NOT JUST talking garden to plate. That and so much more! Going from feeling like dirt to feeling delicious. And then there is the creative process, going from the seed of an idea, to connecting my thoughts with my visuals. Sometimes a bit random but always getting back to deliciousness.
Category: Delicious Mindful Moments
When I am feeling delicious I am hopefully mindful of it. The word is sadly coming close to “epic” and ” awesome” in it’s overuse… but for now I will see if this is the best name for a category on my site.
HMMM should I call it personal work, transformative thoughts, aha moments?
2 alt titles seem so appropriate to me: Relishing the gathering or Time…where did mine go ?
How is it possible to loose time, like a missing sock in the laundry?
Or should I spend more time reading the book I think it is called The $64 tomato?
With all the things that are important to me and my priorities…. eating home grown is one of them… but then again so is my art, and family and friends, and movement/exercise that does not mess up my back and wrists like gardening seems to. And of course we all have bills to pay… and dues to pay.
This web site/ blog started out as a place for show and tell about many aspects of what I am up to. Ironically the web/blog became a project itself for learning how to be securely maintaining a word press site ! With that said I have not been very consistent at all. By no means not as consistent as the great plugins that have kept out all the hackers from around the world that for unknown reasons think they are me and have access to the guts of this site. Do I look like a political party ? Anyhoo… if you are here to see my photography or my paintings or learn more about The Cheer project or find out what I am learning /finding in my organic garden and my test kitchen…. Thank you for coming back and please do sign up so I know who you are and that you stopped by .
Dark dreams when what I am really looking forward to is tranquil rejuvenation
2016 title FROM DARKNESS TO UNITY
Lat night I coached at the Phoenix location of the international challah bake . Today when I woke up at 4am I had the realization that as I know all too well painting in red – root chakra ( the base that holds fear ) would not be good for my health right now and intuitively that is why I could not allow myself to create what I had the idea to do the last few days. Red can be very agitating if I am in the wrong emotional space. Hiking and lying on a rock in the sun like a lizard felt good on Wed. It was healing to be without sound by myself after a couple hour hike with a dear friend NOT talking about the election ( despite my initial desire to cry and scream) . Only regret not having done it yesterday. Today is a new day. My purple cauliflower premonition at the the grocery store Tuesday afternoon was right. I can only imagine the pain and sole searching and processing Hillary and all those that worked so hard are feeling. At 6am today Nov 11, I am putting my big girl shoes on. Blue and red = purple , Hillary knew it. Unity. I live in a very long standing red state ( Arizona) . It is too painful to feel battered internally or externally, by the anger, confusion, fear, anxiety , disappointment and ( oh yeah ) immobilization. IF Trump and Obama can publicly get on with the transition amicably … I need to focus on what I CAN DO to support unity. Purple it will be. From paintings I have already done this one from 2013 seems so painfully appropriate at this time. And just with any kind of grief we can not just stuff the pain away and act as if it never happened but the question is for how long and in what way do we grieve and in what way do we heal?
Do you meditate? What type of meditations do you do ? Are you sitting ?
I had tried on and off for decades. The 5-10 minutes at end of yoga class never really did much for me. Seems like I was busy with my to do list. And that is even after going through extensive yoga teacher training ! But over the past 3 years or more I have been really exploring different types of meditation. I want to share an insight that I had this morning . It is now 6:20 am. Having been awake since 3:30, yep … I played in bed with cozy head phone strap on and once again went into a space I can no honestly describe . I have really gotten into binaural sound meditation amongst other ones. I lay there ( not sitting up ) and listen to about an hour meditation ( yep way too long for regular daytime use for me !) from Centerpointe called Holosync ( one called Dive then it goes into Immersion) . Pretty wild I can literally feel my brain response . Some days I actually feel hung over from it other days huge clarity. But then I am also presently working with Chopra and Oprah’s 21 day live streaming meditation. This particular series is called “Getting Unstuck “.
SO what is the point of my rambling when I know my priorities of today are NOT writing on this blog? Well by break of dawn today I was tending to pool matters and tree watering and then with the beautiful sunrise and decided to do Chopra/Oprah’s mediation while taking a brief walk. This entailed re-listening to day 9 of “Getting Unstuck” (which seems to be VERY much issue for me.)
Re-listening seems to be important cause it seems so often I forget what was said or REALLY struggle with the silent mantra mediation that is probably around 10 minutes (?) of the whole thing. WOW as I walked quietly at sunrise I found I was MUCH better at staying with the mantra than when I sit or lie down (anytime of day.)
Considering that I have been enjoying a summer practice of doing laps 4-5 days a week for 40-65 minutes each swim, I can not help but wonder what it would be like to listen with water proof ear buds and waterproof iPhone or iPod…ugh sounds like too much more set up to swim. SO for now… I am aware that the mind has endless ability to explore AND find focus as I glide through the water, or walk , or hike, but for me the “skill set” of sitting or lying in meditation and keeping a mantra still does not compare. Still working on it though 🙂
Namaste.
PS my run on sentences in my writing that my blog software gently reminds me of will hopefully improve as my mantras get more locked down 🙂
Family just left after coming to visit for a nice sunny dry warm 6 days in Scottsdale to bring in the new year … Surprise !
I am grateful for the beauty of the cold grey structure of clouds (shot on my iphone ) as nature is preparing for a several day weather change, seen while taking a desert walk with family on Sunday Jan 3, 2016. Consistent with my never ending pondering on dirt to delicious I can say that today (Wed) after what I hear was only 1/2 inch rain since the cold rains started Sunday night. Hard to imaging that is all that came down. And the veggies almost instantly responded with what I think I heard whispers of “thank you!”. And the sky was wild this am again with clouds socked into the mountains for the 3rd day !
