a pretty cute week...

its been a pretty beautifully busy week of taking pictures of some of the cutest subjects possible!
sweet babies, lil' guys lookin' dapper in clothes without grass stains, cute new puppy friends....

i'm a woman of few words this week, so i'll leave you with some cuteness...

blogging outside the box

****I had written the core of this post last week and had yet to finish collecting resources and pressing ‘Publish’ but after reading a few very very very insightful posts yesterday I realized how important it was to me that I finish it, as well as to post things like this more often.****

i like boxes. big fan of them. i like fitting inside one sometimes and sometimes i need to kick their walls down.

it hits home every once in a while that though who i am authentically right here right now is the person i try and share through my blog, but there are bits of me that just don't fit in the box of this artful blogger kinda community. not that i feel like they wouldn't be welcomed by folks who may read my words....cause isn't this whole thing about being authentic and our messy true selves? a big part of how i spend my time is taking pictures, processing them, making art with paint and paper and reading artful books. but another part of my world is of vibrant radical, political yet down to earth movers-and-shakers and folks that live their life outside of the box of what the societal norm is.

so i was thinking about how i craved writing a post in which those parts of myself merged. and i've concluded that i want to share a list of creative inspirations that you probably won't read on many other blog and that you may not come across otherwise. perhaps its because they are queer, or fat, or very political, or very small and grassroots. perhaps its because they don't have the backing of a major label or they haven't been published. then again maybe they have but just don't fit into the norm. or maybe they are just outside the box of this creative blog community.

i want to try and fit outside the box more, color outside the artful lines, as that is really and truly me. And by not sharing the complexities of my world doesn’t serve me or anyone else. Although sometimes I feel quite different than most folks in this artful/creative corner of the blog world, those 3 post have given me the courage to post because things mean a lot to me, not because they might be well received.

The Collective Tarot:
~I just got my lil' hands on this deck recently and I've gotta tell you, they are so wonderful. I'd heard about them, about a group of artists on the west coast that were creating a tarot deck with symbols and archetypes that they felt represented them more, that had ethnic diversity, diverse bodies and better represented the way they walk in this world. I had wondered how this would turn out...would it look like a regular tarot deck? would working with it feel grounding and flow like other decks? yes yes and yes. its wonderful, beautiful and most importantly, magical.

graphic novels and comics:
this is a genre that i hadn't expected myself being drawn to. but lately i keep coming across comics and graphic novels that seriously take my breath away. Fun Home, Everyday Things, Persepholis, Rent Girl and i very much await the day when artist suzy malik (do check out the comic section of her website) and writer zoe whitall bring their graphic novel to the world.

art (i love art):
jennifer mercede. i became deeply smitten with jennifer's art when exploring alberta street in portland. i came home from that trip with my very own painting by her. and there is a gigantic one that i yearn to have on my wall one day. i love her playful, colourful, organic style.
jordan bent. jordan is definitely my favourite local artist. his work is so intense and emotive and quite prolific. plus (and surprisingly) his work is also still somewhat affordable. i'm very excited for the east side culture crawl and getting to visit his studio again. he sells his sketches (there are piles and piles of them) at the crawl and even a simple pen sketch of his is likely to move you.
christy road. i've seen christy's work for years in some anthologies and through sister spit and i can't get over how much i love her black and white images. she doesn't shy away from anything. its all there in her images. total admiration for her.
caroline barrientos. my friend caroline's art takes my breath away. she made me the most beautiful journal and sent it in a hand painted canvas envelope. i can't wait to see what else she will bring to the world.

i've realized as i'm putting this together that this is only just a beginning and i really can't put writing, poetry, fine art, graphic art, photography and music in one post. so i think this is officially part one of my 'resources outside the box' posts!

welcome

happy happy happy

I keep remembering one of my Guru's teachings about happiness. She says that people universally tend to think that happiness is a stroke of luck, something that will maybe descend upon you like fine weather if you're fortunate enough. But that's not how happiness works. Happiness is the consequence of personal effort. You fight for it, strive for it, insist upon it, and sometimes even travel around the world looking for it. You have to participate relentlessly in the manifestation of your own blessings. And once you have achieved a state of happiness, you must never become lax about maintaining it, you must make a mighty effort to keep swimming upward into that happiness forever, to stay afloat on top of it. If you don't you will leak away your innate contentment. It's easy enough to pray when you're in distress but continuing to pray even when your crisis has passed is like a sealing process, helping your soul hold tight to its good attainments.

~elizabeth gilbert (from eat pray love)

i'm re-reading eat pray love and i must say its just as good the second time around. there are so many turned-down corners throughout the book, marking passages that i loved. i get mighty excited when i see one coming, as her nuggets of wisdom (or her guru's or richard from texas' or ketut liyer's) had a really profound effect on my work in creating and maintaining a life in which i am truly happy. there are still things i yearn to have in my life, but i don't want to take for granted that most days i am a mighty happy girl. and so thankful that girl in me is here to stay.

things making me happy right now:
~a preview for a movie i saw today called Happy-Go-Lucky got me real excited for flick that seems to celebrate happiness. looking forward to going to my favourite cinema to see it!
~waking up early and having a lazy start to the morning drinking tea and watching project runway australia on you tube
~a chat with my sister and making plans for a trip to portland next month (i LOVE portland)
~slowly simplifying my belongings. letting go feels wonderful
~working on pics for this months self portrait challenge and reconnecting with being my own model!
~primo cat cuddles and watching them bask in the sun
~the fact that i'm getting my hair cut on monday. i'm in dire need. i always walk taller with a new doo.

hope your weekend is wonderful.

two things of brilliant beauty

~this gorgeous lil' movie from the ever creative christine mason miller. it made me swoon.

~this news from a beautiful soul in australia. i've loved reading about their love through her blog and got all teary reading this!

life in motion

oh geez...i said i was gonna post more often and then took a week off! alas, life has been in motion...going to my dance class, running around after my favourite model as she climbed on top of trains and did aerial stunts on silks, going for walks and playing on swings with friends, swaying and bouncing at work with a lovely newborn baby girl and curling up lots with my kitters.

september is gone? it flew by for me. i didn't meet all my goals, but i did have a darn good month. i've been making lots of effort to connect with the lovely people in my life. coming back from my vacation, i've had a renewed perspective on what riches are already here around me. ever since i've been living here i've felt like i've been searching, searching, searching. it feels mighty good to be here, feet firmly planted and arms open to all that i may have been taking for granted.

here's a lil' glimpse into some of the photographic fun i've been having: