the space between

At the beginning of each month, Kelly and I are sharing our own brief responses to the month's theme over at Chickadee Road. My response to September's theme, "This sacred life," talked about how I find the sacred in the space between each breath.

When I close my eyes and find my breath, I try to notice how my body feels when I inhale and exhale, and then I see if I can find the spaces, the pauses, that also rest inside each breath.

What does it mean to find the breath? I mean bringing an awareness to your breathing. Noticing: How your body moves with each breath cycle. How your chest opens and your spine lengthens as you inhale. How your body settles into itself again as your exhale.

Try it.

Close your eyes and let your mind find your breath. Now let your body feel your breathing. Notice how your body moves. Notice your mind. Find the rhythm of your breath cycles.

Then after 5-10 breath cycles, see if you can find that pause between each inhale and exhale.

And just notice...

What do you find there?

Inside this space, this pause, this observed stillness, I am able to listen even closer for the wisdom that I most need.

Today, while in the bathroom (where so often wisdom and ideas present themselves for some reason...probably because every now and then I find myself alone in there), I found the name of a new Etsy shop I'm going to open. It was waiting for me at the end of an exhale. Just waiting. And when I heard it, I inhaled and smiled and immediately grabbed a marker and wrote it on the mirror.

Last week when I was sitting in my new studio, I took a few deep breaths just being really present to the possibility that seems to rest in every corner right now, and in the space between I found a new layer of understanding when it comes to a relationship in my life.

Perhaps there is magic in that space, that pause, that stillness. Perhaps it is grace. Perhaps it is trust. Maybe it is all of these and more. But I think the sacred waiting there seldom appears out of thin air. It might feel like it does. But I believe that we have to be open to seeking that space. We have to be active participants. We have to look for it. We have to practice finding it and bringing intentional awareness to it. 

When people say that you should listen to your wisdom or you read a quote on Pinterest about listening to your heart and you think, I have no idea how to do that or I have no energy for that today...when this happens, come back to your breath. Come back to noticing the inhalations and exhalations. Come back to the presence found in that space. 

And begin to listen.

Just start right here.

***

If you want to continue to have conversations about this type of exercise and how it relates to living a creative life, I invite you to join Kelly and me for the Chickadee Road::Studio Sessions. As part of our curriculum, each week I will be sharing a story that illustrates the ways meditation and yoga have become part of my creative practice. 

Come join the beautiful circle of women already gathering for this inaugural session. Find out more and register here.

May your day be full of light and peace...

unpacking the stories (as i unpack the studio)

One side effect of unpacking into my new studio space has been uncovering a few stories along the way. I expected some of this - pieces of past ArtFests, sewing projects I'd begun but not finished, reciepts I had tucked in odd places, and so on. But there have been a few unexpcted stories that have found there way in, and today, I want to share about one of them in this video.

I hope it is a reminder to you (to me) that we must continue to create space for big and small griefs and that forgiving ourselves in one of our most important practices because it helps to make even more space for joy, beauty, and being present to all that is this moment and the next.

May your day be full of lightness...

chickadee road :: studio sessions

This fall over at Chickadee Road, Kelly and I want to explore a new kind of online gathering: The Chickadee Road :: Studio Sessions. For now, Chickadee Road is a virtual space, but we dream of a magical place tucked into the woods right by the sea where we could gather with you.

The Studio Sessions are four-week online gatherings inspired by the idea that we would love to open our studios up to other creative souls who want to spend four weeks cultivating their creative practice.

What does cultivating a creative practice mean?

Many of us dream of having a week or two or even a whole month where we could travel to a beautiful corner of the world and spend that time creating a new body of work or writing a memoir or actually using the mixed media techniques we’ve learned in the workshops we’ve taken. And then, we’d love to circle in community with other creatives who would say, “How are you doing over there? How did it go?”

This is what the Chickadee Road :: Studio Sessions are about: Creating a virtual space where we can support one another as we take a few minutes or even an hour or two a day to practice and make small moves and big leaps toward the creative dreams that wait within us.

During our fall gathering, you will choose a creative practice to work with. Each day, we will be here to guide you, celebrate you, and inspire you, and your circle of kindreds will be here to catch you as you play and work and find your way.

