Letting Go and Holding On

"All the art of living lies in a fine mingling of
letting go and holding on".
~Havelock Ellis









Letting Go by Melanie Banayat

Available as:
- Giclee Print
- Notecard


















Holding On by Melanie Banayat

Available as:
Notecard




MiliGirl Note Cards make unique gifts for women. Find and send the perfect "Just Because" greeting card at the MiliGirl Collection online store.

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Letting Go and Holding On

Nursing Mothers

Quiet Time 36" x 36" oil on canvas by Melanie Banayat
Click on image

Recently I’ve received several emails and comments about my ‘nursing mother’ images – all of which were very positive. Hooray!!!!!


When I began painting these images I knew that some people would be uncomfortable with them, but I also knew that there would be a good number of people that would celebrate them (both women & men). I must say that I was a bit surprised that some gallery owners/managers didn’t feel comfortable exhibiting them. Hmmm?


Savoring Life 36" x 36" oil on canvas by Melanie Banayat
click on image

I will continue to paint more of these images in hopes to some day find a gallery (or some venue) that would be willing to exhibit these lovely images together and make them the focus of the exhibition.


Mother & Child 36" x 36"
oil on canvas by Melanie Banayat
click on image

My opinion is that anybody offended by breastfeeding is staring too hard. ~David Allen

Nursing does not diminish the beauty of a woman's breasts; it enhances their charm by making them look lived in and happy. ~Robert A. Heinlein

There are three reasons for breast-feeding: the milk is always at the right temperature; it comes in attractive containers; and the cat can't get it. ~Irena Chalmers

A baby nursing at a mother's breast... is an undeniable affirmation of our rootedness in nature. ~David Suzuki

Breastfeeding is a mother's gift to herself, her baby and the earth. ~Pamela K. Wiggins

Nursing Mothers

Fortune of the Day

La Siesta by Melanie Banayat

"Your small gift will mean so much to someone today"


"The greatest gift is a portion of thyself."
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

The best gift you can give is a hug: one size fits all and no one ever minds if you return it.

Fortune of the Day

Is the glass Half Full or Half Empty?

"Half" 36" x 36" oil on canvas by Melanie Banayat

A few years ago when I was driving in my car listening to a talk radio station there was a story about a church that started a project to put an end to complaining. The idea was to order one of those stretchy bracelets from their church, place it on your wrist and every time you complain about something you were suppose to switch the bracelet to your other wrist. This was meant to bring attention to how often we complain about things throughout each day. The ultimate goal was to see if you could go for 21 days straight without complaining about anything – being that it supposedly takes 21 days to break a bad habit.

The talk radio program received a lot of calls. Some people thought it was a great idea, others felt it was pointless, or they pointed out that complaining was a form of release & relief from stress.

Anyway, it got me thinking about how people view their lives – half full or half empty. I began to wonder how I could create an image on a painting that would pose such a question “How do you view your life – half full or half empty?”

It wasn’t long after that when I came across a beautiful piece of artwork – a clay pot with irregular shaped holes throughout. It was visually intriguing, but I do remember thinking to myself, “this pot is not a very practical vessel now is it?” The vision of that vessel stayed in my mind for a long time for some reason. After a while it dawned on me that this was the answer for my painting. The body is a vessel! Is the glass half full or half empty?!?! That’s it. This is how I will expose what’s inside the vessel.

At my art exhibitions some people look at ‘Half’ and are immediately put off by it. They make comments such as, “Eeeew, that’s creepy!” Or “Oh! I can’t look at that!” It gives them the heebee jeebeez, and they don’t want to know anything about it. While others are drawn to the painting; they seek to learn more about it. I often wonder what’s going on in the minds of the people who are put off by it, but they scurry off so quickly that I never have the chance to ask them.

I enjoy telling people about the meaning behind this painting, because it brings forth a lot of ‘Ahhhhs’. The painting is a good reminder to me to put things into perspective when life becomes overwhelming at times.

