DAY TEN OF THE TWELVE DAYS OF CHRISTMAS
I love the holiday season at this time of year...Christmas, Solstice, Hanukkah, Ramadan, Kwanzaa. Celebrations of hope, blessings, miracles, love, charity and kindness to one another. It gives me a warm inner glow of joy.
Yes, I know that for some this is a hard time of year and life presents very negative experiences. But, if you consider what folks embrace right now through their different celebrations, can you not feel that, in the end, there is a hopeful future. One filled with love and compassion for everyone, everywhere! (If only we could bottle this feeling and spread it throughout the world everyday...)
2017 will present each of us with promises of wonder and delightful adventures as well as times of sadness and challenging situations. We can choose to remember this time of celebration...of it's hope and love and blessings, of it's compassion and charity and kindness...and respond accordingly. Or, we can forget what we are celebrating, and respond with despair, anger and hopelessness when things go awry. It's up to each of us to choose, but for me, optimist that I remain, I will respond keeping this time of year in mind.
Now, that doesn't mean that I will just sigh, and go along to get along when things go badly. No, I will respond with hope and love and compassion but also with actively seeking a new way that benefits all of creation.
ONE RESOLUTION FINISHED - REORGANIZED STUDIO
One of my New Year's Resolutions/Goals was to organize my studio space. My arrangement wasn't working that well. And it felt a bit crowded.
My original plan was to build a wall of free standing shelves out of wood. I didn't want to use MDF boards because they can warp and are heavy. I wanted to use a nice grade of lumber. Well, after pricing things out, I realized that this could become expensive. So, I turned to Amazon (and no I do not have any affiliation with Amazon) to see what they offered and low and behold, they offered the size I wanted in a black steal shelf for only $45. So, I purchased three of them.
And during the week between Christmas and New Years, I put them together and reorganized my studio. Here's the result...
The shelves give the room a larger visual appearance. And because I didn't need the large shelf in front of the window, I was able to put my sewing machine in that area. This new arrangement gives the studio a much more open feeling. I love that I don't have to go looking for stuff under the desk or in other places. It's all available right at hand.
FUTURE PLANS FOR AMANDA'S BASKETS
I have lots of new ideas for Amanda's Baskets for this new year of 2017. Among them are introducing the quilt ladies of the 'We're Still Kicking Quilters' and following their fictional lives centered on quilting among other things.
I intend to share more of my creative work including some of the techniques that I used to make each piece.
I am developing a workshop on creativity and in researching ideas I found several unique ones that I want to incorporate here. Ideas to help tap into that creative flow that each of us has within ourselves.
I need a message of sorts to help me realize what a gift each day is. Let me explain. I was raised and have lived almost all of my life in the Lutheran religion. However, as I have grown older and perhaps a bit deeper in my understanding of religion, I have felt that in some ways this religion, as I suspect all religions, has shortcomings for me personally. I now consider myself more spiritual than religious. And in this respect, I have sought different meditational books to inspire me. Finding none that appeals to me I have begun to write my own. These I hope to share with you on a weekly basis.
As usual, and hopefully, more so this year, I will share my adventures both here in New York City and in my travels.
I hope all of you had a wonderful celebration
I wish all of you a wonderful new year full of great adventures
And I thank all of you for taking your time to stop by here
Talk to you tomorrow
Talk to you tomorrow