Sometimes I find these pretty lame quizes but do them anyway... but it is pasting the code that brings out the crazy, determined part of me. I'm going to figure this out if it takes allllll day!
Now that I took way too much time for this, I'm off to do what needs to be done - Trader Joes for coffee and maybe some Yogi tea :-)
 Yesterday, I had asked to Universe to listen up about moving into a larger place. I received a postcard in the mail: Artists: Riverfront Living Where you Belong! It's a homemade postcard from someone selling their condo on the Hudson River. It even offers a finder's fee. Too far north for me (cold winters). So to be more specific Universe, I would like to stay around here where I have a lot of work :-) But thanks for responding so quickly. Today I revisited my Heart Meditation. I first saw my painted heart which turned into a cartoonish, paper heart. Thin and fragile. Opening the wobbly, paper door, I stepped inside a room. Radiator. comfy chair and lamp. A bit Mary Englebreit-ish. Warm and safe and cozy. I picked up a large, old fashion suitcase and walked into the next (right) chamber. Paris? mmmm don't question it... just go with it. I saw myself painting. oh yes, Paris reminds me of a gathering of artists, exploring new territory, new styles. Open to learn, study. Try something new! and Just Do It! I took the escalator up, suitcase in hand. Like Samantha Brown going up the escalator at the airport... I enter an attic. First my mom's, then more of an antique store, rummaging through old, fragile papers that crumble with my touch. This is not the place to be. No answers here. It's past, done, gone. I step through to the next chamber and come face to face with a person standing there before me. It is me. She touches my shoulders. I touch her back. We reflect and then hug, hug so deeply she enters inside of me. It's all inside of me. I have the answers within me and just need to quiet my self to listen to my Higher Self. God is within. I felt joy and my arms opened and danced. Danced with JOY! Today, is about being more spontaneous and allowing. No planning. Just being. Feeling. Allowing. Be open to spontaneity!
 and it's raining out. Sometimes I like that combination. I don't feel guilty staying inside because I really do need to take care of stuff. I really, really need to do them. NO MORE PROCRASTINATING. In the meanwhile, I was just thinking about The Law of Attraction... and the people I attract in my life. No accidents here. Even in the blogging world, I so enjoy discovering new blogs, especially the ones that make me laugh out loud. There are so many I resonate with. So many creative, spiritual people with great blogs...Of course this is one of the reasons some of the work that needs to be done doesn't.... (I'm addicted :-) Clients too. Taking a look at the clients I have, they too are a bit on the eccentric side. Clients I have painted for ask for a lot of unique things. I've done some really cool furniture and wall murals that are not so typical. I love doing the unique, out-of-the-ordinary stuff. It's what inspires me and I love going into homes that reflect the clients personality. Fun looking at their collections, their art, what they are attracted to. One client has the most whimsical art in her home in every room that makes her house fun and warm and welcoming. I don't have a house, but a rather small apartment. Not much wall space left to put anything else up, so what I would really like to attract is a bigger place, more space to put my artwork up. More space to work in. Listen up Universe! Now I am going to create :-) and do those projects that need to get done. 
