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Posts tagged ‘living in the now’

Inspiration Park

I needed a change. I’d been listening to “Rocking Country” “Blues” this is always good background music for me when I’m “working”..For some reason, I decided to look up what events were on at that moment. There was a live concert, of native flute, and drum, totally different.

From right to left. I looked up events. Found that the show had just started, fixed my hair and taxied over. It was so totally different from the foot stomping music I’d been listening to, I wasn’t sure I’d stay. The performer, was explaining that he had made several of the different flutes he would be playing, It was not electric, it was acoustic, it was pure and simple. Within a very short time, (picture on the left) I was zoning out, really chilling.

Sometimes it is easier to do what we are used to. BUT, when we step outside the box, our perceptions, our senses reawaken, I drifted, let the music come and go, let the moment happen, and the tired weary part of my physical self, sighed and ahhhhh I really really relaxed. when I got to bed, I SLEPT.

When you think “I’ve got it” think again.It is so easy to misinterpret the situation and jump to conclusion. Always have a humble attitude, and double check to make sure.

Perfect Liberty 2020.13

Treasure each moment in time. Life is a continuation of “now” Treasure each and every moment as it comes, so that you an live your life as fully as possible without regrets

Perfect Liberty 2016.10

Oyashikiri

peaceful waters

Australia

Now is always the start of something new. Leave the past in the past. What is important is “what you are going to do now.” Using the present as a starting point, move forward on a path towards improvement and progress.

Perfect Liberty 2014.24

Oyashkiri

photo-Hillwalker (Darrren Su)

a silent moment

korea.

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taken by Atsuko Tsuji in Japan Jan.26.16

PL day 9 2015  Don’t be swayed by the past; it is what you do from now on that counts  Your failures as well as your successes are now in the past.  Always look towards the future and start with a fresh outlook.

Oyashikiri

 

Avocado toast

Avocado toast

??? so where is the picture of my newest discovery.  Simple, it was so good, I ate it before I could take a picture. That is what happens when you skip breakfast, buy fresh avocados and come into the house hungry.  I mashed the avocado and tossed it with mayo and garlic salt.  Nothing fancy, but oh so yummy.

I’ve got fresh shiitake mushrooms and new type of dried mushroom soaking so that I can have mushrooms and “fish” for supper.  Side order of fresh green veggies from the Asian grocers ( T & T )  I got fresh ginger, that I will slice into slivers to toss with the greens. I am not going to tell you about the toasted bagel I had for dessert.. =^_^=

No, to those of you raising an eye brow.. nothing on the bagel, no butter, not cream cheese, I ate it nude.

Day 30   PL Calendar for 2018

Use Your Results to Make the Nest Time even Better

Whether things turn out perfectly or not, the important thing is to take what you’ve learned and apply it the next time.

Enjoy the day before you.  Make the most of each moment.  They can never be relived.  Be present.  Be in the NOW.

Oyashikiri

may 2018

Another moment in Norway… look at the clear blue skies…  it feels “brisk.. maybe not, will have to wait for Bonnie to come home to find out.

moving day

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Stop  Hesitating  – Abandone la actitud reservada y vacilante –

When we travel, we pack up our suitcases with our destination in mind.  When we are being moved because we are at a stage in life where we need more care than can be had if we stay on our own.

Packing to go away, I never know just what I’ll need, so I take some of this and two pairs of jeans, etc.  Especially if we are to travel in our own vehicle, we can take more, “just in case”

But if someone else is packing for you, you find yourself watching, listening to the activity around you.  I am the person packing, the person watching and listening was my Mother who will be 96 on May 1st.  There was no hesitation on my part, I needed only to know what it was she wanted with her.  BUT my Mother who has travelled the world, toured China, walked the cities of Greece, bought opals in Australia,always independent and full of curiosity to see where she would visit next, now knows her destination will be to a health care facility miles away from her home city.  Temporary, never-the-less I know it is a trip she would rather not make, wanted very little.

My Mother has always been strong and stoic, whatever challenges the Universe sent her way,  she dealt with it.  She didn’t dwell on how, she simply did what was necessary to get what she wanted done.

Her attitude is.. bring it on, I’ll deal with it.  She never hesitated to live her life, so while we her daughters,  do our best to make it happen in a way that is best for her.  I believe that the Universe will watch over her.  The most important thing in life that she will need, won’t need to be packed, because God has blessed her with the Divine presence that lives within her.

PL Precept #  15  All is a Mirror

PL Precept #  3   God appears through One’s Self

PL Precept #19  Begin once you Perceive

 

pansy-kaema-blue

Grunge art my way

grunge-water-colour

Good morning everyone.    For a little while now I have been playing with different media, doing some of this and some of that.  This all started when I began doing handmade cards for our church (Church of Perfect Liberty) (institucion Religiosa perfecta libertad)

The first Precept (1 of 21)   #1  Life is Art    This is not about how you paint or draw, but rather how you use your creative expression to get through the day to day challenges of life.  How you see the opportunities that come your way and in accepting them, being able to grow and channel new found energy into your daily life.


