brooklyn (part 1)

i just kept thinking about the cosby show . brooklyn, august 2011

the conversation started a few months ago after i saw a note on twitter that made me think, "i'm going to call that girl today." so i picked up the phone and dialed jen lee's number and within moments we were right into the good stuff. we shared stories and ideas and laughed and said "me too" and talked about the work we most want to be doing.

and then we talked some more and a plan began to form that sounded a bit like, "i think you might need to come to brooklyn this summer so you can work on this."

and i stood in my kitchen and the thoughts ran into each other and were filled with phrases like, "i could just get on a plane. by myself. and head across the country to new york city? i could make this choice for myself and my business and work with a friend on a new project just like that? i could ask jon to watch ellie jane during some of his last days of summer break while i do this?" 

the response to all these questions and the others that followed was always: yes. just like that. you can make that choice.

so that is how i found myself in brooklyn in the middle of august in the humidity and the rain and the i might be melting through my clothes but i am so living this dream into reality truths and the stories and the beauty and the moments of feeling deeply seen and the moments of standing inside what i most need to look at and sift through and notice.

good stuff. all of it. good stuff.

three things (plus one)

betty wears a sneak peek of necklaces heading to the shop this week

summer seems to have finally arrived for more than just a day or two in this corner of the world. and because there seems to be more living than writing and photo processing going on around here, my new york posts are still hanging out in my mind instead of on my blog...so this evening, i think i will write a very short list of things i would tell you if you were joining me here at my kitchen table for a small slice of chocolate cake + glass of milk:

1) hello mtn (aka my brother matthew and his partner in crime catherine) has released an EP of four songs! head over here to their page on bandcamp.com to listen and then download your copy. "suitcase song" is my favorite and it does indeed include my brother playing a suitcase...listen closely for the latches.

2) i think you should take a moment to read this post by jen lee. right now. in fact, consider it homework of the best kind. the juicy you are gonna want to write this down and never forget it kind of homework. the post is called "what to do when it still hurts." i have read it about ten times, nodding each time i read about the proclamations. twice i have felt those pinprick tears. and the part about nostalgia. oh my. feeling so grateful that just about this time last week i was in jen's kitchen listening to the music of the mentioned in the post "rosebuds" and telling stories and catching stories and breathing deep. ah brooklyn...miss you big.

3) i am seriously considering a tattoo. (hi dad) i have been considering one for about three years. (hi mom) but i have been waiting until i felt certain of what i want and where. an image for one came to me while i was listening to maya angelou speak earlier this march up in seattle. seeing her speak in person was such an incredible experience that i am still stuck at saying "incredible experience" instead of telling the story that was so big and real and raw and wow that i couldn't sleep much for the three nights that followed because i was so overcome with the beauty of it all. anyway, back to the tattoo. i am thinking about it. for real. and i pretty much love that. (but i might not ever tell you here on the blog if i do get one. see aforementioned peeps in parentheses.)

plus one) a small bit of shop news: i have been working on another batch of new designs this month and plan to get them listed this week. to "make room" for them, i have put several items in the shop on sale. you can find them here. 

there and back

brooklyn . august 2011

last night, i returned home from a quick, soul.full trip to brooklyn. i tucked so much inside the pocket of my heart while i was there, and i am sifting through the beauty and realness a bit at a time in between the moments of living that being home brings.

more soon...

until then, i would really love to know how things are in your corner of the world.

create magic (a be present retreat)

This October, come along to the woods along Puget Sound for Create Magic, the last Be Present Retreat in 2011. 

From the evening of October 5 to the morning of October 9, we will gather at Frog Creek Lodge, on the Key Peninsula (a little over an hour south of Seattle), to experience community, create alongside like-minded souls, and give ourselves permission to be present while in a nurturing environment.

Mindy Lacefield, Vivienne McMaster, and I will be your guides on this journey inspired by the joy that can be found when we realize we can find magic and hope in our lives even when it rains. Throughout the three days of workshops, Mindy, Vivienne, and I will share a few of the creative practices we use in our daily lives, including how each of us tries to seek beauty and joy in the midst of whatever life hands us. 

photo credits: 1) Vivienne McMaster, 2) and 4) Mindy Lacefield, and 3) Liz Lamoreux

Throughout this retreat, there will be time to play with paint + paper + color, photography excursions, time to sit in the quiet and listen, opportunities to ask questions, writing and journaling prompts, an invitation to find the poet within you, moments to share pieces of your story, and a whole lot of fun. There will be a designated "art & play" room within Frog Creek Lodge where participants will have 24-hour access to art supplies and other goodies. 

