Friends can come in all shapes and sizes. That being said I have found myself with an odd connection to my houseplants lately.
I have had plants in my house for many years. I love how they make my house feel like a home and add to the decor. Not to mention the unseen benefits of oxygenation of the air and the fact that your life can only be improved when surrounded by the calm living energy that plants bring to a space.
In recent months I have been wanting more plants. I wander through the tiny plant section at the local grocery and pick out ones that feel like they need a little rescuing. I can’t imagine what it’s like for a plant to be in a plastic pot in an artificially lit supermarket. Ugh. Maybe much like a human who works long hours in a big office building with no outside windows. Not ideal. Sort of like going to the humane society and rescuing a kitty I pick out a plant and bring it home to a much nicer environment that has lots of love and care. A new pot and bright window and a few weeks to settle in and man are they happy campers.
Like all living things plants have energy. I liken it even to personality. My plants definitely have personalities. Each their own might I add. If you take a moment to take in their energy you may be surprised at what you find.
I thought I would introduce you to some of my friends.
Frankie Fronds
Frankie is the old hippy of the bunch. He is very laid back and chill. He would totally be smoking dope if he could. Instead I put the tie dyed water bulb in his pot so he can pretend. Frankie is a fern and his long fronds droop down over the edge of his hanging pot. When you walk by the leaves reach out as if to say “Hey man…. Sit down. Chill out for a bit.”
Stella
Stella is… Well, Stella is one of a kind. She’s the only peace lily in the house and she knows it. She can be a little testy if she doesn’t get her way. She also has a water bulb in her pot but unlike Frankie’s hers is for ample amounts of water to keep her hydrated and shining gorgeously. If she isn’t getting what she needs she’ll let me know. I imagine Stella would have a Gucci handbag if she could.
Sean
Sean is Irish. He’s a Shamrock. He’s also a 5 year old boy. He’s growing like a weed and he is always happy. He practically hugs me with enthusiasm when I walk in the room. He is so full of life and luck!
Al
Al is a Vietnam Vet. He has had a hard life but he keeps on kicking. He’s a recovering addict and has turned his life around (since I rescued him 🙂 with a new mission to help people. He’s a medicinal Aloe Vera plant. He is much happier now that he has a new pot, a new home and a purpose. I set him next to Sean for a little dose of youthful glee.
These are just a couple of my plant characters. I have thought I might be a teensy bit crazy for putting this much thought into my plants so I did some research, ie. googling, and found that I’m not the only crazy one.
There are even books on plant personalities. *sigh of relief*
Maybe now you’ll look at your plants a little differently….. Plants have feelings too.
So much is happening!
First things first…. I have this fabulous new site!! (Thanks to Ritner Design – Thank you Ben!) So I transferred the old blog posts over to here… since there weren’t many that was easy. Now that I have this I need to keep up. Update! Update! Update. I am working towards better organization in many aspects of my life, this is just one. Now if I can just keep up.
I have had such a great last couple of months!
I finished up my final week volunteering in the middle school art room last week. It was bittersweet… I had such a fabulous time there. I learned so much more than I had expected. Children are such awesome people to hang out with. My only real goal going into this project was to inspire the kids and give them a different view of art and what it can be. I feel like I realized or figured out way to late in my art life that art can be whatever you want it to be. There are no rules or boundaries. You don’t have to be able to draw an animal perfectly or paint the most perfect landscape. Just create.
I was very fortunate that the art teacher Mrs. Fanning took me in with open arms and gave me the freedom to actually teach a whole project. We did an abstract painting/collage project. I felt like this would be a great way to get the kids out of their “box” so to speak. They used what they had learned about the basic art elements of texture, value to create an abstract piece. There were a few muddy paintings in the end but overall I really felt like they got message…. there are no rules. Just paint. The last day they thanked me with mini abstract cards that they had personalized and signed. They were such a great gift! I loved them so much I went home immediately and made a collage installation on my living room wall with them. I honestly hope I inspired even just one of these children, not just in their art work but in any realm. I had never considered being a teacher of any sort until I did this project but now I may have a tiny glimpse of myself as an art teacher.
On top of all the art work I have had a few great life coaching moments. I love my friends who have let me help them out and share my “stuff” with them. All I can possibly hope is that I have made a positive impact on their lives.
A moment of note…..
Twenty seconds no fear led to a date and now a relationship, Congrats D! Many of us live with fear in so many different forms. Unfortunately these fears whether we realize it or not can hold us back from getting to where we want to be in life. It helps to start to recognize the decisions we are making in life and whether they come from a place of fear or a place of love. Those fear driven decisions can be changed with conscious effort. I was listening to Dr. Laura one day as I often do and she had some great advice for a man…. the gist of it was that when you are faced with a situation where you are tempted to not do something or do something out of fear, fear of being rejected, fear of being judged etc, take 20 seconds of no fear and do what you want. Of course this can’t possibly work for every situation but I find that it’s often the little things that hang us up and the more minor things we can improve upon the more bigger tasks we can tackle. I found an interesting book on living with out fear. I loved the ten concepts of fearlessness.