Details

Dates: September 17-October 13

Where: We will gather in community at a private blog and in a private Flickr group. The posts will also be emailed to you so you can keep them.

Four weeks of daily posts include:

• Videos that take you into our own creative spaces and invite you to be present to self-care and fun
• Lessons about ways to invite in ritual and sacredness to your daily creative practice
• Creativity exercises to support your practice and keep your creative juices flowing
• Writing and photography prompts to keep you grounded
• Stories of our own journeys to reconnect with our creative joy
• Opportunities to share your stories through photos, daily check-ins, and other surprises along the way

Register:

Registration for the Fall session is now closed. To stay in touch about when we will run the next session, please sign up for the Chickadee Road newsletter. 

Questions? More details are available over at the Chickadee Road :: Studio Sessions page, including answers to a few questions you might have. And feel free to email us too! 

We can't wait to gather with you, share our stories, and dive into our own creative practices!

here

This was me standing in the family room Saturday evening as I was neck-deep in gratitude and exhaustion. We have a new studio over here. I can't wait to show it to you and share the amazing work my family did. But first, I am going to walk out there all by myself and sink into some music and organize the odds and ends and start playing with my huge inspiration board. It is a big day over here as Ellie started daycare part-time and Jon's school year has begun. More soon...

How are things over there in your corner?

why retreat (with sue triggs-rhuda)

Today, I am sharing another post in a new series of guest posts from a few of the ladies who have attended my retreats over the last few years. My hope is that these posts will give you a glimpse into the Be Present Retreats and invite you to realize the importance of taking time away from your daily life to recharge, connect with your kindreds, and rekindle your creativity.

Please welcome the delightful Sue today. I am honored to share her brave, honest story. And if you have a chance to connect with her in person one day, this is what I know: her laughter will fill you up. Yes. Thanks for sharing your story Sue!

***

I didn’t realize it then. 

I had lost her...Myself, my True Authentic Self and, a bit of my soul. 

I had lost her along the way, amidst the hurley-burley of life.
I had lost her amongst fear and doubt and letting other factors decide my story.
I had lost her and didn’t realize it, but I knew, deep inside something wasn’t right. 
I had lost her and had no idea how to go about finding what I didn’t know was lost.

There was a tiny break, a little window with a glimmer of light shining through. It was small, but it was there.  

I found “Your Story” through Ali Edwards, while taking her class at Big Picture Classes. Late at night, I was working a layout telling my creative story. A story of frustration, of fear, of not-being-good-enough, of being stuck-really-truly-stuck, stuck like i’m-never-going-to-dig-out-stuck. I cried when I wrote the words, screaming on the page...all my frustrations poured out of me.  

“Why can’t it just be ok to be me in all my imperfect glory ... and have it be OK?” 

And then I realized that if something didn’t change, I was going to be well and truly miserable for the rest of my life, and make everyone around me miserable as well and that was not acceptable. I was staring down hard at 50 and thought...I do not want to spend the second half of my life like this and be a bitter, unfulfilled angry woman. 

I talked to Ali, I talked to Liz...The retreat sounded interesting and engaging and very new-agey and totally out of my comfort zone, completely not something I’d be into... 

And I went anyway.

I almost didn’t make it...the morning of my departure, I couldn’t leave the house....major major anxiety/panic attack out of no where...my sister literally talked me out of the house, into the cab and into to the airport and on the plane. As I flew from Boston to Oregon_a touch of grace_the fear started to fall away. By the time I reached Portland, I was so excited for the adventure, the fear was completely gone.

Over the weekend, I listened to the stories around me: we laughed, we cried, we encouraged each other, we were silly, we were true. We all played with words and cameras and paper and paint and glue. I tried things I’d never thought I’d do. (Intentional walking? This is a former New Yorker you’re talking to seriously? Yes and it was a great creative exercise.) I found the courage to tell my story in a torrent of words and fear and tears and ... it was OK, there were words and hugs and complete and total acceptance. No baggage, no judging, no “you shoulds.”

Just Me.

And it was as if a weight and a veil was lifted and in their place was grace and peace and a wonderful group of kindred spirits, and we are walking the same path together and it is all OK.  

