the dreaming Press.

the wee history of my vintage mug

My mother bought two of these mugs for herself with an entire week's salary in probably 1967, from what I can remember her telling me. Or maybe it was 1968. She loved them (but passed them on to me during one of her crazed 'this has got to go!' phases), and this one is all that remains.

She is *the last of the Mohicans*, and she's mine. I love this Denby mustard coloured mug because it is the vessel for many a memoried tale.

It has held cup after cup of tea, coffee & of course...rich sweet cocoa. If this mug could talk it would tell you many splendored things. The very best thing to drink from it though would be...

Spiced Hot Dark Chocolate

1 quart soy milk

6 ounces dark chocolate, coarsely chopped

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom

1/8 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper

1/8 teaspoon coarse salt

In a small pot, combine all ingredients and stir over medium heat until the chocolate has completely melted & is steaming hot, about 5 minutes. Serve in your own vintage mug and drink with friends, on the front porch while you watch the stars come out at moonrise. {Telling many more a splendored tale.}

water you and give you sun {cultivate YOU}

 
Dabbling in Photoshop Elements years ago did much to turn me off photo editing using that program.  Little did I know when embarking upon a self-taught CS4 Photoshop excursion that I would come to absolutely love terminology that formerly freaked me out completely...masks, layers, fills, gradients...oh my it's like being a kid in a candy store for photography enthusiasts like me. What took me so long to embrace this fun and all-hours consuming wonder? Glad I took a chance to dive back into that pool once more.  I'm happy to report that I seem to be treading water quite nicely.

I take this into account now when I see wonderfully edited films, especially one with special effects. I consider all the painstaking labour intensive work involved with putting together beautiful moving images. I am awestruck at the talent out there, this big blue marble is full of truly artistic  beings. My photo is an archive redo, one I pulled out of the dusty files from a summer or two ago...lovingly Photoshopped for the 52 Photos Project this week. 

These last weeks have been unbearably hot (finally).  I have waited for this weather all year! Now I will roast in it happily.  A chilled lemon beer, a good beachy read, my children playing and laughing and running around so jovially...these are the things that make a life.  It's living well.  Living well doesn't take much talent, you only need to embrace what is in front of you at any given moment and pour your attention into it.  To be grateful.

Gratitude is an overused word these days.  (I've overused it, guilty as charged!) Almost as overused as inspired, artist, wondrous, kindred...you get the idea.  We are so attuned to these buzzwords now, so focused on what is wrong with our lives and how to "fix it" by incorporating all these techniques to get a happier or better life.  How crazed we get if we don't live a certain way, making us feel as though we aren't worthy.  I am not buying what these dingbats are selling.  These dingbats know who they are, they don't need to be pointed out to you. Perhaps you know a few.

YOU DO have a wondrous, inspiring life if you aren't an artist.  Or if you don't make a lot of money.  Or if you don't feel particularly inspired.  Your "look" or talents or finances are ego based qualities that don't amount to much once you strip them away.  What's left of YOU if you have no money, fancy cars or artistic talent? Why YOU of course. 

Pretty cool, I think.  So.

Cultivate a little you!  Water you, give you sun, plant you into some good thinking soil.  You'll reap what you sow. 

Really it's all good. Listen well to the beating inside your chest and the stillness in your mind to find what you look for.  It's all in there.  While you do, mess around with some photos on CS4 it's a lot of fun.  Or whatever photo editing tools you have at your disposal.  A good online and very user friendly program is Picnik.  Heck it even has curves! Gotta love that.

Enjoy your summer YOU.

xoxo

p.s. I planted marigolds from seeds and they are four inches high! I'm so excited because seeds are tiny miracles that never cease to amaze me and when November comes I'll have bunches of pretty yellow and orange marigolds....! Isn't that fantastic!!!!!!!!

