Visualization and Dreaming "What Could Be"

In my last post I wrote that I was in the "dreaming what could be" phase of planning for the coming year.  It may sound funny to say that I take this "dreaming" very seriously. 

close up of swirly blue glass

Dreaming and day-dreaming have a  carefree lazy-day image and it is exactly this state of mind that is so condusive to conjuring up an image of the way I want to be and the life I long to create. I try to reduce the inner chatter of my logical, responsible self by telling her, "Relax, I'm just day-dreaming.  I just want to play with this image in my head for a little while, to play make-believe, to wonder what if?". 

My grown-up responsible side is resistant.  She has seen how powerful this exercise is; how ideas, images and desires that I have visualized, cherished and focused on have been reproduced in my life.  Of course my logical self supports my healthy eating and gym routine but she gets nervous when the images become bohemian beach cottages and summers spent in artist retreats playing with paint and words with no schedules or responsibilities to keep me hemmed in.  I hear her stern voice saying, "Sandra, get back to your senses this instant!"



day dreaming helps to unlock your secret longings

We probably all have a life time of "voices" telling us to:

• grow-up
• get your head out of the clouds
• do the responsible thing or the safe thing

These voices may say that:

• life isn't fair
• we don't get to do what we want
• we owe it to them to stay stuck (okay the never say "stuck" but that's what they mean)
• they are depending on us to help them cope
• counting on us to keep them happy
• a good friend (wife, mother) would never ________________ (fill in the blank with your dream)
• that is a waste of money, time.

Whisper to that stern voice, "Go away, I'm just playing. I will come back when I am ready to."

Record your mental wanderings.  Draw a little sketch to remind you of what you saw.  Jot down key words, phrases, titles of movies or books, or the names of people that embody the qualities, lifestyle or activities  and ideas that have come to you. 

Next week I will be putting together a new vision board to help support my mental musings.  Check in with me then to see what my dreams are up to for the new year.

Thank you so very much for stopping by and visiting My Turquoise Kettle Life.

Wishing you a new year full of dreams, joy, health and love,

Sandra

Planning for a New Year - Review, Redo, Renew

I absolutely LOVE the week between Christmas and New Years. The main fireworks (Christmas) are over and there is this wonderful quiet week-long lull before the last little firecracker (New Year's).

Frost on a window

It is also the time when my husband and I individually and collectively review the past year, re-establish what our priorities and goals are and renew our commitment to them. If you have read my post October Review & Renew you are already familiar with the format I use to record and track my progress through the year concerning various areas of my life.

Individually we review the year. I look through the journal where I have set aside one or two pages for each of the following categories: Finances, Health and Fitness, Spirituality, Marriage, Family, Creativity, Work, Home and Community Service. During the year I have been recording progress made or the lack thereof in each category.

For instance in January I have recorded anything that has contributed to the above categories which included meeting with our financial wizard to review retirement planning (Financial), having my annual check-up (Health), and making cookies for an elderly woman who is shut-in (Community Service). In May I began my blog (Creativity) and we paid off our mortgage (Financial). In August we moved my mother-in-law from Ottawa to our town and spent the rest of the year helping her to get settled, (Family). Every month has many entries both big and small. This allows me to have an honest and more complete assessment of the year. It is so easy to forget all the small achievements and gestures and to feel that nothing of any worth was accomplished.

Winter Berry

The next step is to really feel the emotions associated with the review. Do I feel sad, frustrated or excited over any lack of accomplishment or area of my life? For instance I feel a little sad that I didn't do a very good job of protecting my creative time. I left myself vulnerable to other people's wants/needs sometimes at the expense of maintaining a positive environment for creativity. I need to listen to the emotions to know where to make adjustments.

Maybe the emotion is indifference. Something that felt important in January may no longer hold my interest or circumstances may have changed so that it is no longer a factor (I had planned on working 2 - 3 days a week at the high school but by September I decided to leave the job entirely).

Next I let myself dream, what would I like to have accomplished in the next 12 months? Where do I want to be? What do I want to be doing? What can I get excited about? What established habits have I grooved that I need to maintain that allow me to function at my peak? (My spiritual, eating and exercise routines help to keep me physically, mentally and spiritually healthy and therefore able to dream about what might be next.)

When my husband and I have our reviews in place we meet to go over everything together. We look at the good, the bad and the ugly. We share our achievements and our failures. We ask "What went right? What went wrong? and Why?" This can take a while as we both like to talk and while we sometimes get off topic it often produces interesting insights.

Finally we record our dreams, desires and plans for the new year asking "How can we encourage and support one another? What can we accomplish together?"