“Is the glass half full, or half empty? It depends on whether you're pouring, or drinking.”
- Bill Cosby

Researchers have discovered that pessimistic people are socially rejected because individuals feel that pessimists are hopeless, sad, and depressed - Hewleg-Larson et al., 2002

"Feeling is the language of the soul" — Neale Donald Walsc


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Is the glass Half Full or Half Empty?

Sedona Arts Festival - the day after

What is the only job where you can be wrong 100% of the time and still keep your job?

Answer: Weather Reporter

The forecast was 30% chance of rain Saturday & Sunday in Sedona. No mention of wind. Here’s what actually happened.

Early Saturday morning as I was driving into Sedona to get ready for the Sedona Arts Festival the sky looked ominous. As I made my way through all the white top tents on the field I could here the artists attempting to shun away the oncoming change in weather by talking positively – I joined in on the rally – why not? “Oh I think it’s just going to pass us right up.” But it wasn’t hard to see through to the doubt. Things went well during the morning hours of the show. The sun was shining between the heavy, darkened clouds. Some people were dressed for 100-degree weather in tank tops, shorts and sandals. Then suddenly it hit us – a crazy wind out of left field. You could see the sea of tents rising, shaking, and leaning hard to one side. I ran to grab a corner post of my tent and Greg grabbed another. The wind was catching my 4-foot awning and lifting the canopy. Two of my paintings began swirling. I reached over to hold them down, but they wanted to take off like kites. I looked at the other artists around me who were struggling to hold down their tents as well. Art was falling, and breaking all around. I glanced inside my tent as my greeting card rack fell to the ground, brochures and business cards taking flight, and then the hard rain joined in on the fun pelting us at just the right angle to get everything wet inside. It lasted about 10 minutes – it felt more like an hour. The wind finally died down enough to take down the awnings and zip up the tent.

What a mess.

The festival quickly became a ghost town, so we cleaned things up and then decided to go have a margarita! Hah! Hah!

Sunday was perfect weather! The day was bursting with sunshine and blue skies all around, comfortable temperature, tons of people, and good sales.

What a crazy business.

If you are looking for something to be brave about consider fine arts.
- Robert Frost

There is little chance that meteorologists can solve the mysteries of weather until they gain an understanding of the mutual attraction of rain and weekends. ~Arnot Sheppard

The trouble with weather forecasting is that it's right too often for us to ignore it and wrong too often for us to rely on it. ~Patrick Young

Weather is a great metaphor for life - sometimes it's good, sometimes it's bad, and there's nothing much you can do about it but carry an umbrella. ~Pepper Giardino


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Sedona Arts Festival - the day after

Bed of Flowers

NEW. Bed of Flowers 36" x 36" oil on canvas by Melanie Banayat

Giving Yourself What You Did Not Get From Your Parents

‘Bed of Flowers’ is one of my more Ethereal looking pieces.

The inspiration behind Bed of Flowers comes from the many stories I’ve heard from adults who are grown children of parents whose parenting skills fell short of perfect, which pretty much fits most people’s childhood experiences.

I know that sounds pretty deep – like "lying on the sofa talking to a therapist deep".

Fact is children are dependent little buggers, they depend on their parent(s) to feed them, cloth them, and take care of all of their basic needs to sustain their life. But it doesn’t stop there. Children look to their parent(s) for more than just their basic needs. They pine for their approval and acceptance. They watch so closely studying how their parents walk through life until one day they find themselves “all grown up”, but still feeling like that little child “pining”.

A therapist once told me that as an adult ‘I’ can give to myself what my parents weren’t able to give me. That sounded sort of strange and funny. It took experiencing a number of years as a parent myself to understand what she meant.

Thank goodness as a parent I can admit I’m not perfect! I’m so glad I can admit that! Perfection is too high of an expectation for anyone. There is simply no way that I can give my children everything they need and want from me, because I’m still learning “how to be” in this world myself. When they become adults they will continue to grow, change, need and want, and they will have to get much of what they need and want from others, or they too will have to learn how to give themselves what they need and want (emotionally, physically, spiritually, financially, etc.). Hopefully they will seek for mentors that inspire them, and surround themselves with the type of people that feed their spirit, lift their souls, and encourage them in just they right way that helps them become the happiest person they can be. More importantly, I hope they will be willing to surrender any pain that I may have been part of in their life and hand that burden over to their Heavenly Father – as often as necessary.

