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

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.

What treasures do you wish for?

A long healthy life!

Diagnosed with Celiac Disease in 2010, during what some call Spring and we in the Upper Peninsula call Winter, I felt cursed.

As a teenager, I had endless infections: tonsillitis, bronchitis, and pneumonia. I was told I had IBS in my 20s. My doctor told me I had Chronic Fatigue in 2000.

In 2004, I had to close my massage due to a slow to heal injury.

I had to walk away from my next job as well.

And another.

(You get the idea).

My list of symptoms, long.

My list of options, short.

Today is a new day. Thanks to a clear diagnosis.

Each day I feel stronger. I find more mental clarity. I feel nourished. My endurance is wonderful. I’m not fatigued. Healing is such a blessing. I am looking forward to the day I reopen my practice. It might be a slightly different plan, but I’ll get there!

The treasures of this life come from the experiences that have shaped my reality and views on life. Healing is a daily event. We are active participants in the process. We have to be. It is the way to discover the course of action, navigate the ups-and-downs, and make it to the next shore.

My 4-year-old grandson likes pirates. I like sword fights. We are caught up in the possibilities of the open sea, treasures, and spitting into the wind. I think he and I really do believe we can fly. He takes a leap off the bed. I take a leap from one point to the other (quite frequently), too.

Funny that I bring up pirates? (Raise of my eyebrows.)

We steal moments of truth and freedom between the hard spots, the diagnosis, the somewhat pessimistic comments of doctors and others. We have to see the gold sparkle as the healing surfaces like a treasure in a deep cave filled with tide. It is the patience and the make-believe that keep hope shining.

I see abundance in a chest of experiences and creative projects. I see it in the touch of hearts and hands. Deep in that chest of treasure are smiles, hugs, and laughter. Deep Comforts!

Will you sail with me?

(Stay tuned for new adventures with Create with Kim!)

You can be a maker of magic and a tender of wishes. It’s easy with Jamie Ridler Studios!

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.

Tea Cups at the Butler Theatre, Ishpeming Michigan

Who do you wish to have tea with?

I used to work at the Marquette Food Cooperative in Marquette, Michigan and Michael Hainstock (the Younger) used to be in charge of stocking the bulk tea herbs. Michael was very into learning about the herbs and blending them to suit your needs. I was working both as a grocery and produce worker. Working with produce can be chilling work and a mug of tea served in one of Ryan Dalman’s mugs was perfect to keep me healthy and warm.

Michael the Younger and I would hike and look for sources of herbs. His father’s garage was filled with drying herbs. There were mason jars everywhere. If someone at home started to get the sniffles Michael would steep herbs strong. Tea balls, muslim bags, tea presses. I learned tea is not just a dainty thing in pretty delicate tea cups. Tea can be a “spell” brewed for a purpose.

I fell in love with Michael’s father Mike the Elder. And then Michael the Younger fell in love with Beth Millner who is a silversmith and jewelry artist. They now have a hobby farm in Marquette Township called Badger Creek Farm. I miss hiking with Michael the Younger and I miss his tea (smile). Being family we ought to have more time together.

My wish is for me to get my butt out to the farm and have tea with Michael the Younger.

You can join Jamie Ridler and others to be a maker of magic and a tender of wishes. It’s easy. Answer the wish prompt above on your blog and then add a direct link to your post in the box below. Support wishes by visiting other participants, leaving a comment saying “As (insert name) wishes for her/himself, so I wish for her/him also.” It’s that simple. There is great power in wishing together.

Jamie Ridler asks her viewers today, “How do you wish to nourish yourself?”

As we head into our winter months here in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan I plan to nourish myself with the activities that bring me freedom from panic and doubt. I always feel best when out in nature. In the photo above Mike and I are on the shores of Lake Michigan on a boardwalk area in Gladstone, Michigan.

October was full of travel opportunities and special moments with family. My youngest son Randy was between trainings with the Army and came home to spend some time with family. I never looked happier than I do in this photo. That is my soldier on the left of the photo, grandson on my shoulders, and my oldest son, Tim is on the right.

Our trip to Duluth helped me reconnect to my deepest self by plopping me down in the middle of an unknown city where I had several hours to myself, a backpack, twenty dollars and a tri-fold brochure map of Downtown Duluth. I listened to my intuition and followed its lead. I found out how adventurous and confident I am. I was far from my usual daily influences. I remembered who I am at the center of my being and I rediscovered my dreams.

Keeping in mind what nourished me in October I want to build upon those expereinces as we head into the long months of winter.

I wish to nurture myself with more:

• Nature & Space
• Self-discovery & Play
• Travel & Adventure
• Family-time

Wishcasting Wednesday with Jamie! I needed a solution to get me blogging and I found it with Jamie Ridler. The weekly prompt on each Wednesday has me connecting with my purpose and my desire.

This week, “What do you wish to let go of?”

And a photo of a Nest?

Now how does that jive?

Can you be hatching eggs and letting go at the same time?

I need to make space for the new in order for growth and surprises

I wish to let go of…

• Clutter.
• Negativity.
• People who do not see me in a positive light.
• The last 20 lbs. of weight.

Letting go follows my desire to Change up the Energy and to Create Space!

I will try to check back in periodically to let you know how I’ve taken action on my list.

Every Wednesday (or most Wednesdays) I take part in Wishcasting Wednesday with Jamie Ridler Studios. This week our prompt is, “What do yo wish to make time for?” A perfect prompt for me as I attempt to Change up the Energy in my daily life.

Before I took a my current position I had more free time. As an on call person I could carved out Wednesday as Art Day! I rented space at the Peter White Public library and I’d paint or collage with wonderful sky lights above making even February in the Upper Peninsula seem energized.

On a recent trip to Duluth I had the rare treat of unstructured time to discover what pulls me. At the close of that day it was a mug of coffee at Jitters and a brand new journal purchased just moments earlier in a World Trade store for 4.00 dollars. It was conversation with complete strangers like Jeffey the Roller Derby Reffie a sharp pencil and he sound of an espresso machine that made my magic spark!

In the coming weeks I wish to make time for Art, Writing, Collages and I promise to put me back on the schedule. I want a day where I ignore everything else from 9 a.m – 5 p.m. Yoga class is allowed. No cell phone. Only that creative spark, pull, guidance on what is needed to keep me shining!