Some people would consider this entire exercise sheer agony. I agree it sounds intense but the reality is that it works for us and when something works the rewards outweigh the effort. For example, years ago with kids at home and working, I was happy to make it to the gym twice a week. Now I see that hauling my butt out of bed and going to the gym every weekday morning has given me a level of fitness that exceeds what I had ten years ago. Yes it takes effort and requires establishing a routine and protecting the routine from being sabotaged either by myself or others. That is why going at 6:30 am works, I'm on autopilot and the rest of the world is sleeping.

It's December 28 and I'm still in the "dreaming, what could be" stage of the exercise. I'm feeling the emotions and letting them lead me to form routines that will allow me to be truer to myself and to more joyfully do the work that I'm called to do in my corner of the world. 

Thank you for stopping by My Turquoise Kettle Life today.

Wishing you a new year full of wonderful accomplishments and above all, love,

Sandra

How to wrap up Christmas in 6 days

There are six days left until Christmas. Maybe you're fretting over not having enough time, energy or money to do everything that you would have loved to have done for the holidays. Today would be a good time to reassess your priorities and if necessary cut yourself a little slack.

I was looking at my last post How To Enjoy Christmas and had to congratulate myself (and my husband) for actually managing to wriggle out of that one social gathering that we had felt obliged to attend. And you know what? It was quite painless, a phone call and explanation that we were planning on sticking close to home and relaxing a little (versus driving for six hours for a second turkey dinner within a 24 hour period and only arriving back home at 1:00 a.m. barring snow or freezing rain). Maybe you too feel the pressure to participate, to shop, to travel, and to visit people whom ... (Don’t get me started..!.) Yes, sometimes you just have to suck it up and visit. If that is the case be thankful they're not staying with you. And if they are landing on your doorstep with suitcases in hand promise yourself that next year you will do things differently - we all have choices.

As for wrapping up the rest of your to-do list; itemize all the food items that have to be made and the ingredients that need to be purchased. Can anything be made ahead of time and frozen? It may not be too late to delegate or get another family member involved in the shopping or preparing.

Do you have gifts left to purchase? Again my first recommendation is delegate however if you are a martyr or a control freak and insist on doing it yourself, try to do the shopping in as few locations and as few outings as possible. At this point there is no point in browsing. If you find a suitable item within your budget buy it now, avoid saying I'll come back Friday and get this one if I don't find something I like better. That is just self-punishing.

Also if you are working this week it may be too late to begin making anything unless it is a super-quick craft idea and preferably something that you've made before and know that you can do it again quickly. This is not the time to try Martha's Lusterware craft or to begin to sew a quilt.

Are you hosting? Don't spend hours house cleaning. My advice is sweep and spritz. That's it, only sweep and spritz. Sweep the floors and spritz the bathroom and kitchen surfaces. If your house is messy from crafting or you've had no time to pick-up after the kids get a couple of laundry baskets and walk through each room and load up the basket with whatever will take too long to deal with properly. Find a place in a closet or basement and just leave it all there until next week. When your family come whining that they can't find their black leggings or their i-pod point them to the hidden laundry basket(s) and let them dig through it.

Caleche in Old Montreal

While it may sound counter-intuitive, do schedule yourself a massage or take a leisurely lunch time walk out of doors (not the mall!). Meet with a friend for a cup of tea but choose someone who is upbeat and positive so that you leave feeling encouraged and happy.

If you are able drop a few coins in the cup of a street person or give a little something to a charity do so. It helps them and reminds us to be thankful for the abundance and blessings in our lives.
Try to streamline this week as much as possible. Few of us will manage to have a picture-perfect Christmas but with a change of attitude we can all have a perfectly wonderful Christmas.

Thank you for visiting My Turquoise Kettle Life today.

Wishing you and your loved ones a most precious Christmas,
Sandra

How to Enjoy Christmas (for a change)

For years my husband and I have been trying to be authentic about Christmas and not get caught up with other people's ideas of what Christmas has to be. This year I think we have managed to do it! Here is what we did step by step:

1. Entertaining and Socializing

Decided which parties, dinners, outings we enjoy participating in.

Decided on any entertaining we wanted to host.

Decided which get togethers we are obliged to attend (thank goodness there's only one in that category!)

Decided which invitations we can politely decline.

Keep in mind that when you wish to decline you don't have to give a reason, but you can have excuses ready if you feel you need to.

2. Gifts

We made a list of who we will give a gift to.

Decided that everyone will be getting a hand-made gift and what it would be.

We didn't want the simplest easiest Christmas; we want a meaningful, authentic one. (We give a few financial gifts and those are the easiest -we write a cheque).

Decided to no longer fill a stocking for our (now adult) children. This one step alone feels liberating.

The last few weeks we've been working on our gifts, sometimes abandoning original plans and doing something else.

3. Christmas Cards

I bought blank craft store cards 5 x 7 inches and put one of my photos on the cover and wrote the inside messages. It’s simple to do and personal.

4. Baking/Food

I decided on 3 recipes for sweets that I will make. Two are already made and frozen and I'll do the last one next week.