‘Bed of Flowers’ is a sweet piece that represents the parent child relationship. We know that there is so much life to live ahead of the little baby and already she is looking at her mother, admiring her, watching her so closely. And the mother, so young, still growing and learning along the way.


It's not only children who grow. Parents do too. As much as we watch to see what our children do with their lives, they are watching us to see what we do with ours. I can't tell my children to reach for the sun. All I can do is reach for it, myself.
~Joyce Maynard

You don't really understand human nature unless you know why a child on a merry-go-round will wave at his parents every time around - and why his parents will always wave back.
~William D. Tammeus

Before I got married I had six theories about bringing up children; now I have six children, and no theories.
~John Wilmot

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Bed of Flowers

Trusting Your Instincts

Click on 'Letting Go' note card

“Creativity comes from trust. Trust your instincts.
And never hope more than you work.”

- Rita Mae Brown

Over the course of this past year, ever since I created my MiliGirl Collection note cards, the following three questions have been coming at me quite a bit . . .

“Melanie, why did you decide to create a line a note cards using your artwork?” Why not just print ‘Art Cards’ with no written messages on them, because your art is so beautiful in and of itself that it doesn’t need words?” Aren’t you afraid of competing with yourself against your ‘Fine Art?”

Click on 'When A Woman Flies' note card

For years I have gone against my instincts when I took heed to the logic, reasoning, and fears of others who tried to influence my life in the direction they felt my life should go. Ultimately it was always my own decision to deny my personal instincts by allowing myself to be influenced to go in a different direction. In doing so I found myself involved in many things that were un-natural for me, stressful (in a bad way), and my spirit was in pain – I often found myself saying, “I feel like I’m drowning”. Though I am truly grateful for those experiences because I learned more about myself - these days I am trying to do better at paying closer attention to my 'personal ' natural instincts.

The decision to create the note cards came after I returned from my hiatus in Mexico when I transitioned my life after my divorce. First, I felt a need to try to make some important, though simple, needed changes in my everyday life in order to improve the quality of my life and my kid’s lives. Simple things like doing things that I love – things that I feel instinctually drawn to. For instance, I love dancing, because it is a natural expression of who I am and it brings me great joy. Yet, for almost 20 years I didn’t dance because neither my first husband nor my second husband danced. It was like a huge void in my life. Now I get it - when you trust your instincts, you're trusting your heart. It’s a way of celebrating who you are.

Click on 'Latina Baila' note card

The desire and the need to address female issues in my note cards, regarding self-esteem and trusting your instincts, is something that grew from my own personal experiences in life. These note cards offer a way for me to awaken dreamers, who are stuck in the dream stage, so they may move forth in following their true path and radiate light from their very core.

Click on 'Holding On' note card

Through my note cards it’s a simple way to reach many people in quiet, yet affective ways. Not shouting, “Change! Improve! Fix!”, instead, softly sending a message into a soul, “You are an amazing being…let love into your heart, and into your mind; let yourself trust and love who you are -- that is where peace & joy in the world begins.”

I also find that note cards are a great tool to rouse communication and conversation, so that we can come to understand the common threads between us, and become active toward bringing forth thought and reaching out to others one person at a time. We may never know how far our small efforts reach in exponential factors - we just have to trust that the process works.

Trust your own instinct. Your mistakes might as well be your own, instead of someone else's. ~Billy Wilder

Trust your hunches. They're usually based on facts filed away just below the conscious level. ~Joyce Brothers

Intuition is a spiritual faculty and does not explain, but simply points the way.
~Florence Scovel Shinn

(I especially liked this quote! LOL!)
An artist's instinct is more refined than the typical mortal's.
~Holden Rinehart

Now - here is a little 'ad' about my MiliGirl Collection Product line:
These 'anytime' cards are prefect to send to any woman in your life! Friend, Girl Friend, Mother, Daughter, Wife, Co-worker, or the Woman you just met who could use some encouragement. The cards are sold individually and in gift sets.

