How to Use Polarity To Make Things Happen (you do not need a locket for this, but it might help)

I have been sitting on this series and considered not posting it because I feel like I am getting a little too heavy and serious with my blog these days

and preachy, maybe a little too preachy, but then I thought maybe someone will resonate with it and since it was mostly finished anyway, I talked myself back into posting it ... so here goes ...

(so much for 2011 and my year of deciding)

"I believe in polarity."

(not the locket here, although I believe in that, too, but the polarity that makes our thoughts into things. The non-content part of our thoughts - the energy part or at least the direction of that energy part - the part that makes things happen.)

Mostly polarity is not a thing people question -

(except maybe the same people who question human activity's impact on the environment)

but, polarity's part in the manifesting of our intentions is not something that can actually be proven.

(in the same way as melting glaciers and the depleted ozone)

I will try anyway.

Last week I talked about Cousin Daisy Mae and her amazing ability to manifest just about anything she wants through self discipline, passion and intention. There is one thing that I didn't mention about Cousin Daisy Mae.

(and I should add that her name isn't really Cousin Daisy and she may even be a he, but I can promise you this person does in fact exist and would probably never in a million years recognize themselves here or even read my blog)

Cousin Daisy Mae is a clinically diagnosed (although maybe only by me while sipping my green tea and puzzling through my sudokus) narcissist. She is the most self-absorbed, selfish person you may ever meet.

She is a master taker, a master manipulator, a master liar - well, let's just say Cousin Daisy is all about Cousin Daisy.

Since we were kids I have watched her manifest her every intention (and I would guarantee she never thinks the word manifest or intention and most likely nothing any deeper than - "hey, that's cool, I want one") - with maybe a little background thought of I deserve that.

I am truly, truly grateful though to have her in my life because she has taught me some incredibly valuable lessons about energy and manifesting.

I believe thoughts are things and that they have both content and energy. So when we set an intention to create something - the thought that gets this creation started includes 1. the content of that thought and this content part is important - so if your intention is to create health for example - the intention: I am healthy (good) is much better than I am not sick (not so good) and you are probably aware of this and there is lots of information out there on thought content if this interests anyone, so I am not going to get into it here -

and 2. the energy of that thought - now most of our thoughts have a neutral energy because they are kind of low-level nonsense stuff

(I have to do laundry, here comes the mailman, hmmm... Olive needs her nails clipped)

and we can even spend hours holding low-energy thoughts with great content (positive daily affirmations like - I am happy, for example) and we will manifest virtually no emotion, no action, and most likely no results.

Now energy is not something we create. It simply is. It is always there. What makes us feel strong emotion is not the energy itself (which is always there) but the flow of energy moving through us.

Our intention needs to get us so fired up (and if it doesn't why are we intending it anyway) that real emotion is created (and that emotion can be joy or love and it can also be greed or lust because this stuff is non-judgemental) that we are (for example) talking so much about our new idea or concept or way of being or thingamajiggie that people are telling us to "shut up about it already" then maybe we have something real.

And speaking of  "new" (which intentions do not have to be, of course) I have read a couple posts lately suggesting that maybe there are no new ideas anymore and sometimes posts supporting taking something that is already out there and making it better and I really couldn't agree less.

I believe there are people with new ideas every day, every second of every day, and these new ideas and concepts and ways of being and thingamajiggies are being thought up by people who believed a new idea was possible -

(if we think there is no such thing as a new idea then I am pretty sure we will never have one)

and as for taking someone else's idea and making it better - well, what is better? and I am talking art here and not functional automobiles and washing machines - if someone has created something from their heart and soul and taken it from step 1 to step 10 and we bounce in and take it to step 11 to make it better than what have we really created anyway? - probaby nothing any more impressive than a possible copyright infringement.

And I am not talking about inspiration here - which we obviously take and give to each other all the time and is something that absolutely needs to flow, but that is a whole other post.

Back Wednesday with Part II - How Daisy Does It

and my legal department (ie Olive and her best friend Ruby)  likely due to the possible conflict between next week's blog title and an 80's bachelor party flick (maybe there really are no original ideas) suggest that I add my usual disclaimer.

Disclaimer - since I am not an expert in energy and cannot be said to actually know what I am talking about, I cannot be held responsible for any actions you might take from reading any of my posts - please keep this in mind if you end up in your parents' basement obsessed with sudokus and green tea.

(unless of course, this would be an improvement over your current living situation, in which case, I take full credit)

Check out my Etsy shop critique this week for a wonderful sustainable jewelry shop Nature's Art Melbourne HERE and don't miss the last few days of love, maude's giveaway HERE if you haven't entered yet.

