Meditation - week 2 practice

After a week of the consistent practice of stilling your body - you should/may be able to sit still without twitching or itching for 15-30 minutes.

(if you can't do this yet my old teacher would have recommended another week of the week 1 practice shown HERE)

This week the practice is somewhat similar but with the added work of stilling our thoughts.

Our subconscious mind is what we are using when we do all those rote things that our conscious mind isn't thinking about - it never sleeps, it never rests - everything from our heart beating to our breathing to playing the piano and operating a typewriter are all subconscious processes. Our subconscious inspires us and warns us and pulls names and facts and pictures from our memory. You can see how there is great value in being able to work with your body's subconscious processes by working with your conscious ones (thoughts).

The conscious mind decides what is true for us - the subconsious just accepts - it is instinctive and the result of past reasoning and it connects us to everything - so by controlling the conscious mind - our own thoughts - we can work on controlling

(and 'control' is the wrong word here, but I am going blank on the right word - I think my subconscious memory storehouse doors are getting rusty these days - another reason I am meditating again)

our subconscious processes.

The following is the week 2 practice and I should say this part comes from an old paper I got from the YMCA camp - it has no authorship and is just a photocopy that I somehow managed to hang onto all these years.

Maybe your local YMCA has a class with a similar course, maybe not, the instructor was way out there in outer space and totally amazing. She was the only person at our Y I connected with at the time.

(I was once about to sign my daughter up for their daycare summer program when a cute little boy came up to the woman showing me around and asked him a question - I don't remember if she answered him or not - but I do remember her announcing loudly to me and the rest of the class, "his father is a lawyer that's why he asks alot of questions" -

my mind flashed ahead to my daughter's summer where this same woman would be announcing to the group - "her father is a truck mechanic that's why she has dirty fingernails".

We found another daycamp).

Week 2 Practice : select a room where you can be alone and a time when you will not be disturbed, sit erect, be comfortable but not too comfortable, sit perfectly still - start with 15 minutes and work up to a half hour (do this everyday at the same time) - clear your mind and just breathe - when a thought comes up, see it, but don't give it your focus, just let it float away from you and separate from you - work up to 30 minutes of being able to sit still and breathe without intruding thoughts (next week's exercise gets more interesting, but you have to master this one first - I shouldn't say master because of course, this is a process, but the YMCA says 'master' and I like the idea of mastering something with this practice, so we'll leave the word in here).

xo

*calm waters print by elgarbo Art

Brimfield Flea Market 2011 - overwhelm, blisters, mac & cheese and morris

Brimfield Flea Market in Brimfield, MA is one of the largest fleas in the U.S. with over 5000 dealers (is that possible?). Kella & I decided at the last minute to drive the 200 miles to be there for Tuesday's opening day. We are both busy this week and only had one day to spare so tried to make the most of it.

(I would definitely recommend two days; more if you are a serious flea market shopper)

We -

(I should say she - thank you Kella for driving through our GPS nightmare - we heard RECALCULATING at least 50 times over the two days ..)

wandered the grounds from 7am to around 3pm. Brimfield has about a dozen, I think, different fields of sellers (not all were open on Tuesday).

PLUSES - what we liked - the Mac & Cheese food truck - super yummy, Morris the metalworker (more on him later), lots of industrial vintage, a guy carrying a 6 foot dragonfly around the fields all day - not sure what to make of that, easy cheap parking (maybe we got lucky), crowds but not super squishy annoying crowds, lots of stuff for sale, no pushy salespeople

MINUSES - hardly anything was priced - at least 90% of the stuff had no prices (we hate that), the sellers basically ignored us - which we are usually ok with, but without prices it was annoying to not be able to find the seller or get their attention, the size of the show meant that we ended up so far from our car that even with a cart and little red wagon it definitely discouraged us from buying heavy stuff and everything we liked was heavy stuff, very little clothing, very few vintage linens, too much of everything else - it was kind of just too much - like when Ebay came along and I realized I could get every Trixie Belden book I ever wanted if I was willing to pay for it - it took some of the fun out of it.

OUR FAVORITE - Our vote for best seller at Brimfield was 13 year old metalworker Morris from Cleveland who works in his dad's studio and created these amazing peace signs (we bought two) from his dad's scrap pieces.

(they are super awesome and very heavy duty - I have the sore shoulders to prove it - they will last forever)

He was one of the only sellers who approached us, he cut us a deal on the price (yay), he was super-friendly and went out of his way for us - I am certain he sold out and we will all know his name one day - you read about him here first, folks - have you heard of Etsy, Morris - you need your own shop!

Now, I am back in the studio getting ready for Art Star in Phillie this weekend (and Kella is shooting a wedding on Long Island) - both of us are crossing our fingers for sunny skies!

xo

TGIF - Have a Wonderful Weekend!

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend - I am getting things made and together for Art Star in Philadelphia May 14th and 15th!

The first 100 people in my booth will get a free cork wine stopper with Olive's little kisser on it this year!

xo all

Cause Related Marketing - merging our passion with our profit by volunteering (and other acts of bravery)

I would rather do business with a company that stands for more than just profits - I think everyone would.

If you have a crafty business - aligning yourself with a charity or cause that you passionately believe in can become a corner stone of your marketing plan.

There are many ways to create the type of partnerships that can get your company name out there and generate goodwill (plus good karma) for your biz.

It used to be when I would register as a volunteer I would use my name (beach clean ups, etc), but this year I have been registering as my company.

(yes, I sometimes have to drag Olive along or some of my human family posing as my "staff")

I made some great connections, would probably be doing the things anyway and who knows who might see my company name on the registry and look me up later.

