Retreating - Creatively

Anyone who finds winter long, should arrange to go to a Creativity Retreat. If you can't find one, MAKE one. Rent a place, gather up some creative friends and watch the space be filled with energy, inspiration and motivation.

Last week, I headed off to the Finger Lakes region in Up State New York to be with a group of wonderful ladies from Canada & the USA at the 'International Creativity Retreat'. Just like our one in Orangeville in January, we did nothing but PLAY, day and night.

It gives you something to look forward to, something to enjoy and something to warm your heart and make you smile, long after it's over.

LOVE was in the Air

Valentine's Day weekend - a wonderful time for wedding. It couldn't have been a more perfect day - sunshine, no wind - outstandingly beautiful for February. I was honoured to be the photographer, documenting the beginning of a new journey for a very special couple. They're heading off in the morning, to another province to make their home. I worked all weekend to get over a thousand images to them, so that they can take moments of the magical weekend with them. It's pretty cool to get to be the 'eyes' that capture such an important event. Honoured indeed.

Going, Going, Gone....

Sure enough ... the snow has all gone and my little babbling brook is a raging river in just two days. BUT ... it IS just February and it IS Southwestern Ontario - the heart of the Snow Belt ... so another 48 hours and we could be back to shovelling. I'd vote for snow over mud though - MUCH prettier.

Sisterhood and Tea

I have one biological Sister - she is Beyond Awesome. I SO love her. There's just the two of us left in our family of nine - it's been like that for quite awhile. If our family would be all here with us, we'd have three sisters and three brothers and that would have been ever so cool. But there are just the two of us & neither of us takes that for granted. I'm so lucky that she lives real close - at any given moment, we can sit over a cup of tea and talk for hours.

I have some adopted Sisters and they too are Beyond Awesome. I SO love them. Wonderful women who have come into my life over the years, who have nestled down into my heart every bit as comfortably and naturally as any biological Sister could.

An unfortunate accident has put one of my sweet Sisters in the hospital with a broken back. Besides the special bond of friendship, we are Sisters in Creativity - a small group of amazing women who get together monthy to inspire & motivate and basically entertain each other & keep each other sane. One of my other dear Sisters from the group & I went to the hospital yesterday to be with our friend.

The time we spend together, no matter when, no matter where, calls for a cup of tea. A GOOD cup of tea. A lukewarm cup of water with a plastic lid and teabag on the side, does not qualify at ANY time, especially not for a Sisterhood Visit. I packed up my electric kettle, some real mugs and a selection of specialty teas. which is also most essential. We drew the curtains, put on the kettle and made a decent cup of tea. The three of us sitting there with our Real Cuppa', laughing and getting excited about art & colours & fabrics & techniques - for a while it seemed that we completely forgot about where we were and why. We created our own little world of Sisterhood and Tea behind the closed curtains and that was enough to brighten the day and tuck it into our hearts as a warm and happy memory.

Awhile back, I wrote this about Friendship & Tea ...

Wisdom, if it's nourished well,

Accumulates with years.

Our souls reflect just who we are,

Not what is seen in mirrors.

Wrinkles, sags and faded hair,

May come to us with age;

A sacrifice and dues we pay,

To be considered 'sage'.

We've filled our hearts with knowledge,

With quotes and platitudes;

We know success in life comes not

From luck, but attitudes.

But wisest of all things, indeed,

It surely seems to me -

We've learned to nourish Heart & Soul,

With Friends and Talk and Tea.

- EvScott 2005

I would add - no matter WHERE, no matter WHEN.

Amen.

Slip, slip, slippin' Away

I'm not sure when it happened - I used to absolutely HATE winter. I had myself all riled up every fall, just with the fact that it was coming. Every year, I'd hope that it somehow would FORGET to arrive. I would grumble long and loud, from the first snowflake to the last.

Somewhere along the line, I've not only come to accept Winter, I've come to embrace it. While everyone is complaining that our winter here has been TOO long, TOO cold, TOO much snow - it hasn't bothered me a bit.

I've grown content to take the day as it is, knowing that the clock is spinning so fast that not only will summer be here before we know it, but winter will have returned as well.

I love the fresh, clean covering of snow, softly blanketing the earth as it sleeps. I love the golden glow and the shadows that are cast by a winter sunset. I love the fact that darkness comes early and the nights are long, allowing me to do quiet things that I wouldn't do on a summer night. Wood stove crackling, I cuddle up with my blanket and cup of tea - maybe reading a novel or gathering up seeds of inspiration from wonderful creative magazines ... maybe working on my crazy quilting that I'm doing for no other reason than it seems like a good Winter Thing to do.