5. Christmas Dinner

Our family does a large Christmas dinner (20 - 25 people) but each family brings part of the meal from buns to veggies and everyone contributes dessert .  We are very big on dessert, you can forget to bring your vegetable casserole, you can even forget to bring wine but you had better bring dessert!

6. The Christmas Tree

We don't have a Christmas tree. Well actually we had a little 3 ft tall house plant that really looked like a Christmas tree and I used to decorate it but I over-watered it in October and probably November too and I finally threw it away today, it was beyond hope - even Charlie Brown would have agreed.

About not having a Christmas tree - I really don't feel sentimental about the tree. I don't want an artificial one and I don't want to be sweeping up needles until next March. I now I'm in the minority but there you have it.

7. Why Christmas??

We remember that Christmas is about Jesus' arrival into our world, the miracle of his birth and the gift he offers each of us.

8. Generosity

My husband and I don't exchange gifts but find a person or family, either in our community or an organization that is in need and make a donation.

I think that's it. As I said, it has taken years to eliminate the expensive, draining, boring parts of the season and to be able to embrace what we enjoy, plus it changes from year to year. Some years I'm inspired to light up the front of our home in white lights. So far this year I have one tiny little evergreen in lights.

Your authentic Christmas will look completely different than mine. What matters is that if you are fortunate enough to have people around that you love and who love you, spend some time with them and let them know how you feel. Look out for those who have no one and if they don't have a place to be on Christmas, squeeze an extra chair around the dinner table.

Thanks for stopping by My Turquoise Kettle Life today.

Wishing you an authentic day,

Sandra

Of Mini-Wheats Addiction/ Personality Disorder and Best Friends

I've had this uncomfortable hunch for a while now. I think I might be addicted to Mini-Wheats cereal and suffering from Mini-Wheats Personality Disorder. You know the cereal, small bite-size squares of shredded wheat, plain on one side and sugar coated on the other. I have Mini-Wheats everyday for breakfast combined in a big bowl with raw oatmeal and All Bran. (I know what you're thinking and yes it is a lot of fiber.) This fact alone does not concern me, as my husband assured me yesterday over breakfast he's been eating Mini-Wheats for breakfast for 30 years (and he seems perfectly normal).

Mini-Wheats showing off their sweet and unsweetened sides. (They barely survived the photo shoot)

No, I'm not worried about breakfast; my concern arises over the fact that they are my through-the-day-snack-food. I grab a handful mid-morning to get me through to lunch. I also notice that when I have some unpleasant chore to do, or when I have to phone someone I don't really want to talk to, when I should be working on my finances, or when I'm feeling blocked artistically or sorry for myself or annoyed or ticked-off, or sad...there I am with a few Mini-Wheats in my hand. Yikes! It's a wonder I get anything done at all what with my hand stuck in that Mini-Wheats box so often.

Remember I wrote about my recent trip to the spa? Well, tucked away in my overnight bag were two plastic baggies of Mini-Wheats. Yesterday when my daughter Sam was here with her husband and a lovely couple they went to college with, we were talking about snacking and I just happened to mention that I think I might be addicted to Mini-Wheats. "Yeah, I think you are." my daughter agreed. Then her friend's husband piped up that he too takes Mini-Wheats as a snack in his lunch every day. Maybe I'm not alone I thought, maybe there are others out there like me; closet Mini-Wheats addicts.

Which leads me to my second observation and concern. The Mini-Wheats personality disorder. Sure the little character on the cereal box is cute; he has his "sweet" side and his "healthy" side. Could it be that my addiction has caused me to develop my own sweet, thickly sugar-coated side to hide my not-so-sweet side? Yes, I have to confess that I believe that I suffer from this affliction.

Yesterday I was having breakfast with my three of my absolutely dearest and most trusted friends. Now when I say, "I was having breakfast", I don't mean the breakfast where I break fast (I had my Mini-Wheats at home) this is the "breakfast" that is more like the appetizer to my lunch. My friends were very lovingly pointing out how I most often blog in the voice of my sweet side - you know the sugary one who wants so much for you to enjoy the sweet life. I always want to encourage you, my readers, to embrace and create your most wonderful, creative, artistic, rewarding and meaningful life. And yes, maybe it is true that I have avoided showing you my unsweetened side, not for lack of authenticity but rather so that you would have an uplifting place to visit, a positive oasis in your day. Ah, but there is the rub isn't it? Can I honestly encourage you to embrace a more simple, sane, healthy and creative life if I don't also share with you my own struggles, failings, fears, the things that make me want to scream or cry or give-up? What would my beloved Mini-Wheats be if they were sugar-coated on both sides? Nothing more than another kids' sugary breakfast cereal.