Here is some more information about the workshop I will be teaching this fall:

I close my eyes and see an image of a nine-year-old little girl with brown pigtails who gathers up a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, her current Trixie Belden book, a thermos of apple juice, and her newest diary and favorite blue pen and tucks them inside a backpack. She tiptoes out the back, carefully closing the squeaky screen door and jumps down the two steps to the brick patio. She looks out toward the forest seemingly unaware that she has less than a quarter of an acre to explore as she finds the path toward her favorite log beside the chain-link fence. I often think about this little girl when I gather up my camera and journal and head out to the woods to breathe and notice and find myself again in the midst of all that must get done.

When we gather at Frog Creek Lodge, we will spend time remembering the creative journeys of our childhoods (real and imagined) as we spend time with our senses and play and write and breathe. We will discover ways to quiet our minds through guided meditation exercises and look at how focusing on our breath can connect us to our day-to-day journeys. We will examine how getting out into nature can be another tool to add to our personal and creative practices as we take in the beauty of our surroundings. We will also spend some time with our inner poet as we curl up with tea by the fireplace.

*****

This is one of the more intimate retreats this year with only 14 participant spots. We have recently had a few cancellations, so additional spots have opened up. I hope you will decide to come along. Feel free to email me any questions.

Head over to the Be Present Retreats website to read more about the details of this retreat.

saturday sky on egg and i road

when the rain rain rain drips steadily upon us this fall, i want to remember that you turned down egg and i road instead of driving by like always.

i want to remember that you stopped the car in the middle of this quiet road so i could take photos of pink and sky and the miles leading up to mountains.

i want to remember how we talked about my big dream and how we need to explore more roads like this in case it is just waiting for us around the corner.

i want to remember all those flowers quietly growing together along the road as so many birds called to one another while paul simon sang about graceland through the car window.

i want to remember that you really always do give me the space to be me.

*****

"Scenes from This Day" is a prompt in my book Inner Excavation. It's about taking your camera with you on your day-to-day moments and capturing what it is to be in your corner of the world. It's about letting go of the need for the perfect photo from the perfect day and instead using the camera to document the small moments that make up your life. It's about telling the story, your story, in the way that will help you remember the textures and rhythms and sacredness.

simple circles

New earrings, including the pairs pictured above and a few others, are now in the shop. Thanks so much for the requests for simple earrings to pair with your soul mantra necklaces, which pushed me to create these. I have been wearing the simple circles daily and love how light they are. 

Use the code "happysummer" for free shipping on all your orders in the shop for the rest of August.

I am also enjoying working on custom orders this summer. It is such an honor to create a special talisman to be worn on life's journey. If you have been thinking about a personal mantra phrase you would like to have in a locket or a design in the shop you would like me to modify a bit for you, feel free to contact me via Etsy convo or email.

Hope the sun in shining in your corner of the world...

try to...

let go of the running ahead, the wishing, the assuming it might. let go of the tumbling, twisting, turning thoughts that distract you from what is real. let go of how you thought it was supposed to be. let go of the lists, the shoulds, the whys, the please don't let it. try to let it go dear one.

take a breath. then another.

just be right here, and soak up all that is before you.

joy seeker (july)

as evening pulled on the afternoon sun, we shared a small bowl of blueberries tucked under the cherry tree in the backyard. you kept trying to give me a few of your blueberries and would laugh each time i said, "thank you. now here is one for you."

i always want to remember the moment when i noticed you were waving at the fence, and i looked up to see a house finch hopping from post to post. you were waving to that finch! and you had the biggest smile on your face as though you were greeting an old friend. i am in awe of the way you seem to intuitively understand that joy is the way.

*****

the series, "joy seeker," is one way that i plan to document the "joy" superhero power that ellie jane has. i hope to gather these glimpses here on the blog throughout the next year, and then around her second birthday, i will put them all together and have them printed in a small book.