It’s been a long time since I’ve posted a thoughts-post. I’ve been thinking about writing them, even thinking about the content, but I just never seemed to want to make the time to sit and do it. I promised myself that September would be when I got back to doing these. So here we are. September 3. As good a day as any. To get my feet wet I decided to start with some “right now” thoughts. I figure my word for the year is present, so talking about what’s going on “right now” seems apt.
- Right now, I am really enjoying fresh air. I find myself seeking it and sitting outside as much as I possibly can. I am deeply grateful to be living in California where the weather is outside-friendly for so much of the year.
- Right now, I am reading voraciously. I finished three books this weekend and all I seem to want to do is read, read, read.
- Right now, I am trying to settle into some kind of routine but I have two more weeks before life goes back to “normal” so I am trying to take it all in stride and let myself off the hook.
- Right now, I find myself itching for something new, wanting to shake things up, but not knowing exactly how. I find myself searching.
- Right now, I am still trying to get back into the groove of things. Even basic things like doing art.
- Right now, I am already thinking about 2014. The year, my word, my wishes. My projects.
- Right now, I am starting to get excited about my upcoming class, slightly stressed that I haven’t taught it in a while and hoping it’s still well-received.
- Right now, I am reorganizing my coaching practice and figuring out what I want the future to look like.
- Right now, I am missing some of my friends and their company and making plans to reach out.
- Right now, I am waiting for some news in the mail that’s making me anxious pretty much constantly.
- Right now, I am listening to Sara Bareilles’ Brave on repeat and thinking about what I might do if I were braver. I want to be brave. Really brave.
- Right now, I am listening to Tara Brach’s wise words. There’s always something new to learn, even when I’ve listened to it again and again.
- Right now, I am loving my kids and my husband so deeply and wanting so badly to be the best version of myself for them all the time. I wish for more patience and so much more kindness. I love them so much.
- Right now, I am looking forward to going to get Nathaniel from school and seeing his face shine when he sees me waiting for him.
- Right now, I’m excited about some happy mail that I know is on its way to me.
- Right now, I am missing my mom and dad and sister and nephews.
- Right now, I am thinking about how to be done with Starbucks. However I can.
- Right now, I am trying to figure out how to fundamentally change the way I eat, the way I look at food, the way I want to live the rest of my life.
- Right now, I am loving the way Nathaniel says human (he pronounces it hooman).
- Right now, I still can’t believe David’s already in third grade. How is it that time is passing so quickly?
- Right now, I am so proud of my husband for how well he’s doing at work and how brave he is.
- Right now, I am tired. I always seem to be so tired.
- Right now, I find myself taking pauses several times a day to say thanks for my life. My imperfect but wonderful-in-so-many-ways life.
- Right now, I am thinking about all the things I’d like to learn and all the places I’d like to visit. I am thinking about making a plan to put both of these in process.
- Right now, I need to clean up my desk. There are several other areas of my house that I’d like to declutter. Where I feel the clutter is contributing to my frustration and nagging me daily.
- Right now, I am really inspired by Diana Nyad.
- Right now, I am thinking of this large gap. And what we all lose because of it.
- Right now, I am thinking about where else in my life I could be doing some clearing. What else needs attention.
- Right now, I am wishing I could be kinder to myself.
- Right now, I know my birthday is coming up and I will be going into the last year of my thirties. I am wondering what that means for me, if anything. What I might like to commit to, think about, shift, aim for, etc for this last year.
- Right now, I am taking Ali’s Hello Story class and loving the stories she’s telling and thinking about whether I’d like to scrap more and whether I’d like to type up my journaling again. About how and where I want to tell our stories.
- Right now, I am attempting to learn how to draw faces. Again. I seem to come back to this one often.
- Rigth now, I am trying to smile more, breathe more, be kinder, and have faith that all is okay.
How about you, what’s on your mind right now?
ps: there’s a giveaway of my class on the my mind’s eye blog today if you’re interested. there’ll be one here in a short while too if I can get my act together 🙂
My goal for 2013 is to make three sketches a week. If I make more, great. If I don’t, that’s ok. Trying to keep the pressure low while still encouraging myself to draw.
So I changed courses a bit this week. I made one new typical sketch and then decided to tackle making faces again. I am not good at drawing faces but I want to be and I am not even sure why. but i do. so here’s where i am right now:
my one sketch:
 .
and a bunch of faces:
 .
 .
 .
 .
 .
 .
 .
that’s it for this week. starting over and learning something new is hard and frustrating but it means there’s a lot of room for growth.
Sketching is a weekly project for 2013. You can see a detailed post on my sketching journey here.
Here’s this week’s gratitudes and celebrations:
Before:
it says: how many times must you do it before you know you can? You get to choose who you are and how you see yourself.
and here’s what the page looks like with all the gratitudes and celebrations:
Just another excuse to create art and remember the present that is my life.
Gratitude Journal is a weekly project for 2013. You can see a detailed post on my goal other details here.
Here are some photos from this week:
Most of this week’s photos are from the kids’ last soccer class for the summer.
usually Jake takes them but I tagged along just to see them and snap some shots.
Nathaniel played by himself during David’s class.
He had a ton of fun.
almost as much as I did taking photos.
David had a blast too.
look at my boys.
with big smiles on their faces.
water break.
cutie faces.
