five (really) good things {the connection edition}

 

vanilla latte . la panier, seattle. september 2009

saying yes when a friend says, "can we meet at that french bakery by the market again?" and then saying yes to a chocolate croissant + coffee for lunch and then finding your way to staying in the same spot because the conversation is so good that you find yourself saying yes to another croissant and staying longer still. (thank you.)

talking it out with the people who get you. whatever "it" might be on any given day...finding your way to a deeper understanding of them, of you, of your friendship, of where each of you are in this world. of finding your way through truth and love. yes. i am blessed.

making a date to listen to prairie home companion. even though jon and i each have piles of things to do today, this is something we can do while working and staying connected in the same space, listening and enjoying together.

listening to the sewing machine whirl as i create something just for me. hearing the whispers of the women who came before me who brought me to this place, to this moment on my path. nodding as i remember the gifts. yes. knowing something good this way comes.

correspondere: the new collaboration between my dear friend jen goff and me. so often on the phone we have lamented that we wish we lived closer to one another. we thought that a collaborative project might be another way to stay connected, and through the conversation, the idea of collaborative blog came up. and we wound our way to the idea of writing letters...and we are inviting you to come along... and you?

what are five really good things in your world?

i dare you to name them.

(right now.)

i come to the water

When Jon and I visited Manzanita this spring, I spent some time on the beach by myself and decided to simply film myself walking on the sand toward the ocean (inspired by Jen Gray's walking videos). While I was walking, Jon was taking photos from the deck of the house we were visiting, unbeknownst to me. I didn't know if I would use this footage, but as I was slowly walking toward the waves, I began to think about how coming to the water and breathing in the air invites me to feel grounded. And, it also invites me to feel a closeness with my grandmother. My family and I have spent a lot of time at the ocean, and I feel them surround me, the best of our times together fill me up, when I hear the waves crashing and feel sand underneath my feet.

As I stood staring at the sparkle atop the water, I thought about how even in the shadows of grief, of deeply missing my grandmother, there is light. I feel that light within, and when at the water, I am reminded of this truth. Then I remembered a poem I had written about why I come to the water, and the idea for this video was born.

do not forget.

photos from exercises in maddie's bones of a poet class (loving it)

Tonight, I want to again share a prayer in the form of a quote from a wise man from my favorite show:

“This guy’s walking down the street when he falls in a hole. The walls are so steep he can’t get out. A doctor passes by and the guy shouts up, ‘Hey you. Can you help me out?’ The doctor writes a prescription, throws it down in the hole and moves on. Then a priest comes along and the guy shouts up, ‘Father, I’m down in this hole can you help me out?’ The priest writes out a prayer, throws it down in the hole and moves on. Then a friend walks by, ‘Hey, Joe, it’s me can you help me out?’ And the friend jumps in the hole. Our guy says, ‘Are you stupid? Now we’re both down here.’ The friend says, ‘Yeah, but I’ve been down here before and I know the way out.’”

- John Spencer as Leo McGarry on The West Wing (Season 2, Episode 10)

May all people who feel as though they are in a hole realize they are not alone.

You are not alone.

 

ways to procrastinate one's desire to begin.

 

bench monday . september 7, 2009

1. upload photos to flickr

2. create new sets for flickr photos

3. check facebook

4. decide to categorize old photos into new flickr sets

5. make a new playlist on itunes

6. write another blog post

7. dance party for one

8. head to youtube to look up the song that started the dance party

9. dance again

10. order new candles

11. visit bloglines

12. remember a moment outside beason hall 16 years ago right about now

13. let everyone on facebook know you are procrastinating

14. finally choose a song for that video created weeks ago

15. isn't there any email?

16. google some really odd things

17. pause to drink some tea

18. contemplate a tattoo.

19. sex. (just sayin'.)

20. entertainment weekly

21. wish this was in the house so this list could go to a whole new level

22. still no email? oh good. facebook messages.

23. tweet. because, well, why would you not?

24. smile just sweet enough so your husband heads to BR

25. etsy? oh yes please.

26. decide that this might be in order. (and then take time head here for some snooping around)

27. remember that the shell collector is perfection, so think about buying this or this or this.

28. spend time inside the actor's studio with jason bateman. (notice how he seems smart and really wicked funny.)

29. just get this already. been talking about it for months.

30. flickr. yes. there must be something to see on flickr. why yes there is.

