A Spiritual and Creative Practice

I heard this quote during this interview with Elizabeth Gilbert (still my super hero) and it struck me as so totally perfect that I had to stop and write it down. And add a candle.

I love this definition of a spiritual and creative process.  I love it because it is all-the-time-constant...except when you are asleep. It is all-encompassing and it requires mindfulness. So. Much. Mindfulness. Which is something I need.

So, when I am not really paying attention to what my husband is saying, then that is the quality of my spiritual and creative practice. And that is not good. It is not who I want to be for him or for me.

Or if I am watching something idiotic on TV or clicking on stupid stuff on Facebook, that aside from not enhancing my intellect, spirituality, or general well-being, isn't even very entertaining, then that is the quality of my spiritual life, and that isn't good either. I could maybe stop and do something more worthwhile, or at least more fun and engaging.

Relationships are everything. With ourselves and with the people we love and with the people we don't love, but who are still here on the planet with us. So, why shouldn't they be our spiritual practice?

My Word for 2016

I am really liking this Word of the Year thing that seems to be a current trend among the self-aware. I first heard about it from my friend Bay, who sent this lovely and totally free Unraveling the New Year WorkBook from Susannah Conway.

The idea is to pick a word to guide you through the year -something you can reflect on and perhaps even apply each and everyday.

I am usually drawn to happy shiny words like Sparkle, Joy, Passion, but the word I thought I needed when I started thinking about it was Mindfulness. I am so not mindful. I am constantly multi-tasking. I am not a good listener. I don't notice what is around me. I forget to taste my food. And my mind is always busy. And what, really is the point of that? There is only this moment, so I really ought to be living it.

But Mindful felt too passive, and honestly, a little too advanced for me. When I read about what Mindfulness includes, nonjudgment seems to be part of the package. I am just not there. Maybe someday. So, after brainstorming a bunch of related words (Presence, Awareness, Intentionality, Focus etc.), I settled on this one.

And then I drew it on my new Erase Case, which is this awesome cell phone case that you can draw on and then erase and do it again (and it doesn't smear!). Then I posted my picture on my Facebook profile and a friend commented that I had put the word on the device that most keeps me from engaging with the people I am with...which I thought was perfect.

This year I will:

• Engage fully with the people I am with.
• Engage with whatever I am doing in any given moment.
• Engage with my choices -especially around food.
• Engage with my world. 

Or at least I will do it more than I did last year, and that is a good start. 

So, what's your word? And if you don't have one, it's not too late. You don't have to start at the new year. 

Why I Can't Seem to Embrace Adult Coloring

I loved coloring when I was a kid. I also loved drawing. I drew houses and horses and princesses and families of mice that lived shoes. Now I call my drawing sketching and I don't do it very often. When I do, it is generally in a group and I am drawing the naked woman who is posing for all of us. When I sketch in this way, I often enter that amazing, timeless creative flow that is so elusive in my normal life. I have no doubt there is value in this whether or not I produce anything worth looking at.

I also do Zentangle, which is not really drawing. It is repetitive doodling. It is pleasant and the end result is often pretty nifty. It is supposed to be meditative. I am not sure if that is so for me. I feel like there is value in it if I am producing something that will be used in some way, like this Zentangle fish I made for my Under the Sea Powder Room (there is actually a whole school of them, each one unique, and some made by friends and they add joy to a necessary bodily function). But if I am doing Zentangle with no real goal...then it kind of feels like a waste of time to me.

Which brings me to adult coloring. I kind of want to do it because it is clearly relaxing and there is something satisfying about filling a space with color and seeing a pleasing result. But it also seems kind of stupid. The only real adult coloring I've done is the mandala above and I did it as part of a group activity that I was not leading. It was a pleasant way to pass a couple hours. I also tried one of the adult coloring apps on my Ipad (yes, they exist) in which you simply selects a color and touches the space you want to fill. This feels even stupider - you don't even have to color in the lines, and yet, it too, is oddly satisfying.