Hmmm. Now there is some heavy food for thought. I'm actually tearing up as I write this. Thank you my cherished friends, you who have seen my sugar-side highs and more often at my unsweetened-side lows. Thank you for loving this Mini-Wheats friend enough to encourage me to just be me, whether it’s my sugar side or unsweetened side that happens to be floating in my cereal bowl.

Thank you for stopping by My Turquoise Kettle Life today,

May you have an honest-to-goodness day,

Sandra

Practice Tender Loving Self-Care

Love it or loathe it, it’s the time of year when we begin to think about Christmas. If you are like most people, you're wondering how you can let those that you love and appreciate know how much you value their presence in your life. Often this translates into a shopping list or a "what to make them" list, or at the very least, what to write in their Christmas card so that they will know that you care.

While you are in the midst of your holiday planning, perhaps you could think about practicing a little self-care. A little early-in-the-season pampering could go a long way in helping you to manage the hectic month ahead.

Last week I had the opportunity to really indulge in some self-pampering. Using a very generous gift certificate I had been given for a local spa, I was treated to a facial, massage, hot tubs, a delicious lunch and an afternoon of lounging about in a fluffy white robe in a Zen-like setting. Later, I checked into a hotel; just me, alone. I had a room with a magnificent view of the of the Montreal skyline and as dusk fell and the lights from streets, cars and the cityscape jumped to life I was totally captivated by the sparkling beauty. I decided not to close the blinds so that I could enjoy the twinkling sky and the glittering city spread out before me.

That evening I didn’t do much really, I went for a long walk and did some reading. Mostly I just enjoyed the view and wondered about all the people. All these people that I share a city with. I prayed for them and especially for those who are frightened and struggling. Then finally I fell asleep; relaxed, pampered, grateful.

I also experimented with my camera and the night view from my hotel room window.... aren't these photos fun?

Saturday I walked around the shops, I guess I've lost something in this simplified life. I felt numbed by the glitz and the excess. When I arrived home that afternoon I really felt a deep appreciation for my husband, our simple home, the life we have built together and our two quirky dogs (who reacted as though I had been gone for a month).

This week I'm beginning to think about Christmas and how to keep the focus on the real reason we celebrate. I want to find ways to genuinely express my love and appreciation for those whom I cherish and also to be generous to those who are less fortunate.

I've promised myself to put healthy self-care very near the top of my holiday to-do list. For me that means daily quiet time, exercise, early to bed and healthy food (well...at least most of the time).

Why not set your holiday intention for wonderful self-care now before the festivities are in full swing?

Thank you for visiting My Turquoise Kettle Life.

Have an amazing day,

Sandra

Painting a Self-Portrait

Just because we are really familiar with our own faces doesn't guarantee that painting your self-portrait will be easy.  But there are a couple of ideas that might make it more successful. Today I took a canvas with a lot of history, that is to say there are probably three paintings under the surface.  last week I painted the canvas a washed out yellow and collaged on some newspaper strips.

This morning I took a few photos of myself with my digital camera and loaded them onto my laptop, playing around with the exposure allowed me to easily see the light and shadow.  I did a small sketch on paper and then used the sketch and the photo to draw out the portrait on my canvas.  Here's the critical part: do not begin to paint until your sketch is really how you want it.  To check that it is, hold up the canvas in front of a mirror - the mirror instantly shows us where our drawing errors are.

For my self-portrait I wanted to use a lot of colour.  I used cool colours to indicate the shadow and warmer ones to indicate where the light hit the face.  I'm always surprised how assymetrical my features are and while it is tempting to make my eyes the same size and shape as each other I would then lose any likeness to my own pleasantly crooked face.

I also wanted to make sure that I left some of the newspaper to show through and play a role in the painting.  I forced myself to work quickly and remain loose so as not to get too caught up on perfecting details, a little mystery goes a long way in a painting.

After a few hours this is what I ended up with:

I allowed some of the newsprint to show through

I layed colours beside one another and avoided blending them.

Not bad for a morning's work.  If you try this method I'd love to see a photo of your self-portrait painting.  You can always e-mail me at sandra.myturquoisekettlelife@gmail.com

Thanks for stopping by My Turquoise Kettle Life today.

Have yourself  a wonderful day,

Sandra

Dog Walking Through Rose Coloured Glasses

If you read my last post Wake-up Calls and Silver Linings some of you may be yawning, "Enough already just let me sleep." but the sunrise is so spectacular that I honestly cannot keep it to myself.  If you don't already have a weak-bladder dog you might want to get one, that or a newspaper route, anything that will force you to get up just before dawn and witness the magnificent beauty that most of us are sleeping through.

The sky looks as though it is on fire.

If you weren't up at 6:30 a.m. here is what you missed:

Flaming orange gives way to pinks and mauves

If I were to paint this people would assume I exagerated the colours.

On my walk back home I also had the chance to say "Good morning" to two chubby squirrels who were having breakfast in my neighbour's crab apple tree. 