The MiliGirl Collection is growing. Soon (very soon!) there will be an entire line of MiliGirl Collection eco-friendly, organic gift products that compliment the MiliGirl note cards. All of the products are based around lifting the spirit and relaxing the soul. The Products include: All natural soy based candles, natural handmade olive oil soap bars, organic handcrafted candy drops, and MiliGirl ‘Eco-Chic’ re-usable canvas tote bags.

I like the way things are shaping up around here!

Trusting Your Instincts

Fortune of the Day

Fortune of the Day:
"How fortunate: "You are free to invent your life."

When looking for simple things in life that bring us joy I think of things like a smile, a hug, or receiving a card in the mail. I love that kind of stuff! Call me corny, I don’t mind; I’ve been called worse things.

I’m the type of person that looks forward to opening those little pieces of paper that come out of the funny shaped cookies that we get at Chinese restaurants at the end of a meal, that we know are not true, and yet, in a lot of cases, we wish that they were!

After eating the cookie we sometimes save our favorite ones. We put them in our wallets, pin them to our bulletin boards, tape them to our computers, or hang them on the refrigerator door. They can predict the mundane or the outrageous, and chances are they are funny as all get out (especially if you add the words ‘in bed’ to the end of the phrase).

Definition of Fortune: often a hypothetical, personified force or power that favorably or unfavorably governs the events of one's life:
a. fortunes: The turns of luck in the course of one's life.
b. Success, especially when at least partially resulting from luck:
c. A person's condition or standing in life determined by material possessions or financial wealth:
d. Extensive amounts of material possessions or money; wealth.
e. A large sum of money:
f. Fate; destiny
g. A foretelling of one's destiny.


Here are a few fortunes that I’ve saved…



Do you have a favorite fortune that you've saved?

Fortune of the Day

Finding the Right Words

"Sometimes finding the right words can be like finding the key that opens the prison door."

Words are Powerful - Very Powerful!

Some people are never short of words. Some people seem to have a plethora of interesting and intellectual words that spill from their mouth as easily as stating their name. I’m amazed and dumbfounded by the natural gift that some people posses. Some have a gift with words in profound and poetic ways, while others have a gift of slighting and damaging souls with just a few choice phrases.

I am not so gifted. Yet, I am determined. I have been searching and searching for years (YEARS!) for the right words to describe certain experiences and events that happened to me in my past, yet time and time again my pages have been left with gargantuan blank spaces. I simply could not conjure the elusive words.

While doing some research for a book that I’m writing I came across an abundance of helpful information. Words! I found magical, wonderful, fruitful words that have brought about answers to my half drowned soul.

Isn’t it incredible when you put the energy out to do something and you receive a response? I’m on cloud nine! The prison door has been opened. It’s true that the right words can set your soul free.

Finding the Right Words

The Road Less Traveled

Pondering

When I reached a major turning point in my life well into adulthood I remember being completely anticipatory about trudging on especially after many years of living under an oppressive thumb -- I felt like a teenager getting a taste of freedom from my parents for the first time. I was cautioned by a number of well meaning people that I need to remember I will also have to face the consequences of my choices, so choose wisely.

Those words began to haunt me over and over again in my mind. I pondered upon these words of caution for many months. I began to worry about making wrong decisions. I was moved to investigate further this “Pondering” process in order rid myself of this growing fear.


That’s when I painted “Pondering.” For me, painting is a form of meditation, yet not always a peaceful one. Often times painting is an intense, and exhausting process. I engage my thoughts – “what am I trying to convey with this image?”, and these thoughts stick with me the entire painting session.

When I finished painting ‘Pondering’ I felt like the process taught me something very valuable. I will never REALLY know what my choice is until I have lived it.

