End of a Three Day Weekend

It's the end of a three day weekend and I still have much that needs to be done. I've gone practically nonstop since Friday night, but I've not accomplsihed as much as I had hoped I would. It seems a person really can only do so many things in any 24 hour time period, or in this case a 72 hour time period. There are limits, I suppose.

I did get all the tomatoes in the ground this weekend. Considering that I went from having two tomatoes a couple of weeks ago, to then having five when Greg gave me some extra Sun Gold plants, to then having 18 after my Saturday morning stop at the farmer's market, getting them "all" in the ground is good.

I'm also happy to report from the garden that I have little baby blackberries. I love, love, love blackberries and have tried a few times to get them to grow with no success. A couple of years ago I bought two more vines. One of them survived and has little blackberries forming. If birds start trying to eat them before I do we will have a big problem.

I did run to Wichita this afternoon to look at eyeglass frames. I need new glasses. Very badly. But I'm having a really hard time finding any frames I like. I want something cool and funky. I've always had great luck finding something I really liked before, but this time I can't seem to locate anything. I did find something I liked okay today, but I'm hoping for more than "okay." I'd like to find something I'm excited about. That might be asking for too much. I'm not sure how there can be a gazillion frames and they're all largely the same. Maybe I have a career ahead designing eyeglass frames.

If I had another three days I might be able to make some significant headway in my house. Maybe. But I don't, so there you go. How do people get everything done?

Human Life is Evanescent

Human life is as evanescent as the morning dew or a flash of lightning.
---Samuel Butler

I've always had a sense that our time on Earth is very fleeting so we must make the most of every moment. As I explained to someone recently, I think of life and death as very close and that there's truly a "thin veil" between them and it's really easy to cross over.

Ironically, even though I've had this idea from a very early age, I've never had a real fear of dying. I don't take any unnecessary chances with my life by any means, but I am not frightened by the thought of going on to what's next.

Scenes from the week

This week started in Ramona as we finished the retreat. Friday before everyone arrived for the retreat I watched a local boy park his bike in the middle of Main Street to go get his dog. The second time he repeated the process I went and took a picture of the bike parked in the road. It wasn't quite as centered in the road as it had been the first time, but you get the idea, obviously.

I'm still in the mood for quiet these days. The week hasn't offered a lot of opportunity for that since I returned home. Looking at this photo I can put myself right back on the porch in Ramona.



Early this week a friend sent me these flowers. The second I looked at them I thought, "I LOVE orange flowers. Why do I not have any orange flowers growing?" Of course, I think this brilliant orange is hard to come by. But it's beautiful. I love that bright, clear, intense color. Just gorgeous.

In many ways I'm really, really good at treating myself well. But occasionally something like this comes up and I wonder why I am not enjoying something I like so much on a regular basis.



Thursday I did a social networking presentation to local arts organizations. It was a really cool group to be involved with. I love to see people suddenly "get it." When I was preparing for this presentation I realized that just since the last one I'd done a few weeks ago, the landscape had shifted dramatically. Fascinating how quickly things can change.

I hope I'm very productive around the house this weekend. I need to have my house much tidier than it is. When it's a jumble it's harder for me to think clearly. So I hope to accomplish much this weekend.

Sex in the City 2 - No Spoilers

Some friends and I went to see Sex in the City 2 tonight. I'm not proud of myself for wanting to see it, but I did, so there. It was filmed in Morocco, a place I desperately want to visit, so I couldn't resist from that aspect alone.

It was good - not as involved a plot as the first movie - but worth it if you're a fan.

Afterwards Kate, Amy and I met Greg and had a bite to eat and visited. It was great to talk with them all. Kate, Amy and I used to get together occasionally to commune with each other because we're all southern girls. We've gotten out of the habit, and I think we need to reinstate it.

The Numbers

I'm doing a presentation tomorrow, talking to some arts organizations about how they could use social media. I haven't done a presentation in a few weeks and everytime I do one I have to update the numbers on all the different sites - things move so quickly.

I think the trends on things are more interesting than the actual numbers, although some of those are pretty impressive. Four hundred million people on facebook - that's a lot of people - and some of them are your customers, regardless of what your business is.

Always interesting to see people "get it" during one of these sorts of presentations. I enjoy this sort of thing. And I think it can make a real difference in organizations.

Quote of the Day

This weekend Danielle brought an Emily Dickinson quote to my attention that I had not heard before. Or if I had, I didn't remember it and it's so lovely I can't imagine I wouldn't have remembered it.

"Not knowing when the dawn will come I open every door."
-Emily Dickinson

Isn't that a beautiful sentiment? It seems a reminder to always be open to life's experiences.

I like it so much I'm going to incorporate it into some artwork. Very lovely.

Rainy Morning in Small Town America

People choose vastly different lives for themselves. Some of us could not imagine the big city scurrying and others could not fathom the slower pace of a small town. Regardless of where we set up residence we all crave some of the same things... love, happiness and contentment. Some find it on broadway and others on a main street.

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Visioning Collages

This was our retreat group that worked on the visioning process this past weekend. A couple of people weren't able to come, unfortunately, but the four of us had a good time.

In the porch swing are Danielle on the left and Jade on the right. In the back are me on the left and Teresa on the right. Teresa and I have done this process before, but it was new to Danielle and Jade.



We met in Ramona, which is a great place for a retreat. It's a quiet town of fewer than 100 people.



The concept is to start with a focus phrase and create a collage that illustrates the phrase. Everyone was generous enough to allow me to share their finished products here on the blog, as well as their statements.

Jade started Saturday with yoga, as she does every day.



We were pretty relaxed, and took some time to enjoy the front porch before getting down to business.





But we went inside to ourstacks of magazines, scissors and glue. I am sharing some photos of every one working away.









Teresa made a delicious lunch of salad for us.



It was nice to take the time to eat together. The other time I did this process with a group we never had time to do that, or sit on the porch, or do anything except work on the projcet at hand.

















Jade was making fast process so I had to take a look.



I was having some difficulty with the process this time. You can see my pile of pictures and words here, many of which didn't make the cut to the final product.



There's a point where everything is chaos. We all had that feeling at one time or another.









Jade was the first one finished, and was pleased with her collage.







Danielle was the next one finished.



She even had time to do both sides, as you'll see below.



Teresa and I were still working, although I finished later that afternoon. Teresa was still finishing details for awhile.



Jade's focus statement was "Connecting with Joy."





Danielle's was "Living Free." She did both sides of her posterboard.





My statement was "My Ideal Life."





Teresa's was "It's Cleaned Up."





All in all it was a very productive weekend. I have my collage on the wall in my home office where I can see it every day. I'm so appreciative of the women who undertook this journey with me.

Messenger

This morning before we talked about our vision collages, Danille and I went out for a walk. We were greeted with this sight. Some believe these birds to be messengers. I'm not sure if that's why we were graced with his presence or not, but it was a beautiful sight.

Collage process

We are working on our vision collages. The process is fun but daunting at times.

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Lighting candles

Whenever I find myself in a Catholic church I light candles. I'm not catholic but try to respect all faith traditions and this is a ritual I love. Its quite beautiful. Yesterday and today I lit candles for each of us in this process, another for my best friend, another for those I love and one last one for those I've not loved as well as I should have. I do love the ideas behind lighting candles.

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Faith

I try to respect different faith traditions and although I'm not Catholic I really appreciate the amazing buildings dotted across the landscape that house the worshippers.

Whatever your faith path I think its positive to see what others do. Wisdom comes in many forms. Something that continues to be made real to me.

Friends are on their way now to join me in a visioning process which we will undertake tomorrow. I'm certain it will be enlightening.