Sound of Paper: 10 “in a perfect worlds”

This is part of my work in the Julia Cameron Artist’s Way series. The work this time is from the book the Sound of Paper. The responses are self-examinations and assessments based on work through a daily series of exercises. While I do keep some material offline as it can be very personal and jarring, I often opt to be fairly open about my experiences, both positive and negative.

Kauai

The exercise here is a “in a perfect world” scenario – a list of 10 things that would make life better.

In a perfect world…

  1. I would winter in Hawaii.
  2. I would have a small car run on McDonald’s grease to get to and from decent coffee shops with a minimum of guilt.
  3. I would have that ergonomic desk chair so I could finish my work at a reasonable time.
  4. Pilates would burn a lot more calories than it does.
  5. A fabulous coffee shop will replace the closed pool hall across the street.
  6. My apartment would be clean, and I would be unconflicted about my perfumery stuff.
  7. No one would ever have reason to talk to me about aliens in a spiritual context.
  8. I would have the best, most suited-to-me writer’s group to go to for feedback like EVER.
  9. All my writing project would flow freely and fluidly from one to another.
  10. I could travel whenever the whim took me.

Filed under: Tasks, The Sound of Paper

Sound of Paper: 10 “in a perfect worlds”

This is part of my work in the Julia Cameron Artist’s Way series. The work this time is from the book the Sound of Paper. The responses are self-examinations and assessments based on work through a daily series of exercises. While I do keep some material offline as it can be very personal and jarring, I often opt to be fairly open about my experiences, both positive and negative.

Kauai

The exercise here is a “in a perfect world” scenario – a list of 10 things that would make life better.

In a perfect world…

  1. I would winter in Hawaii.
  2. I would have a small car run on McDonald’s grease to get to and from decent coffee shops with a minimum of guilt.
  3. I would have that ergonomic desk chair so I could finish my work at a reasonable time.
  4. Pilates would burn a lot more calories than it does.
  5. A fabulous coffee shop will replace the closed pool hall across the street.
  6. My apartment would be clean, and I would be unconflicted about my perfumery stuff.
  7. No one would ever have reason to talk to me about aliens in a spiritual context.
  8. I would have the best, most suited-to-me writer’s group to go to for feedback like EVER.
  9. All my writing project would flow freely and fluidly from one to another.
  10. I could travel whenever the whim took me.

Filed under: Tasks, The Sound of Paper

Sound of Paper: 10 “in a perfect worlds”

This is part of my work in the Julia Cameron Artist’s Way series. The work this time is from the book the Sound of Paper. The responses are self-examinations and assessments based on work through a daily series of exercises. While I do keep some material offline as it can be very personal and jarring, I often opt to be fairly open about my experiences, both positive and negative.

Kauai

The exercise here is a “in a perfect world” scenario – a list of 10 things that would make life better.

In a perfect world…

  1. I would winter in Hawaii.
  2. I would have a small car run on McDonald’s grease to get to and from decent coffee shops with a minimum of guilt.
  3. I would have that ergonomic desk chair so I could finish my work at a reasonable time.
  4. Pilates would burn a lot more calories than it does.
  5. A fabulous coffee shop will replace the closed pool hall across the street.
  6. My apartment would be clean, and I would be unconflicted about my perfumery stuff.
  7. No one would ever have reason to talk to me about aliens in a spiritual context.
  8. I would have the best, most suited-to-me writer’s group to go to for feedback like EVER.
  9. All my writing project would flow freely and fluidly from one to another.
  10. I could travel whenever the whim took me.

Filed under: Tasks, The Sound of Paper

Gender and Paganism Part 1: Let’s sort this out

Overarching TermPrimary SubgroupsSecondary Subgroups
ChristianDenominations
(Catholic/Lutheran*/Protestant)
Synods, Conferences, Associations
PaganReligions
Wiccan/Generic Pagan/Druidry/Asatru/Syncretic and diasporic voluntary identifiers etc./Goddess path (not necessarily Wiccan)/traditional witchccraft (additional sub-identifiers apply.)
Traditions - example
Must chose a religion before you can determine traditions:
Ex. Wicca: American eclectic, Gardnerian, Alexandrian, British Traditional Witchcraft

*Lutheranism to my mind is treated separately from other forms of Protestantism for two reasons:
1)Martin Luther’s intent was that it was a REFORMATION of the Catholic church, and to his mind it was just “Catholic, but better.”
2)They, like the Catholics, designate their clergy as priests. Priesthood- something that merits much discussion – is very different from other forms of spiritual service.

Why am I laying this out? Because I feel like we’re getting our terms confused, as we deliberately get our genders muddled. (Gender muddling is A-OK with me, for the record.)

Pagans are a wonderful group of… GROUPS. Pagans, neopagans to Recon, are NOT all one religion. We are many religions, with many subgroups within those religions. When we make our goal “unity” the first step is not finding common ground – it’s finding common need.

Just as some Christian groups are “boo! Birth control! Nobody mention vasectomies where the wimminz can hear us,” to “Yay! Birth control! Can we have some for Africa?” some Pagan groups have equally diverse and oppositional approaches to any moral ground EVER.

Thus I point to the above chart, as an extremely simplified explanation.

Paganism can be a general religion, just as some people claim to be generically Christian. But when it comes to spirituality, we’re all a bit like Smart Phones and web browsers in that we don’t need our add-ons, but we generally choose them.

Our common needs in which we can find unity across at-times wildly different religions:

  • Religious freedom
  • A sense of fellowship
  • A sense of safety and protection
  • A sense of pleasure in our spiritual practice**

 

**this merits discussion, as I know some Pagan Orthodox/fundamentalist types who still don’t think it’s spiritual unless it makes you miserable.