I think it is important to be authentic with this and work with causes you believe in - people will sense your passion and see that you care - and they'll realize you will probably care just as much about your work.

When you fill out your name on those cardboard pink ribbons and shamrocks and hearts at the local store when donating your dollars - sign your company name instead of your own -

maybe a buyer from Anthropologie will be chowing down on her Happy Baconalia at Denny's

(yes, I just googled them and this week they have a Happy Baconalia breakfast pretty much guaranteed to send someone to the emergency room)

and see your little donation ribbon with your company name over her head and pull out her blackberry or ipad or smartphone or whatever techno doodad buyers from Anthropologie are carrying these days and check out your shop, get uber-excited over your awesome offerings, run out of the Denny's

(you probably just saved her life which I'm sure will be taken into consideration when she writes her order, another plus)

screaming your business name and call you the same day.

... or maybe your little donation ribbon will be taped up in such a haphazard manner that it will fall to the floor within minutes, be trampled by a gaggle of girl scouts (I forget what you call groups of them) and only be seen by the cleaning woman ...

... who will happen to be moonlighting from her real job as a reporter for People magazine where you will find your little gizmo next Christmas in the holiday gift guide ...

you can't go wrong with this stuff ... really.

xo

*small acts transform the world print by Fresh Words Market

Meditation - trying this again - week 1 practice

I have tried to work meditation into my life as a daily practice a few times.

Several years ago when my mother was living with us and at the end of her life with emphysema (please, please don't smoke) things felt way out of control.

I had just lost a job and career I thought I would have forever -
and it was a good one, too - one that didn't require me to wear a name tag, use the words "would you like fries with that" or refer to my co-workers as my "Apple-buddies".

(this loss, OK firing, this firing turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to me, but at the time I was lost in the injustice of it all and working my way through it)

My daughter was in one of those phases where a mother could do nothing wrong right, my husband was stressed out himself and always working and in a place where a wife could do nothing wrong right, I was getting strange rashes and headaches, my mother was bedridden, addicted to watching the food network and requesting daily Rachel Ray recipe sandwiches where the stuffings should be fluffed and not folded onto the bread (I spent alot of time muttering "fluff you ma" to myself) ... things were going from worse to worse.

I had meditated back in high school

(note- in a funny little freudian slip while typing this post I wrote- I was medicated back in high school :) which I wasn't but maybe should have been)

and thought I would give it another try along with daily affirmations and some lightweight law of attraction healing stuff with the books of Louise Hay.

I signed up for a local yoga class which I promptly quit, but the meditation portion was something that I really began to look forward to. I started meditating about 3 times a day.

One day while meditating I felt like I had jumped into the top of my head and could just jump right out of my body - I started crying and couldn't stop - now I would see this breakdown as a kind of breakthrough, but at the time I decided I just needed a break and stopped meditating.

Somehow I never got back to it.

Lately I have been feeling the need for some centering and a greater ability to control my thinking and emotions; all things meditation works miracles for, so I am back into it this week ... slowly ... the way I did it the first time.

I am going to publish my weekly practice in case anyone has an interest in any of this or has tried meditation and found it difficult to still your mind and difficult to stick with - maybe this way will work for you, too.

Week 1 practice : select a room where you can be alone and a time when you will not be disturbed, sit erect, be comfortable but not too comfortable, let your thoughts roam but sit perfectly still - start with 15 minutes and work up to a half hour (do this everyday at the same time) -the object of the first week is to get control of your physical body (we are not working on stilling our minds at this point) - it may take more than a week before you can sit without scratching or twitching or you may be able to do it the first time, but keep with it for 7 days anyway - the teacher I worked with felt it was essential to secure complete control of your body before you proceed with your thoughts. For this week, you can let your thoughts roam - next week we will work on the next step.

The Mother's Day Giveaway winner is (chosen by random.org) :

True Random Number Generator

Min: 1
Max: 462
Result:
60

Tracey3!

*let go of your tears print by the amazing jess swift

GIVEAWAY - Jessica Alpern Cuts Paper - Short Stories Hand Cut on Paint Chips CLOSED

Jessica Alpern is an amazing hand cut paper artist. Her work will blow you away! I especially love her short stories on paint chip series.

Born in Rota, Spain - Jessica arrived in the U.S. a year later and grew up in 6 states and countless houses. She joined the Navy in 2000; serving as a photographer and stationed in Yokosuka, Japan onboard an aircraft carrier until she left to pursue "wackiness and shenanigans".

She settled down for awhile after graduating from the New England School of Photography, but eventually gave in to her nomadic tendencies and left her home to join the crew aboard a 36 foot catamaran that crossed the Atlantic and eventually landed in, of all places, Rota, Spain!

Jessica is currently wrecking havoc with her Xacto in Austin, Texas.

We are so lucky to have some of her amazing work for this week's giveaway!

WHAT YOU GET:

One lucky winner will receive Jessica Alpern's four In Our Summer Skin hand cut paint chips (how cool is that - she cuts these intricate, amazing and original forms from paint chips) floating in plexi and ready for your 8X10 frame!

HOW TO WIN:

It's easy, peasy - just leave your contact information below!

For additional entries:

(5) Twitter this post
(5) Blog about this contest; linking to this post
(5) Follow my blog
(5) Facebook this post

Let me know if you have done these things so I can give you additional entries. This contest is open to everyone.

DRAWING:
Enter by midnight, Sunday, May 15th! Good Luck! CLOSED- WINNER WILL BE ANNOUNCED 5/20!