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 ;)

soporific sweetness under a strawberry moon

 
Look at this clam shell strawberry the size of my hand! I ate it and about three others, dipped in sparkly crystalline sugar.  Yes sugar. I love sugar.  What else can I say? To me sugar is rather cosmic like minuscule twinkly stars.  I suppose I need the energy as I am lacking sleep lately.

I'm sleeping rarely, as work takes precedent these days and so does yard work, reading, telephone conversations, glasses of Australian merlot with friends, and being (really being) with the children.  So I stumble into bed usually after midnight or long after knowing full well I have to get up at 6:30 am.  Why am I so nuts? Not sure.  It is my new goal be in bed well before midnight beginning this Strawberry Moon, which is June 15th.  Sometimes it is referred to as the Planting Moon.   Methinks I shall create a full moon vision board to bring about the desired changes in my life. Yes I shall.

Did you know in certain parts of Italy the natives used to sleep with garlic between their toes to ensure they had a good sleep? Years ago I would douse a cotton ball with essential oil of lavender and put it in my pillowcase...that is a good remedy for sleep.  I also used a lavender & eucalyptus essential oil blend that I would mist all over my sheets so I could breathe in the smell as I drifted off...

These days I prefer ritual; as it seems to work magic in helping me drift off into a soporific state with ease.  I love the hot bath, the juicy book, the Earl Grey.  Meditation is the cherry on the cake. 

Wishing you all the things that energize you and bring you LOVE, such as a well made Frozen Hot Chocolate, garlic on your plate instead of between your toes and soporific strawberry dreams.   

xo

i bottled the blue sky with conviction & grace

the blue sky she tested me!

one day as a thrill.

she shone down and through silver and pewter cumulus puffs she asked me one question;

Do you know the difference between a conviction and an opinion? she purred.

"Yes," said I. "I'll bottle the sky. It is my conviction to do so, I don't even need to try. There are those who would argue, with conviction even, that I haven't actually done it. But being so true to myself I know those opinions are only reflections of the opinionators themselves. You see, opinions are like mirrors, they reflect back to us what we truly are."

You think you are so clever don't you? and then she misted me with a light rain and rolled in her ominous dark cloud. She thought she could sway me, {she thought me too proud.}

"That is YOUR opinion," I stated with a smile.

As I lay back on that croaking frog grass while the rain fell in sheets to blanket me, I still held my bottle of blue sky {as a hope within a conviction sugared dream.} That she could never take from me. And I grew, as a result of that rain.

xoxo

52 photos project, a ray of light

Four strong winds. (Thanks Neil. You rock.)

 

Neil Young's genius.

 
What The Body Remembers.

 
Gratitudes.

Ever notice I let you draw your own conclusions? (Let's keep it that way. After all, I write the blog but YOU live your own life.  Cool.)

Fillin' up your love cup kids.  {{Hug}} from me, to YOU. Keep on keepin on. The world needs more of you. xo

Bella, mucho love to you and your good work. 

p.s. We found both the nest (abandoned) and the egg (turfed) on the lawn this week.  Little B was worried about the egg.  Nurturing is built in.  Intrinsic.  You need not be a mother to mother. xoxo

i love my freedom :: ~hello to YOU little blue India moth

 
Don't believe those who would hold you back.~Buddhist proverb

We often see others as we see ourselves.  Those caught up in deceit and posturing tend to mistrust even the well-meaning actions of others.  In contrast, a person of integrity tends to trust that others are the same, even when they are not. ~Buddhist proverb

It is alright not to like everyone.~Buddhist proverb

***

When the sun peeks out from the clouds mid-morning it can cast harsh tones that wash out even the most breathtaking colours of nature (sadly). I know this diminutive moth's wings are 'Blue India' {after my favourite nail polish colour} but really they are much closer in actuality to Pantone 2975. Yes get used to our modern world.  Colours are numbers now but I still love giving them my own names.  Colour is so very personal to me.

