karenika

Weekly Diary – May 18 2014

one more week of backfill:

nathaniel’s face has a red blotch.

and i have no idea why.

but i love the photos anyway.

and here we go. so grateful for my life. i hope your week was lovely, too.

Weekly Diary is a project for 2014. You can read more about it here.

Learning with David – Week 10

This class is by udacity.com and it’s a math class called Introductory Algebra Review.

Learning with David is a project for 2014 that I am doing with my 9-year-old son. You can read more about it here.

Today I Know – Week 19

This week’s inspiration comes from this pin. I am obsessed with figure sketching lately and I loved this one.

I drew this girl in pencil then drew again with 0.005 micron and finally i drew over both with my Stabilo All and used the watercolors to pull the color all over. The background is blue watercolors.

prompt says: today i know it is ok to change my mind about

I wrote about what I like to do.

Today I Know is a project for 2014. You can read more about it here.

Stitching Circles – Week 19

This week’s stitching also comes from urban threads. I loved the interlocking heart. I used stem stitch and back stitch on this one. The little word is permanent.

Stitching Circles is a project for 2014. You can read more about it here.

today’s face is made on a brown paperbag. I took it from the bagel cafe we go to in the weekends. I then scrunched it up, and then wetted it and scrunched it up once more. Then I flattened it out and let it dry overnight. And then painted on it. It was fun and I like the outcome.

Today’s quote is:

If you want something in your life you’ve never had, you’ll have to do something you’ve never done.

In some ways, this one seems so obvious, doesn’t it? If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get the outcome you’ve always gotten. But even though it sounds relatively obvious when we read it, we still do this all the time. I find that I have lots of areas in my life where I complain about how things go. I find myself frustrated with the end results.

But, I rarely do anything different.

Most of the time, I am just frustrated but I don’t really take action. Even if I don’t know how to fix the outcome, what this quote reminds me is that I need to change something. Anything. The only way to ensure my output is different is to change my input. In any way at all.

So here’s my plan: next time I find myself complaining about the outcome of something, I will see if I can change what I do. Anything that can possibly give me a different outcome. Even if it doesn’t end up being the ideal outcome, I think trying new things will show me what’s possible.

At least, I am willing to try.

A Book a Week – The Ocean at the End of the Lane

I know it’s weird but The Ocean at the End of the Lane was my first Neil Gaiman. And it was such a lovely one.

I read American Gods years and years ago.

Well tried to read it. And didn’t like it. And with that, I wrote off Neil Gaiman.

Until I listened to his graduation speech and then fell in love with him all over again.

So when I saw this short novel, I decided I would give him another chance. And I am so glad I did.

It’s a truly lovely lovely lovely story. Highly recommended.

Decorate Your Soul

today’s quote is:

So plant your own gardens and decorate your soul instead of waiting for someone to being you flowers.

This one had me thinking for a while, too. Maybe this is because of movies or books but I think we always wait for others to do the nice things for us. Part of growing up, for me, has been realizing that I can buy my own flowers. And chocolates. And presents. I don’t need someone to buy them for me.

And even more importantly, someone buying or not buying them for me doesn’t mean anything. I’ve had it both ways and I can’t say that the guy who bought them loved me more than the one who didn’t. Some people are into those little things and do them all the time and others do not. In fact, the guy who always bought me flowers was also considerably less nice to me overall than the one who didn’t.

Who made the rule that we have to be waiting?

Why do others get to decide when we get to have flowers?

Why does anyone else ever get to decide my worth? My soul’s joy?

Part of growing up is owning who you are. Stepping into that fully. Decorating your own soul. Planting your gardens. Buying whatever you desire without waiting for approval. Being not just okay with who you are but beaming in the unique beauty of fully being you.

That’s what I want for myself.

And for all of those around me.

So, I start the process of decorating my soul.

Remember This – Week 19

Life Book week eleven was taught by Tam. The Lesson was on creating a painting around the idea of a Tree of Life. I decided mine would be a girl sitting by the tree, reading. I did this whole page in about twenty minutes. Mostly with my fingers. Tried not to overthink it.

It’s all acrylic paints.

It says: we are all part of the same story.

Aren’t we?

Remember This is a project for 2014. You can read more about it here.

With All they have

Today’s quote is:

Just because someone doesn’t love you the way you want them to, doesn’t mean they don’t love you with everything they have.

As I grow older and older, I understand that this is one of the fundamental truths of life. It’s true for couples, siblings, parents or any other relationship you can think of. People love you the way they love you. They can love you will all of their hearts and souls and it might still not be what you want or need.

But it’s all they have.

We often don’t understand others’ perspective. Sometimes we don’t even understand ours. We don’t know what makes us do what we do and we certainly can’t understand what motivates others. But when it comes to judging people, that’s exactly what we’re doing. We’re measuring them from our perspective.

I’ve been thinking a lot about this.

I’ve been realizing how much the people in my life love me. And even if they don’t always love me the way i want to be loved, I know in my heart that they love me with all they have.

And how can I possibly ask for more?

Listen with Intent – Week 19

For this week, I picked engaged. One of the parts of being active for me is to be more engaged in all areas of my life. When with my kids, at work, when talking to Jake, when out in social situations, and even when alone, I want to be more engaged. I want to be fully present. I want to be very conscious of this very moment. I want to be in it. So engaged it is.

The lettering I used here comes from this pin.

The image here is an eye. I wanted it to look like it was looking you in the eye as in engaged but it looks tired and sleepy to me.

Listen with Intent is a project for 2014. You can read more about it here.