NaBloPoMo (II)

If I can figure out how to get the NaBloPoMo badge back on my website, I am going to attempt 30 blogs again this month (NOVEMBER!). They will most likely be short, but I want to connect with words again and this commitment is a good way to start.

Gallery Piquel

I went to Gallery Piquel in New Hope. I showed my work to Tamara Cannon, the proprietor and she took 5 of my pieces to sell. I was thrilled. I had no idea that she was looking to take them immediately. I thought she might look at them and say, bring me 5 pieces in April. I am ecstatic, but part of me is terrified. The pieces she took were pieces I was considering putting in Red Raven Gallery in late January. Now I have to come up with replacement pieces in time to get giclee prints done and frames on some of the canvases. It isn't that I doubt my abilities, but I've done some clunkers lately. I need a painting I can feel good about. So, while November was dedicated to blogging and Thanksgiving, December is going to have to be about kicking some writing and art butt! Where does that put the holiday exactly? I am hoping to continue to blog in a regular fashion. I have gained some readers and friends through NaBloPoMo, and I'd like to continue the momentum.

5 Post meme

This one is from Sognatrice. She is retaliating for yesterday. Still it is a worthwhile assignment. Could someone tell me what Meme stands for?

Post 5 links to 5 of your previously written posts. The posts have to relate to the 5 key words given below (family, friend, yourself, your love, anything you like).
Tag 5 other friends to do this meme. Try to tag at least 2 new acquaintances (if not, your current blog buddies will do) so that you get to know them each a little bit better.
Don’t forget to read the archived post and leave comments.I like this meme because it gives me a chance to point out posts that new readers may have missed.
FAMILY:
Wonderful...as in full of wonder This is one of my all-time favorite family posts. I had to dig for it in my old blog because my new blog is less about family life and more about my writing/art life. And this post is seasonal.
FRIEND:
Power of Two This one is hard. I have so many friends with whom I do so many kickin' activities. It is hard to limit. My friends have seen me through childbirth, my marathon, publishing triumphs and woes...everything. I have been with my friends through their major life events, too. I am choosing this blog because it talks about women promoting one another. Two women appear in this blog. One is someone I met 10 years ago, a year after we moved into the development. The other is a friend I have known since I was in first grade. What's that girl scout song? Make new friends and keep the old. One is silver and the other gold.
YOURSELF:
Spiral Theory and Practice This post says a lot about me. At one time I used the name SpiralAmethyst to post on Message boards. This ties into the way I see myself.
YOUR LOVE:
A short untitled post from an anniversary years ago before I actually had a blogging service. Another anniversary post. While I tend to think that love happens best in the moments between celebrations, I think that seeing how we commemorate our anniversaries says a lot about who were are. We aren't about showy displays--nothing contrived. We don't have a tradition. Instead, we take year as it comes and honor where we are and who we are together in that moment.
ANYTHING YOU LIKE:
City Mouse vs. Country Mouse This is a recent post, but I think it sums up how I view the pull the world has on me, and most often it is dichotomous. For every side of me there seems to be an opposite truth. It keeps me in the gray zone. I am always questioning--never black and white.
Now I'm supposed to tag 5 bloggers , but I am preparing for Thanksgiving, so I am asking for some of my readers to tag themselves and put your names in the comment section. I'll add a link to you in the post. Now, I must go see about a table runner and a turkey.
Today I am thankful for Advil. Mark and I are both taking Advil for different afflictions and it is making us nicer people. I forgot yesterday's thankful moment. So I am thankful for neighbors. We have a nice neighborhood where people are friendly and properties are well-groomed, often with seasonal displays. I can call on them for help, and they can call on me. We might not all be bosom buddies, but I bet I could count on most of the people in this 'hood if I really needed help.