 Wellness Wednesday. I have been meditating/journaling in the mornings for a little bit. This idea came to me about meditating on my heart. It came about because I had a cough and didn't sleep well for 3 nights and was working a LOT. It was a cough with a "tickle" in my throat rather than a deep congested cough (which came later). Louis Hay says for a cold, "too much going on at once- mental confusion. small hurts" Throat and heart area. These two areas were being compromised, so I looked to these 2 chakras to see what was being unexpressed. Where was I lacking joy, my desires? I started to list my desires and then I visualized my heart. After seeing my heart, I visualized a door. This door was on the left side of my heart. I entered and saw myself hanging a painting. I also saw myself painting with large sweeping strokes, as in a mural. What did this represent? my immediate thought was "to bring beauty into the world". This makes me happy. Doing my art. I went to the right side of the heart. There was more room here and my thoughts went to "clearing out, letting go to open for the new". Is my congestion coming from that? Let go of old out-dated ideas and behaviours, release the past. I need to de-clutter more. Next I went to the upper chamber of my heart on the left side, but I went there from the outside of my heart, up a ladder and through a window. This triggered the dream of the butterflies I had. It was my transformation dream where I saw my bedroom with a huge cocoon, from ceiling to floor, like a tent. Inside this "tent" was filled with many cocoons that transformed into caterpillars. I closed the window so they wouldn't get cold and went to the kitchen to get them some fruit. Nourish my dreams was my message. Upper right chamber of the heart. It was empty. But I went to the walls of my heart and noticed some blemishes. I began to smooth them away and saw people in my life that hurt me or I hurt them and said "I'm sorry" as I smoothed away the blemishes. I forgave everyone I could think of and forgave anyone that I hurt that I was unaware of and most importantly forgave myself. I ended this meditation with my arms out wide hugging a room full of my yoga students. When I did the meditation again this morning, I saw the heart with a roof. My heart was my home. Again, I entered in through the bottom, through a door on the left. It was warm and I found myself in the past with my father taking care of him. I did not want to do this, and found myself wincing, but I also saw it as very humbling. I stepped into the right lower chamber into a garden. There's the beauty again! (although this time on the right side) It felt very fresh. This time I went up a stairway across to the upper left chamber (rather than the window) and I found myself at my grandmother's house, on the second floor with another dream. It was a dream I had as a child, that I could float down the stairs if I could see the colored dots. It was a magical dream. Then I saw myself eating with my grandmother. She always had food. She nurtured me, she nurtured all of us. This brought a smile to my face. I found going to the next, right chamber, more difficult. There was resistance as I was pushing my face into the wall of my heart, until it broke through. I squeezed the rest of my body through, not unlike giving birth. I found myself in a big empty gallery. I immediately thought of Leo Castelli's gallery in the city. But it was empty and then realized.... I could create anything I want. I saw my work hanging on the walls. They were not just paintings, but all kinds of art. Shrines and dolls and collages, my small watercolors... all of it filling the wall (which is very big). So that is what I am offering for Wellness Wednesday. Try a heart meditation. Keep a journal close by. Maybe diagram your heart into four chambers and go in and take a look around. I'm curious what I'll find on my next visit.
 A most unusual treat for everyone. A warm day. mid 70's. No chilled fingers this year!!  
All the children that signed up and then some where put on a window. It ended up close to 290 kids. Proud of myself for getting them all squeezed on a window and what happens today???... one business had to bow out. Oh yeah, this freaked me out. I assigned 13 children to that store, but they ended up with a gaping hole in the front of their store and some construction going on the back and understandably could not have children paint there. Oh shit was my only thought. Where am I going to put them. Mercury! Happy ending though. I made some window smaller, found another store and a few people had to cancel, so it worked out. Another beneficent planet ?or maybe a guardian angel helped to counteract this. Grateful but tired. And so very warm out. The trees are barely changing and I was sweating walking around as I was marking windows. Some stores had there air conditioners on. Feels more like early September here on the east coast. And although this is strange, I was grateful for the weather as I had to draw white boxes for the children to paint in and it's no fun to do this in the cold. Sunday is supposed to be nice too. oh, life is so very good, even with Mercury playing havoc! ***footnote ;-) ok, so it wasn't all Mercury... it was URANUS too! Expect the unexpected This can be a somewhat disruptive influence, during which you are subject to sudden upsets or to behavior that is upsetting to others. Under this influence it is quite likely that you will not follow your normal routine as on other days. There could be an automobile breaking down unexpectedly, a sudden argument or an unexpected separation from someone. The point is that you can expect the unexpected today. You are striving to break down your everyday routine, and it would be best to find ways of doing this intentionally, rather than waiting for it to happen. Let the restless spirit within you express itself. You need new air! You may very well discover a valuable aspect of yourself that you never knew existed, because you were afraid to let it come out. The interpretation above is for your transit selected for today:Sun Square Uranus , exact at 15:36 activity period from 17 October 2007 to 19 October 2007.