What a wonderful beginning to another day full of possibilities - "Thank-you Lord"

And thank you too for stopping by My Turquoise Kettle Life.

Have a beautiful day,

Sandra

Wake Up Calls and Silver Linings

"My barn having burned to the ground, I can now see the moon."

Chinese Proverb

Life tends to go more smoothly when I am able to find the silver lining in what could be annoying or frustrating situations.  Take this morning for instance. I've managed to groove my morning routine so that I can wake up at 5:45 get myself ready, walk and feed the dogs and have a cup of tea and still arrive at the gym by 6:30ish.  This morning however, our darling dog Grace was making her need to use the outdoor facilities abundantly clear at 5:15. 

Heeding her wake up call, I pulled on my rubber boots and trench coat over my pj's and took both dogs out.  I was so richly rewarded. The sky was dark and the moon was so full and so huge hanging in the sky that I wanted to wake up my husband and make him come see it.  Instead I went home, got my camera and took photos until my fingers were too numb from cold to stay out any longer.  Not only was the moon spectacular, but also the way the street lights illuminated the autumn leaves was stunning.

While my photos don't do the early morning scene justice, they may give you a hint of the beauty I was privledged to experience. 

Clouds over the Moon

Moon through the trees

By the time I was home warming my hands on a cup of steaming tea, I thanked Grace for her  "wake up call", without which I would have missed out on the early morning beauty. 

Thank-you for stopping by My Turquoise Kettle Life today.

Have a silver-lining day,

Sandra

The Slow Kitchen - Giving up the Microwave Oven

Our microwave is on the fritz - again. This microwave is only about two months old. The one it replaced was less than a year old when it gave up the ghost. Hmmm.

We've been exclusively slow-cooking so to speak for about a week. No big deal really, I don't miss the microwave. So this morning over breakfast when I pondered out loud, "Do you think we need a microwave oven?" My husband said, "No, probably not." We tossed around the idea of not replacing it and how we might be inconvenienced. Like most people, we have grown accustomed to zapping frozen bread when we forget to defrost it for lunches, reheating left-overs and cooking baked potatoes.

I was in my late twenties before I owned a microwave oven, so I know we can manage without it, doing so might be an interesting experiment. Mind you this is coming from the woman whose conventional oven was broken from May until September of this year and then I only reluctantly had it repaired because I was cooking Thanksgiving dinner for twenty-five people. While it was broken I managed quite well thank you with the stove top, the barbeque and microwave oven. Okay, so I'm no Martha Stewart.

We were also the family that ripped out a perfectly good dishwasher and stuck it at the curb with a "Free - It Works" sign on it. It wasn't long before a man stopped and asked what was wrong with it. "Nothing, we just don't want a dishwasher anymore." (Actually we never wanted one, it was a very generous wedding gift) The poor guy, he begged us to tell him what was wrong with the dishwasher. "Really, it isn't very old and it works perfectly, we like hand washing our dishes." He looked at us side-ways, certain we were either lying to him or crazy. He took the dishwasher but still seemed unsure as he wheeled it away.

I digress. As far as the microwave oven is concerned, I think we'll try to do without. In a couple of weeks I'll update you on our little slow-kitchen experiment.

Thanks for visiting My Turquoise Kettle Life today.

Wishing you a slow and easy day,

Sandra

Living Simply - No Beginning or End so Jump Right In

I've been thinking about how each of us can live a more simple and sane life. It isn't easy. We have our reasons why we have to do or buy this, that or the other thing. We are able to explain and justify why, for the time being, we're sticking with the status quo. We assure ourselves that one day, when the credit card is paid off, the kids are grown, or once we get organized, we will embark on our journey to a simple life.

Choosing to live simply isn't an all or nothing venture. There doesn't need to be a starting line because there isn't a finish line. It isn't a race. Most of us are running too many races as it is. We run sprints when someone hits the panic button and marathons the rest of the time. Many of us are so busy multi-marathoning that we are running in circles looking for the darn finish line.

If we accept that there isn't really a finish line to be crossed, maybe we can also accept that we can allow ourselves to change our pace, our goal and our name-brand sneakers. Maybe we can even stop right here, right now in the middle of the track and watch as other runners pass us by. What if we decided to walk the rest of the course?

What if, after having slowed down, we noticed a path leading away from the crowd of runners and chose to follow it just to see where it leads to. Would you feel as though you missed out on something? Or would you feel thankful that you were able to experience something that the sprinters and marathoners missed?

Maybe you're not ready to hang up your running shoes altogether, that's fine. For today you can jog instead of run or walk instead of jog. Here are some ideas that I love to get you off the fast track and choosing a more simple path.

Visit your library - Libraries are quiet. You can borrow books and magazines for free. This is a fun family or couple's outing.  (Its also a great way to temporarily escape a chaotic household.)

