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Reading now for the October issue.
Posts tagged ‘Family’
Daily Prompt <3 Yogananda on Opportunity
18 June 2016
“Opportunities in life come by creation, not by chance. You yourself, either now or in the past (including the past of former lives), have created all opportunities that arise in your path. Since you have earned them, use them to the best advantage.” ― Paramahansa Yogananda
Make art about opportunity, about creating your own opportunity.
Daily Prompt <3 The Smallest Masterpiece
15 June 2016
We’ve had a sick kitty cat. Ulli, our twelve-year-old rescue, a tiny delicate graceful gray creature who, because of the trauma she experienced before we got her, even after all these years, still jumps at loud sounds and runs from strangers, who will panic herself into an asthma attack in one minute, then turn and stalk a deer in the next. Ulli is definitely one of those cats who make you feel awed and grateful when she stops for that second to allow you the privilege of petting her, or when she musics the air around you with the low distant train rumble of a contented purr.
My oldest son, a large bearded Viking of a man, is completely devoted to this animal, and as age inevitably creeps into her bones, slowing and thwarting some of the natural processes, he becomes the one anxious, determined to give her the best care and most love he can. We both went to the vet to pick her up from a required hospitalization for twenty-four hours, and he loaded her little bitty crate into the car, saying, “It’s okay, Ulli. You’re all better now. No more tummy trouble. No more doctor. We’re headed back to Mimi’s for a little bit.”
I laughed, at being Mimi to this grand-cat, and in relief that our Ulli is okay, and in gratitude that my own child is so relieved to have his beloved old lady cat back in good health. The blessings of family, y’all. That’s what it is today.
“The smallest feline is a masterpiece.” ― Leonardo da Vinci
Make art about animal family.
Sometimes the Prompt is Your Own Pain, and Growth
14 June 2016
Five years ago today, my beautiful funny sexy irreverent brilliant soulful husband, John Little Bear Eaton, walked on to the next life.
“what remains with me vividly to this day is my recollection of a circle of light that shone out from Rafe and enfolded us both, and the deep sense of comfort and familiarity between us, as if we had somehow always known each other and were merely resuming a conversation that had gone on from eternity.”
― Cynthia Bourgeault, Love is Stronger than Death: The Mystical Union of Two Souls
Make art about the eternal nature of Love.
Something a Lil Different <3 Thirteen Grandmothers Retreat
Whew. So….something new…and a lil weird feeling, but here goes…
Hello beautiful people 🙂 Thank you for helping out! I am a teacher and a writer, a single mom living in central Virginia, putting the last of my three kids through college by myself.
I have been invited to attend a retreat hosted by The International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers in upstate New York, taking place August 25-28, 2016.
The International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers represent a diverse mixture of women of prayer, Each Grandmother, a leader in her community, has devoted her long life to prayer and action.
You can learn more about the Thirteen Grandmothers here:http://www.grandmotherscouncil.org/
This is a healing retreat, Creation to Completion, completing a full cycle that began at Menla twelve-years ago with the creation of the International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers, where the Grandmothers Council will come together, for one last time, to complete their circle of prayer around the planet.
Prayer as Action, Action as Prayer is the way I try to move through each day, and it would be the dream and honor of a lifetime to have the opportunity to learn from these incredible spiritual leaders.
The funds would cover registration, room and board,and my driving travel to upstate New York. The retreat isn’t until late August but space is limited and so time is a factor.
These women embody what I say each day–Every moment a miracle, every footstep a prayer. And to be able to attend this retreat would absolutely be one of my life’s miracles.
If 160 of my FB friends donated just $10, I could have this trip funded in a few minutes. $10 is such a small amount but it adds up so quickly when many friends and family come together. Thank you so, so much ahead of time for liking and sharing, even if you can’t donate at this time, and for my donors, endless gratitude, the biggest thank you of all! ❤
As an added Thank You, I will send each donor a print of one of the photographs I take while on this journey, with a small prayer I will write just for you. ❤
Check it out here ❤ And thanks for readin, for sharin, for bein who you are.
https://www.gofundme.com/13grandmothersretr
Daily Prompt Catch-Up <3 Family, and Heartbreak, and Fragility
Daily Prompt Catch-Up
6/11/2016
Beautiful day with family today.
From “On Family Regathering Seen One Night Through a Window” by George Moor
All flows; the person has no permanence.
The children will grow up, the parents die.
For each precarious present the past tense
Is waiting; all is sort of a lie.
The clean cut fruit in dingy crystal bowls;
The fading chairs; the family sitting down.
For reassurance meet these traveling souls,
Each with an intimate sadness of his own.
Old habits calm. Old stories of old days….
Make art about family.
6/12/2016
Just don’t have words. Heartbroken.
6/13/2016
My son and I found this tiny nest yesterday, tumbled on the grass beneath the Guardian Oak. No babies, wounded or otherwise, in sight, just this miracle of weaving, bits of bark and straw and leaf and string. Inside the tiniest shards of shell left behind, thin and white as paper. I was struck at how delicate—and how strong—it is, kinda like Love.
Make art about the fragility, about the persistent strength, of Love.
Daily Prompt <3 When the Ancestors Are Us
10 June 2016
Your ancestors will surround you as you sleep
keep away ghosts of generals presidents priests
who hunger for your
rare and tender tongue
They will keep away ghosts
so you have strength
to battle the living
from “Tal’-s-go Gal’-quo-gi Di-del’-qua-s-do-di Tsa-la-gi Di-go-whe-li/ Beginning Cherokee” by QWO-LI DRISKILL
Make art about ancestors, about what we can do to be good ancestors.
Mary Carroll-Hackett: Poetry and Prose 
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