“There are two kinds of teachers: the kind that fill you with so much quail shot that you can’t move, and the kind that just gives you a little prod behind and you jump to the skies.” – Robert Frost

Life is difficult. This is a great truth, one of the greatest truths. It is a great truth because once we truly see this truth, we transcend it. Once we truly know that life is difficult - once we truly understand and accept it - then life is no longer difficult. Because once it is accepted, the fact that life is difficult no longer matters. - M. Scott Peck

The Road Not Taken (The Road Less Traveled)
By Robert Frost

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

The Road Less Traveled

Miniature Series

It's the Little Things That Matter

'Kiss' by Melanie Banayat
Available as a limited edition giclee print

Sometimes artists need to change things up a little to add some spice to their routine, and sometimes they need to change things up out of necessity. Lately I’ve had requests for more note card designs, which is exciting to me. However, most of my original artwork is created in a semi-large scale, which takes a lot more time to create. I have a long list of ideas for note cards just waiting to come to life. I often wish I could create as fast as the ideas come to my mind. Wouldn’t that be a trip!

So in order to address this issue I’ve decided to work on a series of smaller scale originals. The side benefit for my customers is that I will soon have some smaller scale original artworks available, which is going to be a first for both me and my customers. I’m looking forward to exhibiting some of the works from my miniature series during the up coming fall art festival season.

"To do something, however small, to make others happier and better, is the highest ambition, the most elevating hope, which can inspire a human being" - John Lubbock

If you cannot do great things, do small things in a great way." - Napoleon Hill

We cannot all do great things, but we can do small things with great love.! - Mother Teresa

'Quiet Time' 36" x 36" original oil on canvas
by Melanie Banayat

_________________________________________________

Miniature Series

The Wall

It was bound to happen at some point . . .

Given her
magic carpet . .

she set out
on her journey
to save the world.

I’ve been going like gangbusters for about a year and a half, and I must say it’s been quite a ride. I had a rhythm going. What I didn't realize was that the rhythm was ticktock, ticktock, like a time bomb. Then last week it happened. Boom! I hit a wall. Smack! I sort of saw it comin’, but I thought if I just tried slowing down a little I could get past it -- no such luck. I hit it anyway. My boss (me) hasn’t given me a day off in a long time, so I guess this was forced upon me. Exhaustion. Since last Thursday I’ve been feeling blue, and I felt like I just needed to let loose of something – but what? So on Mother’s Day I rented a chick flick, “PS - I love you” and had a good cry. It felt sooooo good to just cry for some reason. I wasn’t really sad about anything, or angry, or anything like that. I must have been holding my breath without realizing it. “Breathe, Melanie, Breathe!!! TAKE A DAY OFF!”

How could I let it get this bad? I’m usually such an advocate for self-care, but seems that I left myself out of that equation over the past several months.

Note to self: move “time off” to top of priority list!

“Sometimes it's important to work for that pot of gold. But other times it's essential to take time off and to make sure that your most important decision in the day simply consists of choosing which color to slide down on the rainbow.” - Douglas Pagels

“Burnout is nature's way of telling you, you've been going through the motions your soul has departed; you're a zombie, a member of the walking dead, a sleepwalker. False optimism is like administrating stimulants to an exhausted nervous system.” - Sam Keen

_____________________________________________________

The Wall

S A B O T A G E !

Labeled 36" x 36" oil on canvas by Melanie Banayat
Regarding the verbal labels we pick up along our journey,
and how they stick to us like ugly scars.

The “Imposter Syndrome”

"Words are a form of action, capable of influencing change."
- Ingrid Bengis (writer/educator)

Recently I’ve been noticing a great number of people that I’ve come in contact with lately seem to be suffering from something called, the Imposter Syndrome. I recognize it because I suffered with a pretty bad case of it myself for many years. It affected every part of my life from my work to my relationships. And now that I’m in the thick of the Art Industry, in my observation, this syndrome seems to be fairly common among “Creative Types”.

