Artist's Play Room #54 ~ Head Shoulders Knees And Toes

I woke up this morning with the song running full blast in my head. I laughed right then and there, telling myself this would BE a fun Artist's Play Room and TODAY was the day I'd get it up and running...

Funny thing, the 2 little grrrls up in the front house had brought me a super secret special envelope last week with cut-out models and faces from some shee-shee magazine. I was deLIGHTed with the bounty and wondered whatever might I use them for.

Until this morning.

And then what happened, you ask...

Well.

Ummmmmmm.

I had a different idea altogether.

I had several cut-out photos of Timmy when he was little, and this one in particular which literally shows his Head Shoulders Knees And Toes jumped up and bit me on the nose!!!

I had some scrap pieces which I had tried without success to share with the Kickin' Arts kids, which, to me, look like little windows, and I thought I'd add them to the mix. 

Then, instead of turning to my paper and glue sticks, I scanned them and digitally fiddled with them awhile. The one above was what I ended up with until I had another idea tugging my sleeve...

For this I used a creative effect on Pixlr. I liked it, and usually don't fiddle with that bunch of effects, but this time it sort of rang the bell for me.

And this last one [above] was just all about playing with overlays and colour corrections. I liked the way the light seemed to BE shining down on him and the pink on his knee and BEneath his toes.

I guess I just had fun. 

Fun spending a little extra computer time.

Fun playing and seeing what happened if.

enJOY!!

Somedays You've Just Got To Follow That Bouncing Ball...

I've been reading and hearing a LOT lately about taking a break and stepping away from the computer, the Internet, the... 

And, of course, there has been my own inner urging and intention to "rest my brain," and limiting my computer time is the easiest and most pleasurable rest around for my birdbrain.

So, this is to say that my Simple Principles series will continue, though just Now I am NOT sure exactly when. Probably another day or so...

I share this BEcause one of the foundational supports of my Simple Principles is to live Life like I am following the bouncing ball.

[if you recall this from sing-a-longs and Mitch Miller, you know what I mean; if you  don't, it just means that when the words to a song showed up on the tv screen, a little bouncing ball would "show" what to sing...]

So, for Now, see you soon and follow that bouncing ball!!

I am challenging myself to write out loud for the 91 days, 1 April through 30 June 2013. I'm pulling questions out of hats and giving them some room to romp. If you have a question to share, please email me... 

silver dot currie at gmail dot com

Simple Principles ~ Stay In This Moment Right Now

If there is one principle that has changed me simultaneously launching me into an entirely new dimension, it is this one.

Simple.

Clear.

Essential.

Every "problem" I have had in my Life, as well those I presently am navigating, completely lose their power to define or enclose me when I am Staying In Right Now.

I didn't think this one up; I only noticed its extraordinary qualities and grabbed hold of it.

This actually happened 7 years ago, during a 21-day school I attended in Sedona, Arizona.

It may BE odd to identify it so specifically, but there you go, I am an odd duck sometimes. 

Nevertheless, since that awakening I have ALWAYS been able to right myself from upset to carrying on, even calmly, by Staying In This Moment Right Now.

That's it.

I'd love to know what YOU think about this principle. How it does or does NOT work for you.

I am challenging myself to write out loud for the 91 days, 1 April through 30 June 2013. I'm pulling questions out of hats and giving them some room to romp. If you have a question to share, please email me... 

silver dot currie at gmail dot com

My Simple Principles ~ End Each Day With JOY

As someone who seems to have been "default-set" at the near side of depression, healing myself of this has demanded I face it squarely and NOT let it make me BElieve I am its victim.

It's been quite a challenge, almost "more than" I have felt capable of handling. At least for longish spells of Time.

After years round the Principles of 12-Step Recovery, I sat down with myself a few years back and over some months BEgan to actively develop My Very Own SIMPLE Currie-Specific Principles to build my Life upon.

End Each Day With JOY is the port to BEgin Each Day With Wonder's starboard. It is a sort of assurance that I can live within their warm arms and find Life more than just manageable, downright deLIGHTfull!!

As with my mornings, my evenings have sameness, practises, and habits to anchor me and keep the gloomies and Fear from the shadows.

The funniest part, at least to me, is how early I go to bed.

NOT BEcause I am exhausted.

NOT BEcause I want to get "enough" sleep.

Only BEcause I CAN.

Such a simple discovery those 3 words:

BEcause I CAN

yet they took me well into my 50's to recognise and BE willing to see clearly.

I used to have such a time with sleep. It would elude me. I'd fall into it and then awaken with my mind racing and chasing its tail. I even avoided it, sometimes, afraid it would catch me unaware and without protection.

That is depression for me. Wacky thinking and nonsensical fears.

Nowadays, er, nights [evenings] it is NOT one bit strange for me to climb in bed and still hear the kids in the front house outside playing.

Nor does it still BEing light out matter.

When I close my eyes I go to sleep.

No muss, no fuss.