Sound of Paper: 25 Things I associate with “sophistication”

This is part of my work in the Julia Cameron Artist’s Way series. The work this time is from the book the Sound of Paper. The responses are self-examinations and assessments based on work through a daily series of exercises. While I do keep some material offline as it can be very personal and jarring, I often opt to be fairly open about my experiences, both positive and negative.

 

25 Things I association with sophistication.

  1. Wine bottles – not wine itself, just the bottles. I think the shapes made are beautiful.
  2. Perfume. I love high end perfumes. The substance matters, but again, I love the bottle shape.
  3. Oriental/decorative carpets.
  4. Museums.
  5. Elegant and elegantly placed scented candles.
  6. Pumps.
  7. Scarves – but only when worn EXACTLY right.
  8. Books; large art picture books/pictorials, classic novels, and even electronic books.
  9. Original paintings.
  10. Opals.
  11. Lipstick brushes.
  12. Cheese plates/cheese.
  13. Breakfasting on my balcony.
  14. Sidewalk cafes.
  15. Antique shops.
  16. Scented candles, with no metaphysical purpose.
  17. Art house/indie movies.
  18. Metal arm bangles.
  19. Orchestral music.
  20. Old time comedians; Red Skelton, Danny Kaye.
  21. Live theater.
  22. Art Deco.
  23. Masquerades.
  24. discussion salons.
  25. Silk.

 


Filed under: Tasks

From a simple walk outside

Lower back pain’s best remedy? A walk. So I went for one today, noting that weird smell when it’s warming up but it still wants to snow. I only picked my way around two patches of ice, a surefire warning of coming drought. I also encountered the following oddities lying along my path. I think of them as writing prompts: surely there’s a story for each object and how it got there.

 

dog_calendar022012A dog calendar, on the ground, open to February. Did someone not like dogs? Was there a post Valentine’s breakup?

Did it simply fall out of a box meant for the thrift store? There were no telltale boot prints, so it was not subject to some stomping.

 

old_sock_022012

 

A lone sock, lying on the lawn like a hung over frat boy. Dropped during a laundry run? The victim of a walk of shame? Used as a GI Joe parachute and then discarded?

 

syringe_022012

And the piece de resistance? A rather large syringe, laying out by the tree. Probably for use by a severe diabetic – I knew a rather svelte football player in college who required one. Yes, this may be a byproduct of garbage day. BUT:

eviction_noticeIt came from this house, which had a foreclosure/eviction notice in the door. The former tenants would squat in lawn chairs and glare at passerby on nice days. Now they are gone.

It suggests there’s more to the story of the lone syringe, as these people were long gone from that house.




The Sound of Paper: Collage of Interests (Pinterest)

My Sound of Paper Pinterest board

The exercise calls for a collage of your interests. Rather than using magazines this time – backtracking through some old entries can show how that did get a touch unwieldy – I decided to use Pinterest. While I still prefer StumbleUpon, Pinterest does have an interesting curatorial aspect that suits me. Et voila, my collage of “things that interest me.”


Filed under: The Sound of Paper

Disposable creativity

Reblogged from The HeSo Project:

  • Click to visit the original post
  • Click to visit the original post

“Many of us wish we were more creative. many of us sense we are more creative, but unable to effectively tap that creativity. Our dreams elude us. Our lives feel somehow flat. Often, we have great ideas, wonderful dreams, but are unable to actualize them for ourselves. Sometimes we have specific creative longings we would love to be able to fulfill – learning to ply the piano, painting, taking an acting class, or writing. Someimes our goal is more diffuse. We hunger for what might be called creative living …

I only wish I could schedule these reblogs. More people who benefit from the Artist’s Way.

Filed under: Tasks

Disposable creativity

Reblogged from The HeSo Project:

  • Click to visit the original post
  • Click to visit the original post

“Many of us wish we were more creative. many of us sense we are more creative, but unable to effectively tap that creativity. Our dreams elude us. Our lives feel somehow flat. Often, we have great ideas, wonderful dreams, but are unable to actualize them for ourselves. Sometimes we have specific creative longings we would love to be able to fulfill – learning to ply the piano, painting, taking an acting class, or writing. Someimes our goal is more diffuse. We hunger for what might be called creative living …

I only wish I could schedule these reblogs. More people who benefit from the Artist’s Way.

Filed under: Tasks

Riding the Dragon: Check-in Week 12

This is part of my work in the Julia Cameron Artist’s Way series. The work this time is from the book the Artist’s Way at Work: Riding the Dragon. The responses are self-examinations and assessments based on work through a daily series of exercises. While I do keep some material offline as it can be very personal and jarring, I often opt to be fairly open about my experiences, both positive and negative.

Final week on Riding the Dragon. The next book on deck: the Sound of Paper.

1. I don’t need to recommit to morning pages, I’m pretty well committed to them now. They help. I think they’re doing nothing, then I skip a few days, and I realize how very much they actually do. I suspect using a neti pot may be quite similar in some ways.

2. Time-outs do need some re-commitment. Part of my issue is just that I run out of energy and don’t want to do that, yet doing the time out recharges me. This week I went to the Mirror Maze for a time-out. It left me questioning reality in significant ways, and was worth the trip – and the Crowd Cut coupon. These photography walks, visits to new shops alone, the act of seeking new experiences - it all builds up a reserve I can draw from.

3. I have noticed synchronicity. It’s not always a synchronicity of opportunity – sometimes it’s a synchronicity of affirmation. I’d say the affirmation happens far more often than the opportunity type, perhaps because at this point it’s what I need more.

4. Oh, I intend to celebrate. :)


Filed under: Riding the Dragon, Tasks, Weekly Check-In