And....I went back this year, with 8 kindreds and 9 new friends and it was even more rewarding, in a much different way as I feel like I am more my authentic self a year later.  

I am still processing, two retreats and over a year later, how this experience has changed my life.  On an early morning walk just after I returned home from Oregon the first time, my girlfriend looked at me and said, "you look different, you seem calmer and more at peace." My reply was “i am.”

Do I still doubt myself...absolutely, but now instead of wallowing, I acknowledge it, see how I can use it, and send it on its merry way.

Do I still have creative angst...you betcha but I’m learning that it’s OK, it’s part of the process and that I have to move forward even if it’s one little baby step at a time. 

I retreated to find myself (I know, sounds totally cliche but it’s absolutely true), and in finding myself, I saved the rest of my life.

I discovered:     

Brave

That I can re-write my script, anytime, anywhere, anyway I want it to read, as many times as I want.

I am An Artist...with no definition.

That life, like art, is a work in progress...we have a beginning and an end...and in between is fluid and moving and lovely and changing and heartbreaking and mindblowing and hard and sweet and oh so wonderful, and it’s ours to decide.  

That reaching out can reap the sweetest rewards.

I discovered that it is all, on every level, OK. 

And that my friends, is why I retreat. This is a gift that I have been given. This is a gift that I pass to you.  

***

Sue lives just north of Boston with her knight in shining armor and crazy fun twin girls. She’s re-writing her script for her next set of adventures amidst home-making, kids homework, excursions to the beach, fun with friends and walking the dog. She loves living in the footsteps of her New England ancestors in her favorite part of the country, and near the ocean.   

The best way to describe her would be...

me-wife-mom-friend-daughter-sister-artist-fabricnut-storyteller-dreamer-reader-naturelover-scrapbooker-scififan-designer-busygirl-searcher-funlover-chief-cook-bottlewasher

Sue blogs not-as-much-as-she’d-like at:  http://triggsey.wordpress.com (which, as soon as she gets her act together, she’d like to just rename:  triggsey.com !) Come along for the ride!

***

A note from Liz: This September, Mindy Lacefield, Kelly Barton, and I are working together to create an incredible adventure in the Pacific Northwest. Kelly and Mindy are co-teaching a three-day juicy, soulful painting workshop, and I am sharing some of my favorite creative self-care practices through mini creative adventures in topics like writing, self-portraiture, meditation, and a few other good things. Find out more about the Unearth Retreat over here.

something

I keep stoping by this blank page for a minute or two, but the words aren't coming. But I want to write something.

It is crazy + awesome + exhausting + exciting over here as the studio keeps coming together. Today brought two doors! Most of the ceiling! It is good good good. 

And there is chaos inside this little house as so much is just waiting to be moved into that new space. 

So we breathe. And we play. And we go to bed early. And we trust that soon the space will be ready and the school year will begin for Jon and Ellie will start a new adventure at daycare school for a couple of days a week and I will begin to find my way with new longer blocks of time for work + play...

Crazy + awesome + exhausting + exciting.

Yes.

self-kindness and the gift of patience

Today, I'm visiting Catherine Just's corner of blog world as part of her Soul*Full Tribe series. I wrote about how becoming a mother has pushed me to try to be just as patient with and kind to myself as I am with Ellie. I would love for you to read it over here.

May your day be full of many good things... 

here.

Ellie and I hang out while everyone else works hard

A few notes from here:

An update: Ellie is doing great off her medicine so far! This means she has been in sinus rhythm and is showing no signs of being in distress off the medication. We are waiting the results of her 24-hour heart monitoring (which happened earlier this week), and if all goes well, she will be off of it. For good! Being able to let her sleep for the first time since she was just a few weeks old is a whole new world to all of us. We don't have to wake her up to give her a dose anymore. (Whole. New. World.)

Studio excitement: My new studio is under construction! A few of the men in my life + my mom are making amazing things happen over here. I am so lucky. On Monday I will share some photos of how far things are. It is kind of unbelievable (as in they are even building the ceiling in a way that the garage door can still go up and down. I just keep shaking my head in wonder.) If you are following me on Instagram or over at Flickr, you've been getting a few glimpses of the goodness.

How are things over there? I'm thinking about you (yes you) and wondering...

Blessings,
Liz