Tuesday's Tunes

What I am listening to.  I love everything about this song, the lyrics speak to me loud and clear.
Enjoy!

King of Anything Lyrics

Keep drinking coffee, stare me down across the table
While I look outside
So many things I’d say if only I were able
But I just keep quiet and count the cars that pass by

You’ve got opinions, man
We’re all entitled to ‘em, but I never asked
So let me thank you for your time, and try not to waste anymore of mine
And get out of here fast

I hate to break it to you babe, but I’m not drowning
There’s no one here to save

Who cares if you disagree?
You are not me
Who made you king of anything?
So you dare tell me who to be?
Who died and made you king of anything?

You sound so innocent, all full of good intent
Swear you know best
But you expect me to jump up on board with you
And ride off into your delusional sunset

I’m not the one who’s lost with no direction
But you’ll never see
You’re so busy making maps with my name on them in all caps
You got the talking down, just not the listening

And who cares if you disagree?
You are not me
Who made you king of anything?
So you dare tell me who to be?
Who died and made you king of anything?

All my life I’ve tried to make everybody happy
While I just hurt and hide
Waiting for someone to tell me it’s my turn to decide.

Who cares if you disagree?
You are not me
Who made you king of anything?
So you dare tell me who to be?
Who died and made you king of anything?

Who cares if you disagree?
You are not me
Who made you king of anything?
So you dare tell me who to be?
Who died and made you king of anything?
Let me hold your crown, babe.

Monday Inspiration Celebration

Late Afternoon Sun:  Self Portrait:  Vivienne McMaster's Class

Hi over at Lisa's Dandelions Dreams and Seeds today is Monday Inspiration Celebration.  Right now I am being inspired by poetry and this one below is one of my all time favorites.

This Poem just knocked me off my feet, It literally felt like a punch to the stomach, my reaction was so strong. It speaks loudly and clearly to something in me.


Here it is : The Author is Jewel Mathieson

We have come to be danced
Not the pretty dance
Not the pretty pretty, pick me, pick me dance
But the claw our way back into the belly
Of the sacred, sensual animal dance
The unhinged, unplugged, cat is out of its box dance
The holding the precious moment in the palms
Of our hands and feet dance.

We have come to be danced
Not the jiffy booby, shake your booty for him dance
But the wring the sadness from our skin dance
The blow the chip off our shoulder dance.
The slap the apology from our posture dance.

We have come to be danced
Not the monkey see, monkey do dance
One two dance like you
One two three, dance like me dance
But the grave robber, tomb stalker
Tearing scabs and scars open dance
The rub the rhythm raw against our soul dance.

We have come to be danced
Not the nice, invisible, self-conscious shuffle
But the matted hair flying, voodoo mama
Shaman shaking ancient bones dance
The strip us from our casings, return our wings
Sharpen our claws and tongues dance
The shed dead cells and slip into
The luminous skin of love dance.

We have come to be danced
Not the hold our breath and wallow in the shallow end of the floor dance
But the meeting of the trinity: the body, breath and beat dance
The shout hallelujah from the top of our thighs dance
The mother may I? Yes you may take ten giant leaps dance
The olly olly oxen free free free dance
The everyone can come to our heaven dance.

We have come to be danced Where the kingdoms collide
In the cathedral of flesh
To burn back into the light
To unravel, to play, to fly, to pray
To root in skin sanctuary
We have come to be danced! We have come."

~ by Jewel Mathieson from her book This Dance: A Poultice of Poems

Soulful Sundays: What I am feeling in this moment

Through the Mermaid Looking Glass: Self Portrait

Some days all I feel is empty inside
Can’t run from myself , nowhere to hide
Who will I be when I let go of others needs
What will happen when I sow my own seeds
Where will I go and who will I know
Unknown for now I’ll just take this time to grow

Wishcast Wed: what do you wish to invite in



loving taking pictures with sunflare.. they are magical

Hello my fellow wishers and dreamers.  Today over at Jamie Ridler's Studios the wish prompt is "What do you wish to invite in?

I have been very quite these last few weeks and I am coming to see that in November I slow down and instead of wondering what is wrong and why I feel down I am realizing it is a natural feeling for this time of year.   The days are shorter and colder and I just want to read a good book under the covers and eat LOTS of carbs! 
November also has the anniversary of my Dad's passing and my body holds that memory even if my mind doesn't  want to think about it, so this leaves me feeling a bit low also.

