Create with Kim!

On this Wednesday Jamie Ridler asks her viewers, “What do you wish to attract?

And I joyously cheer …

C-H-A-N-G-E!

A-B-U-D-A-N-C-E!

S-U-S-T-A-I-N-A-B-L-E Living!

H-O-P-E!

It is a leap year month, and there is something about the 29-days in February that inspires me to break out of the norm and shake-up my existence with a little extra creative movement.

In February, I seek color. Blue Ice. Blue Sky. Pink Hearts. Brilliant orange of sunrise. Floating waves of the Northern Lights. A barn with billowing snow drifts and crisp sky on a country road.

Today, I stopped by the Zero Degree Artist Gallery on 3rd Street in Marquette, Michigan. I wanted to treat myself to some local art and buy a couple of gifts for Valentine’s Day. I am a participating artist at Zero Degrees and I really enjoy the space. Each artist brings a unique vision.

One of the changes I want to manifest this year is more art in my life! More time to develop art, learn new mediums, expand my knowledge of photography, and add new products. I want to pop off the 2D-Land of wall-art and  into objects with purpose and play.

Artist Melissa Hronkin

I want to become sustainable, work for myself, increase my abundance and livelihood with my own joyful pursuits.

Today I was inspired by Melissa Hronkin and her “Bee the Change” shirts. I’ve been meaning to purchase one. I like having positive mantras and focal points in my surroundings and on my being.

Melissa is a wonderful artist and works with beeswax as both a bee-keeper and artist. She does wonderful encaustic art, greeting cards, re-purposed tee-shirts and more.

Bee the Change!

I have been trying to hop outta my box like it is a bad-thing, this box=bad box? But then inspired by Melissa I began to think of my box as a hive. Where my mind has been busy. Working. Forming, sweetness.

Stay tuned as I take flight and share sweetness!

Artist Melissa Hronkin

After yesterday’s Wishcasting Wednesday post I was able to get the courage to register for my race. Then I felt a click! I felt rooted.

I’ve been letting the wrong people have power in my life–The naysayers who question and judge what I am about.

I much rather be in the company of people who smile and say DO IT! I love positive people.

I spent today getting rooted.

1. Proper rest, 9+ hours.
2. Attended a gentle and restorative yoga class.
3. Shopped at a resale store for beauty & colorful clothing.
4. Purchased a red shirt–root chakra color :-)
5. Roasted potatoes, golden beets and carrots.
6. Spent the day in quiet stillness, homemaking.
7. Worked on the next full-moon vision board by paging thru magazines and gathering images that inspired me.

I am prepared to make the changes in my life for me to succeed in a life of health, wealth, and beauty.

The roasted veggies started with six small golden beets which I peeled and quartered. 4 Medium sized red potatoes. A heaping handful of baby carrots. 1 onion. Minced garlic and ginger. And fresh snipped flat-leaf parsley. I tossed it all in extra virgin olive oil and roasted slow in a 350 degree oven. I should have broiled them a bit at the end to brown them up some, but they were delicious and needed no salt. The ginger was zippy and the minced garlic crunchy goodness.

Each Wednesday, I participate in a gathering of women who believe in making wishes and taking steps to achieve their desires. This week Jamie asks, What do you wish for your health & wellness?

I’ve set many goals and some I feel were such a stretch that I cannot possible make it to the goal. I want to believe. But I have fears that I cannot physically get there with my body, health, and my “diagnosis.”

I start to feel strong and then another setback comes in, and another. And the hurdles seem taller and taller.

Within the space of 5-days I was glutened twice (Celiac). I missed a week of exercise and a week of physical therapy. The arthritis in the ball of my right foot screams at me as I change my footfalls to a forefoot landing (heel striker). My knee and hip feel strong running 1 mile.

My goal is to run 13.1 miles on Grand Island. I need to register for the event. I need to do so, now.

I worry what people think. I worry what I think. I worry that I may be throwing my entry fee and an extra ferry pass out the window. (want Mike to come with me)

I try to bolster my faith and my self-esteem by saying the woman in the picture who is smiling ran a 10K (1 day prior) on a tough and highly technical trail. That the woman was once afraid of heights and is in a lighthouse, outside, high-up, leaning on the railing with wind blowing. That woman ran a race with a taped-knee and then hiked waterfalls going down stairs backwards (knee pain after race) because she is determined to enjoy life.

Today, (6-months after the photo was taken) I look in the mirror and I am fearful.

I want courage. I need stamina. I need to eat clean. Drop 10-20 pounds. I need to take my recovery seriously. I need to run that race. I will run that race. I will run that race. I will run that race.