So, even though I find it to be a pleasant distraction, I can't quite bring myself to buy one of the adult coloring books that are popping up pretty much everywhere. Probably this has more to do with me than the activity itself. When I crochet, I refuse to follow a pattern. Instead, I act as though yarn is clay and try to shape it freeform into the hat or bag or sock (that was a disaster) that I see in my head. I don't even like to follow recipes. So of course I don't want to color in someone else's design. Also, just for the record, I did do some research and coloring as therapy is debatable.  It seems that pretty much the only ones who are calling adult coloring therapeutic are the people creating the adult coloring books. Most real therapists say that while relaxing, coloring has no therapeutic value.

Still I kind of want to do it anyway...

New Things I Will Do this Year

You have probably written lists of things you want to do. Places you want to visit, classes you want to take, new foods to try etc. I have too. And then, generally, I never look at them again, and so, of course, I don't do them.

But, Sarah, who writes the blog Yes and Yes actually does them. Each year, on her birthday, she writes a list of new things she wants to try...and then she tries them. That would make her list vastly superior to my list. She puts her list in her sidebar on her blog and I think she even blogs about each one after she does it.

So, if you are going to actually do the things, like really do them, in real life, the list is going to be different than those other lists. I put all kinds of stuff on those other lists. Stuff that in reality I was not likely to actually do, but are that are fun to think about. Like going to Australia or acting in a play, or  doing the Bike-Along-Sing-Along (more on that later). I've got a lot going on. Probably not going to do those things in the next year.

My birthday was in November, so, this year at least, I'll start at the new year. This is my list of new things to try, that  I am actually going to try:

1. Take improv with Adam
2. Do that indoor skydiving thing
3. Sketch in Italy (already booked, so I'm going!)
4. Learn a little Italian
5. Throw the My Favorite Book party
6. Read the book that I get at the My Favorite Book party
7. Compete in Toastmasters inspirational speech contest
8. Do some kind of an overnight biking trip
9. Train the dogs to do at least two cute tricks each
10. Listen to all of the Big Magic podcasts
11. Take the Seattle Underground Tour
12. Go to the Fremont Solstice Feast
13. Go to a psychic fair
14. Watch Forks Over Knives
15. Go to Artfest Rising (booked)
16. Crochet something using a pattern, or at least a video
17. Still thinking
18. Still Thinking
19. Still Thinking
20. Still Thinking

Soooo, what's on your list? 

Why a Little Luna Sea?

Because a little lunacy is a good thing. A lot is not. A lot is scary and horrible, but embracing the little bit of lunacy that is in most of us is probably not a bad thing. I say most of us because there are those few that seem to have no lunacy in them at all. There are some that take life oh. so. seriously.

You know the type. Like my ex-husband, they find street performers unseemly (actually, my ex-husband does have a tiny bit of lunacy within him, but it is buried deep within. It is delightful when it bubbles forth - like a geyser at Yellowstone, but so rare that one gets distracted by other things and often misses it), they never dance publicly or even privately, they NEVER make a scene (even when one really ought to be made). They never make anything, except perhaps beds and deadlines. They are, however, very good at living up to obligations and if you are not the type who gets easily bored, they probably make very good friends. I, however, am the type that gets easily bored.

Here's the thing. I am the perfect age for my personality. When I was younger, people said I was blunt and tactless. Now, at 51, they tell me I am genuine, authentic, even wise. In 20 years, I predict that they will call me batsh*t crazy. It seems I am in my prime, so I don't want to waste it.

And so, the day after Christmas (one of my favorite days in the year) and a just a few days short of the new year, I am starting this blog, because, you know, I don't sit in front of the computer enough already.

So, what's in it for you?

Here is my hope. My hope is that you will read or see something here in the coming months (years?) that will spark something amazing in you. Something that makes you want to DO SOMETHING. Create  something. Anything that is positive. You know how you read or see something and you say, "Yeah, I'm going to do that!" And then you do and your life changes? Like that.

Like couple months ago when my friend Marna (who is somehow connected to everyone) talked about how awesome her personal trainer is. Now he is my personal trainer too. And now I do something active pretty much every day, whereas before, not so much. Not at all really. Changes are happening. Slowly. Like at the speed of grass growing, but they are happening. 

So, I invite you to come along on this journey. It will be fun (I am a big fan of fun). We'll learn stuff, we'll do stuff - maybe stuff you never thought you would do. Our lives will change. Together we'll form a community. A community of people who want to celebrate the little bit of lunacy within themselves and within each other. 

We will be the Luna Sea!