DAILY OM

Sharing what I received in my daily OM today. It's wonderful how the universe reaches out when you need yo hear or read words vital to your spirit.

September 25, 2007 Sharing Grief Opening To Receive Comfort When we experience something that causes us to feel shock and sadness, we may feel the urge to withdraw from life. It may seem like remaining withdrawn will keep us protected from the world, but during these times it is important to reach out to those trusted and precious people who care about us the most. Even with our best information and reasoning, we never know when someone else's experience or perspective can give us additional information that we need. The universe speaks to us through many channels, and when we open ourselves up to receive its messages, we also receive nurturing care from a loving partner in life's journey. Grief is part of the human experience, and sharing our vulnerability is what creates truly close bonds in our relationships. Opening ourselves up in this way gets to the core of our being, past all of our defenses and prejudices. When life seems to crack the outer shell of our world, we are both raw and fresh at the same time. It is then that we discover who is truly willing to walk with us through life. We also see that some of those sent to us may not be the ones we expected to see. Regardless, we learn to trust in the universe, in others, in our own strength and resilience, and in the wisdom of life itself. Sharing grief allows us to ease our burden by letting someone else help carry it. This helps us process our own inner thoughts and feelings through the filter of a trusted and beloved someone. We may feel guilty or selfish, as if we are unloading on someone who has their own challenges. Although, if we think about it, we know we would do the same for them, and their protests would seem pointless. Remember that not sharing feelings with others denies them the opportunity to feel. We may be the messenger sent by the universe for their benefit, and it is on this mission that we have been sent. By sharing our hopes and fears, joys and pains with another person, we accept the universe's gifts of wisdom and loving care. So, thank you, to so very many of you friends here who have reached out with your loving comments here on the blog, with private e-mails (even in the midst of your own enormous heartaches), with phone calls when I was truly falling apart, with cards that touch my heart, with beautiful art created with genuine love and affection. I am just so blessed to be surrounded by loving family and circle of friends that even when you struggled with what to say or do....you did not hesitate, not one second. The reflection of this terrible loss and unmeasurable grief is an outpouring of love and generosity that is truly beautiful.

NOTES FROM THE NEST

It's been a reflective weekend
A journaling weekend
sprinkled with a tiny bit of creativity.

Kitty and I have spent some quality time together. She has calmed down a bit
since being spayed and is also growing by leaps and bounds.

She is looking so mature and beautiful at almost 5 and a half months
and a wee bit over 5 lbs. and what you cannot see here
is how shiny her coat is.

I'm teaching her tricks now. The first one we are working on is
sitting and giving me her paw

WITHOUT BITING ME!

It's been about a week now and she is catching on very quickly.
Her treat is dried ahi tuna bits
and she seems to realize it's a small thing to do
for a mighty tasty treat.

MEMORIES

When my sister, Jenny and her children fled in April, they were able to hide successfully for almost a month through the efforts of a shelter for abused women and children.
We knew after a few days through authorities that they were alive, but I would not be able to speak to her for almost a month.
That is how deep "underground" these women and children have to go.

They fled with very little, but felt so rich and so free for the first time in many years.
I am so grateful to the shelter for their help and assistance during this time. It was the happiest Jenny and the children had been in a very, very long time.

Jenny felt like the butterfly.
The years of struggle, the life of the caterpillar were now over and the new chapter was beginning.
She was afraid, but so hopeful.
~~~~
In creating a piece for a collaborative I am doing with eleven others for a 2008 calendar, I thought of Jenny and her butterflies.
This piece just flowed.
The verse is from a card that someone very close to me gave me many years ago as I was leaving my comfort zone and heading out to an uncharted life, unfamiliar territory, and somewhat scary.

My page for 2008 will be the month of September.
The child image is from Paper Whimsy. (sheet #133)
Using paints, inks, colored pencils, a gel medium transfer of a music sheet
and a touch of free hand painting with a vine of roses.


"Memories"

In the evening,
when every
sound
lies sleeping,
when all
the doors
are shut
and the soul
is open...
memories,
like quiet
visitors,
arrive.

~

I would like to share two things with you today.

The first is this beautiful angel and some words of Buddha.

The second is a fabulous word..
How I love finding, collecting, and writing new words.


I hope both add something special to your day.

Hatred ever kills, love never dies; such is the vast difference between the two.
What is obtained by love is retained for all time.
What is obtained by hatred proves
a burden in reality for it increases hatred.

~Buddha

~~~~~~~

and my fabulous word:

LYSOZYME

AN ENZYME OCCURRING NATURALLY IN TEARS THAT IS CAPABLE OF DESTROYING THE CELL WALLS OF CERTAIN BACTERIA AND THUS ACTING AS A MILD ANTISEPTIC.

My dear friends,

I want to thank you all from the depths of my heart for your e-mails
and comments here.

Words of comfort and encouragement go a very long way when you find yourself
in the midst of a dark, dark time.

Today I feel a stirring of hope,
a shred of peace,
and a huge amount of love.

Love FROM..
and FOR ..

the many people in my life
and those, also, in JennyWren's life,
and the lives of her children she fought so hard to protect.

And where there is love,
there IS
hope,
there IS
peace.

This is JennyWren with David who is now 15 and Jessica who is now 21. Emily would not arrive for a few years.

UNBEARABLE SORROW

There is so much to wrap my brain around, but nothing seems to erase or even dull the screaming in my head. The vivid visions of the brutality my sister endured at the end,
the sound of her voice as she most assuredly pleaded for her life.



Creating has always been soothing.
Bits and pieces of art that I can immerse myself in and forget the world outside for a while.

I am home now.

The comfort of my nest is not as welcoming as I hoped it would be because

everything
has
changed.

But for an hour or so on the plane ride home, I opened up the little plastic baby wipe box that held a tiny page of text, book marks cut from mixed media papers I had made long ago that awaited artwork coverings, pencil, stamped images.


I had packed this in my suitcase as I hurried to Connecticut to my grieving family. Somewhere in my brain was a small voice that spoke at the right time.

Somewhere the creative soul cried out to be a source of comfort during a time of unbearable loss.

So,
In the air over my childhood home
as I left behind the horror of the senseless murder of my little sister, and the shattered lives................
I pulled out the little purple box.

From the 1/4 page of text I carefully ripped out words and arranged them on a bookmark that I had always felt was too dark.
It seemed an odd piece of mixed media that I had created a few years ago and yet never discarded. Dark with gold.
This time I immediately chose this one bookmark. Adding to it a butterfly in sepia.
Another piece that I had not been wild about as it lacked color.

In a few minutes I was holding a finished piece.

'SORROW'