the dreaming Press.

pulpy orange juice, a trip to the farm & *stores* of smores

My husband accidently bought orange juice with pulp yesterday and I'm overjoyed! It is my favourite and I'm the only one in the family who likes it so I suppose it will be all mine. If I had my way I'd peel the skin off an orange, put it in the blender and make a puree out of it. That would be my ideal orange juice. Yes, I do eat whole oranges, they are like bursting sun fruits, so delicious.

Hmmm let's see...three things to bring on vacation:

Jumbo jet puffed marshmallows....check.

Milk chocolate bars of varying brands....check.

Graham crackers....check. {I suppose my packing is nearly complete, just a bikini and I'll be all packed.}

Here is my new favourite Adele song...isn't she the best thing since...Mumford & Sons?

The photos above were all taken on the farm today (except the windowsill daisies) with my iPhone and layered apps (for those of you who don't use an iPhone camera...the apps work in a similar fashion on your photos to those Photoshop actions that those who don't know how to use Photoshop use). I've been studying CS4 (Creative Suite 4, Photoshop) lately and I'm loving it...I like to know what actually happens to my photo when I manipulate various things on it.

Will you take a vacation with your family this summer? Where will you go if you do? xoxo

On travel, dancing, and banana popsicles

This day was glorious! {though in part spent pining but nonetheless...I left my heart in Santa Monica}
I cut the clover that is my lawn {bees, many sorries} and reflected on how much I do love my lawn because it's rather bohemian instead of Stepford. Golf greens are for golfing, and I adore clover and Kentucky Blue grass or whatever those juicy fat blades of blue-green are named.
The little one and I walked a way, getting our exercise in the overcast humid afternoon before deciding it was high time for Adele, the Foos, Katy Perry and banana Popsicles. I won't forget for as long as I walk this earth her spindly brown legs jiving to the dance tones of JLo and Pitbull. What else would summer be for?
The marigold seeds we planted last week are now an inch high, and I reckon {farmer talk...reckon} they'll be good and ready for Dia de Los Muertos come the fall.
We watered them carefully and whispered a growing prayer. {every little breath counts}
Passports, American money and pink polka dotted bras were packed for our upcoming holiday. {We are girls after all, priorities people!}
All that's left to pack are two good books {one of which is Life, by Keith Richards and I cannot wait to read that one!} and some journals and breezy dresses.
Oh now that I think of it I also left my heart in Mexico City. One of these days I'll pack up and collect all the pieces of my heart that have been splintered to the four winds. Until then I wish you all a joyous week ahead. xo

Precious

Each contact with a human being is so rare, so precious, one should preserve it.
~Anais Nin

Iceberg ice: Tales from the little spa

A beautiful woman (among many, trust me) that came in to the spa today told us a tale.
She is moving back to Newfoundland after 25 years of living here in Ontario. The decision came upon her all at once; she wants a simpler, happier life. And who can blame her?
She showed us a camera phone picture. One of a gigantic iceberg off the coast. She's worried, you see. Her husband has a penchant for getting in a boat, going out to sea, and climbing up on the iceberg to chip off a giant chunk of iceberg to keep in their freezer for drinks.
I pondered for a moment, at how that doesn't seem simpler to me than going to your icebox for some frozen city water.
Then it dawned on me.
I was envious of this iceberg ice. Yes it's simpler. Purer. Tastier.
She has the right idea, going home to that rock called Newfoundland. Wise women walk through our doors everyday. If you aren't paying attention, you can miss them.
Here's to YOU, Jackie.
Happy journey home love.
xo

These days

A song in the car played tonight on my way home from work and it brought a huge smile to my face. Notorious B.I.G. sang, "...birtdayz wuz da worst dayz, now we sips champagne when we thirstays."
To you Biggie Smalls! For recognizing the love where it lingered.
xo

Interwebs, you had me at hello.

