Saturday

Summer went to waste. Cooped up indoors, sanity dependent on the non-stop hum of the dreaded air conditioner, I experienced the hot-weather equivalent of cabin fever. Hair and skin and hope wrung dry, I longed for September to come and save me.

And oh, was it worth the wait! A week's worth of crystal blue skies, curtains billowing in the breeze, sweaters tossed across shoulders, and flowers glowing in the bright sun, have erased all memory of summer's misery. And lured me outside to play.

Handle With Care

The project is called Liberate Your Art. And when I took the plunge last year and signed up to participate, it was all about that for me. Liberating my art from the confines of my studio and, for the first time in over 30 years, sharing it with the world.

Five post cards. That's all it is. Transferring an image that reflects where you are in your creative journey onto five small rectangles. Mailing them to the marvelous Kat Sloma. And waiting to receive five postcards from other artists in return.

But that's NOT all it is. Not for me, anyway. It's about courage. Being brave enough to tear off five tiny pieces of my soul, put them in an envelope, and send them to the mysterious Kat Sloma--a complete stranger.

It's about trust. Trusting that Kat will keep her promise to stamp them and put them in the mail. Trusting that she'll handle them with care, knowing what they represent. Trusting that, like those chain letters from my teen years, miniature works of art from five other courageous souls will magically appear in my mailbox. And trusting that each participant will hold the souls of the others in safe and supportive hands.

This year, in the absence of the fear and anxiety that accompanied last year's effort, I've realized that Liberate Your Art is also about something else. It's about connecting. Sharing. Being part of an incredible and inspiring creative community. The anticipation, the waiting to see what shows up next--and the "oh, wow!" as each treasure arrived--are like nothing I've ever experienced. And each card was like a voice in my ear saying, "Keep making space in your life for self-expression!"

That's the reason I decided to be part of this amazing project again. My deepest gratitude to Kat & to everyone who has shared their (he)art. Can't wait 'til next year!

Like Riding a Bike

No pressure. No promises. No uttering the “C” word. Just a short post about where I am right now.

In an effort to reconnect with the joy that has been my blogging raison d’être, I signed on for Susannah Conway’s e-course, Blogging from the Heart. This is week two, and our first writing assignment is to do just that. Write.

So this is where I am right now: exhausted and stressed and battling like hell not to give in to the urge to pull the covers over my head and stay in bed. All day. Every day.

And: excited by the prospect of re-immersing myself in the world of amaze, surprise & delight. Coming regularly to this place that celebrates what sustains me. And gives my life meaning. And gets me out of bed each day.

It’s just like riding a bike, right? You never forget how. No matter how long it’s been since you donned your helmet, put air in the tires, and took off down a shady, tree-lined path. In search of nothing more than what you encountered along the way.

It shouldn’t be that hard, should it?