Next week I have my biggest dollar value of any giveaway ever - it starts on Monday and you won't want to miss it! Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

xo

If Your Karma Runs Over Your Dogma - don't panic, just sprinkle nuts ... the dry roasted kind ... (a wednesday whine of sorts)

I have a new friend -

(or a friend depending on who you talk to)

she is an artist who teaches Hindu to non-Hindus and we were talking about karma and I was telling her how I thought things happened almost instantaneously for me and how I have to be very careful that I never run over a squirrel

(or anything else, of course, but squirrels always seem to be getting in my way lately)

because I think an airplane or a giant oak tree or a UFO -

(which would totally be worth it to all the UFO crazies in my family who would finally have some actual proof of their existence - not that my family needs proof to believe in anything - and my sacrifice would be a small price to pay, although to be fair to them I am pretty certain they would erect an amazing martian memorial to me along the highway - they are just thoughtful that way)

would immediately crash and crush my car and that would be the end of me, too.

She assured me that it doesn't work like this.

(but she may have let me in on a little secret I will pass along - because if you do ever run over a squirrel, and please don't, but if you ever do there are certain squirrel tributes you can pay in the form of Planter's dry roasted around the neighborhood, so don't panic)

She didn't actually say this, of course, but she did tell me something else that was very interesting.

We were talking about truth and I said " ... if you lie to protect someone's feelings - say for example, when you thank your mother-in-law who has just given your hubby a 10 gallon jar of homemade pickled eggs again that he will want to eat every night and that will smell up your entire kitchen every time the jar is opened - well, that's not really being dishonest, right?"

And she said something that was kind of an aha moment for me -

(and I can't have an aha moment without picturing Oprah nodding solemnly)

"When you try to protect another soul from hurt, you are preventing them from learning their own lessons and this may earn karma - for you. You might like to consider that you were actually trying to shield yourself from feeling your mother-in-law's pain."

(of course this isn't an excuse to be mean to people, but I certainly could have related more honestly about the size of these picklings or maybe I'll just take my karma lumps - anytime anyone wants to lie to me to avoid hurting my feelings and balance my karma, I am ok with this)

She said the same thing about all the things we do for our kids to protect them from failure - that we are preventing them from learning things they are here to learn and we earn karma for ourselves for blocking their growth and this karma must then be balanced.

(this balancing is probably the part a few years later where they tell us they hate us and we are the worst parents on the planet)

Anyhoo, just something to think about while I stock up on Planter's and transfer the pickled eggs to smaller jars - can you transfer pickled things into smaller jars without repickling them? - hopefully I do not poison George - I don't even want to think about the kinds of things I will need to sprinkle around the neighborhood to balance that.

* more good days than bad print by Jen Lewis of JayHell

Leaving the Poetry in What We Make - embracing wabi-sabi

At its most nakedness, wabi-sabi is the Japanese art of finding beauty in imperfection and wisdom in nature. It's simple, slow, and uncluttered and above all it reveres authenticity.

It is the gift of time and the thing that can't be rushed.

It is the reason we love real flowers instead of plastic ones, even though we know they will wilt, flea markets instead of big box stores, barnwood instead of pergo. It's the reason those botoxed, un-naturally smooth faces on television make us so uncomfortable.

(and as pretty as Target's colorful little plastic thingie is and how much it is calling my name at times, I can leave it in the store because I know my soul just doesn't embrace this stuff anymore - it has no essence, it has no poetry - I know I will forget all about it 10 minutes after I get it home)

It isn't about laziness or letting things come together or fall apart in a messy or sloppy way. It's kind of the opposite of that. The beauty of the frayed edge of grandmas's quilt can only be appreciated in a clean and unencumbered setting.

(this is why the vintage sellers do so much better with empty space in their photos and clean, simple backgrounds - trust me on this vintage sellers)

I have been thinking about Japan alot these last few days (I know we all have) and this concept stands out to me as one of the most wonderful of all Japanese principles.

And for small maker companies it means not being afraid to show the flaws in ourselves and our work because real is never perfect and that is why people connect with it.

It's OK that we're not perfect - it's more than OK actually.

* Secret Door print by SeaLilyStudio
xo

Self Discipline Part II - making things happen when we'd rather be doing something else

Ok, so back to WCIT.

(see Wednesday's post if you have no idea what I am talking about - you may have to read it two or three times to figure out what the hell I am talking about and when you do please let me know - I'm still confused)

Self discipline is about willpower.