The Imposter Syndrome was identified back in 1978 by psychology professor Pauline Clance and psychologist Suzanne Imes. They basically discovered that many of their high achieving, successful female clients appeared unable to internalize their accomplishments. Even though there was proof of their intelligence and abilities through their academic excellence, degrees, recognition, promotions and the like they routinely dismissed them. Instead, they would attribute their success to more happenstance means such as contacts, luck, timing, perseverance, personality, or otherwise having "fooled" others into thinking they were smarter and more capable than they "knew" themselves to be.

Low self-esteem is somewhat different than imposter feelings, because there is a variance between the actual achievement and the person’s feelings about the achievement that are likely not present in low self-esteem. As much as thirty percent of the population, including people in different professions who are recognized in their fields, such as teachers, people in social sciences, artists, famous people, live under a constant cloud that they are scamming others. They persist in feeling that they are generally getting away with something that they don't deserve. It was originally associated with women but recent research indicates that men suffer in similar numbers. Surprisingly even Michelangelo Buonarroti was plagued with such thoughts.




Michelangelo (1475-1564), Italian painter, sculptor, architect, and poet.










"The imposter syndrome limits how high people can go."
(Prof. P. R. Clance)

"I was very embarrassed when my canvases began to fetch high prices. I saw myself condemned to a future of nothing but masterpieces."
(Henri Matisse)

I first noticed these symptoms in myself in my mid twenties, when I began to achieve some success in business as a graphic designer and an art director for a children’s magazine. I was college educated with a 3.8 GPA, trained in graphic design, and my skills as an artist were strong, therefore, I clearly got the job based my abilities, skills, and intellect. My job reflected it, my paycheck reflected it, and the personal property that I began to acquire reflected it. Yet the entire time I felt that I didn’t deserve any of it; I felt I was just a big fake trying to pull off some big scam. “You’ve heard the term, “Fake it until you make it.” Well, I believed that I was simply faking it all the time and never getting to the “I’ve made it” part. Even years later when my marriage, business, and family life were all thriving, and I was living a very comfortable life in a beautiful home, with a private art studio located on top of a hill with an amazing view of the Cascade Mountains “blah, blah, blah, blah, blah" -– basically I had a life that other’s envied and desired, yet I often felt I didn’t deserve it.

In retrospect I can recall so many instances where I sabotaged my chances to exhibit my fine art, or to follow through with a potential sale because I simply couldn’t let myself believe that my work was as good as family and friends were telling me it was. I feared that if I made a sale there would be an expectation for more of the same, and I was sure I couldn’t live up to it. So for years I painted and painted and kept my work hidden from the public eye where it was safely stored in my studio or hung on the walls in my own house. Maybe some highly influential art collector would happen to come by my house and “discover” me, take all of my work to some world class art gallery in New York for me, they would sell it and send me chunky checks, and I would never have to face the public or work at marketing myself or my art. Yeah!

Chameleon 36" x 36" oil on canvas by Melanie Banayat
Regarding the many masks or faces we must wear in life to survive.

It took some pretty intense self-reflection over about a two-year period of time for me to address this “Imposter Syndrome” in my life, which included moving away to a foreign country for six months and consistently catching myself using words and thoughts that brought on self-doubt, and angst. I basically took advantage of a turning point in my life, after my divorce, to make a concerted effort to address this debilitating and destructive syndrome. It was not easy, but I discovered that the more I opened up to others and developed the ability to separate my feelings from the facts really helped. I had to take inventory of my accomplishments objectively. And whenever a trusted friend paid me a compliment I learned to smile, and graciously say, “Thank you”. Then I would let myself believe it, and take it to heart, instead of doing what I normally did – discount it.

All too often many new artists who try to cross over from hobby artist to professional artist will attribute any early success to luck. This is typical of the imposter syndrome. SABOTAGE!