 

. I love life, I love being alive, and the sense of wonder I get from even what most could consider a mundane moment.  Death is a by-product of life.  It happens.  When you lose someone who has been a part of your life, there is a sadness and a feeling of loss. However, if you have lived loving and cherishing the person, there are no regrets.  You live forming honest interactions – always – some people you connect with instantly  and with others..  it can take a long time, or… it just never happens.

Important here, is to be true to yourself, not someone else’s expectations, or how other’s want you to act or do something.  This is a concept not everyone understands, or appreciates.  Again, we all have  to live with our SELVES…  To do something we like means to follow one’s instincts and do and use whatever makes it happen.

The above picture is a card that I did for ME.  Not to put in the collection of cards at the church for sale, but for ME.  My wise little sister once said.. remember you are making cards to sell, that means you have to make cards that people will want and like.  Not her exact wording, but you get the drift.  She was right.  Handmade cards or any other craft, where you put your personal time and energy into creating or making something is a balancing act.

The “Artisan” “Craft” person can spend hours even months making something creating a piece they love, yet find that putting a “retail” value on it, is very difficult.  Many people simply do not want to pay for something that they feel they can get at a dollar store.. the fact that what they are getting in these places is manufactured and basically are made in the 1000s, doesn’t matter.  -” To each his/her own”

Because we are a throw away society, what is IN now , may not be in a couple of months or years..  I digress…oh dear… bottom line… we will skip the rest of this for now.. I’m sure it will crop up again =^_^=

Back to the picture.  I hadn’t picked up a paint brush in years. I mean yearS.  When I did, I found that I didn’t want to put it down.  I have been trying for a distressed look on the cards, using inks, pencils and markers… but never felt I got the results I really wanted. At times not even close.

I had my own idea, or image in my head, it just wasn’t happening with the tools I had.. BUT when I took brush in hand, and some inexpensive water colours I found on sale.. POP, SHZAMMMM, I loved what I was seeing.  Best of all the cartoon characters that I discovered in a shop in Montreal, Scrapbook Centrale, made me smile.. It was a new line for me, PaperArtsy.. you can find more about them at http://www.paperartsy.co.uk

I am letting go of what I think other’s may want, and maintaining my own sense of wacky, wild and wonderful.. I got up this morning and tweaked the card some more. It is fun fun fun.

PL Precept # 2    To Live Is to Express One’s Self

Oyashikiri

Artist Loft 4 n1 brush – Michaels ** multi functional great value

Cardstock – watercolour 130 lb. Strathmore

Artist Loft – basic 24 colour pallet – Michaels

Prang – oval 16           DeSerres

Yasuyomo – mettalics (16)     DeSerres

stuck in traffic

blank-pages-2

it happens, you are trying to get somewhere and up ahead, the flashing lights and sirens give advance warning, that just ahead, someone is having not so good a day.  I knew I had to have the truck home in time for Hubby to get to the vet… I checked the dashboard, and saw if the delay wasn’t too long, I’d make it on time.

Turning on the radio, I was immediately surrounded with the drive home news, the traffic delays and the accidents, roads to avoid etc.  Didn’t seem to matter which station, they were all about the snarled traffic, and the bumper to bumper drive home for those stuck on what is supposed to be a freeway. Even the express lanes it seems were not moving, except at a snails pace.

Other cars, and a big school bus were trying to maneuver their vehicles to take side streets. With cars/trucks  at a standstill, and no where to move to it made their task very difficult.  Fortunately for me I had my ice coffee to sip on, and enough for a second refill in my extra container. I decided to turn off the busy nattering, and just sit in the truck pondering the days events.

blank-pages

I had actually had a wonderful visit with a dear friend who  after almost 10 years of visiting back and forth via the internet, had met over lunch a couple of months back.  She is like a breath of fresh air, we share a lot of interests, so we had a show and tell luncheon, and I admit to being rather chuffed about it. To share with someone else who knows the excitement of a “blank page” or what one can do with a rubber stamp or wafer thin die, is rather exhilarating. I had even taken my experiments (work in progress) to show her.  How cool is that…. To be able to present your “babies” and bask in the glow of having another “artist/crafter” understand why you think a typeset page, turned into a blank page with bumps and creases is so great.  It had been a fantastic lunch… so being stuck in traffic was not going to spoil my mood.

blank-pages-3

There are choices we make in life, we can grumble and complain about a negative inconvenience that we have no control over, or we can dwell on a positive.  I always lean towards the positive.  I find it so much more productive for me, and time passes, and I get to appreciate, all the more, the experience of sharing with a friend.