And most nights I sleep a long way through, sometimes all the way through, but even when I awaken, BE it 10 PM or 3 AM, I pop up, get a drink of water, pat Gracie, climb back in bed, and go back to sleep.

And I wake up, usually BEtween 3 and 4 or 4 and 5. It just works.

Now I am NOT saying anyone should DO what I DO, I am only sharing that it took me so long to LISTEN to my own body and brain, I know I did NOT have to struggle so very long...

Ending the day with JOY, as happy to go to sleep as to wake up, this to me is Simplicity with a capital smile.

I am challenging myself to write out loud for the 91 days, 1 April through 30 June 2013. I'm pulling questions out of hats and giving them some room to romp. If you have a question to share, please email me... 

silver dot currie at gmail dot com

My Simple Principles: BEgin Each Day With Wonder

I'm going to spend the balance of April writing about My Simple Principles. 

These principles are those things I let guide my moments. 

The longer I DO this, the more I enJOY the quality of my Life in ways I felt BEyond my grasp for so very long.

BEgin Each Day With Wonder.

When I wake up, usually long BEfore the sun, I've learned to ask myself a question like, 

I WONDER what I will learn today?!

or

I WONDER who or what will astonish and amaze me today?!

It sounds so simple and mayBE it is, but it has also encouraged me to 

BEgin my day Eagerly, JOYfully, and Energised.

I, like many people, used to struggle to awaken and BEgin my days. 

Now, NOT at all. 

Every morning I am happy to wake up and embrace the new day. 

Every morning, I DO the same things and by the time the sun is up [and long BEfore I used to drag myself out of bed NOT that long ago] I've already accomplished things important to me which give me the sustained energy to keep moving into my morning and day with wonder.

I emphasised important to me BEcause that's been the key for me. 

I choose to please myself and to DO what makes me shine. 

Rather than DOing what I DO for approval, agreement, or acknowledgement, 

I DO it for ME 

&

I DO it BEcause I CAN.

Life works best for me when it's simple, spare, and clear.

 I am challenging myself to write out loud for the 91 days, 1 April through 30 June 2013. I'm pulling questions out of hats and giving them some room to romp. If you have a question to share, please email me... 

silver dot currie at gmail dot com

Artist's Play Room #53 ~ Creating A Colour Combination

I so enJOY playing with colour. As I thought about a colour and making up a name for it, I found myself envisioning the colour of the ocean. 

The colourS of the ocean. 

And, as it is a bit more of a walk than I am yet up for these days, I browsed through my delicious stash of papers. 

What amazes me is that it was almost as deLIGHTing as BEing at the beach, and I was right here in the Wee Cottage all the while.

I got myself all into cutting and pasting and trying to create the meld of the sea's many shades of blue and green and gray and white and sometimes brown or black, depending on the way I am looking.

I couldn't think up a clever name so I went with, 

The Light Over the Ocean. 

Simple.

After making my collages I scanned them in and then went on to my favourite activity, Digital Fiddling. 

And for these I stay right close to home, too, just using Picasa + Creative Kit.

Really, that's pretty much it for this week...

enJOY!!

Learning To Stop, Look, and Listen

I remember a little sing-song something from way long back...

STOP LOOK AND LISTEN

BEFORE YOU CROSS THE STREET

USE YOUR EYES

USE YOUR EARS 

BEFORE YOU USE YOUR FEET.

I think this is good advise and wise counsel.

NOT just for kids crossing the street, either.

Ever since the episode with the dogs attacking Gracie and me, I have watched myself grow into a crankypants with no more patience than a rubber band stretched too long in the sun.

I get irritated way too easily, and I don't just Let Life BE Life.

Realising this last week, I stopped myself, mid-crank.

Amazing stuff.

Last night I slept practically straight through the night.

That was deLIGHTfull.

Nothing's changed all that much with me physically, but mentally, I am adjusting. At least that is what I think I am DOing.

I still have a strange brain, but I have adapted to it.

I've stayed "off my brain" for longer and longer chunks each day.

It is always going to BE necessary to stop, look, and listen BEfore I cross the street, but I may have overlooked there are still streets to cross, places to explore, people to meet, and adventures to have.

Clearly, I had a good bump on the BEan.

BEcause I'm NOT a crankypants [anymore, though I surely was for a too long many years of my one precious Life] and I don't want to renew my subscription to the Crankypants Times.

What happened really scared me. And hurt me. And it sort of stinks. But it could have been so much worse, and oftentimes I have found that Life wraps gifts in unusual wrappings.

Just Now when Gracie and I went out  for our afternoon walk, she still wasn't game for walking BEyond our street, but in turning back to head for home, I happened upon a $5 bill on the ground.

See what I'm saying?!

I am challenging myself to write out loud for the 91 days, 1 April through 30 June 2013. I'm pulling questions out of hats and giving them some room to romp. If you have a question to share, please email me... 

silver dot currie at gmail dot com