Next year I would like to remember this and honour my rhythm of slowing down this time of year by not taking on too many projects that I just won't finish and this way I won't beat myself up for not doing enough.

In keeping with my goal of combining wishcasting with poetry exercising here is my wishcast poem for "What do I wish to invite in?"

Invite in the stillness that comes with slowing down
Invite in the smile when I’m feeling the frown
Invite in the compassion the faith and the trust
Invite in the creative, this one’s a must
Invite in the expansion of an open heart
Invite in the knowing each day holds a new start

I wish all my American wishcasting friends a very happy Thanksgiving filled with love and nourishment and I wish my Canadian friends a happy belated Thanksgiving ;-)

Namaste,
Karen

Working my way of out the November Funk

I hope this Monday finds you doing well.  As I slowly emerge from my November funk I thought I would share with you this video.. I love this song and the video is very creative and cool.

Namaste,
Karen

Wishcast Wednesday: What do you wish to Celebrate



My Dad and Me...

 Hi friends. I have been a bit silent here as I give myself time to sit with the memories of my Dad who passed away 7 years ago today after a battle with cancer.  I was involved in all areas of caretaking while he was sick and I think my body holds the memory of that time since each year since I am very low energy and blue around this week.   I am going with the flow over here and being gentle with myself.

In keeping with my plan to combine poetry exercises with each Wishcast I wrote the below poem for my Dad and others in my life, those I knew and those who I did not get to meet.  The wishprompt was what do you wish to celebrate.

I wish to celebrate those who have gone before me
dear ones I knew and others I never got to see
they paved the path that now stands before me
each playing a part in who I’ve come to be
though they don’t know their effect on me
their stories are part of mine, that I can see

Wishing is happening right now over at Jamie's Ridlers Studios.

May all you wish for come to be.

Namaste,
Karen

Monday Inspiration:Girl Effect

Willow Tree at Storm King:  Willow trees have always been a source of comfort to me

Hi friends. I have been a bit silent here as I give myself time to sit with the memories of my Dad who passed away 7 years ago tomorrow after a battle with cancer.  I was involved in all areas of caretaking while he was sick and I think my body holds the memory of that time since each year since I am very low energy and blue around this week so I am going with the flow over here and being gentle with myself.

The Girl Effect organization is my inspiration this week for Lisa's weekly inspiration prompt over at Dandelion Seeds and Dreams,  it is a great organization and is well worth taking the time to learn about.  The below video is Kidan from Ethiopia and her story touched me the most.  Some of the videos speak of how the girls turned their life around with going to school and working to help their families.  Kidan's story is a bit different as she would love to go to school and become a doctor which would be a great help to her community, instead her Mother  in another scene tells us Kidan cannot go to school because  she has already been engaged at the ripe old age of 13 and she doesn't even know it yet.  The family is basically marrying her off for cattle. 

This story stopped me in my tracks because something like that happening here is so unimaginable in this day and age and it is common place in these villages.   If you could spend a few moments learning more about this project and sharing it with others maybe we can spread the word and find out how to help girls and their families in developing countries learn how to help themselves in ways that don't endanger their children.

Thanks to Tara Sophia Mohr over at Wise Living for giving us the space to share our thoughts on The Girl Effect.  You can join in over at Tara's blog through this post on "writing your post about the girl effect"

Much love to you all on this day.

Namaste,

Karen

Wed Wishcast / AEDM Day 10

Hey Dreamers, Wishers and Creators.. I am checking in today with a post for Wed Wishcast over at

Jamie Ridler's Studios and AEDM DAY 10 at Leah's Art Every Day of the Month. I have been using Jamie's wishcast prompts as inspiration for poetry writing as I am a newbie and can use all the inspiration I can get.  Today's wishprompt was "How do you wish to grow older?  Turning this around a bit a wrote a poem to my older self, here it goes:

A note to myself as I grow older,
Did you stand in your truth as you grew bolder?
Did you share your story through image and word?
Did you keep speaking until you were heard?
Did you find healing in living the creative way?
If not that's alright.. there's always TODAY!

And the AEDM is another shape picture I drew, I have been drawing these to test different mediums.  Today I used watercolor pencils.  After shading in all the areas I then applied water to half and left half dry.