Just last week I ran into a talented photographer/artist friend, Bruce, at Wal-Mart and told him about a new art group I was forming and asked him if he would be interested in joining. He replied that he was stuck in the "Starving Artist Mentality" right now and was looking to find a new career – he was headed off to the local college to see what else he could do with his life. His comments sounded familiar to me, because his words were self-defeating and full of sabotage. My heart goes out to him, because I know he loves his craft, yet I knew there was really nothing I could say to him at that point that would convince him to at least keep getting his work placed in galleries, and stay involved in the art community. It saddens me to see artists fall away from something they are passionate about. I believe that when we use too many “negative words” like "poverty, hardship, pessimistic, depression, low status, ill, dead" it piles up like dirty laundry and sets us up for a self-fulfilling prophesy. I know this, because I used those words regularly to describe my life.

For me, anyway, I find that confidence has more to do with momentum. My “inner Isis” likes action. She is attracted to it and finds it far more intruiging than when I’m apathetic, keeping myself distracted, or when I’m all “talk” and no “do”.

Isis is the mother goddess of Egypt.

She is associated with mothering and fertility
and therefore a goddess of creation.
She is also a powerful magician.

She is the protector of children.
Ask her to protect your children, living or not,
and she will hold them in her arms
and enfold you in her wings of love and peace.

I also had a conversation with another artist friend (mixed media artist) on the phone a few days ago, where she was in a panic about her career as an artist. She had a list of questions and concerns for me about what I’m doing with my art business. I did my best to share with her how I have approached things. She seemed a bit in awe that I was so confident and knowledgeable. The fact is, she is equally as competent, and intelligent. She’s college educated, has a great deal of enthusiasm, speaks two languages fluently, and her artwork is fantastic (and it’s selling!). In fact just a few weeks ago we both participated in an art show where our booths were right next to each other. She came up to me at one point during the show and said, "lets make a pact, we will each sell $500 worth of art by the end of the day!" Within an hour she met that goal. She was all smiles from ear to ear! She could hardly believe it happened like that. Then about an hour and 1/2 before the end of the show she was so full of positive energy that she said, "Ok, let's make a new pact, a revised pact, we will each sell $1,000 by the end of the day." Guess what? She met her goal! She was beside herself in awe! Now that's what I call synergy! She sent me an email the next day after we spoke on the phone and said she felt much better now that she did herself a favor and gave herself an attitude adjustment. Good for her!

"The happiest of all lives is a busy solitude"
- Voltaire

"The greatest discovery of my generation is that a human being can alter his life by altering the attitudes of his mind."
(William James)

S A B O T A G E !

Green, Red, Blue, Yellow

Think green

Love Red

Feel Blue

Shine Yellow

Green, Red, Blue, Yellow

Pillow Talk – “a” solution

“An inconvenience is an unrecognized opportunity.” - Confucius

Affirmations are more powerful than I ever imagined.

Like so many people, I too, had to learn to undo (or replace) a lot of verbal scars from my past. You know, all the useless, emotional crap that we cling to – usually unconsciously. The stuff that turns us supposed mature adults into little, reactive children.

I had an art instructor in college who approached art from an interesting perspective. He taught that a piece of art was simply a problem that we found a solution for. There are no ‘set solutions’ to the problem (unlike mathematics). Nevertheless, as artists, it was our responsibility to find a solution. I liked this idea of having no set solutions, just ‘a’ solution that worked. When I realized that I had reached a point in my life where my palette had been wiped clean and my life was a blank canvas I saw that I had an opportunity in front of me to finally take responsibility for my pain and self-care and find solutions to so many of my problems. Several years ago when I was part of a support group the group moderator brought a small book to class, and she would read one short excerpt from the book at the beginning of each session. The book is called, “The Language of letting Go” by Melody Beattie. It’s a book of affirmations – and daily meditations. Now, mind you, I was NOT the “affirmation type of person” who walked around saying things like, “I am beautiful”, and “I can do this”. I, personally, would feel silly doing that. But what I did do was go out and buy a copy of the book for myself. And every night when I climbed into bed I would read one of the daily excerpts, then I would lay and ponder about how my life reflected each of the “un” truths that were brought to light. It was what I termed, my “Pillow Talk”. The book became my personal twelve-step program toward recovery and reinventing myself. I never would have thought that a simple little book like this would be such a powerful tool in my life. But it was simply “a” solution.

