Airhead or Sieve?

Have you ever had one of THOSE weeks? The kind of week where you wonder if your brain decided to take a vacation and forgot to tell you? My week certainly started out that way.

Whenever I have one of those days or weeks, I hear Thomas Dolby singing “She’s an airhead” or “My brain is like a sieve; sometimes it’s easier to forget.”

Is this what being in one’s 40’s is like? You walk into a room, stand there, and say to yourself “I know I came in here for something.” Then you proceed to stand there for a minute; you stare at the wall, you stare at the furniture; maybe you look at your hands and scratch your head.

And sure enough, as soon as you walk out of that room, BANG, what you remember what you were looking for.

“My brain is like a sieve…”

Sometimes you’re talking to someone. They ask a simple question that requires a simple answer. But you begin by presenting two possible answers to the question, debate them to yourself, maybe explain why you gave two possible answers and then decide on the best answer.

In the meantime this person is looking at you and politely nodding his/her head.

“Cause she’s an airhead…”

A friend once told to wait until I hit my 50’s. If I think I have some-timers and brain farts now, well, well…

I guess in your 40’s you start to gently slough off your brain cells but in your 50’s…WHAM-O.

I know it is nothing to really worry about. It is all a part of that process they call, gulp, aging. I’ll probably forget about it anyways.

Bats in the Belfry

Last summer we had a mouse that built a nest in our BBQ several times. One time I opened the cabinet doors on the BBQ and found a toad sitting inside the doorframe. We’ve even found a toad clinging to the inside of the patio table umbrella.

But a bat was the last animal I expected to find this summer.

As Eric started to open the umbrella, something caught his eye. There was a bat clinging to the inside of the umbrella! The little guy appeared sleepy and not quite sure what was happening. He moved around a bit, climbed to the top of the umbrella and settled back in.

Obviously we had awakened him.

Obviously he thought it too early (and too bright) to leave his quiet abode. He stared at us briefly and then tucked his head back into his wings.

We finished preparing our dinner on the BBQ and ate inside the house.

After dark, Eric went back outside to check on LB (little bat) and to remove him from the umbrella. But LB was a smart little bat and he’d already left for his nightly adventure.

Eric closed the umbrella tightly and secured it with a tie.

Ah nature. Simply fascinating.

Whoever said…

…that art is glamorous hasn’t used a buffing wheel.

Goggles, a mask, and thou… (and I hate those little fuzzies inside the mask.)

Lets see your “art isn’t glamorous” shots. Take a picture of yourself working on your art, on the less glamorous aspect of art, post it on your blog and link back to this post. I’ll share your links in a follow-up post.

Tuesday’s Business

With a second year of blogging now underway, I decided to start a weekly post about business. Specifically, running a small business as a self-employed artist. Perhaps I’ll share some information that is new to you, perhaps I’ll put a different spin on information that may be familiar to you. Either way, I hope you’ll enjoy reading about the business aspect of a self-employed artist.

If you’re thinking of pursuing your art as a business, I hope what I share won’t keep you from pursuing that dream. I remember a friend once telling me not to let my hobby become a business. Why? Because then you take all the fun out of it. I don’t agree with that statement in its entirety. Yes, turning your art into a business can be a challenge but if you love what you do then you can still have fun while doing it.

These next few posts will be a series on writing a business plan. Or, as I’m starting to call it, the putting your DREAM INTO ACTION (DIA) plan. That doesn’t sound quite as intimidating as BUSINESS PLAN.

So why write a business plan? Well, I’ve asked myself that question for several years. I’ve run my business for almost five years without one. And I’ve found that this is fairly common for most artists. We want to create our art and not deal with the marketing, the planning, the goal setting. Because once you start doing that…well then it becomes a business.

Well, if you’re selling your art, you’re running a business on some level.

I admit that business plans can be intimidating buggers; especially when you see one in its finished form with its executive summary, market analysis, mission statement, strategies, financial plan, and benchmarks. But presentation is all about semantics.

Think about your business plan or your DIA plan as a series of goals, both long term and short term. Think about it in terms of your market; where do you want to sell your art and who are you selling to? Think of it in terms of your competition; who is your competition and how do you compare to them? Think of it in terms of finances; how much money do you want to make over a set period of time and how are you going to do it?

These are the topics or sections that I’ll share with you over the next few weeks. As I work on my DIA plan, I’ll share it with you.

Here are some resources that are helping me get started:

The Small Business Administration

A sample business plan for a decorative pottery business

Alyson Stanfield’s Art Biz Coach and Art Marketing Connection (also known as Art Salon)

Quotable Monday

Spirituality is about paying attention to your life;
always asking in every moment,
“What can I learn from this?”

