Waking Up Creative Capacity

You know, there are just days that are pure gift! I love the day I get to talk to local 3rd graders about art. They're blank canvases, pure sponges, white pages--ready for splashes of color to be poured onto. It's so fun to look out and find all these eager little faces looking up to you. Some of them already don't believe in dreams, but most of them still believe. And all they need is someone to say, "YOU CAN!"
They are all so well-behaved, sitting Indian style in their neat little rows. Takes a minute to get them loosened up and talking, but it happens. I know teachers have to have order in their rooms, but man o man, I love to let them have a little time of "dis-order"! Not much, but enough to get the wheel turning and the minds exploring...
We took it a step further this year, and they got to put a little paint on the paper. I only have 45 minutes and about 60 kids, so by the time we get this far, we're already running out of time, and there is always someone who decides at the last minute that they really want to try it. Just a mark--their name is safe, simple shapes, but very bright colors! They like the brightest colors. They smiled, laughed, and giggled when I squirted water so we could watch the colors run.

We hve a fabric show up at the Gallery, something very different. I think the kids were impressed, especially with the story dolls.
It was so fun to watch the smiles creep onto the kids faces as they actually made their mark. Didn't have to be grand--even a simple mark says, "I'm here, and I can do it!"
Future artists! I showed them an acorn today and told them it wasn't an acorn at all--it was an oak tree...these are oak trees! Unlimited potential! I hope they took a little of that thought home with them. And thanks to Tina for helping today...out of all the pictures we took, no Tina! :( RATS! But she was there!

Time for a Haircut!

OK, so it's PAST time for a haircut! I've been so busy I haven't had time to make an appointment, so I called today and amazing grace! I got in this afternoon! I'm not too impressed with this photo, but perhaps it's the subject matter! :)
Meet Lorena. She makes me look pretty. :) She's trying to talk me into 3 different colors of red! So, what do YOU think??? :)

Meet Jean Weeks

Meet Jean Weeks, a lovely watercolorist from Bay City, Texas. She came and taught a Saturday Art Special at our local art league. She's a delightful lady, and I love watching her paint. It's "magic". :)
Beautiful! Can't you just hear the monkeys scrambling through the rain forest? How fun!

Sr. Lois and the Enneagram

Meet Sr. Lois, one of my favorite sisters at the Cenacle. If she gives a retreat, I am there! :) She taught our class today--Spiritual Direction Using the Enneagram. Sandy, one of my classmates, is explaining some new technology to Sister. Sr. Lois also loves new technology--she really gets into powerpoint and all the computer driven magic that happens when she pushes a button! :) Sr. Lois is a permission giver to the explorer in all of us. She's empowered me to push the edges when I've wanted to. And she's helped me not be afraid. I love her dearly.
And here's another one of my favorites sisters, Sr. Alice. She's my spiritual director. After class today I got to go talk to her for a while. She's held my hand and loved me tenderly through all kinds of things for nearly 3 years. She's unshakable and unshockable, two very valuable assets to have in a spiritual friend. I know she's prayed for me often. She's probably fretted over me a bit, too, but she hasn't let it show. She has remained constant, and I love her dearly, too.

Meet Makenzie Smith

You know, sometimes you just stumble upon the sweetest little blessings. Meet Makenzie Smith. She was dining at El Chico with her mom and dad today when we saw her. Such a delightful little cutie.

Most of the time she sat by her dad--I think that's one of the things that struck me. I watched her dad taking care of her, and it was really special. A girlie and her daddy are something very special.
That is until he pulls out the napkin and tries to clean up matters! This was the closest I saw to a struggle between the two, but it didn't last long...
Although Makenzie looks just a tad suspicious for a while longer. She was such a beauty and it was so much fun watching her. And man, she can really say "BYE"! :) Makinzie, I hope you have a very happy life, and that all your dreams come true!

Lented Day of Reflection--FINALLY HERE! :)

One of my assignments this 3rd year at the Spiritual Direction Institute is to facilitate a day of prayer, so I asked the Women's Club at St. Michael's if I could do a day of prayer for them. They graciously accepted my offer and let me go to do it however I liked. I was given a lot of freedom, which always opens the way for the Spirit to move and bless.One of the hit prayer projects was to pray with play. The ladies had so much fun collaging their prayer. Even the one's who didn't think they are creative came up with wonderful insights and art work.
And there was a lot of laughter! That's the best part about playing your prayers--the joy thing is wonderful! I've asked a friend of mine to send me photos of the ladies walking the labyrinth. It was just a wonderful day--more than I could ever ask for, but that's just the way God seems to do things: superabundantly more than you can ever ask, hope or dream!

Getting Ready...

Tomorrow's a big day for me. I'm facilitating a Lenten Day of Reflection for 50 women at my church. It's been a big project, but I have had a big lot of fun preparing for it. I truly believe Jesus when he said, "My burden is easy and my yoke is light." This has been a lot of work and has used a lot of energy, but there's been incredible joy and just downright fun planning it, and today we set up the two rooms we will be using. Our theme is "Pray All Ways"--in an attempt to understand what Jesus may have meant when he told us to "Pray always." We will be using several different methods of prayer--the first will be to pray with nature. So, there is a table full of beautiful nature pictures and fun stuff like acorns, pine cones, sweet gum balls, and all kinds of beautiful fall leaves.
The we'll see how playing can be praying. This is our craft-y table. The ladies will make a collage, perhaps a collage mandala, or prayer circle. I did one of those last year, and used it to set my life intensions. Later I got it matted and framed it, and it hangs in my studio at home to reminde me of my purpose and what I want my life to be. I hope these ladies enjoy their prayer collage as much as I have.
One of the big ways we will pray tomorrow is with our feet. I love the labyrinth. It's taught me so much about life and my own soul journey, so I wanted to share the labyrinth with friends at my church.

Pray for us tomorrow if you will, that Love will shine on us, that grace will abound, and that Creative Energy will flow like a river!