 

I walked my dog up the path to the forest entrance.  I noticed a small cracked egg, as tiny as my thumbnail.  Jade and verdant grass danced in tufts cheerfully.  I gently stepped on them as I lingered with my eyes cast upward to the blue blue sky and the flock of starlings passing overhead. {Oh do you hear the sounds of the moments of spring as I do; each cricket's  deep black chirp-song, all the winds agust & brooks gurgling with bubbling gratitude?} An abandoned robin's nest constructed with such magical architectural capability-one blade of grass and beak-full of mud at a time...

 

An angel reading last week during our Thursday meditation class was breathtakingly positive, as were everyone's messages.  You see we each have two angels assigned to us at birth, and if we are open to that divine possibility we can connect with them and live up to our greatest human potential.  My message was that I'm free (yes! I am and I love that about me!) and I'm to pay attention to a leather book.  I know what the book is so when I received my message I was aghast with delighted surprise. 

Tonight is art journalling, sandalwood candles, crisp fresh laundry & organizing the office.  Yes, the now moments exist in every now. Paying a bill can be every bit as enlightening as a nap under an apple tree. 

Don't pull your energy out of your immediate space as often happens when you r e a c h into the future...or stay stuck in the past. Each time your focus drifts away from the blue India moth at your feet you are not in your best space.

Now.  Go BE where you are.

xoxo

*Today's picture goes with the 52 Photos Project; i found it on the ground

**Oh and what I said up there about it being ok to not like everyone, don't take it personally (everything I say and post is about ME.  see?) xo

Feed the good wolf.

 
I am posting a yellow picture to honour this week's prompt of "colour" over at Bella's 52 Photos Project, or "color" if you are American, ha ha! {It isn't too late to join in the fun.  Simply pick up on the prompt for the week, and link your post each Wednesday.  All are welcome!}

As a youth, I favoured black.  Black was my colour.  It was grounding, always fashionable, and well...comforting!  Like a warm security blanket.  If I strayed from the standard uniform of black it was to navy, charcoal or dark blue.  But black was where it was at, baby.

Now, I look around at my world.  The world I've created consciously...and it is vibrant and fertile with colour! Yellows, purples, reds.  I've got the spectrum surrounding me at work, and at home in all the details.  I am so not afraid of colour anymore.  And it is so liberating!!

One colour I had years of struggle with...yellow.  I could never fully accept yellow as though it were somehow flawed, or showed me to be well....weak.  I saw yellow as weakness.  I didn't like that.  So I avoided it at all costs.  In fact, I almost {I don't like saying this, but...} despised it.

I thank goodness for the wisdom, the maturity, and the acceptance of yellow.  It is a joy to me now.  I embrace it with love and compassion and empathy.  My inner child leaps and dances with yellow!  I am so thankful that it has joined my tribe of colour.  Yellow, you had me at hello.

Now here is something I am offering as a "cherry on the cupcake" of this posting.  The wisdom of my meditation circle friend...my blog friend...my "real life" friend...(the fleshy kind)...something she shared in our little group that made me pause to say YES. 

Yes I will feed the good wolf.

Read on...

An Indian (First Nations!) was talking to his grandchildren.

 

He said: "In all the people living there are two wolves fighting.
One of them is evil. It is anger, fear, envy, jealousy, sadness, arrogance, self-pity, lies, superiority and ego. 

The other is good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, benevolence, empathy, truth and trust ".

 

"Which wolf wins?" said the child.

 

"The one you feed, " said the old man.

{Just some food for thought.  Enjoy the week! xo}

52 Photos Project :: nourish

 
The lovely Bella is hosting the 52 Photos Project. The first prompt is nourish.

You may well already know that lately I've been practicing meditation each day. This is due to a class I'm part of that is being taught by this lovely lady. A large part of this class is the Eckhart Tolle teachings, and they've been invaluable to me. 

I am nourished by this; the teachings feed my being.  This stuff is truly miraculous! {The breath.} What else can I tell you?

It's the same reason the caged bird sings.  We are all truly longing for freedom. 

We breathe in love. We breathe out love. This nourishes us spiritually at our very core. Then to feed my physical body I rely heavily upon this.

xo