Have a great day and may you find time for wishing and creating.

Namaste,
Karen

Art Every Day of the Month Day 9

CLICK PICTURE FOR LARGER VIEW

I wanted to show you a fun self portrait for Leah's Art Every Day of the Month, to not take myself too seriously today.   I LOVE Hula Hoops, now I am no pro but ..I.. do.. not.. care, it is FUN FUN FUN and It was a challenge to shoot these with one hand on the hoop and one on the camera, that was kind of fun also.  I just ordered a gorilapod and am looking into tri-pods.. for those days when I would like both hands in the picture ;-D.. May you find some time for joy today.

And I wanted to say congratulations to Leah and her husband on their news which you can read when you click the above link.. wishing them much love and blessings.

Namaste,
Karen

Art Every Day of the Month Day 7 and 8

Happy Monday Everyone!

I have been noticing while participating in Leah's Art Every Day of the Month and Fearless Painting over at Connie's Dirty Footprints Studio that i am loving flow and shape on paper. 

I am trying out different mediums, these two were made with oil pastels and metallic markers.  The process of  filling in the blanks with lines and color has been very meditative.  I'm not even concerned with the end result just the enjoyment of it.

I am also using this post as my post for Lisa's Monday inspriration. 

Have a good day and may you find some time to create.

Namaste,
Karen

Art Every Day of the Month Day 6

Happy Saturday!  Today is Day 6 over at Leah's Art Every Day of the Month.   For today I am merging my self portrait photography class and my painting class.  (You are your Inner Muse and Big/Dirty Footprints Studio... the [painting exercise was all about shape.. where others filled their pages with shapes mine did not want to be anymore than this and that is ok with me..

Have a great weekend and may you find time to create.

Namaste,

Karen

Art Every Day of the Month Day 4

Broken

Hi!
Today for Leah's Art Everyday of the month I am posting the above picture I took in October and my thoughts on it as I look through a creative scope as a way to tell my story.

Here is my thoughts on the picture:
I feel broken at times and this picture is perfect for that - this is a mirrored fence at "Storm King Art Center" and I find this really tells a clear story of how I feel and where I feel broken.. my root.. my core.. but then I see my foot moving foward and I know I am on my way to putting myself back together.

May you find time to create today.

Namaste,
Karen

Wishcast Wed and Art Every Day of the Month



Hello my fellow wishers and dreamers  today is Wishcast Wednesday over at Jamie Ridlers Studios and today the prompt is:  What Do You Wish To Enjoy?

I am late in writing today because I wanted to work my poetry chops with these wishprompts and it took me awhile to come up with one today, letting yourself enjoy things, seems easy yet we can make it so hard on ourselves.

I am really enjoying som e-courses I am currently taking and they fit in nicely with Leah's Art Every Day of the Month.  Today I am going to share my wishcast poem, a photo I took of a sunflare(above) for Vivienne's You are Your Inner Muse e-course and a painting (at the end of post)I did for Connie's Big Class over at Dirty Footprints Studio.  I am really enjoying painting with no outcome in mind, it is freeing.

ENJOYING POEM

Enjoying the feel of brush in  hand

with no thoughts to where the paint will land

Enjoying the feel of  pen in hand

words and stories shared make the heart expand

Enjoying the feel of camera in hand

showing others the world from where I stand

May all you wish to enjoy be yours

Namaste,

Karen

Art Every Day of the Month- Day 2

Hi.  Today is Day 2 of Leah's Art Every Day of the Month and I find myself feeling low energy after work so I put together a mosaic of my favorite sunflare pictures.  I look for flare often and find it magical when I get a good shot.  May you find some time to create today.

Namaste,
Karen

Art Everyday of the Month and Monday Inspiration

Happy Monday everyone.  I am participating in Leah Piken Kolidas Art Every Day of the Month over at Creative Everyday.  The painting for today is for a workshop I am taking with Connie over at Dirty Footprints Studio and today is was all about just putting paint to paper for me, no final outcome in mind.

I had a hard time at first not having a final product in  mind while painting but as I continued to just move the paint around the paper I really enjoyed the flow I began to feel.  I want to say it was almost musical and I have no idea why I say that, it just was.

The painting is still wet and the lighting stinks since it was late but I was committed to posting something today for the first day of the challenge, it gave me a wonderful sense of accomplishment and I found it was quite relaxing also.

