Swirly Girl

Live

The new site is up, and that's where you can find me from now on!  If you try the link and my site does not come up, hit refresh on your browser.

Five Things

1.  One of my Etsy favorites is Lacuna Works ~ beautiful handcarved journals.

2.  I recently met Brooke Butler of BodyTalk Tahoe at Trust the Mess, and she treated me to a spur-of-the-moment Reiki session.  Brooke has a gift, and is beautiful inside and out.

3.  If you live near Portsmouth, NH, the Teeny Tiny Art Show opens tomorrow at Three Graces Gallery.

4.  One of my favorite Twitter feeds these days is from The Onion ~ they give me my daily giggle.

5.  My BFF is looking for stories from people who have dealt with the loss of a sibling before the age of 30.  Head to her blog My Red Tutu for more details.

100 Books Project :: Salt Lake City

[Book #67, left in Salt Lake City, Utah by Book Fairy Jenica McKenzie.]

The lovely and amazing Jenica McKenzie handled the Book Fairy duties for Book #67 in Salt Lake City, Utah.  Here's here story:

August 9th, 2010
Salt Lake City, Utah YWCA
 
"As I pondered where to place this special book one of our favorite parks kept coming to mind ~ one in particular where we like to feed the ducks.  But each time I would think to place it, we'd either forget the book or the camera.  A friend suggested the YWCA, pointing out that as much as you and I sometimes struggle to find joy, there are many women who truly struggle just to make it through the day.  And while we can all use a source of encouragement and inspiration, there are some sweet sisters that need it even more than me.  So I decided to place it in the halls of the YWCA and I know the right eyes and hands will soon have it to hold."

Thank you Jenica!

So

So my external hard drive stopped mounting on my desktop computer for no reason a few weeks ago.  It did not fall on the floor, I did not drop a ten pound weight on it (it was six tops*).  It just stopped.

So I emailed the manufacturer and they said, "No problem!  Send it in and we'll either fix it or replace it."

So I sent it in with multiple post-it notes and emails making sure they knew I needed my data to be saved.  I know this sounds crazy, but because it's a hard drive that I use to back up my data, there's actually data stored there that I have, you know, nowhere else.  On the planet.

So a box arrived on my doorstep from the manufacturer with a new hard drive and the "defective drive", pictured above. 

"Hmmm," I thought.

So I plugged in the new hard drive, expecting to see all of my files intact, and excited because, you know, I've been needing these files during the many weeks it has taken to get this issue "resolved."

So the hard drive icon shows up on my desktop and I do the ole double click to open it up and hear the angels sing, and instead I hear...

Crickets.

Empty hard drive.

So I email the manufacturer, using a lot of CAPITAL LETTERS, asking WHERE MY DATA IS.  And I get this:

"I apologize, but the drive was beyond our ability to repair. The failed drive should have been included in the package so that you can look into professional recovery if you choose."

In other words, "We manufacture external hard drives so that computer users like you can back up and store your precious data.  Until the hard drives stop working for no reason, in which case your data is probably toast.  Good luck!"

So I began to panic, and thought about crying.  And screaming.  And throwing a fit.

And then it hit me:  What's the point?

First off, maybe ~ just maybe ~ there is a magician out there who can pull my data off of the "defective drive" and second, if not, what good will a throwing a fit do?

Sometimes fires burn down homes.  Sometimes thieves break into cars and steal belongings (happened to me in Australia.)  Sometimes jewelry is accidentally flushed down toilets and wallets full of cash fall out of pockets.

Sometimes things get lost, and then we have a choice.  Freak out or accept.  Surrender or resist.

Either way, laughter always helps.

* Joking!  Totally joking!

100 Books Project :: Hungary

[Book #63, left in Budapest, Hungary by Book Fairy Livia Kenyeres.]

I am going to send you over to Livia's blog straightaway for her marvelous story of Book #63.  A little sneak peek:

"For the perfectionist in me, it was a great reminder that it doesn’t really matter if things do not turn out as I want them to. Very often – almost always in life – we are only able to connect the dots looking back at our lives and very rarely in advance. Sometimes we have to relax and let life unfold in front of our eyes. I have to learn to believe in my instincts and my inner-self more often and let my rational self loose a bit."  ~Livia Kenyeres

Thank you Livia, for letting this journey unfold in such a gentle, inspiring way!

Click here to see the full 100 Books Gallery.