-Oprah

Don’t Worry, Be Happy

Here is a little song I wrote
You might want to sing it note for note
Don’t worry, be happy
In every life we have some trouble
When you worry, you make it double
Don’t worry, be happy…

It has been 20 years since Bobby McFerrin first sang those words. I remember when I first heard the song. It was cute and quaint.

And then I got really tired of it.

I thought, how can anyone take such a positive attitude to life?

A lot can change in 20 years.

In the time since McFerrin first sang those words there have been numerous studies and reports on happiness.

Happiness is a right

Happiness can be taught

Happiness can be mapped

For most of us, happiness is conditional.

If I get that promotion, I’ll be happy.

If I get that new car, I’ll be happy.

If I had a million dollars, I’d be happy.

If I make that sale, I’ll be happy.

If s/he asks me out, I’ll be happy.

In reality, we only have one choice in life: Do I want to be happy or don’t I want to be happy?

That’s it. No ifs, ands, or buts, and no conditions because when we put conditions on our happiness, we are saying that we’d like to be happy, but not if I don’t get that promotion, the new car, the million dollars, or the sale.

Happiness is under our control. And I’m sure most of us would answer “yes” to the question “Do you want to be happy?”

In other words, “Do you want to be happy from this point forward for the rest of your life, regardless of what happens?”

Well, yes…
…as long as the market doesn’t crash
…or my car doesn’t crap out on me
…or

Without condition; any condition you put on your happiness will limit your happiness.

But I don’t have control over those things.

Face it; you can’t control things and keep them the way you want them.

It has taken me several years to finally get that through my head. There are things I can control and things I cannot control. Granted, when things are going well, it is easy to be happy. But when life gets difficult, it isn’t so easy.

Are you willing to break your vow of happiness because certain events took place?

We flew down to Philadelphia last month. On the way to the airport we received word that our flight was delayed. So we decided to take our time and have an early dinner while waiting at the airport. And then our flight was delayed again. Now we were concerned we might be late for the family gathering. This delay routine continued a few more times due to weather conditions. All flights were being held from entering Philly airspace because of summer storms. There was nothing we could do about it. And there was a silver-lining in all of this.

Our flight should have left around 4pm. Another flight to Philly on the same airline was to leave at 5:30pm.

That flight boarded and pushed away from the gate.

And had to sit on the tarmac until given permission to take off.

I couldn’t complain about the delays because we were in the airport…with food and drink…and bathrooms…and air conditioning.

Don’t worry, be happy

Our purpose in life is to enjoy and learn from our experiences. We weren’t put on earth to suffer. And we don’t help anybody by being miserable.

There are two facts in life: we were born and we will die. How we spend our time between those two events is our choice.

There is this little song I wrote
I hope you learn it note for note
Like good little children
Don’t worry, be happy
Listen to what I say
In your life expect some trouble
But when you worry
You make it double
Don’t worry, be happy…
Don’t worry, don’t do it, be happy
Put a smile on your face
Don’t bring everybody down like this
Don’t worry, it will soon pass
Whatever it is
Don’t worry, be happy

Quotable Monday

You can’t accomplish anything worthwhile if you inhibit yourself.  If life teaches you nothing else, know this for sure: when you get the chance, go for it.

-Oprah

Happy First Anniversary!

It seems like only a short time ago I wrote my first post on this blog and here it is, 7/1/08, and I’m celebrating my first blog anniversary!

When I started my blog, the intent was to share my thoughts on inspiration and creativity, to share what inspires me, and to share images of new work. Little did I know that my blog would promote that and much more. Having a blog has put me in contact with people across the United States and around the world. It has definitely made the world feel much smaller.

Admittedly there are days when I don’t know what to write and days when I can’t get the words out fast enough. I originally intended to write five times a week. In setting such expectations I inadvertently created more stress for myself (we humans are so good at setting high expectations, sometimes unrealistically). Eventually I allowed myself to post as often as possible and to not feel too bad if I hit a writing drought (which is what I’ve been feeling these past few weeks.)

So thank you to everyone who visits my blog and to everyone who leaves a comment. It is nice to know that something I wrote or a picture I posted touched you in some way.

And just for fun, here are some stats for what has transpired over this past year on Musings from the Moonroom.

