Loss

Good Hugs

15 x 20 Oil

Loss, I don’t handle loss very well. Most of us don’t. Several of my dear friends have lost love ones this week. When they are grieving, I am grieving, too. It is a time that naturally feels like we should crawl inside and pull up the walls around us. Healing takes time. When we humans are ready, we will reach out again, touch and once again relate to the world.

I turn to my painting. It is an inside place that is quiet and peaceful, without words, a place to float and recover. Focusing so deeply on the problems that a painting can create, letting the paint flow, watching it mix with the other colors and catch the light, actually soothes and quiets the words flying around in my head. Questions of “why” and “what if…” fade quietly for another time. I feel closer to God when I am quiet. The ultimate Creator, helping me create, helping me heal. All is good, all is peaceful.

We have been given the right side of the brain as a way to stop all the chatter. Whatever is your “right brain” experience, that is your healing spot, use it to heal the heart.

November Second

So, here we are. November 2nd is the big day, big election. The Big Recession has had all of us on the edge. No matter what side of each issue you are on, you are worried. It is an uncertain time.

A dear friend of our’s, Craig, wrote to us about this very issue, “ dark days.” You know what he said (not sure if this is his original quote, but it could be… ) and I quote “ Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass. It’s about learning how to dance in the rain.” Wisdom for sure! What a great message for me and for all of us!

Do what you love, do it now! If it is painting, paint. If it is hiking, hike. If it is anything that is your passion, DO IT NOW! AND DO IT WITH ALL THE LOVE IN YOUR HEART! For me, that is painting. And so, my vote is in, my heart is now free to fly into the highest places and soar. That is what our individual lives are all about, that is what gives us joy, so let’s all go and do that! The world will keep turning whether or not the outcome of this week is what you expected, hoped or prayed for. We will survive. Our job is that we bring joy to the world by leaning into our own passion that brings us joy!

Be sure to Vote, then go out there and “dance !"

“Curtain Call” by Susan Blackwood

8 x 10 Oil

Now showing at Howard Mandville Gallery– Small Works Show, opens November 6^th.