Tag Archives: Middle Age

Everything I Ever Wanted, Just For Today

Don’t you just love the feeling when you accomplish a chore that has been nagging at you to be done? I cleaned my studio (a big chore) and even rearranged the work spaces in deference to the wall mounted space heater we recently had installed so I can use the little workshop year round for writing and art. The huge oak writer’s desk that I’d dreamed of for twenty years, but never had a space for until I acquired my studio a few years ago, was blocking the air flow.

The day started with the studio in a mess, scattered with art supplies not stowed away in the cupboards, cubbies and other spaces I’d so carefully thought out when first equipping my little space. My plan was to swap positions of the mammoth desk and the art table, then turn the art table so that it fit up against the wall, rather than arranging it perpendicular the way the writing desk had been, cutting the room in half.

No point in putting the art supplies away when I would just be moving them to the opposite side of the studio once all the shifting around was done.

Yes, that means I moved everything in the studio from one place to another, in the midst of mounds of clutter. The room went quickly from a small mess to looking like a tornado when through it, as my mother used to say.

Eventually everything was in its place and all was right in my little world. As if to validate the sentiment, the sun chose that late hour of the day to finally shine through the cloud cover, angling in through the studio window to catch one of the many faceted prism hanging about. The room danced with rainbows.

Life plays out in much the same way. We keep accumulating psychic stuff, carrying it around with us, pushing it out of the way, stuffing it here or there until we can’t ignore the nagging mess any longer. That’s usually when we dig in, trying to get to the bottom of things, or to shake things loose, let them fall where they may and then begin picking up the pieces. We toss out what is no longer useful and then rearrange what we keep to better suit our needs. When we can finally, make some kind of order out of it all we feel better.

For a little while, at least. There is no such thing as getting all your ducks in a row and keeping them that way once and for all, and definitely not for happily ever after. There is just today and getting it right just for today can be a pretty big accomplishment.

So for today, my studio is clean, rearranged, efficient and full of rainbows. Just for today, it’s waiting for me to write the next great American novel. And for today, that’s enough.


Bluebird of Happiness

I have a bluebird nesting box at the corner of my garden. Every spring, a pair of Eastern Bluebirds shows up around my birthday (a few weeks from now) to set up household. I don’t know if it’s the same pair every year, or even if they are offspring fledged from the nest the previous summer.

Bluebird

Sam watching me . . . watching him.

No matter, I named them after my maternal grandparents and each year, same pair or different, I welcome Sam and Betty back to the corner of my garden sanctuary. Then I sit back to watch the show of nest building, predator smack downs, food gathering and baby fledging.

Until this very moment, I’ve never questioned why I find so much joy in watching these birds in their dance of procreation. I think, maybe, it’s the reassurance they give that all is right with the world, that minus human weakness and drama, the earth keeps spinning and life continues on.

Who better to remind me not to sweat the small stuff than the harbinger of happiness? The association of the bluebird with the emotion of happiness is found in numerous cultures and dates back thousands of years, the oldest evidence being found on oracle bone inscriptions in pre-modern China. Interestingly enough, in the Tang Dynasty the bluebird evolved from a fierce goddess into a fairy queen, the protector of singing girls, novices, nuns, adepts and priestesses – women who dared to step out of traditional roles. Now that’s a legend the MAD Goddess can appreciate.Image

Happiness is based in many things including a feeling of contentment, fulfillment and purpose, in relationships and life circumstances.  In the traditional roles of women, we often spend more time and give more effort to ensuring others’ happiness; parents, partners and especially children. This isn’t to say we aren’t happy in doing so, but then one day, we find our nest empty and ourselves wondering, what next?

The empty next lies before you with all the promise of a new Spring, just waiting to be seeded with  your wildest dreams. How will you manifest your happiness and watch it grow in this second half of life?

If you are joining me in the *Dark Moon Lodge, we are stepping out and stepping into spring – the season of stirrings. We’re planting our seeds and nurturing our dreams into growth. You can find out more about the journey by clicking here (use the password darkmoon).

*When the moon is new, and associated with beginnings, growth and increase, it cannot be seen in the night sky – this is why it is also known as the dark moon – a void, not to be feared, but to be filled.


Spring Fever

Flapping About

Flapping About

I have been chasing spring these past few weeks, trying to catch up to Mother Nature’s coming out party wherever she may be making her debut.  Spring has been an elusive Diva, managing to stay always a few steps ahead of me.

In my wandering, I felt fortunate to spend some time where I was able to take early morning walks around a tranquil pond. The little oasis was frequented by area wildlife, including a rather large flock of Canadian geese, a family of ducks, numerous turtles, and a graceful, white egret.  I have more photos than I care to count of the geese and the ducks.  There are quite a few of the turtles sunning themselves, tucked close together on a fallen tree trunk. I even have several of the egret, though it was a tad camera shy.

Great Blue Heron

Great Blue Heron

One visitor to the pond was not as easy to capture – a Great Blue Heron.  I spotted him moving in the underbrush of the little island that sits in the center of the bowl, with about 50 yards of water between us. I moved along the curving rim of my shoreline, stepping slowly and as soundlessly as possible. He stepped cautiously in and out of the trees, always seeming to duck behind a broad trunk, moving out of the circle of my camera lense each time I thought I had a good shot. The best I got was this blurred image (he is holding a fish in his beak).

A few days ago, I left the lodgings on the edge of the little pond to set up camp a bit further south, still seeking the sunshine and warm weather I crave.  As soon as the stakes were pounded in and my lights were strung along the front of my traveling gypsy wagon I went for my customary lay-of-the-land walk.  There is always much to see when walking past the compact, wheeled homes of fellow travelers, each adorned (or not) to reflect the personalities of the occupants.

While I was gawking at colored lights, wind chimes, wind and sun catchers, and other yard ornaments including customary bird statuary (mostly, but not limited to, plastic flamingos) I came nearly beak to bellybutton with a very much living and breathing Great Blue Heron. After all the time spent stalking another that was clearly not ready for his close up, here was this bold bird standing right in front of me – and me without my camera!

Sometimes the things we chase seem stubbornly elusive, evading our best attempts to grasp and hold tight. I have traveled from the top of the country to it’s near bottom point in my pursuit of warm, spring weather and still it eludes me – a reminder that the law of attraction might be powerful but it does not override the laws of nature.

Laying the groundwork to achieve goals is all well and good. Still, we cannot forget that all things take time and sometimes we have to pause in our pursuit to let time unfold in its natural course. To everything there is a season.

But, like the Blue Heron who stepped to within my arm’s reach reminds me, we must always be prepared for the opportunity when it comes knocking on our door.

I’m off for my morning walk – this time with my camera.

If you are ready to start pursuing your purpose, passion and pizzazz in the second half
of life, join me,
the MAD Goddess, and your sister seekers in the Dark Moon Lodge
(password: darkmoon).
We are moving through the seasons of the year in a course of
personal development and life enrichment;
one step at a time using intentional
creativity in the Art of Self Expression© See you there!