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Monthly Archives: January 2014

All Is Well

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LKW, Life Book 2014

I feel a sense of accomplishment. The above piece is the first that I’ve made for my Life Book 2014 e-course. Life Book 2014 is a year-long painting e-course taught by artist Tamara Laporte and other incredible artists that she has gathered together to teach us their individual styles of painting. Until today, I’ve been too preoccupied with cleaning and decluttering to begin the work for this or any of the many e-courses to which I am committed. Today, my body, exhausted from days of over working it, responded by increasing my fibromyalgia pain, so I had no choice but to take a much-needed break to do absolutely nothing.

I felt dreadful that I was neglecting my e-courses when I had an epiphany of sorts. It occurred to me that I wasn’t ignoring them at all. In fact, they were central in my mind. The purpose of the cleaning is to rid myself of the old, unwanted and unloved “stuff” to make room for the beautiful, loving creations that I am about to bring into existence. It hit me, I am exactly where I need to be, doing exactly what I need to do.

Coming to this realization served as a catalyst for me to begin and complete the above piece. “Courage” is one of my words for 2014, so I incorporated the word in an affirmation reminding me that I AM courage. During 2014, this piece will serve as a constant reminder that the courage that I need to deal with any circumstance, is here for the taking. Although I am not remotely close to finishing the task of decluttering, I can continue it without guilt because I am making room for new and exciting gifts in my life and with gratitude for the reminder that all is as it should be.

Blessings and love, Lydia

All Will Be Well. ~ St. Julian of Norwich

Just me.

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Taken on January 5th of me for The 52 Week Project

This is 1/52 taken on January 5th for The 52 Week Project

My oldest daughter, as an actress and mother, is photographed all the time. I mean, her husband is a photographer.  She does not take after her mother in that regard. No, for me, it is the opposite. Whereas she is comfortable in front of the camera, I am not. The fact is that I run like the wind when a camera comes near. It is the very rare photo of me that I like.

As I read my dear friend Anita’s blog, Here In The Midst Of It, she discussed The 52 project. You can read about it here. In brief, the project is about mothers, realizing that life is fleeting and their little ones grow up much too fast, documenting one moment a week in their child’s life through photo and posting it on their blog. There are some mechanics involved but that it not really the point. Having 3 grown children, I can attest to the ‘now you see them,’ ‘now you don’t’ quality of childhood and wish that this project was around back then. Now I have 6 1/4 grandchildren, but with busy schedules and such, I can’t guarantee that I can shoot a photo a week. So, if I am unable to shoot a photo of one of them, I will do like Anita and take a photo of myself.

I view this as a perfect opportunity to confront my fears and learn to be comfortable in front of the camera, or at least to tolerate it. In all honesty, there is also an aspect of disliking the way that I look and not wishing it to see it memorialized for anyone to see. Posting a photo of myself is a way of thumbing my nose at fear and becoming comfortable with me — just as I am. It was not easy taking this first photo, but I got through it and one week at a time, I hope to become more and more comfortable at it. One day soon, I hope to meet myself in the mirror and say, “Hey, beautiful, I know you and you are enough.”

Blessings, Lydia

All Will Be Well ~St. Julian of Norwich

Tea Time

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Tea Time
As has been the case since January 1, I am on a mission to reduce clutter and increase organization in our home. I am going through the books stacked all through the house, as well as closets filled with items that I purchased years ago that are left unopened. The Goodwill pile is growing each day and I am far from finished.

After another taxing day, I had to stop because the pain had ratcheted up as I tore through the house. Such is the case with fibromyalgia. In my case, even though I take pain medications before hand, physical activity increases the pain from its’ every day level to one much higher and less controlled. Nevertheless, I’ve decided to take the attitude that I will have the pain no matter what I do, so I may as well end the day with a sense of enjoyment and accomplishment. My body was saying enough is enough, and I respectfully listened. Before I settled in, however, I made a blend of dried lavender, chamomile, lemon balm, red roses and orange peel for a fragrant cup of tea. It was perfect.

So, it should come as no surprise that when I settled down, I headed straight for Polyvore. I wanted to make a collage based on the color of the ingredients in my tea, that is, red, purple, yellow, orange and green. The above collage is the result. By the time that I’d finished both my tea and the collage, the pain was easing and I felt better. Tea, it does a body good. 🙂

Blessings, Lydia

All Will Be Well, St. Julian of Norwich

Call me a Polyvore girl.

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I'm a deep color girl.
Today has been a dreary day. I’m talking about inside not outside. Although it is too cold for my taste, the sky was a vivid bright blue and the sun shone brightly caressing everything within its reach. No, I woke up feeling pretty awful with a head cold so I burrowed deeper under the covers and when back to sleep. When I woke up, I felt better but still icky, but not enough to linger in bed.

I am on a ‘beginning of the year’ tear and every day, the Goodwill pile is getting higher and higher. I piled it with books, clothes, electronics and a slew of items that I’ve bought over the years and never even opened, but this post is not about my little shopping problem. I even created a stack of items that I think certain people in my life will enjoy, so the postal service will be happy with me next week

Finally, after wearing myself out sufficiently, I grabbed for my cell phone and the computer. I answered a few texts and emails. Next, I went to Facebook, my favorite online community. Once there, I largely ignored the overwhelming number of notifications because I felt too crappy to answer them coherently. Setting that aside, I surveyed the open tabs on my computer. This is embarrassing but I seriously have, at least, 15 open tabs on my lap top. None of them interested me but Polyvore.

Since I explained what Polyvore is all about in an earlier post, I’ll let you read about it here and I won’t elaborate. The thing is that the site has become my go-to place when I (1) want to totally relax and vegetate, and/or (2) CREATE something. Believe me, with my e-courses, I have enough to keep my creative juices flowing, well forever, but I just wasn’t in the mood to get up and get out the painting and/or drawing accoutrements — that required physical activity on my part that I couldn’t muster.

So, Polyvore is the next best thing. With nothing more than my lap top, from the comfort of my bed, I can create collages in every hue and color imaginable, and at my fingertips is everything that I need, no scissors or gel medium necessary. For me, it is all about color, but I am realizing that I am also learning about composition, placement and design. It is totally mindless fun and I love posting my latest creation. Especially on a day like today, when I feeling completely unproductive, I feel that I’ve accomplished something with Polyvore to the rescue.

You really should try it out for yourself.

Blessings, Lydia

All Will Be Well. ~St. Julian of Norwich