 A reminder of my new moon intention. This card sits at my meditation/sacred space where I do morning pages, journal and just ponder the universe.... I love this deck and book. Two sisters, Pamela and Joyce Eakins created Tarot of the Spirit. A validation for me when I chose this card, that this is what I need to bring my focus to. Some highlights of what is written: "... forever engaged in the search for intuitive knowledge - and the search for meaning. .. determined to create art, which will communicate his deepest feelings. Through creating art and encouraging others to do so as well, he delivers the gift of ideas and opportunities as well as self-love and self-discovery. Water brother strives to conquer his own needs and desires through translating what he finds in the stream of the unconsciousness into art and he encourages everyone .. to tune into that stream in order to make the most of their creative talents." So I encourage everyone to use your creative talents to bring love and beauty into the world today. I use art to let people know who I am, as well as to help me see my Self, the deeper Self that may lie hidden and wants to be let out. Set it free, set that spirit of who you are free for all the world to see how magnificent we all are. How we are all connected. How we are all part of the One Divine.. the Divine ONE. Namaste'
You are The Empress Beauty, happiness, pleasure, success, luxury, dissipation. The Empress is associated with Venus, the feminine planet, so it represents, beauty, charm, pleasure, luxury, and delight. You may be good at home decorating, art or anything to do with making things beautiful. The Empress is a creator, be it creation of life, of romance, of art or business. While the Magician is the primal spark, the idea made real, and the High Priestess is the one who gives the idea a form, the Empress is the womb where it gestates and grows till it is ready to be born. This is why her symbol is Venus, goddess of beautiful things as well as love. Even so, the Empress is more Demeter, goddess of abundance, then sensual Venus. She is the giver of Earthly gifts, yet at the same time, she can, in anger withhold, as Demeter did when her daughter, Persephone, was kidnapped. In fury and grief, she kept the Earth barren till her child was returned to her. What Tarot Card are You?
Take the Test to Find Out.
 After having the kids come for art, 2 classes of 15 kids each, printing shapes and having fun and getting all messy..... I marked windows until about 2:30 and then gave myself some me time before heading back out to do a yoga class. Wellness? I did eat breakfast and I did take some vitamins and I did know when to say, "enough" and head home for a bit of a rest. Wellness today also came in the form of delegation. I tend to take on too much, feeling that if it's going to get done right, I have to do it myself. Afraid if I let it go, it might not get done right or maybe not at all. letting go. It's hard sometimes. I want it all to be perfect. I want it all to go smoothly. I put in a lot of time, effort and sacrifice to leave it to someone else to possibly f**k up. This is not good. I am not good at delegating something I know I can do well. But today I did let go and got some feedback from it as well. I come across as being a perfectionist and I think I scare people into being afraid of doing it wrong, not meeting my expectations. It came as a joke, in a light-hearted matter today, but it opened my eyes. So I had an attitude shift about it and made light of it, having some humor about my self and that no, I am not perfect. I just want things to be done as well as they could be. I have high work ethics and I expect it from others as well. No slackers please. Just do the best you can and I will be accepting of it. I really need to let go of this having to do it myself. "If you want it done right, you might as well do it yourself".... did my father say that all the time? where did I get this from? It's imbedded deep within me and I want it out. I want to hand things over to "you" and not carry it all myself thank you. I let some things go today. That was good. Out of my hands. I took care of myself. And then there was the pleasure of watching children create. My joy. I love watching them, seeing the pleasure they get from creating. Observing their focus and discoveries. I am full when I can see them like this.  
 mmmmm. so I am thinking, here I am working all day, no, all weekend and what can I find sacred in that. Ok. It's for these kids. This is a pretty big event and we usually have more kids than windows. Each year it starts out that way, but for whatever reason... maybe someone needs to drop out, or I squeeze one in where I didn't think I could, everyone manages to get on a window and happily paints. (even parents). It makes for a very happy and festive day, the whole town alive with children and adults having a great time. So what I am grateful for is that I can do this from home, with a cup of tea, warm, papers spread out on the table, juggling who wants to be where and with whom. It's work, but I know enough to place them close to where they live or at a window that would be the appropriate height for them and I just keep at it.... I'm guess I'm at about 200, maybe a little more. Still more to do, but it will wait for tomorrow. It's all for the kids..........and art. 
