LOTUS LOVE.....

Have you ever seen a flower so beautiful it takes your breath away at first glance?

Soft pink petals contrasting with the brightest yellow.  

The sculptural leaves of green, so large and stately.

No wonder the lotus has such meaning. 

It is a beauty to behold.

THE UNFOLDING......

pretty little gems on a stem.

teach us how to open up and reach for the sky,

to twist and be flexible in all the right places,

to show our true colors, 

to display our best, even in our imperfection

A beautiful, symphonic display, as the detail of each one unfolds

A bit of welcome surprise in every story.

THE COLLECTOR.........

Collectors collect things.  

Particular types of things.

Identifiable objects and materials.

Hand held, visible things.

And then there are the collectors of intangible things.

Felt and experienced things.

stolen moments

magic

perfect imperfection

simplicity

things that tickle the senses

quiet

curious questions

beauty

acts of kindness

warm smiles

glimpses of things 
memories

I am a collector of things.
We are all collectors of something,  anything and everything.

Mother Nature is a collector.

I admire and respect her ability as a collector.
She shares her collections openly and without shame. 
She doesn't pause to think twice about how or where her collections are displayed. 
She just collects.  

I breathe in the beauty of her collections.  
She creates and designs with them.

Things that captivate my attention.

Things that activate my senses. 

Things that trigger my imagination.

Things that make me smile. 

Things that dig deep into my soul. 
Things that make beautiful art. 
Things that are cause for pause and reflection.

THE KNOWING......

You just keep putting one foot in front of the other, never really knowing where you are headed.  

A persistent voice instructs you to open up to the possibility of anything and everything. 

The self-critic questions every move. 

Lessons in patience, perseverance, and faith. 

One-way streets, wrong turns, and crooks in the road. 

Don't let it deter you. 

 Nothing is a set back. 

Everything happens for a reason. 

Trust that the universe will guide you. 

At times, it all becomes a blur. 

A messy cloud of confusion. 

Nothing seems to make sense, but everything is so completely connected. 

You are exactly where you are supposed to be. 

And then the it comes. 

CLARITY. 

Exhilaration in the knowing.  THIS is your moment of truth.  This is the place you are meant to be. 

This is what you have been waiting for. 

A breath of fresh air, the view becomes clear.

The gift of truth, the authentic knowing of what is and what will be, presents itself through the open gates of possibility.  

Enter.

SIMPLICITY.....

Sometimes less is more. 

I love color!  It creates a mood.  It provides ingredients for me to play with form and texture.  It is music to my soul. 

But there is something magical about the essence of a black and white photo that grabs ahold of me.  I experience a sense of calm and serenity and something powerful behind these simple shades and hues.  

 A gentle reminder that even the simple things can make a bold statement and have a dramatic impact. 

EMBRACE CHANGE

One thing is for sure.  Nothing remains the same.  Everything changes.  

The seasons come and the seasons go.  Waves wash in with the tide, and they wash out again.  The darkest hours are always followed by a fresh ray of light.  One chapter ends and another begins. One door closes and another door swings open, presenting new opportunities. We grow older, our bodies change.  Time passes and tomorrow is a new day with a new beginning. 

Love deeply, laugh hard, play often, color outside the lines, make up your own rules, remain a curious mind, keep an open heart, take chances, do what you love, embrace difference, walk to the beat of your own drum, remain open to possibility. 

Because in the end, change happens, whether we like it or not.  Even on the worst days, "this too shall pass."  And what might we be missing if our eyes, hearts and bodies were not open to the sweet beauty that lies ahead? 

SAGITTARIUS

Life is short. I want to leave this world having ingested every little thing with passion, excitement and no regrets. I want to reach for the sky and feel the breath of life.  

Because I am curious by nature.  Because I am a Sagittarius and I like variety and tire of routine.  Because I like to keep things new and interesting.  Because I have an insatiable desire to learn and grow. Because the journey is more important than the destination.  Because I like adventure.  Because I learned at a young age to color outside the lines.  Because one idea leads to 100 more, and those 99 steps to the last were just about the learning, and less about the outcome. Because... because...because. 

For all these reasons,  I've been absent from my blog.  I know.  It doesn't bode well with blogging "etiquette."  But it wasn't intentional.  I got side-tracked.  I've been having fun and learning new things.  I've been adding to my repertoire of creative knowledge :)  

I've been experimenting and playing with some new ideas, new techniques, and new projects.  And just this week, I've begun to FINALLY enter into the world of surface design, combining many of my creative interests!!!  This has been a dream since I learned to sew and fell in love with fabric when I was 7.   

In keeping with the theme, I bought a new iphone app this week for taking photographs and started playing with it in the woods.  And as with most things, I see in colors, lines, shapes and forms, textures, and patterns.  I'm still learning all of the technical details of the program, but had a blast laying on the forest floor looking for interesting things to sketch for my surface design classroom assignment.  Many of these photos were not even in focus, because I was too busy moving from subject to subject, just trying to capture the essence of what I was seeing so I could later begin sketching out designs from that.  

Thirsty for more, drenched in wonder.  One destination becomes the beginning of a new adventure,  a quick stop along this continuous journey.  And so it goes.....