PL Precept #4   Being Annoyed Limits Your Expression

PL Principle # 5  I will not get angry at anyone or anything.

This Wednesday, December 21st. is when the church of Perfect Liberty, celebrates Thanksgiving,  Service is at 7 PM.  Being stuck in the traffic gave me much time to reflect on the many blessings in my life.  Someone else (the reason for the flashing lights) was not as blessed. While I give thanks for my day, I pray that something positive will balance out the negative that happened to someone else.

Oyashikiri

blank-pages-pencils

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

at the locks

 

P1000286

Big imposing, a lot to take in.  What catches my attention, are all the interesting geometric details, with the fading light, I lingered here and there with my eyes, chasing shadows that were by now long and wide ready to call it a day.

P1000277

Although my husband and I were both taking in the scene, our focus and attention was drawn in totally different directions. The time was spent by each of us in his own “world” at that given time.  The crowd gathered at the picnic tables, were oblivious to our wanderings, and really, that is how it should be…. if you are paying attention to other activities besides the one you are “involved” in, then you are not being “present” in the moment, with the people you are meeting with.

My husband and I are aware that each has his/her own “interests”, we respect and allow that to happen, when we are back in the car and on our way, we share the “adventure” and often get a new perspective to entice and draw us back.

P1000280

Like the birds, we will fly by and explore another time

Oyashikiri

PL Principle # 10      I will live in true harmony with my spouse

PL Principle # 3     I will live with a mind of appreciation towards others and things

Bom dia, tudo bem? how are you today?

China Huxinting Tea house,Shanghai

i sat and stared

my eyes saw

my mind withdrew

such beauty, so structured

did anyone live there

CHINA temple of heavenwas this in my past

did my ancestors really

live in this enchanted world

I am drawn to the calmness of the water

and the mirror image of the sky

water feature

in my garden,

I find the water feature soothing

the sound of the clear water

as it falls in a gentle cascade

to ripple and gurgle

on a hazy summer day

buddha garden

yes, I do believe

this day is ending

and I am already heading

towards a gentle unwinding

gradual closing of today

all things are possible

every moment of our lives is a treasure

we are part of a fantasy and dream

life is a continuation

of now

Till soon

Namaste     –     Oyashikiri

verse/text Q

pictures -Pinterest

Time was

retro, breakfast maker

When kitchen gadgets were perhaps simpler.  Note that the idea for breakfast, was that cup of coffee, toast, eggs and I think those are sausages.

campe+ bike UK

When the romantic dream was to camp in a quiet serene lot somewhere, far from the busy cities and towns,  perhaps park the car and if transportation is required, there is the trusty bike to pedal to a country store.

Of course the realities of today when we look back on our dreams of a quiet get away, are not as romantic.  We have to make time to get a way, we need plan and organize, the darling camper, needs to be found and then it has to be reconstructed to meet one’s needs.  Do these small campers have bathrooms, showers, we have to look at logistics, etc. etc.

Important, is our lifestyle such that we can travel with the barest of essentials, or do we need/want more.  Will the car we presently have pull a trailer, do we want to stay in camp grounds that seem to be stuffed with other campers, trailers, and families tucked together between trees much like the some of the communities in the city.  The only difference being, there are more trees, and likely there is water near by for swimming.

And, let us not forget the pets.  We travel with two dogs.  where do we find open space and safety for them.  As the list of needs and wants mounts up, the reality of that romantic dream coming true fades into the distance.life is a journey

Life itself is  journey, how many times do we hear that said, or alluded to. There came a time in my maturing process where I began to realize that each day was my opportunity to explore a piece of my dream, make it a reality, instead of planing  and working at something that may or may not happen, I decided to focus on NOW.  I still dream of future projects, but my interest is in today, how I am feeling today, and what I am doing with my time today. Somehow, that works for me, being present in all I say and do means that I don’t regrets, and I work hard at not having expectations.  I’ve learned when we expect something, we are often disappointed.  The only person that I have control over, in all respects, is myself.  I own the actions and choices I make.  No more, no less.

bacon loaf

Totally irrelevant to anything previous,  this bread takes one hour to make. and I want to taste it. like NOW =^_^- It has 8 slices of bacon in it.   I’d want more.  1/4 cup of Jalapeno,  3 cups of flour, 1 tbsp baking powder,  2 tbsp  granulated sugar  1 tsp of salt,   1 tbsp  vegetable oil,  12 oz buttermilk, 2 cups cheddar cheese,  8 oz cream cheeze.

Namaste    –    Oyashikiri

 

I’m a confessed bacon addict, if I squeeze a recipe in from time to time, I hope you enjoy!

 

pictures/recipe Pinterest

 

 

* Brian Kkrepshaw on CNET

** hearthandmade.co.uk

*** belvederedesignsb log.com

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