I love that I get to share my insight and information with my friends. I have so many moments that make me grateful for the life I have been given. I just have to keep sharing the love!
I am looking forward to the next couple weeks…. adding to my new site, a couple family photo sessions, a couple painting and design projects and a mega road trip to plan! Should be fun.
Until next time….
This week I am thankful I survived middle school and don’t ever have to repeat that stage in life again. Hallelujah! Think about it…. we should all saying a little prayer on that.
Luckily (or not) when you’re that age you’re basically oblivious to life’s potential. I was fortunate to get a little reminder when I started volunteering in the middle school art room. Last week I got the opportunity to teach my very own art lesson to the 6th and 7th graders. I was so excited I actually prepared for it! For this procrastinator that flies by the seat of her pants, that is a BIG deal. I have never thought of myself as a teacher or had any desire to be a teacher so the thought of planning out a lesson was definitely odd for me. But I was really looking forward to sharing my knowledge and lending my insight to help these kids “get out of the box” so to speak. Overall the lesson went good. I introduced them to abstraction and expressionism. I showed them some of my own work and examples of another famous expressionist Wassily Kandinsky. The following are the examples of mine I used for the class…… I loved hearing all the inquiring questions about them, some funny, some serious. Kids are honest.
I really enjoyed seeing where each kid went in their abstraction. I could see how difficult it was for them to think about painting… nothing essentially. At that age they are all about recreating what they see and if it is good or not, by judge of their peers of course. I have been asked multiples times, “But are you a good artist?” So for them to just paint, that was hard to grasp. Some of them took off, others struggled to not paint a scene. A couple ended up with a thick brown mess. At one point I could see one little gentleman struggling, he finally asked if he could add white to his palette, I asked why he needed white. He responded that he needed some clouds. The look on his face after I showed him how to manipulate his paint to get the white of the paper to show through and create the look of clouds was priceless. It’s those moments of “out of boxness” that I love about this new little venture. To top off my day in the classroom I got to work one on one with a young guy who had some special needs and he got to come work in the art room for the very first time. He was very nervous at first but after painting for 30 minutes he was radiating with joy. Art can change lives. It’s true. I have just barely dipped my toe and I am ready to dive in!
Don’t we all want a perfect score in life? A figurative ‘300’. Sometimes, maybe more often then not, we have to give ourselves the score. Give yourself permission to make your life perfect.
Start by giving yourself permission to be yourself. Being authentically ‘you’ can get lost in the expectations and impressions of others. It happens to everyone at some point and at some level or another. Whether we realize it or not we let others dictate how we express ourselves, often out of fear of judgement or want of acceptance. Stop.
The time is now. Give yourself the acceptance and permission to be who you are regardless of others reactions or judgements. Whether it be a t-shirt you have been dying to wear but think it just wouldn’t fit in or a blog you’re not sure anyone would care to read, you have to go for it. Put it out there. Don’t hesitate. Be who YOU are. Smile about it.
Oh and if you decide to bust out your sweet t-shirt or a hot pair of leg warmers there’s a good possibility people are staring because they are insanely jealous. Jealous that you don’t care what they think. Jealous that you smile while being incredibly awesome. Unknowingly jealous that you’re bowling a 300 right in front of them and they can’t stop staring at your fabulousness.
March is here! One of my very favorite months. Not just because the best day of the year is in March but also because that means it is almost spring. March is like a bridge between winter and spring, today is a perfect example. Gorgeous blanket of snow and brilliant sunshine. I am excited for today!
It is my first day of volunteering in a middle school art room. I am excited and a little nervous. I keeping a positive attitude and my expectations high. I really hope to learn something from my time in the classroom. I would love to leave feeling like I had a positive impact on the children or at least their time there. Either in the art realm or just in general. I worry about middle school attitude but I am truly trying to keep it positive and keep the four agreements in mind going into this. I think positive is my biggest push in this. I need to keep that present the whole time.
The next excitement of the day is that today I am going to start a “Radical Self Love Bootcamp” (http://galadarling.com/article/radical-self-love-bootcamp-is-live). One of my very favorite people is Gala Darling of www.galadarling.com. She is amazing! Just go to her blog and see. I love her unique sense of confidence and style. She is her own. She has developed the bootcamp to help people get to a higher level of “self love” and appreciation. I am looking forward to furthering my mind and heart through her daily readings!
I am working on a new business card design. How many business cards does one person need? Especially when they don’t have much of a business at all. This new one is more of a personal one. It is not for sareck Design. It is just for me! So I guess once you have a business card the point would be to start getting them out there and get rid of them right? I’ll work on that! For now I’ll just keep designing them. Go!
So here I am. Living. Designing the life I want. Sort of. Somedays it’s hard to stay on the design track. I feel I move so quickly and often get lost in the shuffle. I have found the more I talk about my life and things that help make it great the more I stay on track. Maybe sharing experiences is key. New perspectives are always helpful and expanding your audience can never hurt. Going into this I don’t really have a clear direction other than I want to share things. So that is what I am going to start with. Whether anyone happening upon this platform cares or not maybe at some point it will make sense not to mention in the meantime keep me on track. Enjoy what you will!