We don't always want to hear this. There are so many commercials trying to sell us something that will take the place of this - something that will replace our own power of will with something fast and easy with a money back guarantee -

that they are pretty much guaranteed we will never take them up on because if we do not have the willpower to do the thing ourselves in the first place, we will be way too lazy to send the thing back when it doesn't work.

People who think willpower doesn't work for them or they have none are probably trying to use it way beyond its capacities to work. Willpower is the original thrust that gets things moving - the first action that sets the other things in motion - the starting point.

Self discipline is about challenging ourselves.

This is the hard work part - the part where we do the thing that we are too tired or too burned out or too lazy or too afraid to do - this is where we do the thing that is hard.

"The big secret in life is that there is no big secret. Whatever your goal, you can get there if you’re willing to work" - Oprah Winfrey

Self discipline is about industriousness.

(and Webster's is trying to tell me that this is not a word but I think I am just a wee bit smarter than Webster's on this one)

This is the kind of discipline that gets those little tasks done - the tasks that are not hard, but they add up.

This is the little stuff that is cluttered all over top of the big stuff, so the big stuff stays hidden. Maybe it is more comfortable for us to leave the big stuff covered up so we will not have to deal with it, we will not have to see just how amazing our life can really be - maybe this is a reason for our busy-ness and our clutter and our inability to say no when we need to - but we can change that and we can change that in this very moment!

This is the part where we clean up our email and our closets, wrap our thousandth bead, mail the invitations early, clean the tub again, fold the towels again - this is where we pay our dues. This is the place where there are no shortcuts.

Self discipline is about tenacity.

Tenacity is what keeps the action moving forward. This is the part where you keep going even when you just don't feel it anymore.

Now this doesn't mean that we never give up - sometimes giving up is the best thing to do - sometimes we clearly have to let go of things to make room for better things.

Have you ever heard of a company called Traf-O-Data? It was started by Bill Gates and Paul Allen (yes, the Bill Gates and Paul Allen who started Microsoft). It was the thing they let go of in order to make room for something better.

It's not about clinging to the past (if it is then it isn't going to work for us) - it is about moving toward our vision of the future - a vision that is so compelling we will do anything to make it real.

So, WCIT is how we build self discipline. And I think without self discipline all the amazing work we are passionately wanting to create may never end up in the hands of the people who will love it; it may even not ever get made at all.

So, we get clear on what we want - we set our intention - we use willpower to get ourselves going - we challenge ourselves by doing the hard stuff - we challenge ourselves by doing the tedious stuff - we don't give up.

It's really as easy and as difficult as that.

(I need a nap and yes naps are totally allowed and encouraged - there is an absolute balance to this - no one can do it all, not all the time)

Next week I am going back to intention and doing a post on polarity -

(not the locket this time, but the non-content part of our thoughts - the part that makes our thoughts things - the law of attraction stuff that really does work)

this sounds boring now that I write it but it isn't trust me and it is the thing that allows (along with self discipline and passion) Cousin Daisy, uh, I mean Cousin Daisy Mae to manifest all kinds of amazing things and we can, too.

* I Just Ate My Willpower print by persimmonandpink
* be posititve, patient and persistent print by trulyvera

If you are still awake after reading this post check out my interview on Lisa Jacobs blog HERE and my shop critique for Betsy and Bess on the Ecoetsy team blog HERE and Maki from JustBento has put together a great list HERE of ways to help Japan - have a wonderful weekend everyone! xo

Upcycled Tutorial - Leftover Clay Tile and Rubberstamp Chalkboard!

This is another easy-peasy reuse tutorial. We always have a leftover tile or two when we do tile work

(you can also purchase individual tiles super cheap at tile shops or home improvement stores)

and since I know from writing on them with chalk when we are laying them out that they make great chalkboards I thought why not make some tile/chalkboards for little places that you would like to leave a little note or message.

You can also use large tiles and tile edging as your chalk holder (see step by step pictures for a picture of this)

what you need -

tile (test chalk on it first - it must have a matte finish), epoxy, hangers, rubber stamp or ceramic edge tile

1. If using a rubber stamp for your chalk ledge - peel off rubber (you can glue this on some scrap wood so you don't lose your stamp!) 2. Sand off any leftover glue 3. glue the 'ledge' near the bottom of your tile 4. Add your hangers (there are probably better hangers for this project, but I already had these - they are supposed to attach to the wall, but since they are fabric and flexible they worked very well on the ridged back of the tile)- I needed some hoops to hang them, but I had something handy for that, too 5. Write something!