Transitions

We have had multiple transitions going on in our household this month ~ the very well documented arrival of Tilda, the arrival of two family members who are staying with us as they go through their own transition to Santa Monica from Boulder, the return to my home studio, and the change in venue of my home studio.  My easel, painting supplies, and panels are all in a different room now, which is technically a guest bedroom.  But the room has a lot more light than my "official" home studio and isn't used that often, so I decided it was time to see how it feels to work in a different part of my home, where there is no computer and I can leave whatever mess I make intact when I finish for the day.

Although I am excited about this change, and I feel giddy anytime I step into that room and see my easel next to a big expanse of windows, my time in there will be minimal for a while.  The focus these days is on Tilda, my book, and my website, and in between those projects I still have to manage the usual array of household tasks.  It sounds more hectic than it really is, and everyday I feel a little more settled than the day before with Tilda.  She is teaching me so much ~ about patience, rest, laughter, and being totally present.  In those instances when I want to hand her off to the first person that comes knocking at my door, imagining days far in the future when she won't have razor sharp puppy teeth, I stop and remind myself that she won't be this little for very long.

She still is so small.  As fast as she's growing, and as big as her paws are (!) she is still so small.

Tilda is pulling me closer to the earth, to the day-to-day details of my life.  I decided this past weekend that I would stay off the internet, thinking it would be a challenge.  Instead it turned out to be the loveliest of gifts, for instead of perusing blogs and Twitter, I finished the book I was reading and played with Tilda, and soaked up a quiet weekend with my family.  Already I'm having a hard time imagining what our life was like before she joined us.

“Nothing is secure but life, transition, the energizing spirit.”  ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Our Suffering

"Our suffering comes from the fact that we are attached to the outer form that something assumes in a given instant rather than the movable conversation that stands behind it.  Keeping up with what is occurring rather than lagging and getting caught in things that no longer exist, is one of the the great disciplines of life."  ~David Whyte, The Three Marriages

Sparklette #55

Yesterday evening I was in the backyard playing with Tilda and as I ran across the lawn I slipped and landed flat on my bum.  My first thought was, "Oh no ~ I slipped on POO!" but it turned out to just be wet grass.

And THAT'S how I spell relief:  N-O   D-O-G   P-O-O

Five Things

1.  From MaryJanesandGaloshes, you can shop her beautiful wares here, here, and here!

2.  Head to Amy Krouse Rosenthal's site to share what you DON'T want to do anymore!  

3. Jean Paul Gaultier's designs for Roche Bobois make for a supa-swanky pad, non?

4.  What are you obsessed with?  Share it over at ItsASickness.

5.  Last but not least ~ I'm proud to announce my artwork is featured in Patti Digh's new book Four Word Self Help.  WooHoo!

Disorder

Right now:  Piles of laundry on my kitchen table, counter and chair.  A pile of paper that needs to be sorted through.  A salt shaker, my iPhone, a book, two pens, and a pair of glasses on my kitchen table.  Laundry basket, shoes and trash basket on top of cabinets.  Baby gates blocking one side of the kitchen, four dining room chairs set down sideways to block the other side (two wider gates due to arrive today.) 

I am not comfortable with disorder, don't like the feeling I get when my entire peripheral vision is filled with things, with objects.  I heard through the grapevine that I'm known to keep a very tidy house and it's true.  I laughed out loud when this was shared with me, laughed that it even merited someone's attention enough to pass that little detail of my life around.

I am having to let go of many details of "tidiness" and organization these days, not only in my kitchen but also in our bedroom, where we've moved a rug, a table, two lamps and our bath mats.  I'm having to let go of the deadline I set for the launch of my new website.  I'm having to do my best to ignore all the stories from the 100 Books Project that are sitting on my computer waiting to be posted on this blog.  My work in the studio is over for at least the next 4-6 weeks, and I'm having to sneak in work at home between laundry, dishes, puppy training sessions, puppy visitors, meals and sleep.  Today I let go of trying to be super-human, taking the risk that one person in particular will think very poorly of me.

In other words, the level of disorder and Not Being On Top of Things in my life right now has gone far beyond my comfort zone, and I'm having to choose ~ on a daily basis ~ how to respond to that.  I'm trying to be graceful about it, to choose my battles carefully, and be quiet when I need to.  I want to take this opportunity to shed one more layer of the belief system that I am not enough.

I love to work hard, to inspire, to push myself, to reach and run and take on more than I should.  I love it.  But there is also that line ~ that very thin line ~ between the passion behind my drive and the feeling of "not enough-ness" that has the potential to creep into that journey.  There are all kinds of routines and patterns in my life that have been shattered by a little clumsy four-legged wonder named Tilda, and I'm trying to let her barrel in and dismantle it all, so I can continue learning how to let go, and be enough, and still keep a tidy house.