Nathaniel listening to his teacher.
we also went to the Palo Alto Zoo for a little bit.
we saw the bobcats, spiders, bees, snakes and more.
and i snapped photos of course.
little poser, he loves to fake pout.
how is it that I ended up with a blue eyed boy?
then it was family photo time, Nathaniel made us laugh of course.
look at the difference on the right vs left.
finally David gave in, too.
he’s not a fan of being tickled.
and here we go. so grateful for my life. i hope your week was lovely, too.
Weekly Diary is a project for 2013. You can read more about it here.
Before this week’s art here’s the important reminder: Please remember, this is personal and hand-made and thus imperfect. If you want perfect art, do not buy mine. Also one more reminder that these are pretty small. 5.5inches by 5.5inches. That’s about 14×14 centimeters). You will just get the original piece of watercolor paper with my art and signature in the back. No mounting, no frame. I don’t want to misrepresent anything. I will put a paypal button under each (you can pay with credit card or paypal.) the button doesn’t update so you will have to click through to see if it’s sold out. I will try to update them as quickly as I can and remove the button if it’s gone, but just in case. Each piece will be $35. That’s US dollars. If you have questions please leave a comment and I will reply as fast as I can.
With that here’s this week’s art:
it reads: a true friend is a rare treasure.
SixBySix is a weekly project for 2013. You can see a detailed post on my goal and other details here.
I so didn’t fall behind, just on the blog but not in real life. I slightly changed plans when I got back from Turkey and decided to go digital so I can test out my system for next year. Here is this and last week’s page
this one is from the birthday of our friend’s son Nico and swimming with the kids.
and the next one is from Tiburon and Sausalito.
and then i print and put in the album like:
See you next week!
The Savor Project is a weekly project for 2013. You can see a detailed post on my goal and other details here.
I read True Refuge the minute it came out.
I’ve talked about Tara Brach on my blog many many times. Ever since I discovered her a few years ago, I’ve been listening to her talks at least once a week (and often times, several times a week.) so when I read she was publishing a new book, I knew I was going to read it as soon as it came out.
And I did.
There’s just something about Tara’s style and her way of combining personal stories, little jokes and insightful comments with deep thoughts that really speaks to me. I feel like I can listen to her and read her words again and again without ever getting sick of it. (And I learn more and more each time.)
Of course this one is recommended.
My goal for 2013 is to make three sketches a week. If I make more, great. If I don’t, that’s ok. Trying to keep the pressure low while still encouraging myself to draw.
Only two this week:
 .
 .
I’ve begun sketching faces a bit so I can learn how to get better at those. More on those next week.
that’s it for this week.
Sketching is a weekly project for 2013. You can see a detailed post on my sketching journey here.
Here’s this week’s gratitudes and celebrations:
Before:
it says: there is nothing you have to do or be. you are already worthy of love and belonging.
and here’s what the page looks like with all the gratitudes and celebrations:
Just another excuse to create art and remember the present that is my life.
Gratitude Journal is a weekly project for 2013. You can see a detailed post on my goal other details here.
Here are some photos from this week:
I decided I wanted to go to the beach so we all got in the car and drove up to Half Moon Bay.
on the way, we found this locomotive restaurant and decided we had to stop and eat.
they were so nice and even sounded the whistle for Nathaniel.
I took the chance to snap photos.
love this boy so much.
and this one.
daddy was tickling him cause we wanted him to smile more naturally.
lest you think he always likes having his photo taken.
more tickling.
more non-smiley faces.
and finally a smile.
then it was time for the beach.
the boys and I took our shoes off and dipped our toes in the ocean. It was super-cold but also a ton of fun.
it was an unusually warm day and had we been in beach-gear, we could have actually spent the day there and played in the sand but since it’s usually cold and windy at the beaches up here, I thought it would be that way so we overdressed. Next time, we’ll spend a more beach-y day. I love love love being near the ocean.
then it was family photo time.
there was laughter of course.
some smiles.
and a bunch more tickling.
and here we go. so grateful for my life. i hope your week was lovely, too.
Weekly Diary is a project for 2013. You can read more about it here.
Before this week’s art here’s the important reminder: Please remember, this is personal and hand-made and thus imperfect. If you want perfect art, do not buy mine. Also one more reminder that these are pretty small. 5.5inches by 5.5inches. That’s about 14×14 centimeters). You will just get the original piece of watercolor paper with my art and signature in the back. No mounting, no frame. I don’t want to misrepresent anything. I will put a paypal button under each (you can pay with credit card or paypal.) the button doesn’t update so you will have to click through to see if it’s sold out. I will try to update them as quickly as I can and remove the button if it’s gone, but just in case. Each piece will be $35. That’s US dollars. If you have questions please leave a comment and I will reply as fast as I can.
With that here’s this week’s art:
it reads: continue to grow and learn everyday. stay curious.
sold, thank you
SixBySix is a weekly project for 2013. You can see a detailed post on my goal and other details here.
I read Daring Greatly because I love and adore Brené Brown. I have watched her talks, read all her other books, I even had the privilege to bring her to Google as a speaker. As far as I am concerned, the information and the way she delivers it is exactly what I care about, want to have more in my life and want to focus on. She’s amazing.
And this book was no less so. Since i’ve watched and read everything she’s been a part of, one would assume this book would be moot or repetitive.
Not for me.
I think her messages are things that we need to be reminded of again and again. At least I do.
Definitely recommended.
|
projects for twenty twenty-six
projects for twenty twenty-five
projects for twenty twenty-four
projects for twenty twenty-three
projects for twenty twenty-two
projects for twenty twenty-one
projects for twenty nineteen
projects for twenty eighteen
projects from twenty seventeen
monthly projects from previous years
some of my previous projects
|