 First comes meditation (for me). Then some painting for You. And a little bit of painting for Me. I added a bit more this morning to my painting. Now for the Them: Assign 278(+) kids to windows for Halloween Window Painting. It will magic to get them all on, but I do believe in magic. It's all in the process stage right now, but the fruits will mulitply, the harvest moon will bring it's own abundance and all children will find a space. Balance. 
 In stillness, one can clearly see one's own reflection. I choose to paint as a form of meditation, my path to stillness. Creativity has many paths, but I choose paint. I realized today as I was painting, it is because it is a forgiving medium. If I don't like what I paint, I can repaint it. I started a canvas a few months ago and had intended to go in one direction with it, only to find myself taking a different path today. Change, transformation, metamorphasis, transition, movement all through a paintbrush. What moves the paintbrush is my desire to discover some inner truth that I allow to rise to the surface through this creative meditation. In all this movement, there is also stillness. Stilling the critical voice, so the deeper Self can come forward into the light of consciousness. This all-knowing Higher Self, the one that is connected to the Divine. My Divine Self that comes forward to let me know who I really am. It was about forgiveness today. The old surface was covered over with fresh paint. I cannot go back to what was there. It is gone. It is "The Past". I can only move forward now. I can be open to where it wants to move, what will take shape, and how I will perceive it. This layer may change as well, evolve into and become what it needs to become. Creativity is my spiritual practice. It is where I find mySelf. It is my path.
 The new moon in Libra is in my 2nd house. This is the house of values and Libra represents beauty and balance. What do I value? Bringing beauty into the world, maintaining balance in my life. I will give you what I can, but I need to leave room for myself and what I intend to give myself this journey is time to reconnect through painting. Painting for myself helps me to discover the inner workings of who I am. It is when I paint from a place of allowing that this happens - unable to predict what will appear, I am more often surprised by what does show up. It's usually quite enlightening. Paint for You. Paint for Me. That is where the balance needs to come in. Rebecca inspired me to do this. She is on her own journey with putting her art out there. Take a look. Painting to discover. Painting as meditation. Painting to reconnect... that is my intention.
 After teaching a class this morning, I gave myself the day to create. I had a birthday card to make and wanted to play with a new embossing tool.... mmmmmm. That didn't quite work out so well, but I kept at it. Persistance! I may have persisted a bit too much and it broke... So I went to yoga to find that still place within. That is where my wellness came today. Back home, I worked on another project... again, not really happening... this time my peristance paid off and I finally came up with something that worked. Sometimes we don't have the luxury to try again later. It has to be done now and so we persist, we keep at it until it all clicks. At times it flows so easy and then there are days like today, so I keep going back to that place, that still place within, because really that is what matters most. finding that place deep within, that quiet place of peace, of stillness. Tomorrow is another day.
 Actually this is about friendship.... Yesterday we went to the beach because it was 86 or something.. It was great. We had the day off, so we bought some lunch and enjoyed the beautiful day. We watched children gather in the low tide to find what gifts the ocean left. A man playing the bagpipes entertained us and it was such a warm sight to see... friends holding hands, discovering, sharing the dance of the Irish jig...and I too am so grateful for friendships gained. New friends, some I will never get to meet, but never the less - a friend. How cool is that?! Internet at it's best. I spent the weekend at my mom's house, staying in my brother's room. Nice. It was really nice waking each morning to the sound of birds, (good morn-ing, good morn-ing) the water falling in the pond out back, and picking my breakfast of figs off a tree. Dinner too came from the garden. string beans, tomatoes and basil... Mom's house.. were we all have stayed at various times in our adult life. Always welcome. It isn't far, a few blocks away, but sitting on the deck sometimes feels as though I am on a vacation.. especially when her neighbor has her opera turned up. Yes, I can imagine being in a villa in Italy (where my brother is right now). She isn't walking like she used to, so now we go there to help her. Life cycles. She helped us, now we help her. Life is a dance of joyous moments strung together like pearls, each one created is given to us to appreciate, savor, and behold it's wonders and magic.    A wonderful magical day.