This will also be my post for Lisa's Dandelion Seeds and Dreams inspiration Monday.

I hope you found some time to create today.

Namaste,

Karen

Wishcast Wed: What do you wish to shed?

Shedding Tree at Storm King Art Center - NY -

Good Morning my fellow wishers and dreamers.  Today over at Jamie Ridler's Studios the wish prompt is:  What do you wish to shed?
I love the thought of shedding, like you can shed the old way of being and grow into a new way, one that fits the you that you are now.  I think we are always changing and growing, it is the way of all things.

I have been thinking of how I can bring the creative into my daily life and I have starting writing and journalling more and really honing my picture taking eye, not technical picture taking, just learning to SEE more, if that makes sense.  The above picture is from my trip to Storm King Art Center this last weekend, you can see more pictures here Storm King Art Center Trip.

So I was thinking for the next couple of wish prompts I will write a poem in response to the prompt, I find it is easier for me to write when prompted or inspired so maybe it will work with poetry also.  Here is my poem in response to "What do you wish to shed?"

Shed the skin of worry, doubt and fear
Only then can the way become clear
Shed the should, the would, the could of
Looking within for the true love
Shed the critic, the gremlin, the saboteur
Seeing who you ARE not who you thought you WERE

So my friends what are you wishing to shed today?

Namaste,
Karen

Mondays Inspiration Celebration

I am happy to join in at Lis's Dandelions Seeds and Dreams Monday Inspiration. 

I enjoyed a gorgeous fall day at Storm King Art Center, you can read about it by clicking name.  You walk around about 80 acres and there are all these outdoor sculptures, it was pretty amazing.

Enjoy your Monday and may you find inspiration wherever you go.

Namaste
Karen

Wishcast Wed: What does the “soft animal of your body” wish for

click Pic for larger view

Good Morning my fellow wishers and dreamers.  Today over at Jamie Ridler Studios the wish prompt is: " What does the soft animal of your body wish for", the wish was inspired by Mary Oliver's "Wild Geese" poem.

Moments after reading Jamie's post I read my horoscope over at Free Will Astrology (love him) and this quote from Clarissa Pinkola Estes was part of my horoscope today and it was like she was speaking directly for me and my wish today, this really describes how I felt when thinking of what the "soft animal of my body" wishes for:

What is the wild and instinctual nature? Radiance magazine posed that question to storyteller Clarissa Pinkola Estes. Here's her reply: "to establish territory, to find one's pack, to be in one's body with certainty and pride regardless of the body's gifts and limitations, to speak and act in one's behalf, to be aware, alert, to draw on the innate feminine powers of intuition and sensing, to come into one's cycles, to find what one belongs to."

I love these threads of connections and how when I listen to my intuition it will always steer me clear on my path.  The dreamboard is one I did awhile back and it represents coming home to my body and it seems to fit for todays wish as does this poem I wrote expressing what I wish for:

To be together in community, seeing myself in their faces
To let the tears flow, opening wide the heart spaces
To listen to my body, to trust what it already knows
To follow the river of intuition wherever it goes
To tell the truth of my story and let the healing begin
To be whole again, at home in my skin

So my fellow wishers and dreamers who does the soft animal of your body wish for?

Namsaste,
Karen

New York State of Mind-Monday Inspiration

Good Morning my fellow bloggers!  Yesterday we had family in from out of town (12 of us) so we went into NYC for the day.  It was a picture perfect fall day in the City.  I will add this post to Lisa's Monday Inspirations over at Dandelion Seeds and Dreams as NY truly inspired me this week.

We live close enough to the NY but we don't go there often as it always seems like such a hassle to get there, but once I am there I LOVE it.  There is so much to see and hear.  I looked like a tourist snapping away with my camera.  The sky was so clear yesterday and the reflections on all the buildings just kept catching my eye.

Here are some of my favorite pictures from the day!


If you want to see the pictures larger click the below link

http://www.flickr.com/photos/41584693@N02/sets/72157625062148707/show/

Have a great day,
Karen

Some thoughts and a view from here

i.  I have been doing some real soul searching lately and I am working on two posts for next week that are inspired by Jen Lee  about Storytelling and care of your creative soul and what that means to me.

In the meantime enjoy this slideshow of some pics of the view from here.

Have a wonderful weekend!
xo
Karen