Woman to Woman

Yesterday's Woman to Woman event was outstanding. I gave two journaling workshops, and took 4 other workshops, including illuminating the journey (making a spirit candle), Kundalini yoga, Yoga for Emotional Flow, and a workshop on reinterpreting your home decorating.
Can I just say how much I needed this day? The three months following the release of my book have been stressful, in more ways than I can go into on an online blog. And not just book-related. While I don't want to go into all that happened, I will tell you the end result. In an effort to cope with the situations at hand, I negated my own feelings. Because honestly--it just wasn't practical to add them to the mix. Now that the weather is clearing, it is obvious that these repressed feelings need a venue. I was stuck in more ways than one: my art and writing was suffering as well. Through my own journaling classes and the yoga instruction, I think I uncorked myself. Don't imagine me sobbing; it was more of a big popping exhalation.
What I realized is that I really need to connect to spirit; my own and that of the world around me. All kinds of women were at this workshops. All ages, races, ethnicities, sexual orientations. It was a sight to behold. Baby boomers trying belly dancing. Mothers making collages--with nary a child in view. Standing room only in some classrooms as women were clamoring to do something selfishly positive for themselves. I could feel the battle cry! More More! It was palpable.
So I am going to try to continue the spirit of the day. Allow myself to connect to my higher power, my peers, and my emotions. I plan to walk with friends (my first walking date is this morning). I will do more yoga. I wish it was in a studio with others, but I will be content with my home studio for now. I will start up my holiday handwritten journal (I always journal around this time of year to relieve stress). I am going to be making some more collages. AND I am going to be spending less time on the computer. With NaBloPoMo and online Christmas shopping, I got caught up in the swirl of things. And while it was fun, I think it sucked some of the spirit right out of me to be clicking from link to link in an aimless quest for what?

I'll let you know how it goes. I am hoping the process leads me through the fear and back to my art and writing.

November is here!

With all that I have planned for November, I sit here today and wonder what I will be saying to myself on December 1st? Will I have accomplished all I set out to do, or will it be a disappointment like October, riddled with colds and odd deviations to the schedule? Right now I sit next to November like it is a present waiting to be opened. I am idealistic. A palm reader at a Halloween party told me as much. She also said that my idealism can easily turn to cynicism with the world. And yet I turn my cynicism around and embrace each new month. Today I am going to write like crazy, get my walk in, and await the great mysteries. As I have promised to blog (NaBloPoMo) every day, this is a journey I will take with others. As I have also promised to be grateful each day, I think I'll have a better chance of keep the cynic at bay.

So here is my first bit of gratitude: I am thankful for new beginnings and for opportunity.

NaNoWriMo & NaBloPoMo

Now I've done it. It's like at Thanksgiving (my favorite holiday) when you fill your plate with an extreme amount of food and decided to try to eat it all anyway even though you didn't plan ahead and wear your stretchy pants. Whoa, baby, have I ever filled my plate.
I've signed up for National Novel Writing Month and made a commitment to write a novel in November. A 50,000 word commitment. This was brought on by a call I received from my agent last night. I had sent her a bunch of novel possibilities and we plowed through them with her notes. We touched on some reading I should do as examples and now I am chomping at the bit. Nothing like making a 2,000 word a day commitment for November.
Then, on the advise of my dear friend Elena (who the world knows as French Toast Girl), I joined National Blog Posting Month. In this effort, I am trying to gain visibility as an author and get my book out there. For this commitment, I must post once a day in November. (They didn't say how long the posts had to be.) I have also within that commitment, committed to posting a word of gratitude every day. It is the month of Thanksgiving. Did I mention that it is my favorite holiday? Did I mention that I am hosting Thanksgiving.

Goals for November:

1. Blog every day
2. Write a novel
3. Give Thanks every day
4. Host Thanksgiving and supper-go-round for church
5. Watch my husband run a marathon (Spectator! Yeah!)
6. Matron of Honor duties at my best friend's wedding shower (Easy! She is no bridezilla.)
7. Paint a portrait on commission
8. Woman-to-Woman participation
9. Parent/teacher conferences at school
10. Present a workshop at Radiance

December 1st may find me in the fetal position under my desk, but I am going to try to rise to this challenge. I have a week to mentally prepare!