monamseno
How you approach things, people, life is very important. Our attitudes, in fact, are probably the biggest deciding factor between a life of happiness or misery. How would I like to approach things? From a spiritual perspective, as if everything came from God--that loving, vast, beautiful, awareness that gives life and freedom--including me and you.
Many people mistake shape for form. Shape is two-dimensional; form is three-dimensional. Of course, our language doesn't help with the differentiation...Shape magazine, getting in shape, etc...Shapes (the circle, square, triangle, oval, etc) are beautiful, but form is divine.
If you want. To make a statement. You have to be confident about what you're saying. You need to have faith. Believe in your message. Be grounded. Be strong. Be natural. Be you. Do it.
"Final" arouses both trepidation/fear and excitement in me. As a perceiver (rather than a judgement-oriented person, on the Myers-Briggs personality test) I am more comfortable exploring options and being on the front end of a decision, rather than having that immutable feeling of something finalized, but then again there is that anticipatory excitement of knowing, for example, that it's the final days of school before vacation, or the last final I have to study for, or the finals in an exciting competition on TV.
The basics aren't always all that interesting, although they're good to know, but follow "basic" even further, deep into its roots, and you get "essence". I'm much more interested in the essence of things, the unique spark in everyone that makes them light up in flames when identified and stoked, the inner nature of things that transfers and regenerates itself through the little seed, the boiled-down, pared-down, pure truth, as well as we can perceive it.
I like noticing and reflecting on the ways people choose their keychains and what that shows about them. Right now, my keys are all linked together and attached to a short (3 foot) tape measure I got at Home Depot. It reminds me that I am, first and foremost, a sculptor (and an artist). I am always ready to measure a space for an installation, or plan a next ceramic project.
times tables. wooden tables. metal tables. plastic tables. concrete tables. glass tables. foam tables. paper tables. recycled bottle cap tables. cardboard tables. candy tables. soft tables. hard tables. large tables. small tables. doll size tables. fun tables. modern tables. old fashioned tables. funky tables. organic tables. smooth tables. Word tables. Excel tables. To "table" something. t-able-s. a piece of furniture with an elevated flat surface. tab-les. mesa. plateau. stability. work. space. eating. tea. play. art.
I love a good bench with a view of the hills, surrounded by green on the side of a mountain or small hill. Or a bench by the sea, where you can hear the sound of the crashing waves and feel the sea-salted wind whip your hair around. A bench that allows you to contemplate the beauty of nature, the infinitesimal nature of being human, one tiny body in the grand cosmos, is a wonderful thing.
Burning sage is one of the rituals I've adopted for clearing and preparing a new space for living, and so the smell of sage is a welcoming aroma: reminding me of new adventures, transitions, the excitement of entering and settling into a new space, the zen "begginer's mind" consciousness of starting something new, open to possibilities, relying on intuition, without the hardened sense of knowingness that comes with time...
My husband Tom's parents always send us cards. If there's a major holiday or anniversary coming up, you can bet there's a card on the way. Most of their card choices come from the card-making giant Hallmark, which makes me wonder if designing and making cards could prove to be a profitable business, or at least a good creative side project, like my plan to make my own shallow flower pots and fill them with soil and grass seeds--a cheap and easy way to create an indoor table garden. Finding a good card is a daunting task. Maybe making my own would actually turn out to be less work than going to the nearest Target or CVS or Walmart, browsing through hundreds of cards in all styles from the chintzy, to the erotic, to the silly, to the humorous, to the photographic, to the sound-enhanced, to the fold-out, to the overdone, to the ones with cheesy messages, to the cheap blank ones, only to come out with something I can maybe sort of be okay with, and pay $2-9 for it.