fun adventure

It hasn't all been struggle and freak-outs in my life lately, although it might seem like it:) One thing I really enjoyed a lot in the past couple of weeks was listening to Rob Lowe read his amazing memoir, Stories I Only Tell My Friends.



If you enjoyed listening to Tina Fey reading Bossypants, this probably should be next on your list.

experiment adventure

My challenge last week was that I had a three-day weekend in the midst of pre-exhibit stress. I'm definitely learning that obsessing over projects like this isn't helpful at all. This exhibit is really showing me the power of giving it space. The roadblocks I keep running into almost miraculously dissolve if I walk away and come back later. Delightful and inventive solutions have been arriving on their own timetable. Still, last weekend's approach of sort of trying to forget that the project even existed meant that on Monday evening the reality came crashing down in a psychically devastating way. Let's just say that putting one's head in the sand can be the:



So this weekend I decided to invite this project home with me on my own terms. Writing the introduction for an exhibit takes time and space and quiet, hard to find in my workplace. And I really didn't want a repeat of the trauma of the end of last weekend. I wanted to see how I could bring some joy to this process. I blocked out a chunk of time to work on the intro yesterday afternoon and reminded myself of how my process works. Lots and lots of drafts, some snacking, some spacing out, some paging through books, writing down lots of quotations, much imagining, and at the end a decent first draft to give some space and read with fresh eyes on Monday. I think the ingredient that was most needed, both for myself and the project was:

grateful adventure

This was a real Friday the 13th kind of week. So many things went "wrong", but even in the midst of all of it, so many things went right. And here's a list of those things that I'm grateful for:

~even though the museum director was 2.5 hours late and brought too small a vehicle to carry most of the crates in, we still got to Puckett's in time and had an awesome breakfast and (by that point) just laughed about the fiasco
~even though another 7 crates were delivered to gallery storage two days later, they arrived right on time and fit just fine
~even though the Squam registration form I paid to arrive in Rhode Island by noon the next day actually left Nashville the evening of that next day, I still got confirmation last night that I'm in the cabin with all my dear friends and got all my first choices for classes
~even though I got the date wrong for my monthly lunch with one of my favorite people, I still had lunch with her the next day and it actually prompted me to pick up lunch for another sweet (and hungry) friend who hadn't been able to join us for the delicious Puckett's breakfast
~even though it rained a lot this week the roofers were still able to get the work done (and for less than I thought it would be)
~even though I misremembered another lunch date with a different dear friend, we're still on for next week and it meant I could have lunch with some other favorite people
~even though it was a gray week with lots of rain and even some snow, this weekend has been full of sunshine and blue skies
~even though my exhausted mind can spin a compelling story of anxiety and worry, I've had a taste of what it feels like to give it a break lately by just staying simply with how I'm feeling

Yeah, I might be the most grateful for that last item.

more less adventure

Thank you all for your supportive comments about my word for 2012! I'm having so much fun living this word these days. And the feeling of it keeps popping up all over the place. Here are some lovely words that give me the delightful feeling of LESS:


The Wild Geese

Geese appear high over us,
pass, and the sky closes. Abandon,
as in love or sleep, holds
them to their way, clear
in the ancient faith: what we need
is here. And we pray, not
for new earth or heaven, but to be
quiet in heart, and in eye,
clear. What we need is here.

~Wendell Berry via Poetry Chaikhana


I’ve heard it said that every day you need half an hour of quiet time for yourself, or your Self, unless you’re incredibly busy and stressed, in which case you need an hour. I promise you, it is there. Fight tooth and nail to find time, to make it. It is our true wealth, this moment, this hour, this day.

~Anne Lamott (read the rest of the Sunset article by clicking here) via the lovely and talented Nicola Taylor


And I’ve learned in my old age that when you say no to people, they don’t like you as much and they’re disappointed. Nonetheless, you know, there are times that it has to be done in order to protect whatever small sanctity of serenity you have built up in your life. It’s inhumane, the pace at which people live in this society. And when I came back from traveling for “Eat, Pray, Love”, I was truly sort of jaw droppingly shocked to see it anew… from fresh eyes and to see the amount of stress and the amount of work that we have, somehow, decided is normal. And it is so warped.

~Elizabeth Gilbert (read the rest of the interview on Big Think by clicking here) via the also lovely and talented Elizabeth Duvivier/aka Mystic Vixen and while you're at it, you might also enjoy this equally inspiring post on the Squam blog


And now for some photos: