the beauty of repetition

while repetition can be tedious 
we all know that there is a time and place for it... 


it is in repeating an action (or thought) that it becomes familiar... 
in familiarity it becomes known... 


in being known it becomes understood... 
and once understood it can be refined... 

and all of a sudden, it feels almost effortless... 


a beautiful pay off for diligence... 


ommmmmm...

'your work is to discover your work

and then with all your heart to give yourself to it.'

~ buddha

thank you to the one who gave of themselves here... 

the series is divine... 

RAW - marker

'no one saves us but ourselves.

no one can and no one may.

we ourselves must walk the path.'

~ buddha

there are (often) times along the path when the terrain becomes rugged or confusing... challenging us fully to stay true... if we keep moving forward, we get past it... 

leave a stone on top of a fence post or on the slope of the mountain, to remember where you have been, the lessons you learned...

life is oh so good -

sprung for my very favorite candle at the store today - the one i most love to have burning when i work... i swear i can feel the muscles in my chest relax and my mind calm when it is in the room with me... 


then my (leann's) buddha and lotus came in the mail... 


it's warm outside so the kids are with their friends on walks and bike rides... 


all about me and seeing what comes to mind for a bit - why do i feel like i just jinxed myself?!


later we will have sugar cookies and love potion - 


as a fabulous bumper sticker i saw yesterday reminded me -

'every moment is an opportunity 

for love and transformation.'

by the way

i love how btw means more to me now than that - it is also bead table wednesday thanks to heather powers... 

with the metalwork done, the final choices (the at-times-agonizing ones) need to be made... and while there is a picasso quote i keep close at these times i had another one in mind... then i got swept away by leann weih with her thoughts and her incredible talent - i confess that it was the first time i interrupted my reading of a post (and this one is dear to me) to go and make a purchase... 

this synchronicity is so meaningful... i just finished deepak chopra's 'buddha' and have been contemplating this::

'the Buddhas do but tell the way;

it is for you to swelter at the task.'

~ buddha

thank you leann - for sharing your depth, beauty and talent... 
and to heather for allowing us to touch base each week... 

just perfect -

when my son was young, i had nurses in my home 12 hours a day... naturally we became very close and would give each other gifts... there was one nurse who taught me the most wonderful lesson... she would give one perfect thing... and it wasn't necessarily big, it was always so thoughtful and 'just right'... i had always made people gifts, but somehow thought it was never enough... but she shone a light on the whole gift-giving dynamic for me... and i will be forever grateful... 
in this blogging world we become close to people... and all around us we see people sending off gifts to each other - a very generous group that loves to share... nurturing & supportive... i recently did a swap with cindy... and what she sent took me right back to that nurse... don't we want our gifts to be reflective of thought, of something personal and meaningful? well, cindy didn't have anything available in a shop... and i thought she just HAD  to... 

wordy block earrings

and now she does... what is really neat is that she explores so many different media... handcarved stamps, jewelry, polymer clay, felting, etc...  i really encourage you to take a look - and ask her to make more! i can see those printings on canvas turning into a version of prayer flags when strung along a string...
i am going to share a wonderful quote from her etsy shop - alchemy of life...


"You must understand the whole of life,
not just one little part of it.
That is why you must read,
that is why you must look at the skies,
that is why you must sing,
and dance,
and write poems,
and suffer,
and understand,
for all that is life."
J. Krishnamurti


best luck cindy on your new journey!

your true nature

true to your nature

"if a Queen isn't meant to fly, why does she have wings?"
lessa, dragonflight

in anne mccaffrey's land of pern, certain humans are joined to dragons (this predates eragon by decades) communicating in unspoken form, sharing thoughts & emotions... lessa is new to this world and bonds with the golden dragon ramoth at the time of her hatching... lessa is told that Queens fly only to mate - and the strong lessa begins to change things which allow both she and her dragon to be true to their natures...

while we don't have wings, we each have other attributes that make us unique and special... that define us... people my lean on you for support, count upon you to help, look to you to lead...

i love hero's journey tales... the kind where some unassuming person - like frodo, harry potter, arthur, simba, dorothy - finds him/herself in a position where choices must be made and along the way they grow... i admire the hero... i love and find comfort in the wise one... but the hero couldn't achieve what he/she does without their most trusted allies, their best friends... one of my literary favorites is samwise gamgee from lotr... sam is a kind, unassuming hobbit who openly admits his fears... but he sticks with frodo to the bitter end, thru horror after horror, becoming a hero in his own right... sam would lay his life down for frodo, he is loyal and true... i think those are qualities we all strive to have and want from our friends... sam's nature is exponentially magnified and so his potential is reached...

'the only real failure in life is not to be true to the best one knows.'
- the buddha

this bracelet has beads in it that are certainly a tribute to their creators... a raku bead by mak has white crackle and golden glazes in addition to fine silver pmc... a ceramic bead by barbara lewis is layered in color then carved away to create pattern, texture and reveal the colors (and here, next to the dragon, i think the carving looks like something the talons could have done)... a green girl studios pewter dragonegg bead... gorgeous lampwork by mary ann at linden avenue designs... these beads were custom made after i went back into her sold items... they are called 'granite' and i love the way you question whether they are stone or glass... lots of bali silver, mykonos greek ceramic beads, two great silvered ivory glass spacers from donna at purplepozies, faceted feldspath and a snakeskin jasper drop at the clasp... this bracelet is earthy with color used to highlight that which is found in the glass & ceramic components...

'and i'll see your true colors shining through,
i see your true colors and that's why i love you.
so don't be afraid to let them show.
your true colors,
true colors,
are beautiful like a rainbow.'
- cyndi lauper

hint of sound

namaste

'when you are describing A shape, a sound, or tint; Don't state the matter plainly. But put it in a hint; And learn to look at all things With a sort of mental squint''

-lewis carroll

a comment in one of my blog posts got me to thinking... mellisa from chinook jewelry designs mentioned about my 'who will you find in the sea' bracelet that 'it looks like it might make a subtle little jingle when worn'... and she was right... i am a very visual person... in fact, if you asked me to name my favorite sounds they would be wind, rain, wind chimes, birdsong and waves... i think i tune out a lot(a skill i refined because of all of the background noise that comes along with kids)... but that comment set me to wondering - i try to be a mindful person, but i was missing things... i love when a suggestion can make you more contemplative, taking you deeper into awareness... a friend once told me that i jingle, and i had forgotten that...

so i am enjoying making non-traditional type charm bracelets... finding ways to try to keep it simple while integrating more... keeping to a feeling or idea... like a collage of beads, unified... and speaking of collages, there is a website to help you create word collages... beth at hint, my daughter has created a number of word clouds on wordle.net and is hooked! it is now making the rounds of familiy and friends... thanks for sharing that creative link!

this bracelet is a harmonious combination of a number of ideas, colors, and symbols... it takes the spiritual gesture of namaste - 'i honor the place in you in which the entire Universe dwells, i honor the place in you which is of Love, of Integrity, of Wisdom and of Peace. when you are in that place in you, and i am in that place in me, we are One.' - and attempts to make it a wearable representation...

symbols of the aum(or om), spiral, goddess, leaf & buddha are combined with colors representing the four elements... hung from an earthy vintaj brass double chain - 2 being the number of balance and harmony...

it will have just a hint of sound to keep you aware - better than snapping a rubber band on your wrist, yes?