Happy Halloween!

Now streaming on Netflix, my favorite quirky, funny, spooky Halloween movie, Donnie Darko.

November is coming!

Yes, my birthday month is just around the corner. But it turns out November is not just about me (and my husband, sister, and brother-in-law...), but it is also a month of challenges! There's the original National Novel Writing Month, commonly known as NaNoWriMo, where the goal is to start writing one's 175 page (50,000 word) novel on November 1 and finish by midnight, November 30th. My amazing sister-in-law is undertaking this challenge and I can wait to hear how it goes.

For the rest of us, there are some other challenges you might be interested in, if you're not already participating. There's National Blog Posting Month (NaBloPoMo), which started as a response to NaNoWriMo and after doing it for a couple of Novembers, the members decided to branch out into other months and make it a year-round affair.

There's also wonderful Leah Piken Kolidas and her Art Every Day Month, which one can also participate in year-round as Creative Every Day. I thought I'd include this great video of Leah talking about Art Every Day Month because it also has a very helpful (at least to me) discussion of the creative cycle and how to keep one's creative muscles in shape even when inspiration isn't striking.

video for Spring! from Leah Piken Kolidas on Vimeo.

Personally, I think I may actually officially join NaBloPoMo for the month of November, since that's my goal anyway and I'm all about the easy these days. But I'm so glad to know about Art Every Day Month and I may try to participate in that next year... Any other challenges you're participating in during November? Let me know - I'd love to come by and support you!

8Things: Superpowers

I recently discovered Magpie Girl and my life is definitely the richer for it! Rachelle Mee-Chapman posted a fabulous list of her superpowers yesterday and invited her readers to join in, which I was quite delighted to do. And so in no particular order, here they are!

-Fearless Explorer of the Back Road
-Hardcore Appreciator of Beauty
-Imaginative Creator
-Practioner of Radical Gratitude
-Reliable Procurer of Groceries and Runner of Errands
-Enthusiastic Singer and Dancer for Profoundly Small or Nonexistent Audiences
-Dogged Seeker of Truth
-Friendly Smiler at Strangers

Care to join in? I'd love to hear yours!

(Many thanks to my dear hubby for the use of one my favorites of his photographs)

A Three Dog Life

One of the many wonderful things about working in a library is being exposed to lots and lots of books I wouldn't otherwise know about. I found my new favorite memoir that way, when I was sending A Three Dog Life out for a patron and saw

"The best memoir I have ever read. This book is a punch to the heart. Read it." ~Stephen King

on the cover. It should be no surprise that upon reading these magic words "memoir," "heart," and "punch" I immediately placed a hold on it. When the book was finally ready for me I had forgotten or perhaps never really understood that the book is about the author's husband's traumatic brain injury - something I can intimately relate to. And yes, of course I loved this book, especially passages like this that speak to the mysterious poetry and heartbreak of life, love, and loss:

Last week, as he struggled to make sense of the world, unable to find words, my youngest daughter, Catherine, came to visit. "Do you know who I am?" she asked, and he peered at her intently. "Do you eat field mice?" he asked, a strange question we thought, until I realized that the first three letters of her name spell "cat." Perhaps this was a glimpse of how the mind pieces things together after an assault, trying to rewire itself. "The goat's mouth is full of stones," he said one day, and I leave that as it is, a mystery. During the days when it is impossible to communicate in words, I get into his bed and we hold hands. Nap therapy. This is a familiar posture, something we can do without speech, without thinking.

A year later...

Monday was actually the one year anniversary of my first post here and it's been great fun to take a walk down memory lane and read over some of that early stuff. I was reminded of it because I was looking out of the window at work recently and saw that same little tree with its leaves all lit up with fabulous red fall color. It looked just like the photo I took and I wondered when that was taken. Very fun to be reminded of the cycles of life.

The thing that sort of surprised me when I looked over some of those early posts is how despite the fact that I often feel like I'm constantly changing interests and am sort of all over the place, that over the span of a year I really haven't changed that much and I've actually accomplished some things. I totally fell in love with David Whyte's work after that initial introduction on Liz Lamoreux's blog, read Crossing the Unknown Sea, listened to What to Remember When Waking, and am currently reading The Three Marriages. I finished that crazy quilt, flew to California, and plunked my new little nephew right down on it. Heck, I even went to Squam and met the amazing Jen Lee.

I will admit I had a little epiphany when I realized this. I may be the last one to get this, but I'm seeing that there's something really powerful about writing things down. In the past I haven't been one to keep a journal, which is really mainly what Enjoy and Love is for me. Writing things down in a notebook has always been a challenge, in part because of my insane handwriting and also it just wasn't that visually appealing. Now, on the other hand, being able to include photos and videos and music, etc. - that's very appealing. And then being able to share with family and friends and maybe even meet some like-minded folks - oo-la-la!

So thank you all for joining me here! It's a pleasure and an honor to get to share what I enjoy and love with you. I can't wait to see what unfolds over the next year!

Creativity habits

This week's Spring into Action prompt is How do you make creativity a habit?

Initially I thought I'd have to pass on this one, because I don't really see myself making creativity a habit in terms of activity. In other words, I don't make time on a regular basis for creative pursuits, a.k.a. "making art," at least not in the same way that I get up at a certain time every day or do the laundry and shopping at set times on specific days. To me those are habits.

Now, I will say that because I have strong habits around things that need to be done, I do have spaces in my life to fit creativity in, so my creative activities probably do benefit from my being a creature of habit. And now that I think a little more about it, making a commitment to try to post something here each day also helps foster my creative habits to some degree.

However, in terms of my mental state, more and more I see that I approach my life with a lot of creativity. I think it is becoming a mental habit - probably somewhere after fear:) When I'm confronted in my life with something new, maybe initially I'll be delighted or excited, then my old friend fear is almost guaranteed an appearance, maybe then good old debilitating perfectionism, but I'm kind of on to these guys these days. More and more I catch myself and reach into my toolbox and there is curiosity, there is openness, there is imagination, there is play, in short, there is creativity.

I'd have to say that's how creativity is showing up as habit in my life these days. And I'm damn grateful for it.

Monday's Inspiration Celebration

Loved getting 12 hours of Lis's day at Dandelion Seeds and Dreams this weekend! She invited us to share 12 hours from our day and it inspired me to be more creative than I've been in a while. I took TONS of pictures and even made a little monster in part so my photos weren't all of me goofing off on the internet all day:) Thanks Lis!

(clockwise from top left: 7am, 8am, 9am, 10am)


(clockwise from top left: 11am, 12pm, 1pm, 2pm)


(clockwise from top left: 3pm, 4pm, 5pm, 6pm)