Thought for The Day - 7:21

12/05/14 Early Morning view of "Sailing under a Penny Moon"

Get up! The day is wasting away and you have plenty to do! Well that's me most days and quite honestly, on most days, by 7:21 I've written, exercised, had breakfast and I'm on my way to work. And no, this has not always been my way. Creativity is my driving factor, my motivation to rise early and start the day.

Goals, I have them and when I achieve those that look like helium filled balloons floating away, I'll have more! When I get to the point, my message is heard by some and understood in my images, I'll reach further. Those goals are like clouds "above" the clouds, goals that I know are there, but for now I keep them just out of conscious thought. Time isn't a factor anymore and with that thought comes a realization that I may not obtain those dreams. I won't die trying, but I will live my life knowing I have tried with each day. And far more importantly I have dared to dream and dared to create.

Clarity: who you are - who I am - isn't all you're capable of being. The dull or exciting life you have now isn't all you can experience. The sun rises and sets and soon you find yourself shifting, changing the direction of your life. You may not earn much today, maybe nothing at all, but a shift, an unexpected but natural transition places you in a new point of view and you find yourself earning, achieving and living life to the fullest.

Thought for The Day - Crumble

That's about what I would like to do with my "exterior" life. I've read the book "The Artist's Way" a few times and I've come to realize, I have a problem with "playing." Not playing video games, chess or going out for a walk - though that is more like work than play. I don't relax and allow the art to flow! I can produce great work, I love the colors and textures and doing the "work," but there is a mental block that implies I have to be serious about it and that art should become a replacement for my job. There are some mental shifts and changes I need to make and while I look forward to a change, and can imagine how I will be, getting there - especially through the process  of "playing" - it' a mystery!

I know we are trained from childhood, to be responsible adults; to a certain extent, we spend our adult life "pretending" to love working. And in the moment, I am quite envious of those who have discovered a way to balance "play" with "work" to the extent, none of 'us' know which they are doing. But what I don't know is how I will relax this outer shell to be one of those individuals! I have my moments, I can sit and draw or paint, have a great time in conversations, but at some point, in the back of my head,  a clock ticks louder, indicating it's time to get back to work.

No solutions or suggestions in this entry, just me talking.

Growth

Transition

Progress.

Thought for The Day - Prep Work, Changing Weather

...Suddenly the skies were clear, the winds died down and calmer days prevailed.

Yesterday, I scraped my palette for fifty-millionth time this year and then applied the same colors I have, also for the same number of times. I begin applying paint to "Linen, A Storm is Coming" and as I did so, I asked myself why was I doing it? Certainly, for a person like me, the work is never quite complete. I can't begin to tell you how many times I've sat in front of this canvas, or glanced at it over my shoulder as I worked on something else and thought "I could use a shot of silvery blue or orange here." Or thought "the mood in the sky needs to spread from one end to the next," but negated that idea with the sense of a transition over the length of it.

At some point, I did what I haven't in months; I took the painting off the easel. It kind of surprised me because it was just a day before I thought there was no need to rush to complete it. A large 30" x 40" canvas has been sitting in a corner, waiting for this moment and without a second thought, I reached for it, blew the cobwebs off it and placed it on the easel. There was a moment of anxiety, looking at the white canvas. Should I turn it so the 40" is vertical or horizontal? Am I working on the blue Orisha Yemaya or "Calming winds" (working title in both instances)?

After about an hour, the canvas was tinted red, my base coat and color. The storm was passed and the canvas lay length-wise, on the easel. The calm has returned...

I told a friend the other day that sometimes, God answers our prayers and yet we aren't happy because we were looking for his response to appear a certain way or with more flair... Sometimes drama and madness simply stop and we are so surprised at the transition, we aren't sure what to think...

Thought for The Day - The Well

The River Bends

There may come a day when I look down this well and there is nothing there, but that isn't today. I might look for "the thought for the day" and the waters will seem cloudy because of confusion or fear. I might decide one day "I'm tired of this," or in the language of the day "I've moved on." But that isn't the case today.

I find this outlet, this way of reaching out is a necessary part of my growth. It requires reaching within, considering, weighing, measuring and writing on the fly. It requires sensitivity to both God and man (the readers).  I am challenged to both think about what I'm being presented and consider the thoughts of those who will read.

Years ago, having been challenged with the notion of writing to encourage and uplift, I toiled with a title to put to this...His Words seems so appropriate after all these years!

Thought for The Day - Fall, Saturdays

A day off, the "to-do" list extensive, the "if-I-had-time-for" list much longer and buried beneath necessity. Saturdays in the fall: haircuts, grocery shopping, raking leaves, clipping branches and cleaning gutters. Taking the car to a repair shop for winterizing, or the latest round of repairs.

Saturday afternoons are now spent with a palette in one hand, a brush in the other, standing or sitting in front of a canvas.  A ride in the car is filled with adventure, absorbing the many colors of leaves changing before falling to the ground. Maybe I'll open the sunroof to get a bit of fresh air. Maybe I'll treat myself to walk along a stream somewhere. Or maybe I'll catch a quick nap and dream...

Saturday night is relaxing and tranquil. As I get older, I miss the Saturday nights when I went to a jazz club to hear a group perform. Nothing fancy, some local talent playing through their usual set. It was an opportunity to see what the rest of the world was doing and hear good music. In this period of transition - isn't every "period" a time of transition - there is a reflection of the past, measuring the present and hoping for ______ in the future.

It's Saturday, it's Fall and the season is changing...

Thought for The Day - Phases...of the Moon

I'm Listening 24 x 36 Oil painting

Silver light over head
Tonight it is bright
Tomorrow it's gone
Hidden by clouds and mystery
Next week, no glow at all
Beating a ragged path across the sky
Year in and Year Out...

The patterns of our lives are too large and expansive to track, but we can perceive today's rhythm. And tomorrow, next week and three years from now, it changes. At times we are the master of our destiny and come too many sunny or cold days, we are changing our climate like migratory birds!

The phases of our lives are greater than crawling, walking upright and eventually bent over; we are multi-leveled beings, driven and tossed by the whims of love, greed, anger and hate. And just when we think we will never settle down, we look up and find we've been sitting in a comfy chair for far too long.

It is the phase(s) of our life.