Turn off the radio in the car - listen to an audio book during your commute or just enjoy the solitude or better yet - car pool.

Walk the dog - What? You don't have a dog? Visit my favourite animal rescue Eat, Play, Love Animal Rescue they have oodles of puppies and adult dogs looking for a foster home or their forever family.

Bake cookies or cupcakes for a neighbour - Attach a note "Just thinking of you"

Make your own Christmas or birthday cards

Make a simple meal from scratch

Use cloth serviettes rather than paper

Avoid shopping as a form of “entertainment".

Make a "retreat corner" in your home - a chair with a little side table, a candle, a pretty journal.

Read my post On Being


Before you fall asleep each night - think of one thing about the day to be genuinely thankful for.

Small steps that allow us to live more slowly and simply help us to appreciate the individual moments that  make up our lives and  remind us that we don't have to run our lives as a race. 


Thank you for visiting My Turquoise Kettle Life.

Have a simply wonderful day,

Sandra

The Farmers' Market - Simple Abundance

Yesterday I visited one of our local farmers' markets with my daughter and grand-daughter.  There is something special about an outdoor farmers' market at the end of the season.  The weather is crisp, the crowds have subsided (especially mid-week) and the colour of the fall produce is rich and vibrant.  Many of the stands will close at the end of October so shopping outdoors for fresh local produce has an "enjoy it while you can" feel-good quality.

If you hurry, you can still squeeze in a visit or two to your local farmers' market.  Buying local, meeting a farmer, enjoying a feast for your eyes as well as for your table.... what a great way to spend an afternoon.

Thank you for stopping by My Turquoise Kettle Life.

Have a bountiful day,

Sandra



A New Art Gallery Address for My Turquoise Kettle Life

I'm excited about the new address of my on-line Turquoise Kettle Art Gallerytm. Originally it was easy to have the art gallery posted as a page on my blog, I liked the idea of having everything in one location.  However, having a blog space solely dedicated to my paintings allows me to organize them in a more coherent manner.  For example, if  someone wants to see only still life paintings or mixed-media work, the labels on the right hand sidebar facilitate that search.  Similarly choosing "All Paintings" pulls up all the work posted on the Turquoise Kettle Art Gallery tm blog.

At the moment there are only a few of my most recent works posted.   Stop by regularly to see what's new in the gallery, in the meantime, consider this your personal invitation to visit The Turquoise Kettle Art Gallery.

Thank you for your visit.

Have a wonderful day,

Sandra

The Benefit of Painting in Community

In our hectic, fast-paced, consumer-driven society, it's common to feel overwhelmed, isolated and alone. Many are re-discovering the healing and empowering role that community can bring to our lives. The sense of belonging we feel when we make the time to take an active role in our communities can give us a deeper sense of meaning and purpose.
-- Robert Alan

I've recently begun to get together with a small group of painters on Tuesday mornings to paint under the guidance of artist and friend Anne Van Mierlo. Anne was instrumental in encouraging me to pursue painting years ago, so it is wonderful to once again find myself soaking up her enthusiasm, expertise and love of painting.


The room that we have been meeting in is a beautiful light filled space with high ceilings and huge windows overlooking wooded grounds. The bonus is that it is just a ten minute walk from my home.


While I love the solitary aspect of working in my own studio, painting in a group has reminded me of how valuable it is to get feedback, encouragement and often times that "push" beyond my comfort zone. Our morning always includes a time of critique when we explain what we are working on and welcome the input of the group. Finally, there is the benefit of having a scheduled creativity time outside of my home that precludes the temptation of distraction.



Some days my love of figurative work wanders away and I find myself mucking about with abstract. I'm trying not to get too caught up with my style; rather I am just enjoying the process. I'm very happy with how things have been going these last few weeks and have finally taken a few photos of my recent work to post on my Art Gallery page.

Square Pear
20 x 20 Mixed Media on Gallery Canvas

I'm reminded that we are created to be in community no matter what our profession or lifestyle. A pastor once described community as a place where we, like rough stones, have our hard edges made smooth by jostling amongst other rough stones in our community. At its best community helps us to find a sense of belonging, a place to share our burdens and our gifts, where we are encouraged to test our wings without fear of failure and a place where the good that is generated expands beyond the parameters of the group. Whether a group of friends, a volunteer organization a faith community or a professional association we can all benefit from community. Have you found a place of belonging, a community to call your own?

Thank you for visiting My Turquoise Kettle Life.

Have an amazing day,

Sandra

A Life of Your Own - Why it matters that you live authentically

I wanted to share with you an excerpt that I read today from Steve Job’s  commencement address  to the Stanford University graduating class of 2005.  He spoke based on his diagnosis of pancreatic cancer and encouraged his listeners.