There is another wonderful book that I read years ago called, “The Artist’s Way” by Julia Cameron, which I would highly recommend for anyone who is searching for a solution to their problem. I personally incorporated the “Artist Dates” from this book into my monthly routine. In the beginning I really had to force myself to do it, and I didn’t want to do it alone either. But now it’s just part of my life that needs no real effort.

Pillow Talk – “a” solution

Transition

Reminiscing

As I’ve continued to search through old pictures to use in my blog some of the pictures put me into a melancholy mood, remembering some of the events, and people I met along the way, and the smells, and sounds that I experienced.

I came across these pictures (below) when I worked for an event production company. It was during a major transitional period for me. I can talk (or write) about it now with a sense of resolve. Now I feel like I have something to offer from that experience.

“Disenchantment, whether it is a minor disappointment or a major shock, is the signal that things are moving into transition in our lives.”
William Bridges

"They say that time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself."
Andy Warhol

"It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change."
Charles Darwin

Transition

Today's Quote - Age

It matters more what's in a woman's face than what's on it.
Claudette Colbert, actor

Live each moment as if your hair was on fire!
Suzzanah B. Troy, artist

Age is something that doesn't matter, unless you are a cheese.
Billie Burke, actor

Today's Quote - Age

Life - Determination

"When we sit down day after day and keep grinding, something mysterious starts to happen... Unseen forces enlist in our cause; serendipity reinforces our purpose."
(Steven Pressfield)


One day as I was walking through the village in picturesque Ajijic, Mexico I walked right next to this gorgeous cat (gato) – almost brushing up against her with my shoulder, because the sidewalks are barely wide enough for one person. She never even acknowledged my presence; she was hyper focused on her goal (the bird perched at the top of the bars that covered the window just a few feet above her). I quickly pulled out my camera.








Later on when I looked closely at the pictures on my computer I couldn’t help but think how we humans can be much the same in our pursuit of something that we want “really, really bad”.

Sometimes we can be a bit “Obsessive Compulsive” about it. But I suppose that's what it takes -- even if only for a period of time.

I know of no more encouraging fact than the unquestionable ability of man to elevate his life by conscious endeavor.
(Henry David Thoreau)

"However depressed I may be I am not in the habit of giving up a project without having tried everything, even the 'impossible', to gain my end."
(Paul Gauguin)
















The miracle, or the power, that elevates the few is to be found in their industry, application, and perseverance under the prompting of a brave, determined spirit.
(Mark Twain)

Life - Determination

Life - Diet & Exercise

It would be far easier to lose weight permanently if replacement parts weren't so handy in the refrigerator. ~Hugh Allen

I’d like to be able to blame my recent weight gain on something like a medical issue so that at least I would have a really good reason to have sympathy for myself on this matter. Truth be told, I ate the food, and too much of it. And….I didn’t exercise enough! There. I said it. The ugly, painful, but honest truth.

So here I go again. Back on the track of taking better care of myself. Over the weekend I had to go buy myself some new exercise clothes, because I couldn’t fit into the ones I already have – well, I suppose I could squeeze myself into them, but the moment I did my first sit up I’m sure I would rip a hole the size of Texas in the hind end.

Hopefully in a few months I’ll be feeling and looking a whole lot better. At least I know I'm not alone . . .

Never eat more than you can lift. ~Miss Piggy

I've been on a constant diet for the last two decades. I've lost a total of 789 pounds. By all accounts, I should be hanging from a charm bracelet. ~Erma Bombeck

I have to exercise in the morning before my brain figures out what I'm doing. ~Marsha Doble

Aerobics: a series of strenuous exercises which help convert fats, sugars, and starches into aches, pains, and cramps.
~Author Unknown

Life - Diet & Exercise

Today's Quote - Enthusiasm

Color in a picture is like enthusiasm in life. (Vincent van Gogh)

Today's Quote - Enthusiasm