I am very grateful to live in sunny Scottsdale AZ. But love this serious weather change and looking for a silver lining. Family, friends,etc come here in the winter with expectations of clear blue skies and sun and warmth, and considering how little rain we get… the idea that it will be dry here ! While they may have had to change their plans around the weather I am happy to say I have had the opportunity to hike in clothing that was purchased to ski in, and made good use of rain gear .
I have had the practice of posting quotes/ notes/ good stuff around desk, mirrors, kitchen, bedroom for years, to remind me of what to think about. You know, positive, motivating stuff. Blah blah blah…when do I read them after I post them? Right now I am thinking of a few I am writing and think I will post them here:
” Look forward to those days that are totally off the mark from your expectations…. there is beauty to be found there”.
“After every rain day …. look for growth”
“The storm is truly preceding a time of growth”
and of course
“Be grateful for what you have , while not dwelling on what you lack ”
Happy New Year to all of you and hoping 2016 brings you some easy storms, some clouds with silver lining, being in the right place at the right time with the right state of mind to see the positive in every challenge which can offer you rainbows and growth afterwards…you know , the deliciousness we all want… and while we are at it….nothing wrong with visualizing a pot of gold at the base of that rainbow 😉
Here is to creating deliciousness,while warm in my fleece
I think it best for me to introduce myself again . As I wander through this project of learning word press and all the side bar issues that come with having a functional blog I live and learn ( hopefully like all of life) . I recently got introduced to Word Fence plug in and now wondering who are these “people ” that keep trying to log in as administrator to this site ? How distracting life can be when we attempt to make delicious stuff and reality sets in and we have to deal with the dirt of life. Sound familiar? I guess I need to understand better how to create my sign up so you can introduce yourselves to me! With that said I would love if the subscribers or any visitors that feel inclined post a response : How did you get here and what are you ideally looking for from this blog ? I started this blog knowing full well that the mavens of marketing and blogging and blah blah blahhhhing say focus on a few topics in your blog site. SO what is the fluid evolving reason for this blog site? Connecting my art ( both photographic and Chakra healing paintings as part of my Chakra healing project ) to my writing as I focus on other of my life passions : organic gardening/sustainability, creating delicious recipes, finding new ways of healthfully getting out / staying out of feeling mind /body dirt and being more delicious! I have a lot to say and more to show. Where this site goes is fluid . Professionally I have been a photographic artist for decades. I have within the past 4 years years started working with abstract acrylics and working on creating the Chakra Healing Exhibition Research Project . More on that another time. I am looking forward to the exposure this blog has as a venue leading to support of my projects and also assignments, purchases , exhibition space. There is no shopping cart set up here ( yet) nor amazon connection ( yet) but I am considering them as options in the future. Thank you for being here. I would love to know what brought you here and what you would like to see more of and well… more about you!
NOW, please introduce yourself 🙂
I crave my morning moving meditation.Yeah , its that time of year. SOOO hard to be ignoring the huge to do list. The to do list that gets even crazier now. Be it the gym or yoga, or hiking or walking or 20 squats at home , what ever! How do I NOT let that time fall off the list? I say as I fall victim to the magnet in my pants taking hold of the magnet on my chair at my desk… HMMM where are my hiking boots ? I know my brain is working full steam early am so … taking a 5 minute wacko break may help more often during the day.
Why do I look at one of my garden images and ponder the analogy of the image I see. Here there are bees doing what they need to do, hiding within the the seeds of the sunflower. Are they nice worker bees, or are they mean nasty bees? They have done nothing to harm me , and yet they create fear . Will they do me harm? This is such a light weight thought and analogy to the terror that is happening in the world. Knowing loved ones living in fear is hard to ignore. Knowing the world at large is in chaos is in my face. I search to create beauty. To share inspiration. Ok , I will say it. To BEE positive .
I literally talk to the bees as I photograph them up close. We have an arrangement. We are in partnership. I want them to survive. They are not terrorists. Do bees have thoughts of me? Do they want me dead ? No. I doubt that.
Of course we know doing what we love to do always makes us feel better about ourselves and our life. Yadayadayada. But sometimes it is overwhelming for me that there are so many things I love to do, want to do, need to do, have to do, and that make me feel better when I do them .
Example at hand. I love to hike around sunrise and sunset. Sunrises can always be more problematic,especially depending upon time of year, day of week etc. Even more so with photographing sunrises.
The iphone has become a good hiking companion for me: Podcasts, music, writing down notes to myself , photos and videos ( even though I still am having hard time taking them too seriously ). There has been many a time I have been so glad to have the opportunity to NOT have a REAL camera. ( will not get into here the good and bad aspects of hiking with access to text, email or phone calls) .
So when a friend of mine asked me to help him locate an ideal sunrise shot of a saguaro for his composite photographic art it got me to do something that I know makes me feel delicious. The iphone scouting photos I sent him were a fun distraction from my “real” hike . More than that though it was “fun” getting back into carrying the camera and tripod out at sunset with a real goal in mind, and with a partner in crime ….. honestly, it is a totally different kind of feeling delicious than my morning walking meditations… but both are so good for the essence of what makes me feel delicious.
Yesterday was veteran’s day. I took this photo this past Sunday. When processing it yesterday I could not help but sense I had a Saguaro saluting to all those veterans past, present and future who give so much .
What have you done today that makes you feel delicious?
What do you try to do everyday that gives you that buzz?
