Art Slam

I woke up this morning in an excellent mood. According to dictionary.com, excellent means: possessing outstanding quality or superior merit; remarkably good. I would say this is accurate. I feel remarkably good. Part of the reason is a shift in the way I have been looking at just about every area of my life. How you choose to look at what is going on inside you and around you can make all the difference in cultivating a mood of excellence. For me, it starts when I get up in the morning.

The first thing I do is spend time with God. I pray, do some reading and ask for my steps to be ordered for the day. I thank God for all I am going through and ask to be strengthened to deal with areas that are challenging me to grow. It is only through challenges, storms and trials that we truly grow, anyway.

Second thing I do is gather what I need for the day. I make a choice to not worry about things I can not control and I try to avoid unconsciously engaging in the mental chatter of my mind. This is not always an easy task. I don’t like watching the news first thing in the morning. You want to talk about killing an excellent mood…watch the morning news. I conducted an experiment a while ago to see how much good news was reported on TV. Of the three local channels we have here, not one of them started the broadcast with good news. NO, NOT ONE! If the mental chatter is getting out of control, I put on some feel good music to block it out. My song of choice at the moment…Sade’s Solider of Love.

The time I spend with myself in the morning and before I get my kids up is about 45 minutes. I noticed I don’t do a whole lot of talking, the house is quiet and I get a lot accomplished in that time. This little bit of time alone sets the tone for my day. Now, some days are better than others, but for the most part, this new process has helped me get and stay in a much better mood.

You will have to ask my family if I am more pleasant to live with. I would like to believe so, as I know I have been working hard to be a better me.  I am a constant work in progress…only this time, these changes I have been making make me feel really good. They make me feel excellent.

I am waiting on:

• God
• Sunshine
• Flowers in the garden center
• Things to unfold as they may

I don’t know what it is about this winter season, but it has me reflecting on a lot lately. I believe part of the reason is you have no choice but to wait for things to run their course. We have a lot of snow and the heatwave of 36 degrees has started to slowly melt the mountains of snow around my neighborhood. No matter how bad you want that snow to go away, it is going to take it’s sweet time. No matter how badly you want spring to come, it is going to take its time.

Waiting is not a bad thing. It is not passive. It is active, like stillness. It is a choice. And, there is a lesson there, if you are willing to wait on it.

I miss running. I miss the park I run in. An additional 8″ of snow fell yesterday on top of the 8-10 inches we already have. Around this time of year, people start talking about Spring and how they wish it was here right now. I have been one to want to rush it along, but not anymore. There is a time for every season. To rush it along robs you of the blessing of that time.

I become rather reflective during the Winter months. Especially on days like today, I want to be home where it is warm, and stay close to my family. I think about the things I would like to do when the weather warms. I think about what I want to add and purge from my life. I reflect on where I am. Self-reflection is not an easy process when you are totally honest with yourself. I have prayed for God to reveal to me areas I need to change and get in order. My father-in-law mentioned to me yesterday that God is about order and things being of one accord. I have a few areas that could stand some improvement. This slower time of the year is just right for making those changes.

How do you use the winter season to order and refocus your life?

Lent starts tomorrow and this year, I decided to participate. I did not want to be one of those people who does this because everyone else is doing it. I did some research and here is what I found:

Lent is a period of restriction, when Christians give up their vices and try to live a “better life’. It is representative of the time that Jesus spent in the desert – 40 days and 40 nights.

Now, with today being Fat Tuesday, did I indulge in what I plan on giving up? Yes, yes I did and you know what? I will be glad to let this go. Honestly, no good comes of it in the long run. This period of restriction will be a blessing. I am determined and sometimes, being determined is all you need to get started. I want to be a person of excellence…this will be a starting point for me.

How fitting a heart would appear on the roof of my party bus during the last snow storm. I hope this has been a joyful Valentine’s Day for all of you. It is not about whether or not you receive a gift, it is about sharing your love the best way you know how. May you be a blessing to someone who really needs it today.

Here is another vintage camera I received for Christmas. This one is in excellent condition. I have wanted one of these for a while.  I am on the hunt old film camera and lenses. This is one collection I am enjoying growing. Photography thrills me to pieces.

My mom gave me two vintage cameras for Christmas this year. She saw that I had started collecting last year and added two nice ones to my collection. I think my mom was more excited about getting the cameras at bargain prices or bidding on them. Either way, I am glad to have them.

I am missing a lot of things lately. Sunshine being one of them. This winter has been exhausting and draining on my spirit. Sunshine, when we have it, is a welcome blessing.

I am missing the outdoors. I work in a suburban area and it does not lend itself to much green space or scope for the imagination. I am considering  taking my camera with me everyday and sitting in coffee shops and cafes to people watch and listen to conversations. What better way to improve my writing than to listen to the way people talk to each other.

I am missing my picture stories. I wonder if blogging everyday for two months did not burn me out. Writing, at times, has not come as easily to me as it normally does.

I miss my mojo, my desire to create and my desire to write. Making art and writing are things I have always done. Yet, I find myself standing in front of my art supplies completely uninspired. This uncreative space, I no longer want to dwell in it. It sucks. I have been doing a lot of writing, but it has been mental mind-dumping rather than something I care to share.

I keep feeling like I need to be doing something, but this is not the message God is sending me. He keeps telling me to be still. So, I am meditating on this stillness. Nurturing my soul and resting my body. I admit, I am exhausted and this stillness is obviously something I need to embrace right now…not later, right now. It is time I took better care of myself and stillness is one way I can do that. It is how I can return to center and regain my focus. Stillness is a gift I will give to myself.