My wish is that I continue to grow strong in body, mind and spirit so I can reach for my dreams and goals.

This week on Wishcating Wednesday with Jamie Ridler she asks, “If you listen closely, what wish do you hear?”

January 18th is my birthday, or as one of my friends said today the day my body met my soul. I turned 48 years-young today. And I started this new year trying to refocus on me, honoring my health, and recomitting to changing my life path. I want to focus more on the creative aspects of my life.

I did not plan anything for this day and what pulled me the most was my camera and the out-of-doors. I am drawn by textures and lines. A certain angle of light that offers hope and a sense of healing.

I took 5-days off work to listen to my soul. To follow inspiration. Clear clutter. Welcome what unfolds. And today I walked on a path with no footsteps. Just paw-prints from a squirrel.

On Monday night, I attened my first formal meditation class. I have decided to take my focus inward. To silence the mind that jumps a subject a second and s-l-o-w-d-o-w-n.

I wish to heal my body, mind, and rejoin my soul with purpose.

I wish to build a life of healing, inspiring others, and connect with the natural world.

This year I’m once again participating in the Creative Every Day Challenge with Leah Piken Kolidas  and others! I will do occasional blog posts and you can track my progress  by peeking into my Flickr Set.

Last year, I pushed my art further than I have in the past. But this year I’m hoping to explore new mediums. Learn skills with my new camera, a Canon EOS T3i. And to return to writing both poetry and nonfiction. I will be developing new products for the Zero Degrees Gallery and looking for new venues in which to show my creations. I hope to develop a photography website. Seek publication of a chapbook. And so much more!

I already signed up to make a Spirit Bowl with Ann Russ here in Marquette, Michigan. This will be a two-day workshop in February where participants will make a hand-formed pottery bowl.

Magnets of my photography were my best-selling product in 2011. I tried to jump-start my blogs, but stalled over and over again. I want to make a blog related goal or resolution but I am seeking clarity in this regard. The studio will be cleaned and many things filtered out to friends,a nd to resell shops as I need to clear space and refresh the energy in my upstairs creation zone.

How do you maintain focus? I wonder if I am s-t-r-e-t-c-h-i-n-g myself too far? But these artful challenges help me come back to goals through-out the year. They also connect me with the work of others who create there worlds.

Here is one of 2012′s early photos from my new camera, a scene from Founder’s Landing  in Marquette, Michigan.

Full Moon Board -- January, Wolf Moon

Last night as I gazed out my windows I watched the moon rise full over my year. I knew at 2 a.m. it would officially be the full moon and I could not wait for Jamie’s prompt to start my board. Instead I dove in cutting, trimming, gathering the images that have spoken to me since the New Moon. There were colors, printed papers and textures that called out. By 9 p.m.  my board was complete.

I was eager to hear if Jamie’s prompt would fit my collage.

Jamie Ridler asks us this month,

“What are you hungry for under this Full Wolf Moon? The wolf reminds us to connect to our hunger, to notice what desires are calling for our attention. Our dreamboards can help us bring these desires to light and to being! This is an invitation to not just notice our desires but to begin the important work of tending them, stepping into what we can do to honour what we know of our dreams. What a beautiful way to begin the year.”

The Full Wolf Moon asks: “What are you hungry for?”

The interpretation of my board–>

I am hungry for adventure. Big City and Bright Lights. To go further. I dream of a BRIGHT FUTURE! One where Kim’s rules for living are a guiding factor. One of fitness and enthusiasm. One inspired by the things I love. I am in need of great views that spur my fitness and my photography. The word ULTIMATE is bold! I used yellow-gold textured paper, tropical foliage, and brown polka-dots. So along with these city lights from a big city are natural elements, textures, and colors. My earthy nature is present, yet I am being drawn toward something new, fast, sparkling! I am fit, free, and looking forward with gusto!

Now I get to take steps toward creating this future. I will be keeping this year’s vision boards in the same Strathmore Windpower Drawing pad, it is made from 30% post-consumer fiber and acid free. The pad is spiral bound, 11×14 sheets, and 80 pound weight. The product is made regionally by a company in the neighboring state of Wisconsin. This is my first time starting the practice at the beginning of the year with the intent of completing a collage every month on the full moon.

I am working on living an authentic and full life that is powered and inspired by guiding visions and artful endeavours.

Next New Moon: January 23
Next Full Moon: Feb 7 The Full Snow Moon

The next new moon is on my youngest son’s birthday and the next full moon is on my daughter’s birthday. I am anticipating a very powerful moon dreamboard to come of this time.

I love Wednesdays for the focus that arises from Jamie Ridler’s prompts.  This week she asks viewers, “What is your greatest wish?”

