Getting ready for 2018

A couple of weeks ago I finally got around to planting more daffodil and narcissus bulbs. These flowers were from a couple of years ago. I had 2 big planters that were screaming for some flowers and I happened to be at a home improvement shop that had bulbs, so I bought some more. Not sure if it was too late to plant them or not but we shall see...

And now it is almost 2018. Already.
Yes, I know, where did the last year go? And what did I do last year? Well not a whole lot of anything which is what is bringing me back to this blog. If nothing else, it is/was a way for me to note what I have been doing. Granted I did post a lot on Facebook but this blog is a better way for me to really see what I have been up to, rather than what posts from other people I shared and then tons of travel photos.

WHICH, by the way... are on my Instagram account HERE. I went back to Japan in September last year. Didn't blog about it but posted a ton of photos on my Insta.

So now what?  Well, it is nearly time for me to choose my word for the year again.

Last year I wrote a rather introspective blogpost (HERE) and explained all that went behind the word for the year. I don't have so much to say this year (although we did get the living room cleaned up, bought a sofa, and started making it a comfy room again...

ok I guess that is a lot to say)... but about the word, I am not sure what is speaking to me now at the end of the year.

Good thing I have a couple more days to think about it.

Waiting for the rain to pass...

The house painting is happening slowly, broken up by weekends and a rainy day here and there. But it is coming along nicely... blue with white trim.  In progress...

I haven't been doing much artsy stuff this week aside from watching a lot of art videos and reading blogs. Lots to catch up on and I have pretty much let myself have the week to just veg on other people's creativity.  I did sign up for Tracy Verdugo's Paint Mojo ecourse and have slowly been working on that. I love her intuitive style and thought I would splurge on the class. I am also thinking of taking Flora Bowley's online course as well to get a different look at intuitive painting. Both of them sort of early Christmas presents to myself.

And I signed up for the NaNoWriMo again this year to write 50,000 words in one month. A novel, or as they call it more likely a really awful first draft. But for me it is a month long writing project that sets me down to put words to paper on a daily basis. I did it in 2010 as well and it was pure drivel but it did get me thinking and writing which is what I wanted to do.

Many projects... open ended time... not in a hurry...

It is good to have an end to journey toward, but it is the journey that matters in the end.

--Ursula K. LeGuin

Querencia and other thoughts about writing...

I have been thinking about writing lately...

From Writing Towards Home by Georgia Heard:
 Querencia: a place where one feels safe; a place from which one’s strength of character is drawn; a place where one feels at home. From the Spanish querer to want, to desire.

          {Where is my querencia?}

This makes me ask other questions:

Where do I feel most at home?
Where do I feel most happy and relaxed?
What is my ideal writing environment?
Where can I write with all my full powers?

I like quiet places.

Places without a lot of distractions.

That is why often writing in public places like coffee houses is difficult for me, unless I can find an out of the way table or a booth.

The quietest place for me is really a time – very early morning before the world seems awake. This has  worked well in the past then I got distracted with work and stopped writing for long time. Now I am retired so I can reclaim my mornings.

Another thought, taken from an art workshop years ago, maybe Julianna Coles? She asked, "Where does your art hide for you?"  So I am taking a side step for today...

          {Where does writing hide for me?}

Where in nature? Where in art? Music? Colors? Tastes? Textures? What memories hold hidden writings? People? Places? Things? I know there are many tidbits of life that are keeping secret writings – it is my job {task?} now to find them and draw them out. Another question might be, WHY does writing hide for/from me?

Another theme: Find my own truth. Seems to be a recurring theme. What is my own truth? Who am I now? What is the path with the heart (Castenada)? What is my bliss? The same question in different forms.

These are some of the things I might be thinking about as I travel this coming month...


“Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.”
– Ralph Waldo Emerson