On Friday night, I came in our laneway as the sun was slipping away. The snow by the brook looked so soft & gentle & peaceful, it was hard to not wish that winter would stay with us a bit longer. I took the time to get out of the car and take a picture to capture that moment, knowing that winter can indeed slip away quickly, even though it sometimes seems it doesn't.

Sure enough, by morning it was totally different. Spring is in the air already - the consistency of the snow has changed - patches of grass are showing through already and we can see our driveway for the first time in three months. All too soon, I will put my quiet evening pastimes away and be trying to squeeze every last ounce of sunlight out of the day. And that will be fine too.

Bewilderment

I love quotes - been collecting them for decades. I love photography - been taking pictures for just as long. One of the projects that I'm working on is to put the two together.

This one speaks to me of Rumi's quote: "Sell your cleverness and purchase bewilderment."

Bewildered I am. How did that snowball get WAY up there in that bird's nest. It's so round, so perfect, so balanced. Did a bird build it up there? Did someone throw it up there? Did it start as a tiny speck and build up over the season? Perhaps the Angels were having a snowball fight.

Bewildered indeed.

PS. You can see where the snowball nest is exactly, in the photo of the place we stayed at the retreat ... look to the left, right above the picnic table.

Second Chance

I definitely have regrets as a Mother. There are things that I should have done differently, done better ... didn't do at all. I didn't bake with my kids. Actually, I didn't bake consistently, period. If I did it, it was a rush job - no time for slow hands & a bigger clean up. Their involvement was soley to lick the beaters and the bowl. With four kids, a mess of critters and a full time 'plus' job, there was no time to involve them in any creative process. I was always in 'Get 'er done' mode.

Fast foward a couple decades and I have been blessed with another chance. I'm older, wiser, still rushing around too much, but not at the pace of a young mother. Getting to spend time with a child is no longer just an ordinary day to be taken for granted. I cuddle and snuggle more, I listen better; I nurture and celebrate their creative spirit and I even patiently turn the entire baking process over to a four year old.

Lauren and I had a 'Nan Day' today - we did it all. We even had time to watch a movie together. Well sort of ... she watched. I napped.

Snowy Owl

Okay ... I know that this is not technically a Snowy Owl ... but it is an Owl and it was Snowy!

I was SO excited to see this fella just outside our window yesterday afternoon. I LOVE owls - they fascinate me. I collected them back in the 70's ... owl EVERYTHING.

In my entire life, I have only seen two live owls in the 'wilds'. In 1974, we had a tiny, wee, white owl sitting on our window sill in the city - and then yesterday, this guy. I took this from the house & then went outside to try and get a better shot, but he was gone.

Thirty five years between sightings.

Retreating

There is nothing that nourishes the soul quite like time spent with creative women. What fun we had at our winter Creativity Retreat at the Ecology Retreat Centre in Orangeville. Nestled in the beautiful Hockley Valley, it was the perfect place to be on a gorgeous frosty winter weekend. The setting was magical, the women were wonderful, the food was fantastic and the creative energy sizzled. A crackling wood stove, pajamas & wine, meditation & conversation ... inspiration in abundance.

Left Vs Right

I seem to be a little slow at getting a start on the Creative part of my life this year. I have not left the pre-requisite 'Purge and Edit' mode - an annual necessity for one who has accumulated as much EVERYTHING as I have, in every single area of my life. Thank goodness for the New Year. I make myself sort & re-organize and put everything back so I can get tooled up to work again. When I get busy with my fall line, a tornado inhabits the energy field & strews materials from one end of this house to another. And then Christmas comes and I stuff everything in sight into boxes & hampers & bins - all mooshed together.

The real problem is that I can't use both sides of my brain at once. At the moment, I'm exercising the LEFT side - sorting, filing, organizing, planning. It's getting pretty over-taxed as it's not used consistently enough. I can feel it starting to weaken. RIGHT side is hollering - 'HEY- what about ME!'. Left Side says 'NOT until you accomplish what you NEED to - then you get to do what you WANT to.' We're losing patience with Lefty - he's not not producing results quickly enough. Righty & I are about to mutiny. We're giving him only a few more days and then SHE and I are going to over-rule and get on with our own agenda.

We did sneak in a photo shoot of this sweet babe who was born on Christmas Eve. Because BOTH sides know, that newborn babes just do NOT wait. Those precious moments are fleeting. Remember that poem -

Scrubbing and cleaning can wait for tomorrow

For babies grow up, we've learned to our sorrow.

So quiet down cobwebs, dust go to sleep.

I'm rocking my baby, cause babies don't keep.

Amen.