trying, probably trying too hard, to get them to like me. I'm trying to fit in to their world. I really, really wanna hang out with them.

The truth is I'm actually a seeker of everything. I'm just a plain ol' seeker. A seeker of all. I'm always on the hunt for better, smoother, kinder, ease - ier, smarter, more efficient, more productive, more challenging ... more creative ... more, more, more which I know will lead me eventually to the bigger goal of less, less & more less. & ease the ultimate goal in terms of how I want to be and how I want to show up in the world. With ease, as much of the time as I can possibly muster.

The more I seek, the more help I need.

Along this long, hilly & dusty road of seeking I have had lots of help. Help in the form of self-help. Many men & women who have written incredibly helpful books, textbooks for many of the skills and attributes I'm craving to hone for myself. Everything from help getting a handle on my life long struggle with anxiety to creating better & more efficient work habits. Many of these same motivational writers, speak also on youtube or on there own websites. I'm finding that lately the more I seek the more I want more of that seeking. The more seeking I do, the more I practice what I'm learning the more I become aware that I am a fluid, ever changing & evolving creature. Let me tell ya that is such a relief, after years of trying to convince myself that big change was iffy to say the least.

I know that I can become whoever I want to be - now how exciting is that ?

I wanted to mention a few of the books/authors & speakers that have helped me so much & especially lately as I try to reach up to that next level of life, love & experience (& with ease please she whispered quietly ;-)

Gabrielle Bernstein - books, vlogs, lectures - everything here's her latest Living in the Know lecture
Michael Singer - especially his book the Untethered Soul (all about that negative Nelly roommate that lives in all our heads & never shuts the *3@ ! up)
Brené Brown - love everything about her, her books, her TED talks, her Oprah classes & interviews - she rocks
Oprah - especially for her OWN show Super Soul Sunday watch Steven Pressfield author of The War of Art now + a short video all about the amazing nature loving artist/illustrator Katy Daisy - here now.
Dan Baker - author of What Happy People Know
Russ Harris - author of The Happiness Trap & The Confidence Gap
Kirsten Neff - understanding the relationship between self compassion & anxiety/depression
David Allen - The Art of Stress-Free Productivity
Steve Belsky - Making Ideas Happen
Gay Hendrix - The Big Leap: conquer your hidden fear and take life to the next level
Joyce Meyer - Making Good Habits - Breaking Bad Habits (a little too much emphasis on a Christian God but so easy to replace with whatever God means to you - inner strength, inner guidance ...

ps - I almost forgot the best & most important book lately in my collection of self helpful, very self helpful - The Mindful Way through Anxiety - I cannot believe ho chock full of information, tips, tools, stories of other's and their own battles - it's by far the best, most helpful book I own currently.


If you are resisting something, you are feeding it. Any energy you fight, you are feeding. If you are pushing something away, you are inviting it to stay.
Michael Singer

just begin

a walk from the large dock along the boardwalk to the crescent beach ... just me & my camera - sigh  ... absolutely heavenly

The most important thing about art is to work. 
Nothing else matters except sitting down every day and trying.
Steven Pressfield

I've been hearing about the book The War of Art everywhere it seems. Many artist's & motivational speakers that I listen to on youtube or who's blogs I read keep mentioning this book - another message from Madam Universe. I finally decided to order a copy of my own through an amazon second hand seller and wouldn't you know it just as my copy finally arrived Oprah has the author Steven Pressfield on her fantastic show Super Soul Sunday (watch the interview here but watch it soon because the videos don't stay live for long). M. Universe at it again & she with her perfect timing for I am battling the war of art intensely at the moment, in fact I feel completely freakin' paralyzed by "resistance" or fear, self doubt that chattering roommate in my head (in our heads) trying to convince us that we will surely fail before we even begin. 

Resistance is not a peripheral opponent. 

Resistance arises from within. 

It is self-generated and self-perpetuated. 

Resistance is the enemy within.

Steven Pressfield

I am embarking on the biggest, best & hopefully most beautiful, most creative project to date - no pressure here ;-) I know what I have to do. I have to tell that roommate of mine to shut up ! I need to dive in. I need to put my fearless game on. I need to make & do. I need to stop thinking (& writing) about it. I need to just begin.

Someone once asked Somerset Maughham if he wrote on a schedule or only when struck by inspiration. "I write only when inspiration strikes," he replied. "Fortunately it strikes every morning at nine o'clock sharp".
Steven Pressfield

I'm not afraid (wink)

me & my shadow - Winnie Dixon / gorgeous orange mums / tres serious boss cat - yikes / geranium / early morning light / window box impatience still madly blooming / hydrangea turned dusty rose / more asters / Minnie & cosmos bright lights / omg those paws ;-) / handsome creative director

The only way that we can live, is if we grow. 
The only way that we can grow is if we change. 
The only way that we can change is if we learn. 
The only way we can learn is if we are exposed. 
And the only way that we can become exposed is if 
we throw ourselves out into the open. 

Do it. Throw yourself.

C. Joy Bell C

October is a month of throwing myself with wild abandon into extreme creative endeavours. I've been laying the groundwork - a solid and well thought out foundation. I have partners who believe in me  maybe more than I currently believe in myself ... now it's time for me to perform. To fling myself into a space of fearless creative freedom. I'm not afraid ;-) & yes my fingers are crossed behind my back as I write those words. I am very afraid - but I understand that perhaps fear is my very best ally.


Don't be afraid of your fears. 
They're not there to scare you. 
They're there to let you know that something is worth it.

C. Joy Bell C.

be (ing)

Winnie, my early morning photo assistant & best companion / queen anne's lace sead head / window box petunias & impatience / lovely lavender wild asters / more asters from the air field / 29 Black Street beauty / Minnie (our other newly adopted female) / bright lights cosmos / my guy Oliver with lilliput zinnias

Be like the sun for grace and mercy. 
Be like the night to cover others' faults. 
Be like running water for generosity. 
Be like death for rage and anger. 
Be like the Earth for modesty. 
Appear as you are. Be as you appear.

Rumi

best prayer for be-ing

ps - yes D is now a radio controlled airplane pilot