 Yesterday was the end of a month of My Sacred Life... although I will continue to see the sacredness in my life everyday. May we all see this sacredness in even the smallest of things. It all fits together, one cannot omit one thing, without it effecting the whole. We are all in this together... one family. Ahimsa, non-harming, is something I strive for. Not always easy. What is easy is being kind, smiling, and making sure this little guy didn't get squished in the parking lot.
 If there is one thing that I am so grateful for it is that I see COLOR. How can one not be happy with so much color in their life. It filled me with so much joy to see this in Peru. This is from Cusco during a parade. They seemed to have a lot of parades there. I surround myself with color. No white walls here. I wish you all a very colorful day!
 Life is sacred when you love what you do. I love working with children creating art. Children's art is wonderful, and I take great pleasure in watching them. My concerns were quickly resolved when the director called this morning with the same concern about the size of the group. There are 32 registered in the program although they average around 25 a day. Today there were 26, but we broke the group up into 3 and 4 year olds. Good thing. We did a simple gluing project with shapes. The piece shown is from a 4 yr. old. Very deliberate placing of shapes. Anyone who has children or works with kids knows the big difference this one year makes in their development. For a 3, it's about the glue! I work with the kids for 20 sessions and then we hold an art exhibit. Last year I received a phone call from someone who wanted to buy some sculptures the kids did... Imagine selling your first piece of art at 4! This is a big part of my life. When work becomes play... that is sacred. I am so glad it all worked out. For Wellness Wednesday, I did take that break :-) 
 Yesterday after a full day, coming home later than usual and kind of grumpy, my husband went and got dinner. Thank you. I went to bed early to read and I looked to see where sacredness showed up, realizing I hadn't blogged anything. It certainly shows up in my husband and his care. I mentally listed all the things I was grateful for... my bed, books, my family and friends, the special areas I have given myself (meditation/journal desk), expanding art classes, happy clients, and the list went on until I fell asleep. I start a new class today and I have a little anxiety about it, mostly because there may be a lot of kids. Do I have enough glue cups? creeps into my mind. Quiet. It will all be provided. I'm good at improvising. Counting blessings, rather than sheep, puts one's perspective back on track. Yes. I am so grateful for so much and last night for rest. And that brings me to Wellness Wednesday....... Living on the east coast, I can only see sun rises over the water. This Peruvian Sunset was my first to see on the Pacific Ocean. Today, I will remember to take breaks and rest.
 Creating a shift in perception. When you finally look at something from a different point of view. One of those aha! moments of life when you "get it". You can continue to look one way and that is all you will continue to see..... but aaah, when the "shift" happens, when you finally see it from the other side, you understand. Life is good when we can see things from another perspective, a joyful, positive one. Life is good when we see from the perspective of manifesting what we do want rather than from what we don't want. It is sacred when the doors of perception shift.
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I needed to go out to get some paint but kept getting side-tracked with the computer and all you wonderful bloggers out there. I was actually reading one blog when I heard a rather disturbing noise outside. Uh-oh. My computer is near the window that offered a view of people coming out onto the street. A car accident. Not good. Quick to the rescue were ambulances and police and fire engines. All were blocking the driveway, so I knew I was walking to get the paint. I didn't know the extent of it until I went outside, or rather to my door where I saw a car on the sidewalk in front of it. Holy *#@! The car came up onto the sidewalk and went through the window of the hair salon downstairs. I prayer those involved are ok, but truth be told, 
I was happy I had procrastinated and not gone out a bit earlier when I had planned on. It makes one wonder about life. Is it an intuitive thing, or just a matter of timing or just plan ol' luck! So, I went out grateful for every step I was taking... and ran into a few delightful things.....
This is the inside of his store. He said he had to pull his client out of the chair as the car was coming at them! Now THAT'S a scary story!!!! 