“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”

We are each given our own life and it is a gift.  A gift to use, enjoy and share.  How then does it happen so often that we end up giving away our lives?  Perhaps it is because we have focused on wanting to please our parents, our teachers, our friends, our pastor, our spouse, our boss.  We are so good at knowing how to meet the expectations of others, yet struggle to know what we genuinely want or need for ourselves. 

We give our lives away when we settle for imitating other people.  We throw away our authenticity when we lack a clear picture of who we are and we agree to pursue the goals that other people set for us.  We are dishonest with ourselves when we go along with the demands of the group (or the one) who think their idea of fun/success/urgency should be our idea of fun/success/urgency.  We turn our back on the gift of life when we become involved with immature people who, depending on us for their well being remain emotional infants unwilling to assume responsibility for themselves.  Rather than moving them toward maturity, our good intentions and self-sacrificing actions are poured into their bottomless pit of neediness. We forfeit our lives when we refuse to make time to meet our physical needs, when we ignore the signs that we are running on empty emotionally, and when we resist the stillness and the quiet that allows us to connect spiritually.

Find a place of stillness and quiet

We do all these things because it seems easier.  We postpone having the difficult conversations and delay making the decisions that may offend people or cause them to become angry.  Embarking on a journey to a more authentic life is daunting.  It requires silence and time.  We need to think and to filter out all the noise and rubbish that people want us to believe and buy into.  We need to establish our own true north.  We can begin by asking ourselves a few questions: What kind of person do I want to be?  What is important?  Who do I enjoy being with?  What brings me satisfaction?  What makes me feel peaceful? 

Follow your own path

With a long weekend ahead of us, maybe you can carve out a little “you time” to realign with your authentic self, finding” the courage to follow your heart and intuition.”

Thank you for stopping by My Turquoise Kettle Life.

Have a wonderful day,

Sandra

October, Time to Review and Renew

I love the month of October.  While there is no longer any denying that summer is over, the beauty of autumn is now in full swing; apple picking, colourful leaves, pumpkins, Thanksgiving dinner and fires in the wood stove.  I find that there is something deeply satisfying about preparing for winter; taking stock of what we will need to winterize the house, packing away the outdoor furniture, uprooting the droopy annuals from the gardens and raking up heaps of fallen leaves.

I also love that final push to bring to fruition any outstanding plans or goals that are on my list for the year.  While I try to be flexible about goals, realizing that over the course of the year direction and focus can change, I like to take a good hard look at what I set out to do in January and which goals I’d still like to accomplish.

So this morning with an extra large mug of tea in hand, I reviewed my 2011 plans.  These goals are written in a beautiful hardcover journal with gilded pages.  If the goals are important why not give them a suitably impressive place to be recorded?

My theme for the year was “Faith, Focus, Discipline and above all Love”.  I dedicated one page to each of the various areas of my life such as: Fitness and Health, Family, Marriage, Finances, Creativity, etc.  Each page contains a brief list of things I wanted to focus on or accomplish in that category.  Periodically throughout the year I looked at each page as a gentle reminder of what I had hoped to do.  I make notes, cross things out, check things off so that I can keep track of my direction and progress.  I also keep one page for each month to record important things that have happened, achievements and failures.  I have used this system of goal setting and accountability for many years and find that is works well.

How am I doing?  There are areas that I am satisfied with and other areas that are less impressive.  The encouraging thing is that I have nearly three full months left to finish up projects, cross others off the list or take small steps to get goals I've procrastinated on started.   

One of the projects that I am trying to complete is the mosaic table that I began back in July.  I’d like to be able to use the table indoors during the winter for playing Scrabble or having dinner in front of the fire.  Because mosaic work is messy I want to finish the table outside on the verandah rather than indoors.  I’m also certain now that I do not have enough tiles to complete it and will need to find tiles of equal thickness to finish the project. 

Mosaic Table in Progress

All in all I feel a sense of excitement about what is ahead.  I know that some things will be carried forward to next year, but with a couple of baby sized steps each week I'm hoping to realize a few more goals this year that are  expressions of faith, focus, discipline and above all, love.

Thank you for visiting My Turquoise Kettle Life today,

May your day be filled with love,

Sandra

Slow Living - Photo Essay with Snails

I was inspired to revisit the topic of living more slowly after reading a post on artist Julie Brown's blog Wabibrook Studio.  Thanks Julie for the reminder.

I read recently that snails have inhabited our planet for some 60 million years.  That is a lot of slow moving family history. 

Slow Living is a family tradition

One of my goals is to live more slowly, to take time to appreciate and enjoy what matters most in life; important relationships, spiritual growth, fitness, nature and creativity.  I thought that giving up work outside of the home would naturally translate into this easy-going, deeply meaningful, slow paced life.  Unfortunately, my family does not have a 60 million year old legacy of moving and living slowly.  Rather, I was raised to be productive, punctual and personable.  Do these seemingly admirable qualities prevent me from living the slow life?  No, but sometimes I struggle with these deeply imbedded life principles. 