I used to think the Internet a cold, uninhabitable place. A lonely hearts club. A place for the downtrodden who had no luck in "real" life for sustaining relationships. A place where those who were used to abandonment could do so with some degree of anonymity.
Well, that's true. Yes, entirely true. There are those who "like" you on Facebook. Those who "love this!!!!"
Those who admire and compliment and gush unnecessarily. Those who seek council then turn against you all cliquishly as if they still attended high school.
But.
There are also real folks out there. Brought together through a strange medium who otherwise would not have met. You and they bond, perhaps exchange emails, phone calls, gifts through the mail. These people are like you. Compassionate and caring. They like the connection to kindred souls the Internet brings. Well isn't that just like life? You don't necessarily meet the most ideal people in the flesh all the time either. Sometimes you meet people in life who make your skin crawl. Who make you feel like you just don't want to be around their scarred energy.
Well I've discovered something else.
I happen to have made the best connections as a result of this medium. I've travelled to far flung cities to meet with them in fact. And you know something? They seem to be the people that I miss the most in my everyday life. I miss the new found friendships, the ones forged with a common bond that originated the whole thing to begin with.
Yes I adore my soon to be husband with my very last breath. My children too. Some may argue that those people should be enough but I disagree. (All due respect to the ones I love.)
Families can sometimes be created. The choosing of such people is as entirely conscious as you wish it to be. Being blood relation to another does not immediately qualify as family. Family is listening, caring, going out on a limb. This crazy and wild Internet has introduced me to some family that I otherwise would not have known.
Those people know who they are. This post isn't to pat the backs of some fellow bloggers or to boost the egos of some wannabe artists. This is a straight shooting message to those of you who are looking for heartfelt connection. It isn't by sheer accident that you read this. It isn't by sheer accident that you took that trip. It's about recognizing that as humans we all just need a way to reach out emotionally to another and be understood.
It's why we blog.
It's why we travel.
It's why we create our art through paint or photograph.
It's why.
Simply why.
Because it is there. Waiting. So I leave you with this thought...a question really...what would you have done with yourself if there had been no Internet connectivity?
I wouldn't have travelled to Florida, Vancouver, Arizona, New York, Niagara-On-The-Lake, Nova Scotia, Jordan. And boy would I have missed out on some major family reunions.
Here's to the open highway, that web that leads us back to ourselves and one another.
xo
Love,
Gillian

return to summer

Return to YOU. Return to skipping ropes, hula hoops, soccer balls. Shed the drama. Lose yourself to who YOU really are. You are blue skies, green grass, puffy white clouds, barbeques. You are singing and hammocks and dancing until the sun comes up. Oh yeah (dance)!

You are not weak. You are not having to "put up" with others. Own your drama! It's ALL YOURS. So do as I do. If you react to someone inappropriately...just apologize. It's all you can do when you find yourself sinking into some unknown abyss. Remember it is all about your own choices.

So, let this first day of this new season be a blank slate for all the joyous possibility. Don't suffer fools. And certainly don't let them drag you down too. Remember your fins (swim), your wings (fly)...your freedom. Freedom to decide each and every glamourous moment of your one wild and precious life! Happy Summer Solstice xoxo

In love with raspberry coffees

Buzzy Friday afternoon. Not the bees...me! I'm buzzing from sucking back coffees. Wild mountain blueberry, sweet summer raspberry {fave so far!}, and if course...of course! butter toffee. I used to dislike coffee so much, but my new schedule of working 24 hours a day has me needing more of this jet fuel to keep me going.
Happy Fathers Day to all of the wonderful dads out there, mine especially! This Sunday tell Dad you think he's the bees knees.
Love,
Gillian xo

intoxicating expression and the art of *seeing*

 
Well, well, well.  I found a delightful little book!  Summer is my season to get down and dirty with a stack of books so...I went out in search of a few titles. Some came my way by chance also from my mother (love her SO!) and some just magically fell into my hands once I spied them on the shelf, as a magnet is drawn to steel. {pick me! pick me! they seem to whisper}

So delightful is the one book I chose in fact, that I read it nearly cover to cover yesterday and it was full of intoxicating goodness; words as wine upon the lips.  It is Photography and the Art of Seeing: A visual perception workshop for film and digital photography  by Freeman Patterson.  A must read for any creative person.  As this book wakes you up not only to the creative potential in your photography but would do the same for any avenue in your life as an artist or otherwise.  There is a zen about this book that I just drank up. This is but one of quite a few the author wrote so I plan to load up on them all.  'Cause it's a season to be intoxicated with wisdom, words, wine & spirit.

