Posted by Anita Bondi on February 16, 2010 under Anita Bondi | 
In the InterPlay Inspiration Deck, Grace says that she wants to be found. Today is a day that I need Grace. She wears red so that she is easier to see in the crowd. This morning the crowd is inside of my head. There seems to be a cacophony of voices a bit too loud to really hear what any one of them is actually saying. This is making my chest feel a bit tight and I notice that my breathing is also somewhat labored. Why? Hard to say. I am doing Debbie Ford’s , 21 day Consciousness Cleanse, and today is about giving up the old agreements that are keeping us stuck. That could be it?
Then there is the fact that it is approaching the end of February and the next phase of “the card deck project” is not really underway. Sure I have done a few things, but not enough to get something going in the wholesale market. That could be it?
There is also the way that an artist has to be self-motivated and find some structure in her days. When to eat, exercise, write, research the next step, make stuff, and most importantly, make space for the inspiration. This could be it?
A female cardinal has just landed at the bird feeder right outside the window where I am sitting and writing. She is a beautiful red-orange with a brilliant yellow-red beak. Her head feathers are bouncing up and down and she bobs for her breakfast. She is in one sense calm and in another on edge, ready to fly at any moment. I wonder if she has come to find me? If she is my Grace? I do not hear the other voices in my head right now and I notice that I have finally exhaled. This is it.
Posted by muz4now on January 25, 2010 under Anita Bondi |
Stan’s niece wrote and said that she pulled the card “HOLD IT LOOSELY AND LIGHTLY” and really needed that message yesterday. She is having a great time using the InterPlay Inspiration Deck which is making me realize even more the power of it as a daily practice. Whether you know InterPlay or not, these round cards are a way to get more out of your day, every day!
For me, this message to remember to hold things loosely and lightly is so important. I am SO NOT a technology person and the whole world operating on Facebook, Twitter, blogging, etc. is not really comfortable for me. Comfortable is this easy chair that I am sitting in right now. My morning coffee by my side, my dog curled up in my lap, the heavy rain and wind providing an awesome background for this Monday morning. Discomfort for me is the way I cannot figure out how to write this post directly into the blog, cannot figure out how to “tweet” people on a regular enough basis so that I would get hundreds of followers like my friend, Gretchen, and my complete inability to post things with pictures on Facebook or any other techy tool like that.
AHHHH, taking a breath as that was quite a long sentence.
That is what lack of comfort feels like in my body: one huge run on sentence!
So, for this moment, I borrow the Hold it Loosely and Lightly card, I grab my tight focuser and release it from my tight knit brow, take one long slow deep breath, and I exhale twice as long.
The wind and rain have stopped. Another Monday miracle reveals itself to me!
Angel Messenger: Hold It Loosely & Lightly
Tags: Anita Bondi, breathe, card, cards, circle, deck, InterPlay Inspiration Deck, muse, round, round card, Stan Stewart
Posted by Stan Stewart (Sawyer) on January 19, 2010 under Stan Stewart |
“There must be some kind of way out of here.”
Once again I’m sitting in my office wondering what the hell I’m doing here. Are you starting to see a pattern here? Don’t get me wrong: it’s not that I hate the work I do. I like making technology work.
“Too much confusion. I can’t get no relief.”
Trouble is that I see “making it work” from an incredibly idealistic vantage point. And I attach urgency to getting it working. In my original neurosis around this urgency, I left no room for genuine creativity and play.
“No reason to get excited…”
It’s taken me almost 30 years to transform this stressed out approach to my job into one that’s merely over-serious. To those of you who are easy-going, this will seem like no great feat.
Easy Focus round card from the InterPlay Inspiration Deck
“There are many here among us
That feel that life is but a joke”
To me, it was nearly insurmountable. Even after many years working and playing through this, I frequently have to remind myself about what’s really important. And none of it turns out to be “stuff.” In the end, I value my own well-being and my relationships the most. Easy to forget. Easy to remember.
“But you and I we’ve been through that
And this is not our fate”
Yeah. I get it. The call to easy focus really is … well, easy. Of course, today was my day to draw the Easy Focus card from Anita Bondi’s InterPlay Inspiration Deck. Go figure. The Deck knows me almost as well as I know myself!
“So let us not talk falsely now
The hour is getting late”
Is it ever too late to wake up to valuing what’s really valuable? No. But, the sooner and more often I wake up to it, the more time I have to enjoy it.
“Outside in the cold distance…”
I’m headed for some enjoyment now!
(Thanks to Bob Dylan for the still-relevant All Along the Watch Tower.)
Tags: Anita Bondi, card, cards, deck, easy focus, friend, InterPlay, InterPlay Inspiration Deck, muse, play, playful, relationship, round, round card, Stan Stewart
Posted by Anita Bondi on December 2, 2009 under Anita Bondi |
…..here’s a comment from an incredible teacher of improvisation….Chery Cutler of Listening Unlimited…….
Dear Anita,
Just needed to get back to you once I had a chance to study your little gift. What a treasure trove! Because they are labeled in such vivid ways, ideas from the deck – soft focus, babbling etc. – spontaneously pop to mind in the midst of my day to guide and inspire, like friends. This project was clearly a labor of love on your part to capture and convey useful, healing ideas in ways that stick in memory, enabling them to effectually enter daily life through application. And that’s the name of the game in the end – living it!!
What is all the more wonderful is to have witnessed you and Stan embodying these directives among us so successfully – for years. Thank you for this joyful, enticing, practical gift!
Love,
Chery
Posted by Stan Stewart (Sawyer) on November 18, 2009 under Stan Stewart |
There is so much in my “art world” to be excited about right now. Mandala Design Works has three shows coming up. Two in Pennsylvania and one in Seattle! Wellspring East annual holiday show and Lelavision shows take place the weekend of December 4-5. Mudworks Dutot show starts the weekend before that and continues for three weekends. I’ll be playing live, improvised music at various times at the Dutot on the two December weekends. Hope you’ll drop by to have a look and a listen.
At all three of those shows you can see and buy our inspirational jewelry, mandalas, photos, music CDs and other handmade artwork. Each artist has new material since our last show and some of these are not up on the web site. Given the custom nature of handstamped jewelry and personal mandalas, this may be your only chance to see these pieces of art.
Meanwhile, Anita has released The InterPlay Inspiration Deck. These 21 round cards are a testament to her incredible creative talent. Each one has a word or phrase (an InterPlay principle) to inspire your moment. Of course, that’s not all. The word on the card is illustrated with an ingenious colorful picture on one side and imaginative story on the other. You will be inspired by this deck. I’m not just saying that. I keep a deck at work and it’s been an inspirational life-saver. Stories coming here soon.
For today, I drew the card for Practice with the great story about the goddess who “knows what is best for you … She knows that to change your life, you just need to change your practice.” I don’t know about you, but I need to be reminded about the stuff I already know. Thanks for the reminder, Anita. It’s great to get these reminders with a picture, a color, a story and the tangible, tactile sensations of the card in my hand.
So, check out Anita’s new InterPlay Inspiration Deck and come see our art at an upcoming show.
Bless you. Bless me.
InterPlay Inspiration Deck on my desk with the Practice card drawn
Tags: Anita Bondi, art, artist, cards, deck, improv, improvisation, improvised, inspiration, InterPlay, InterPlay Inspiration Deck, jewelry, muse, music, show, Stan Stewart
