so the message that's been trying to get me to listen to it is: go slowly...observe all the wonders along the way...the beauty...the smells....the textures...of this, your one and only wonderful life. Lately, my calendar has filled with "stuff." interesting stuff, gotta-do-it stuff, all sorts of stuff. but it has left little time to sit quietly and listen. and that has had a direct reflection on my art. rather....i have not had an inkling of an artistic idea. the Stuff has been primarily superficial, day-to-day Stuff, leaving no room to feed the Good Stuff. the Stuff Factory. the Soul. my Zen card said "sit quietly. Watch your thoughts and feelings pass in front of you. Relinquish control and the desire to get caught in them..." Then, on the Swirlygirl site, (http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=25173) an incredible collage with this caption.."Your strongest, bravest, wisest self is waiting for you with wide open arms. Go to her and you shall become her." and THEN i found this website: http://www.thisordinaryday.com/ ....all celebrating being mindful...being still...drenching your soul in those Moments. something that has been sorely lacking in me for months now. so today, as husband leaves for an out-of-town day, and youngblood officially goes to work (pray it doesn't rain so he stays all day), and diva is settling in with her Happy Tummy, I officially ban all distractions and disturbances. i have 2 projects that i'll be working on today and will focus. one can be worked while the glue on the other is drying. and it seems that art feeds art...when i'm working on one project, it sometimes spurs an idea for another. i guess May isn't so awful...now that my fingers are nearly healed. i feel a return to the Earth-within-me calling...a connection reawakening. maybe that's what all the internal commotion has been about. new green growing, pushing out the winterkill. today i will water, fertilize, till and feed my Internal Garden...scrape the dead moss and rake last year's leaves from my heart...i will allow the sun to reach the fertile soil and let the tiny seedlings warm their heads in the light. i will be my best self for this day. but first i have to take out the garbage.L.