31. decide to take a bench monday shot. right now. (decide to also upload outtakes)

32. list all the above. and then share your list with the world.

senses view: an hour in the garden

{see}

{taste}

{hear}

{touch}

{smell}

{know}

*****

who :: jen goff :: me
where :: jen's garden
when :: august 29, 2009 

senses view is a collaboration series.
read more about how it began.
see all the senses view collaborations. 

a dream being lived into reality.

then. now.

inside me lives the dream of a ten-year-old girl. it is a sunday morning and this girl is curled up in the blue chair that sits next to the windows in her bedroom; she wears a long white notre dame nightshirt and her father's old yellow bathrobe. she looks out the window at the forest and the hill she cannot see behind and the big rock in middle of the front yard and she closes her eyes and begins to dream up a story of a girl and her horse as they walk through this forest, the leaves crunching beneath their feet and their breathing the only sounds. this little girl sits in her bedroom and she creates stories from the dreams inside her head, inside her heart. and some days, she opens her eyes and begins to write. on this day, she writes. a girl. a horse. a ghost. characters are born and come to life with each letter written on the page.

in this blue chair, the girl daydreams and sometimes turns those daydreams into sentences and snippets of stories....she dreams...she dreams...

this girl, she dreams an anne shirley sort of dream as she wishes to turn the daydreams into stories that will find themselves typed onto pages of a book that will be bound and appear on her grade school's library shelves. however, for the next ten years, when asked what she wants to be when she grows up, her mouth will answer lawyer or doctor, depending on the day, but her heart will whisper writer. yes, each time, her heart will whisper writer and she will pretend she cannot hear.

a few years ago, this girl, this girl who is me, this woman who i am found herself at a moment on her path where her mind was quiet enough to hear the daydreams of a little girl.

(i'll say it this way) a few years ago, life shifted in such a way that my mind was quiet enough to finally hear the whispered dreams of that ten-year-old girl who is me, the whispers i had somehow forgotten how to hear. life shifted and i found myself reaching in to find a way to make sense of these shifts and i heard those whispered dreams and i began to pay attention.

and today, in this moment, i find myself living this dream, this "i want to be a writer some day" dream, into reality. this dream is being lived into reality because a friend, who happens to be an editor, believes in me and the stories i have to tell enough that one day she said she envisioned me writing a book that would invite others to look inward at the journey they are on and how they can tell their stories through creating and photos and words.

i am writing a book. a book about looking inward toward the journey that makes up who we are and then putting what we are learning and finding and sifting through out into the world through creating and writing. several amazing contributors will be sharing photographs, mixed-media artwork, and poetry that illustrate this inner excavation that becomes the glimpses, the self-portraits, of pieces of who we are.

a dream being lived into reality.

i will be sharing more about the book as the process of writing it unfolds over the next few months...

and i really just want to say thank you. thank you for being on this journey with me...

welcome

thank you for visiting my new little corner here in the blog world. i hope you will look around at all that i have gathered in this new space (just click on the tabs above the banner).

as i write this, i know it is going to take a bit of getting used to as a new home always does, but things are growing and shifting around here, and i am simply delighted by layout and extra room (a bit like beautiful walk-in closets) that squarespace has.

i hope you will stop by again this wednesday for some exciting news...news that you just might be able to figure out if you spend enough time peeking into the corners and cupboards of this new spot.

i am also continuing to tweak things here and there. i will add new items to my projects page soon and am developing my studio page with more peeks into the little room and the spots where i create and write...

also, some new collaborations are in the works...so stay tuned for those.

goodness, life is so good. yes. i am so very blessed.

much love,

liz

nine {with christina of soul aperture}

Today's interview is with the inspiring Christina of Soul Aperture. Christina invites me to pause, notice, and take a deep breath, and for this, I am so thankful. Spending time with her at her blog is truly like stopping in for tea with a friend. If her spot in this blog world isn't already a daily pause for you, I encourage you to wind your way there and stay for awhile. She will invite you to notice the simple things and drink up the goodness of your life.

Enjoy these glimpses into Christina's world...

*****

Question 1: Who are you?

Question 2: What do you love about where you live?

 

Question 3: What might your perfect afternoon look like?

 

Question 4: If you had an hour alone in your studio/creative space, what would you do?

 

Question 5: Right now, what are some of your favorite things?

 

Question 6: What foods nourish your soul?

 

Question 7: When you need to simply take a breath and reground yourself, what do you do?

 

Question 8: How do you nurture your creative dreams?

 

Question 9: Does your heart have a secret wish you want to share?

 

Christina is a personal chef, photographer, and believer. She lives in the city of Milwaukee, with her husband, two kids, and dog Miles. She believes in...making cupcakes on Wednesdays, following butterflies, allowing life to burst through her camera lens, releasing balloons into the sky, and writing from her soul. She places memories of her Jamaican breezes along side her heart for safe keeping.

(All photos copyright Christina)

*****

Nine is an interview series with creative folks that began in the Spring of 2009; the interviewees are asked to respond to the interview questions in photographs (or video). You can scroll through all the interviews here.