Productivity is highly valued in our culture, we’re all about doing.  See (On Being vs Doing)   New acquaintances often ask, “What do you do?” Friends ask “What did you do on the weekend?”  I used to keep a lengthy to-do list so as to always have a pending task at my fingertips.   Now, I find I must consciously avoid creating written or mental lists of chores.  I have to remind myself that it is okay to have daily time that is not scheduled a time when I do not have to be productive.  I try to regularly give myself permission to do what I want, whether it is just sitting, napping or going for a slow stroll.  This is not as easy as it sounds; I have to quiet my inner critic who likes to label me as “lazy” for non-productive time.

It's okay to stop and admire my surroundings

Sometimes I just like to sit and think

Concerning punctuality, I would never be a proponent of purposely arriving late - that just seems rude; however, there are situations that arise that cause all of us to be tardy at one time or another.  The concern is the degree of anxiety or stress that I feel when I know that I will be late, the belief that a lack of punctuality is a flaw in my character, that a better person would have anticipated the flat tire, the accident on the bridge or the bus not showing up.

I don't need to rush.

Being personable has certainly had more positive results than negative, but it is a question of degrees.  I thrive when I have a healthy dose of alone time and I seem to need a lot more than most people.  It can be difficult for others to understand or accept.  Yet I have learned the hard way that forfeiting regular times of solitude in order to meet others’ expectations leaves me drained, unhappy and eventually angry at myself for being so “nice” that I have spread myself too thin at the expense of my own well-being.

I just need a little solitude

"I don't understand your need for so much time alone!"

So where does this leave me in my quest to s-l-o-w down?  I guess I still have a ways to go in achieving a slow living lifestyle, but I am getting there….albeit slowly!

Slow Living -I'm getting there...

A special thank you to all these snails who live in  my neighbour's garden.

And thank you too for slowing down and visiting My Turquoise Kettle Life.

Have a most wonderful day,

Sandra

Leaving the workplace - what's in a title?

This post is the latest in a series of personal observations about leaving the workplace. (See rethinking work & leaving the workplace - beyond the fear)

Since officially resigning about ten days ago, I’ve had some very interesting reactions from people.  While I have considered myself an artist for a couple of decades now, having had exhibits, sold paintings and given lessons to others, when people would asked, “What do you do?” I would normally answer that I was a church secretary or a substitute teacher, depending on the part-time job I had at the time. 

You see, even when polite company asks you “What do you do?” and one replies, “I paint” or “I am an artist”, there is a slight narrowing of the eyes, a bubbling up of suspicion.  And who can blame them?  Even works of art that hang in museums and galleries often cause us to wonder if the work was done by a real painter or by a couple of angry cats fighting it out in the artist’s studio.

We are just more comfortable when people have a real job with a job title and are doing their part to keep the economy chugging along.  Take for instance an encounter I had with a neighbour last week, a married woman, who is the sole breadwinner in her family of four who does the lion’s share of work both in the home and out.  When she asked if I was back at school yet (substitute teaching) I replied that I had resigned.  I suppose it would have helped had the poor woman had some type of warning that I was considering leaving work.  It isn’t easy for people to process this type of information on the spur of the moment. Whereas, if people suspect you might leave the ranks of the employed they have an opportunity to prepare themselves, to prevent their eyes from enlarging to the size of small saucers and their jaws from falling to their chests. 

What? You resigned?!

After all, society and indeed nature itself often gives us time to adjust to people’s pending change in status.  We sometimes label engaged women as brides-to-be; pregnancy (thankfully!!) gives us (and the neighbours) many months to prepare and adjust to our changing status of mom and dad. 

In my neighbour’s defense, she made a rather lovely recovery from her shock by noticing my dogs, whom I was walking at the time, and very kindly pointed out, “Well you have your dogs to take care of now.” Wasn’t that sweet?

It isn’t just my imagination.  Our youngest daughter is a stay-at-home mom to Sadie-Anne who is almost a year old.  People often ask her when she’s going back to “work”.  (In Quebec we have an awesome maternity/paternity program that allows new parents up to one year of paid leave.) She proudly tells them she’s a stay-at-home mom, but that she is technically already back at work as the co-founder of the Eat, Play, Love Animal Rescue  a non-profit which she co-manages out of her home.  While most do not understand the calling to rescue animals that are at risk, they are happy to have a “work label” to attach to the job title of Mom (as if it needed anything added!).

Also this week, my husband and I met with our financial advisor to set up a new investment.  Our advisor was filling in the required form when he came to the box entitled job title there was a long moment of hesitation, the advisor looked to me and I glanced at my husband who replied, “Artist”.  Yes, I thought, Artist!   

Thank you for taking time to stop by My Turquoise Kettle Life.

Have yourself a lovely day ,you are en-titled to it.

Sandra