Serendipity:  an aptitude for making desirable discoveries by accident.

That was theme as 20 (beautiful, courageous, gorgeous, seeking, sassy) women piled into the brightest of bright art studios called Teahouse in Berkely, CA.  We were drawn there by Kelly Rae Roberts and Andrea Scher who put out a call for what they were wanting in their own life:  connection. conversation. stories. real.

 And so it happened.  Twenty of the most beautiful souls I have ever met, showed up, and when I say showed up…I really mean SHOWED UP!  They bared their souls, shared their lives, laughed, cried, let out their inner dork, and celebrated the common denominator called: CONNECTION.  And you know what’s great about that?  There are no exclusions.  We are all connected in ways we know not…..but many times uncover them accidently and when that happens…well, it’s just magic.

They asked for stories of serendipity…fresh out, I had none.  But serendipity had other plans for me and decided to show up when I got home.  In looking back (gotta love hindsight) I realized a few desirable discoveries.

Discovery #1  : I had been wearing the same apron all weekend at my friends house that was hung on the wall at Teahouse.  Let me just clarify…I live in Reno, my friend lives in Windsor, the gathering was in Berkeley….and somehow the same apron I was wearing getting super creative and gaining inspiration with my good friend was also in the place where I was gaining even MORE inspiration.  I think  I need to buy myself one, I just might call it inspirapron…..watch out Pier 1 Imports, we have a date.

Discovery #2 :  Realizing that the bright shiny light of girl sitting next to me is in the same art and business of surface pattern design class featuring Rachel Taylor that I am in right now (she lives in San Francisco, I live in Reno) who knew?

Discovery #3 :  As we crawled into bed, my husband said….hey, I knew this was meant for you today when I read it and wanted it to be the last thing you read before going to sleep.  It was my horoscope from Sundays aka Mother’s Days newspaper (which I normally don’t pay attention to or believe in UNLESS it of course pertains to me)  :)

 For those of you who know me, this is HUGE.

 And there you have it.  S E R E N D I P I T Y

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Stillness.  That elusive state of being where All. Is. Well.  The peace among the chaos, the calm in the storm.  Glimpses like those are rare, but indeed possible to find if we only seek it, scratch that – if we only take the time to notice it’s always there.  So often I notice I get taken away by the external circumstances that somehow seem to dictate the direction of my day, the focus of my mind, and the general path I take…darn ego.  Then, due to my yoga practice on and off the mat, I take a deep breath.  Deeper than normal, way deep.

Breathing….seems so  simple right?  I mean we do it ALL DAY LONG, you’d think we’d be good at it by now.  But the truth is, we’re not.  We don’t pay attention to it because it’s always there for us and continues to keep on keepin on even when we are falling apart.  The mind, body, and breath are all connected.  Much like when we are in dangerous or stressful situations, our breath becomes shallow….our fight or flight response kicks in automatically.  But we have the power to reverse that ( to some extent) among the chaos…breathe deep and notice what that does for your peace of mind.  In my experience, it starts to shush the mind, calm the heart, relax the body, and lighten the load taking the heaviness out of any situation.  Once the mind is quiet, you find yourself  smack in the middle of the present mOMent where life is calm, beautiful even.

At this point, it doesn’t matter the situations you find yourself in.  There’s no need to avoid the chaos of life because let’s face it…that’s impossible.  So instead, find your peace among it and know that it’s always there for you.  I’m not sure who said it, but I just love the following quote.

“Life is not about avoiding the storm, but learning to dance in the rain.”

So true.  So put on your boogie shoes and let it pour….your favorite song is about to come on.

Breathe In…Peace Out!

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This is one of my earlier paintings and one that I was so proud of when it was featured in a 4 page spread in Somerset Studio Gallery last year.  However, more than any other painting, this is the one that I seem to return to over and over again when I start to question “What the heck am I doing?”.  Why has the art been stagnant, why has the blog not been kept up, why is my house a mess, why am I not inspired, where has my personal yoga practice gone, why why WHY?!!!  Oh that’s right…..because my attention has not been on those areas in question.  My attention has been elsewhere.  Things like softball, and all-stars, traveling, work, spring, climbing, my baby girls (not really babies anymore), family life, helping friends, and, and, and.  In my family, I’m known as “the glue”.  The one that keeps everything and everyone all together, sOMetimes in spite of myself.

But here’s the thing…..I miss it.  I miss the paint on my fingers (and on my clothes and in my hair).  I miss that creative edge that suddenly grabs me and says “MUST PAINT NOW”.  I miss the moving forward progression of where I am, where this art thing is going, and the possibility of what it could be.  I miss the feeling that overtakes me when a painting is finished and all. is. well.  I miss the peace it brings.

Yep, I miss that.

Energy Flows where attention goes….quite simply put – my energy has not been placed where it serves me the most.  Through my “barely-there-on-the-mat-yoga-practice” at the mOMent, I realize that I can cOMplain about it OR place my energy on what brings me closer to stillness and peace.   It’s called Svadhyaya or as I’ve come to know it…Self Study.  This was a gift discovered in my 500 hour yoga teacher training and year long in depth study of our ego selves.

So it is with a grateful heart that I tip my my hat to you Svadhyaya, one of the niyamas coined by Patanjali.   Thank you for showing me my habits and for letting me see through the false sense of self.  Thank you for the realization that I have within me at any mOMent, the ability to place my attention on where it makes the biggest difference, which also contains the ripple effect.

What is your attention placed on?  Does it serve you?  Is your attention placed on cOMplaining about what is?  Or, is your attention placed on your stillness, your peace, your happiness.  Energy flows where attention goes – promise.

If we truly want to have a more extraordinary life, then we must find a more extraordinary place within ourselves to live frOM.  The choice is ours and it is up to us to make it happen. ~ Swami Chetananada

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