a to z

(Modigliani-one of my very fave artists!!)

Ever since I stumbled upon Susannah Conway's blog...oh! about a year ago...I was smitten! With her photographs, her writing...and most of all, her spirit that comes shining through. She's a person I can imagine being friends with, having cup of coffee and spilling out my whole life story...or being my next door neighbour. She just seems like that kinda' gal.

Anyhoo...when she wrote this post here called the "ABC of Important Things" I thought it would be fun to do one myself. So...here goes!

A is for art. I have always loved loved loved all things art. Half finished sketches, drawings, paintings...crafts, sculpture, photographs...I could go on and on and on. art fills my soul, touches me, heals me, mends all the broken parts + pieces, nourishes and gets me on my way. Always has...always will.

B is for books. Oh my!! I have always been a bookworm. Ever since I can remember. Books reach out to my heart +soul + mind ...through time and space. When I read The Prophet by Gibran...it is his very essence that speaks to me. What magic there is in books...our very SELVES unfolding...the reader and writer becoming one. I simply can't imagine life without books!
C is for coffee, community and creating. All great stuff!

(a cozy + fantastic coffee shop we discovered today)

D is for discoveries. Aren't they delicious?? Whether it's a new bookstore or a new friend...discoveries keep life exciting and us on our toes.
E is for excitement. It's what keeps our spirits young + alive.
F is for fun + friendship + family. Tara has taught me to loosen up...sometimes the wisest thing to do is to let my hair down and...simply have fun!! And what would life be without friends??? The false ones drop off (eventually) and the true ones? Gems! Family is simply this: people who love you, are there for you and accept you for who you are. Some people are lucky enough to be born into family...and others (like mySELF) have had to create it. Oh!! And 4 legged critters count as family too:)
G is for google. I love this guy Google...he knows everything:)
H is for hope. Without hope...the heart + soul wither away and die.
I is for the Internet. Can we even imagine life without it???

(combining pics of my art with writing in my journal)

J is for journals + journeying. To me..they are one and the same. I have journals that go waaaay back to my teen years. They hold all sorts of secrets, hopes + dreams...quotes that kept me going for years, letters and sketches. Really...they are a documentation of a life lived...a silent witness to all of me.
K is for kindness.  As I go on in life...I realise just how important kindness is. To ourSELVES and each other. Not much else matters if we can't practice this basic principle. And sometimes..when it is soooo difficult to be kind to a person or situation...it's much better to say as little as possible...and go on your way.
L is for love. It may sound so cliche...but it's true...you have to love yourSELF before you can love anyone else. And above all else...isn't love what keeps us going??
M is for marriage + motherhood. I never thought either one were for me...until I did it and guess what??? I love both!
N is for nature. I love open skies and forests, thick black mud and trees. Birds + sunflowers, Mother Moon and wild ocean waves. All of it!!
O is for outside the box. Living, thinking + being outside the box!! For so so much of my life, I lived inside all sorts of boxes (of my own and others' making). No more!! The end.

(self portrait of hands-2011)

P is for possibility. and painting. and passion.
Alice laughed: "There's no use trying," she said; "one can't believe impossible things."
"I daresay you haven't had much practice," said the Queen. "When I was younger, I always did it for half an hour a day. Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast."
-from Alice in Wonderland.
 One of my very fave. quotes.
Q is for quiet moments. I need them and totally appreciate them when they (rarely) come along.
R is for roses. I love all flowers but I swoon for roses.
S is for stories. We all have them and they are all important. The big ones + small ones, the ones yet to be told and experienced, the ones hidden so deep and locked away. The ones we share and the ones we don't. The stories we live out everyday, the ones we need to erase and write over...the ones we need to create for ourSELVES.  At our core and essence...aren't we made up of stories??
T is for true + tribe. Oh!! And tea!!

(me + wide open skies, Colorado)

U is for Unravelling. Okay...I stole this one from Susannah...but...I have my own story that goes along with it too!! Ever since I can remember...I have been unravelling. I mean..in all sorts of ways. And of course, there are always all these negative connotations to unraveling as in: crazy, unstable, weird, flighty on and on. So when I stumbled upon Susannah's blog and found that she teaches (incredibly successful) e-courses called...well...Unravelling ..I was intrigued and hooked!! Here was someone who openly claimed her Unravelling for all the world to see and hey!! Guess what??? Coming unraveled is a good thing. No...a great thing. It's a deconstruction process that allows us to completely fall apart and...then slowly slowly rebuild ourSELVES. It equals growth + life + vulnerability + rebirth. And isn't  that what the journey is all about??
V is for Venus. Susannah...I love your word...I really do. It's bold and vivacious. I thought about choosing it mySELF because ...I also love being a woman. But... I'm gonna' go with the Goddess Venus. She sits there, this goddess...fully bathed in love + beauty. Also...originally she was the Goddess of nature...raw and wild until she was cultivated to the Venus we now know. I like that rawness deep + hidden ...but still there.
W is for writing. It's something I want to do more of. I want to include more of my words ( = stories = heart = journeying = authenticity) in my art and right here on my blog. i have been writing for so so long...poetry, journals, short stories and, while some of it is really really bad, I love the craft and humanity of it. I love how you can write from the heart and connect to another heart. With words...you can elicit a tear or a laugh...even reach out across millions of miles and memories and touch someone. Amazing.
X is for kisses. xxx

(Fall leaves + happy feet, Ca. 2011)

Y is for yellow. I swear I didn't steal this one from Susannah!! Ever since I painted my studio yellow...I have become smitten with this color. Everything from pale iced yellows to deep sunflower + saffron yellow. Hello!! I want some yellow shoes!!
Z is for zzzzz's. Anytime I can catch some zzzz's ...it's a good thing:)
Okay...this was so much fun to do!! Maybe you want to try it out yourself??