Posted by Susan Bradford on March 22, 2012 under Susan Bradford | 
In early January, I decided that I would make a mandala for each of the four seasons, and that I would complete each one during the actual season it represents.
True to form, I finished the one for Winter on the first day of Spring. OK, so I was one day late, but I think that’s not bad. And the weather cooperated with me totally. Here on Orcas, it was a gray, cool day, with high, howling winds. A perfect day to sit down with a hot cup of tea and, work in the small, tight way that these mandalas demand. A perfect day to finish this project that I have been pondering, doing sketches for, and finally drawing for almost three months.
It was the kind of blustery day I have been longing for all winter. We have had a pretty mild winter, with not enough of the drama that I look forward to so much. No loss of electricity since Thanksgiving. No cancelled plans. No sense of that deep quiet that I count on for renewal. No compelling reason to rest.
It has been a challenge to sit down and find that place of deep winter stillness within myself, and even more of a challenge to figure out what that “looks” like. Isn’t the whole concept of stillness the absence of imagery? How could I make something that is still and visually interesting at the same time? Within that challenge, I got to a place of conditional peace. Within my busy mind, I willed stillness to come to me. I breathed it into my yearning heart. I wanted this mandala to be dark and a little mysterious as I perceive winter to be. But of course, I wanted it also to reflect the promise of light and warmth both inside and outside my true self.
Posted by Susan Bradford on February 9, 2012 under Susan Bradford |
I have been thinking and thinking (probably thinking way too much) about what Stillness looks like. Challenging enough to feel into it, even for an instant. But having decided to do a mandala about it, I am determined to figure out what it may look like. So with a tormented muscle in my right knee and the weather once again rainy and gray, I am slowed down enough to concentrate on Stillness. Can I feel into it enough to see it?
Stillness…the Ah of it…the breath of it…being enclosed in the safety of it…the womb…the softness…nothing too bright…nothing too loud. Quiet, stillness, Ah…. A sense of movement, yes! Something so very dynamic about it.
A sketch. A start? A kind of, maybe, beginning of a start?
Posted by Anita Bondi on February 7, 2012 under Anita Bondi |
I know, I know, I hear it all the time from my clients, “I don’t have time to take care of myself. There is so much to do for the kids, the house, not to mention my full time job.” Today I am offering a Tuesday permission slip to use for yourself. Don’t give it away to someone that really needs it…you really need it! Print out this picture and give it to your 
kids, your partner, your boss, and then, do something nice to yourself. Even if it is just to close your eyes and watch yourself breathe for five minutes. Maybe you can give yourself a bit more time to sit and stare at something beautiful, watching what happens in your body when you do that. Perhaps you are feeling bold and will claim a full hour, or two, and do something that feels completely indulgent (for me, that would be a bath and a magazine!). Feel free to let me know what you do today to TAKE CARE OF YOU. Believe me, you are worth it!
Posted by Susan Bradford on January 26, 2012 under Susan Bradford |
Last Sunday, I was watching football (the Championship games) and knitting, and it occurred to me why knitting is becoming such a positive thing for me to do. I first learned to knit in high school and made a sweater which I never wore. In college, I tried making a vest for a friend of mine, got carried away, and in the end it was so huge that only a member of the Harlem Globetrotters could wear it. So I put my needles away and forgot all about knitting and all other craft-related activities, for that matter.
But now that I make baskets and hang around with all these beautiful women in the San Juan County Textile Guild, I see them knitting all the time – at meetings, on the ferry, at social gatherings, while watching TV. Their hands are always busy, and it has made my hands start to twitch with eagerness to be doing something similar. A friend of mine was knitting a scarf like this, and she said that it was really easy to do, and that I could do it. She was right. I can, and I am doing it. Just like riding a bike, it all came back to me.
So this is why I am liking this process so much. I can take it anywhere. It is a really good way to focus and to concentrate. For this scarf, it is 8-8-6-6-4-4-20. I need to pay attention, but at the same time it is very relaxing. When I am nervous about anything, it is very soothing. I breathe better. Knitting is a good way to hold me in the present moment. I lose myself in the repetition of doing one stitch after another. And I join in the archetypal process of all those knitters who came before me.
Best of all, by the time the Superbowl is over, I will have a fun and whimsical new scarf to wear.
Posted by Marci Molina on December 17, 2011 under Marci Molina |
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balcony view
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rolling fields
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cliffs
I am fortunate that I was able to spend three weeks in England in November. My boyfriend’s mother has a home in a beautiful little town called Padstow in Cornwall, England. This was my forth visit there and this time we went over to work on the 300 year old house … it was a working vacation! I was still able to do my freelance design work and our manual work included scraping, painting, caulking, wallpapering, tiling, grouting, weatherproofing, cleaning, plastering, roofing, repairing, cementing, etc.. We even managed to go for a walk or jog almost every day. I am smitten with the variety of beauty in the landscape including the rolling farmland, ocean views, steep rock cliffs, sandy beaches, and flowers blooming everywhere (even in November).
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