Gather ye rosebuds

This silver flower was sent to me last Christmas.  I had a friend, and she was great - she was very kind to me at Christmas, and then she was great when I had to have surgery last spring.

This flower was on a series of presents; she sent me a big box, two Christmases ago.  I really liked this flower, and another ornament, Christmas bulbs, that she put on it.  I really appreciated the gesture.  It made me feel warm in a cold, dark season.

Then, one day, about six months later, poof.  Words were spoken, and she was gone.

This flower just sort of appeared at my feet as I was wandering around the house, getting ready for a New Year.  Cleaning, trying to clear up some clutter, putting away laundry, wiping away dust and grime that accumulated, and I was walking out of the art studio and there it was, lying on the floor.  I don't know where it came from - I must have shifted something and it fell out.

But there it was.

I really like this flower.  It's just a shiny thing, but its form is nice, it is soft and pliant.  And I think it was sent to me with the best intentions.

It reminds me, once again, nothing is permanent.  Friendships, most of them, are like flowers - they blossom with great beauty, and then they fade.

Be grateful, and cherish them while they grow.

Gather ye rosebuds while ye may,

Old Time is still a-flying;

And this same flower that smiles today,

Tomorrow will be dying.

Poem by Robert Herrick.


2012.  Here we come :)


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New Year - goodbye to 2011, hello 2012

"Once I was beset by anxiety. I couldn't tell right from left or orient myself. I could have cried out with terror at being lost. But I pushed the fear away - by studying the sky, determining where the moon would come out, where the sun would appear in the morning. I saw myself in relationship to the stars. I began weeping, and I knew that I was all right.

"That is the way I make use of geometry today. The miracle is that I am able to do it, by geometry."

-Louise Bourgeois
New York, 1977
(her work)

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May we all find our geometry, our moon, our sun, and each other, and know we're all right in 2012.


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Not so fast...

Over on the bg site I frequent, they are already shouting "HNY!" Happy new year, in case you can't figure it out :)

But... It's December 27th. There are 4 days left. Inside my head, I am screaming, "Nooooooo, waaaaiiiitttttt! It's going too fast!"

2011 was a hard year. It was hard, financially. I'm just not very good with money, and the recession hasn't helped.

It was hard, personally, emotionally. I took some risks and they have paid off, my life is richer for them. But there were also some losses and disappointments, which I took very hard. I keep looking at my heart charm and seeing that little heart, ripped open (see Shambhala) and trying to remember that's how it is supposed to be.

It was hard, healthwise - but not really. I'm fine! A little anxiety as frosting on top of the already-overstuffed anxiety layer cake - but I'm fine! Except for the bills... Too low levels of thyroid medication, as it turns out, didn't help much either. But I'm fine now! Almost.

And it was hard, creatively. Or rather... it was very rich creatively, almost too rich. I have way more ideas than I have time, and this year it wasn't just my own natural procrastination that got in my way.

When I did make time for it, it was very fruitful. The Radical Jewelry Makeover was RAD, a tremendous blessing, a very healthy kick in the pants. I need to write my thoughts about it, for it changed my creativity and thinking profoundly, and I want to complete that writing before the year is out... 2011, SLOW DOWN!!!

Overall, my creativity was fruitful and fitful, lots of stops and starts.

2011 was just so full of clutter.

Here's hoping that 2012 is more fruit than fits!

But please, please - can we wait until Saturday before we begin?! I'd like to get through this year in one piece first...


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