Number of Posts: 209
Categories: 53
Tags: 415
Comments: 452

Top Posts
Book Review: 500 Handmade Dolls
Stone Cairns: The Beauty of Balance
Chakra Energy Angels: The Group
Show Economics
Willow Art

Most popular link that visitors click on the blog: Moonroom Crafts

Most popular search terms: John McQueen, Chakra, Art Dolls, 500 Handmade Dolls, and Stone Cairns

Busiest Day: 6/3/2008 (335 visits)

Top Referrers: (Thank you for linking to my blog)
libzoid.net/blog
moonroomcrafts.com
judydunn.blogspot.com/index.html
rubarbdesertdesigns.blogspot.com
wouldbewise.wordpress.com

Gardening: A Practice in Acceptance

Within 72 hours or so of posting about gardening as a spiritual practice, I learned that gardening is also a practice in acceptance when Eric commented “Someone has been eating our hostas.”

Sure enough, a young female deer had foraged through the garden bed closest to the house and did serious damage to the once large hosta plants. I thought of my friend Carol who recently moved into a house that is much closer to wildlife. Carol commented (to paraphrase) what is it about deer? Do they pick and choose what they eat? Do they skip a plant because they’re full? I mean, they eat a little here, a little there, don’t touch that plant over there.

Such is the irony of deer and so it was with our hostas. This deer de-nuded a couple hostas and left some leaves attached to others. My first reaction was “hummph” and I silently berated myself for not spraying the deer repellent on the hostas.

The next evening Pippin spotted our now named “Lady Hosta” deer. Again she was munching the hosta. I banged on the window, which got her attention and caused her to look at me quizzically. So there we were, me in the house telling Lady Hosta through the window glass that I did not appreciate her eating my hosta and that I’d like her to leave the garden, and Lady Hosta staring at me with those doe eyes glancing at the nearby sedums with their newly formed buds, and looking like she wasn’t quite sure which way to move.

A few more pounds on the window and the front door and Lady Hosta took the hint and off she ran through the front yard into the woods.

This is not our first encounter with the neighborhood deer. We’ve been acquainted with them for several seasons, throughout the year. I think I’ve counted up to six at one time in various positions around the house. Usually we have mom and the yearlings. Once I kept Eric from leaving the house because mom and baby were wandering through a large bed at the end of our property. The fawn was nosing and nibbling through the bed and mom was standing guard. It was too precious of a scene to disturb.

Another time mom and a couple kids were sauntering through the yard. The young male decided to inspect the vinca near the house. I happened to look out the family room window and there was the little guy. I must’ve said something that attracted his attention because his head popped up from the plants. It was then that I noticed his tiny antler buds and said “Oh you’ve got little antlers” while raising my hands to my head (imitating the antlers). The hand movements must’ve scared him because he bolted straight out of the garden bed. Or he was completely insulted by my antler imitation and he ran to his mom to tell her of the strange human on the other side of the glass.

We knew that once we planted our gardens we were likely to attract wildlife. In some ways that was our intent. We wanted the bumble bees, the hummingbirds, and the dragonflies, the goldfinches and robins and butterflies. Eventually the call must’ve gone out; “these guys have a salad bar here and it is open 24/7.”

I love my garden and I love the animals it attracts, the birds, the deer, the rabbits, the chipmunks and snakes, and mice, and insects. I’m not always happy with the damage that they inflict and it is up to me to put down the preventatives or put up a barrier or put out a trap or to surround those plants the deer like with plants that are less to their liking. Sometimes I’m lazy about it and don’t act until after-the-fact.

Some people I know get angry about the deer and other wildlife. Personally, I don’t think that accomplishes very much. After all, we’re the ones who have moved into their neighborhoods here in the rural areas and countryside. I believe accepting that this is their habitat and living in co-existence is a better approach; at least that works for me.

For me gardening is not just a spiritual practice reinforcing our connection to the earth, it is teaching me acceptance as well.

On Friday, 6/20, NPR’s On Point with Tom Ashbrook had a wonderful interview with author and professor Robert Pogue Harrison on The Gardening Art, a history of our love affair with gardening. Read more about it and listen here

Milagro Spirit Icons: The Heart

Milagros is Spanish for Miracle. In Folk Art, Milagros are talismans against illness, trouble and pain. They are symbols of hope or dreams; a promise made or fulfilled.

I became intrigued with Milagros during our trip to Santa Fe, New Mexico in September, 2007. The Milagros I purchased during that trip became the inspiration for this series of icons.

Today I present the Heart Milagro Spirit Icon. The heart Milagro represents love, healing, and gratitude. It is the most common image offered at shrines. Unlike our heart valentine, traditional heart Milagros are anatomically correct; some even have blood vessels coursing across the front. A heart Milagro may bring you a healthy heart, and may bring passion to your life and to the love you have for another.

The Heart Milagro Spirit Icon is approximately 10″ tall. His halo is a hammered bottle cap with a patina finish. The Milagro can be removed and worn on a necklace or bracelet. The Blessing Bottle holds prayer or wish.