My focus has concentrated on healing and making energetic shifts. I’m making steps to rebuild my dreams.

I love how happy I look in the “Selfie” from last week. I was working my gallery shift at Zero Degrees and the morning sunrise had the gallery aglow! I felt blessed to be working in the gallery for the second day in a row. Later that day, I sold my largest piece, 12×24 image of the dock pilings in Marquette’s Lower Harbor. The photo had a wide-angle perspective and was outlined in bold black, to me the image speaks of hope, of shifting energies and the lines in the photo draw you toward your future.

I remember taking that image into a local frame shop and having it matted. The 12 x 24 image now stately in my mind. I thought, I am doing this? Now, as I feel a stronger  pull toward my future I can state, I am doing this!

What is this?

Good Question, eh?

My this, my wish is a lifestyle where I help others find beauty and healing. I would sustain myself by making my living through photography, art, yoga, and massage. I’ve long dreamt of a business with wide open windows that housed a variety of options. Massage and healing arts, soup of the day, community art space, a large room for yoga and tai chi. It would be a spa and art studio rolled into one. A place to heal self and community. There would be many teachers and participants. This is my greatest wish. This is what I am moving to each day.

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I take part each full moon and make a DreamBoard with Jamie Ridler and others. Jamie says, “Under the Full Frost Moon it is time to deepen our dreams, to grow powerful roots of support as we move into the colder months. Allow that fresh chill in the air to wake you up to your dreams. Let’s choose to give our energy to the things that nourish our hearts and our lives, while releasing what no longer serves us. Let’s fill not only our dreamboards but also our calendars and lists with what we dream of.”

This moon’s question: “What dreams would I like to grow roots for?”
What are you dreaming under this Full Frost Moon?

Mostly, I am trying to unfold and breathe. I am moving into my dreamtime and watching for what gifts come my way. I am allowing myself to believe in magic and miracles.

I have many interest, dreams, and visions. I was once told I had too many interests. I went on the defensive after that comment. I love to run. I love yoga. I love photography. I love massage. I love nutrition and learning how what we ingests can heal us.

Health and injuries have had me rethink my path many times.

It seems I’ve been caught in a pattern of doing things cautiously. I run to protect the knee. I move into asanas with caution. I give tiny-short massages to people in wheelchairs that cannot give verbal feedback.

I dream of managing a unique business! One that brings creativity, health and wellness together. One that helps individuals and community heal.

I know part of this dream means I must continue self-care.

I know this dream needs revenue.

My dream board I see as embracing what is to come, what will come.

An impromptu trip to Duluth brought manifestation from my board created on September’s full moon. I created space! I found myself in Duluth Minnesota on a Friday, alone, with a backpack, twenty dollars and a camera. Mike had business that day. I got to follow my own impulses and was aided only by a tri-fold brochure map from the Holiday Inn.

I had never been to Duluth. We arrived the night before under the cloak of night. I even had a panic attack on the highways and bridges leading into Duluth. I thought this is too much. I cannot do this.

But the sun rose full of promise and the lakeshore called. Mike readied for a day at his company headquarters and I readied for a morning run on the Lake Walk. My only plan was to make it back to the hotel at noon to check out and finish loading our vehicle and then I’d have another several hours until I met back up with Mike at 5pm.

I had space! All the wonderful space for expression in a place that expected nothing from me. Around each corner was another new vision. Inspiration was everywhere. I could hear the voices in my head talking to me, guiding me, to each new path.

My dreamboard is not clippings from a magazine, nor a collection of words pasted to a poster board. My dreambaord this month is my own work. The photos captured on the trip. For the coming month they shall inspire me to rebuild a life that speaks of my heart and talents.

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You can particpate with the rest of us making full moon dreamboards–just click!

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Jamie from Jamie Ridler Studios offers wonderful prompts to help me focus on dreams. This is Wishcasting Wednesday and my prompt is, What do you wish to do one day?

I believe I have to tackle this wish in a list!

•  Support my needs in a sustainable conscious way thru my creative and healing interests
• Acquire a full DSLR camera and take photo assignments/gigs in adventurous locales
• Be an artist in residence at the Porcupine Mountains
• Hike on Isle Royale
• Run a 1/2 marathon trail race on Grand Island
• Study Ayurvedic healing at Kripalu
• Become a yoga instructor that helps people overcome illness and injury

My biggest dream and desire is to return to work within the Healing Arts. I believe in the power of intention. So most of all I wish to make new steps in that direction this day. I believe the funding will come forth o help me in m pursuits. May the means come to me in new and unexpected ways. And so I wish and so it shall be!