Speaking of intoxication; WOW to this photo (aptly named The Dreaming, coincidence I assure you...!).  I'm happy to have stumbled across this gentleman's flickr stream.  I always wonder what treasures lie in flickr, and this is such a gem.  Colin Vincent you are a genius.

Photography is expression, so when done with soul and passion that will shine through.  I believe that with everything that I am and over a plate of lime toast and coconut coffee this morning I perused another form of expression...that which I found in my friend Patty's blog-"inside the makeup case".  This woman has impeccable makeup everyday, she rocks the wildest colours and coolest ideas you've ever seen on a face and makes it look perfect.  She is "whiplashes" on Instagram so give her a follow.  She's not just a pretty face; she's a photographer too. (p.s. Patty and I met in esthetic school and she had a different colour of perfect polish on her nails everyday.)

Oh how could I leave out a crazy fun evening at the spa we have coming up? I almost forgot...Firefly Creative Writing is coming July 12 to Dance That Pen! This is a sweet little workshop for women who want a juicy date with their creative side. Together, we’ll create a fun, inspiring space to fill pages with words — tiny stories and micro-memories, rants and letters and questions. Come expecting to laugh, share, surprise yourself, and support others on their own unique creative paths! If you are in the Toronto area and wish to sign up for this event, simple click the above link and follow the trail of breadcrumbs.  We'll have a howling good time with Chris Kay Fraser she's a crazy gal! She'll help us get intoxicated with wicked words and wonderful stories...we all have them inside so let's get them out.

With so much intoxicating goodness from the buzzing bees outside my window to the carafe of wine decanting for tonight's supper, I'll leave you with a song that will surely lull you into a deep summer complacency. 

SEE with your eyes, express yourself through your life be that with a camera in your hand, a pen or a makeup brush.  Refuse to stop seeing and start expressing.

xoxo

*photo of my young daughter running taken by me yesterday afternoon during a game of Man on the Moon ;)

darkness yields it's own fruition

The other night I had a lucid and vivid dream. My eldest daughter and I were hiking through Amman...not through the bustling streets or city centers but in the hills. And there were trees. So many towering trees.

In fact, it was a forest that did not exist really in Amman. But such was my dream. I was photographing the trees with her; they were immense. Some over 400 feet high. I recall being spoken to by some unseen voice, a voice that wanted to know why exactly I thought it was okay for this forest to be cut down. I couldn't put into words why I felt that, I only knew that it would be okay.

My opinions were met with disdain, I was scolded. Chastised. Made fun of for my views. {I didn't let it faze me. Really. I kept doing what I was doing. The opinions of others met with my immunity. Such a lovely, empowering feeling.}

I kept hiking until I discovered I had lost my camera equipment. Including my iPhone, which is also, by the way, a camera of it's own right.

We kept up our search for the cameras while we hiked through these trees. Looking up gave us vertigo...the trees were so overwhelming. Then there was some immediate danger. The trees were going to be cut down and we were right in the middle of it all. I told Olivia not to worry; that to have faith that all would work out fine. We'd be safe, that much I knew.

A short while later we then discovered lush and fertile crops were growing right where the trees had been cut down; and in numerous stacks the trees were tied together in neat little bundles.

The unseen voice returned. It told me I had been right all along. It also told me to look in my purse. I opened it up to see my camera equipment had been there the entire time.

***

I pondered this dream for days. I consulted the oracle. Then I consulted my best friend who gave me the perfect interpretation. She was 100% correct. I'll sum up her analysis by telling you this:

I believe in myself. I've had people who would disagree with the way I do things. They talk, they snicker. They think what they want to think...it's their drama. I don't deal with other people's drama well, I never have. I like to worry about what I'm doing. So that said, initially the overwhelmment I felt resulted in me doubting my abilities. Doubting myself. A darkness came over me in the form of fear. Ridicule. Anxiety. And yet...by sticking to what I believed in, a fruitfulness ensued. A ripe time of fruition was available to me. I was, for lack of a better word-"proven" right.

So naysayers, excuse me while I go harvest my crops. I'm not searching anymore. I've got all I need. It's (the light, & it's) been with me all along.

xoxo

p.s. The same is true of YOU. Stick to what you know. Believe in what your heart tells you is right. And you too will yield abundance from the seeds you have planted. YOU WILL. Have faith.